Ash still drifted from the scorched ground below.
The hunting party had been completely wiped out. Kai stood atop the remains of their burned camp, the smell of charred metal and smoke still lingering in the air. The fire in his chest had quieted, but something inside him remained unsettled.
They came to hunt me.
And I didn't even struggle.
He looked down at his claws—glowing faintly red under the moonlight. His body felt stronger than ever. But with that strength came a creeping question.
What would happen if the humans kept coming?
Would he just keep killing them? Would he become the monster they believed him to be?
The vision of Elira's eyes flickered in his mind again—wide, full of awe, but also… hope.
She had looked at him not with fear, but fascination.
And something else.
Curiosity.
He turned away from the corpses. He didn't want more blood tonight.
He needed answers.
Not from beasts.
Not from instincts.
From the world.
From its people.
But how?
Later that night, while resting beneath the thick boughs of the jungle, a strange pulse rippled through Kai's body.
[New Ability Unlocked!]Name: [Human Form – Prototype Lv.1]Type: ActiveDuration: 2 Hours (Cooldown: 24 Hours)Description: Allows the user to transform into a humanoid version of themselves using condensed energy. Strength is limited in this form, but cognitive processing and mana control increase dramatically. Form evolves with host.
Kai's eyes widened.
Human… form?
The words echoed in his head like a whisper from the Tree of Life. As if something—or someone—wanted him to understand humans not just by observing, but by becoming one.
The idea stirred something ancient and primal in him… and something strangely human too.
He could walk among them.
Talk to them.
Learn.
Not just through fire and battle… but through words.
Through experience.
He looked at the ability prompt again.
Then made his choice.
[Activating: Human Form – Prototype Lv.1]
Light burst from his chest.
Scales pulled inward. Bones cracked and rearranged. Wings collapsed and fused. His body shrank and twisted, muscles realigning into a completely new shape.
It was painful.
Unnatural.
Like trying to fit a mountain into a flask.
But moments later, where once stood a dragon...
Now stood a boy.
Tall. Lean. Wild black hair tinged with red at the tips. Golden eyes, narrow and intense, still glowing faintly even in the dark. His skin was pale, lined with faint streaks of red energy, almost like scars or runes. Two small horns barely protruded from behind his ears, almost hidden by his hair.
He staggered forward.
Naked. Weak. Breathing heavily.
But human.
Or… close enough.
He looked at his hands—five fingers. He moved each of them slowly, one at a time.
He laughed.
A sound he'd never made before. Not like this.
It was strange. Beautiful. Horrifying.
Then, for the first time, he spoke in a full sentence—not a growl, not a roar—but words.
"...This world is really insane."
His voice was deep, but not monstrous. Still, it echoed with power.
He stumbled toward a pool of water and looked at his reflection.
The boy looking back wasn't Kai.
But he wasn't someone else either.
He was something in between.
The first village he approached was small, tucked into the edge of the jungle. Straw-roofed huts. Low fences. People with bows, gathering water, harvesting roots.
Kai stayed at the tree line, hidden.
His instincts screamed to fly away. But he fought it.
If I want to understand them, I need to see them up close.
He stepped out.
A few children looked up first. Then a farmer. Then others.
Their eyes widened.
Some gasped.
A strange young man had emerged from the jungle, covered in dirt and soot, half-naked, with glowing eyes and an aura of power.
A few men raised their pitchforks warily.
"Who goes there?!"
Kai paused.
He didn't know how to respond properly. He only knew bits of their language—fragments he'd absorbed from Elira's words.
"I… no enemy," he said slowly.
His pronunciation was rough. His voice strained. But the words were enough to make the farmers hesitate.
One older man stepped forward.
"You're… not from around here."
Kai nodded. "Far. Forest."
The man squinted at him, then gestured. "Come. Eat."
Kai blinked. They were inviting him?
Just like that?
He hesitated… but walked forward.
They offered him fire-roasted root vegetables and thick stew. It tasted bland, yet delicious. Different from raw meat or blood. It was… warm.
He sat beside the fire, awkward and silent, trying to mimic their postures.
The villagers talked softly among themselves.
"Did you see his eyes?""That aura… I swear I saw it once during the war.""He's no normal boy.""He's a wild mage—or worse."
Kai tried not to react.
He had no idea what most of that meant.
But he was learning.
And for once… he wasn't being hunted.
Later that night, he left the village quietly, before the transformation timer ran out.
He didn't want them to see him turn back.
Didn't want to scare them.
But as he walked into the trees, a small hand tugged his arm.
He turned. It was a little girl, no older than seven, with big gray eyes.
"Are you really human?" she asked.
Kai looked down at her.
"…I don't know."
She smiled. "You're nice. So I think you are."
He blinked.
No one had ever said that to him before.
He opened his mouth to respond, but the timer ticked down.
His body pulsed.
He turned and ran—fast—into the jungle.
And just before he exploded back into dragon form, he whispered to himself:
"Nice… huh."
Back at the capital, Elira studied a new report.
A witness from the edge of the jungle had described a strange boy. Glowing eyes. Red markings. No known origin.
She smiled.
Her heart beat faster.
"It's him."
She didn't know how.
But she was certain.
The dragon had taken a new shape.
And that meant one thing.
It was intelligent.
And if it was intelligent…
It could be reached.
She stood from her desk and summoned her most trusted guards.
"Pack light. We're heading to the southern jungle."
One of her knights blinked. "But Princess—"
"This isn't a command. This is personal."
She clutched the report to her chest.
"I'm going to find him again."