The Beast Tamer Clan's Monster Overlord

Owen blinked, his senses groggy and his head still spinning. His vision adjusted slowly, the world blurry around him as bits of rock crumbled from his slick, scaled body. The ground beneath him felt strange—cool and smooth. He blinked again.

"Where… am I?" he muttered, his voice echoing in a new, deeper tone.

He slithered instinctively yes, slithered and paused, stunned by the motion.

Suddenly, a familiar voice filled the room, amusement clear in the tone.

"You're finally up, sleeping beauty."

Owen turned—or at least tried to. His long body coiled as his eyes locked onto the figure leaning against the wall, arms crossed and grinning.

"Axelius?"

"You've been out for a month and a half," Axelius said with a grin, pushing off the wall.

"A month and a half?! What the heck?!" Owen's voice cracked slightly. Then he paused, alarmed. Something felt… off. His head turned again, and he saw something long and black gliding alongside him with his movements.

"…Wait. What's this? What's extending from me?" He blinked. "What do I look like?!"

Axelius casually tossed a small mirror from the nearby table. "Here. Take a look, beastie."

Owen caught the mirror awkwardly between his coiled tail and stared.

His jaw dropped. "I'm a snake?!"

"Obviously, bud," Axelius said, holding back a laugh. "But not just any snake."

"I'm a snake…" Owen repeated in disbelief.

Then a memory flashed.

[System Notification: Evolution Complete – New Form Acquired: NARGACRYPTA]

"Nargacrypta… That's what the system said!" Owen's eyes widened even more. "What the heck, how am I a Nargacrypta?!"

Axelius' eyes lit up with curiosity. "Wait, you're a Nargacrypta? Whoa! If you grow to be like the mother Nargacrypta, that would be damn cool! But You don't have the spiky scales of Nargacrypta"

"Well, maybe Nargacrypta babies are born like this," Owen said.

Owen stared at his reflection again. His scales were like obsidian glass, glossy and slippery. No horns, no signature spikes of the Nargacryptas.

"…I look more like a Beast Serpent," he muttered.

Axelius smirked, resting a hand on Owen's head. "Then grow into it, my guy. Can't wait to see you wreck stuff with your new form."

Owen's long, slick body coiled slightly on the marble floor, the sunlight from the tall windows reflecting on his glassy black scales. His tongue flicked out, testing the air as he tried to wrap his head around what had just happened. His eyes darted to Axelius, who was now leaning against the nearby desk, arms crossed, one brow raised.

"How come your new form is… a Nargacrypta?" Axelius asked, his tone genuinely curious now that the initial excitement faded.

Owen looked down at his serpentine body, the faint shimmer of mana occasionally flickering through his veins. He narrowed his eyes and tried to recall everything.

Then suddenly, words flickered midair in front of his vision—System Notification.

[Due to prolonged exposure and internal breakdown of the Nargacrypta egg consumed, the shell's dense energy-rich composition has been absorbed and selected as the foundation of your new evolutionary path.]

"…What?" Owen muttered under his breath. His thoughts were racing.

Axelius can't see the system words. "So? What's the answer?"

Owen flicked his tongue again and finally spoke, "The system said the egg's shell… the Nargacrypta one I swallowed? It was too thick to be digested. Over time it broke down and got absorbed. The energy from it… became a part of my evolution path."

Axelius blinked, then a slow, amazed grin spread across his face. "Whoa. So basically you're that Nargacrypta baby?"

Owen stared at him. "I guess? I mean… I didn't think it'd go like this."

Axelius laughed under his breath. "Damn. I wonder what the original Nargacrypta would think. If she sees you again, will she recognize you? and try to eat you?"

Axelius suddenly grabbed Owen, lifting the long serpent form with ease and slinging him over his shoulder like a scarf. Owen yelped, squirming slightly but not resisting too hard.

"Owen," Axelius said, his tone suspiciously gleeful, "you'll be shocked at what I made."

Owen narrowed his eyes, tail flicking behind him. "What? Don't tell me your in trouble?!"

Axelius chuckled as he stepped toward the window, his grin stretching wider. "Not this time."

Just then, perfectly timed, the roar of an engine echoed from below. Cyruz appeared, carefully trying to maneuver a sleek, obsidian-black vehicle.

It shimmered with runic veins and mana cores visibly pulsing across its surface. He nearly swerved into a statue, frantically turning the wheel and muttering curses.

Owen's eyes bulged. "Wait?! Is that what I think it is?!"

Axelius beamed like a child showing off his first invention. "Meet the Archavan V1—official prototype of Hiro Industries."

"Whoa?! You actually built it?! In just a month?!" Owen twisted to get a better look, his jaw practically unhinged in shock.

Axelius nodded proudly. "Had some help, of course. My main investor is… a princess."

Owen's head snapped so fast it made a cracking sound. "What?! Did you threaten a princess?!"

Axelius laughed. "Relax! I didn't threaten her. She offered."

Owen stared at him.

"…Okay maybe I hinted at some dangerous consequences if she didn't believe in the project," Axelius added with a sheepish shrug. "But come on. I was very charming about it."

Owen hissed in disbelief. "You don't 'charm' people with explosions and blackmail."

"It worked, didn't it?" Axelius smirked. "Now we've got a working mana vehicle that could outrun most Beast horses."

Owen suddenly drooped on Axelius's shoulder, his body losing tension as if a switch had been flipped.

"Whoa, you okay?" Axelius asked, quickly catching him before he slipped off.

"Yeah… I… I just felt tired," Owen mumbled, his voice groggy, eyelids already heavy.

Without wasting time, Axelius gently carried him to the small bed tucked into the corner of the room the one Owen always used when he stayed over.

He carefully laid the serpent down, watching as Owen instinctively coiled into a tight spiral. Within seconds, the soft sound of his breathing evened out. He was already asleep.

Axelius smiled, brushing some shed scales from the bedding. "Alright. Rest up. I've got more things to show you tomorrow," he whispered.

He walked over to his own bed and flopped onto it with a content sigh. Staring at the ceiling, he grinned and raised both his hands toward the sky.

"I can't wait to grow up and buy my own land," he said.

He imagined it fields of his own, A place he could call home. Not just a base or hideout… a true sanctuary Like when he dreamed of making his own base back in Earth.

"And I'll build A whole compound. Maybe even a flying platform for Flying Archavans…" he mumbled to himself, his eyes growing heavier.

"Gotta remember to upgrade Hiro's boosters… Oh! And install that stealth drive…"

His thoughts drifted as sleep pulled at his mind. With a last sleepy grin, he whispered "Someday, we'll have everything, Owen. Just wait."

And then he, too, fell asleep.