The forest breathed again.
Kai remained perched beneath a half-cracked tree trunk, his claws twitching against the roots. The Earthroot Titan Dragon's overwhelming aura had faded, but the echo of its presence still haunted the air like smoke after fire. He could still feel the pressure in his bones.
A being like that didn't need to roar. It simply existed, and the world bowed.
Kai exhaled slowly. "I'm still shaking…"
His wings twitched as he stretched them open, forcing the stiffness out. He checked his status screen again, hoping for any hidden messages from the Dragon God—but the system remained quiet.
His claws scraped across the ground.
The silence felt... strange now. After all the chaos—the human girl, the Dragon God's scolding, the bunny trial, and now this—he had a moment to breathe. But it wasn't peace. It was dread waiting to resurface.
Still…
He wasn't dead.
And that had to count for something.
[Status Update – Minor evolution energy absorbed.]
[Evolution Progress: 12% → 18%]
[Skill 'Instinctive Dodge' has increased to Lv. 3]
Not bad for just surviving a presence. But it still didn't feel enough.
He closed his eyes, focusing inward.
Ever since being reborn in this world, there had been a pulse inside his chest—not his heart, but something deeper. It wasn't until after the Dragon God spoke to him again that he started noticing it: a warmth that wasn't physical, a rhythm that didn't match his heartbeat. It pulsed whenever he leveled up. Whenever he evolved. Whenever he made a choice.
A faint voice whispered within him now. Not words—but intention.
And today… it was growing louder.
"What are you trying to tell me?" Kai muttered aloud. "Are you… the system? Or something else?"
No reply. But the warmth surged slightly, then began to fade.
Kai frowned.
The Dragon God said he had to evolve first. That until he grew strong enough, he couldn't show himself to the world. Not even in his new shapeshifting human form. Which meant one thing—
Time to grind.
He flexed his claws and took to the skies, wings slicing through the cool wind.
The forest below blurred as he flew fast and low, trees zipping past like green streaks. He didn't care about stealth anymore. After seeing the Earthroot Titan Dragon, he knew the world was too big to tiptoe around.
He needed to become someone the forest feared.
And that meant hunting monsters.
He banked hard and landed near a broken shrine he had seen earlier. The old ruins looked like they once belonged to some nature spirit—a crumbled stone arch, faded carvings, and vines covering shattered statues of animal-faced beings.
[New Location Discovered: Forest Shrine of Thirria][Potential Quest Source: Inactive]
Kai's tail flicked as he scanned the area. No threats yet.
Then—
Crunch.
A branch snapped behind him.
He spun.
Nothing.
No sound.
But his instincts screamed danger.
He dropped low, wings folded, scales hardening across his back. His eyes narrowed.
Then something lunged from the trees—twice his size.
A forest troll.
Covered in bark-like armor and moss, the troll's body slammed toward him like a freight beast.
Kai blasted forward, dodging under its arm.
"Too slow!"
His claw ignited with red energy.
[Skill Activated: Claw Burst!]
A shockwave erupted as his claws tore into the troll's side, leaving deep gashes. The beast roared, swiping wildly.
Kai jumped back, wings flaring to keep his distance.
The troll rushed again.
Too direct.
Too predictable.
Kai focused.
[New Technique Acquired: Breath Line Shot Lv. 1]
He inhaled, power focusing in his throat.
A thin beam of searing red flame shot out, piercing the troll's leg. The monster stumbled, howling, before slamming its club down—
Kai caught it mid-air with his claw, stopping it with brute force.
"Not today!"
With a spin, he flipped the troll over his shoulder and dug his fangs into its neck.
A sickening crunch echoed.
The troll stopped moving.
[Troll (C-rank) defeated.][Experience gained. Evolution Energy absorbed.][Progress: 18% → 26%]
He panted, blood dripping from his mouth.
But he smiled.
"I'm getting faster…"
Then, the warmth in his chest pulsed again.
Harder. Louder.
He staggered. "Again?"
It was louder than before. Urgent.
The pulse drew him deeper into the shrine ruins.
Past the overgrowth.
Past the fallen stone doors.
Until he came to a circular platform buried in moss.
[Core Fragment Detected – Activate Dragonblood Resonance?]
Kai blinked.
A new prompt.
"…Yes."
The stone glowed faintly, patterns illuminating like veins under skin. Symbols he couldn't read floated in the air—draconic script.
Then a voice entered his mind.
Not the Dragon God's.
"You are young… but you carry the spark."
"The world does not know you yet. That is good. Hide, grow, devour."
"I am a fragment of one who came before you. I am memory, locked in stone. I offer you the legacy of the forgotten."
[Skill Gained – Ancient Bloodline Memory Lv. 1][New Passive: Battle Memory – Learn enemy attack patterns after repeated exposure.]
Kai gasped.
"I can learn moves just by watching now?"
[Yes.]
The voice vanished.
So did the glow.
He looked down at the stone. It was dull now.
But something had changed in him.
His claws moved more naturally.
His eyes sharpened.
He felt smarter—faster—stronger.
"This world really wants me to become a monster," he whispered. "So I will."
Not out of cruelty.
But because he had no choice.
Because survival here wasn't about kindness.
It was about dominance.
And he was ready to earn it.
Later that night
Kai sat in a small cave he had found behind a waterfall.
He had cleared it of lesser beasts and set a boundary by releasing a burst of dragon energy into the area. Nothing dared enter now.
He looked at his evolution progress:
[Evolution Energy: 36%]
Still not enough.
But soon.
He glanced toward the moon above, peeking through the cave's cracks.
His mind wandered to the blue-haired girl he had saved.
She looked at him like no one ever had before.
Not with fear.
But with awe.
And ambition.
She had wanted to tame him.
"Good luck with that," he muttered.
Still… something about her stuck in his mind.
Not love. Not attraction.
But connection.
Like fate had marked them for something more.
He shook the thought.
Now wasn't the time for humans.
Not yet.
He had a dragon to become.
Somewhere far away…
The girl with blue hair sat in a quiet tent, wrapped in a blanket. Her knights were still recovering, most unconscious.
Her hands trembled slightly, but her eyes blazed with something fierce.
"I know what I saw," she whispered. "That… was a dragon."
The elderly attendant beside her scoffed. "Impossible. Dragons are myths, young lady. Long gone. Extinct for a thousand years."
She didn't respond.
But inside, she knew the truth.
Whatever that creature was—it wasn't a beast. It wasn't some illusion.
It was real.
And the world had no idea it still existed.
She gripped her pendant tightly, heart racing.
"I won't tell anyone… not yet. But I have to find it again."