To fly right after hatching is rare for a dragon cub, but surviving a monster attack after its parents abandoned it, is doubtful. I consider myself very lucky, having survived two attacks in such little time. However, I hope I haven't exhausted my luck by that. I woke up in this cave with significant gaps in my memory. My childhood, my parents, my friends, everything was gone. I can't recall anything before the attack on my soul.

Nevertheless, my knowledge didn't seem to have suffered as much. At least I know the basics of survival as a dragon. Flying seemed to be easy enough, and my claws felt most familiar. How about magic? I only remember simple spells - and they are all about fire. But the lack of magic is probably not because of my amnesia but because I never knew much about it in the first place. At least it doesn't feel like something is missing. In the end, I really can't tell, and this is just a feeling.

What worries me the most about my situation is that I have no idea who my enemy might be. The only clue I have is the sound of their voice. They must be powerful to attack my soul directly. I know no magic nor skill that has the ability to devour your enemy's soul. But that might be due to my fractured soul and perforated memory. Enough worrying! It won't get me anywhere.

I swallowed my worries and woke up once more in this dark cave. But this time, no daylight could be seen. Nevertheless, it wasn't dark. The only thing brightening up my surroundings were crystals. Vibrant magical crystals - They painted the walls in all kinds of colours while giving off slight traces of magic. I was so touched by the sight of this play of colours that I nearly forgot about my injuries. Only almost.

My gaze roamed around the cave until it fixed on a shadow. Huh. Why is there even a shadow? There shouldn't be a shadow. This cave is slowly driving me crazy. There is a shadow in the middle of the cave, nothing far and wide to cast the shadow. I'm definitely out of my mind. While I doubted my sanity, the shadow moved and disappeared through one of the many tunnels.

I shuddered. What was that?! Either I had now completely lost my mind, or my doubts were confirmed. Even if it were a monster, it didn't attack me, which means I can forget about it. At least for now. No, I am not following whatever that was—not happening. My unwillingness has nothing to do with the fact that the tunnel through which the shadow fled is barely lit. I was definitely not afraid of the dark. I am an adult dragon! Well, I was... perhaps.

Anyway, putting this shadow creature aside, I didn't have the chance to look at my status at all. Unfortunately, that salamander interrupted me before I could even think about investigating my stats. So I might have a look now. To look at my skills and values, I use a particular skill called ⟪ Assessment ⟫. It allows me to evaluate the strength, skills engraved onto the soul, physical and magical properties,... and much more.

I get all this information by looking at their aura and other stuff I don't know. I don't have to think about it. My instincts do most of the work. The evaluation results are returned to me in numbers, directly into my head. But that isn't always the case. My assessment will be inaccurate or even fail when my target is way stronger than me. By levelling the ⟪ Assessment ⟫ skill, the disadvantages become less. Additionally, creatures of a much higher level can be assessed.

From what I remember, there are even abilities and artefacts that can prevent you from being assessed. But enough about the skill itself. Let's have a look at my status. I must say I have mixed feelings about this... here we go.

⪻ ̷͎͇̩͑̑̋̉͝ ̵̱̏̿̋̇͗͛ ̴̫̠͇̝͕̳̟͠ ̵̹̼̲̈́̿̒́͊ ̶̧̞̔̔̍̇̐̚ ̷̥̖̘̯͙̊̈ ̸̧̭̺̩̜̩̙́͛͂ ̸̨̲̈́̓͌̓͊ ̸̹͙̣͕̟̠͗̂̉ ̵̹̒̅̿̅ ̴̻̟͌̃͘ - Hatchling LVL 3 ⪼

Name: Vahryon

Titles: None

Status:

[Fractured Soul - 35%]

[Elemental Dispute]

Species Skills:

⟪ Lesser Fire Ward LVL 4 ⟫

⟪ Lesser Draconic Scales LVL 3 ⟫

⟪ Lesser Draconic Magic Ward LVL 1 ⟫

⟪ Lesser Magical Core LVL 1 ⟫

Skills:

⟪ Soul Frenzy LVL 2 ⟫

⟪ Lesser Spirit Ward LVL 2 ⟫

⟪ Lesser Agony Ward LVL 1 ⟫

⟪ Assessment LVL 1 ⟫

Ḥ̷̘̇ę̶̺̪͕̟̈́̆r̴̡̤͚͕͙̻̂̚i̴̝̅ͅt̵̮͎̖͛́ą̷̢̨̱̦̝́͋̍͋g̴̨̘̥̭̮̭̖̃é̶̝̽̽͘:

[ ̶̛̗̙̦ ̴̞̱͖̏͠ ̵̰̞͓̃ ̶̳͈̂̀͆͝ ̷̢̢̢̱̺̬̺̾̀̋ ̵͖͍̠̊̋ ̶̫̫̠̟̍̌ ̴̧̡̣̼͒̂̅͋͌̈́͝ͅ]

[ ̴̨̦̳͓͐̀̒̀̏̚͝ ̴̛̟̭̇͌͊͝ ̷̢̉͆͒̒͗̍̚ ̷͍̝͈̳̻̣̐̔̔̉̏́̆ ̵̥̍̈́̔̀̚͜ͅ ̸̢̖͖͚̲̝̂͂ ̵̗̹͚͌͒̕͠ ̶͔͎̞̝̖̈́͂̈́̾̀̀̾͜ ̵̛̛͖̳͚̻̜̑͑͐͌ ̷͈̒͠ ̶̲̤̖̿̓̽͂͊͘͝ ̸̨̰̠̼͓̩̻̉ ̷̲̬̬̳͉̌̍̉͠ ̸͓̩̱̹͋̌̆̀͘͝ ̵͓̿͋͑͘]

[ ̷̛̬̣͌͊́̊̆͘ ̸̡̭̗̟̓̆͝͝ ̷̯̲͆͑̎̄͐͂ ̷̙̱̥͎͓̌̕͘ ̴̛̥͉̱̃̋̈́͝͝ͅ]

[ ̴̧͠ ̵͈̥̗̐ ̵̱̖̞̪́ ̶̖̮̺͕͌̍͠ ̵̲͊̉]

A cold shiver ran down my spine. I have never seen anything like this. I didn't know how to react. What did I even expect? [Fractured Soul - 35%] huh. Every piece of information about my heritage seemed fractured. But, it was what I had to expect after using ⟪ Soul Frenzy ⟫, yet I was shocked.

Back then, there was nothing else I could have done. I don't regret using the skill, but that didn't mean I wasn't worried about what was to come. What puzzled me was that the fragmentation specifically targeted my heritage. It did also target my species, but other than that, only the info about my heritage did get fractured.

Before I come to conclusions, something else could be the cause, which was the voice that robbed me of all my memories. It makes sense that taking away my memories would affect my assessment. Even so, wouldn't the information be gone for good instead of fractured if the voice had devoured them? It seemed unlikely.

Sigh. This is no good. Looking at my status only raised more questions in the end... Let's have a closer look at the different skills and stats. Perhaps those will clear the fog. More information on [Fractured Soul] revealed itself as I concentrated on it.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

[Fractured Soul] ≫ As one of the rarest status effects, the side effects are not yet fully understood. A Fractured soul may lead to memory loss, skill failure, sudden core failure resulting in death, and the inability to reincarnate. There is no known cure.

Give me a break! Sudden death?! Really... Sigh. It really doesn't look good for me, but whining won't help me. I should concentrate on surviving for now. I'll find a solution... hopefully. Casting all my worries aside, something else caught my eye.

Vahryon... my name. It feels weird. Forgetting your name is funny. Hearing it now feels almost nostalgic. I thought hearing it would make me remember something. But nothing. After all, the voice ripped those memories off my soul. They won't just heal like wounds. To recover, I have to face the voice and defeat it. If that doesn't help, then I don't know what will. I am at my wit's end.

Perhaps I will find someone that could help me. But as of now, I don't even know where I am. Trying to talk to someone could lead to my death. After all, this seems to be a dangerous place. The first creature I met wanted me to join them for dinner... as their main course.

