Asterion stood in a separate room, gazing at the dragon egg placed in the center.
"Morgan," he murmured calmly, and a curtain of darkness appeared beside him. From it emerged Morgan, holding Baskerville in her arms.
Looking at her, Asterion nodded. He had wondered if the girl could stay in the Black Space, where all his cursed spirits spent most of their time, but surprisingly, she had managed it. According to her, it was a comfortable place, like a bed where everything remained silent.
Morgan looked at her master and, for the first time, grabbed his clothes. "Brother..."
Her voice was cold and entirely expressionless. There wasn't a hint of warmth or even tenderness in her tone. It was completely robotic, devoid of any emotion.
Asterion knew that Morgan had emotions, but they were too weak to provoke any reaction in her. If there was one stronger emotion he sensed from her, it was love.
Her love for him wasn't romantic or even parental; she simply loved him.
"Did you enjoy your rest?" Asterion asked, running his hand through her hair. There was a smile on his lips as he felt the soft touch of her hair.
Morgan responded like a cat enjoying the affection of its owner, narrowing her eyes in pleasure and nodding. "Good sleep," she said, her voice now tinged with a hint of comfort.
Baskerville, in her arms, barked and lifted his head, expecting the same treatment.
Asterion rolled his eyes and petted the Demonic Dog without hesitation. Baskerville was quite dissatisfied with not fulfilling the duty he was created for. He was designed to protect and lay down his life for his master, so how could he be content watching his master face danger without his protection?
"Morgan, I'll send you instructions on what to do with the dragon egg. Remember, focus and don't lose concentration." After giving his favorite dog some attention, Asterion looked at Morgan and spoke in a calm tone.
Yes, he had moved past his previous thoughts of being able to combine both species to create something more powerful. Honestly, if it were possible, the chances of him accomplishing something even more insane were highly likely.
Morgan silently gazed at Asterion and nodded. "Yes, brother."
Turning toward the dragon egg, Morgan processed Asterion's instructions in her mind in an instant and began calculating the variations, the creation process, and even how to destroy it if necessary.
"Analysis complete," she murmured, raising both arms toward the dragon egg.
With her words, flames manifested around the egg. They were crimson, almost alive, forming the most horrific shapes you could imagine.
The crimson flame, which had been no larger than a fist, expanded to a ten-meter radius in mere seconds, covering the entire room, including Asterion himself.
Morgan's control was so precise that, even amidst the flames, Asterion remained completely unharmed—not even his clothes were singed.
Morgan's eyes glowed as she began to intensify the heat. Surprisingly, the dragon egg started absorbing the flames at a slow pace, which gradually increased over time.
What should have been a natural process, where the dragon mother would take months to produce enough fire for her offspring to hatch, was accomplished in just thirty minutes.
Morgan didn't stop. She initiated the second phase, murmuring in a cold, emotionless tone, "Begin the infusion stage of Cursed DNA into the specimen's body."
The dragon egg began to float in the air as its shell was effortlessly removed with a mere thought from Morgan.
Asterion looked at the small dragon submerged in the egg's amniotic fluid. Occasionally, the little creature's body would move slightly, showing that it was alive.
Morgan's eyes fell on the hatchling as her hands moved, extracting all the amniotic fluid, though the dragon itself didn't seem to realize it had, in theory, already been born. It remained curled up, sleeping peacefully.
A wound opened on Morgan's wrist, and a drop of black blood floated in front of her before plunging into the dragon's body.
"Initiating the process of transmutation, transformation, and mutation..."
The poor hatchling was divided into numerous layers—scales, skin, muscles, blood, veins, brain, heart, and organs—all separated, layer by layer.
Incredibly, all of the organs continued functioning normally, indicating that the hatchling was still very much alive and healthy.
What followed defied the logic of the entire world. Morgan, playing the role of a god, manipulated everything and anything she wanted with a cold and calm expression.
Asterion stood beside her, observing everything. Before his eyes, two pentagrams rotated, analyzing and recording the important data. His eyes gleamed brighter with each of Morgan's actions, as he noticed flaws in his original design of her. But that was expected; after all, he was human, and Morgan was far from it.
In Morgan's eyes, the dragon hatchling's DNA chain began to disintegrate with the infusion of her blood, gradually collapsing. It wouldn't take long before the hatchling would either become an abomination, in the best-case scenario, or a mass of melted liquid in the worst.
It was as if the DNA had been exposed to radiation, breaking it apart without the ability to reassemble.
If she were Asterion, she wouldn't have been able to reverse this. But she wasn't her master.
With a swift movement of her hand, the DNA began to reorganize itself in the most optimal way possible. If a Muggle doctor were to see the hatchling's DNA, they would be astonished, for it was completely unlike anything else on Earth.
It resembled black chains twisting around each other, forming something extremely solid with an appearance of great hardness.
However, Morgan knew that this DNA only appeared strong, but was actually incredibly delicate. If she attempted another reorganization, everything would collapse at once, and not even she would be able to keep the hatchling alive.
For the first time since her creation, Morgan discovered her own flaws—she was incomplete, so incomplete that many essential parts of her were missing.
But for some reason, she found she wasn't bothered by these flaws. It was as if it was natural for her to be flawed, almost as if the laws of the universe willed it to be so.
Her master's God Creation Plan flashed through Morgan's mind...
"My master and brother will not be able to make me evolve into what he desires..."
This was Morgan's thought after reviewing the very plan she had been created for. However, she didn't voice her thoughts to her master and instead began reorganizing the God Creation Plan, prioritizing Asterion's safety and interests above all else.
Asterion was unaware of Morgan's thoughts, his eyes entirely focused on the dragon hatchling. Its appearance was different from a normal Hebridean Black.
Amidst the dark scales, red scales were particularly visible. A crown of immature red horns adorned its scaly head. Its red eyes resembled hot magma.
Honestly, it didn't look much like a modern dragon hatchling. If not for the lack of arms, Asterion might have mistaken it for an Ancient Dragon hatchling.
It appeared larger than Newt's books described—about twice the size, making it roughly twice as big as a domestic cat.
Asterion examined the hatchling closely, trying to find any flaws or signs of extreme irritation that he expected from the infusion of Morgan's blood.
But after observing for a while, the hatchling's temperament seemed to mirror Morgan's own calm demeanor.
"Good work." Turning to Morgan, Asterion didn't hesitate to praise her, and she silently nodded in response.
Yet Asterion noticed the slight curve of her lips, indicating she was somewhat pleased with the compliment.
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Author's Thoughts:
I was a bit undecided while creating this chapter and even rewrote it a few times, but I think I did a good job. Let me know what you think.
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Next Chapter Second Volume: Chapter 191 - How to Train Your Dragon (2), Chapter 192 - How to Train Your Dragon (3), Chapter 193 - How to Train Your Dragon (4), Chapter 194 - How to Train Your Dragon (5), Chapter 195 - Dragon Race (1), Chapter 196 - Dragon Race (2), Chapter 197 - Dragon Race (3), Chapter 198 - Dragon Race (4), Chapter 199 - Dragon Race (5), Chapter 200 - Dragon Race (6), Chapter 201 - Dragon Race (7), Chapter 202 - Dragon Race (8), Chapter 203 - Golden Path (1), Chapter 204 - Golden Path (2), Chapter 205 - Golden Path (3), Chapter 206 - Battle in Desert City (1), Chapter 207 - Battle in Desert City (2).