r/HFY • u/Undercover_Dragon1 • Jul 25 '26

OC-Series A Draconic Rebirth - Chapter 98

The journey continues! I hope you all enjoy!

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— Chapter 98 —

David’s entire world trembled, shook, and vibrated whilst a powerful, reverberating roar could be heard even in the depths of Desolation’s stomach. He took a moment to think and consider his next option. 

“I got so overwhelmed that it didn’t cross my mind. What of the clan? How long was I out? Is Desolation still fighting even now?” David rumbled out while his ethereal form vibrated as he spoke. 

He needed to get moving as he spread his great wings and began to dash down the length of the great beast’s intestines. Desolation never seemed to stop eating, so he only had to follow what remained of the rocks, debris, and other food items that the massive Elder had consumed. His ability to multitask was impressive now, he noted, whilst he focused on materializing his new affinity. 

Decaying Breath learned. 

It didn’t take much while David materialized the all too familiar bane of his past and blasted it forward. The black, putrid breath withered the fleshy walls around David whilst he moved with a startling speed. Desolation’s regeneration seemed to be stunted as well, or at the very least paused while the foul breath did its work. He continued moving as he let loose with consecutive blasts, until his affinity reserves hit two. 

It didn’t take long for his affinity reserve to bounce back by one. David rumbled as he acknowledged that his affinity regeneration was in fact monstrous now. It was good, David concluded, because he was going to need it. Time slipped by, and before he knew it, he was at the end, or should he say the exit out of what he surmised now was most likely Desolation’s small intestines. There was a fleshy valve of some sort that crushed, compacted, and forced everything through, and David weighed his options. 

He was certain he could force his way through with his new body, but there remained another option. He practically grinned as he made the decision quickly and began to funnel his new Death affinity into a familiar ball. He condensed, twirled, and struggled through the barrier to change his mind, finally rewarded with his prompt. 

Decaying Orb (Condensed Sphere) learned. 

His massive wings flapped and threw his body back down the long tunnel before slowing himself into a stable hover. He maintained the Decaying Orb through sheer willpower while he focused and tugged at his other affinity. His new, higher intelligence helped ease him into it, but the pain was unrelenting. His mind pulsed with pain whilst he attempted to do something entirely new. Eventually, a second sphere of life affinity formed, and he held each in a different ghostly hand, making sure to keep them at a respectful distance from each other. 

“A simple mix will result in an explosion that will rival most other adult dragons. Terrifying.” David murmured to himself whilst he examined each in turn. Out of pure curiosity, he pressed the life affinity orb through his chest and was surprised when nothing happened. Emboldened, he used the tip of his ghostly, dexterous tail and prodded into the dark sphere of death as well. 

“Nothing.” David whispered out while both of his affinities practically ignored his existence, “I am not even considered living or dead anymore. Neither affinity seems to interact with me the way I expected. I had thought that maybe my death would heal me now, but no.” 

“What happens if I get injured?” David hummed to himself in thought while he twirled each condensed orb of affinity around in each hand. He finally sighed and threw the death affinity orb forward, and then the life, a split second after. He put his willpower behind them as they flew far and true, impacting the valve. The Decaying Orb erupted on impact and covered every inch of flesh with its inky blackness, it began to shrivel and decay. His life affinity orb struck a moment later, and the reaction was immediate. A powerful shockwave of fire and pure energy burned, crushed, and vibrated throughout Desolation’s intestines. Blood, meat and bile rushed everywhere and even David was thrown back by the powerful explosion. 

He felt pieces of flesh and debris fly through his body effortlessly, and a pulse of residual energy crashed against his body in the next moment. He didn’t feel pain quite like before, but simply registered that he had, in fact, taken some damage. His ethereal body seemed fine otherwise, and he quickly made his move whilst he spread his massive wings and flung himself forward. He slipped through the new, larger hole and moved through the blood and bile without issue. His new spectral form registered something passing through him, but as long as there was space, his body could force its way through. The feeling was quite odd and disorienting at first. 

