I could feel a force of energy swim through my veins as I heard Grandpa’s voice warble and speak my name. It settled over me like a blanket of raw force as my bones creaked and groaned and my body expanded. I knew I had changed but at the moment I didn’t have the chance to see everything as a pain was suddenly blooming in my chest!

“Resist that pain Stygian, that is the pain of your mana and lifeforce becoming solid and forming your dragonheart. Resist boy, Resist!” Grandpa yelled which drew the attention of my parents.

“What’s happening dad! Why is the little one screaming in pain!?”

I was screaming? I couldn’t tell because everything was already blending together and blocking out all except for the pain of lava burning away my insides as it moved through my body and into my limbs. I resisted for as long as I could like Grandpa wanted me to and after what felt like an eternity of pain it finally settled down to a dull throb and muscle ache like I just left the gym after a four hour intense workout.

I lay there on the ground panting and moaning in pain but that was all I had the energy for. Thankfully I was slowly starting to notice voices speak up around me and I was able to open an eye to view everyone even if it was blurry at the start.

“His name is Stygian and this was the formation of his Dragonheart.” Grandpa said which was followed by gasps from mom and dad.

“How could you do something like that dad! He is just a hatchling, that isn’t something that should happen until he is atleast 10 years old and has learned the basics of our kind!”

Dad was furious but grandpa and even took a step forward towards him with fists clenched and even his control over his form faltering as scales were growing over his skin and his dragon horns were starting to show. But before he could do anything Grandpa just waved his hand and what felt like a gravity wave slammed into dad and knocked him back into the wall behind him.

“Do not threaten me boy, I did what I thought was in his best interest for the upcoming invasion. The younglings of this generation will now be forced to learn much quicker than in the previous to survive. You think I wanted to harm my grandson? You think I felt joy watching and feeling his bones snap and break to grow bigger and stronger?”

I seen as Grandpa wiped an arm across his face and sniffed and I realized that he was crying…. Was it really that bad? I know that it was painful but was the outward showing really that bad?

I tried to stand up but my legs were so weak that I just fell back down again with a grunt.

“Ugh, I don’t feel so good.”

I looked up to see everyone looking at me in shock.

……… “Wait, am I talking!?” I said and realized that I was actually talking! Not just speaking in my head…..

“Is this normal?” Mom asked with a look of shock and confusion on her face as she looked towards Grandpa.

“I-I don’t know, To be honest this was the first time I attempted this. I know his body had grown to accommodate the Dragonheart formation….. I guess this is to be expected with the forced aging.”

“You forced him to age? Not just forced his body to grow?” Dad said after pushing himself off the ground and wiped the dirt of his clothes. “So instead of being a hatchling, he is now a 10 year old dragonling?”

“Basically yes, Mentally he should have ages aswell since I infused the knowledge along with the naming in order to bring him up to speed…. But Again, this is the first time I tried this and only read about something like this being done before I was born sooooo yea.”

Mom and dad both looked at each other before sighing and coming over to help me up. Mom cast a spell and a green light covered my body and it helped to ease some of the soreness but the dull throb in my chest was still there.

“I’m sorry… Stygian. I didn’t know your grandfather had something like this in mind. Are you ok?” Mom asked as she wiped away tears that were sliding down her cheeks.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

I coughed a couple times and groaned again as I moved to get my legs under me for some stability and then nodded at her. “Yea, I think so? My mind is still fuzzy and I keep getting flashes of something but I can’t tell what they are? My chest also aches really bad and it’s a constant throb right now.”

“That would be your dragonheart. It’s empty right now and so it’s throbbing because of that. Sit down and try to meditate, I want you to try and feel the mana in the air around you.”

I did as she asked and after finally calming down enough to enter meditation, I started to feel a light prickling sensation all over my skin, I grimaced at the feeling.

