Lord of Dragons: Starting with SSS-Ranked Talent

A week had passed since Draco had awakened his talent. Many things had changed since then.

Draco had been religiously completing his daily missions, steadily improving his physical capabilities and deepening his connection with Zephyr. The routine had become second nature, wake before dawn, complete the physical exercises, cultivate with his beast, practice communication, then allocate his earned stat points strategically.

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Draco Von Ashblade [Awakened] EXP: 17/100

Title: None

Talent: Dragon Lord (SSS-Rank)

Strength: 13 / Agility: 16 / Constitution: 12 / Mana: 50 

Beastmaster Manual: None

Skills: None

Stat points: 0

While his focus remained primarily on agility to maximize the effectiveness of Zephyr's Super-Sonic ability, Draco hadn't ignored his other attributes entirely.

 He had allocated two points each to constitution and strength, recognizing that balanced development would serve him better in the long run. 

His mana remained untouched, at fifty points, it was already so much higher than his other attributes that additional investment seemed unnecessary for now.

Zephyr perched on his shoulder, watching with bright, curious eyes as Draco worked with the various herbs and oils he'd acquired from the market.

[Master, what is this amazing smell? What are you cooking up with those herbs? Can I eat those?] The tiny hummingbird's voice rang clearly in Draco's mind, filled with childlike wonder and hunger.

"Give me a second. Also, this isn't food, Zephyr. This is called shampoo," Draco replied, carefully measuring out the final ingredients for his latest batch.

[Sham… poo?] Zephyr tilted his tiny head, the unfamiliar word clearly puzzling him.

"Yes, shampoo. It's used to clean hair," Draco explained patiently as he finished concocting his final test product.

The past five days of experimentation had been incredibly productive. 

Through trial and error, he had managed to create a stable formula that combined the cleansing properties of soapwort with the pleasant fragrance of rosemary and mint oils. 

The consistency was perfect – thick enough to stay in place when applied, but smooth enough to spread easily through hair.

More importantly, his bond with Zephyr had progressed significantly. Their connection level had increased from low to medium, and with that advancement had come an unexpected gift.

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[Pet no.1] Hummingbird

[Rank] Common

[Talent] E (Hidden Potential: SSS)

[Connection] Medium

[Skills]

[Super-Sonic] [Micro-Vision]

Upon reaching medium connection, Zephyr had gained the ability to communicate directly with him through their bond. 

The tiny hummingbird's voice was high-pitched and enthusiastic, with the innocent curiosity of a child discovering the world for the first time.

But even more shocking was what had happened simultaneously with Zephyr's speech. His Dragon Lord talent had suddenly activated, revealing information that made Draco's heart race with excitement.

An evolution path had appeared before his eyes – a systematic method for advancing Zephyr beyond his current common rank status. The requirements materialized in glowing text that only he could see:

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Requirements for D-Rank talent Evolution:

1x Common-Rank Beast Core

► Status: [Not Obtained]

1x Four-Petal Swiftleaf

► Status: [Not Obtained]

Uu

Daily usage of Micro-Vision and Super-Sonic for 7 consecutive days

► Progress: [1/7 Days Complete]

The third requirement was the most manageable. He simply needed to ensure Zephyr used both abilities every day for a week. 

Since the hummingbird had only gained speech yesterday, they had completed just one day of the requirement so far.

The other two items would be significantly more challenging to obtain. 

Common-rank beast cores could be purchased from the resource center or acquired by hunting wild beasts, but they were expensive and dangerous to obtain respectively. 

Four-Petal Swiftleaf was an even greater mystery – he would need to research where such a plant could be found and whether it was readily available through normal merchant channels.

I'll place those requirements on hold for now, Draco decided, focusing his attention back on the shampoo formula he'd been perfecting. 

First, I need to establish a reliable income stream. Then worry about evolution materials.

[Master, can we practice my skills now? I want to use my fast-flying ability!] Zephyr chirped excitedly, his tiny wings already beginning to beat rapidly in anticipation.

Draco smiled at his companion's enthusiasm. "Of course. We need to maintain our daily practice anyway."

…

"Alright, Zephyr, ready for our training session?" Draco asked, setting aside his shampoo samples and stretching his arms.

[Yes! Yes! Can we do the fast-flying first? I want to zoom around really quick!] Zephyr bounced excitedly on his shoulder, his tiny wings fluttering with anticipation.

"Let's start with Micro-Vision today. We need to practice control before we work on speed," Draco said, moving to the center of his small room.

[Aww, but the zooming is more fun,] Zephyr pouted, though he obediently settled into position.

Draco activated their shared Micro-Vision ability, and immediately the world exploded into incredible detail. Every grain of wood in his desk became visible, dust particles danced like tiny snowflakes in the afternoon light, and he could see the individual threads in his blanket with startling clarity.

[Master, look! Look! There's a tiny spider in the corner!] Zephyr chirped excitedly, pointing his beak toward a minuscule spider that would have been completely invisible to normal sight.

