The Ashen Crown Cycle: A Dragon's Rebirth(BOOK 1): The Ashen Crown Cycle, #1

By Whosyoudaddy

He died a hero with a lottery fortune he couldn't spend. Now, he's been reborn not as a hero, but as a dragon egg.

Gifted with the potential for unimaginable power, Aiden must survive his brutal new reality, protect his stolen clutch, and evolve from a fragile hatchling into an apex predator. In a world where only the strong eat, his first challenge is simple: hunt or be hunted.

 

 

Key Features:

✅ Non-Human (Dragon) MC

✅ LitRPG Progression System (Skills, Stars, Evolution)

✅ Weak-to-Strong / From Prey-to-Predator

✅ Survival, Hunting & Crafting

✅ Intelligent & Pragmatic MC

✅ Found Family / Character Bonds

• Language: English
• Publisher: Whosyoudaddy
• Release date: Sep 15, 2025
• ISBN: 9798232589660

Book preview

Chapter 1 Antechamber of Rebirth

Y ou don't have much time. Enjoy what's left.

The doctor's words echoed in Aiden's ears as he stumbled down the street, the diagnosis crumpled in his fist. Just yesterday, he'd won ten million dollars. Today, a routine check-up had delivered a death sentence: terminal cancer.

He had a month, at best.

He had a fortune he couldn't spend and a woman he loved but had never dared to touch. His life was on a countdown, with nothing but a void waiting at the end.

A sudden torrent of screams tore him from his thoughts. Aiden looked up. In the middle of the city's central plaza, a man was spraying the crowd with an assault rifle.

The attack was brutally efficient. People fell before they could react, and within seconds, the plaza was a slaughterhouse, a dozen bodies already still on the pavement.

A pair of twin girls, no older than six, had tripped in the chaos. They lay on the ground, wailing, their cries drawing the gunman's attention.

As the rifle swung toward the children, Aiden didn't run. A final, defiant energy surged through him. He charged, tackling the gunman with everything he had.

Bullets tore through his body, his shirt blooming crimson.

CRACK!

A single, sharp report echoed from a nearby rooftop as a police sniper took the shot. The gunman's head exploded.

Aiden gasped in relief. He managed a faint smile in the twins' direction before a wave of exhaustion washed over him. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.

In a disorienting haze, Aiden watched his own body fade into nothing. His consciousness remained, a weightless entity floating above the frantic scene.

...

[Ding! Welcome to the Antechamber of Rebirth. You have four opportunities to draw a new vessel. Please choose.]

A mechanical voice resonated in his mind. A moment later, a dazzling wheel of fortune materialized before him.

Aiden stared, stunned. This isn't heaven. Where am I? And what is this wheel?

[Please draw your vessel immediately!]

A ten-minute countdown timer appeared above the wheel. It finally sank in. This was a second chance. Death hadn't been the end.

Hope surged through him. With a trembling hand, he spun the wheel, his mind a silent prayer.

Whirrrrr—

The wheel blurred, the pointer flickering past countless options before slowing to a stop.

[Congratulations! You have obtained the vessel: Minotaur Warrior]

UNIT: Minotaur Warrior

Grade: S

Description: Minotaurs are born warriors, ferocious and fearless. Their powerful physique and straightforward nature make them favored shock troops. Their only drawback is a hair-trigger temper that demands strict oversight.

Growth Ratings:

Strength: ★★★★★

Agility: ★★

Defense: ★★★★★

Mana: ☆

Potential: ★★★☆

Abilities:

Blood-frenzied Roar (S)

Savage Charge (A)

Sundering Blow (A)

War Stomp (A)

Totemic Power (B)

Weaknesses:

Dim-witted

Prone to Rage

INCREDIBLE, AIDEN breathed. As a gamer, he knew what a Minotaur Warrior could do. But he hesitated. Dim-witted and prone to rage. That's a crippling weakness. They're frontline tanks, designed to soak up damage. One bad fight and I'm dead all over again. I'd rather be a glass cannon, dishing out pain from the back line.

