Blackstone City — the castle courtyard lay quiet beneath the faint shimmer of dusk.
Magus stood before the ancient banyan tree, his gaze locked on the gnarled trunk. To ordinary eyes, there was nothing before it — only the soft murmur of the wind brushing its leaves. Yet Magus could feel something there, a subtle ripple in the air that only his heightened senses could perceive.
"Charge," he said calmly.
The instant his command left his lips, a sharp whistling sound tore through the silence. Though nothing could be seen, a faint rustling followed — like a creature racing swiftly across the ground. The air ahead distorted slightly, rippling as though reality itself bent under invisible pressure.
"All right," Magus murmured.
In the next heartbeat, a massive shadow flickered into view. The Great Lizard appeared out of thin air, its scaly bulk settling onto the ground a dozen meters away. Its amber pupils gleamed with a strangely human expression of pride and anticipation. With a low, soft whimper, it tilted its head toward Magus, clearly seeking approval.
Magus chuckled. "Well done."
After half a month of experimentation — and more than ten failures along the way — he had finally succeeded in transferring the Green Chameleon's camouflage ability to the Great Lizard, refining it even further. Now, the creature could instantly alter its form to mirror its surroundings, achieving near-perfect invisibility. Only when it moved at extreme speed did a faint blur appear, the result of the transformation lagging behind its motion.
"Even a Wizard Apprentice or Great Knight would need sharp eyes to catch that trace," Magus mused aloud. Ordinary people would never notice it.
But as with all powers, there were flaws. The creature's camouflage concealed sight but not sound. When moving, the scrape of claws on stone and the faint friction of its scales against the earth betrayed its position.
Magus sighed. "Even true invisibility spells suffer the same weakness. Sound — that's the one thing magic rarely silences."
Still, his eyes glimmered with satisfaction. "If there are flaws, then so be it. The chameleon trait is only the foundation. What I want is evolution — the birth of a true familiar."
He turned to the Great Lizard, who tilted its head with a low rumble, clearly not understanding. Magus smiled, unbothered. "In time, you'll awaken abilities far greater than this."
With a flick of his wrist, he summoned Wizard's Hand — a spectral arm of faint blue light — and gently lifted the Great Lizard off the ground. Cradled in that arcane grip, the creature floated beside him as he stepped into the laboratory.
The chamber was dimly lit by dozens of candles, their flames dancing in shallow brass dishes. In the center of the stone floor, an intricate contract array sprawled outward — a complex weave of sigils, runes, and spiraling geometric lines. The entire formation glowed with a faint dark red hue, exuding a mysterious, almost sacred pressure.
Magus placed the Great Lizard at the array's center and raised his hand. A soft Sleep Spell shimmered through the air, enveloping the creature. It gave a low, uncertain growl before slumping into deep slumber.
Drawing a slender knife, Magus cut the pad of his thumb. He pressed the bleeding finger against the edge of the array. His blood spread through the carved runes like threads of crimson light, activating the formation.
The array flared to life. Countless tendrils of black and red mist rose from the air itself, swirling together before descending to wrap around the Great Lizard's body. The fog seeped into its scales, its skin, its very bones.
Then came the sound — faint at first, then sharp and insistent.
Crack. Crack.
Bones groaned and split. The Great Lizard's frame expanded violently, its skeleton bursting through the flesh in pale white shards. Within moments, its body had transformed into a towering mass of bone nearly ten meters long. Tattered strips of skin and muscle clung to it like rags, giving it a nightmarish appearance that nearly filled the entire laboratory.
Magus stepped back to the doorway, his pulse steady despite the sight. He held a plant rune gem tightly in one hand, ready to channel healing energy at a moment's notice.
The transformation ritual was perilous — its success never guaranteed. The stronger the creature, the lower the chance of survival. For a mutated beast like the Great Lizard, whose veins carried diluted Dragon Lizard blood, the probability of failure was at least fifty percent. Even with rune gems as catalysts, the odds only improved slightly.
The Great Lizard's skeleton continued to grow, stretching past fifteen meters. Yet no new flesh formed. The chamber filled with the sickly glow of exposed bone.
"Failure?" Magus frowned, tension flickering in his voice. He sighed, preparing to cut the ritual short.
