The day had been rather normal for Kagami. She spent it training with Squad 3 and handling various clan matters until that Friday, when a request for reinforcements arrived from a biome containment site established a week earlier near the southern coastline, where a ranch met a museum.
The request had been marked urgent.
She boarded a rescue vehicle alongside several EMTs and support Knights. After all, the biome in question was only a Raid-Class A-rank at best. With more than twenty-five personnel already on site, including an S-rank augment user from the Ryuzen House of the Empire, a small company of support Knights should have been more than enough. There was no reason to bring all of Squad 3.
According to the reports, the anomaly was a Kaiju-type biome, which was one of the reasons she had been selected for deployment. The other reason was the presence of a barrier user. The journey was quick thanks to the Knight Association's resident warp augment user, Owen Kleins.
The scene that greeted them upon arrival was unexpected.
A dead Kaiju lay on one side of the containment zone. On the other was a partially burned Nathaniel Alderman. Traces of an unknown substance containing Uratsu were present around him, yet the energy signature belonged to none of the participating members.
His pulse was weak.
Based on the preliminary findings, this looked less like an accident and more like an ambush.
A scientist stepped forward as a recording began playing on a nearby terminal.
"Warp augments are not common," he explained. "Neither are augments that deal with spatial properties. They generally fall into two categories."
The recording showed Owen opening a portal with a sharp gust of displaced air before stepping through it.
"The first category affects the user directly. Teleportation is the most common example. The second affects the outside world. Pocket dimensions, wormholes, and localized distortions fall under this classification."
The display shifted through several examples.
"Some advanced warp users can even mimic certain aspects of biomes, altering the properties of the space they occupy with varying degrees of freedom."
The scientist paused before continuing.
"Others, such as members of the Royal Azeroth Line, possess a far greater sphere of influence. Their abilities allow them to warp distance itself."
A new diagram appeared on the screen.
"They can increase the effective distance between two points within a finite gap, accelerating force by artificially extending the distance traveled. The effect can mimic the capabilities of strength-based augments despite relying entirely on spatial manipulation."
The projection changed again.
"These users can also ignore many distance-based effects. By constantly altering their spatial relationship with their surroundings, they effectively keep themselves out of range. Most applications are controlled through telekinetic and telepathic actions rather than physical movement."
Kagami folded her arms as she stared at the unconscious Nathaniel.
The dead Kaiju was strange enough.
The unknown Uratsu was worse.
But what truly bothered her was the fact that Nathaniel Alderman had somehow survived whatever had happened here.
Another team was conducting a preliminary investigation of the surrounding area.
What they found only deepened the mystery.
Beneath the collapsed remains of the tower, investigators uncovered copious amounts of dried blood, shattered teeth, and fragments of bone embedded within layers of hardened debris. Much of it had been partially dissolved inside an acidic substance that still lingered throughout the wreckage.
Laboratory analysis quickly identified the biological material.
It belonged to Nathaniel Alderman.
Kagami stared at the report for several moments.
The quantity alone should have been fatal.
The acidic compound itself contained residual energy signatures matching the deceased Kaiju, Karthanon, the designation assigned by the original raid team. More concerning was the presence of a mutagenic agent intermixed with the corrosive substance.
The source of that agent remained unknown.
Two additional samples had also been recovered from the scene.
Blood.
Hair.
Neither matched any registered individual within the Association's database.
One sample contained white hair.
The other contained purple.
Both possessed traces of Uratsu signatures that investigators had never encountered before.
The findings suggested the involvement of at least one, possibly two, unidentified third parties.
A holographic reconstruction appeared above the briefing table.
The scientist manipulated the display.
"Based on impact patterns and blood distribution, we believe Alderman was thrown into the tower."
The model highlighted a section of the structure that had completely collapsed inward.
"He was already in a weakened state before impact."
Additional layers appeared across the projection.
Traces of the acidic compound coated portions of the simulated body.
"The corrosive substance was still actively degrading tissue when the collision occurred."
Kagami examined the damage.
The impact site was nearly twenty meters above ground level.
Steel support beams had folded inward.
Concrete had shattered around a crater shaped suspiciously like a human body.
