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 nearly broke him. The Emerald Dragon was stronger, harder, deadlier. If he was to stand a chance, he needed a partner far beyond ordinary tamers.
And to find that partner, he needed to sharpen the one skill that could lead him to them: Sense.
—
The river rolled with silence as the koi 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 at the bank. Later, with Ian, it had braided into something stronger, able to resonate with another will.
Now, after years of domination and slaughter, something inside it had shifted.
[Achievement Unlocked: Dominator of the River]
[Effect: Territorial resonance amplifies Sense]
The koi jolted as the System whispered the notice. The water shuddered around him.
When he pushed again, his awareness didn't just skim the banks — it expanded.
Two meters. Ten meters. One hundred.
Two kilometers.
The river screamed with life. Dozens of auras pressed against his mind at once: fishermen at work, hunters trudging along paths, merchants bickering over prices, travelers muttering in half-bored voices. He felt their hunger, greed, joy, fear — all washing over him in a tide of sensation.
It nearly drowned him.
He flinched, scales rattling. The flood of voices stung like fire. But he steadied himself, forcing focus.
This was the path forward.
He had to find the one Tamer who could stand with him. The one who could climb Emerald Peak, cut through mystical beasts, and face a Tier One dragon.
—
It wasn't easy.
The koi searched for days, stretching his Sense until exhaustion forced him under.
One by one, he tested the minds he touched.
There was a hunter strong of arm but shallow of will. A mercenary cruel enough to kill without hesitation, but too selfish to climb anything greater than his own ambition. A priestess whose kindness was steady, but who lacked the steel to look a dragon in the eye.
Each time, he pulled back, bitter and empty.
[Attempt failed. Potential rejected.]
Over and over.
Dozens of people. Dozens of failures.
The koi began to grit his teeth every time he pushed his Sense outward. Each failure was a knife. Each rejection dragged the weight of the Legendary Task heavier onto his back.
There has to be someone, he thought. Someone strong enough to make this possible.
—
On the seventh day, when fatigue burned his body and his scales dimmed, he pushed outward one more time.
And then he felt it.
A will that wasn't ordinary.
It wasn't greed. It wasn't cruelty. It wasn't weak charity either. It was… steel.
A will sharpened by countless battles. A fire tempered by loss, yet unbroken.
The koi's heart surged. His Sense clung to it, tracing the shape.
[Potential bond candidate detected]
[Name: Brandon]
[Status: Tamer]
[Assessment: Strong enough to challenge Emerald Peak]
The koi's fins trembled. Finally. Finally, he had found someone who could stand with him.
But as he reached further, the truth stabbed him.
Brandon wasn't anywhere near water.
The koi recoiled, thrashing in frustration. How the fuck am I supposed to bond with a tamer who's unreachable?!
The river mocked him with silence.
—
Then the System stirred again.
[Task Progression: Side Quest unlocked]
[Skill Upgrade: Telepathy → Sub-Skill Activated]
The koi froze. His mind shook as new words carved themselves across his thoughts.
[Telepathy: Dream]
Type: Active
Effect: Allows Host to transmit thoughts and fragments of 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. Imperfect, fragile, unstable — but a path.
If he could not reach Brandon in waking life, he would reach him in dreams.
His fins steadied. His crimson scales glowed faintly in the river's murk.
The Legendary Task had given him a cruel hand. But he would play it.
He whispered into the water, 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.