“Fucking hell!” Laila couldn’t believe the events that led up to her present situation. “Those fucking zealots! Holy shit, I wish I never joined those bastards. And, now, I’m going to die. Eaten by a fucking dragon.”

Laila had just seen those who hunted her down get brutally beaten before her eyes, and now the dragon was absentmindedly munching on their corpses.

[Status Effect Faded: Fear.]

A squeal escaped her throat as she regained control of her body, and the dragon’s eyes snapped to her. It looked at her for a second while chewing.

“Hmph,” it snorted. Snorted! “We meet again, Laila.”

“What?!” Laila scrambled back but met only the tree behind her. “How does it know my name? What does it mean to meet again?”

“How do you know my name?” she asked. Her voice sounded frail, and Laila winced at the weakness she was showing. “What do you mean?”

“Heh,” its voice sounded like rocks grinding against each other, passing through a filter that turned up the bass. “I suppose I look quite different now. I am Ethan Marshall.”

“Ethan?!” Laila reeled. “What? How is that possible?”

“Oh, I’m not entirely sure yet,” the dragon, Ethan, said, tilting its head. “I left the city, cultivated and levelled until I broke through to the Essence Coalescence stage. Then, there was something about a bloodline granted to me through the System’s affinity lottery and a mutation. It caused this, and I’m just in the process of figuring it all out.”

“Oh,” Laila’s eyes were wide, and she looked around. All she saw was trees, and she had no hope of outrunning the dragon.

“Oh, listen to me,” it, he laughed. “Rambling on. I guess the isolation has gotten to me more than I had thought. Hmm.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Laila asked after a few seconds of silence.

“What do you mean?” Ethan frowned. “Oh! Right. I’m not going to kill you. You acted in the best interest of yourself and your family, although I get the impression it backfired on you.”

“Yeah,” Laila sighed and squeezed her eyes shut. “You can say that again. My own family turned on me. The Celestial Heart are zealots, blindly obedient to some alien overlord.”

“Really?” Ethan hummed. “I suppose I was right not to trust them, then. Anyway, it would seem that I could use some company. You wanna hang around a bit?”

“Really?” Laila was stumped. “You’re going to trust me again?”

“Fuck no,” Ethan growled. “But I’ve been struggling with my fading humanity since I transformed, and this is the only time I’ve felt in control. I’m asking you to stick around so I don’t completely turn into a monster. In return, I’ll protect you from persecution. How does that sound?”

“Uhm,” Laila blinked before sighing. “Well, I guess. Sure. As long as you don’t eat me, that is.”

“Sure,” Ethan smirked. His fanged maw twisting obscenely. “Deal. Now, come with me.”

***

Ethan couldn’t believe what he was feeling. The moment he began talking to Laila, he felt his instincts calm down. His desire to eat her faded into a background buzz that he could easily ignore.

He quickly scarfed down the rest of the corpses around him; it was no use wasting good food, and they headed off and began climbing the mountain.

Ethan no longer felt the strain, but Laila was obviously struggling.

“What have you been doing the last few months, anyway?” Ethan asked. “You should be strong enough to ignore the pressure by now.”

“Well,” Laila panted. “I’ve cultivated as much as possible, but the Celestial Heart gate everything behind contributions. I’ve been hunting and fighting to gain enough credits to buy cultivation time, but it’s never enough.”

“Right,” Ethan sneered. “Classic. They control the people by controlling the resources they require.”

“Yeah,” Laila sighed as she sat down on the steps. She was still clutching the egg to her chest. “I was too slow to realise, and by the time I did, they had the rest of the group under control. It was weird, though. I’m pretty sure there must have been some mind control or something involved. They turned on me too fast. Just a word from their leaders and my family went from nice and kind to bloodthirsty.”

“Hmm,” Ethan frowned. “Sounds like something to steer clear of then. What did you mean by alien overlord?”

“Steer clear?” Laila frowned but shook her head. “Yeah, uhm. Apparently, they’re taking orders from other cultivators in the Multiverse. The leader discovered an artefact that allowed him to send out an SOS, and the Celestial Host, a powerful sect on another planet, heard it and guided him. Apparently, Invaders will begin showing up soon, and we, the Natives, need to fight them off. Some will try to do it without fighting by appearing friendly and stuff.”

“I see,” Ethan growled. “So, they resort to mind control instead. I’d prefer a straight fight. In this case, we’d have to fight our own people and families to fend them off. That’s cruel.”

“Yeah,” Laila nodded, and Ethan saw tears forming in her eyes. “I can’t believe they’d act like that. Is there something you can do?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Me?” Ethan smirked and shook his head. “I’ve just transformed into a completely different being with completely different abilities. I can barely handle myself. Maybe, with time, I could do something, but not now.”

“Oh,” Laila slumped.

“Anyway,” Ethan sighed. “Let’s get going. The sooner we get settled and you begin cultivating again, the better. What stage are you now, by the way?”

“Yeah,” Laila nodded and rose. “Barely Qi Infusion. I got a vision when I broke through, which is why I decided to steal the egg and run.”

“Ah,” Ethan nodded. “I was wondering about that. So that egg was the source of the fire you saw? The one you intended to investigate?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “That’s right. I think it’s a phoenix egg. The visions involved an explanation of how valuable it was and how its energies could be harnessed to grant rebirth abilities. If the Celestial Heart got their hands on it, they’d have even more power.”

“Oh,” Ethan frowned. “And, what are your intentions for it?”

“Help it hatch,” Laila said as she looked down at the egg. “Then let it go and hope I get something for it. I mean, I’d release it anyway, but it would be nice to get a boost or something.”

