24 — THE BOY WHO LIKED FIGHTING DATE: 22 January 2045 — Year 20 After the Descent LOCATION: UNITED EARTH The world feared monsters.
But over time— humanity discovered something more uncomfortable.
Sometimes the people who protected civilization enjoyed violence too much.
Not cruelty.
Not murder.
Something older.
Something instinctive.
And for the first time in years— AETERNUS ASGORATH MORNINGSTAR began questioning himself honestly.
OPENING WORLD POV — UNITED EARTH MEDIA NETWORK The footage spread across global networks before military censorship protocols could fully contain it.
Again.
A battle.
Always another battle.
This time inside the Northern Siberian Dimensional Frontier.
The recording quality distorted constantly because mana pressure disrupted observation drones.
Storms of blue-white frost swallowed entire mountain ranges.
At the center— AETERNUS moved through hordes of abyssal creatures like a living natural disaster.
No hesitation.
No wasted movement.
No visible exhaustion.
His humanoid form blurred across the battlefield with terrifying speed while purple frost compressed around clawed fists.
Then the footage slowed.
Frame by frame.
He smiled.
Not arrogantly.
Not sadistically.
Genuinely.
The kind of smile people made while doing something they deeply enjoyed.
That detail unsettled millions more than the destruction itself.
RANDOM CIVILIAN POV — NEO-LAGOS Inside a crowded Lower District restaurant, civilians watched the footage replay silently above holographic screens.
Steam rose from cheap soup bowls while rain hammered reinforced windows outside.
Nobody spoke immediately afterward.
APPEARANCE — ESTHER DANJUMA Twenty-three years old.
Slim build.
Dark brown skin.
Curly hair tied behind her head carelessly after work.
Tired amber eyes.
Old scar beneath her chin from childhood evacuation riots.
SYSTEM INFORMATION NAME: ESTHER DANJUMA RACE: HUMAN RANK: F-RANK MID AGE: 23 AFFINITY: SOUND CLASS: NONE SKILLS: MINOR SOUND DETECTION Esther quietly stirred her soup.
“…He looked happy.” Across from her, her older brother frowned slightly.
SYSTEM INFORMATION NAME: SAMUEL DANJUMA RACE: HUMAN RANK: D-RANK LOW AGE: 31 AFFINITY: EARTH CLASS: SECURITY ENFORCER SKILLS: EARTH REINFORCEMENT, BASIC COMBAT TRAINING Samuel leaned back heavily.
“Most strong hunters enjoy combat eventually.” “That’s disturbing.” “It probably has to happen.” His answer came too quickly.
As if he had already accepted it years ago.
Outside— Neo-Lagos emergency sirens echoed faintly through rain-covered streets again.
Humanity had become strangely comfortable discussing psychologically catastrophic things during dinner.
NORTHERN SIBERIAN DIMENSIONAL FRONTIER THREE HOURS EARLIER The battlefield no longer resembled Earth.
Massive dimensional fractures split frozen landscapes apart while corrupted mana storms consumed entire mountain ranges.
The sky itself looked damaged.
Black-red lightning spread across dimensional tears overhead.
Thousands of abyssal creatures moved below.
Most would have classified as regional disasters individually twenty years earlier.
Now they were frontline war casualties.
And standing at the center of the battlefield— was AETERNUS.
APPEARANCE — AETERNUS ASGORATH MORNINGSTAR Long white hair mixed with crimson and blue moved violently behind him in the freezing wind.
Beautiful blue eyes glowed faintly beneath six crown-like draconic horns curving backward elegantly.
A black combat coat lined with red-purple dragon markings fluttered around his body while frost crystallized across the battlefield beneath every step.
Purple rotated slowly around his fingertips.
Stable.
Compressed.
Alive.
SYSTEM INFORMATION NAME: AETERNUS ASGORATH MORNINGSTAR TITLE: THE FROZEN CALAMITY RACE: NEW GENERATION PRIMORDIAL DRAGON RANK: SSS-RANK LOW LEVEL: 1007 CLASS: DRAGON EMPEROR AGE: 39 AFFINITY: ICE HP: 9,670,000 / 9,670,000 MP: 19,210,000 / 19,210,000 SKILLS: RED BLUE PURPLE MULTIPLE PURPLE MANIFESTATION VOID FROST STEP DRAGON BODY ARTS WORLD FREEZE ABSOLUTE ZERO BREATH PRIMORDIAL DRAGON DOMAIN DRAGON KING’S PRESSURE TRAITS: FOUR HEARTS DRAGON ENERGY CORE MANA CORE AURA CORE MAXIMUM COMPREHENSION SUPERNATURAL REGENERATION PRIMORDIAL INSTINCT The abyssal creature charging toward him towered over eighty meters tall.
A Calamity-class dimensional predator.
Six arms.
Bone armor.
Hundreds of glowing crimson eyes.
Its roar distorted nearby space itself.
AETERNUS should have used Dragon Breath immediately.
Or Purple.
Or ranged annihilation.
Instead— he accelerated directly toward it.
Barehanded.
The collision shattered the mountain beneath them.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
AETERNUS drove his fist through layered abyssal armor with overwhelming physical force before twisting violently midair and slamming the creature across two frozen ridges.
The monster screamed.
AETERNUS smiled instinctively.
And that frightened him.
Not during battle.
Afterward.
FLASHBACK — YEAR 3 AFTER THE DESCENT Long before people called him: The Frozen Calamity.
The Battle Maniac Dragon King.
The Primordial Dragon Emperor.
He had simply been Ayomide Olaniyi.
