Fifty years ago, dragons used earth as a battle ground for their war, changing the world forever. The cities built by humans were destroyed, countries fell, and continents vanished all because of a war they weren’t even a part of.
The war got so severe that God-like beings had to interfere, and got rid of the violent dragons. The millions of dragons that participated in the war were wiped-out in mere moments by the diving beings.
To compensate the world they had ruined, the God-like beings restored what they could and turned the dragons that participated in the war into tools for the humans to use how they saw fit. These tools came to be known as Dragon triggers, powerful artifacts that grant the users the power of dragons.
“Gah!” Zane screamed in pain as his ear was pinched and pulled up to face a woman with fiery red hair and red eyes.
“Zane, how dare you doze off in my class,” the woman glared at him.
“Ah! Please spare me instructor Clarice!”
The class laughed as Zane was subjected to his punishment.
------
“I hate this world,” Zane grumbled as he entered his room.
His room was barren of anything interesting. The only thing inside was a bed and a small cabinet by his bedside that also served as his desk.
It couldn’t be helped when he was just a poor orphan staying in the sectors refugee base. He didn’t even know if orphan was the right word for him or if he was even human. After the dragons were wiped out and humans took control of the world once again, they had found a facility where infants were preserved like meat.
Zane was one of those infants.
His official name was subject Z, one of the 26 infants found preserved by the dragons. The true purpose of their preservations was unknown and after a decade, they had just given up on finding out.
Zane went to the bathroom to wash his face. Looking at his reflection, he couldn’t help but glare. He had slicked back black hair and black eyes, with sharp facial features.
His glaring session with his reflection was cut short when he heard a knock on his door. With a sigh, he left the bathroom and opened the door to his room. In front of his door was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a blue dress shirt under her lab coat and tan pants.
“Melissa...”
“I heard you fell asleep in class again,” Melissa spoke. “Have you been staying up late?” she asked as she entered his room.
“No... class was just boring...”
Melissa was Alexander’s assigned researcher. Just because they had given up on the reason they were preserved, it doesn’t mean they weren’t being monitored. Melissa was tasked with monitoring any changes he might undergo and keep him healthy. She was also tasked with other more private matters.
“Do you need a release?”
Zane shivered. “I don’t want to talk about that.”
“You do realize that after going through puberty, you need to have a regular release every three days,” Melissa stated, already used to the situation.
“Can we talk about something else?”
Melissa nodded. “Have you decided on what you’re going to do?” Melissa asked. “You’re already 18. I need to be informed.”
Zane scratched the back of his head. The first thing that came to his mind was to be a dragon hunter. To be precise, it’s a profession that enters the lairs used by dragons fifty years ago. After their deaths, the magic power left in their lairs turned them into dungeons that spawn monsters from their world and cause chaos here on earth.
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Melissa sighed. “Let me guess. You want to be a dragon hunter.”
Zane turned to her.
“The others wanted the same thing,” Melissa revealed. “I guess you also want to find out where you came from.”
Zane nodded. “I have nothing to live for. If I find out about why they preserved us, maybe I could find a reason to live.”
“What if they’re just refrigerating their food?” Melissa teased.
Zane just glared at her.
------
His favorite spot was a railing in the wrecked area of the refugee base. Nobody else came here since it was a restricted area and getting caught could get them kicked out. Zane didn’t have that problem since he was practically imprisoned here.
He liked this spot a lot since it gave him a clear view of the entrance to refugee base. Every time those giant gates opened. Zane pictured himself freely leaving this place with no regrets.
The sirens blared, signaling that gates would open. Zane watched as the guards rushed into their formation as the gates opened and an armored vehicle entered. When the vehicle stopped a group tall and muscular women came out with one of them holding a giant case.
“Amazonians...”
When the God-like beings restored earth’s environment from the ashes of war, they also added humans from another world to deal with the severely dwindling population of humans. But they couldn’t force them to move to earth, so only a select few races moved.
The elves, a long-lived species that wanted to get away from the barbaric humans from their world. Along with them came the world called Yggdrasil tree that injected Earth with an abundance of mana and improving plants.
The Amazonians, an all-female race with superior physical abilities compared to the humans on Earth. When they arrived, they brought along their temples that were blessed by their Goddess and began creating magic infused ores.
The rest were just normal humans that brought along their version of technology.
“What’s that?” Zane squinted his eyes as he tried his best to figure out the logo on the case the amazonian was carrying.
That’s when he felt something. He could feel a deep sense of rage coming from the case that was so powerful, it reached all the way to where he was.
“What the hell?” Zane was about to leave when he noticed a shadow flew over him.
He looked up to find a person with draconic wings. The person extended an arm towards the entrance of the base.
“Trigger.”
That’s the only thing Zane heard before a dragon made out of red energy appeared out of nowhere and unleashed a breath of fire on the base. Zane scrambled to his feet and headed to the emergency exit of the base.
He felt someone grab his arm as he was running. “Where are you going? The safe room is this way!”
“I saw the guy summon a dragon! A safe room won’t stop him!” Zane stated. “I’m out of he-”
He was interrupted by something going through the walls and landing a few feet away from them. That something was revealed to be someone. An amazonian who’s armor was completely damaged and bleeding all over. A few seconds later, another amazonian crashed through the wall. She was the one carrying the giant case earlier, and apparently, she still has it.
“Is it so hard to hand over what I want?” the man who had attacked them came through the whole created by the Amazonians.
The man had gray hair and a smooth mask that only showed his yellow eyes. His clothes reminded Zane of the combat gear used by the soldier in the old video tapes he watched. With the combat pants and boots, coupled with the black long sleeves and vest with pouches.
The thing that caught Zane’s attention the most was the gauntlet on the man’s right arm. It was red and resembled a dragon’s head. Just looking at it made Zane feel angry for some reason.
“You will never get your hands on this!” The Amazonian yelled as she charged with an axe in hand.
“Never? More like a few seconds,” the man aimed a hand at the Amazonian and fired a blast of flame.
Zane watched as the Amazonian exploded and the case she was holding landing beside him. The impact caused the case to get damaged and opened, giving Zane a glimpse of a beating heart the size of his head. He subconsciously began reaching out to it.
“I wouldn’t recommend that,” the man spoke as he walked through the smoke.
Melissa grabbed Zane and stepped in front of him.
“That’s a dragon heart,” the man spoke. “A biological type Dragon trigger,” the man revealed. “If you didn’t die after touching it, I would have needed to kill you to get it back.”
“Just take it and leave!” Melissa yelled.
“That was the plan to begin with,” the man approached the case, but when he got close enough, the case exploded open.
They were all blown back when the form of a black dragon head materialized from the dragon heart.
“Piece of crap!” the man yelled as he aimed his gauntlet at the dragon head. “Trigger!”
“Zane!” Melissa tackled him to the side, but Zane knew they would still get caught in the attack.
Timed slowed down for him as he watched the red dragon that he saw earlier materialized once again up close. As it was taking form, the black dragon head turned to him. At that moment, Zane could only think of one thing to say.
“Trigger.”