The scientist continued.
"The force required would have been considerable."
"How considerable?" Kagami asked.
The man hesitated.
"Enough to kill most A-rank Knights instantly."
Silence settled over the room.
The reconstruction shifted again.
Fractures spread across the simulated skeleton.
Multiple breaks.
Organ trauma.
Massive blood loss.
The projected injuries alone were horrifying.
Combined with the corrosive compound, survival should have been impossible.
Yet Nathaniel was alive.
Barely.
But alive.
Kagami folded her arms.
Every new piece of evidence made less sense than the last.
A dead Kaiju.
Unknown combatants.
Foreign Uratsu.
Enough blood loss to kill a man several times over.
And somehow Nathaniel Alderman remained breathing.
The more evidence they uncovered, the more it felt as though they were investigating the aftermath of a battle involving someone far stronger than any individual officially recorded at the site.
Hours later, the camp had settled into an uneasy rhythm.
Medics moved between tents.
Scientists argued over reports.
Recovery crews continued excavating sections of the ruined biome.
Kagami found herself standing outside the medical tent once more.
For reasons she couldn't explain, her attention kept returning to Nathaniel.
The man was asleep.
Or at least pretending to be.
The monitors attached to him displayed a recovery rate that made several medical staff visibly uncomfortable.
His breathing was steady.
His pulse had strengthened.
The burns were still present, but portions of the damaged tissue had already begun repairing themselves.
None of it made sense.
Kagami stepped closer.
As a dragon-type Neo-human, her senses far exceeded those of an ordinary human.
Sight.
Hearing.
Smell.
All sharpened through generations of selective evolution.
It was then she noticed something strange.
His scent had changed.
Not completely.
Nathaniel's familiar scent was still there beneath everything else.
Sweat.
Burned skin.
Medicinal compounds.
The faint residue of his own Uratsu.
But layered over it was something new.
Something she couldn't identify.
Her eyes narrowed.
It wasn't unpleasant.
Far from it.
It reminded her of standing near a powerful apex predator.
Ancient forests.
Storm-soaked stone.
Warm blood.
Heat.
Strength.
The scent triggered instincts she didn't particularly enjoy acknowledging.
The primitive parts of her draconic biology immediately categorized it as something significant.
Something dominant.
Something powerful.
Kagami frowned.
That alone irritated her.
She wasn't some animal guided by instinct.
Yet the reaction remained.
The scent wasn't merely biological either.
There was a subtle pheromonal component mixed within it.
Weak.
Almost imperceptible.
Had she not possessed enhanced senses, she likely wouldn't have noticed it at all.
A passing researcher paused beside her.
"Something wrong?"
Kagami glanced toward him.
"Has anyone noticed changes in his scent profile?"
The researcher blinked.
"Scent profile?"
"Answer the question."
The man quickly checked his tablet.
"Nothing unusual according to our instruments."
That didn't surprise her.
Most sensors weren't designed for the nuances of Neo-human biology.
Kagami returned her attention to Nathaniel.
Whatever she was detecting wasn't natural.
At least not for him.
It was as though some foreign biological marker had been introduced into his system.
Not enough to replace him.
Enough to alter him.
The sensation reminded her of meeting powerful Kaiju specimens during containment operations.
Not identical.
Similar.
Her gaze drifted toward the distant corpse of Karthanon.
The creature's remains were still being processed by recovery teams.
Perhaps it was contamination.
Residual exposure.
That would explain it.
Probably.
Yet the explanation failed to satisfy her.
Because every instinct she possessed kept telling her the same thing.
Nathaniel Alderman had changed, he was different from the last time they fought.
And whatever that change was, it had always been happening if she could find someone who knows him.
Inside his hospital room, Nathaniel shifted slightly in his sleep.
For a brief moment, his body temperature spiked.
One of the monitors chirped.
Then everything returned to normal.
Kagami watched the readings.
The spike had lasted less than a second.
Yet she could have sworn she heard something else.
A heartbeat.
Not faster.
Heavier.
Like the distant thud of something much larger sleeping beneath the surface.
Then it vanished.
Leaving only Nathaniel behind.
Or at least what appeared to be Nathaniel.