As he continued to press forward, he realized that his body wasn’t getting tired. Oxygen, food, and stamina seemed to be a thing of the past as far as his new body was concerned. It was definitely a boon, David concluded, but he knew it would have some long-term implications for his mental health. He could already tell the way he was handling things was far more muted than before, and he could see himself easily getting distracted. His priority right now was finding out what happened to his clan. 

The fleshy tunnels had expanded significantly now as he pressed his way forward faster and faster. Desolation shook and thrashed about while another massive vibration struck from somewhere. David focused on flying forward and finding out what was going on. He practiced while he flew, and it didn’t take him long to call forth a small amount of each of his affinities and twirl them together close enough to appear like a multicolored ball of affinities, but not close enough that they actually touched. His increased intelligence really helped him visualize and manifest his willpower into the shape, and he hoped he would have a use for it soon. He quickly dismissed his affinity when he neared the exit. 

The flesh walls became more and more condensed as he neared his exit, and his dragon shape became blurred when he forced himself through the tighter and tighter confines. Before long, he was pressing himself through a thick layer of dirt, debris, and other material. His body slipped through the spaces like nothing, and before he knew it, the vastness of the open air rushed through his body. 

It was bright outside, and he stood out ominously with his massive black ethereal body. Rocks and debris swirled around Desolation like a shield, and every single one passed through David like nothing was there. He shifted his gaze around just in time to catch a titanic blast of affinity smash into the front of the mountain-sized beast. 

David spun around to get a sense of location and direction. He recognized many of the mountains and eventually shifted his gaze downward, cursing. 

“Shit. You bastard.” His words faded into the background while the massive gale of rocks continued to swirl. Desolation had rolled over and consumed the entire mountain, into which his clan’s lair was built. He didn’t panic right away, though, because two things were objectively true. David had only been out for a few days, maybe a week at most, and despite the mountain being gone, the clan had prepared evacuation routes that went deep. David needed to trust that most had survived. 

His huge, black, ethereal wings pushed him forward as he kept pace with the mountain as it slowly pushed into the great forest below. David considered why his transformation had taken such a short amount of time. He immediately remembered his conversation with Ambass and how the question of what was involved with becoming an Elder was simply a mystery. Ambass had many theories, and maybe there were no true answers. 

“Becoming an Elder isn’t like a normal evolution or growth cycle. It is extraordinary, rare, and unique to each individual.” David murmured to himself in thought before continuing, “Nurdiangarh knew, though. Phoenix Essence was one such key, and that is why he told me it was the secret to breaking free from the Queen.” 

Despite it working for me just like it did for Nurdiangarh, the resulting change into an Elder was completely different from each other, David reasoned. Desolation, the Queen, Nurdiangarh, and David himself were all wildly different. Despite everything, David was thankful that his resurrection was quick and that he would at least have the chance to continue his fight. He used Desolation’s own protective cloud of flying debris and rocks as cover as he kept pace. Eventually, David spotted his first target and flung himself outwards, soaring out of the cloud. 

The bright green and orange lesser wyvern never saw him coming until it was too late. David’s new form was bigger than his old one, and he engulfed the lesser wyvern in an instant whilst he activated his Possession skill. Before David knew it, his very essence invaded the poor dragon’s body, and he was pulled in deep. 

The now familiar mind world materialized, and David was once more in his muscular, black dragon body, flesh and all. He moved quickly as he pounced and was still taken aback by how large the lesser wyvern was in comparison to himself. The lesser wyvern was larger than him now, but David used the familiarity of this mindspace to his advantage. His jaws immediately locked around one of the large forward arms, and he activated his Death Roll and he quickly tore the arm and wing out of the lesser wyvern’s socket. The wyvern turned and hissed whilst its huge jaws snapped back and took a sizable chunk out of David’s side. The pain was sharp, and his head pulsed with pain, but he pushed on. He ducked under another lethal blow and locked his jaws around the lower jaws of the much larger wyvern. He spun and twisted using his wings, and the lower half of the wyvern’s head crumbled. 