He still had three more chances. But what if they were worse?

As if sensing his hesitation, a new line of text appeared.

[Due to the nature of your death, Providence has granted you a boon. You have an increased chance of receiving a high-tier reward for all four draws. You may review all results and choose your preferred vessel at the end.]

Aiden's eyes lit up. What is there to even think about?

Again!

A flash of light revealed the next vessel.

UNIT: Necromancer

Grade: SS

Description: A Necromancer is a force of nature, capable of raising armies of the dead vast enough to overwhelm continents. However, due to their unique physical reconstruction, all Necromancers are genderless.

Growth Ratings:

Strength: ★★

Agility: ★★

Defense: ★★

Mana: ★★★★★★★★

Potential: ★★★★☆

Abilities:

Rite of Oblivion (SS)

Form of the Undead (S)

Summon Skeletons (A)

Curse of Frailty (A)

Mana Shield (A)

Weakness:

Vulnerable to Holy Magic

SO COOL! AIDEN GAPED at the eight-star mana growth. The power was insane. But as his eyes fell on the final line, his excitement vanished.

Genderless? A life without sex? The thought was unbearable. He had to see the other options.

Next.

UNIT: Dwarven Vanguard

Grade: SS

Description: Dwarves are masters of defense and possess a formidable natural resistance to magic. Their stout frames make them inherently slow.

Growth Ratings:

Strength: ★★★★★☆

Agility: ★☆

Defense: ★★★★★★★

Potential: ★★★★★

Abilities:

Forge Mastery (SS)

Runic Resistance (SS)

Avatar of the Mountain (S)

Rune-Forging (S)

Ale-Brewing (E)

Weakness:

Sluggish

AIDEN FROWNED. SLOW speed wasn't a deal-breaker; a good mount could fix that. But he couldn't imagine spending his new life as a stocky, bearded man.

Before he died, he'd been handsome, the kind of guy who turned heads. He'd even been scouted for movies in college.

The Dwarf was objectively better than the first two, but it still wasn't a perfect fit.

He braced himself. One last chance. If this one's a dud, I'll take the Dwarf.

Aiden initiated the fourth draw. Gods, whoever you are, please give me something amazing, he pleaded.

This time, the wheel pulsed with a new intensity, brighter and more dazzling than before. It spun for twice as long.

This has to be it. Something powerful is coming.

His fists clenched, his eyes locked on the pointer. Finally, the wheel slowed to a halt.

Aiden stared, dumbfounded.

UNIT: The Enigmatic Egg

Grade: SSS

Description: An egg of wondrous possibility. Upon hatching, its potential will be a minimum of ten stars, but this is not the limit. It has the capacity to transcend the scale and become something far greater.

Growth Ratings:

Strength: ☆

Agility: None

Defense: ☆

Mana: ☆

Potential: ★★★★★★★★★★

Abilities:

Fiery Crown (SSSSS)

Dragon's Heritage (SS)

Accelerated Growth (SS)

Hardened Shell (D)

Nutrient Absorption (E)

Weakness:

Immobile

THE FOUR CHOICES HOVERED before him. He was torn between the Dwarven Vanguard and the Enigmatic Egg. He reread the egg's stats, his eyes lingering on its ten-star potential and the staggering final description. Gritting his teeth, he made his choice.

The egg was a gamble, currently weaker than a field mouse. But that potential... it dwarfed everything else. If he could just survive long enough to hatch, he was certain he could become a being of unimaginable power.

As he confirmed his selection, the voice returned.

[You have made a wise choice.]

[Dragon's Heritage is being transferred. Estimated time remaining: 30 minutes.]

The world began to spin violently. When his senses cleared, he was somewhere else entirely.

He was in a quiet cave, bathed in faint, filtered light—a safe, secluded sanctuary.

