The forest still smelled of mammoth blood.
But Kael's eyes were no longer on the battlefield.
They were fixed on the system screen floating in front of him, ignoring everything else happening around him for the moment.
System Reward
[ Hidden Founder Reward Unlocked ][ Unique Item Granted: Founder Beast Egg ]
A ripple of black light gathered in Kael's palm. Then, without warning, crackling lightning threaded through it, and the egg materialized in his hand.
It was unlike anything any of them had seen.
Pitch black shell. Veins of purple lightning crawling slowly across its surface, pulsing like something alive beneath it. And underneath it all, a faint heartbeat — slow, heavy, ancient in a way that made the hair on Kael's arms stand up.
Angelika stepped closer first, her strategist's mind already working through the implications. Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"…Kael. This thing is not normal."
Elara reacted differently, her eyes lit with excitement and instinct rather than caution.
"This… is powerful."
Even Dean, who rarely let anything show on his face, frowned slightly.
"…I don't like the pressure coming off it."
System Explanation
[ Founder Beast Egg ]Type: Unknown (Mutated Bloodline) Rarity: Unique Bond Condition: First to hatch → Absolute Loyalty to Founder
Kael's heartbeat quickened.
Absolute loyalty.
This was no ordinary beast egg.
Decision
Kael closed his fist gently around it.
"We take it back to Titanblood Tribe."
No one argued. Even Angelika nodded, her expression serious. "…We protect it."
Three Weeks Later — Titanblood Tribe
The village had changed. Massively.
New wooden houses stood in organized rows along the settlement's grid. Titan cows worked the fields daily now, plowing furrows that stretched further than anyone had imagined possible a month ago. Food storage pits sat nearly full for the first time since the tribe's founding. Abyssari strength had accelerated construction to a pace that still made new arrivals stop and stare.
Angelika had become the brain of the village, every decision passing through her hands before it took shape. Elara had become its fiercest shield, standing at the edge of every threat before it reached the walls. And Kael — Kael was its undisputed core, the one thread that held all of it together.
The Egg Room
Inside Kael's wooden house, the black egg rested on a bed of soft fur and warm ash, tucked into the quietest corner of the room.
For three weeks, nothing happened.
Until tonight.
Midnight
Crack…
Kael's eyes snapped open in the dark.
The system flashed violently across his vision.
[ Founder Beast Egg — Hatching ]
Lightning burst through the room, throwing sharp white light across the walls. Angelika rushed in first, Elara close behind her, and Dean appeared in the doorway a heartbeat later, already braced and alert.
The Birth
CRACK!!!
The black shell split apart. Dark smoke poured out of the fracture, thick and curling.
Then a small head emerged.
But it wasn't just one.
It was three.
Three serpent-like heads rose slowly out of the smoke, each with glowing ember eyes, black scales catching what little light remained in the room, faint fire leaking from between their jaws. The temperature in the room spiked instantly, sharp enough that everyone felt it at once.
Angelika whispered, disbelief plain in her voice. "…Three-headed…?"
Elara's eyes widened — the first time Kael had seen her look genuinely startled since they'd met.
"…What kind of beast is this…"
System Roars
[ CONGRATULATIONS, HOST ][ You Have Tamed: Skullrend Hydra (Fire Variant) ][ Bond Level: Absolute ][ Growth Potential: DRAGON-TIER ]
The First Bond
The tiny hydra looked around the room, all three heads moving independently for a moment before settling on the same point.
Kael.
It crawled forward slowly — weak, newborn, unsteady on its legs, but terrifying all the same in the way it moved with clear purpose despite that weakness.
Then it lowered all three heads at once.
Submission. Recognition.
Master.
Kael knelt and placed his hand gently on its central head. It was warm beneath his palm. Alive. Already carrying something that felt far too powerful for a creature only minutes old.
A voice echoed faintly in his mind, quiet but unmistakably clear.
"…Master…"
Kael's pupils shrank slightly.
It can already communicate.
Reaction of the Women
Angelika stared at the scene like she was watching the shape of the future settle into place in front of her. Her strategic mind was already racing ahead.
With this beast… Titanblood Tribe's growth is about to explode.
Elara, meanwhile, stepped closer to Kael, her voice soft but carrying real intensity underneath it.
"…It chose you completely."
Her fingers brushed lightly against his arm — pride, possession, and something more tangled up together in the gesture.
Dean's Warrior Respect
Dean crossed his arms slowly, studying the small hydra for a long moment before nodding once.
"…Now we're becoming dangerous."
High praise. Again — and rarer still, coming twice in the same month from a man who usually gave it out sparingly.
Just as the room began to settle, the system flared red across Kael's vision.
[ Hidden Potential Detected ][ Skullrend Hydra Mutation Path Available ][ Next Evolution Requirement: Massive Meat Supply + Combat Growth ]
Kael's eyes sharpened at the notification.
The real training was only just beginning.