Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner

"So where exactly are we going?"
Kelvin didn’t look up from the scanner in his hands, his eyes fixed on the green display that pulsed with rhythmic readings. "Wherever the scanner takes us."
"That’s not very specific," Seraleth observed, ducking under a low-hanging branch that would have been perfectly sized for a human but required her seven-foot frame to adjust. Her white hair caught on some leaves, pulling free with a soft rustling sound.
"Welcome to treasure hunting. Specificity is a luxury we don’t have."
"Why choose me for this expedition?" Seraleth asked, her luminous eyes tracking the jungle canopy above them. "You have other team members. Noah would have been a logical choice given his void manipulation abilities. Sophie excels at tactical planning. Even Lila’s telekinesis could prove useful for excavation."
Kelvin finally glanced back at her, one eyebrow raised. "Because I thought you’d ask the least questions."
Seraleth paused mid-step. "Oh."
"Yeah." Kelvin returned his attention to the scanner. "Clearly I miscalculated."
"I apologize. I didn’t mean to—"
"Sera, I’m joking." Kelvin’s voice softened slightly. "You’re fine. Ask whatever you want. Better than walking in silence for hours."
They continued through the dense undergrowth, the jungle around them alive with sounds that didn’t quite match Earth’s old ecosystems. Somewhere overhead, something screeched. Kelvin’s scanner beeped intermittently, each pulse apparently guiding their path through terrain that seemed determined to make travel as difficult as possible.
"Can you explain what we’re searching for exactly?" Seraleth asked after several minutes of silence. "You mentioned a void stone, but the terminology is unfamiliar to me."
"Right, you weren’t around for the academy lectures." Kelvin hopped over a fallen log, his movements smooth despite the prosthetic arms. "Void stones are basically the purest form of concentrated energy you can find naturally. Think of beast cores, but on steroids. A category five beast core contains maybe five percent of the energy held in even a small void stone."
Seraleth’s eyes widened. "That’s a substantial difference."
"Massive difference," Kelvin corrected. "Void stones are what powered some parts of the human world known as countries before the Harbinger attacks. Clean energy, virtually limitless applications, completely revolutionized technology. Problem is, they’re rarer than common sense in a political debate."
"And you believe one exists in this jungle?"
"The scanner’s tracking high-end energy signatures." Kelvin tapped the device with one prosthetic finger. "Could be a void stone. Could be something else entirely. Could be a waste of time. But given what I need it for, it’s worth checking."
They walked in silence for another stretch. The jungle was getting denser, the canopy above blocking more sunlight, creating a twilight atmosphere despite it being afternoon. Kelvin’s scanner beeped more frequently now, the pulses coming faster.
"How did humans discover void energy?" Seraleth asked suddenly. "You mentioned it powered some civilizations before the attacks. But where did the initial understanding come from?"
Kelvin smiled despite himself. "You want the short version or the history lesson?"
"I have time."
"Fair enough." Kelvin pushed aside a curtain of vines, holding them back so Seraleth could pass. "About eighty years ago, give or take, Earth discovered the first void stone. Complete accident. Mining operation in what used to be called Siberia hit something that shouldn’t have existed based on known geology. Strange crystals radiating energy that made their equipment go haywire."
"And they studied it?"
"Studied it, tested it, eventually figured out how to extract power from it without destroying it. Within ten years, void stones became the backbone of global energy infrastructure. Clean, efficient, seemingly infinite. They found more stones, established mining operations, built entire industries around void energy manipulation."
Seraleth nodded slowly. "And then the Harbingers attacked."
"And then the Harbingers attacked," Kelvin confirmed. "Seventy-six years ago. Changed everything overnight. It’s rumoured that the void stones that powered our civilization were also what attracted the Harbingers in the first place. They wanted the stones, needed them for something we still don’t fully understand. Speculations though,"
"But humans gained abilities during the attacks," Seraleth said. "The awakening phenomenon. How does that connect to void energy?"
Kelvin’s expression grew more serious. "That’s the weird part. When the Harbingers first hit Earth, something happened. The void stones that had been stable for decades suddenly erupted. Released massive amounts of raw void energy into the atmosphere, into the ground, into everything. Most people died from the initial exposure. Their bodies couldn’t handle it."
