Solo Leveling: Ragnarok

I have a bad feeling about this…

Arsha, the Queen Bee, was watching from afar with extreme anxiety as Suho went about his business. The mana that poured out of him, seemingly without end, caused Ammut’s pyramid to shake in a decidedly ominous way.

The owner of the pyramid, on the other hand, appeared to be watching with interest. “Hmm. It seems like a very unorthodox way to hatch a dragon egg,” the crocodile commented.

In theory, the method should work, of course, though it was unclear if a normal dragon could really hatch this way. For starters, the egg was far too small. Under usual circumstances, it would need to receive mana showers from its parent for a very long time and grow to at least ten times its current size. But Kamish had died early, and the egg had been left stunted—and it was not growing at all, perhaps because Suho, who was not a dragon, was the one providing it with mana.

“Even if it hatches, it may either die prematurely or be stillborn,” Arsha said.

Beru, who was munching on a pile of mana crystals he had stolen from the black market, laughed at her. “Ha! How dare you speak that way! Do you think a mere dragon could compare to the noble blood of the Young Monarch? He himself is feeding it with mana. That energy is not the weak stuff that dragons produce! It should be honored!”

“Forget it…” Arsha muttered.

Ammut turned away from Beru and walked to Suho for the daily quest. “Now, now. While hatching that egg is important, you must do your day’s worth of training first.”

“Is it that time already?” Suho said, getting up. He was still holding Kamish’s Egg.

“Of course I do. My grandfather’s health depends on it. I am not going to waste any time,” Suho responded, continuing to push mana into the egg.

Ammut grinned from ear to ear at the hunter’s eagerness. “I like the sound of that! In that case, we will do one-armed pushups today!”

“Can’t be helped.” Suho didn’t complain as he wrapped bandages around his entire body like a mummy.

Ammut chuckled, looking even more pleased. “Wise, indeed! Why don’t we start off with a broken arm? Haha!”

The moment Ammut said this, snapping noises could be heard from Suho’s arm as he began his pushups. He frowned slightly but did not stop. He continued to use his other hand to supply the egg with mana.

“Everyone is out of their mind,” Arsha commented, looking disgusted with both teacher and pupil.

The egg continued to await its hatching, an ominous energy rippling around it.

***

Three days passed this way.

Despite Suho’s claim that he would finish the process in a day, the egg seemed no closer to hatching. It was impossible to finish in a single day something that took dragons a very long time. But Suho was desperate, as Sung Ilhwan’s well-being depended on it. He had been infusing the egg for three days straight, without getting any sleep.

“You wouldn’t have to work so hard if it wasn’t for me,” Ilhwan said bitterly, briefly visiting the Shadow Dungeon out of worry for Suho. Even as he spoke, cracks seemed to be appearing in his body. He would have to return to the void soon if he didn’t want to put himself at risk.

Then it happened.

“Huh?”

“Wow!”

“Eh?!” Beru said.

Gray barked.

Everyone’s eyes widened. Kamish’s Egg was finally showing signs of hatching.

[Rakan perks up his ears.]

[Querehsha crosses her arms and looks on.]

[Sillad…]

The dead Monarchs were also very interested in the process. This was natural, since the hatchling was none other than the descendant of the King of Dragons, Antares. Outside of the Monarch of Shadows, who had been the exception rather than the rule, Antares had been the strongest Monarch of all—and his heir was about to be born.

“Kieeek! Young Monarch! You must push on even harder!” Beru shouted, encouraging Suho.

Suho drank another bottle of potion and poured even more mana into the egg.

Suddenly, the shell broke apart, and a tiny lizard peered out.

“Oh! It’s here!” Suho said.

“Kieek! It’s really here!” Beru exclaimed.

“S-so it has finally happened…” Arsha lamented, closing her eyes.

Besides Arsha, everyone else seemed happy at the event.

A new dragon… That dangerous creature had really hatched from its egg.

The beast that Arsha was watching was truly a terrible sight. There was a short black horn protruding from its head. It had an elongated body and tail, like that of a lizard, with short arms and legs on the sides, stumpy black claws, and even miniature wings. Even though its size was tiny, this was clearly a dragon hatchling.

For some reason, however, the dragon had been staring off into space ever since it had come out of the egg.

Is it blind? Suho wondered, suddenly concerned. He was worried since the dragon had not been born under the usual circumstances.

It seemed such fears were unfounded, however. The dragon suddenly jerked to attention, its eyes wide open as it looked forward. Then it locked eyes with Suho, who was holding it in his hands.

