Jae's heart kicked hard against his ribs. His first thought wasn't strategy—it was instinct, survival clawing at the idea. The words scraped raw against every instinct of self-preservation.
"Merge? With you?"
"Yes" the dragon replied. "However there is one major problem".
"What is it?" Jae asked.
"You've not fulfilled the requirements to be able to contain my powers, if we merge it could lead to your death".
Jae then remebered the missions the system had given him, he hadn't yet slept with Mrs Lira and so he couldn't absorb the dragon mana yet. "What happens if it goes wrong?"
The dragon's gaze did not waver.
"Then you burn. Body and soul."
Jae swallowed hard, sweat rolling down his temple. No certainty, no safety. Just a risk bigger than anything he had faced.
He ran a hand through his hair, the nervous tick he could never shake. His pulse hammered, his body already screaming from the wounds he carried. For the first time, fear pressed close.