Yet his very consciousness was alien. He had no eyes, but he could sense the contours of the stone around him. His mind was flooding with information that wasn't his own—instinctive knowledge from his new ability: Dragon's Heritage.

He knew what he had to do. He needed to sleep, to absorb, to let the ancient power gestate. Only then could he break free from his shell and become a true dragon.

The inherited memories brought with them one last, chilling realization.

He was not the only egg in the cave.

Chapter 2 A Stolen Clutch

[D ragon's Heritage transfer complete.]

[Draconic language acquired.]

[Draconic lore integrated.]

Time lost all meaning. When Aiden returned to awareness, it was with an ancient clarity.

He was calm. He understood. His body had finished developing. It was time to hatch.

He opened his jaws and amniotic fluid rushed in, a rich, sweet nectar. After drinking his fill, Aiden tilted his head back, fixing his gaze on the crimson shell above.

He thrust a four-taloned claw forward and struck the inner wall.

CRACK!

The sound of shattering stone echoed in the confined space. A large hole appeared overhead, and shards of shell rained down. Aiden didn't flinch, letting them patter against his snout. His red, slitted pupils narrowed.

His Heritage had told him that hatching was an arduous struggle. Yet he had shattered his prison with a single, casual strike.

Am I that strong?

There was no one to answer. He dismissed the thought. He would get his answers from his siblings. Draconic tradition was clear: the first act of any new clutch was a brutal contest for hierarchy. The strong ate; the weak starved.

He lashed out again, claws tearing at the opening. When the hole was large enough, he planted his forelimbs on the jagged rim and hauled himself out, his powerful hind legs finding purchase on solid ground.

Free.

Aiden scanned his new home: a cave hollowed from a sheer cliff face, a secure location. But as his gaze swept the cavern, a cold reality set in. There was no sign of his mother.

This was bad. A wyrmling's life without a mother was a crucible. His growing body demanded a constant, voracious intake of food. Hunting for himself as a hatchling, on a continent where herbivores were scarce and predators reigned, was a death sentence.

This wasn't just a tough start; it was a trial designed for failure.

Aiden's head swiveled for one last, desperate scan. Nothing. His human emotions warred with a primal, draconic acceptance.

He was an orphan.

His gaze fell upon the rest of the clutch: four other eggs. Two blue, one black, one white. It was impossible for a single female to lay eggs of three different colors. His Heritage offered only one explanation.

These eggs were stolen.

The culprit had to be a Stone-Talon Dragon, a species cursed with overwhelming maternal instincts but an inability to bear their own young.

They were infamous for raiding nests. But a Stone-Talon was a metallic dragon, no match for the fury of a chromatic. The kidnapper must have been discovered and forced to flee, abandoning her stolen clutch.

A pang of savage hunger pulled him from his thoughts. Aiden turned back to his own broken egg. He dipped his head into the shell, lapping up more of the sweet fluid before taking a bite of the shell itself. It crackled like brittle stone, with a satisfying mineral tang.

He began his first meal.

...

His crimson tongue scraped the last shell fragments from the dusty floor. He had devoured the entire thing.

It wasn't enough.

His gaze drifted to the four remaining eggs. They don't share my blood, a dark thought whispered. Hunger was a demanding master.

Aiden crawled silently toward the clutch. He stopped, lowering his head and pressing an ear against each shell.

One blue egg and the white one held the faint, steady rhythm of a heartbeat. The other two—one blue, one black—were silent. Dead.

He carefully separated the living from the dead, pushing the two silent eggs away with his snout.

Just as he finished, a new sound cut through the silence.

Crack! Crack!

Two faint but distinct sounds. Aiden, who had just crouched over one of the dead eggs, froze. He whipped his head around. A hairline fracture had appeared on both the blue and the white egg, pulsing gently as the wyrmlings within pushed.

They're hatching.