Blinking with its round eyes, it grinned at him and produced a squeak. A notification appeared.

[Pet: “Red Dragon Level 1” has been acquired.]

“Oh!” The pet system hadn’t activated in a while. A name tag appeared above the creature’s head.

[?? - Level 1 - Red Dragon]

“Wow. It became a pet right away. Is it because I gave it my mana?” Suho muttered, looking at the system message. He realized that it had been a similar case with Gray.

[You can give a name to your pet.]

[Please choose a name for your pet.]

A name, huh?

While Suho considered the options, he suddenly heard a growling from next to him. Perhaps his first pet, Gray, felt instinctively jealous.

Gray began to bark and glare at the baby dragon, scowling and baring his fangs.

[Rakan nods in satisfaction at the bravery of his successor.]

This only lasted a moment. The dragon tilted its head, squeaking and turning around to look at the wolf. Gray suddenly shut up and stared at the floor as if he had never been barking at all.

“Peep?”

The dragon looked confused, but for some reason, the wolf retained its somber air and did nothing else. When the dragon turned to Suho again, Gray resumed his vicious growling.

“Peep?”

Of course, Gray instantly calmed down again and lowered his gaze when the dragon turned back around. The transformation was surprising. Gray did not even forget to tuck his tail between his legs.

This caused great amusement to the Monarchs—all except one.

[Rakan quietly sighs.]

[Sillad bursts into laughter.]

[Querehsha doubles over and snickers.]

Suho couldn’t help but laugh, either, though he felt bad for doing so. “It seems to me that the dragon is higher in rank?” he guessed.

“Naturally. Even if it was born unnaturally and is too small, a dragon is a dragon, so— Eek!” Arsha was cut short as something like a whip suddenly grabbed her body and snatched it away. “H-help, Suho!”

It was the baby dragon who was responsible. It began to chew, and Arsha’s screaming slowly died down. Then it gulped.

It had happened far too quickly for anyone to react. Before Suho could even betray his concern, however, Arsha emerged from behind him, completely unhurt.

“Phew. No worries. That was just a copy, thankfully— Yikes!”

The long tongue snatched the copy of Arsha up again, and the dragon dined once more. It squeaked happily at Suho, which made it impossible for him not to laugh.

The Monarchs were amused—again, all except one.

[Querehsha puts her hands on her face and refuses to look up.]

[Sillad guffaws.]

“Oh, come on. What are you, a frog? Talk about being at the top of the food chain,” Suho said, grinning. “Why don’t I just call it Frog or—”

“Wait, Suho,” Ilhwan said, grabbing his shoulder. “If you will recall, we have a request to make of the King of Dragons. Don’t you think we should be a little bit more thoughtful about the name we give his heir?”

“Oh, you’re right. In that case…”

Ilhwan sighed with relief. His life depended on this, after all.

Suho considered again, recalling the name of a character that had appeared in a game he used to play. The character had been a spirit monarch who controlled fire, so the name seemed perfect for a red dragon.

“Ragnaros—or Ragna for short.”

The moment he decided on the name, it appeared above the baby dragon, which had been sitting on Suho’s hand and waiting for Arsha to appear again.

[Ragna - Level 1 - Red Dragon]

“Okay. That’s much better than Frog,” Ilhwan said, nodding with relief.

At that moment, dark red flames suddenly enveloped Ragna’s body. It squeaked at length in Suho’s direction.

[Passive Skill: “(Unknown)” has been activated.]

Suho sensed time stopping around him. His eyes glinted. His plan had been successful.

I didn’t know I would be able to meet the dead Monarch so soon! Something seemed off, however.

Agh…! Suho suddenly screamed. “Aghhh!”

This meeting with the Monarch seemed quite unlike the others, for some reason.

Aghhhh! Oh my god!

It was far too hot. It was as if Suho had swallowed scalding oil. An incredible pain floated down his throat and began to burn his very veins.

“Aghhhhh!”

Suho’s shadow began to bubble up, turning into a black flame that burned his entire body. His mind began to fade amid the horrible pain this caused.

He sank into a deep abyss, into a grayscale world that seemed to disallow light itself. There, he finally encountered a man sitting on top of a giant dragon’s head.

So this is him! It was Antares, the King of Dragons and the Monarch of Destruction. He was looking Suho up and down haughtily.

“You…”

The familiar energy that the Monarch sensed from Suho caused him to suddenly grin, baring his teeth in a hideous manner.

“You are the son of the Shadow Monarch!”

The malice from the former Monarch felt hotter than lava as it swallowed up Suho’s body.

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