Synexus only half watched the fight while his main priority lingered on the massive red dragon next to him. Several times his internal thoughts to just go touch his scales almost won out, but his rational mind stepped in to stop his attempts.

  Registering red dragon DNA and dragon scales as a material would be beneficial to his skills. Still, he wasn’t sure how the red dragon might react. He could be putting his party in danger for a selfish endeavor.

  When the fight ended and the wonderous beast next to him was about to fly off he had to try and come up with a reason to make contact for his sensors to work their magic. Unfortunately, the dragon was much too smart and bid his farewell all the same. Of course, he was a little sad about the missed opportunity, but it wasn’t a complete loss.

  His eyes drifted over to Zuls’ new bonded.

  Name: Unchosen

  Race: Hydragon

  Level: LV 9

  Mana Affinities: Undetermined, Undetermined, Undetermined

  Skills: Tri-bite, Roar of Superiority

  He walked over and tried to put his sensors against its scales only for one of the heads to turn from Zuls and try to bite him.

  “Hey! We don’t bite our friends.” Zuls disciplined the small beast.

  The head lowered under the assault of discouragement and then made a strange purring noise. Zuls patted the head and stroked its draconic spine running down its neck.

  “Go ahead, Synexus.”

  Hydragon: 100%

  Hydragon Scales: 100%

  Hydragon Hide: 100%

  After his sensors finished he stroked one of the other heads and it turned before purring like the other.

  “What are you going to name them?”

  “Her name is Hyren, but her full name will only be revealed when she gains her mana affinities by levelling up.”

  “That was fast. How did you come up with that?” Synexus asked her after giving her a puzzled look.

  “She told me, I think. It was a feeling in my mind. She gained 8 levels after rushing in and dealing the little damage she did to the wyvern. Could you tell anything about her from her DNA?”

  Synexus looked through the complex information in amazement. His ability to understand genetic information was put into overdrive as he read through the foundation of a mythical beast.

  “Well, as far as I can tell, she has the ability to become attuned to any type of mana. Right now, she is like a sponge soaking in any mana she comes into contact with. She also has the potential to grow to unbelievable heights. Her genetic code is incredible. It seems perfect as if nature had attempted to make an optimized lifeform. Her resistances are extensive. She has the potential to grow her intelligence to heights that I have not seen in any other species other than people. Of course, her physical attributes have much more potential than ours as well.”

  “Hear that, Hyren! You’re exceptional!”

  All three heads looked to the sky and gave a bit of a proud roar. Her wings fluttered behind her.

  “Now, Yu, what did the dragon mean about asking you for a history lesson?” Zuls tore her attention away from her new bonded.

  “I believe the dragon was referring to knowledge of the last Hydragon. A fearsome beast that ruled over the dragons centuries ago. The current Elder Dragon slayed it to gain the Elder title. They may see the birth of a new one as a threat. However, the test proves they are trusting you to keep your new bonded in check. Dragons are almost never that logical. Normally they are more burn everything first and then make things work. Someone must have gave them council on the matter.”

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  “Interesting.” Zuls turned back to Hyren. “Sounds like you have a royal legacy and that you may be a bit of a trouble magnet. But you’re so cute. Who’s the best three-headed dragon? You are!” She bent down and was scratching the chin of the middle head while Hyren gave out little positive yelps.

  “That battle may have drawn some unwanted attention, so let’s keep moving until it starts to get dark. Congrats on winning the battle, Zuls.”

  “Thanks, Captain!”

  Their party started moving once more. Instead of recalling Hyren, the small hydragon flew next to Zuls.

  Synexus was already thinking about ways he could use the genetic code he obtained to make some different creations. He ended up deciding to splice the genetic code with the genetic code of a chick that was still inside its egg.

  He still didn’t like messing with the natural evolution of animals, but to progress and understand the boundaries of his class, it had to be done. So, he spliced the DNA in a way that it would keep the attributes of the hydragon like the resistances, scales, infinite potential in size, strength, intelligence, and mana affinities while maintaining a balance with the foundation of the chicken such as the feathers, beak, and ability to lay eggs.

