“What are you doing here?” Kayde glared as Elfina entered her office.
“You have the records of every Dragon trigger in this sector,” Elfina spoke. “I need the list of all the biological types.”
“I refuse,” Kayde answered.
“This is an order from the council,” Elfina stated. Kayde held out a hand as if she was asking something from Elfina. “What?”
“The order,” Kayde said. “You said it was an order from the council. Then where’s the order.”
Elfina glared at Kayde. “Do you really want to cross me?”
“Well, I don’t take orders from a stuck-up bitch,” Kayde spat and watched as Elfina stomped out of her office.
Layde smirked in victory. The thing she hated the most was taking orders, especially from people that didn’t even have the authority to demand something from her.
As for what she wanted, Kayde was certain it involved the Dragon heart that was stolen. But that dragon trigger was of the highest rank, so unless whoever stole it had a death wish, it would remain unused.
Nevertheless, Kayde would investigate the matter.
------
“I should have died instead...” Zane groaned as the process of transferring the experience into his body finished.
“Stop your whining human.”
“Easy for you to say. You weren’t the one that got tortured for hours,” Zane grumbled as he tried to get up.
He immediately noticed that his movements were different. Even simple movements felt unnatural.
“You’ll get used to it. Learning everything from scratch would take longer than your lifespan, so I resorted to having your body simulate a century worth of training experience.”
“What?!”
“You did well enduring. Had you not bonded with the dragon heart, you would have perished immediately.”
Zane didn’t know if he should hate or be grateful to Averin. But he was damn sure that if they met face to face, he’d punch the lizard at least one time.
“Now, you need to get used to it in combat,” Averin stated. “Follow my directions to the nearest Dragon den.”
“Are you crazy?! I can’t take on a Dragon den by myself!”
Dragon dens were the former dwellings of the dragons before they were wiped out. Due to the residual mana left behind by the dragons, monsters had begun spawning inside and pouring into Earth.
The only way to stop it was to get rid of the mana clump in the main chamber of the dragon den. But to get there, they would need to go through the monsters created by the resentful mana.
“You’re no longer human. A Dragon den would be no match for you.”
“Are you fucking serious? Have you even seen a Dragon den that turned into a dungeon?”
“Just go!”
Averin’s voice boomed in his head, making Zane flinch in pain.
“Fine...” he grumbled.
------
It took a lot of effort, but Zane managed to leave the hospital without being stopped. It was partially because the hospital hardly had any security, but he still made an effort to not be spotted.
“Alright, where to?” Zane asked.
“Northwest. Hurry.”
Zane nodded and began sprinting, heading to what seemed like a ruined city. “This was next to the hospital?” Zane muttered as he was running by.
“Stop.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Zane stopped in front of a pile of rubble. “There’s nothing here.”
He looked around the area, searching for any form of entrance to a Dragon den. The whole area was nothing but rubble and what little remained of the buildings.
“Below.”
“How am I supposed to check under all this?” Zane whined.
Zane doubted that he would be able to dig through the rubble without any machines or tools.
“Aim your hand below,” Averin instructed. “Feel your bond with the Dragon heart.”
Zane shrugged and did as he was told, feeling the power coming from the Dragon heart. He could feel a contained power that wants to be released.
“Picture the mana within your dragon heart being released.”
Zane wasn’t sure how he would do that, then he realized that he had already seen a pretty good example.
He felt a surge of power in his chest. “Trigger!”
A black dragon materialized and began clawing through the rubble. Zane was blown back by the impact and was almost caught in the sudden excavation. Zane managed to clear the area just as the ground began to collapse, revealing a massive tunnel.
“Damn... I didn’t expect that to work,” Zane muttered.
The black dragon vanished after doing its job.
“Go.”
Zane nodded and headed inside the tunnel. After a while, he felt a hostile presence rushing towards him. A hound-like monster lunged at him. Zane’s body moved on its own, stepping out of the way of the lunge and delivering a quick jab to side of its head.
“How the fuck did I do that?”
“Your body has gained years of combat experience. Use it.”
“Like muscle memory,” Zane muttered as he got into a combat stance that felt strangely natural to him.
The hound lunged once again and this time Zane ducked under it before striking it in the abdomen. To his shock, his hand went through the hound. Due to the momentum of the hound’s lunge, Zane was pulled back and fell to the ground.
“Pathetic,” Averin commented.
“Screw you,” Zane grumbled as he pulled his hand out of the dead monster. “I didn’t expect my hand to go through it.”
“You’re is now comparable to a hatchling. Most creatures would be fragile to your touch.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zane said as he continued deeper into the tunnel.
As he went deeper, Zane began to feel mana in the surrounding get denser. A few glowing crystals also started appearing.
“Are those mana stones?”
“Yes. Places with dense mana causes mana stones to form along with the monsters.”
“Why monsters?” Zane asked. Zane never understood that part. He knew mana was obviously magic, but why did the mana inside Dragon den’s create monsters.
“Nobody knows.”
------
“Hello,” Melissa greeted New Earth government agent as she entered the meeting room provided by the hospital.
“I’m here to inform you about the decision regarding your continued employment,” the agent stated, not bothering to introduce herself.
Melissa nodded.
“Since a field researcher tasked with monitoring an individual is a physically taxing job, it was decided that you will be relieved of your duty.”
“I understand,” Melissa bit her lip.
She had already expected this to happen. It wasn’t new for her to hear about the other researchers tasked with monitoring the others complaining about how troublesome and uncooperative their wards were. She was lucky that Zane cooperated with the regular checkups and only complained that they were annoying.
“A new researcher will be assigned to Subject Z,” the agent stated. “As for you. You have the option of taking a desk job if you wish to continue working. Additionally, since you were injured during your duty, you will receive fifty thousand credits every month.”
It was the same amount her current salary. It wasn’t an outrageous amount, but it would be enough for her to live peacefully.
“If you wish to take a desk job, simply inform the agency. Good day,” the agent got up and exited the room, leaving Melissa.
“How am I going to tell this to Zane?”
------
“Die you piece of shits!” Zane yelled as he smashed a goblin’s head.
Zane stepped out of the way of another hound that lunged at him, and punched it in the head as it passed by, shattering its skull. Then he heard the sound of a crowd coming from deeper into the tunnel.
“Let’s try this again,” Zane raised an arm towards the horde of goblins riding hounds that were charging at him. “Trigger!”
The same black dragon from earlier materialized and began tearing the monsters in its way apart.
“How am I doing?” Zane asked with a smirk.
“Keep moving.”
Zane rolled his eyes as he resumed going deeper into the Dragon’s den. “Hey Averin, does this martial art work with weapons?”
“You did not learn a martial art. That is a Draconic art movement art that controls the flow of your mana. Dragons have no need for combat arts.”
“Then why did I need to get used to using it in combat?” Zane asked.
“The majority of the time you would be using it is during combat.”
Zane nodded in understanding. “That makes sense.”
Zane stopped at the entrance of a massive cavern. Mana stones stuck out from the walls of the cavern, and at the center of the cavern, a giant cloud of mana was spiraling.
“Is that the thing spawning the monsters?”
“Yes. The amount of mana is pathetic. That explains the weak monsters that you have encountered.”
“I don’t think it was supposed to be that easy,” Zane pointed out. “I’ve heard about a lot of incidents happening in Dragon dens.”
“That is none of our concern. Absorb the mana.”
“How?”
“I’ve already thought you how. Absorb the mana in the surrounding.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea...”
“Do it!”