A curious thrill ran through him. Aiden settled back on his haunches, his long tail twitching almost imperceptibly at the tip. He watched, fascinated.

After a few more heaves, the top of the blue egg shattered, and a blue-scaled head emerged.

A moment later, a pristine white head broke through the other shell.

Aiden assessed them. Their scales shimmered with a wet luster, and the horns on their heads were little more than smooth bumps. Their oversized heads gave them a clumsy, rounded appearance. A flicker of his old human self found them... almost charming.

Do I look like that?

He glanced down at the gleaming scales on his belly. They shone with the same luster. The answer was obvious. For all his future might, he was, for now, undeniably cute.

The two hatchlings blinked, their eyes locking onto each other before swiveling in unison to the red wyrmling sitting a dozen feet away.

They took in his size—already a full head and shoulders larger than them—and primal fear gripped them. They quickly looked away, a shared sense of crisis dawning between them. They ducked their heads and began struggling furiously to free themselves.

Like Aiden, they understood their situation instantly. A clutch of mixed colors meant they were a stolen brood.

They managed to wriggle their forelimbs free, then began the arduous process of squeezing their bodies out. Half-emerged, they collapsed onto the rims of their shells, panting. But their cold, slitted eyes never left Aiden.

He sat, observing. Their caution didn't bother him.

Their struggle did. Was it really that difficult? Hatching had been as easy as breathing for him.

The thought came, cold and clinical: could they be Drakes? Lesser kin?

The idea was tantalizing. Dragons did not consider Drakes kin. If they were Drakes, they were not siblings. They were meat.

Aiden's jaws parted slightly, his tongue flicking out. The egg had been delicious, but the portion had been meager.

He would wait. Let the little ones finish their struggle.

After regaining some strength, the two resumed their frantic efforts. Finally, with a last heave, their wings and legs popped free, and they tumbled to the ground.

The moment they were free, they stood, unsteady but resolute. They were true dragons. Aiden could see it in their posture, in the power coiled in their small frames.

I am a Blue. My name, given by my Heritage, is Azure, a high-pitched, feminine voice announced in pure Draconic.

I am a White. My name, given by my Heritage, is Bianca, another voice followed.

Aiden felt a pang of genuine disappointment. Not Drakes. Two perfectly good meals, gone.

Having introduced themselves, the two wyrmlings immediately began devouring their own eggshells, eating as if they feared the food would be stolen. Which, Aiden mused, it might have been.

Their frantic gobbling made his own stomach ache with renewed hunger. He walked over to the dead blue egg and settled his body over it. He raised a claw and brought it down. CRACK.

The shell offered no resistance. He plunged his claw inside, churning the contents until he felt something solid.

He pulled it out, lifting a malformed, fleshy mass. The dead embryo. Disgusted, he tossed the ugly thing aside.

He dipped his head into the shell and drank. The fluid was shockingly cold and sweet, like sweetened snowmelt with a hint of frozen mountain berries. The shell was crisp, with the same cool, sweet taste.

As Aiden ate with measured, efficient bites, the other two continued to wolf down their shells in a panic-fueled frenzy.

Chapter 3 A Fiery Crown

By the time Aiden was halfway through his meal, the other two wyrmlings had already finished theirs.

But their shells weren't enough. Hunger, a primal fire, still burned in their bellies. As if guided by a single instinct, both pairs of eyes swiveled to the red wyrmling—and to the untouched black egg behind him.

They exchanged a look. A slight, almost imperceptible nod passed between them.

The soft scuffing of claws on stone made Aiden pause. He swung his heavy body around to face them. The two wyrmlings were crawling toward him, bellies low to the ground, their gazes locked on the black egg.

Are they trying to steal from me?

Aiden felt a flicker of amusement. I had no intention of taking your food, yet here you are, ganging up on me. He let his long jaws part just enough to reveal the tips of his needle-like teeth. His slitted pupils contracted.

These two needed to learn their place. It was time to uphold tradition.

