Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner-Chapter 615: Ares returns

Noah lay in the grass, fingers interlocked behind his head, staring up at a sky so filled with stars it looked like someone had spilled diamonds across black velvet. The clearing was quiet except for the small sounds of nocturnal life, insects chirping, leaves rustling in the gentle breeze that carried the scent of pine and earth.

Three miles separated him from the camp where two hundred recruits slept, far enough that even a dragon landing wouldn’t immediately alert anyone. The instructors were back there too, probably maintaining watch rotations, but they weren’t omniscient. They couldn’t monitor every recruit’s location all night, and Noah had moved quietly enough that his absence would go unnoticed until morning if anyone even bothered to check.

He thought about the past three weeks while he waited. The endless training, the force concentration technique he’d finally mastered, the color divisions forming among recruits who’d started as strangers and were slowly becoming something like a cohesive unit. Nami working herself to exhaustion trying to perfect techniques that remained just out of reach.

’Back home, everyone’s probably worried by now,’ Noah thought, watching a shooting star streak across the sky and disappear. ’Or maybe not worried. Maybe they just think I’m taking longer than expected with whatever system quest pulled me into that gate. They trust my domain abilities will bring me back when I’m done.’

The trust felt heavy in ways he couldn’t quite articulate. They believed in him, believed he’d return safely, believed the system wouldn’t throw something at him he couldn’t handle.

’What if they’re wrong?’ The thought came unbidden. ’What if this timeline is more dangerous than any of us anticipated? What if I can’t figure out how to extinguish whatever flames need extinguishing and I’m stuck here permanently?’

He pushed the spiral away, focusing instead on the immediate. On Ares, who was somewhere out there responding to the call, flying through the night toward this clearing.

The bond was absolute. Noah knew that without question. When he’d spoken those words, "Ares, Flame," the dragon had felt it, understood it, and was coming. Not a maybe, not a hope. A certainty as fundamental as gravity.

Time passed. Noah counted stars, traced unfamiliar constellations, listened to the forest sounds that surrounded him. An owl hooted somewhere to the north. Small creatures rustled through undergrowth, probably mice or rabbits going about their nocturnal business. The breeze shifted direction, bringing cooler air from higher elevations.

Then something changed.

Noah couldn’t point to exactly what caught his attention first. Maybe the way the insects went quiet, their chirping cutting off like someone had flipped a switch. Maybe the shift in air pressure, subtle but present, the feeling you get before a storm rolls in. Maybe just instinct, the part of him that had survived Harbinger attacks and multiple fights recognizing when something powerful was approaching.

He sat up, scanning the tree line.

There, to the east, something moved through the darkness. Not visible yet, but present. A disturbance in the natural order of things, like reality itself was being gently pushed aside to make room for something that didn’t quite belong to this world.

Red mist began appearing at the forest edge, wisps at first, barely visible against the black of night. But it grew thicker, spreading like fog rolling in from the ocean, except this fog glowed faintly with internal light. red light, the color of fresh blood or hot coals, pulsing with a rhythm that might have been breathing.

Noah stood, excitement building in his chest despite his attempt to stay calm. He recognized this. Had seen it dozens of times when Nyx emerged from his domain portal, red mist pouring through the dimensional tear like the dragon was bringing a piece of his home with him into reality.

’This must be some kind of special adaptation,’ Noah thought, watching the mist flow closer. ’A way to cloak their movement. Ares was probably flying from miles away, and in a kingdom where dragon knights actively hunt his species, hiding your approach makes sense. Smart dragon.’

The mist thickened, becoming opaque, a wall of red that advanced across the clearing toward where Noah stood. The glowing light within grew brighter, more defined, revealing a massive shape moving through the red veil.

Then Ares emerged.

He stepped out of the mist like a king entering his throne room, each movement deliberate and powerful. The dragon had grown since their fight three weeks ago, not dramatically but noticeably, his body filling out in the way young creatures do when given proper food and rest. His scales caught the starlight and reflected it back with a deep red sheen, almost black in the darkness but alive with color when the angle was right.

The wounds from their battle were gone completely. No scars, no discolored scales, no lingering damage from the impacts and falls and desperate combat. Molten Core had done its work, restoring Ares to perfect health, maybe even improving on the original.

His wings were folded against his sides but Noah could see the membrane between the supporting bones, thin enough to be slightly translucent, strong enough to carry tons of dragon through the sky for hours. His eyes were intelligent, aware, tracking Noah’s every movement with the kind of focus that came from being both predator and something more.

The red mist dissipated slowly, fading back into nothing until only the dragon remained, massive and magnificent in the moonlight.

Noah felt his face split into a genuine smile, the kind he hadn’t worn in weeks. "Hey, Ares. You look good."

The dragon rumbled, a sound that came from deep in his chest and vibrated through the ground beneath Noah’s feet. Not aggressive, just acknowledgment. Recognition through the bond that connected them at levels Noah was still learning to understand.

