The Dragon Heir (A Monster Evolution/Progression LitRPG)

Alice moved with a stick in hand, scratching a strange symbol into the dirt.

"I've seen this marking show up in so many places, it's starting to feel like more than just a coincidence," she said. Belle nodded along, eyes on the forming lines.

I crouched beside them, studying the symbol. I couldn't tell heads from tails. The middle circle looked like it was meant to represent a moon, round, simple, but there was an eye drawn beneath it. Alice mentioned it was supposed to be golden.

Lotte didn't chime in. Looked like this mystery was mine to chew on. Alice had apparently come across this same symbol more than once while running errands for the elves. I, on the other hand, came up blank. I didn't recall seeing it anywhere.

Well… maybe back in that dungeon, when Gwen crashed the ritual and turned that newborn Gold into dinner, but there hadn't been time to stop and admire the wall art.

I shook my head. Pointless to dwell on it now.

"Doesn't ring any bells. Moving on, any updates on elf movement?"

"As part of the plan, I was sent on recon with a few of them," Alice replied. "Seems like they're onto you, Mistress."

"I figured as much."

"Don't know how they connected the dots, but your mug's basically on a wanted poster. Command reads 'kill on sight.'"

I let out a dry laugh. "They're welcome to try. The real question is… are they working with the Iron Pact?"

"I'm… slightly convinced. One team was definitely headed toward Pact territory, but a bunch of others were sent off in different directions. We're talking hundreds of elves in motion, Mistress. I think they're scrambling now that you knocked their plan sideways."

I sighed. "Too bad we don't even know what that plan was. If I had to guess, some massive ritual or a theft job. They're so tight-lipped about it that they silence their own using soul magic. And if anyone tries prying the truth out, they mutate. Horribly."

My tail flicked in frustration, and I stomped the ground.

"I've seen paranoia before, but these elves take the cake and set it on fire."

I turned to Alice. "Have they started suspecting you yet? You are still hijacking that lightning mage, right?"

"Not yet, Mistress. But I had a close call with a gold core recently. I think he sensed something off, but couldn't pin it. He was a nature cultivator, not exactly known for sharp perception. If it had been a water cultivator? We'd be in real trouble. Thankfully, haven't run into any of those."

"Stay cautious anyway."

"You look different, by the way, Mistress."

Right. This was the first time they were seeing me in my new form. I puffed up a little, tail flicking again.

"I evolved. Again."

Alice applauded. Belle unleashed a gleeful "Squee!" as her perpetually grimy broom snapped into existence beside her, vibrating with enthusiasm.

The new form might have gathered a bit of existential dust, but no – housekeeping was definitely not on the agenda!

After some tug-of-war and Belle looking like we'd just executed her puppy, we finally wrestled the broom from her death grip. Her expression curdled into pure, distilled misery.

Honestly, I didn't think cleanliness mattered in this dreamscape, but I didn't say that out loud. No need to make her more sulky.

We spent a bit more time gathering information, but eventually, I called it. They weren't giving someone like Sara, Alice's current host, an uncontracted Drakkari mage, any of the real secrets. She was just a familiar face they could use to navigate the city, gather scraps, and relay intel for recon teams. Convenient. Disposable. Still, they were apparently pleased with her performance so far.

But what if they tried offering her one of those soul-binding contracts?
Would they notice she was already under someone else's control?
Hard to say. But it didn't seem like something we needed to worry about just yet.

Besides, I was banking on Lysska prying something out of Thibault soon. If she failed, we'd be back at square zero, and I'd be pissed.

With that thought, I wrapped things up and turned to Lotte, who let out a long yawn.

As for why she hadn't said a word earlier? It was rather simple.

"I need to sleep too," she said.

Sure you do.

I doubted it, but what was I going to do, argue she didn't need rest?

So I let it go and pulled myself out of the dreamscape. Time to get back to the waking world.

I'd been wanting to explore the water tunnel in that dream a bit more, check in on Brana and Vernia, and see how they were holding up after everything. But right now, I didn't have the luxury of time.

Maybe once I finished upgrading my organs, I could spare a moment. I'd get to it then.

****

Haaah. The skies never felt so good. I soared high above the city, wind slicing past as I bit into the neck of some oversized vulture-beast that dared fly near me. The thing tasted like spicy potatoes. Weird. But not bad.

I swallowed it whole, waited, and… nothing. No morphogen gain notification.

Figures. It had been too easy. Weak prey.

Still, it rubbed me the wrong way, how low the morphogen yield had become. Even more so with dungeon delving on my mind. The rarer high-tier monsters were bound to give better rewards, sure. But the idea of clawing through beasts at my tier for a measly two morphogen each? Frustrating.

