And just like that, 2 days had passed since Draco had been encapsuted in an egg-like shell.

  Within the fines of this peculiar co, Draco found himself in a state of limbo, uo form any coherent thoughts.

  Instead, he experienced a strange sensation of falling endlessly into a vast, dark space.

  It was as if his sciousness had been suspended, adrift in a formless void.

  Time seemed to have no meaning in this liminal realm, minutes blending into hours as Draco's sense of self grew hazy and indistinct.

  But then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the sensation of free fall gave way to a strange familiarity.

  Blinking his eyes, Draco found himself in a pce that, while entirely fn, seemed strangely reizable.

  "Wait, isn't this where I met... Undine?" he murmured, struggling to recall the details of the spirit who had guided him to this mystical realm before.

  Draco’s brow furrowed as he sed the ethereal ndscape, searg for any sign of the water spirit.

  "She is not here, child," a deep, rumbling voiswered, its tone resonant with the power of a summer storm.

  Draco startled his heart pounding as he whirled around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voibsp;

  "Who are you?" he demanded, a mix of trepidation and defian his tone.

  "What happeo Undine?" he demanded.

  Undine and the spirits had done him a great favour in the past, and they were one of the few allies that he currently had.

  Additionally, Draco felt especially ied to Undine, as she had been the oo guide him toward Bahamut.

  If he hadn't met her and followed his initial pns, he might have led his family to join another Familia.

  For all he knew, if he had joihe Loki or Freya Familia, would things be as they are now?

  When he had arrived in Orario, he didn't even know that his race, the dragon-kin, had enemies amongst the gods, much less who those enemies were.

  He still didn't know yet, but when imagining a situation where he had entered them before he found Bahamut, he shuddered at the thought.

  "Do not fret, young ohe voice replied, its timbre shifting to a more soothing timbre.

  "Undine has her duties to attend to, as do I. You ot yet perceive my true form, but know that I mean you no harm." It responded.

  Draco's shoulders rexed slightly, though a thread of uill coiled i of his stomabsp;

  "Then what do you want from me?" he asked, his gaze darting around the ethereal ndscape, half-expeg some t, elemental entity to materialize before him.

  "Nothing, necessarily," the voice mused, a hint of curiosity c its words.

  "I am merely intrigued by your... accelerated growth. Your kind is typically quite slow to mature, yet I sense a profound shift within you." It said.

  “So how has this e to be?” the entity requested.

  Draco hesitated, unsure of how much to reveal.

  He soon came to a decision, keeping his answer vague.

  "The goddess Bahamut... she has been helping me," he ventured, mindful of his w.

  He had fotten that the spirits could read his thoughts while he was in their realm, the spirit was merely asking out of politeness.

  "Ah, the Dragon Goddess," the voice murmured, a note of uanding in its rumbling bsp;

  "That doesn't still expin your rapid growth, but…..” it trailed, ging its question.

  “Tell me, young one, do you know the significe of your transformation?" it asked.

  Draco's brow furrowed as he sidered the question.

  "I... I'm not sure," he admitted, his hands g and ung at his sides.

  "All I know is that my life has been irrevocably ged sihe enter with the one eyed bck dragon. I've entered allies and now aware of enemies I never could have imagined, and I feel as though I'm on the cusp of something far greater than myself." be replied.

  The spirit fell silent for a moment, and Draco sensed a subtle shift in his surrounding.

  He felt somewhat unsure of what to say , as he couldn’t immediately e up with any pressing matters to discuss, he wasly very social.

  However, he was curious about the spirit's duties and the involvement of the water goddess, Undine.

  "Uh, so what now?" Draco asked, his tone veying a sense of uainty.

  "It seems your time here is drawing to a close," the voice rumbled, its toinged with a sense of finality.

  "What do you mean?" Draco asked, his heart rate quiing once more. "Where am I going?"

  "Back to the waking world, young ohe spirit replied, its words eg with a sense of iability.

  Drauttered a soft "Oh," feeling a sense of disappoi wash over him.

  Before he faded away, he figured he should at least ask one important question.

  "At least before I leave, you tell me when I will meet Undine again? She had said we would meet when I got stronger, but isn't my current self suffit enough?" he asked.

  "With your current growth speed, it should be quite soon. You're almost at the threshold of summoning the likes of her and maybe one a little higher." the spirit replied.

  Intrigued, Draco asked, "Then what about you?"

  The spirit let out a hearty ugh, leaving Draco perplexed.

