The air below the mansion felt wrong — too dense, too alive. It pressed against Ren's lungs, rich with mana that made his skin prickle and his heart beat faster. Every breath carried a faint sweetness, like the scent of ancient earth after rain, and with each step, the pull of his Forestry Lv.9 grew stronger.
Lyra followed closely, her fingers brushing the fletching of her arrow. "Ren… I don't like this place," she whispered, her voice low, almost afraid to disturb the stillness.
Ren didn't answer. His eyes were fixed ahead — where the corridor descended into the roots of the world itself. The deeper they went, the brighter the faint green glow became, illuminating walls covered in vines that seemed to pulse in rhythm with a distant heartbeat.
Something's alive down here.
The energy was wild but familiar. His Forestry responded instinctively, resonating with the forest's ancient pulse. When they reached the end of the tunnel, they found a massive gate of intertwined roots and stone. Symbols older than language glowed faintly across its surface.
Ren hesitated, then stepped forward, pressing his palm against the bark.
[Forestry Resonance Triggered]
[Unknown Source Detected — ???]
The ground shuddered softly beneath his feet. Lyra gasped, stepping back. "Ren! What did you—"
The gate began to part on its own, the roots unfurling like fingers uncoiling after centuries of slumber. A cold wind brushed past them, thick with mana that made even the air shimmer faintly. Beyond the gate was a cavern — vast, silent, and filled with faint emerald light.
At its center lay something enormous.
A creature so massive that the chamber itself seemed to have grown around it. Layers of moss and roots had claimed most of its body, but beneath them, Ren could see it — scales. Faintly metallic, emerald black, and far too large to belong to any beast he'd ever known.
Lyra's bow dropped from her trembling hand. "Ren… that's—"
He swallowed hard, his throat dry. "A dragon."
Even asleep, the creature's presence filled the space — ancient, majestic, terrifying. It was like standing before a storm that had forgotten how to rage.
Ren's heart pounded. His Mana Sensitivity (Experienced) flared painfully as the dense ambient mana began to flood his senses. Every fiber of his being screamed to move, to run — but another instinct, deeper and calmer, urged him to adapt.
If I can absorb this mana… even a little, I can handle this pressure.
He lowered himself to the ground and crossed his legs. Lyra turned toward him, confused. "What are you doing?!"
"Meditating," he said quietly. "Don't worry."
But she did.
The air around him began to shimmer. The mana was too dense, almost liquid, forcing its way into him. At first, it felt like drowning — but then, his breathing steadied. His veins glowed faintly beneath his skin, tracing patterns of light as the energy flowed through him.
[Mana Sensitivity (Experienced) → Expert]
[Proficiency accelerating… nearing next stage.]
Lyra stared, unable to look away. The mana currents bent slightly toward him, drawn like metal to a magnet. His control, his focus — everything deepened.
And then—
[Mana Sensitivity (Expert) → Master]
[New Effects Unlocked:]
— +2 Intelligence per level
— All elemental magic damage increased
— Mana cost of skills reduced
The light surrounding him dimmed, replaced by a strange stillness.
Then, a deep vibration rippled through the ground.
Both Ren and Lyra turned toward the dragon. Its chest rose — once, slowly — and a gust of wind rolled through the chamber as it exhaled.
The faintest glow appeared beneath its eyelids, like embers reigniting after a thousand years. The air pressure surged violently. Ren's breath caught as the dragon's enormous eye — golden and endless — opened.
He didn't hear a voice. He didn't hear anything.
The world simply stopped.
The pressure was overwhelming — far beyond what his body could bear. His vision blurred, blood trickling from his nose as his knees buckled. His heartbeat pounded once, twice—
Then everything went black.
Lyra screamed his name, reaching for him — but the sound never escaped her lips. The moment her eyes met the dragon's, the same crushing force overtook her. Her bow slipped from her hands as she collapsed beside him, unconscious.
The dragon's eye slowly closed again. The light in the cavern dimmed, and the roots began to curl back into place, sealing the entrance with silent finality.
And deep beneath the mansion, beneath the ancient soil and roots of the forest, the dragon's breath echoed once more — steady, slow, timeless.
The Verdant Calamity, the Former Dragon King, dreamed again in his eternal slumber…and above, the forest whispered as if it had remembered something long forgotten.
The first sensation that struck Ren as his consciousness returned was silence—not the kind that came from peace, but the kind that followed after something vast had spoken and the world dared not breathe again. His eyes opened slowly, and the faint, eerie light of the mansion's basement greeted him.