Tired of thinking, I finally woke up and stretched my tired limbs. I looked around carefully but could not see any unwanted visitors. The shadow had not returned either. I didn't want to be taken by surprise twice in a row. But it didn't seem like this part of the cave would be part of a lair. So I should be safe. Right?

The crystals made this desolate place shine in bright colours. I paused for a moment and enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere. A wonder that nothing had happened to me while I was unconscious from all the exhaustion. After all that happened, it almost seemed like a wonder. I didn't know for how long I was asleep, but my wounds, as well as my mana, were fully recovered. So I must have been asleep for quite a while.

I slept in a large cavern, between the corpse of the salamander and the wall. I may have said that it is a large cavern, but that is from the perspective of a hatchling. A grown dragon would barely fit in here. But grown dragons are enormous, so it remains a giant cavern for me.

The cavern had several tunnels leading further into the cave. The crystals lighted most, but one tunnel was pitch-black. The same tunnel through which the shadow fled. If I could see in the dark, I would have considered this tunnel. And since I almost died twice in so little time, I didn't want to push my luck. As they say, a dead dragon can't watch their hoard. I definitely didn't just come up with that!

Anyway, for the very same reason, I avoided going back from where I came. Salamanders are not solitary monsters. They hunt in packs. At least that's what I remember, but my mind is a mess, so I don't really know what to think. In the case that I am not mistaken, the pack must have left the one I fought behind to defend their territory while the rest was out hunting.

Which meant his pack could be searching for him at this very moment. I barely managed one, not to mention several. So going back wasn't an option either unless I wanted to fill the salamander's stomachs with dragon meat.

Staying here was dangerous as well. If there were more salamanders, they would find me. All they had to do was follow the foul stench of their rotting companion. Well, staying wouldn't help me either way. I wanted to grow stronger, so I needed to devour a significant number of cores. And they won't come to me on their own.

I rose into the air with a run-up and flew into the first best tunnel. The corpse of the salamander was of no use to me, so I left it behind to rot. Unfortunately, salamanders don't taste the best, so I only chose to take his core. Not that I felt the need to eat. Like many other species, dragons could convert food into mana. This was helpful during long-lasting battles, as our cores could not generate mana as fast as our skills and magic consumed it. But I didn't feel a lack of mana, so I was happy I didn't have to eat that rotten corpse.

I was careful and paid close attention to every sound that echoed through the cave. I only encountered snakes, rats, and even giant spiders for a while, but they seemed unbothered by my presence. Even so, they were wary of me. Watching my every step cautiously - or in my case, wingbeat.

It was only when I entered another cavern. Smaller than the first one, but there was still plenty of room. Filled with rocks, stalagmites and... bones?! A ton of bones! However, I didn't see any monsters, blood, or signs of a fight. Only bones, no corpses. Perhaps they were long gone.

Suddenly something struck me from above. It was only at that moment that I looked towards the cave ceiling, and I shuddered. I have made a big mistake. By focusing on everything below me, I lost track of everything above me. A terrible mistake, as stalactites covered the ceiling. But they didn't consist of stone. They were monsters. Wormlike creatures that took on the form of stalactites, waiting to fall down on their prey. To fall on me! It must have been hundreds of them.

Several of them struck down on me. Hitting me with their heavy bodies, dragging me to the ground. Thanks to my draconic scales, the impact didn't hurt me too much. Even so, I was caught off guard and lost my balance to it. I counted about five of them that clung to me. They attached themselves to me like the suction cups of an octopus. Their bodies felt slimy, although their skin resembled stone.

In wild movements, I let my claws glide through the air while I rolled my body back and forth like a tree trunk rolling down a mountain. At first, they clung onto me, like their life depended on it - which it probably did, but then my claws began to strike them one after another. My wild movements have calmed down into precise attacks. I struggled but managed to lose most of them.

