As I was strolling along the sidewalks, I discovered the most interesting item that I've ever encountered. A dark red jewel marble, entwined with three different strands of metal thread, made of gold, silver and some sort of black metal.
The most interesting point of all this is that while the design was simple, there didn't seem to be anything like it. Especially because of the black metal. It was unlike anything I've ever seen.
I searched it up and it seems like there are a few metals that can be black. But this metal seemed to be far different from them.
Because unlike those metals, the metal threads around the jewel were emitting a yellow shine to it. In fact, all of the metals were doing the same thing. And I was unsure of why.
I assumed it was an optical trick in which the golden light reflects off the silver as yellow and then shines on the black as a dull yellow light, giving me that perception. But I was sure that it was actually glowing.
I could feel it! But, rationally speaking the yellow might actually be some spray paint or some gross junk that's been over it and that's why it's like this. Bearing that in mind, I decided to give it a good clean.
Since I was alone at home today, I was glad my siblings weren't annoying me by staying in the bathroom for privacy and for the Wi-Fi connection that's for some reason really strong in there.
And with that, I was able to give the marble a quick clean up under warm, soapy water. And, as expected, it really was dirty!
By letting it soak in the water, the dirt and possibly grease and oils on the jewel, was no longer on it and was shinier than before!
Only thing to do now was to dry it and it would be perfect. A towel dry was fine for now as I wanted to be quick with it and I didn't know how to clean under the metal.
"There! Nice and clean." I utterly adored the jewel, it was beautifully made. It's simplicity was what made it unique.
As I exited the bathroom, an unusual thing occurred. Light shone from within the jewel, and suddenly beamed out. A sphere of scarlet light orbited around me, condensing into an actual shape and form.
As the light faded, I could hear an irate voice growling at me. "I have awakened once more.... Thousands of years inside my Meteor, my Receptacle! Too long I have waited to be free once more!" A small figure appeared before me. I estimated it to be around, ten centimetres? Or a little more than that.
It was a serpentine creature with red scales and a yellow underside. Its eyes were golden, with azure blue pupils.
Its spindly, weak-looking appendages had four fingers and five toes on each limb. With its hands having sharp, black claws.
The creature had very prominent features, such as its blood-red horns that were spiralled with black. Long golden whiskers that sometimes looked to be aflame. Black spines that ran along its back.
And its tail that ended in a somewhat bushy black brush tail.
Rather than screaming and running away, or even trying to kill it like a normal person would. I clasped it in my hands, gripped it tight and inspected it closely.
As I grabbed it, the unknown creature yelped. Shouting out at me to let it go, hearing its words all I cared to reply back was; "No."
I was too intrigued with the creature, wanting to know why it was here, how it could float and what it was.
And to get the answers, I needed to ask the right questions. And the first one was obviously: "What are you?"
Hearing this, the creature suddenly squirmed slightly and phased through my hands. Which I was impressed by. "Neat."
"Haha, that is neat? Well I shall tell you something even better! I am a Celestial! An entity that wields and can grant other beings incredible cosmic power! Since you have found my Meteor, I consider that fate. And as such, you are my new master!" The creature was very formal and triumphant.
They were quite amusing to behold. Chuckling, I decided to ask another question. "Who are you though?"
The creature nodded and floated at my eye level. "I am Long, the Celestial that represents Extinction. Billions of years ago, I manifested when an event that you humans call the Great Oxidation Event occurred and caused a mass extinction of all life on Earth at the time. I was unnamed and took no particular form then. But then, in what was once Ancient China I was discovered and summoned by a powerful mage. He gave me a body to reside in, and a name to call my own."
Long was very informative and explained much of his origins, even if it was a bit of a tirade.
"I see... Can I call you something else as I feel that calling you Long is a little strange for me. Also, what are your pronouns? I've wondered how pronouns worked for those that are not humans for a while now, so I'm curious." I was unsure why the mage named Long, well Long. But there may have been a good reason. After all, it may mean something in Chinese.
I'll search it up later, but for now it feels strange calling someone Long, as it always makes me think of the word long instead.
On another note, I truly was curious to see how a creature like Long would see gender. Wait, do they even have a gender?
Long chuckled, "You are my master now. You may address me as you wish. Oh, and I do not have a gender. But I refer to as male due to my preferred human form."
"You have a human form?" I was surprised to learn that he was able to change forms, but thinking about it now, that could be expected from a creature literally known as a Celestial.
In response to my reply of surprise, he merely nodded. I reciprocated and then went to deliberate over a new name for him.
It was frustrating coming up with one on the spot, but as I was about to give up and just refer to him as Long. I recalled that he referred to himself as a Celestial.
And what's associated with the word celestial? Celestial bodies. Like stars. And stars form constellations. And there is one constellation I know of that is referred to as the Dragon Constellation; Draco. But that would be too on the nose, so I decided to name him after it's brightest star.
"Eltanin. From now on you are Eltanin. Draco's brightest star. The Dragon of Extinction." I smiled at the small creature, hearing his new name seemed to make him very happy.
"Eltanin! I like the sound of that. Very well then. I believe it is time for me to teach you the ways of a Dragon. First we learn what a Meteor is. Are you ready?"
"Born ready!" I exclaimed aloud without hesitation. I was excited just thinking about it!
____
Over the next thirty minutes, Eltanin gave me a run down on how the system worked. Basically, the jewel I found was called a Meteor.
Which is a miniature world of its own where Eltanin is free to roam in until he is summoned by a new wielder.
The way to summon a Celestial from its Receptacle is to basically wear it. But, when in its marble form, the only way to summon a Celestial was to rub the metal threads thrice.
Which made sense now as to why Eltanin only appeared after having dried it with a towel. Since I only rubbed on the metal twice during the cleaning process, with the drying being the final one that let him out.
Another thing to mention is that every Meteor can take on a different appearance for camouflage depending on their wielders, but will always be the same type of accessory. However there are exceptions.
And that is when they are in their most primal states, as a marble, it is possible to change its form into something else.
And that's what I was about to do later. But before all that, I needed to learn more about Eltanin's powers and what he could give me.
So apparently, by adorning the jewel, me and Eltanin are basically in a master-servant relationship. Which enables me to impose rules and restrictions upon him whenever I wish to.
And when needed, I can borrow his powers by transforming. Which entails me becoming the new Guardian of something Eltanin did not explain to me. Infused with the power of a destructive dragon.
When infused with his powers, I become able to command natural disasters. Ranging from summoning the different elements in a storm, shaking the world, set places ablaze and many other things.
But for now since I did not have much experience, I was stuck in Novice Mode and was unable to use it infinitely. Although, me being not an adult also played a part in it since apparently when one reaches a certain age, possibly adulthood from Eltanin's conjectures, I was unable to go into Master Mode and stay transformed even after using the power stored inside the Meteor.
To put it in simpler terms, after transforming I was on battery. I had five uses for when borrowing Eltanin's power and when that's all used up I have ten minutes left before the Meteor goes flat.
All of this was very interesting and new to me, especially regarding the power of Extinction. And I couldn't wait to try it out.
But before all that, first, I had to give the Meteor a new form.