“I see,” Ethan nodded. “That’s good. Let’s not stoop to their level.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence, and once they reached the peak, Laila was sweating profusely. Drops fell onto the egg, causing steam and hissing sounds to emanate from it.

“Do you know what it requires?” Ethan asked.

“Sort of,” Laila nodded. “It only needs a secure space, but if we find anything fire-related and place it near the egg, it will speed up the process.”

“I see,” Ethan mumbled. “Well, I’ve got the secure place sorted—kind of. But the other Fire-Qi objects could prove difficult. Follow me. We’ll get set up, and then we can discuss further.”

“Right,” Laila nodded and followed Ethan down the stairs into the underground chamber. Ethan guided her to the side chamber, which still opened up to him, even though he was an eldritch dragon and not a human with Void and Spatial affinity.

“In here,” he said and gestured. “I’m the only one who can open it, though. It’ll be the safest place because of it, but it requires some trust.”

Laila hesitated and grimaced but eventually nodded and put the egg in one of the chests.

“Now,” Ethan smiled. “Let’s talk.”

He sat on his haunches and sighed.

“Why am I bothering with her?” Ethan wondered internally. “I’d just resolved to avoid responsibilities and stuff, and here I am. I mean, sure. Her presence seems to help me suppress my draconic instincts, but I still don’t want to be responsible.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Laila asked.

“The future,” Ethan said. “What are your plans now that you’ve escaped?”

“I don’t know,” Laila sighed and slumped on the floor. “I mean-I want to protect the egg since I think it’s going to be very beneficial to me. I want to cultivate and grow stronger. But, most of all, I want to have a secure space and not be surrounded by people who want to control me.”

“Sounds fair,” Ethan hissed a laugh. “You really should take some time to cultivate. Reaching Essence Coalescence will greatly enhance your capabilities.”

“Right,” Laila nodded. “How, though? I’ve cultivated a bit, but I get the impression that forming the core requires a lot of Qi. As far as I'm aware, no one has figured out how to do it in the collective.”

“Really?” Ethan frowned. “That’s strange. I had assumed their overlords had told them.”

“Yeah,” Laila nodded. “I think they’re waiting for something or expecting something before they give that information out as a reward.”

“Ah,” Ethan nodded, frowning. “Makes sense. If they’re expecting to be given the answer, that might lower their interest in figuring it out on their own. Thus, the collective grows only as strong as the leaders desire.”

“How did you figure it out, by the way?” Laila asked.

“Oh, easy,” Ethan smirked. “It’s all about the amount of Qi, right? So, you improve your capacity. Go out, hunt and kill, gain levels, and put the points into capacity stats. There’s a level cap at level twenty-five, at least before you make your core.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Laila grimaced. “The leader of the Celestial Heart is level twenty-five, but according to her, it’s still not enough. No matter how much she tries, she can’t compress the Qi enough.”

“Oh,” Ethan frowned. “Oh! I see. She’s trying to simply compress what’s in her core, isn’t she? Well, the easier way would be to draw more Qi, compress it while it circulates, force it into the core space and use the existing Qi to create enough pressure. Your efforts, along with the pressure of a full core space, should be enough. It was for me.”

“Oh,” Laila blinked. “That’s it? I don’t believe she couldn’t figure that out.”

“Yeah,” Ethan agreed, scratching a claw against his neck. “It’s strange, for sure. Let’s see. Well, I also braided the Qi, but that’s something I could do since I had two affinities. Uh, braiding may be the wrong word. I wound the two types of Qi together as I circulated. As the Qi entered my core space, I began spinning the core, which, once it reached a certain speed, caused it to continue on its own and draw Qi faster and faster. That allowed me to focus on compression.”

“I see,” Laila rubbed her chin, frowning. “That might be it then. But, still-It sounds farfetched that no one would figure that out.”

“I agree,” Ethan nodded. “Something else is going on. Perhaps the mind-controlling aliens have some way to ensure no one gets that idea?”

“Maybe,” Laila looked at the ground, deep in thought. “Why are you explaining this to me, by the way? I betrayed your trust.”

“You did,” Ethan didn’t argue that point. “A part of me wants to punish you for that, but it would serve nobody. I think I need human interaction to retain my humanity, so it’s better for me if you’re around. Don’t get me wrong, earning my trust will be harder this time, but enlightening you and letting you know how to increase your strength will benefit me if the Celestial Heart decides to come knocking.”

“Yeah,” Laila sighed. “So, what now?”

“Now,” Ethan said as he grinned. “Now, you should choose. You can cultivate; use the egg as a source of Fire-Qi. Get as much out of that as possible, then start levelling up or vice versa. Focus on fighting and levelling first, then cultivate.”

“Which one would you recommend?” Laila asked.

“Well,” Ethan thought for a moment. “Levelling first would make the cultivation process faster. It could also allow you to venture into the surrounding area, where you may stumble onto something that could benefit the egg. On the other hand, you’ll be stronger if you cultivate first; having more Qi to spend on empowering yourself will ensure you level up faster since you can push harder. It’s up to you. I won’t let you stick around here without doing anything, though. No free-loading.”

“Right,” Laila smiled crookedly. “I get it. I need time to settle and collect myself, so I’ll begin with some cultivation. Could you let me into the chamber?”

“Sure,” Ethan rose and walked over to the wall, which disappeared. Laila walked through and sat down by the chest. “I don’t think sound carries through the wall, so I’ll check on you once a day.”

“Fine,” Laila said as she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

Ethan stepped away, and the wall closed back up.