Noah walked forward slowly, giving Ares time to adjust to his presence. They’d bonded during combat, during desperation and near-death, but this was their first meeting since then. The first time approaching each other without violence or urgency driving the interaction.

He reached out and placed his palm against Ares’s snout, feeling scales that were warm to the touch, almost hot, heat radiating from the dragon’s body like standing near a furnace. The texture was smooth but not slick, each scale fitting perfectly with the ones around it to create armor that could shrug off attacks that would shred steel.

"I’m sorry we had to fight," Noah said quietly, knowing the dragon couldn’t answer but needing to say it anyway. "I know you were just defending your territory, doing what dragons do. And I came crashing in swinging fists because the system told me to survive. Neither of us really had a choice."

Ares made another sound, softer this time, almost curious.

"I have one like you back home," Noah continued, his hand moving from the dragon’s snout to his neck, feeling the powerful muscles beneath the scales. "His name is Nyx. Red death, same as you. He was just a hatchling when I found him, small enough to fit in my arms. Now he’s massive, probably bigger than you’ll be when you’re full grown. We’ve been through a lot together."

He thought about Nyx waiting back in his timeline, probably wondering where Noah had disappeared to.He thought about Nyx safe in the domain, probably wondering why Noah hadn’t visited in weeks. The domain was the dragons’ home, their sanctuary, but Noah couldn’t access it right now. The system had his domain abilities locked, cutting him off from that space and everything in it. Nyx was stuck there, unable to help, while Noah dealt with this timeline alone.

"You remind me of him," Noah said, scratching carefully behind one of Ares’s jaw ridges. "Stubborn. Proud. Too brave for your own good sometimes. Red deaths seem to have that in common."

Ares leaned into the contact slightly, accepting the attention without losing any of his natural dignity.

"Want to fly?" Noah asked, the idea forming as he spoke it. "I haven’t flown in weeks. Been stuck on the ground pretending to be a normal person. Could use the reminder of what it feels like."

The dragon’s response was to lower his shoulder, an invitation clear in the gesture.

Noah climbed onto Ares’s back, settling between the wing joints where the scales formed natural grip points. He’d ridden Nyx enough times to know the proper position, how to distribute his weight, where to hold on without interfering with the dragon’s movement.

Ares’s wings spread, massive spans of membrane and bone that caught moonlight and seemed to glow from within. Then he launched skyward, powerful legs driving them up while wings beat once, twice, catching air and pulling them higher.

The clearing fell away below them. Trees became a dark carpet stretching in all directions, the forest looking infinite from above. Stars wheeled overhead, closer now, brilliant without the interference of ground-level atmosphere.

Ares climbed higher, testing his wings, feeling the air currents and adjusting his flight path accordingly. Noah held on and laughed, genuine joy bubbling up from somewhere deep that he’d kept locked down for weeks. This was freedom. This was what he actually was beneath the disguise and the pretending and the careful modulation of his abilities.

They flew in wide circles over the forest, high enough that anyone looking up would see only a dark shape against darker sky. Ares was strong, his flight smooth despite his relative youth, instinct and biology working together to make something that should be impossible look effortless.

Noah lay forward along the dragon’s neck, feeling the rhythmic movement of muscles beneath scales, hearing the whoosh of air through wing membranes, breathing in the night and the freedom and the simple pleasure of being himself for a few stolen hours.

They flew for maybe two hours, ranging far from the clearing, exploring the wilderness from above. Noah saw the glow of distant settlements, probably villages scattered through the kingdom. Saw rivers reflecting starlight like silver ribbons. Saw mountains in the distance, their peaks catching the first hint of dawn that was still hours away.

Eventually, reluctantly, Noah guided Ares back toward the clearing. The dragon descended in a controlled spiral, landing with surprising grace for something so massive. His claws barely made sound when they touched ground, his weight distributed across four limbs that could support far more than he currently weighed.

Noah dismounted, his legs slightly unsteady after hours of gripping dragon scales. He stretched, working out the stiffness, then turned to face Ares properly.

"Thank you," he said simply. "I needed that more than I realized."

The dragon rumbled again, that deep chest sound that meant understanding or acceptance or maybe just acknowledgment that the moment had been shared.

"I have to go back now," Noah continued. "Before anyone notices I’m gone. But I’ll find you again when I can. When it’s safe. This timeline is complicated and I’m still figuring out what I’m supposed to do here."

He paused, considering how much to explain to a dragon who couldn’t respond.

"There’s a quest I need to complete. Something about extinguishing flames, though I don’t know what that means yet. And these people, the ones I’m training with, they hunt dragons. It’s their whole purpose. So you need to stay hidden, stay far from settlements and dragon knight patrols. Can you do that?"

Ares’s eyes reflected starlight, intelligent and aware. Whether he understood the specifics or just the general intent didn’t matter. The bond carried Noah’s concern, his request, his need for the dragon to survive.

