Chapter 98: Prime
Alex Sandclaw’s POV (continued):
I blinked and read through the entire System message several times. I was sure there was something about it I just didn’t understand, something that if I learned it, would make the whole thing make sense again. How could the System even make errors? People made errors and mistakes all the time, sure, but the System wasn’t a person. It was closer to a god than anything else, so how could it have made a mistake?
And more importantly, how did it affect me now? Was my choice, [dragon rider], still available? The new Path sounded the same, but it wasn’t the one that I chose. Where had it even come from? Wait… was this the Path from earlier with all the missing text and information? I racked my memories, and I was pretty sure that the few letters that the System had displayed for that Path lined up with what I had before me now.
But that only raised more questions. Like, why could it display the information now and not before? Clearly the System had it available, so what stopped it from just telling me about it? And since when did the System have multiple options of the same Path available when choosing?
“Hey, are you okay?” Felix asked, raising his head from my lap and nudging me with his snout. “You’re very quiet for someone who just picked their first Path… did something go wrong?”
He must have seen my expression. “Um, yeah, something did,” I said. “Give me a moment, it’s easier if I draw this out.”
Felix lifted his head from my lap entirely and sat up straight, his relaxed smile turned into a tense and strained one. I grabbed my notebook and quickly drew a copy of the System prompt and handed it to Felix. He read it over, his strained smile now turning into a confused frown. Once he was done, he put the notebook down.
“I have no idea what to make of this, honestly,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard about the System having errors before. I knew it was possible—dad told me about it once, in a roundabout way—but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone actually experiencing any issues.”
That wasn’t particularly helpful, but I couldn’t really blame Felix for that. I doubted anyone could actually be helpful with this. “So, what now?” I asked.
“Have you pulled up the information on the ‘new’ Path yet?”
I shook my head. “No, I hadn’t thought of that yet,” I said. “Give me a moment, I’ll do it now.”
I concentrated on the new—well, the System called it predominant, not new—Path with the intent of wanting information. It almost felt like the System took longer than usual to respond, but it obliged nonetheless. I quickly read through the information, but it was basically the exact same except for two small details. The name was different, and the bonuses were different.
> [System Path Selection Information Request]
>
> [Dragon rider Prime]:
>
> By choosing this Path, you’ll gain the following bonuses: +2 to all Attributes per level. You gain an additional general Skill slot and an additional Path-Skill slot. You are a member of the Riders, and the System will view you as nobility for the purposes of Skills and effects. You have Prime-level privileges.
>
> [Information Request End]
It was remarkably unhelpful. The only differences were that I was now a member of these Riders instead of just being eligible to become one, and that I had some privileges. Neither of them really meant anything to me. What use was being a member of a group that no longer existed?
I read it out to Felix and he mostly just looked confused. He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “I have no idea what it’s talking about. Maybe ‘prime’ was a rank within this group of dragon riders the System is talking about? If so, it’s probably a high one, which makes sense, I suppose. If you’re the only ‘Rider’, you’d be a high rank by default,” he said, then shrugged again. “I really don’t know, nor do I think it matters since neither are under the ‘warning’ section. It does pose some interesting questions about these Riders, though. They must have been pretty damn important to be mentioned in the System like that.”
I nodded, what Felix said made sense. It should be fine, so I saw no reason not to accept it. The Path was pretty much identical from what I’d chosen, anyway. He was right about the Riders, too, though. Hopefully, with a significant amount of luck, we could learn some more about them when we continued down the tunnel again.
“Alright, I’ll take the Path then.”
Felix nodded, and I focused back on the prompt, mentally giving my consent for the System to continue on. Immediately a new prompt popped up.
> [System Path Selection Process]
>
> Accepting now will cause a significant change to your Attributes, and may lead to unconsciousness and as a result, injury. Ensure you are safe before continuing. Do you want to continue?
>
> [System Message End]
I glanced at Felix. “The System warned me that I might fall unconscious, could you watch over me?”
“Huh, that’s a bit unusual, though not unheard of,” he said, before grabbing me and pulling me into his arms, pressing a kiss to my forehead while he was at it. “In any case, you’ll be safe with me.”
A warm feeling spread through me at his words and the kiss. And for the first time since we had gotten stuck underground, I felt like doing more than just cuddling or sharing the occasional chaste kiss. I turned my head and grabbed Felix’s head to give him a deep, passionate kiss, leaving him flustered.