The air shimmered faintly with residual mana, thicker than anything he'd ever felt before. Every breath he took seemed to hum with life.
He blinked, vision focusing on the still form lying nearby—Lyra. Her silver hair sprawled across the dusty floor, her chest rising gently. Relief loosened the knot in his chest. She was alive.
Ren took a shaky step toward her—but before he could reach her, his system chimed.
[System Notification]
Title Gained:Heir of the Dragon King
You have been chosen by an Ancient Power.
Ren froze. His gaze instinctively shifted to the far end of the basement—the same place where the enormous creature had once slept. But what he found made his heart hammer.
The colossal body of the ancient dragon—the one that had nearly crushed him with its very presence—was gone.
Only a vast stone dais remained, cracked from age. And atop it... something small, yet impossibly radiant, floated in midair.
A black egg, veined with molten gold patterns that pulsed slowly—like the heartbeat of a living being.
The air thickened. Mana surged wildly, spiraling around the egg like a storm. Before Ren could move or even blink, the egg trembled—then rushed forward, dissolving into a streak of black light that struck his chest.
Ren gasped, collapsing to one knee as the light burrowed into him. His vision blurred, and a memory—one not his own—flashed within his mind.
He stood in a vast cavern of golden fire, facing a being so massive that mountains would have bowed before it. The Dragon King, scales like obsidian and eyes like dying stars.
A deep, rumbling voice echoed—not in sound, but directly within his soul.
"A soul from beyond... A world long dead... yet your heart burns with will. You have seen death, struggled through silence, and yet you seek to build—just like we once did."
"My time has ended. But my flame need not fade."
"Take it, child of two worlds. Take the seed of the eternal flame... and may you forge anew what was lost."
The last thing Ren saw was the dragon's colossal claw curling toward his chest—pressing against his heart—and a warmth flooding through him, ancient and infinite.
When Ren's eyes opened again, the basement was quiet once more.Lyra still lay unconscious, untouched. But inside his chest, he felt it—something alive. Something ancient.
A pulse, slow but powerful. The dragon's egg, now bound to him.
[System Notification]
You have become the Dragon's Heir.
The essence of the former Dragon King has recognized your soul and entrusted you with his legacy.
Effects Applied:
+20 to all base stats.
All current skills gain +5 levels.
New Title: Heir of the Dragon King — Active.
Additional Effects:
HP and MP recalculated based on new stats.
Gained Unique Skills:
Dragon's Fury (Active): Temporarily increases attack and magic power by 200%.
Dragon's Strength (Active): Greatly enhances physical might and endurance for a short duration.
Gained Passives:
Draconic Bloodline (Passive): All elemental resistances moderately increased. Increases regeneration rate.
Eternal Heart (Passive): Enables slow absorption of ambient mana; grants immunity to lesser curses and poisons.
Hidden Ability: Locked (???).
Stat Growth Bonus: +2 to all attributes per level permanently.
Ren's knees trembled as the flood of power stabilized within him. His mana flared out in a wave, shaking the dust loose from the stone ceiling.
[Status Update]
Name: Ren
Level: 6
EXP: 770 / 1000
HP: 650 / 650
MP: 590 / 590
Strength: 37
Endurance: 37
Agility: 34
Intelligence: 30
Vitality: 38
Skills:
Forestry Lv.9
Butchery Art Lv.6
Tracking Lv.6
Combat Instinct (Expert)
Arcane Bolt (Experienced)
Passive Traits:
Field Adaptation (Basic)
Field Proficiency (Fragmented)
Draconic Bloodline (Passive)
Eternal Heart (Passive)
Title:Heir of the Dragon King
Ren exhaled slowly, feeling the new strength coursing through his veins. His muscles hummed with restrained power, his mind clearer than ever before. Mana no longer resisted him—it obeyed him.
He took a step forward, feeling the faint echo of something within his chest—a heartbeat not his own, deep and steady. The unborn dragon... sleeping within him.
He looked at Lyra again, her expression peaceful even in unconsciousness.
"…So it chose me," he muttered softly, glancing back at the empty dais. "Old one… I won't waste your faith."
The faintest warmth stirred in his chest, as though the dragon's soul had heard him and approved.
Ren slowly knelt beside Lyra, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face.
Above them, the mansion groaned, the residual mana settling into silence once more. But beneath that quiet, Ren could sense something new—a power awakening, and a destiny that had just begun to unfold.