⮘ Defeated「Mana Leech」LVL 3. ⮚

⮘ Defeated「Mana Leech」LVL 1. ⮚

⮘ Defeated「Mana Leech」LVL 1. ⮚

⮘ Defeated「Mana Leech」LVL 2. ⮚

Gross. My claws were covered in a slimy dark green liquid. I managed to lose four of the original five that clung to me, but the remaining Mana-Leeches were not so polite to wait until I was done dealing with their comrades. While rolling on the ground, I could see the leeches fall one after another from the ceiling, slowly crawling towards me. Sigh.

I am getting tired of this in more than one way. Knowing that I couldn't defeat them all, I searched for a way out of this mess. Dozens of those slime bags surrounded me. They may have been weak, but there were too many of them. I couldn't slaughter them all. They'll slowly wear me down, like all the others that lay here.

⮘ Requirements reached. Skill ⟪ Lesser Draconic Magic Ward ⟫ advanced to level 2. ⮚

What?! Why did ⟪ Lesser Draconic Magic Ward ⟫ just level up? Wait, those are Mana Leeches... they suck the mana out of their prey until it dies. And I had several of them on me, which meant they should have sucked quite a lot out of me. Good thing my dragon scales protected me from them to some extent. Even so, I felt drenched. Tired even. And one of those suckers is still clinging to my back.

This fight would be so much easier if I could breathe fire, but hatchlings cannot do so. Only after my first evolution I should be able to breathe fire.

I rolled to the side before a heavy THUD. I lay on my back while the leech still clung to it. With one movement, I swung myself back to my claws. With the leech still faithful to my back, I jumped on his companions and used them to launch myself into the air. While struggling to fly, I managed to escape the grasp of more falling slimebags. I couldn't fly like this for long, so I made my way towards the nearest wall and slammed my back against it.

⮘ Defeated「Mana Leech」LVL 5. ⮚

AAAAAAH. That really hurt, but looking back, the slimebag which clung to me was gone. Leaving a green streak of slime on the cave wall. Mixed along with some of my blood. I had to lose it. Otherwise, I would have died sooner or later after losing too much mana.

Finally, I lost that little bloodsucker... But this isn't the end. I still had to get out of this mess. After slamming into the wall, I pushed myself off the wall with my hind legs. Spreading my wings to ascend into the air once more. But, to my confusion, my wings wouldn't follow my command. I overworked them.

Now, of all times, they had to fail me. I was above hundreds of mana leeches. Losing altitude by an alarming rate. Beneath me, the leeches assembled in a pile waiting impatiently for their dinner. Stretching out their wormlike bodies just to be a few claws closer to me.

PLASH. Dark green liquid splattered into all directions. With my claws ahead, I dived into the pile of disgusting worms, killing several of them. But, unfortunately, they were not waiting either. In mere seconds my whole body was covered by them. I killed as many as I could, flailing my claws like a mad dragon. But it was no use. There were too many of them, and my life was sucked out of me faster than I could ever kill them with my claws.

I paused for a moment and swallowed my pride. I was losing, and I didn't want to die, even if surviving means... Gross. No one must know of this. I opened my mouth and bit one leech after the other with disgust. Devouring them whole. Disgusting! It feels disgusting, it tastes disgusting, it reeks disgustingly... This will leave a mental scar! Well, if I were to survive, that is.

I felt my mana replenish a little after every disgusting piece I swallowed. But it wasn't enough. It was far from enough. Those dirty little slimebags! I think I am losing it for real now. The taste made me run wild. But the thought that this could all be for nothing and I would die anyway made me furious for rage. Do not let my efforts be in vain!

Desperately I hit and bit everything in my path. The miserable worms completely blocked my vision. It was dark. No light shone on me. I was covered from head to toe.

SHRIIIIIEK. With a sudden scream from the leeches, they let go of me. A fire burned through them, killing them one after the other. The fire embraced my body, burning off the remaining leeches along their dark green blood. It didn't hurt me. After all, I was a dragon and had a somewhat good fire resistance.

I did not know what happened to me and searched for the source of the fire. Suddenly something... no, someone emerged from the darkness. Our gazes met. In front of me stood a creature with a humanoid body, covered by a long dark hood. It looked down on me. Waiting... perhaps wary of me?