Aww… my eyes.
Why do they hurt so much?
Sovereign Pyraxis snapped his eyes open. The sky above burned gold, streaked with ash and fire, like the heavens themselves had cracked open. Every nerve in his body screamed in pain, and a strange weight pressed against his chest, as though the air itself resisted him.
"...Huh?" He uttered, surprise flickering across his expression.
What in the world is going on? He placed his hands on the ground, trying to lift himself. Did the sky get bigger, or am I losing it?
The moment Sovereign Pyraxis sat upright, he noticed something startling: not only had the sky stretched, but his body felt smaller than he remembered.
He shifted his gaze downward, staring at his hands and body with a mix of confusion and disbelief. Something about his proportions felt… off, as if he didn't quite fit the shape he remembered.
"Hm? What's this? This… this isn't my body." He flexed his fingers, watching them move, alien and unfamiliar. "But whose is it? Did I… transmigrate or something? …No. That's impossible. I'm a Dragon, after all. Transmigration only happens to humans… or to some weak gods."
A cold breeze swept past him, crawling over his skin and sinking deep into his bones. Every nerve seemed to vibrate with the chill, making his limbs feel heavy.
For a moment, Sovereign Pyraxis shivered uncontrollably, as if the cold itself was probing the unfamiliar vessel he now inhabited.
"Nope… I think I did transmigrate." He said it aloud, a strange calm settling over him as he accepted the truth: he was in another's body. Yet something felt… off. There was a dissonance within this vessel, something that didn't align with him.
Sovereign Pyraxis shifted his gaze, glancing behind him,
The body he now inhabited had a dragon's tail, though it was far smaller than he expected — roughly the size of a crocodile's, thick and muscular, tapering to a sharp tip. It was attached directly to the base of his spine, swaying slightly with every subtle movement.
"That being said… how the hell did the owner of this body get here?" Sovereign Pyraxis muttered, his gaze sweeping across the desolate landscape.
He stood atop a jagged cliff, looking down at a land dominated by multiple volcanoes, their dark forms looming like silent sentinels. Not a trace of life marred the terrain, no trees, no grass, no sign of movement. Only jagged rocks, scorched mountains, and blackened earth stretched as far as he could see, remnants of some cataclysmic battle between powerful beings. Whatever war had raged here had clearly lasted long enough to leave the world stripped and broken.
***
Moments later.
He started moving, heading toward one of the mountains that, strangely, looked almost untouched despite all the cataclysm around it.
That being the case, Sovereign Pyraxis was making his way there, hoping to find a cave he could rest in for the night, ignoring, for now, the inconvenient fact that he was completely nude and, of all things, human.
After a while of walking, a sudden wave of exhaustion began to weigh him down, making it feel as if he might collapse at any moment.
I can't afford to stay exposed like this… he thought, glancing at his bare body. But… why do I feel this tired already? I've only walked a few kilometers… am I really getting out of shape?
The unfamiliarity of this human body gnawed at him; every step felt heavier than the last.
Glancing down at his feet, they were battered and covered in scratches from walking too much without any shoes to protect them.
In his dragon form, such pain was meaningless; he could stomp across jagged rocks without a second thought. But now… every step sent sharp stabs of agony through his human feet.
And as if that weren't enough, his stomach let out a loud, uncontrollable groan.
"Damn you, humans… how do you manage to live like this?" he muttered, glaring at his trembling feet.
"My stomach… it feels like it's starting to eat itself. And there's nothing around... No food, no water. I can't keep going like this; I need something to eat… now."
His eyes settled on the mountain ahead. Of all the places in this barren land, it was the only one that looked like it might offer something edible.
He suddenly began sprinting, pushing his human body to its limits, desperate to cover the remaining distance before he collapsed. By the looks of it, his plan was working. At this pace, he estimated he could reach the mountain in about two hours, if his legs didn't give out before then.
Soon, he was huffing and puffing, finally coming to a halt beside an almost dried-up river.
The sun had already sunk below the horizon, replaced by a moon that seemed to be crumbling in the sky. Fragments of its surface appeared to break apart, scattering faint, silvery light across the land. The pale glow barely touched the scorched earth, casting jagged shadows over the barren riverbed and the surrounding rocks.
"This will have to do for now," Sovereign Pyraxis muttered, letting himself collapse onto the ground with a heavy thud.
I need to regain my strength… my stamina… and my magic is dangerously low, too. I must have pushed myself too hard in that last battle.
In just two minutes, Sovereign Pyraxis would close his eyes, surrendering to exhaustion.
Then he remembered. There was no need to make random guesses about his strength and stamina when he could just check them, like in a video game, through a system window that displayed all his stats clearly.
I almost forgot about that.
He lay on his back, letting the pale moonlight wash over his face, highlighting the exhaustion etched into his features. With a low, tired voice, he muttered, [Active system menu,] feeling the familiar tingle of anticipation as he waited for the display to appear before him.
Immediately, a translucent interface shimmered into view above him, suspended in the air like a holographic projection. Bright, cyan-blue borders framed multiple sections, each containing crisp, glowing text and icons.
At the top, his name blinked: Sovereign Pyraxis – Dragon of the Ancient Skies. Beneath it, bars and numbers displayed his vital stats:
[Health (HP): 420 / 7000]
[Stamina (SP): 37 / 2000]
[Mana (MP): 18 / 18000]
A smaller section showed attributes in real time, resembling a character sheet in an RPG:
[Strength: 42]
[Agility: 35]
[Endurance: 28]
[Intelligence: 82]
[Magic Power: 55]
Icons for skills, inventory, and quests hovered at the side, each pulsing faintly. The system even had a mini-map in the corner, showing the jagged mountains, scorched lands, and his current position as a glowing dragon-shaped marker, even though he was now in a human body.