NOVPUB"A quick one." Jade said as he slowly stood up, put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a ring.
Placing it on his finger, he glanced back at Sophia. "How strong are you? Can you handle four omega werewolves on your own without the others?"
"Why are you asking?" Sophia asked, her rapier gleaming slightly as it suddenly appeared in her hands.
"Because I think I might have uncovered something massive." Jade grinned.
"Whatever. Let's go." Sophia said as they quickly ran silently down the hallway and then, they took a sharp turn to the left towards where Jade said he had uncovered something massive.
"Over here." Jade whispered and they hid behind the wall with Jade staring out slowly to see four omega werewolves patrolling in front of a huge double doors.
His mechanical spider moved around the door silently. It would have crept in through the cracks but it was sealed tight and so, it waited for Jade while the werewolves were unaware of its presence.
"What's wrong?" Sophia asked, her voice low as she stared at Jade's worried expression.
"Remember I asked if you could handle four omega werewolves? Well, we are here. Do something." Jade replied with a small smile as he moved back and let Sophia forward.
Peeking out, she was able to see the patrolling werewolves that only grunted a few times acknowledging their presences and then kept on moving around.
"Okay. I can totally handle and kill them. But I would create a loud noise during the fight which might attract any leftovers that are currently still in this building." Sophia considered her options as she turned back to look at Jade who tapped his feet nervously, a small mischievous smile on his face.
"What's with the cheeky smile?"
"Nothing. I just want to see how the famous daughter of the most smartest man in the entire world would handle this situation." Jade chuckled quietly.
"Tsk." Sophia scoffed as she glanced at her rapier and then back at the walls.
Then back to another sharp turn that led straight to another hallway. A smile crept on her face as she stabbed her sword into the wall cleanly carving out two small pebbles.
"What do you want to use that for?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just watch and learn." Sophia said and without revealing herself, she held one of the pebble, inputted a tiny bit of Qi into it, twister her wrist and sent the pebble hurling forward at blinding speed towards the sharp turn that led to a deep dark hallway.
The pebble flew with amazing speed and it landed in the hallway with a loud sound that drew the attention of the werewolves.
The beasts glanced at each other and without saying anything, two out of the four werewolves left their post to go inspect what had caused the sound.
"Ready?" Sophia asked as she gripped the second pebble, inputted a tiny fraction of Qi into it and then hurled it forward at blinding speed.
The pebble lunged deep into one of the left werewolf's head that it tore a silent hole through it and then it fell with a sickening thud.
The last werewolf turned around in panic wondering what happened when…
*BANG!*
Sophia who had infused her legs with Qi dashed forward at blinding speed towards the werewolf who before it could react, her rapier flashed in front of it and the next instant, it fell with a silent thud.
"Impressive." Jade said as he did a silent clap while walking forward, his gaze scanning around at the werewolves. "I see you are smart but not as smart as your dad or me."
"Don't gloat." Sophia rolled her eyes.
"Oh I will… later." Jade said with a smile as he walked towards a passcode operator in the door. "Time to ge…" he stuttered as the door suddenly opened after a few short seconds of tinkering.
"Have you considered working for the Josh family? Your brain and skills will be appreciated." Sophia said as the door was slowly opening up.
"No thanks." Jade plainly replied as the door finally opened up to let the two walk inside calmly until…
"What the actual f*ck!" Sophia exclaimed as she looked around the room, her heart thumping loudly in fear.
Jade who stood beside her was shivering not because of cold but pure fear. All hairs on his body stood up as he stared at a monstrosity in front of him.
The room stretched out like an underground coliseum, its arched ceiling rising nearly thirty feet high and its walls built with reinforced black alloy laced with glowing mana circuits.
The space was cavernous—wide enough to accommodate a dragon lying at full length with its wings partially unfurled.
Strange mechanical arms and rotating instruments hung from above, suspended by hydraulic systems, and occasionally hissed with pressurized steam.
Along the walls were control panels blinking with a mix of crimson, blue, and green lights—each feeding data into holographic displays that hovered in mid-air.
The air was cool, sterile, and pulsing faintly with magical energy that thrummed beneath the metallic flooring.
In the center of the lab stood a massive cylindrical glass containment tube—thick, rune-inscribed, and reinforced with layers of metal rings bolted into the ground.
The hum of machinery was constant, broken only by the faint thudding of the heart monitor connected to the creature inside.
The room wasn't what gave Jade and Sophia the chills, and neither was it the glass containment but more like what was inside it.
Inside the enormous glass tube, a majestic yet fearsome dragon lay coiled in a sedated slumber.
Its scales shimmered like obsidian edged with dark crimson veins, pulsing faintly as though alive with internal magma.
Nearly thirty feet long from snout to tail, its massive body had been tightly curled to fit within the chamber.
Its wings, now folded and restrained by thick magical bindings, twitched occasionally as if reacting to some residual instinct.
Sharp horns curled back from its skull, and rows of jagged spines ran down its neck to its back.
A metallic muzzle was clamped over its jaws, connected to tubes that delivered a continuous stream of sleeping gas laced with mana suppressants.
Its breathing was slow but powerful, each exhale fogging part of the reinforced glass with a faint hiss.
Its eyes—though closed—occasionally fluttered, revealing a hint of deep amber slits beneath, hinting that despite the sedation, this was no ordinary beast. It was ancient. And dangerous.
"Wh…what is a dragon beast doing in the heart of the werewolf base?" Sophia asked with a loud gulp as her heart kept thumping loudly.
"No, don't tell me." Jade said as he rushed towards a side of the room that had screens and computers lining a wall.
Without wasting time, he placed his mechanical arm on a screen and then called out…
"Copy and filter all information and make it easy to understand." Jade ordered into the air.
A robotic voice was heard inside Jade's ears after the command.
"Do you want the information broken down?"
"Did I stutter? Yes damn it!" Jade screamed in anger.
"What's going on?" Sophia asked as she looked at the panicked Jade who had sweat drenching his face and in a minute, his hand slid off the screen.
His skin suddenly turned pale as he turned towards Sophia, his steps faltered as he nearly fell down but he quickly caught himself.
"What's wrong? What did you find? And what is a dragon doing here?" Sophia asked again. "I thought dragons were extinct."
"Soph…" Jade softly called out, his eyes moist. "We are going to die."
