I awoke in an unfamiliar place, my head pounded and my entire body was on fire. Not literally, that would have been worrying, but figuratively.

My muscles burned, they felt deflated and there was a heavy weight pressing into my chest. When I opened my eyes, the world seemed eerily bright. Like there was a new depth to every colour, every shadow… everything.

I was in a small room with bare panelled wooden walls. There was only one other bed in the room with me and its occupant looked to be in a bad way. I could hear laboured breathing from the figure who was wrapped so tightly in fresh, white bandages that you’d be forgiven for thinking they were an Egyptian mummy.

By contrast, my bandages weren’t as all-encompassing. They were mostly centred around my limbs and hands. Though from the look of my HP, any injuries I’d sustained in the battle with the dragon should have been long gone.

“Well look who’s finally awake.” A cheerful voice rang out from beside me. I turned towards them and gasped as a sharp pain exploded from my neck.

Bell lounged on a chair next to my bed with one leg dangling over the arm. She looked as comfortable as ever, though I was surprised to see her.

“Where am I?” I croaked through a cracked and irritated throat. My voice sounded awful, like I’d chain smoked for the last fifty years. That would be quite the achievement, considering I was only 28 years old.

“You’re in the afterlife. Our evil overlord Lucifer is kinda into extreme bondage, but he always gives out cookies afterwards so it’s not all bad.” She said with a practiced straight face. “If I were you, I’d just lay back and think of England. That’s where you’re from right, with an accent like that?”

“It is.” I croaked back slowly. “But seriously. Where the hell are we?”

“A makeshift hospital.” She replied, grinning at my seriousness. “Well… technically we’re in a big inn near the palace, the part of town near the Adventure Society was completely demolished so we all got relocated after…”

She trailed off and in my mind’s eye I saw the black flames tearing through the stores I’d visited. I saw the Adventure Society tower fall, glass shards plummeting to the ground.

I saw Panda.

That stupid hero’s grin on his face as his head was bitten off.

Bell must have seen the look on my face because her reassuring, playful smile turned into a grimace.

“I don’t know what you did to that dragon.” She said, leaning in and whispering. “But I’d keep it to yourself when people come asking, and they will come. Sally has kept them at bay for the time being, but until Director Lucas recovers, they’ll be hounding you any chance they get.

“Me and Sally are the only ones that saw… that… but no one believes our little tale about how Lucas killed it so bad it took a few minutes before it knew it was dead.”

I took a moment to digest the information. Sally and Bell knew about my weird-ass soul power. That was unfortunate, however they seemed to be going out of their way to help me keep it under wraps,

I already knew the adventurer district had been decimated, I’d watched it happen. Though if we’d been moved into the heart of Havar then that would mean we were in the noble district. I’d have to be careful.

“Sorry.” I began sheepishly. “I… I should have kept myself under control. It’s just Panda… Panda was the closest thing I had to family in this damned place.” The floodgate opened and as I began to apologise, it all came out.

“My wife was pregnant before I was isekai’d, our kid has probably already been born. The first time I used… that…” I said, mimicking her not-so-sly way of referencing my soul power. “It was after I saw this kid’s mother get killed in front of her. I saw it like she was my own child and it was my wife on the floor in place of her mother… and I just got so angry.

“Everything I’ve done since arriving here was to protect them, to bring them here and reunite with them. Panda had been the only one helping me with that. He was my closest friend… he was family.”

I looked up at her with bleary eyes, my throat was throbbing from overuse in my weakened state. Surprisingly she listened to the whole thing without interrupting. Then she opened her damned mouth.

“Yeah alright, calm down Dom Toretto.” She began with a smirk. “He’s your familiar not tu familia just summon him back. Also, there’s no judgment here for your little psychotic break, things like that keep people interesting.” She winked as I stared back at her with what must have been a pretty pitiful gaze.

I blinked the wetness out of my eyes as my brain kicked into overdrive. How stupid could I be? She was right of course. He was a familiar, he wasn’t dead, he was just sent back to his waiting room, sage school place until I summoned him again.

He’d literally told me that the first time I’d met him. If I could move my arms I’d have face palmed right then and there.

With that sudden and obvious realisation dawning on me, I felt a huge weight lift off my chest. I’d have never expected Bell to be the one to provide me with sound advice, but I guess everyone has their moment.

“Thanks.” I replied, my mind churning with possibilities. I needed to find someone in the know to perform the summon for me. I bet it’d be expensive as shit but with the money I’d gotten from the dragon’s lair it shouldn’t be a problem.

I could bring him back!

I would bring him back.

“Glad to be of service.” She replied, grinning at me. “Oh, by the way. Sally said to tell you to check your stats when you woke up. Apparently you’re not very good at reflecting after a big battle.”

“I’ll have you know I’m the best at reflecting after battles.” I croaked back, trying to add an edge of playfulness to my Fallout ghoul-sounding voice. “I’m also the best at being humble.”

She gave me a pointed look and I dived into my HUD. There was a fair few notifications waiting for me.

You have defeated Gold Eyes Red Dragon (lvl 100+)

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Bonus experience has been rewarded due to level disparity.

Bonus experience has been negated due to low damage caused by player.

Once again you stole the final hit. I can’t give out the same achievement twice, you know? Stop trying to game the system for loot boxes!