“We’ll finish that later, alright?” I asked,
Felix nodded shyly but excitedly. It was adorable. “Well, you’ll need to get to your new strength anyway, so I’m sure some exercise won’t go amiss,” he said with a suggestive tone and it was now my turn to be flustered.
I gave him another quick kiss, then focused back on the prompt. I warned Felix about it, then confirmed to the System that I was ready.
> [System Path Selection Process]
>
> You have chosen [Dragon rider Prime]! Applying bonuses now. You may feel some discomfort as the retroactively applied Attributes take effect.
>
> [System Path Selection Process End]
For a moment I was sure that the System was just highly exaggerating the risk, that it was just covering its ass. Then I felt it. My muscles felt like they were heating up, like I was standing right next to an oven or stove. But instead of the heat coming from the outside, it came from within, and from all over my body at once. At first, it was rather pleasant, but the feeling of the heat kept rising and I began feeling pin pricks all over my skin and scales, too, as if an army of ants was marching to war and using my body as its battlegrounds.
“Are you okay?” Felix asked. “You’re burning up.”
I nodded and wanted to speak, but was distracted by a new feeling. From below my stomach but above my groin, a feeling of bloat made itself present and unignorable. It was my mana-pool, growing. I recognized the feeling from what Felix explained about him drinking blood. It was a really unpleasant feeling, somewhere between having eaten way too much and having to pee really badly. But it was nothing compared to the headache that was slowly but steadily getting worse. In fact, I was pretty sure the pain was only speeding up. And at an alarming rate too. Did someone detonate an explosive inside my head or something, the pain was almost unbear—
-------
I woke up feeling surprisingly well. My body felt strong and powerful, my thoughts clearer and more distinct than ever before, and even without touching my mana-pool, I could tell I had more mana to play with. It was like I could take on the whole world, that I could just claw us a way out through the stone and back to the surface. That feeling sadly faded in moments, but the memory of it lingered.
I opened my eyes and found Felix resting with his head on my chest. I raised my hand to pet him, but overshot. Sighing, I tried again and missed again, but by a much smaller distance this time. Felix, having noticed me moving, opened his eyes and smiled at me. He glanced at my hand then pushed his head up into my open palm. I chuckled and began scratching behind his ears.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Good. Great, even,” I said. “How long was I out?”
Felix scratched his head. “I’m not sure, honestly. Maybe half an hour? It doesn’t really matter that much. Anyway, go look at your status. I’m curious what Skill you got from your Path.”
I nodded and pulled up my System status.
> [System Status Beginning]
>
> Name: Alex Sandclaw
>
> Species: Lizardkin
>
> Species subtype: Red-eyed Crocodile Skink
>
> Level: 28
>
> Mana pool: 1030/1030 (full)
>
> Attributes:
>
> Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
>
> Physical: 106
>
> Mental: 102
>
> Spiritual: 103
>
> Path one: [Dragon rider Prime]: 0
>
> [Dragon riding]: 0
>
> [Empty]
>
> [Empty]
>
> [Empty]
>
> Path two: Locked
>
> Path three: Locked
>
> General Skills:
>
> [Temperature resistance]: 3
>
> [Blunt force resistance]: 15
>
> [Drawing]: 22
>
> [Draconic Mana manipulation]: 29
>
> [Draconic lightning magic]: 18
>
> [Draconic magic resistance]: 5
>
> [Empty]
>
> [System Status End]
That… that was a lot of Attribute points. Like, way more than I should’ve gotten. I had calculated what I would get earlier, and this was… exactly 28 points more than that in each Attribute. That number was the same as my level. Following a hunch, I pulled the information request from earlier back up. I read through it and quickly found what I was looking for.
“By choosing this Path, you’ll gain the following bonuses: +2 to all Attributes per level,” the information had said.
Plus two, instead of plus one. It was only one small change and I had just completely read past it earlier. That was insane, no wonder the System had felt the need to warn me. That was a total of 168 new Attribute points, applied all at once.
I read the System status out to Felix and he raised an eyeridge. “Well, that’s genuinely impressive. That’s a lot of points for someone our age. Like, a lot,” he said. “Also, what does that Skill do? [Dragon riding], I mean.”