  Technically, he could activate the growth genes to make the hybrid hatch faster, but he liked letting things develop on their own. It felt right to him. He just hoped his adjustments to the genome would be a success and the chick wouldn’t just die from not being able to support the magically spliced genome.

  His trout had all been doing great and he was excited that their population was growing. Some of the specially adjusted ones that he had made had reproduced to start mixing the altered genomes. Soon he would have dozens of trout all with unique genetic code.

  Still, he was going to start a new pool of altered chickens and altered trout to get an even more diverse genetic pool then wait for a few generations to see what had naturally been selected amongst the genes themselves.

  All of it was exciting to him and he felt that it had greatly enhanced his ability and precision when interacting with the genomes of more complex beings. He finally felt like his skills and his class were starting to come together like they were created too.

  He would live up to the legacy handed down to him just like Zuls’ new bonded would live up to the legacy handed down to her.

  ***

  Desyx marched into the communications room at the heart of the Coalition’s base on an undisclosed planet.

  “Reports!” He barked at the whole room.

  “Agents 2198 and 3671 have reported an all clear on planet X-218.”

  “Agents 3134 and 9776 have reported an all clear on planet Y-012.”

  “Agents 0134 and 2771 reported an all clear on planet C-334 but ran into hostile locals. Agent 2771 has been slain.”

  “Agents 5609 and 4555 have not reported in even with a direct request to do so. Planet M-018 remains in an unknown status.”

  Desyx flared out his mana in a way that made the room grow silent.

  “Reports continue. Communications officer 2112 stay for a more detailed report once the others have finished. Communications officer 3454 send two elites to teach planet C-334 the ways of our retribution.”

  Both officers nodded and then the other communication officers continued with their reports. All of them came back clear with no other casualties reported. Those agents would be sent out to other planets to continue their never-ending grid search.

  Once all other officers had reported and departed the room, Desyx addressed officer 2112 again.

  “Are these two agents simply refusing to report in due to their constant failures?”

  “Unfortunately, I’m unsure commander. They won’t even reply to the messages I sent. Furthermore, their vitals are not displaying, and their tracker has stopped completely. Death isn’t certain without us sending more agents to bring their corpses back. If they did die, however, then it was nearly simultaneously.”

  “These were the agents who reported possibly being on the trail of a Zaxillian were they not?”

  “They were, but that was over a month ago with no further reports.”

  “Alright. Let us assume they are dead for now. Send four agents to this planet. Have them look for the trail they were following and their bodies. It’s possible they were just taken out by monsters or other hostile locals. But there is also a possibility they ran into a Zaxillian powerful enough to take them out before they could send out a flare beacon.”

  “At once, commander!”

  Desyx sighed as he left the room and went back to his office to file his own report. One confirmed death along with two possible deaths would not be pleasant to report. Neither would a possible hit.

  As he sat down in his leather chair that emitted a mana glow, he started to burn his report into mana paper with his thoughts. At the bottom he included his orders for the two planets that remained unknown.

  When he finished, an immediate pressure filled the room making him nearly fall out of his chair. A twisting voice that almost sounded like an echo in a cave followed.

  “Four is not enough. Send eight. This is a priority. If there is one there then the planet may need to be eradicated completely. Do not fail me Desyx or you’ll find yourself spending time in the void once again.”

  Shivers ran down Desyx’s spine as he remembered floating in that infernal place for what seemed like an eternity. He missed out on nearly a hundred years because of a mistake made by one of his subordinates. That wouldn’t happen again.

  “Yes, your supreme divinity. I understand and eight of our best will be sent out at once to rectify this situation. If anymore lose their lives, I will go myself before calling in the eradication.”

  “Very good, my pet.” An insidious laugh made the pressure fade and then it faded as well.

  Desyx immediately walked back to the communication room to update his prior orders. Planet M-018 would not stand against the Coalition.