Karl stood at the mouth of the volcano, kneeling on the warm black stone as heat rose around him in shimmering waves. Before him rested three dragon eggs.
Two of them had just been laid by Visena Trix, the female dragon now standing beside him in human form. Those two were fresh, warm, and full of life.
The third egg was different.
That one was his.
It was the stone dragon egg he had brought from the world of Ice and Fire.
The three eggs could not have looked more different.
Karl's original egg was golden in color, polished like metal and glass. Its shell reflected the firelight, and raised patterns resembling serpent scales curled across the surface. It was about the size of a football and beautiful enough to be mistaken for treasure.
But the two eggs laid by Visena Trix looked nothing like it.
Their shells were smooth and dull green with gray undertones. They were matte rather than glossy, warm rather than cold, and covered in irregular scale-like markings that looked naturally painted onto the shell.
Most importantly, when Karl touched them, he could feel life pulsing inside.
They were real dragon eggs.
His own egg, until recently, had felt no different from a decorative rock.
But now…
Something had changed.
Karl stared at the golden egg with narrowed eyes. The once lifeless shell now carried a faint warmth. There was a subtle pulse within it, so weak he might have imagined it—if he had not sensed it several times already.
"It's showing signs of life…" Karl muttered. "How is that possible?"
Beside him, Visena Trix crouched and examined it as well. In human form, she still retained curved dragon horns and eyes like molten amber.
"It is strange," she admitted. "That egg was dead stone when you first brought it."
Karl slowly turned his head toward an iron pot lying nearby.
Then he looked back at her.
"This egg has been soaking in magic water all this time… hasn't it?"
Visena Trix blinked, then nodded.
"Yes. I even brought the pot here."
She spoke casually, but Karl's expression became increasingly serious.
That pot was something he had left behind long ago. Before departing, he had instructed her to soak the egg in magic water if nothing else worked. Apparently, she had tossed it into a corner and forgotten about it.
Only when she came to the volcano to lay her own eggs had she remembered the strange stone egg Karl valued so highly. Since she was already traveling here, she had simply brought the pot with her and dumped it beside the lava.
Her own eggs, naturally, had been placed carefully near volcanic fissures for proper incubation.
Those were her children.
Karl's so-called dragon egg meant nothing to her.
In her eyes, even if it had once belonged to some lesser dragon, it was still beneath true dragons. At best, it was an oversized beast with fire breath.
At worst, lunch.
Karl rubbed his temples.
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.
Was the egg reviving because of the recent changes to the world itself?
Or had it truly come back to life because it had been soaked in enchanted water and heated beside a volcano?
Countless Failed Experiments
Karl had tried everything before this.
He had roasted the egg in a blacksmith's forge.
He had submerged it in the sacred holy pools of temples.
He had even stolen the High Priestess's golden chalice, filled it with divine essence, placed the egg inside, and offered it upon the altar during ceremonies.
Every week he attended rituals faithfully, rotating through priestesses and sacred rites while divine light descended.
Yet the egg remained exactly the same.
A stone.
No different from the temple floor.
When religion failed, Karl turned to darker methods.
He brought the egg to Dreadfort and offered one hundred bat-harpies captured from nearby caves in exchange for the attention of a dark elven sorceress named Erevis.
That ended with Karl being struck by lightning.
Apparently, certain gods considered his behavior disrespectful.
Afterward, he fed the egg to the Tarantula Queen's venom.
Nothing happened.
He ordered a goblin witch to channel life energy into it.
Nothing happened.
He polished it.
Cursed it.
Praised it.
Threatened it.
Still nothing.
For years, Karl had slowly accepted the truth.
The thing was just a fancy rock.
Now it was warming in front of him.
Karl's eyes became moist with emotion.
"All those years…"
"All those sacrifices…"
"And the answer might have been soup?"
The Greatest Discovery
He stared at the iron pot as if seeing an artifact of divine importance.
Could it really be that simple?
Magic water.
Extreme heat.
Volcanic energy.
And time.
Karl paced back and forth.
"No. Impossible."
He stopped.
"But… I never actually tried boiling it."
He looked at the pot again.
Then at the egg.
Then at the pot once more.
His breathing quickened.
"This may be the greatest discovery of my life."
Without hesitation, Karl grabbed the iron pot, cleaned it carefully, and placed the golden dragon egg back inside.
Then he uncorked bottle after bottle of magic water, pouring them in until the pot was full.
He suspended the pot above a volcanic vent.
Within minutes, the water began to bubble.
Steam rose around him.
The golden egg bobbed gently inside the boiling water, shining through the mist like a sacred treasure.
Karl clasped his hands together in excitement.
"Yes…"
"Yes!"
"If this truly works, then this thing will become priceless!"
He grinned wildly.
"Do you know what this means?"
"This is like the Imperial Seal!"
"Received Mandate from Heaven—may it prosper forever!"
Visena Trix stared at him.
"You are strange."
Karl ignored her completely.
His eyes remained fixed on the pot.
A Dragon's Invitation
While Karl was consumed by scientific madness, Visena Trix approached from behind.
Her partially transformed claws traced slowly across his chest.
"How about another round?" she purred.
Karl froze.
She leaned closer.
"You choose."
"One option now…"
"The other option later."
Karl nearly fainted from the sheer cruelty of such choices.
This updated world had introduced too much new content.
There were mysteries to solve.
Treasures to explore.
And apparently, dragons with very aggressive social instincts.
Karl silently made a mental note to create another save point.
Then he straightened his back heroically.
"For research purposes," he declared.
The Farmer's Pursuit
What followed was a long and chaotic adventure Karl later described only as:
The Farmer's Pursuit.
He relived countless memories from his rise through the world.
The poor farmer's son with no inheritance.
The witch in the woods.
The High Priestess.
The innkeeper's daughter.
The lonely widow.
The baker girl waiting for lost love.
The mayor's neglected young wife.
The rescued swamp elf.
The giantess raising wolves.
The ancient vampire sisters.
The mistress of the ruined tower.
The cursed noblewoman.
The clingy miniature succubus.
The guardian elf of the holy spring.
An endless trail of choices, consequences, temptations, victories, disasters, and emotional damage.
Karl later insisted this was all vital character development.
No one believed him.
Return to the Volcano
At long last, legs trembling and soul exhausted, Karl returned to the dragon's lair.
After paying what he bitterly referred to as "mandatory taxes," he mounted Visena Trix's massive dragon form and flew once more toward the distant volcano.
When they arrived, several pots of magic water had already boiled dry.
Karl jumped down immediately and rushed to the iron pot.
Carefully, reverently, he lifted out the egg.
His face was flushed with exhaustion, but his eyes suddenly widened.
The shell was warmer than ever.
Small cracks had appeared across the golden surface.
Something inside moved.
Karl nearly cried.
"I waited so long…"
"I dreamed of this day…"
"It's finally happening…"
Then he paused.
"…Wait. Didn't I just fly here on an actual dragon?"
He slowly turned.
Visena Trix, now back in human form, was watching him with amused eyes and another suspicious smile.
Karl immediately stepped backward.
"Good night."
"See you tomorrow."
Then he hugged the egg protectively and ran.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)