Jelo looked at the system notification, surprised that he was eligible for a level up so fast. He'd gained experience from defeating the three monsters and the scientist, but he hadn't expected it to be enough to trigger an evolution. The timing felt almost too convenient, like the universe was giving him a reward for surviving the impossible.

But he couldn't think about that right now. There were more immediate concerns.

Jelo turned and went to meet Mira, who was still trapped in the dampening net. She looked up at him as he approached, relief flooding her features. Her clothes were torn, her hair was a mess, and there were bruises forming on her arms where the net had dug into her skin, but she was alive. That was what mattered.

"How do I free you from this thing?" Jelo asked, his voice hoarse from exhaustion.

Mira pointed across the room toward the opposite wall. "Switch box. Over there."

Jelo followed her gesture and spotted it—a gray metal panel mounted on the wall with several switches arranged in a row. He walked over to it, each step feeling like he was dragging weights behind him. His body was screaming for rest, but he pushed through the pain.

"Which of the switches should I pull down?" he called back to her.

Mira shrugged, her expression apologetic. "I don't know. But it's definitely one of them. The scientist didn't exactly give me a manual."

Jelo examined the switch box more closely. There were five switches total, each one identical to the others with no labels or markings to indicate their function. Great. Trial and error it was.

He tried them out one by one, flipping each switch and watching for a reaction from the net. The first switch did nothing. The second switch caused some of the overhead lights to flicker but didn't affect the net. Jelo felt frustration building as he moved to the third switch.

He flipped it down, and immediately the dampening net's energy field flickered and died. The faint glow that had been running through the fibers vanished, and the net went limp.

Mira didn't waste a second. She grabbed the material with both hands and ripped it off her body with a grunt of effort, tossing it aside like it was nothing more than a piece of trash. She stood up quickly, rolling her shoulders and flexing her arms to work out the stiffness from being restrained for so long.

"Finally," she muttered. "That thing was driving me crazy."

Now that Mira was free, Jelo turned his attention back to the system notification that was still hovering in his vision, waiting for his response.

<[YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A LEVEL UP]>

<[DO YOU ACCEPT?]>

He accepted the level up.

The moment he did, something changed inside him. His body began to ache immediately, a deep, bone-deep pain that spread through his entire frame like fire in his veins. It wasn't the sharp, immediate pain of an injury. It was something slower, more insidious, like his internal structure was being rewritten from the inside out.

Jelo gasped, doubling over as the sensation intensified. His blood felt like it was boiling, his bones felt like they were cracking and reforming, his muscles felt like they were tearing themselves apart and rebuilding stronger. The transformation was happening at a cellular level, and his body was struggling to keep up with the changes.

Then, soon, his vision began to cloud. The world around him became hazy and indistinct, like he was looking through a thick fog. Colors bled together. Shapes lost their definition. And slowly, everything began to tint red. His vision was clouded, and he began to see through a crimson filter that made the bunker look like it was soaked in blood.

Mira noticed immediately. She stepped closer, concern etched across her face. "Jelo? What's wrong? What's happening to you?"

Jelo tried to speak, tried to warn her, but the words came out as a strangled shout instead. "Stay away from me!"

Mira didn't understand what was going on. She'd never seen anything like this before. She took another step forward, reaching out toward him like she could somehow help, somehow fix whatever was happening to him.

"Jelo, let me—"

"Go away!" Jelo yelled again, his voice raw and desperate. He could feel something else rising inside him, something primal and dangerous that he didn't recognize. It wasn't him. It wasn't his thoughts. It was something deeper, something older, something that had been dormant inside him until this moment.

The Draconic Hoard was activating, but it felt different this time. Stronger. More overwhelming. More violent.

Mira, however, was stubborn. She didn't back down when things got difficult. She didn't run when things got dangerous. So instead of listening to his warnings, she stepped even closer, determined to figure out what was wrong and help him through it.

"Jelo, just tell me what's—"

She stepped too close.

Jelo's control snapped. His hand flung out instinctively, moving faster than he could consciously direct. His palm struck her chest with devastating force, and Mira was flung across the room like a ragdoll. Her body flew backward through the air, crashing into the far wall with a sickening thud. She hit the metal surface hard enough to dent it, then slumped to the ground, gasping for air.

For a moment, Jelo's vision cleared just enough for him to realize what he had done. Horror flooded through him, cutting through the red haze like a knife.

"Mira!" he choked out, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

He could see her on the ground, clutching her chest, her face twisted in pain. She was trying to breathe, trying to process what had just happened. Jelo felt his heart break at the sight.

"You need to leave!" he begged, his voice desperate and pleading. "Please! Get out of here! Now! Before I hurt you again!"

Mira didn't need to be told twice. Despite the pain, despite the confusion, she understood the urgency in his voice. She understood that something was very wrong, and that staying here would only put her in danger. She pushed herself to her feet, still clutching her chest, and stumbled toward the ladder that led up to the bunker's exit.

She climbed as quickly as she could, her movements shaky but determined. She reached the trapdoor, pushed it open, and pulled herself up and out of the bunker. The trapdoor slammed shut behind her, and Jelo was alone.

The pain continued for a while longer, waves of agony crashing through his body as the transformation progressed. Jelo collapsed to his knees, his hands clawing at the floor, his teeth gritted so hard he thought they might crack. He could feel his bones shifting, his muscles expanding, his very DNA rewriting itself into something new.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain began to subside. It didn't disappear entirely, but it became more manageable, more bearable. The red haze in his vision started to fade, clarity returning slowly. Jelo's breathing steadied, and the primal urges that had been screaming in his mind quieted down to a dull whisper.

Finally, Jelo calmed down completely. The transformation was over.

A system notification appeared in his vision, the translucent panel materializing with a soft chime:

**[LEVEL UP SUCCESSFUL]**

**[EVOLUTION COMPLETE]**

**[YOU ARE NOW A DRAGON]**

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