  "Do not try to run after just learning to crawl, young one. You have yet to fully harness what you already have." The spirit paused, and Draco straio hear the rest, as his body fading accelerated.

  “Perhaps when you bee an anc…….”

  Before Draco could respond, the world around him began to blur and distort, the ndscape dissolving into a swirling vortex of light and shadow.

  Panic gripped him, but just as quickly as it had appeared, the disorientiion passed, and Draco found himself surrounded by a slimy textured substance.

  ………………………………………………………………………………

  Bahamut let out a deep sigh as she gently caressed the hardened shell that encased Draco's transf body.

  She had hoped his metamorphosis would not take this long, but now she found herself growing increasingly ed for his well-being.

  "When will you finally emerge, Draco?" Bahamut murmured, her brow furrowed with worry.

  She had no way of knowing what was transpiring within that imperable co, but she feared that Draight be suffering, trapped iual disfort until the process reached its clusion.

  Just then, a familiar voiterrupted Bahamut's pensive musings.

  "Bahamut-sama, we have returned," Dimitra announced as she approached the dragon goddess.

  "Oh, Dimitra. Wele back," Bahamut greeted the young girl, managing a small smile.

  "How is Draii? Any ges?" Dimitra inquired, her eyes filled with hopeful anticipation.

  Bahamut's expression turned somber as she shook her head.

  "No, nothing's ged," she replied, the disappoi evident ione.

  Uerred, Dimitra offered a reassuring smile.

  "e on, cheer up. I'm sure he'll e out soon," she said, her words an attempt to lift Bahamut's spirits.

  Bahamut couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth at Dimitra's efforts.

  'She's been so thoughtful and hardw these past few days,' the dragon goddess mused, a tender smile grag her features.

  Sihe dynamics of their retionship had shifted, Bahamut had been allowing herself to express a softer, more vulnerable side of herself – a side that Dimitra found endearing.

  The young girl felt a growing sense of satisfa, knowing that Bahamut would soon be her sister-in-w.

  However, Dimitra's thoughts soon took an ued turn.

  'What if Draii also gets together with Vasiliki, me or all of us? How would our family dynamics py out?' she pondered, a slightly uled expression crossing her face.

  The idea of referring to her own sisters or even herself as a sister-in-w felt peculiar, and the thought of also being Draco's sister-in-w was even more discerting.

  'Ugh, what a mess,' Dimitra thought, her brow furrowing in ption.

  Bahamut noticed the shift in Dimitra's demeanour and cleared her throat to draw the girl's attention.

  "Anyway, have you and Vasiliki decided when you'll be going to the guild?" she asked, steering the versation in a more practical dire.

  Dimitra blinked, momentarily pulled from her musings.

  "No, not yet. We still 't e to a decision," she replied.

  Since Draco had bee unavaible due to his transformation, Dimitra and Vasiliki had taken charge of the familia's affairs.

  They had informed Rose that the group was safe, though they were careful not to reveal too maails, reasoning that Draco would want to report their level-up to the guild himself.

  They also sold all the magic stohat had stored in the house, sharing the money between familia members using the format Draco had set up.

  Everyone’s dungeon gear were all repaired and paid for too, along with other miseous expenditure.

  The two sisters had also divided the family into two teams, each taking the lead in the dungeon.

  As bae fighters, they had a clearer view of the surrounding battles, allowing them to coordiheir team's movements more effectively.

  While the others didn't pin much, Dimitra was surprised to see Vasiliki taking on such a serious and responsible role, giveypically annoying personality.

  The goal was to quickly acclimate themselves to their newfound abilities, knowing that Draco would not want them to remain idle during his absence.

  They had been cautious, stig to the easier floors, aware that despite being level 2 adventurers, they were still retively inexperienced.

  However, Draco's absence had proven frustrating when it came t excelia.

  His magic had been instrumental in quickly log monsters, and without him, the familia members had to resort to more borious methods, just like most other adventurers.

  Bahamut houghtfully, uanding the challenges Dimitra and Vasiliki were fag.

  "I see. Well, take your time and make the decision that you feel is best for the familia," she advised, her tone reassuring.

  Dimitra heaved a small sigh, appreciating Bahamut's uanding.

  "We'll do our best to keep things running smoothly until Draii returns," she said, her resolve strengthening.

  CRACK !!

  Just then a crag sound came from Bahamut, the two dies a bit startled immediately turo the source.

  The egg that housed Draco was beginning to stir, which meant ohing……