> [Skill Description Beginning]
>
> Name: Dragon riding
>
> Type: Utility
>
> Subtype: Combat/Defense
>
> Affinity: Null
>
> Cost: N/A
>
> Description:
>
> Dragon riding is the most basic and important Skill for any Dragon rider to have! It is as versatile as a Skill can be and has a high chance of modifying itself upon leveling up to better fit your needs. Whether this means that you’re more resistant to air while in the saddle, or more in tune with your companion, or anything else, is entirely up to you. You gained this Skill from your Path.
>
> This passive Skill will, by default, help you stay on your dragon better through magical means unless you wish to get off, in which case no resistance is present. The Skill also provides knowledge and instincts on how to best act while riding your dragon, whether this is in the saddle or without. You also get knowledge about how to maintain a saddle. The strength of the sticking effect and the amount of knowledge and their integration is increased per level. While this Skill is used, there’s a slight bonus to the effect of the all three Attributes.
>
> This Skill takes effect once its level is at least one.
>
> [Skill Description End]
I read it out again, and Felix nodded. “So basically it just makes you better at riding dragons?”
“I mean, the Skill is called [Dragon riding] for a reason, you know.”
He chuckled. “Fair. Anyway, that’s a pretty great Skill for us, isn’t it? Just that bit about it being less likely to fall off my back is great. It basically does what that enchantment we talked about would’ve done. It’ll make combat so much easier and safer for both of us.”
I wracked my mind to remember what enchantment he was talking about, then remembered Felix telling me about an idea he had for the saddle. It would’ve kept me in place unless I wanted to move out. So if Felix jerked to the side, I’d remain safe and seated, but if I jumped out, I would've had no issues. And he was right, this Skill was basically that.
“You’re right, it does,” I said, then remembered something. “Actually, that reminds me of an idea I had earlier. To get water, I mean. Your saddle bags are waterproof, right?“
Felix nodded. “I think I know where you’re going with this, and you’re right, they are.”
“So instead of breaking through that wall of monsters, why don’t we just fly in, fill your bags with water and get back out?”
Felix thought about that for a moment. “Well, there are flying monsters here, but with your new Skill allowing me to fight harder without risking you, that shouldn’t be too big an issue. The weight of the water would be an issue, but I can just fill the bags with less water. But if we’re doing this, why should I take you at all? I can probably fly faster by myself and carry more water while I’m at it.”
“Because you can’t defend yourself and fill the bags at the same time. I also don’t want you risking your life without me there to help keep you safe,” I said, and I meant it.
Felix looked a little doubtful, but conceded the point. “Alright. We’ll need to train the Skill up a bit before we try your plan, though. But we can worry about that tomorrow. We’re both too tired for that. Besides, I do believe we still had something else to finish first?”
I was confused for a moment, then remembered my earlier words and grinned mischievously. I gently pushed Felix, intending to get him on his back so I could climb on top of him. I’d expected to have him play along like usual since I wasn’t strong enough to actually push him on his back. But to both our surprise, I could. I pushed him onto his back with little resistance.
Felix chuckled nervously. “Well, that’s new.”
“Do you want me to stop?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, no, definitely not. It’s unexpected, but honestly a bit hot.”
“Yeah?” I asked, then climbed on top of him, straddling his stomach. I gently but firmly pressed his shoulders into the ground and leaned forward to kiss him. He eagerly kissed me back and moved one of his talons to my butt, squeezing it just the way I liked it.
As we made out, I noticed something I hadn’t realized since I’d woken up. My sense of smell was a lot stronger than it was before. I hadn’t noticed anything earlier, because Felix’s smell was just always around me anyway and I hadn’t noticed it was stronger than usual. But I could smell his arousal now. It was faint, but I could definitely smell it. The smell was musky, almost a little sweet, and very hot. It was also a very arousing and powerful feeling to know that I caused it. That I turned him on. I could now smell how badly he wanted to do dirty things with me, and it really made me wanna do dirty things with him, too.
“You smell nice, you know that?” I told him, and I could swear the smell of arousal got just a touch stronger.
He nuzzled my neck, taking in a deep sniff. “You smell great, too. Very Alex-y.”
I chuckled. “Alex-y, huh?”
He nuzzled me again. “Yeah.”
I smiled and kissed him once more. Then, feeling emboldened by his smell, my own arousal, and the high of getting my Path, I grinded my groin against him. It was the first time I’d done it on purpose instead of by accident and it felt great. I almost felt silly for worrying so much about it before. So I did it again, and again. And even though my clothes were in the way, it was great. My slit grinding against the texture of his scales sending waves of pleasure rolling through me.
