The task burned across his mind like a curse.
[Legendary Task: Form a bond with a Human Tamer. Travel to Emerald Peak. Bonus: Slay the Tier One Emerald Dragon.]
He had no illusions about the scale of it. Even the White Dragon and Dark Fire Dragon had been Tier Two—and those had nearly destroyed him. The Emerald Dragon was above them, stronger, harder, deadlier. If he was to stand a chance, he needed a partner far beyond ordinary Tamers.
And to find that partner, he had to sharpen the one skill that could lead him there: Sense.
—
The river rolled with silence as he drifted into its center. He steadied his body, fins spread, and let his mind slip outward.
Sense had once been a candle flicker, barely enough to feel a fisherman's hunger or a child's laughter on the bank. Later, with Ian, it had braided into something deeper, resonating with another will.
Now, after years of slaughter and dominion, something inside it twisted awake.
[Achievement unlocked: Tyrant of the River]
[Effect: Territorial resonance amplifies Sense]
The koi jolted as the System carved the words. The water trembled around him.
When he pushed again, his awareness didn't just skim the banks—it surged outward.
Two meters. Ten. One hundred.
Two kilometers.
The river screamed with life. A hundred auras crashed into his skull at once: fishermen straining nets, hunters trudging along paths, merchants snarling over coin, travelers muttering prayers. Hunger, greed, joy, fear—dozens of lives pressing all at once.
It nearly drowned him. His scales rattled; the flood of voices burned like fire. But he forced himself to endure.
This was the path forward.
Somewhere in that tide was the Tamer he needed.
—
He searched for days.
One by one, he tested the minds he touched.
A hunter, strong of arm, but shallow of will.
A mercenary, cruel enough to kill, but too selfish to climb higher than his own greed.
A priestess, steady with kindness, but lacking the steel to face a dragon's gaze.
Each time, he recoiled bitter and empty.
[Attempt failed. Potential rejected.]
Dozens of failures. Dozens of knives carving frustration deeper into his chest.
There has to be someone, he thought. Someone who won't break.
—
On the seventh day, when exhaustion dimmed his crimson scales, he stretched his Sense one more time.
And felt it.
A will that wasn't ordinary.
Not greed. Not cruelty. Not shallow kindness. But steel.
A will sharpened by countless battles. A fire tempered by loss, yet still unbroken.
His heart surged. His Sense clung to it, tracing its shape.
[Potential bond candidate detected]
[Name: Brandon]
[Status: Tamer]
[Assessment: Strong enough to challenge Emerald Peak]
His fins trembled. Finally. A will that could stand beside him.
But as he reached further, the truth stabbed him.
Brandon was nowhere near water.
The koi thrashed, bubbles bursting from his mouth. Rage tore through him. How was he supposed to bond with a Tamer he couldn't reach?!
The river mocked him with silence.
—
Then the System stirred.
[Task progression: Side Quest unlocked]
[Skill Upgrade: Telepathy → Sub-Skill Activated]
His mind shook as new words carved themselves into place.
[Telepathy: Dream]
Type: Active
Effect: Transmit fragments of thought and will into a sleeping Tamer's dreams.
Range: Based on Sense radius.
Limitation: Messages unstable, easily distorted. Cannot form bond directly. Serves only as first contact.
The koi's gills flared. A path. Fragile, imperfect, unstable—but a path.
If he could not reach Brandon in waking life, he would reach him in dreams.
His fins steadied. His blood-red scales glowed faintly in the river's murk.
The Legendary Task had given him a cruel hand. But he would play it.
And for the first time, he whispered not for Mari, not for Ian, not for anyone but himself:
"I will not fail this time."
The river trembled. Far away, in the mind of a sleeping Tamer, the koi's presence brushed the edge of a dream.