Meanwhile, the system would probably hand me ten times that just for putting a few elves in the ground. The deeper I went into this, the more obvious it became just how tightly the system controlled monsters… and how generous it was when rewarding actions aligned with its "goals." Especially its hatred.

Not that I'd stoop to hunting stray elves purely for the payout. I wasn't that desperate.
But if they kept parading their bastard credentials… proving themselves walking, talking moral deficits? Well, turning their corpses into a modest morphogen windfall wouldn't exactly haunt my sleep.

Anyway, back to the good news.

Thalador. Finally… finally, my precious organs were about to get the upgrades they deserved.

As for future morphogen income? I'd cross that bridge later. I mean, who knows?

Maybe Fate would just casually lob a platoon of pointy-eared annoyances into my forest path… gift-wrapped with a silver bow.

…

Honestly? I'd barely raise an eyebrow.

I flew over the forest.

Endless. One moment, civility's concrete skin packed with millions; the next, this abrupt eruption of feral green. The whiplash hit like the first time. Towering trees sprawled in every direction, their canopies stitching a living quilt over hills and rivers glinting like spilled mercury under the moon. Far off, mountains hunched like sleeping giants, the whole scene draped in a tranquil, silvery shroud.

Calm. On paper.

But life pulsed beneath. Monstrous shapes hauled themselves through the understory. Predators flowed like oil slicks, silent and intent. Prey flickered through the brush with survival-honed twitches. This forest didn't sleep – night was its true heartbeat, its pulse only quickening after dark.

Eventually, I spotted a clearing, a wide, open patch in the middle of the dense wild. Big enough to land and maybe even big enough to set up a leafy nest for my next round of mutations. I banked down toward it, but the moment my claws touched earth, something unusual caught my eye.

Perched on a thick branch was a creature.

A beast that looked like someone had mashed a cat and an owl together and decided not to tone anything down. Feline body. Owl face. Four legs, but also wings and talons. And—

"Why is it so damn fluffy?!"

Fluffier than Belle on her most unkempt day. A comparison wisely kept locked behind my teeth.

I'd apparently developed a weakness for soft, adorable things. Probably a lingering side effect from all the plushies my father used to bring home. Now that I thought about it, I did have a similar owl-cat plushie as a kid.

Guess I never grew out of it after all.

And now… there it was. That exact plush, seemingly come to life.

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I drifted down for a closer look, but my Air Sense immediately pinged me. Multiple presences. Surrounding the owl-cat.

That's when I noticed them, sleek, black panther-like creatures with narrow eyes and tense muscle lines. They were circling. Predators. The owl-cat wasn't small either, it was easily the size of a small horse, but it was wounded. Blood matted its fur in patches, and its chest rose and fell in labored breaths. Cornered. Outnumbered. About to become someone's midnight snack.

For a moment, I just hovered there. Watching.

But… it was so fluffy.

I couldn't let the fluff die. Panthers, on the other hand were ugly, lanky things. No emotional attachment there.

As the lead shadow launched, I moved.

Tentacles snapped out, snared the panther mid-pounce, and applied instant, catastrophic compression. A wet crunch, then the mess got vacuumed into my maw. Gone. Efficient.

The remaining panthers froze. Alertness spiked. Muscles coiled like springs. Eyes darted through the canopy, pupils blown wide, lips peeled back over fangs. Even the owl-cat flinched hard, looking like it might spontaneously combust from sheer terror.

Aww. I didn't mean to scare the poor fluffball.

I thought the display would be enough to make the rest retreat. Apparently not.

The panthers rallied, snarling and shifting into attack formations.

Oh well. Hunger pangs were nudging me anyway.

Let them come.

Snacks, after all, were just snacks waiting to be collected.

I descended and got to work.

"One by one" meant six simultaneously, four tentacles, two claws. Erased in a blink. Snatched mid-pounce, crunched like overgrown crickets, swallowed whole. Midnight munchies, extra crispy.

Ahhh… nom nom.

By the time I licked the last bit of fur from my claws, I'd earned three more morphogen. Not bad for an accidental rescue mission.

The owlcat was still frozen, petrified on the branch. I dropped my Phantom Dragon Dance and flashed a (hopefully) reassuring smile, and gave a cheerful little wave.

…

It immediately keeled over and fell off the branch like a sack of bricks.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

I swooped in and caught it mid-fall. Thankfully, it was still breathing, just unconscious, probably from blood loss and pure terror. Poor fluffball.

I gently laid it down under a tree, checking the area with Air Sense. A few scattered creatures in the underbrush… all moving away from me now. Smart. I liked that.
At least I'd have some privacy.

The owlcat was still bleeding, though. I didn't have any potions on hand, but I remembered something useful: there was a stream nearby, and a certain healing herb liked to grow along its banks.