It only took a little while for Felix to take notice I hadn’t stopped grinding like I usually did. He broke off the kiss. “You’re sure this is okay?” he asked.
I nodded meekly. “It is,” I said, then had an idea. I moved around a bit so that my slit hung over Felix’s own. Glancing at it, I noticed it was slightly glistening in the firelight. Unlike me, Felix didn’t have any clothes to cover himself up. It made me hesitate for a moment, but not for very long. I turned my head back to Felix. “Is this okay?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, of course it is.”
I grinned and went back to kissing. Felix's talon went back on my butt, but he didn’t press it down, though I knew he would if I let him. He was as excited about this as I was, if not more. We made out for a little longer while I built up the courage, but finally I tentatively lowered my hips until our groins finally connected.
It wasn’t the first time they had, but it was the first time that I’d done it on purpose and in this context. After a moment, I began moving my hips back and forth, rubbing our groins together. Even with the cloth in the way, I could feel the contours of Felix’s slit. I felt the slightly raised lips, the space in between, and the small scales at the outer edge. The lips of his slit spread ever so slightly open as I rubbed my smaller slit against his, almost like they were kissing. Waves of pleasure unlike anything I felt before washed through me, as much physical as mental, and I moaned into Felix’s kiss. A moment later, he did the same with me.
We continued on like that for a while, moaning into each other while I grinded against him. Eventually I told Felix to start moving too. That brought a whole new dimension to us making out. Now it wasn’t just our tongues wrestling with each other, but our groins too. It was all great until I felt something hard beneath my groin, sliding up and down between the contours of my slit, which is when I noticed I was starting to get hard, too.
All my previous confidence drained away as I realized what we’d been doing, and I stopped grinding against him. Felix broke away from our kiss and asked me what was wrong.
“Nothing really… I think I just bit off a bit more than I could chew.”
Felix glanced down at our slits and looked surprised, as if he only just realized he was getting hard. Then he chuckled. “It’s like you have a little tent in your pants.”
Confused about what he meant, I glanced down between us as well. The first thing I noticed was something pink-ish peeking out from Felix’s slit. It was only the tip of his dick, but it was more than I’d ever seen before. After staring at it for probably way too long, I finally glanced towards my own groin and found the same with me, though there were clothes in the way. Felix was right, the tip of my dick was pressing up against my pants and forming a little tent. I chuckled with embarrassment.
“Sorry,” I said.
Felix's eyes snapped to mine. He shook his head. “Don’t apologize for that, Alex. We were rubbing our bits together, it’s only natural to get hard. Do you want to take care of it? I’ll fly a small bit away so you can have privacy,” he said, then added, more quietly. “And I could take care of myself that way, too.”
Part of me wanted to say no, that it was fine and he could stay. But I was really horny and not ready to masturbate together yet, so I nodded. “That sounds good. Though, maybe next time you can stay?”
He smiled, then climbed out from under me. “I’d like that,” he said, and gave me a quick kiss before hurriedly flying off.
The moment he was out of sight, I put my hands down my pants and rubbed at the little tip peeking out of my slit. Between the image of Felix’s tip and the fresh memories of us making out, it didn’t take long for my dick to come out in its entirety. I sat by the fire with my dick in my hand, jerking it off while I fantasized about Felix doing the same right now. Then I thought about what I would do if I’d been right there with him. I imagined straddling his stomach again, but facing towards his tail instead of his neck. I imagined leaning down and urging his dick to come out with my tongue, to have it grow into my open maw, sucking on it, making him moan and come hard into my mouth.
It didn’t take long until hot cum spurted into my hand. Having nowhere to wash my hand, I just licked it up like I used to do back home. The salty and musky taste only reinforced my fantasy. Having that done with, I cleaned up a little and pulled my pants back on. While I waited for Felix to come back, I checked on the fire and found it ready to cook, so I started preparing dinner.
Felix came back half an hour later. Aside from him asking if everything went well, we didn’t really talk about our little bit of time apart. We ate dinner, and I drank a bit more of his blood. Then we went to bed. Cuddling together felt a lot more intimate than before and I liked it. We talked about our make-out session, and what prompted the sudden change for a little while, but eventually we both fell quiet, ready to sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be a challenging day, and we needed all the rest we could get.