Congratulations! You have reached lvl 37

Congratulations! You have reached lvl 38

…

Congratulations! You have reached lvl 42

“Holy shit!” I gasped. “That dragon passed the level cap.”

Even with the bonus experience negated, I still rose six whole levels from that single kill. I didn’t even know that was possible in phase two. I’d been grinding away for ages trying to level up and it turned out that all I needed to do was beat a city destroying flying beast with almost all of its health depleted. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that sooner.

“Yeah I know.” Bell replied cheerfully. I looked at her with a blank expression and she continued. “It’d have to be at least past the level cap to shrug off my fireballs like that… and Sally might have mentioned something.” She professed confidently, folding her arms, and muttering that last part.

I ignored her and dove back into my notifications.

Congratulations on reaching level 40 player!

You have a new active skill to choose.

You may pick one of the following skills:

Limit Break (uncommon)

Are you tired of those pesky stamina and mana costs stopping you from unleashing your most powerful attacks? Well fear no more! With Limit Break, once per day, you can push past your limits and Captain Yami the fuck out of any opponent.

Using Limit Break can and will induce the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, fatigue, drowsiness, headaches, migraines, loss of hair, skin irritation and general irritability. Please consult your physician before using Limit Break.

I had only one thought upon reading that skill: why did it sound like a pharmaceutical advert? I immediately noped the fuck out of it and moved onto the next one.

Arrow Volley (common)

Like the archers of old, unleash a one-man volley of arrows onto your enemies. This comes with a high stamina cost but can also take out multiple foes at once.

This skill can combine with Soul Shot at later levels.

The amount of arrows created is determined by amount of stamina used.

Now that was more like it! I needed an area of effect attack and one that could one day combine with Soul Shot would be a brilliant investment in my skill list.

I was a little perturbed by the common rarity, but I had been pretty lucky with my skills so far. It made sense that I wouldn’t be unlocking unique and ancient skills every time I levelled up.

… Right?

Scales of the Apex Predator (Ancient)

Having defeated a dragon more than double your own level, your soul has learned some of their kind’s tricks. Namely, the ability to use scales as armour.

Summon dragon scales once per day and coat your skin in the red, semi-impervious scales of the Gold Eyes Red Dragon.

Quit dragon your feet and choose this skill already God damn it!

The system didn’t need to tell me twice. I immediately asserted yes on the HUD and accepted the skill. Arrow Volley would have to wait until next time.

I guess I really do get offered ancient skills every time. I thought, smiling widely. I wonder if it’s like this for everyone.

“You just got a super rare new skill didn’t you?” Bell asked, folding her arms.

I nodded like an idiot, grinning from ear to ear. I was so pleased with my new upgrade that the pain of moving my neck didn’t even bother me.

Speaking of pain, I still had a few notifications left to look into. I opened them up, hoping for an explanation.

*WARNING*

You have unlocked the ability to weaponize the soul before your level is high enough to protect you from it. You are suffering adverse effects from the strain your soul has put on your body.

If you keep doing this before reaching the level cap. You will die.

Well shit.

I guessed that was what Panda meant when he warned me against using my soul attacks. I’d really have to reign it in if I wanted to live long enough to make it a proper trump card.

Hopefully I wouldn’t have to face any super powered enemies any time soon. Of course, there was always the option of learning to reign in my emotions, but who wants to spend time working on themselves when there are monsters to fight?

Emergency Quest Complete!

The Sacking of Havar

A dragon is coming! A dragon is coming!

Thanks to the misguided deeds of certain members of the Adventure Society, a large, red dragon is currently on his way to the city of Havar.

This dragon is pretty upset and intends to genocide the fuck out of all sapient life forms on the island.

Objectives:

Prevent Havar from being destroyed 1/1

Kill the dragon 1/1

Protect the citizens 1/1 (Remaining Population 1,473,005/1,732,192)

*This is a group quest given to all inhabitants of the area surrounding Havar*

I felt a little numb as I read the completed emergency quest. Over 250,000 people had died in the attack. I knew that overall, it had been a miracle to save as many as we did, but still.

I didn’t want to think about that, nor why my original quest to slay the dragon hadn’t completed yet. So I continued onto my next notification.

You have gained a new title:

Dragonslayer

You have slayed a dragon that was infinitely more powerful than you. That’s no easy feat, even if someone else did do most of the heavy lifting.

You have gained some of its power by adsorbing its soul.

Dragons are more likely to talk to you and less likely to annihilate you the moment they see you, like they do with most humanoids.

Gain the skill: Eye of the Dragon

New Skill:

Eye of the Dragon (rare)

You have been gifted with a single golden eye from a gold eyes red dragon. This will allow you to see mana in the world around you, like literally everyone else on Celestia.

Well done, you finally hit puberty you late bloomer you.

Increase intimidation effect by 50%

I gained another new title and a fancy new eye to boot. Wait… did that mean I had one golden dragon eye in my eye socket? What the hell happened to my other eye. I looked up at Bell questioningly and went to open my mouth before being interrupted by her giggles.

“I take it you got to the eye notification?” She said, fighting through a giggle fit as she looked at me.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Because you’ve got a golden eye now. It’s been staring at me lecherously this entire time. Seriously dude, it looks like half of your face wants to devour me… though you could at least take me to dinner first.” She winked, still struggling to control the laughter.

“You could have told me!” I shouted, or at least attempted to shout, my throat was still sore and wasn’t exactly playing ball.

“What would be the fun in that?”