He paused, checking the scanner again before continuing. "But some people survived. Not just survived, adapted. Their bodies integrated the void energy somehow, rewrote their genetic code on a fundamental level. Those survivors became the first generation of awakened humans. The people who could manifest abilities that shouldn’t be possible according to known physics."
"And subsequent generations inherited these traits," Seraleth finished.
"Exactly. First generation awakened had kids, those kids inherited the genetic modifications plus whatever mutations occurred naturally. Second generation. Then third generation, which is most of the current academy students. Each generation potentially stronger than the last as the human genome continues adapting to void energy saturation. It’s also this logic that the military devices a means of ranking awakened individuals,"
Seraleth was quiet for a moment, processing. "So human abilities are essentially a side effect of Harbinger invasion."
"Ironic, right?" Kelvin’s laugh came out bitter. "The same event that killed billions also gave humanity the tools needed to fight back. Though calling it tools feels inadequate when we’re talking about people like Noah who can literally erase things from existence."
The scanner’s beeping intensified suddenly. Kelvin stopped, his eyes fixed on the display. "We’re close. Energy signature’s getting stronger."
They pushed through another section of dense vegetation and emerged into a small clearing. The space was maybe thirty feet across, relatively flat, surrounded by towering trees whose roots created natural barriers. In the center of the clearing, the ground showed signs of disturbance. Fresh dirt, as if something had been digging recently.
"Is that normal?" Seraleth asked, pointing at the disturbed earth.
"No." Kelvin approached cautiously, his scanner held out in front of him like a divining rod. "Something’s been here. Recently. The energy readings are coming from underground, maybe ten feet down."
"Should we excavate?"
"That’s the plan. I’ve got equipment in my pack that—"
BOOM
The ground exploded.
Not metaphorically. The earth in the center of the clearing erupted upward in a geyser of soil and rock and root systems that had no business moving that fast. Something massive launched itself from the underground cavity, its body catching afternoon light that filtered through the canopy.
Kelvin threw himself backward, hitting the ground and rolling. Seraleth moved faster, her enhanced reflexes carrying her clear of the eruption zone. They both came up in defensive stances, eyes locked on the creature that had emerged.
It looked like a mantis shrimp if mantis shrimp grew to the size of a small truck and decided to become murder incarnate and suddenly become terrestrial.
It was easily twelve feet long, its carapace gleamed with blue and green iridescence. Multiple eyes tracked both of them independently. But what drew immediate attention were its claws. Massive, club-like appendages that looked like they could punch holes through reinforced steel.
"Category four," Kelvin assessed immediately. "Ambush predator. Probably using the energy signature as bait."
"Can we retreat?" Seraleth asked, her stance shifting to something more aggressive.
"It’s between us and the exit." Kelvin’s hands were already moving, his nanotech responding to his commands. Black material flowed from his clothing, assembling into a rifle configuration. "We fight."
The shrimp beast charged.
Its movement was wrong. Too fast for something that size, too explosive, like watching a missile launch horizontally. Seraleth moved to intercept, her fist coming around in a punch aimed at its head.
Her reverb ability activated. The single punch hit multiple times, force compounding, and the shrimp’s head snapped sideways from the impact. But its carapace held. No cracks, no visible damage, just a slight discoloration where she’d struck.
"Hard shell," Seraleth noted, already moving as the creature’s claw came around in a counter-strike.
The claw hit the ground where she’d been standing. The impact created a shockwave that physically lifted Kelvin off his feet, sent him tumbling backward. The ground itself cratered, dirt and rock exploding outward in a perfect circle maybe fifteen feet across.
’That thing hits harder than most category fours,’ Kelvin thought, scrambling to his feet. His rifle came up, targeting systems locking onto the shrimp’s body. He fired three quick shots.
The energy bolts hit the carapace and dissipated. Not bounced off, not deflected—absorbed. The shell glowed faintly where the shots had connected, then faded back to normal.
"It’s eating energy attacks!" Kelvin shouted. "Sera, physical only!"
Seraleth was already engaging again, her enhanced speed letting her close the distance before the shrimp could adjust. Her fist drove into its side, reverb punches creating multiple impacts that sounded like a drumroll. The carapace held, but the force drove the creature sideways several feet.
It retaliated immediately. Both claws came around in a double strike that would have pulverized her if she’d been slower. She dropped into a slide, passing beneath the attacks, came up behind the creature and kicked its back leg joint.
Something cracked. Not the carapace, but something internal. The shrimp’s leg buckled slightly.
