I wasn’t inconsiderate, just extremely cautious, and for good reason, too. Nolan was a human befriending a dragon. As rare as that was, my own circumstances were even rarer. OP leveling system, unheard of realm expansion, and let’s not forget being a multi-elemental dragon. It was hard to think that he’d accept all of that wholeheartedly, no matter what my business in Etheryn was.

And then to add the dark elements of my codex was another thing. I don’t care, having an infernal bloodline was bad news panda wherever you went. There was no positive spin on it I could think of that’d entice me to spill my dirty little secret. And until I got some answers, it’d stay just that.

For the duration of our trip, we talked, I rested, we hunted for food, and we battled. At the ten hour mark, we ran into dodo bird looking creatures, except they were about three times their size.

[Raphur, Level: 10]

[Raphur, Level: 12]

“We must be close to a dungeon,” Nolan said as he hopped off of the wagon. “Raphurs tend to hang out by lairs or dungeons, which are designated points all over Etheryn for leveling up and looting. Think you can take these birds on by yourself? That way, we won’t have to split the experience points.”

Ah, so I was right about the points system.

I guess it didn’t matter if we were in a party or not. I might have been at level 7 by now if I’d killed that dire wolf on my own.

“They are pretty slow. And their only special skill is hyper beam.”

‘Ugh, hyper what now?’

“Oh come on, you can take them on! I believe in you, short fry.”

I squinted. ‘Why do I feel like this is a set up?’

He chuckled. “Hey, if I wanted you roasted, I could have done it myself.”

I gave him a smart look as he reached his hand to me, offering to help me down.

‘When I evolve, I’ll be the one helping you out of a carriage, old man.’

I was stubborn, climbing down the coach myself. Nolan stressed independence, so I was going to practice just that. Unfortunately, my display of independence was clumsy, and I didn’t account for how stubby my legs were from the step to the ground. That entire gap was unaccounted for, and I fell on my back, Nolan immediately face-palming.

He was stifling a laugh as I shot him a reproachful glare from my prone position. ‘Not a word, Nolan,’ I hissed, picking myself up with as much dignity as one could muster after such a fall.

He simply shook his head and gave me a gentle push toward the waiting Raphurs. “Go on, then, Miss Do It Yourself. Show those birds who’s boss.”

I had to admit, despite their size and the less-than-reassuring mention of ‘hyper beam’, the Raphurs didn’t seem all that threatening. They mostly looked confused, blinking their large eyes at me as I approached. But I wasn’t going to underestimate them.

I held my firm and confident position before them. My tail twitched, and my scales bristled. I was smaller, yes, but I was also a dragon! I glared at the nearest Raphur and let out an intimidating hiss. To my surprise, it squawked and hopped up a step closer.

Okay, I guess I wasn’t expecting that!

The closest Raphur cocked its head at me, as if to say ‘What’s the short one doing?’

I had more bravado for a creature my size, and sometimes, I’d forget that I was stuck in an infant body. It made no difference here, though. The end result would remain the same.

‘Watch and learn, featherbrain,’ I muttered to myself, imposing on the lesser monster with my shoulders squared and my snout flared. The earth shivered beneath me as I called upon my elemental powers, threads of energy winding up from deep within the soil. Rocks lifted around me, forming a thick protective barrier. I was feeling myself, sensing my power levels rising! I was about to give this monster the business, until Nolan ruined everything and shouted at a distance, “What are you doing?” he huffed. “You know, besides being a crony?”

‘A crony? What was that? Like, a friend?’

“No, it means a show off.” He was cheekily.

Well, I definitely wasn’t flexing my DBZ muse, that’s for sure. I guess all of that power was all in my head once Nolan snapped me out of it, realizing that I hadn’t really projected my aura to scare these birds. I was trying to get them running the opposite direction for a clean strike, instead, I did the opposite, triggering one of them to unleash a hyper beam right out of its mouth!

Aggressive little buggers, weren’t they? I thought to myself as the bright beam of energy whizzed past my right, narrowly missing me as I step-dodged. I skidded back on my hind legs, the speed of the bird’s attack catching me off guard.

The second Raphur, encouraged by its comrade’s display of power, charged to its side and began to prepare its own hyper beam.

Well, now they were lined up perfectly for my assault.