But just as he lifted his hand to disperse the array, a sudden tremor ran through the air.
From the lizard's ravaged body, countless black, oval-shaped scales erupted, each as large as an adult's palm. They multiplied rapidly, crawling over bone and torn flesh alike, knitting together to reforge the creature's body. In moments, the Great Lizard's massive frame was once again covered — not with its old dull hide, but with lustrous scales that shimmered like liquid obsidian.
The candlelight reflected off those scales, but the reflection quickly faded — the surface of the creature's body subtly changed, mirroring the surroundings until it vanished completely from sight.
"Camouflage again? No... this feels different," Magus whispered, his eyes wide with astonishment.
A moment later, the creature reappeared, rising to its feet. Its transformation was astonishing. The once-imposing beast, seven or eight meters in length, had now doubled in size. Its body stretched nearly fifteen meters long, with powerful limbs and a sinuous tail that sliced through the air with predatory grace. Despite its bulk, it moved like liquid shadow — immense yet agile.
It lowered its head, curling slightly to form a protective circle around Magus. Its vast golden eyes locked onto him, radiating loyalty and reverence.
Through the new bond pulsing between them, Magus felt its emotions — pride, devotion, and the faint tremor of affection. The connection was undeniable.
The emotional bond between wizard and familiar — a spiritual thread linking their souls. Through it, they could sense each other's thoughts, and as the wizard's mental power grew, that bond would deepen: shared vision, shared magic, and even merged abilities. But it was a double-edged sword — if the master perished, the familiar's life would unravel with him, body and soul dissolving into dust.
Magus reached up, stroking the creature's massive head. "You've done well."
The Great Lizard rumbled softly, pressing its snout against his hand, gentle as a cat despite its monstrous size. The sight brought a faint smile to Magus's face — a moment of warmth amid the dark aura of sorcery.
"Come," he said, stepping toward the courtyard. "Let's see what you can do now."
Outside, the moon hung high, casting a silver sheen over the castle grounds. The ritual had lasted hours; night had already fallen.
"Go," Magus commanded.
The Great Lizard coiled, muscles rippling, then launched itself skyward. It soared four or five meters into the air with astonishing force. For a split second, its dark form gleamed in the moonlight — then vanished.
A heartbeat later, the distant banyan tree shuddered violently. With a thunderous crack, one of its massive branches snapped and crashed to the ground.
Magus's eyes gleamed. "Both strength and endurance have improved dramatically. Physically, it rivals a Great Knight at minimum. But we'll test further."
The creature landed, claws digging deep furrows in the soil. It pivoted, lunging once more. This time, as it charged toward a thick tree trunk, its entire body shimmered — and vanished mid-motion.
The next moment, it passed cleanly through the tree, reappearing several meters behind it.
Magus's breath caught. "A phase shift… the power to move between solid and void!"
Excitement flared across his face. The implications were immense. The Great Lizard could now transform its body into an intangible state, phasing through solid matter at will. Combined with its speed, strength, and chameleon camouflage, the creature was no longer merely powerful — it was nearly unstoppable.
"A perfect combination," Magus said softly, awe filling his voice. "Camouflage hides your body. Void form silences your sound. Together, they create true invisibility."
The Great Lizard threw back its head and let out an exultant roar, the sound echoing through the night like thunder.
Magus smiled faintly, the tension in his shoulders easing. "I can't keep calling you 'Great Lizard.' You deserve a name worthy of what you've become."
He paused, gazing at the mighty creature whose dark scales shimmered faintly with traces of moonlight. A name surfaced in his mind — simple, yet powerful.
"From this moment on," he declared, "you shall be called Hidden Dragon."
The newly christened beast lowered its head, its golden eyes glowing with quiet pride. A deep, resonant growl rolled from its chest — an acknowledgment, a promise of loyalty sealed in sound.
Magus stood before it, hands clasped behind his back, feeling the pulse of their shared bond resonate like a heartbeat in the air. For the first time since embarking on this experiment, he felt the rare thrill of success — not just as a scholar of magic, but a a creator standing at the edge of something truly new.
Under the cold moonlight, the wizard and his familiar stood side by side — a shadow and a master, a mage and his dragon, ready to face