Then it jumped.
Not away. Straight up, maybe twenty feet into the air, its body rotating as it rose. At the apex of its jump, it came down claw-first, aimed directly at Seraleth.
She couldn’t dodge in time. The claw connected with her shoulder, and even with her enhanced durability and the gear she wore underneath, the impact drove her into the ground. The clearing shook. Trees swayed. A crack spread from the impact point, spider-webbing across the clearing’s floor.
Kelvin’s heart lurched. "Sera!"
She emerged from the crater, blood running down her arm where the strike had shattered her shoulder guard and torn skin beneath. Her face was set in a grimace that mixed pain with determination.
"I’m fine," she said through gritted teeth. "That hurt significantly more than expected."
The shrimp turned its attention to Kelvin. Multiple eyes focused on him, and he saw intelligence there. Not human intelligence, but enough to recognize threats, to prioritize targets. It had hurt Seraleth. Now it would eliminate the easier prey.
It charged again, both claws raised, moving like a freight train with anger issues.
Kelvin’s nanotech shifted, flowing from rifle configuration into something larger. Metal and composite materials assembled around his arms, reinforcing the prosthetics, creating additional plating across his torso. His eyes began glowing green as his technopathy activated fully, connecting him to every component of his equipment.
The shrimp closed the distance. Ten feet. Five. Three.
Kelvin didn’t move. Just stood there, eyes glowing brighter, his nanotech continuing to assemble around him.
"Kelvin!" Seraleth’s voice carried alarm.
One foot. The shrimp’s claw came down.
Kelvin’s prosthetic arm shot up, caught the claw mid-strike. The impact sent shockwaves through his entire frame, his feet digging furrows in the ground, but he held. His other prosthetic arm came up, wrapped around the second claw before it could connect.
He was holding both of the creature’s primary weapons immobile. The shrimp thrashed, its multiple legs scrambling for purchase, trying to overpower him through raw strength. Kelvin’s prosthetics screamed with strain, servos working overtime, but they held.
Kelvin’s expression went cold. Not angry, not scared. Just empty, like something had switched off behind his eyes. His nanotech continued assembling, flowing up his prosthetic arms, across the shrimp’s claws, beginning to encase the creature in black material that hardened immediately.
"Sera," Kelvin said, his voice completely level. "Move back."
Seraleth scrambled backward, recognizing something in his tone that suggested immediate distance was advisable.
More nanotech flowed from Kelvin’s body. It wrapped around the shrimp’s legs, its torso, its head, immobilizing it completely. The creature thrashed harder, its carapace straining against the restraints, cracks finally beginning to appear under the pressure.
Kelvin’s hands released the claws. His nanotech shifted again, flowing away from the restraints, condensing into a single massive shape above his head. A sledgehammer. Easily six feet long, the head was a solid block of reinforced material that probably weighed more than Kelvin did.
His eyes glowed brighter. Green light surrounded his prosthetic arms now, his technopathy running at levels that would cause most people’s equipment to fail catastrophically.
He jumped. Not high, maybe five feet, but enough. The hammer came down with all the force his technopathy could channel through the nanotech construction.
KROOOOM!!
The impact sound was thunder compressed into a single moment. The shrimp’s carapace, which had withstood Seraleth’s reverb punches and absorbed energy attacks, shattered. Not cracked—shattered. Pieces exploded outward like shrapnel, the creature’s body compressing under force that should have been physically impossible for someone Kelvin’s size to generate.
The shrimp stopped moving. Just went completely still, its body broken, its internal structure compromised beyond any possibility of survival.
Kelvin landed, the hammer dissolving back into nanotech that flowed back into his clothing. The green glow faded from his eyes gradually, leaving them normal brown. He looked at the dead creature for several seconds, his expression unreadable.
Then he turned to Seraleth. "You okay?"
"My shoulder is damaged but I’ll be fine," she replied, still staring at him. "That was... intense."
"Yeah," Kelvin retrieved his scanner from where he’d dropped it during the fight. The device was still functioning, still showing energy readings from underground. "Come on. Let’s see if what we came for is actually down there."
He started walking toward the crater the shrimp had emerged from, his movements back to normal, the cold emptiness from moments ago completely gone like it had never existed.
Seraleth followed, pressing one hand against her injured shoulder. As she walked, a single word escaped her lips.
"Damn."