Darin shifted about, but it was impossible find a comfortable position. The lack of sound and total darkness did nothing to improve the mood. “Can I hatch now?” he asked. Nothing replied and nothing changed in the next few breaths. “Hatch. Open. Be Born. Open sesame. Uh, start game?” he tried. A few seconds later and he was forced to give up any hope of a hatch on demand system. He sighed.

“Okay, I guess I do it the hard way” he grumbled. He reached out with his right arm and tapped the shell. Tink. Tink. Darin’s stomach dropped at the sound of metal on stone. “Aren’t egg shells supposed to be fragile?” he asked. No one would design a game that couldn’t be played, so clearly there was a way out. Trying another tactic, he began to scratch at the shell and was rewarded with a system prompt.

Warning: You lack the strength to damage this material.

“Who the hell designed this? Rrraaaah!” he screamed into the darkness, only to be blinded by a sudden light. Several breaths later, the pain in his eyes subsided enough to open his eyes. When he did, he was rewarded with a text box.

Racial magic unlocked: Breathe Flames

"Note: breath mints not included..."

“Oh, this is going to be fun. Breathe Flames” he cried out, closing his eyes and opening his mouth towards the shell. Nothing happened, other than his withering a bit. “Flames. Fire. Burn. Flame on. Rrrah? Roar? Well damn. I guess it’s based on motions and gestures then”

Darin filled his lungs, pausing only a moment to wonder where the air came from. He exhaled, and flames roared across his tiny prison. It was amazing, it was exhilarating, and it-Hurts! Against the soft red glow of heated stone, he could clearly see the outline of his abused tail.

Notice: You can not take damage until you have hatched.

“Hot, hot, hot. Damn it,” he cursed. Pain it turned out, was a different story. He thrashed about, desperate to get his tail to safety. Darin’s stomach twisted in knots as the world shifted and found himself upside down. There was a brief sideways rolling motion and then a drop. The trip to the ground was brutal, the egg spun wildly and smacked him around with every bump. His torment ended with a jarring impact on the floor. His prison shattered, leaving him laying on his wings, dry heaving at the distant ceiling. When finally he was able to see straight a new message came into focus.

You have finally hatched and may join your kin in the wider world. But first, you should really see the elders in the Hatchery for guidance. You wouldn’t want to bring shame upon your people.

You can now take damage.

You can now be killed.

Your respawn point has been bound to the Hatchery.

“Finally I can actually do some-”

Welcome to your Tutorial.

You can leave and return to the tutorial at any time.

If you need to restart your tutorial just-

Darin swiped it closed before it could finish, and then took a moment to look about. The cavern he was in was filled with old nests, but there was no sign of another dragon. The lighting was dim, but small glowing crystals had been set sporadically in the rock face. Thin patches of moss clung to a few walls, but none of it grew near the eggs. As he explored, he came to realize that most of the clutches here were quite old. The fresher eggs still showed ribbons and swirls of vibrant color. Others had lost their luster, only to become drab and bland. “But my egg was as gray as stone,” he mused. Having wasted several minutes walking around the boulders, he was no closer to finding an exit. “I need to get higher up to find my way out”

Jumping for a rock formation, instinct took over. In the next moment Darin learned two valuable lessons. The first was that flight came naturally to him in this body. It would have been a more blissful moment, had he not also learned the second lesson a moment later. The worst possible way to land on a rock, is face first.

Crash: A rock has dealt you 3 damage.

You have dealt 1 damage to a rock.

Racial ability unlocked: Flight

"First you learn to fly, and then you learn to land..."

“Smart asses,” he muttered. “I’m starting to wonder if something is really wrong with the coders here, or maybe just the writers”

* * * * *

It took him almost an hour to find the exit, the poor lighting and sheer size of the cavern worked against him. It also turned out to be good practice with his wings, and very few rocks were harmed in his travels. He had long since realized this was not the Hatchery. It seemed more like a warehouse or a shrine to lost eggs. But I hatched from one of those lost eggs he mused. A warehouse then, or something.

Entering the Hatchery for first time Darin nearly soiled himself. There in the middle of the room was a massive green dragoness, picture perfect to the European myth. She was easily several times his size and looked quite strong. As she worked her way through a menu, it became clear that she was not the most agile of dragons. “Excuse me,” he said trying to gain her attention. Her head popped up and she started to glance around. “Ahem. Down here,” he offered as she seemed confused. Her gaze locked onto him and her jaw dropped. Her next words, caused his gut to twist.

“Whoa. Hey guys, check this freak out!” Greenie cried out, causing several other dragons to rush into the Hatchery. He couldn’t help but cringe as they circled around him. Even the smallest amongst them, a spikey black dragon, was at least four times his size. Over his life time Darin had encountered a number of bad first impressions, but this one set a record. It set his teeth on edge, wait, teeth? His tongue flicked around in his mouth and found only a single hard form with ridges.

“Crazy, is that a pygmy?” Asked a blue.

“Maybe its a pocket dragon,” suggested a gray Wyvern.

“Why does it have a Beak?” someone asked.

“Could it be some kind of illusion?” suggested Greenie.

“I’ll step on it and find out,” stated a huge red dragon. A moment later the red brute took a swipe at him, but he easily dodged it. A second claw swung for him and he easily hopped over it. The larger dragons were surprisingly slow. He could have kept it up a while, but one of the blues got bored and blind sided him with a back hand. It did no damage, but it gave the red one a chance to pounce. “Now what shall I do with you?” it asked as it pressed its claw into him.

PVP Combat: Dragon whelp has dealt you 2 damage.

“Let me go, asshole” Darin demanded, as the message vanished from his sight. The brute laughed at him.

“And if I don’t?” the red whelp asked. The brute was grinning as he leaned in face to face. “What then snack size?” he taunted. With nothing to loose Darin did what came naturally, and sucked in a lung full of air.

- - - - - -

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