Didn't take me long. A quick foraging trip later (yes, I had to shift back to my half dragon form because my claws were not made for delicate work), and I returned clutching moss and starry white flowers. Their scent and texture matched the ingredients used in basic healing salves, close enough. Not 100% certain, but hey, desperate times.

I crushed the herbs into a pungent poultice and packed the owlcat's wounds. Life-support. Should buy it time while I handled… internal renovations.

I tore a mountain of leaves, sculpting a makeshift nest. Showtime.

Stat screen bloomed in my mind's eye:

Mutations:

Eyes: Focusing Lenses, Peripheral Optimization (III)

Claws: Claw Flexibility, Razor-Edge Claws (III)

Scales: Colour Adaptation, Shock-Absorbent Scales (III)

Wings: Hollow Bones, Mana-Infused Fibers (III)

Legs: Joint Flexibility, Mana-Responsive Cartilage (III)

Fire Gland: Mana Reservoir, Mana Conservation (III)

Macro-Trophic Sac: Stamina Surge Reservoir, Toxicity Neutralizer (III)

Mana Conduit Vasculature: Micro-Mana Control, Mana Conduit Resilience (III)

Dimensional Lamina: Resonance-Stabilizing Membranes, Phase Microfilament Clusters (III)

Dimensional Convergence Tendrils: Reactive Tendrils, Refined Neural Pathways (III)

Quantum Nexus (I) (+0)

Resources:

Skill Points: 71

Morphogens: 411

Time for fiscal reality.

Quantum Nexus straight to Tier 6? 325 Morphogen.
Any Tier 3 organ leaping to Tier 4? 65 Morphogen.
Not enough juice for both plus extras. Annoying… but navigable.

My gaze drifted down the list.

Macro-Trophic Sac stood out. It'd been absurdly helpful from day one, digestive enhancements, stamina reserves, healing support, poison nullification. Universally useful. Solid investment.

Still, the temptation was there. Dimensional Lamina, Dimensional Tendrils, Mana Conduit Vasculature, so many organs, so little morphogen.

I sighed.

Fine. I'd steel myself and leave the rest for later. Once I clawed together more resources.

With a final glance at my screen, I selected Macro-Trophic Sac and Quantum Nexus and braced for the mutation process.

Surely it wouldn't hurt anymore? I was a big, terrifying, evolved apex predator now. Above such petty discomfort.

…

OH.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

***

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. Early morning had finally arrived.

And the fluffy owlcat was gone.

Slipped away sometime during my mutation-induced screaming fit. Damn it. So much for my brief career as the merciful patron saint dragon of endangered floof.

Anyway, after an entire night of agonizing decision-making and forcing myself through twenty-five rounds of organ-mangling, the torture was finally over.

Not that I had a buffet of options each time the Quantum Nexus tiered up, just two choices at each level instead of the usual four. Weird, but honestly? A blessing. I despised the kind of upgrades where everything was good and I had to sit there debating for half an hour, torn between brilliance and brilliance.

Two choices still induced analysis paralysis, sure, but at least it was a manageable migraine.

Now that I'd come out the other side, I opened my mutation screen and gave my new powers a once-over:

Tier II – Stabilized Persistence
Enhances the structural coherence of Superposition Clones, extending their duration. Clones now remain active for an additional 2 minutes, increasing total lifespan from 3 minutes to 5 minutes. This significantly reduces the likelihood of premature probabilistic collapse.

Tier III – Manifold Expansion
The internal fractal architecture of the organ evolves further, expanding its dimensional capacity. This deepened structure increases mana storage and supports the generation of an additional Superposition Clone.
Maximum Active Clones: 3

Tier IV – Threaded Control
Grants the user the ability to manually interface with and control one Superposition Clone at a time within a range of 100 meters. During manual control, the selected clone's behavior is overridden by the user's direct input, while the remaining clones revert to autonomous probabilistic actions.
Cooldown Between Clone Switches: 10 seconds

Tier V – Quantum Displacement Buffer
Enables the user to redirect any amount of current damage to an active Superposition Clone via mana expenditure. If the transferred damage exceeds the clone's stability threshold, the clone is destroyed.
Upon clone expiration (natural or forced), the user may optionally trigger a Quantum Detonation, causing an unstable but powerful spatial blast centered on the clone's location.

Tier VI – Quantum Transposition
Allows the user to instantly exchange positions with any active Superposition Clone by spending mana.
Maximum Range: 100 meters
Cooldown: 30 seconds
This ability may be activated reflexively if triggered within 0.5 seconds of incoming impact, enabling emergency evasion.

"Woo…"
I guess.