"Be safe," Noah said, reaching out one more time to touch Ares’s scales. "I’ll call you again when I can."

The dragon stood there for a moment longer, then the red mist began forming again, wisps of red appearing around his body. Within seconds it had thickened into an opaque cloud, hiding Ares completely. When the mist dissipated this time, the dragon was gone, vanished back into wherever he’d been hiding for the past three weeks.

Noah stood alone in the clearing again, the night feeling emptier without the dragon’s presence. He looked at the sky, noted the stars’ positions, calculated that dawn was maybe three hours away.

Time to get back before anyone started asking questions.

He ran, enhanced speed carrying him through the forest faster than any normal human could move, trees passing in blurred streaks. Three miles disappeared in minutes, and soon he was approaching the camp’s edge.

The fires had burned down to embers, most recruits still sleeping in their bedrolls. Noah slipped between sleeping forms quietly, finding his spot near where Nami and Pip lay, settling down like he’d been there all night.

Nobody stirred. Nobody challenged him. As far as anyone knew, he’d never left.

Noah closed his eyes, letting exhaustion from the flight and the emotional weight of reunion pull him toward sleep. A few hours rest, then morning would bring whatever came next.

***

Dawn arrived with instructor voices calling for everyone to wake up. Noah opened his eyes to find other recruits already stirring, stretching sore muscles, complaining about sleeping on hard ground.

Nami sat up nearby, her hair messy from sleep, her expression carrying the particular grumpiness of someone who was not naturally a morning person.

"Did you sleep okay?" she asked, voice rough.

"Well enough," Noah replied, which wasn’t a lie. The few hours he’d gotten had been deep and restful.

They packed their minimal gear and joined the general assembly forming near the clearing’s center. Instructors stood waiting, Valen at the front with his scarred face showing no emotion.

"Gather up!" Valen called once most recruits were present. "Time to explain what you’re actually doing out here."

The crowd quieted, anticipation building.

"This competition is a hunt," Valen began without preamble. "You’re going to track, engage, and kill beasts in the territories we’ve assigned to each color. Your objective is simple. Bring back beast cores. The color that retrieves the most cores wins."

Murmurs rippled through the assembled recruits.

"Cores are what remain when a beast dies," Valen continued. "A crystallized mass of energy, usually located near the heart or in the skull. You’ll need to carve into the beast after killing it to retrieve the core. Bring it back here to base camp intact."

Noah almost laughed.’Beast cores. They’re talking about beast cores. This is almost exactly like the first test at the academy in my timeline. Hunt beasts, retrieve cores, prove you can survive in hostile territory.’

But there was a difference, and Valen was explaining it now.

"All cores have equal value for this competition," Valen said. "A core from a weak beast counts the same as a core from a strong one. What matters is quantity, not quality. Kill more beasts, bring back more cores, your color wins."

’That’s the difference,’ Noah realized. ’In my timeline, cores are categorized. Category 1 through Category 5 based on energy concentration and beast power level. Cat-5 cores are worth exponentially more than Cat-1 cores because they contain more void energy, can power better equipment, are strategically valuable. But here, they haven’t figured that out yet. They know cores exist, they’re harvesting them, but they don’t understand the classification system. Don’t know that some cores are worth more than others based on the beast’s strength.’

It made sense given what Valen had explained weeks ago about beasts dwindling, about encounters becoming rarer. This timeline hadn’t had the sustained beast presence necessary to develop comprehensive understanding of core mechanics.

"You’ll hunt in your assigned territories," Valen continued, pulling out a map and gesturing at marked areas. "Reds take the northern section. Yellows take the east. Greens take the west. These territories have been scouted and confirmed to contain beast populations appropriate for your training level."

He looked across the assembled recruits, his expression stern.

"Instructors will be present in the hunting grounds, but we won’t interfere unless you’re facing something that will kill you. We’re here to observe, to evaluate, and to make sure nobody dies stupidly. But the hunting, the tracking, the combat? That’s on you."

Someone raised their hand. "What if we encounter a dragon?"

"Then you run," Valen replied flatly. "You are not ready to fight dragons. Anyone who attempts to engage a dragon against instructor orders will be expelled immediately, assuming they survive long enough for us to expel them. Am I clear?"

Scattered acknowledgments came from the crowd.

"You have five days," Valen said. "Five days to hunt, to gather cores, to prove your color deserves recognition. At the end of day five, return to base camp. We’ll count cores and determine the winner. Any questions?"

"What about theft?" someone called out. "What if another color tries to steal our cores?"

"That’s part of the competition," Valen replied with a slight smile. "Protect your acquisitions. Work together. Use strategy. If you’re stupid enough to let another color steal your cores, that’s a learning experience about security and awareness."

He gestured toward the forest.

"Get your gear. Move out to your assigned territories. The competition begins now."