CHAPTER 90: FORGE THE NAME

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Fenna’s quiver slipped from her fingers and hit the basalt with a dull clatter. Star slept on, unaware of the chaos his body had courted.

And the satchel at Zephyr’s feet? Empty—

nothing but heat-creased emberfoil scraps fluttered like dead leaves in the morning breeze.

The three beast cores were gone.

Silence stretched between the pair, held taut like a bowstring. Only the ripple of pond water dared break it.

Something was changing inside that fledgling’s body —something not even the Emberwood forest’s oldest whisperers could have predicted. Power hummed in the air like a distant storm caught behind clouds, silent but swelling.

Zephyr and Fenna could only stare in shocked, unblinking awe as the sky lightened with the sun’s rays.

No one knew yet what hatched inside those swirling embers. No one could say if the fledgling they had raised would remain the same in soul.

But when Star’s eyes finally opened, the forest would remember. And the wind that brushed their basin—brisk, dry, fire-tinged—carried both promise and dread in equal measure.

Silence gripped the crater basin: sunrise caught in mid-breath, birds hushed, leaves still. Mana mist curled off Star’s expanded frame, two meters of coiled ember-scale—before dissipating into the warming air. Zephyr and Fenna stared as though a godling had landed in their camp.

Muse broke the spell with a slow, theatrical moo

. Aurora chirped once, half awe, half confusion, and fluttered up to perch on one of the new black-gold horns that curved from Star’s skull. The fledgling didn’t wake. His breaths were deep and even, tail occasionally twitching through soot-soft ash.

A translucent cobalt panel blinked into Zephyr’s vision, crisp letters floating just left of Star’s head:

[System Beast Notification-

Beast Designation: Star

Core Grade: advanced Rank E → Rank D

Mission Progress: 50 %

Stage 5 Unlocked — Forge the Name

Objective (total time 90 days):

Establish or join a recognized Beast Guild.

(Secure at least two trusted allies outside the current party.)

Elevate Star’s Core to Level-D High by official Guild appraisal.

Reward (Claimable on success): Heart of Dragon

(Penalty for failure: core atrophy and systemic backlash.)]

The panel pulsed once, then slid to the side of Zephyr’s peripheral vision like an obedient ghost.

"Forge the Name 50% complete!" Zephyr murmured, pulse ticking faster as he looked at Star’s gently smoking form. "He ranked up. I didn’t even guide him through it..."

He says to Fenna, "Star rank up. He is now a Rank-D beast."

Zephyr stared at Star, who was still curled in mist and soot, breathing slowly. "He... really did it. That’s Rank-D now. I can feel it—stronger core, denser mana."

Fenna’s face lit up with pure, unfiltered joy. "He’s not just growing... he’s ascending. That’s a real milestone!"

She stepped forward and, without hesitation, threw her arms around Zephyr’s shoulders. "Congratulations, Zep," she whispered. "Your little drake just leapt an entire tier. This... this is huge."

Zephyr smiled, letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. "Yeah. I just wish he hadn’t eaten our entire food storage to get there."

Fenna laughed, pulling back. "You’re not mad, are you?"

He shook his head. "Not really. How can I be? Look at him. We were barely holding our own against that Fire Leopard. With him like this... we’re a much stronger team now."

Fenna nodded, eyes gleaming. "And we’ve got options. The Free Guild will recognize you as an official Beast Pair if you register Star now. A Rank-D beast changes everything."

"Means higher tier missions. Better pay. More dangerous, too."

"We can handle it," Fenna said firmly. "And think about it. Now we can open our guild. Easily!"

Zephyr glanced at the satchel where the cores had been. "Still gonna miss those beast cores."

Fenna jabbed his side. "Come on. Your beast evolved overnight. It’s a celebration."

"Yeah," he admitted. "It is."

Muse snorted, nostrils flaring. Her bell jingled a reprimand.

Aurora hopped from horn to shoulder, chirping "Ra-ra!" as if to say she wants to grow big too, right now.

Fenna exhaled, letting tension leak from her shoulders. "You will grow soon. Let’s wait for a few days. First thing’s first. Does he wake?"

She approached, placing a cautious palm on Star’s neck. The scales were warm—not scalding and heated more sun-baked iron than forge. Mana vapor drifted slower now, settling in luminous freckles across new bone ridges.

"Pulse strong," Fenna whispered. She slid two fingers under chin to gauge breath intervals. "Ten per minute—higher than baby drake, but lower than the young drake norm. It’s Stable."

Zephyr knelt opposite. He brushed the last ember-dust from Star’s wings. The membrane had stretched wider, trans­lucent black veins glinting like charcoal threads beneath charcoal hide.

His eyes locked on the mist still rolling off Star’s flanks like steam rising from sacred spring water. The faint shimmer of newly molted scales gleamed beneath the early morning light, reflecting shades of silver and ember red. His wings, broader now and edged with faint runes of fire along the bones, twitch in sleep.

"He’s beautiful," Zephyr breathed. His voice teetered between pride and fear.

Fenna knelt beside him, her gaze soft and awed. "He’s not a fledgling anymore. That’s a real Rank-D dragon body."

Zephyr nodded, but his jaw clenched. "And that’s exactly the problem."

Fenna blinked, confused. "Problem? Zep, this is—this is a miracle. You don’t see leaps like this without months of training and a mentor—"

"Fenna." His voice lowered, sharp with tension. "If anyone finds out he’s not a Hollowback Hatchkin..."

Her breath caught. "You think they’ll—"

"I know they’ll try," Zephyr muttered. "You know the legend. What dragon parts can do to beasts, to core compression. A single scale—"

"Could evolve a whole E-rank beast," she finished grimly. "Or worse. With some forbidden bindings... someone could make him theirs beast."

Zephyr looked down at Star’s sleeping form. His tail gently thumped the dirt. "He has no defenses against soul-chains yet. If someone strong enough gets close with the right technique— he’s gone. Ripped away."