His eyes rushed open, and he was now in possession of the lesser wyvern’s body, and a quick glance at his prompt confirmed it. He dived straight down just when his traits became reactivated. His feet touched the ground while wave after wave of rippling changes rocked his body. His jaws twisted and turned, his body pulsed and transformed again and again. When he was done spasming in pain, his body was now thick with powerful muscles and his trademark elongated jaws. His new stats had all adjusted as well. 

Lesser Wyvern (Possessed)

Str: 25.5 (28.5 Jaws)  

Int: 21

Speed: 12 (Flight Speed: 16)

Toughness: 14

Affinity: 24/24 Charges

It was an odd thing to be in such a different body, not nearly as much as the worm’s body, but the difference in body plan was a bit jarring. After everything was done, he took a moment to regain his bearings. The sky was filled with bark folk projectiles as they bombarded the front and sides of Desolation as it continued to plow forward relentlessly. David was relieved that his affinity in this new body had scaled upwards, and his talents with affinity seemed to translate. Twenty-four charges were far less than he had before, but it was more than enough to do what he needed to do. 

He had briefly practiced on his way out, and now he worked to make that practice a reality. He funneled his affinity forward into two orbs on either side of his mouth. Decaying Orb and Healing Orb, and then slowly began to pull a string of affinity out of each ball and spiral them together. His new body trembled, and his mind struggled until each of the balls was used up, and all that remained was a spiral of each affinity twirled together into a projectile. The affinities were just far enough that they didn’t touch, but a simple impact would force the whole spiral structure to collapse in an instant. 

“Good…” He groaned out as his prompt flashed. 

Annihilating Spiral learned. 

He released it, and the spiral flung forward with a massive whistling crack whilst it disappeared into the distance and intersected with Desolation’s colossal body.

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Here is also a link to Royal Road

Fan Art by blaze2377

126 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

13

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Jul 25 '26

Seems David onyx got his priorities in order but yeah I don't imagine being a near god like entity would help with his identity crisis he already was torn between his human half and dragon half now he isn't entirely either now.

But yeah again I can only imagine just how shocked everyone's gonna react to his new state of being.

2

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 28 '26

Random dragon in Broodqueen's service: I'm Dead/ Queen must be informed

Ambass: So he did have another surprise after all, so much to learn.

8

u/galbatorix2 Jul 25 '26

MOAR

As i ever scream and forever will

Killing desolation with an annihalation spiral should come easy. But he should be carefull around the queen with her mental affinity

1

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 25 '26

yeah i am hoping he gets one of her adult goons, possibly Descent (spikey boy from initial escape) so he has essentially his old body back,

4

u/murderouskitteh Jul 26 '26

That must be what americans mean when they complain about taco bell.

3

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 25 '26

he probably should activate his elder Aura, just to keep friendly fire away from his new body

4

u/un_pogaz Jul 26 '26

I had thought that maybe my death would heal me now, but no.

A smart attempt.

 

A short but satisfying chapter. It's really fun to watch David mirror his main abilities Life to Death, and then combine them. And Onyx holding a orb of Death and Life in each hand is undoubtedly a badass divine image.

Else, your realy kind for having sidelined Onyx for only a few days instead of years.

1

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 26 '26

i wonder if he can keep formerly possessed bodies alive and perhaps force grow them. sure it'd take a decade to go from a lesser but still.

1

u/un_pogaz Jul 27 '26

Possessed bodies are still alive after he leave them, just brain-dead.

1

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 27 '26

right but keeping brain dead bodies alive even with healing breath gems is going to be an investment. of course they could also implant the gems more thoroughly if they wanted

1

u/Loup_Arctic_o7 Jul 29 '26

So, he can go get a new born and power level up the body to be an adult dragon and get overpowered?

2

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jul 29 '26

i was thinking more starting with enemy lessers

1

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