Seeing Aiden bare his fangs, the challengers did the same. He's bigger, but it's two against one. The odds aren't so bad.

They stopped a few feet away.

Red dragon, the blue wyrmling, Azure, said, her voice a deceptively sweet, childlike lilt. Give us the black egg.

The white one, Bianca, remained silent, but her aggressive posture made her position clear.

Aiden's jaw stretched into a full, predatory grin. Are you challenging me? he asked, his voice a low growl. He was momentarily taken aback by how high-pitched his own voice sounded, but he quickly recovered.

Give us the black egg, and there won't be any trouble, Azure pressed. The size difference was obvious; she wanted no part of a real fight.

Us. Aiden noted her choice of words. A united front. Clever, but not clever enough. A truly clever dragon wouldn't have started this at all.

A flicker of ancient arrogance gleamed in his eyes. He lifted his head, looking down his snout at them. Enough posturing, he rumbled. Come, then. Both of you!

Raaawr!

Bianca let out a roar that was more squeak than menace and launched herself forward.

Aiden sidestepped the clumsy attack with contemptuous ease, then pinned her beneath his weight. Pinned, the white wyrmling thrashed wildly, snapping her jaws. He batted her head aside with a powerful, unrestrained swipe of his claw.

The blow snapped her head to the side with a sickening thwack. A trickle of crimson welled at the corner of her jaw. She went limp, dazed.

Watching her teammate charge, Azure felt a spike of frustration. White dragons. All muscle, no sense. She had hoped to negotiate. But her pig-headed teammate had already made the choice, and in the blink of an eye, she was beaten.

I can't let her be eliminated from the fight.

Lowering her head, Azure charged.

Aiden, reveling in the satisfying thud of his claws against Bianca's scales, didn't see her coming. Azure's ram caught him squarely in the flank, sending him skidding several feet across the cavern floor.

He scrambled to his feet. He wasn't injured, but a white-hot fury surged through him. He locked his burning gaze on the blue dragon.

Sensing the malevolent stare, Azure's pupils narrowed, and she glared back. Among chromatic dragons, there was no fear, only dominance. The fight had begun. There was no backing down.

Are you all right? Azure asked Bianca.

Fine, came the defiant squeak. Bianca pushed herself up, her head spinning but seemingly unharmed. The two stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing the red.

Together! Bianca snapped and charged again. She would not be humiliated. She would be the one to pin this arrogant red dragon.

Seeing her rush off, Azure had no choice but to follow. Their only chance was to fight as one.

As the two shapes hurtled toward him, a fire ignited in Aiden's eyes.

Insolent worms!

The rage boiling in his heart erupted. Flames burst from the horn-nubs on his head, instantly weaving into a jagged, incandescent crown.

His body swelled, scales straining as his form doubled in size. Flames now leaked from the gaps between his crimson scales, and the fiery crown pulsed with blinding light.

The terrifying transformation stopped the two wyrmlings in their tracks. Their claws scrabbled for purchase as they slid to a halt.

Bianca stared at the monstrous figure, blinked her large eyes once, and then, without hesitation, prostrated herself, pressing her body flat against the ground. The red dragon was horrifying. If she fought, she would be killed. She was proud, not a witless Drake. When faced with an overwhelmingly superior foe, the correct response was to submit.

Watching Bianca fold, Azure felt a wave of exasperation. First to charge, first to surrender. With an internal sigh, the blue wyrymling followed her companion's lead, lowering herself to the ground.

The gesture was unmistakable. An admission of his superiority. An acceptance of his dominance.

From that moment on, the hierarchy of the clutch was set. Until the day they left the nest, Aiden's supremacy was absolute.

POWER SURGED THROUGH Aiden's larger form. He felt invincible. He opened his jaws and a torrent of pure flame erupted, blasting the ground beside the blue wyrmling. The earth flash-melted into a pool of bubbling slag, the radiant heat forcing