"I see it. Good eye, Zephyr. Now let's practice tracking moving objects."

Draco picked up a small coin and flicked it into the air. With their enhanced vision, he could see every detail of its rotation, track its precise trajectory, and even spot tiny scratches on its surface that he'd never noticed before.

[Ooh! I can see the little markings on it! Master, did you know your coin has a tiny dent shaped like a crescent moon?]

"Really? I never noticed that," Draco caught the coin and examined it closely. Sure enough, there was indeed a small crescent-shaped mark on one edge.

[Hehe, I have the best eyes! Can we go fast now? Please please please?]

Draco chuckled at his companion's enthusiasm. "Alright, but we're going to do it together this time. I need to practice controlling the enhanced speed too."

[Together?]

"Through our bond, I can share your abilities. Watch this."

Draco activated Super-Sonic, feeling the familiar surge of energy coursing through his body. This time, however, instead of making a sudden movement, he started slowly and deliberately.

[Skill Activated: Super-Sonic]

[Agility increased by 1.5x]

[Woooow! Master, you're glowing a little bit!] Zephyr exclaimed, hovering in front of Draco's face with wide eyes.

"Am I really?" Draco looked down at his hands and noticed a faint golden halo around his fingers.

He began with simple movement, reaching for objects on his desk, walking across the room, turning his head from side to side. 

Each motion felt incredibly fluid and controlled, a far cry from his first chaotic attempt that had resulted in a broken lamp.

[Master, try catching me!] Zephyr suddenly darted away, zigzagging through the air with his own Super-Sonic ability activated.

"Oh, it's a game now?" Draco grinned, carefully pursuing the tiny hummingbird around the room.

What followed was perhaps the most ridiculous chase scene ever witnessed. 

Draco moved with enhanced speed, but still human-sized, trying to gently catch a hummingbird who was darting around like a miniature lightning bolt. 

The room was small which made the chase harder due to the furniture and easier due to the small space.

[Can't catch me! Can't catch me! I'm too fast!] Zephyr taunted playfully, doing a tiny loop-de-loop near the ceiling.

"We'll see about that!" Draco laughed, making a careful lunge toward where he predicted Zephyr would be.

He missed completely, but his enhanced agility allowed him to recover gracefully instead of crashing into the wall.

[Master, you're getting better! Last time you would have fallen over!]

"Thanks for the confidence boost," Draco said dryly, though he was smiling.

For the next few minutes, they continued their game of tag. 

Zephyr would dart between furniture, under the bed, and around the room's corners while Draco practiced moving at enhanced speed without losing control. 

Gradually, his movements became more relaxed and fluid.

[Master, watch this!] Zephyr suddenly shot straight up, touched the ceiling with his beak, then dove down in a perfect spiral before pulling up just inches from the floor.

"Show off, can you teach me to be that accurate?" Draco muttered, but he was impressed. 

[Hmm, well, you don't have wings, so you can't do the spiral thing. But maybe… try moving in a straight line really fast, then stopping exactly where you want to!]

Draco positioned himself at one end of the room, focused on a specific spot near his desk, then activated his enhanced speed and moved forward. Instead of his usual wild sprint, he managed a controlled dash that brought him to exactly the right position.

[Good! Good! Now try turning!]

Following Zephyr's enthusiastic coaching, Draco practiced quick direction changes, precise stops, and even attempted something resembling the hummingbird's characteristic hover, which mostly involved him standing very still while swaying slightly, much to Zephyr's amusement.

[Master, you look silly when you try to hover,] Zephyr giggled. 

[Humans aren't supposed to hover. You should stick to the zooming!]

"Noted. No more hover attempts," Draco said, slightly out of breath as the Super-Sonic effect wore off.

[That was fun! Can we do it again tomorrow?]

"Absolutely. We need to practice every day for the evolution requirement anyway."

[Evolution? What's that?] Zephyr tilted his head curiously.

"It's a way for you to become stronger and unlock new abilities. But it requires us to keep training together."

[Stronger? With more abilities? That sounds amazing! I want to get really strong so I can protect Master better!]

Draco felt a warm feeling in his chest at Zephyr's innocent declaration. "We'll protect each other, little friend. That's what partners do."

[Partners! I like that! Can partners share snacks too?]

"Well, you eat nectar and I eat regular food, so that might be difficult."

[Aww. But we can share training time!]

"Always. Every single day." Draco promised, gently extending his finger for Zephyr to perch on. 

As they settled down from their training session, both feeling accomplished and closer than before, Draco couldn't help but smile at how much his life had changed since awakening his talent.

A week ago, he'd been completely alone. Now he had a loyal companion who genuinely cared about his wellbeing and made even the most mundane training exercises feel like adventures.

[Master, tomorrow can we practice in the courtyard? I want to see how fast we can go in a bigger space!]

"I'm not sure if we will stay here tomorrow, Zephyr. But, that's a great idea, we will definitely try training in an open space."

[Yay! This is the best training ever!]