“You feel that? That is the mana trying to be absorbed by your body. But since you just solidified your heart, you haven’t learned how to open your body up to the mana yet so it’s trying to forcefully enter. If what your grandpa said was true and he gave you the knowledge every 10 year old dragonling does, than you should be able to open your body up to it. Just relax and don’t fight the sensation, instead try to let it in the best you can.”

It was a weird sensation, almost like opening a floodgate and letting water rush through an opened dam. Except the dam was my skin and the water was an almost thick substance that filled me until my mind was hazy and then even more kept streaming in and I felt like I was going to explode.

“Now focus Stygian! Focus all of that mana inside your heart even if it hurts! This is the critical moment boy, do it!”

I focused as hard as I could into trying to condense everything into where I felt the throbbing in my chest, It hurt like a son of bitch as what felt like needles and knives were piercing my heart. Soon thankfully the feeling passed and the throbbing faded as a warm calming feeling spread through my veins and I felt as all the aches in my body from the forced aging was fading as well.

I let out a sigh of relief and opened my eyes to look up at my family.

“That hurt, but now it’s almost like a soft blanket has surrounded me.”

“Phew, man for a second I didn’t think it would work.” Grandpa said while he wiped away the sweat on his forehead. My dad punched his shoulder with an angry face but he turned to me and smiled as the worry faded from his eyes.

“I’m so relieved you survived Stygian. I don’t like that you were forced through this ordeal, but your grandpa has never been wrong about things like this. Things like this are one of the reasons he is the head of our clan. If he saw potential in you versus your siblings who shown elemental control at birth…. If that is the case then starting tomorrow we will begin your training.”

I was happy that he was going to start training me but I was still confused about how I looked so I gave myself a once over and was stunned at how much difference there was with just a simple name change…. Though I guess in this world, gaining a name using the power of a dragons soul makes a bit of a difference.

Staring down at my scales was like looking at shadows themselves, I could see solid scales but there was a layer on top of them that seemed to ebb and flow like a river but made of pure darkness. My claws had from just little nubs at the end of my digits to inch long obsidian like curved daggers.

I also noticed that my neck had grown longer and now I could turn and look over my entire body even my back, and upon doing so I was surprised yet again as I saw two small flimsy looking wings had sprouted from where my shoulder blades were! They looked like they were only vestigial as the wing membrane was underdeveloped and didn’t fully spread out but instead looked more like a webbing. Looks like I’m not going to be flying anytime soon….. That sucks. Well maybe not because I wasn’t to keen on heights back in my human body.

“That’s enough looking over your changes, Now’s the time for some rest. Tomorrow will be a hard day so you’ll need it son. Let’s go and get your squared away with your own room. Thank you father, I was upset and I did something I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry.”

Dad and grandpa made up and grandpa jumped into the air before transforming back into a huge western black dragon with huge wings and a big muscular body. The aura of power just from that act was almost overwhelming as the very air itself seemed to be worried about upsetting him.

*Goodbye Stygian, I will see you again soon to check up on you.* A voice that sounded like a deeper version of grandpa’s resounded in my head as I noticed his giant head was looking down at me with a pair of purple eyes that seemed to swirl into a deep abyss. He flew away as mom led me into the cave.

“Now just wait here for a moment honey. This will take only a second.” Mom then took a claw and drew a circle into the wall of the cave, I knew a magic circle when I saw one and had an idea of what this was about to do. But still seeing it an a webtoon versus seeing it in person was so different as I felt the very earth itself bend to her will as she imbued the circle with her mana.

At first the cave only shook for a second before an opening appeared to match a full grown dragons body and extended further back and expanded to the proportions of a room that could fit an entire house in!

“This is your new room honey, I hope you like it. Usually dragons start leaving the nest when they hit 10 years old to explore the surroundings of their home and learn more about the world. But since you are still only a hatchling me and your father thought it would be best if you still lived at home. Atleast until we are confident that you are strong enough to handle protecting yourself.