Genetic Engineer in a Tamer's World

He did not speak a word, but the Fleshcrafter’s gaze demanded an immediate and absolute answer for the interference. The dark mana around his fingers pulsed dangerously, reflecting the irritation of a master being questioned by an apprentice during a surgery.

Kale met the gaze, his teeth gritted so hard he could feel the enamel straining. ”There is only one method of saving Neo,” he said, his voice low and vibrating with a conviction that stopped Lazek from pushing him aside.

With a mental command to the system storage, Kale manifested exactly five drops of the Tyrant-rank Red Dragon blood. The thick, shimmering crimson liquid appeared in the air, hovering for a fraction of a second before Kale grabbed the small glass vial. He didn’t wait for Lazek’s permission.

He forcefully pried open all three of Neo’s writhing heads and fed the drops directly into the hydra’s maws.

The reaction was instantaneous. Neo’s body jerked as the divine energy of the dragon blood hit his system, but the writhing did not stop. If anything, the vibration in the creature’s bones seemed to intensify.

The five drops were a drop in the ocean compared to the sheer scale of the mutation occurring.

Kale turned to his master, his green eyes filled with a desperate, raw intensity. ”Master, I need those drops of dragon blood I gave you earlier. All of it. Now. Please.”

Kale knew the risk of what he was asking. Those were not actually the last drops of the dragon blood in his possession.

Deep within the system’s Gene Lab storage, Kale still had the equivalent of several large buckets of the shimmering fluid, harvested from the Red Dragon’s heart.

But he also knew that if he brought out any more of it now, right in front of Lazek’s eyes, the Grandmaster would never look at him the same way again. Lazek was already suspicious of his origins.

If a mere boy from a village possessed a literal reservoir of deific blood, the suspicion would become a priority for Lazek over anything; then no amount of excuses used by Kale would save him.

Lazek’s hesitation only lasted for a mere moment. He looked at the vial Kale had just emptied, then at the dying hydra, and finally at Kale’s face. He hadn’t even had the chance to touch or properly examine those drops of dragon blood yet.

To a Fleshcrafter, that vial was the single most prized material in existence, a biological sample that could define a century of research. Giving it up meant throwing away a fortune in Accredit and knowledge.

But Lazek Oberon looked at his disciple, the boy who had survived a million failures and stood his ground against a Ravager-rank Stalker. In that split second, the Grandmaster showed his true priorities.

His love for his disciple and his pride in his ”masterpiece” outweighed his scientific greed. He reached into his grey cloak and produced the vial Kale had given him in room 555.

”Go on,” Lazek said, his voice unusually soft.

He handed the vial over, giving up the most precious treasure of his career without a single demand for reimbursement. Kale took the vial, his fingers trembling slightly as he uncorked it.

He poured the entire contents into Neo’s central maw, guided by a wave of his own mana to ensure not a single microgram was wasted.

Only then did the violent writhing of the hydra begin to lessen. The green light of the absolute affinity, which had been flickering like a dying bulb, stabilised into a steady, pulsing emerald glow.

[Integrating Stabiliser: Dragon Blood detected]

[Draconic trait is overpowering the mutation cascade]

[Mutation redirected: Anchoring the Transformation trait to the Draconic skeleton]

Slowly but surely, the body of the hydra began to change right in front of their eyes. The immovable green scales, which had been fluid and leaking blood, began to darken.

The emerald hue was replaced by a deep, matte black that seemed to absorb the dim light of the crater. The long, elegant draconic necks of the hydra lessened in length, thickening and becoming more muscular.

The shape of the heads shifted. They were no longer purely draconic; the snouts shortened, and the eyes moved slightly more to the sides of the skulls.

The three heads began to take on the predatory, wedge-shaped features of the black chameleons they had just devoured. The four lizard-like legs also thickened, the claws turning into hooked, obsidian talons designed for gripping vertical surfaces.

Though the three heads remained, the creature had undergone a total metamorphosis.

The Nemesis Hydra had morphed into something new: a three-headed black chameleon hybrid. It looked like a shadow given flesh, a nightmare that existed between the realms of the divine and the profane.

[Mutation Successful]

[Congratulations! The Nemesis Hydra has integrated the Transformation variable]

[New Trait Gained: Partial Transformation Trait]

The system notified Kale that Neo could now shift his form. He could move between his original green hydra state and this new, obsidian chameleon form.

More importantly, he gained the ability to transform specific parts of his body, such as his limbs or his tail, to mirror the traits of other creatures he would devour in the future.

It was a terrifyingly flexible power, though the system noted that mastering such a complex ability would require immense practice and effort from both the beast and the tamer.

Kale exhaled, his knees finally giving out. He slumped onto the blood-stained floor of the crater, clutching the now-black, three-headed creature to his chest.

Neo let out a soft, tired hiss from all three maws, the sound no longer a shriek of agony, but a weary purr of survival.

Lazek Oberon stood over them, his dark mana finally receding. He looked at the black scales of the hydra, his eyes shimmering with a mix of awe and a scientist’s madness.

He didn’t ask where Kale got the first five drops. He didn’t ask how Kale knew the blood would work. He only stared at the creature that had just rewritten the laws of biological discord.

”Transformation?” Lazek whispered, a wide, manic grin slowly spreading across his handsome face. ”It actually transformed?!!!!”