I circled around the second beam and got close enough to roast them. Staying in their peripheral vision gave me an edge and kept their long necks turning. So I ran along the imaginary ring to box them in and thought of a way to finish this fight ASAP. The thought of a flame burp crossed my mind, before I decided to go another route. I’d expressed frost and fire once, but what about my other elemental breath weapons? I was a multi-elemental lizard after all, so I should test out the other three.

Using the same method I tried for my flames, I drew energy inside my chest. Astral blast—it rolled down my tongue, naturally. The thought came, and the execution went. Before I knew it, a black beam of energy lined with brilliant purple streaks released from my mouth, taking the Raphurs by surprise. The beam engulfed them completely, leaving only remnants of it left.

Innate Skill Discovered:

[Astral Blast, Level 1]

A level 1 attack doing that much damage? Was I that dragon?

You’ve leveled up:

Level 9

-Free Points Accumulated: 15-

I couldn’t help but feel OP after that sweep. With the wolves, I had Nolan’s help. And prior to that, those goblins were at direct range. Here, I managed to kill two monsters who were higher leveled than me, at a distance, with one breath weapon!

Hell, what couldn’t I do?

“I see that look on your face,” Nolan said as he approached me with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug look across his face. “Don’t fall into the dragon stereotype and get too cocky. You’re powerful, yes, the strongest I’ve seen so far for your stage, but don’t let the power get into your head. That’s how you mess up.”

He couldn’t understand how I was feeling right now, and honestly, I couldn’t blame him. A regular American girl, as powerless as pretzels, now had the power to flatline her foes effortlessly….

I stood on my hind legs and looked at my tiny paws, my eyes growing wide with absolute marvel…

‘What other latent powers rest between these small infant claws of mine?’

“Right. While you’re having your moment, I’m going to loot.”

Nolan had shared with me last time, but this time, the vagabond was above sharing. He said that what I got was a massive level boost for the affair, and that he should claim the 1 [Melo’s Ring] and 1 [Sleep Amulet].

-Melo’s Ring: halves consumed MP. Durability: Normal-

-Sleep Amulet: prevents user from being put to sleep. Durability: Normal-

‘And what do I get? The chump change?’

“Hey, don’t start acting all greedy on me, now. You get experience points, free attribute points, and, to sweeten the deal, I’ll even give you half of the silver coins.”

I rolled my eyes.

I guess the ring wouldn’t be of much use to me anyway. Nolan said it had to be actively equipped, and these stubby claws weren’t quite up to the task of holding much of anything yet.

Still, it was hard not to feel a tinge of envy as he slid the gleaming ring onto his finger with a triumphant smirk. “Mana points regenerate after time, but it’s a slow process. That’s why anything that could help the bar remain replenished is a must have. This one’s durability is good, so it’ll last me a while.”

‘So it splits your mana consumption by half. I’m assuming those magic imbued shots aren’t cheap?’

“Hell no. And someone like you, a dragon, with the ability to use powerful attacks like that without consuming mana, doesn’t really need Melo’s ring. Speaking of which, the more you use those breath attacks, the higher their levels become. And the higher their levels, the more damage they’ll do, and the bigger their AOE.”

‘I’m liking astral blast the most so far!’ I beamed.

Nolan looked down at me with obvious envy on his face. Dude wasn’t even trying to hide that bombastic side eye. “I’m slowly reconsidering giving you that money, seeing as you’re already wealthy.”

I battered my lashes at him. ‘Look at you, being jealous about a baby dragon.’

“As far as I know, you’re a nineteen-year-old American teenage nerd obsessed with a fictional king of curses. What was that you wanted to see him do with that second pair of arms again?”

I gasped, blushing inwardly. ‘I’m not telling you anything anymore! Taking my words out of context!’

He chuckled. “You did good, short fry. Now, hurry up and assign those free points. You’ll be getting a new skill at level 10 soon.”

A new skill? He must have inspected me. I was about to be level ten—boy, that was a lot faster than expected. I was excited for the new skill, and hurried up to assign my 15 free attribute points. I poured everything into perception, knowing that I had to convert that wolf back there:

Codex

I felt more confident in taming the wild beast now, even more so when Nolan said, “Come on. Let’s finish up and raid the nearby dungeon.”