Family system

I clenched my teeth, suppressing the panic rising in my chest. My options were shrinking fast. My speed was the only reason I was still alive, but even that wouldn't save me forever.

Suddenly, before I knew it, I was surrounded by a blinding light. Space around me seemed to vanish, and a screen appeared before my eyes. [Do you want to survive?] One single sentence stood on that screen, but it was the saving line that I needed. 'Yes, I want to live.' I started to regret escaping from home.

[permission to bind to the user?] Another sentence came on the screen, and I quickly yelled out." Yes, please, anything. You have my permission."

[permission has been granted. Please wait a moment.]

I looked around me because it was suddenly silent, and I saw that I was in a white space. There was nothing here, and it was an endless expansion of nothing. While I was in this room, I didn't panic because, strangely enough, I felt really comfortable inside of it.

I had to wait until the screen was done doing what it was doing to see what it was, so I didn't want to leave anyway. After waiting momentarily, the screen also gave off a flashing light, and a wisp of energy entered my body. I let it be, and soon enough, I had the effects of it.

[Welcome Ashen. This is the servant system. You will get stronger the more you help your master. Would you like to be connected to your master?]

I stared at the glowing text on the screen, still struggling to process what was happening. "Servant system?" The words echoed in my mind, unfamiliar yet strangely comforting. My breathing steadied, and the panic that had consumed me moments ago seemed distant now.

The white, endless expanse around me pulsed softly as if the space itself were alive. Despite the emptiness, I felt safe—a feeling I had only felt from my sister. Something about this place resonated with my essence, calming the storm of fear still lingering in my chest.
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The screen flickered again.

[Would you like to be connected to your master?]

The term master caught me off guard, sending a surge of defiance through me. I was Ashen, a primordial dragon born of storms and untamed skies. I had no master—no one bound me. My wings existed to roam the skies freely, not to be chained down by some unknown force.

But... the reality of my situation hit me like a crashing wave. I wouldn't last long if I returned to the battlefield outside this space. That relentless monster—the White Tiger King—was still out there, ready to rip me apart the second I reappeared.

I clenched my fists, my sharp claws digging into my palms. Pride screamed at me to reject the offer, to fight until the bitter end. But survival—true survival—required more than stubborn pride.

"If being connected means I can live… if it means I can become stronger..." I whispered, my voice trembling with desperation. "Then… yes. Connect me to my master."

The screen pulsed with acknowledgment.

[Connection request acknowledged.]

[Searching for compatible master…]

The air around me shifted, vibrating with strange energy. My body felt lighter, the exhaustion from my earlier escape fading rapidly. Raw power flowed through me, mending wounds I hadn't even realized I had. My claws glowed faintly with radiant blue streaks as the dormant strength in my bloodline awakened.

[Searching complete.]

[Compatible master found.]

The screen paused for a moment before a final message appeared.

[Connection successful. Welcome, Ashen. Your master has been notified.]

Before I could react, the blinding white space shattered like fragile glass. The comforting void twisted, breaking apart as reality reasserted itself. Space's cold, empty reaches returned instantly, but something was different now.

I no longer felt alone.

A strange bond pulsed faintly within me—a thread of energy connecting me to something... or someone far away. It was distant yet steady, like an anchor keeping me grounded in an otherwise merciless void.

Before I could dwell on it further, a monstrous roar shook the stars. The White Tiger King stood at the edge of the broken planet, his eyes blazing with mana-infused rage. He hadn't forgotten about me—and he wasn't done hunting.

"Have you stopped hiding, little snake? Come here and die, " the white tiger king yelled. He rushed towards me again.

The White Tiger King vanished in a flash of blinding light, moving faster than before. His claws gleamed with deadly mana, aimed straight for my chest—a killing blow designed to end my life right then and there.

I didn't flinch.

"Tempest Shatter!"

With a flap of my wings, the winds howled into a violent storm, forming a barrier of spiraling wind laced with jagged arcs of lightning. His claws slammed into the barrier with the force of a collapsing star, sending out a deafening explosion that cracked the void itself.

The impact sent shockwaves surging across the battlefield, disintegrating fragments of the shattered planet below. The protective winds shattered under his strike, but they bought me just enough time.

I twisted mid-air, narrowly avoiding his follow-up strike. His claws grazed my wingtip, leaving a shallow cut that crackled with residual mana. I retaliated instantly.

"Stormfang Slash!"

Wind compressed into razor-sharp blades along my claws, glowing with searing electric energy. I dove downward in a blinding arc, striking with the storm's full force. Three vicious slashes tore through the void, each faster and deadlier than the last.

The first slash struck his left side, cutting through his reinforced mana shield. The second slash carved across his chest, leaving a deep, smoldering wound. The final slash collided with his outstretched claws, forcing him back with a thunderous explosion.

The White Tiger King howled, his massive body thrown backward by the sheer force of my strikes. A nearby asteroid shattered from the pressure alone, scattering into molten debris.

His snarl deepened, blood gleaming like molten silver along his white fur. He flexed his claws, which now sparked faintly with absorbed mana from my attacks.

"Is that all, little wyrm?" he sneered. His voice oozed disdain, but his eyes gleamed with something far more dangerous—excitement. He was a battle maniac, and I knew he wasn't going out all right now. He was enjoying the fight too much to end it.

He slammed his fists together, sending crackling shockwaves across the battlefield. Faint traces of Heaven's Dominionrunes ignited along his forearms, bathing him in blinding divine light.

"White Fang!"

He vanished again.

This time, he reappeared directly above me, both claws crackling with compressed mana in the form of massive, jagged energy fangs. He slashed downward in an X-shaped motion, the combined force warping the space around us as the twin mana fangs streaked toward me like twin shooting stars.

As the wind condensed around me, I surged upward, flipping into a tight spin.

"Cyclone Spiral!"

A spiraling tornado of electric wind engulfed me, accelerating my spin to dizzying speed. The fangs smashed into the cyclone, causing a massive detonation that even the distant stars dimmed under its destructive force.

The explosion hurled me backward, sending me crashing into the remains of a shattered moon. The debris fractured further upon impact, and pain surged through my body, though adrenaline drowned out most of it.

The Tiger King was already upon me.

I saw him coming this time. His claws raked downward, aiming to tear through my wings—but I twisted, rolling to the side at the last moment. His claws slammed into the moon's surface instead, splitting it into two massive halves.

"Hurricane Requiem!"

I retaliated instantly, channeling every ounce of mana into the surrounding wind. The air ignited with lightning and storm-force gales, converging into a massive spiraling vortex of destruction.

The roaring cyclone lashed out, tearing through the already broken moon and slamming directly into the Tiger King. He roared in frustration as the storm ripped at his armor-like fur, shredding protective layers of divine mana and leaving behind smoldering, bloody wounds.

But he didn't fall.

He threw out both claws with a guttural growl, shattering the vortex from within. The winds dissipated in a final deafening blast, leaving only the Tiger King still standing—his eyes blazing with bloodlust.

"Impressive... but still not enough."

I gritted my teeth, wind, and lightning already gathering around me once more. The air crackled, charged with deadly tension, as both of us stared each other down. Just when we were about to go at each other again, the space around us shifted, and I felt a familiar aura appear. I began to panic as I felt my sister's aura, and before I knew it, I saw the mighty white tiger king running away.

While he was running away, I also took my chance and ran away. I didn't want to return home, so I ran away without looking back.

I felt a connection with my master once again, and I wanted to go to her. As if answering my wish, I felt myself surrounded by magic, and the next moment, I was teleported away.