The Familiar Forest was calm royal violet undertone marking the night sky. The trees whispered as the wind carried secrets through their ancient boughs. Birds chirped in rhythm, and fireflies began their nightly waltz in the fading light.
Riser stood at the edge of a wide clearing alone, his long black coat trailing behind him like a banner of nobility. Golden lining shimmered subtly in the twilight, and on the back embroidered with pride and power was the blazing crest of House Phenex.
His golden eyes scanned the treeline. Not for danger. For destiny.
Everyone else in his peerage had found their familiar powerful beasts bonded through trial, loyalty, and soul. Thalia's Lighting Hawk, Artoria's noble lion, Kaijin massive earth golem, Milim's baby shadow dragon, Daryun stoic ice panther, and merlins eerie void owl.
Now, it was his turn.
And he came alone.
No guards. No fanfare. No witnesses.
He didn't need them.
He was Riser a unchallenged Phenex.
Night had fallen hours ago, but Riser pressed onward through terrain long abandoned by other familiars. Trees grew wilder here, paths twisted like forgotten memories. But something deeper guided him a pulse. Faint. Ancient. Like a heart beating beneath the world.
It led him to a chasm.
A gash in the earth wide enough to swallow fortresses whole. The air shimmered, not with heat, but pressure like the weight of the world had settled here.
Riser stepped into the crevice.
The cave swallowed him whole.
The deeper he ventured, the hotter it became not the burn of fire, but the suffocating heat of divine energy condensed over centuries. The stone glowed faintly with veins of gold, emerald, and obsidian. Rusted weapons and shattered armor lay scattered across the stone like offerings or warnings.
Riser paused as the air shifted. Power surged.
Then he saw it.
A mountain of gold, silver, and magic forged artifacts.
And atop it, coiled like a nightmare born of godly arrogance, lay a colossal dragon with blue scales black as space, streaked with violet and gold. Her presence weighed down the cavern like gravity itself.
Tiamat.
The Chaos Karma Dragon.
She opened one eye vast, glowing, full of immortal intelligence and growled softly.
"A Phenex?" Her voice was silk and thunder. "No. You shine brighter. Like a sun carved into flesh. Curious."
She uncoiled slightly. "Why do you disturb my slumber, hatchling?"
Riser stepped forward. His coat flared behind him like wings. "I am Riser Phenex. Noble son to House Phenex. And I've come to bargain"
A pause
"as my future partner."
Tiamat blinked once. Then again. Then laughed.
Low and rich. Earth shook.
"You? Wanting me as your own?" Her lips curled into a draconic smile. "You are bold, boy. But boldness and suicide often wear the same mask."
Riser didn't move. He let his aura flare. Heat rippled through the air like the breath of a newborn star.
"I don't want to tame you," he said. "I offer a pact. Partnership. Luxuries something more than a lonely cave."
Tiamat's tail twitched lazily, causing a dozen enchanted spears to clatter down the hoard. luxuries you say? You think you have treasure greater than mine?"
"I don't deal in illusions of wealth," Riser said calmly. "I deal in a more exotic lifestyle."
That made her pause.
Riser stepped closer. "Ddraig's hoard which he borrowed from you was legendary. But where is it now? Lost. Forgotten. A symbol of a warrior who lived to fight and died to be sealed. You, you chose solitude. Not because you feared battle, but because you saw its futility. You chose to abandon all of life's pleasures."
Tiamat's pupils narrowed to slits. "Go on."
"I'll build a palace beneath Kuoh City. A sanctum crafted of leyline crystal, Phenex tears, and divine steel. Your treasures won't be forgotten. It'll grow. I'll make you more than a relic. I'll make you enjoy what you been missing since you're secularism."
She narrowed her eyes. "You think you can bribe me with promises?"
"No," Riser said, raising his hand. Flames erupted from his back massive golden wings stretching high and wide, casting light through the cavern. "I show you respect. Because you deserve it. And because I need you."
The flames faded, and silence followed.
A long moment passed before Tiamat moved.
She rose.
Her wings expanded so vast they scraped the walls, shaking dust from the ceiling. Her roar shook the chamber as she loomed above Riser.
"Very well, sun child. I accept your pact. Not because you impressed me," she said with a sly tone, "but because I am bored. And I want to see this empire of yours rise or burn."
She leaned forward and tapped her claw against his palm.
Magic surged bright, ancient, golden and violet. The cave lit with runes as the contract sealed itself between dragon and devil.
The next day the sun crested the hills, bathing Kuoh City in amber light. Mist drifted lazily over rooftops. Birds chirped softly in the garden of the Phenex Estate.
At the mansion gates, Riser's peerage gathered.
Thalia stood arms crossed, yawning. "He's late."
Artoria's hand rested on her sword. "He said no backup. I don't like it."
"I do!" Milim bounced. "It's like an adventure!"
Kaijin grunted. "I heard him before he left that night whispering about a dragon"
Then the wind shifted.
Flames flared in the distance.
A massive silhouette soared through the morning sky serpentine, elegant, terrifying.
Tiamat descended beside Riser as he walked through the gates, cloak fluttering in the wind.
Thalia's mouth parted. "Is that?"
"A dragon," Artoria whispered.
Milim clapped. "She's SO COOL!"
Kaijin stepped back, blinking. "By the forge"
Even Merlin, sipping her morning tea, did a double take.
Rias emerged from the estate, her crimson hair glowing in the sun.
Riser stepped forward and gestured casually towards the dragon behind him.
"She chose me as I have chosen her," he said simply. "And together"
Tiamat beside him with the grace of a queen, wings folding regally.
"we're just getting started."