Don't get me wrong, these upgrades were busted, no doubt. But busted to the point of redefining how I'd fight? I was allowed a moment of shell-shocked silence, okay? I just sat there, mentally blue-screening.

I surveyed my current clones.

Clone 1: Sniffing a dandelion like it held the secrets of the universe. Utterly botanically enthralled.
Clone 2: Practicing aerial ambush tactics on unsuspecting birds (or bird-adjacent monsters). Conducting feathery terrorism.
Clone 3… uhh?
Yawning dramatically beside me. It caught my eye, flashed a grin, and gave a jaunty little wave.

…Were these really shards of me?

No. Surely the original was more… dignified. Majestic. A paragon of draconic composure.

I am a noble dragon, thank you very much.

Still… watching them was like seeing fractured instincts run wild. Unfiltered facets of myself playing out unsupervised.

Curiosity piqued, I channeled 10 mana and triggered Quantum Transposition.

Blink.

I stood where Clone 1 had been, nose buried in the dandelion. Pollen. Ugh.

The displaced clone blinked, staring at its empty paws where the flower used to be. It let out a soundless sigh of floral mourning and plopped down, defeated.

Suppressing a draconic snort, I focused on Clone 2, asserting Threaded Control. My awareness surged forward, slipping into the clone like sliding into a new skin.

I was still me. But… now in the clone's body. My original self sat idle below, while I soared overhead.

Now that I was in my clone's body, I decided to test a few things. Forming some lightning runes, I channeled mana and launched a bolt at a nearby tree. It collapsed, smoldering and ablaze. Interesting. So they could use magic but their mana pools were noticeably smaller than mine. There wasn't a status screen for them or anything, but I could instinctively tell how much they had in the tank.

I pushed more mana into my fire gland and unleashed a flamethrower at another tree. It charred to a crisp in seconds. So, the organs were functional too. Though… I didn't think my clones had my Quantum Nexus. I couldn't feel it. The rest of the organs were present and accounted for. Just not that one.

Satisfied, I let go of my control over the clone. The clone staggered like a drunk, blinked, then immediately resumed its critical mission of avian terrorism.

Then, just as their duration ended, I felt a tug in my head. Instantly recognizable: the clones were glitching, parts of their bodies flickering in and out of existence. They didn't seem to notice, continuing whatever weird nonsense they were up to.

A prompt surfaced in my awareness. As if to ask: Do you want to detonate them?

Apparently, the upgrade came with a "powerful blast." Something I definitely didn't want going off here. I refused. They fizzled away instead, dissolving into harmless violet haze.

Wild.
Yeah.
Very wild.

Anyway, the next upgraded organ was the Macro-Trophic Sac:

Hyper-Efficient Digestion
The sac's enzymatic profile and microfold structures evolve dramatically, allowing the user to extract significantly more energy and magical essence from consumed biomass. Stamina and Mana gain from digestion increased by 50%. Additionally, digestion now yields 50% more Morphogens.

The first part wasn't all that relevant. What did catch my attention, though, was the increased Morphogen yield. I was severely lacking in those right now. Unless I planned on committing elven genocide, not ideal, my only real option was monster meat.

Something I'd do eventually… if fate allowed for it. Ugh. Still. Very helpful.

My focus was interrupted by a sudden squawk, and I turned just in time to see a fat owlcat flying toward me at high speed. It was wailing pitifully, bleeding from multiple fresh wounds.

With absolutely zero grace, it crashed headfirst into the ground before me. I stared, blinking.

It staggered upright, blinking back at me with wide, frantic eyes. Wounds glistening.
Then, as if realizing how bad an idea this was, it—he, I was pretty sure—began to nervously rub his wings together and made a run for it.

Too slow, Mr. Owlcat.

A tentacle shot out, wrapping around his middle, and I felt his body go slack, like he was ready to pass out again. He just stared up at me in pure terror.

"Try running," I growled, leaning down, "and I'll hunt down your entire bloodline. Turn grandma, grandpa, and your weird cousin Steve into dinner. Only if you run. Capisce?"

It nodded hastily, like it got the message. Well… I think monsters kind of understood me. The same way I understood them.

It meowed, pitifully, almost, but the meaning came through.

"Getting attacked again? Those panthers?" I asked.

It shook its head sharply. "Mrra!"

No, not them. And it wanted me to save them.

I glanced up at the sky. Eh, I had time to kill.

Shifted to half-dragon form (better for forest navigation) and followed the wobbling puffball.

Didn't take me long to get there. Even before I arrived, Air Sense was already painting a vivid picture.

And then I felt it. A vein of white-hot anger burst through my temple. Only one kind of species could make me feel like that.

Lean. Silks pretending to be practical. Knife-eared bastards.

Elves.

What the fuck were elves doing out here in this forest?