Annoyingly attractive.
Competitive.
Loud when excited.
And constantly trying to look cool.
FLASHBACK POV — OLD ABUJA TRAINING GROUNDS “You only won because your affinity is unfair!” Temitope threw a towel directly at him.
A younger AETERNUS laughed while dodging easily.
At that time his appearance remained far more human.
Smaller horns.
Shorter white hair mixed lightly with crimson-blue streaks.
Bright blue eyes constantly full of expression.
SYSTEM INFORMATION — PAST NAME: AYOMIDE OLANIYI RACE: EVOLVED HUMAN (EARLY NEW GENERATION TRANSITION) RANK: B-RANK LOW AGE: 22 AFFINITY: ICE “You lost because you’re slow,” he answered immediately.
Temitope looked offended.
“You literally fly.” “And?” “That’s cheating!” Nearby trainees laughed openly.
AETERNUS enjoyed attention back then.
Actually enjoyed it.
He wore expensive jackets whenever possible despite constantly destroying them during combat training.
Styled his hair carefully.
Flirted casually.
Started arguments for entertainment.
Accepted public duel challenges simply because crowds gathered afterward.
Julie used to complain constantly about him coming home injured and smiling about it.
David once described him as: “A child pretending not to be excited all the time.” Back then— his emotions moved easily.
Naturally.
Humanly.
PRESENT POV — POST-BATTLE The battlefield had finally become quiet.
Frozen corpses covered shattered terrain while dimensional snow drifted slowly through the ruined frontier.
AETERNUS stood alone at the center of destruction.
His breathing remained steady.
Too steady.
No exhaustion.
No trembling adrenaline.
Only satisfaction.
That disturbed him more than the violence itself.
He flexed his clawed fingers slowly.
The physical impact still lingered inside his nerves pleasantly.
The collision.
The resistance.
The overwhelming domination of stronger enemies through instinct and force.
His dragon instincts rewarded battle emotionally.
Not metaphorically.
Biologically.
Psychologically.
Spiritually.
Victory felt good in ways becoming increasingly difficult to explain using human language.
And recently— close-range combat felt especially natural.
Too natural.
He remembered the exact moment earlier when the abyssal creature attempted to overpower him physically.
Something inside him had responded immediately.
Not fear.
Excitement.
Predatory excitement.
The realization sat heavily in his chest afterward.
INTERNAL CONFLICT AETERNUS loved many deeply human things.
He liked attention more than he admitted.
Enjoyed stylish clothing.
Liked making his sisters laugh.
Enjoyed eating with his family.
Liked music.
Liked competition.
Liked being praised.
Sometimes he intentionally acted cooler than necessary simply because it amused him.
Those parts still existed.
But increasingly— another side of him felt older.
Sharper.
Less emotionally expressive.
His instincts constantly evaluated: threats, territory, combat efficiency, predatory hierarchy, battle adaptation.
Even now— while standing beneath dimensional snowfall— part of him wanted another opponent to appear immediately.
That thought unsettled him profoundly.
RANDOM WORLD POV — TOKYO SKY DISTRICT Inside a high-rise café overlooking floating rail systems, university students debated the battle footage intensely.
SYSTEM INFORMATION NAME: REN ISHIKAWA RACE: HUMAN RANK: C-RANK LOW AGE: 20 AFFINITY: LIGHTNING CLASS: AWAKENED ENGINEERING STUDENT “He’s incredible.” Ren replayed the impact sequence again excitedly.
Nearby, another student looked uncomfortable.
SYSTEM INFORMATION NAME: HANA KUROSE RACE: HUMAN RANK: F-RANK HIGH AGE: 19 AFFINITY: WATER CLASS: NONE “…He enjoys fighting too much.” Ren shrugged casually.
“Wouldn’t you after surviving dimensional wars for twenty years?” Hana stared quietly toward the frozen image of AETERNUS smiling during battle.
“I don’t know.” Her voice lowered slightly.
“Sometimes I can’t tell if evolved people are becoming stronger…” “…or becoming something else.” IMPORTANT CANON REINFORCEMENT Throughout the dimensional universe— misinformation about AETERNUS continued spreading.
Ancient civilizations repeatedly compared him to extinct Primordial Dragon myths.
But the truth remained absolute.
AETERNUS was not: a reincarnation, a rebirth, a descendant, or a vessel.
The ancient Primordial Dragon was dead.
Gone.
AETERNUS ASGORATH MORNINGSTAR was entirely his own being.
Earth’s only New Generation Dragon.
And perhaps that uniqueness frightened the universe most of all.
Because no civilization understood how a completely new Primordial Dragon could exist naturally.
OLANIYI RESIDENCE — NIGHT The house remained quiet when AETERNUS returned home.
Most lights had already dimmed.
Rain tapped softly against reinforced glass while distant city lights illuminated the night faintly beyond Adamawa’s outer districts.
AETERNUS paused near the hallway mirror unintentionally.
For several seconds— he simply stared at himself.
The horns.
The eyes.
The aura pressure unconsciously leaking from his body.
Then his thoughts returned toward the battlefield.
Toward the satisfaction he felt while fighting.
Toward how instinctive domination had become.
A quiet uneasiness settled inside him afterward.
Because adaptation happened gradually.
Small changes.
Tiny emotional shifts accumulating over years.
Until eventually— something fundamental changed without anyone noticing the exact moment it happened.
AETERNUS lowered his gaze slowly.
And for the first time in a very long while— the Primordial Dragon felt afraid of himself.
FINAL LINE At what point does adaptation become transformation?