The bear's meat was tough and gamey, but I ate it anyway. My body needed it—the fight had drained me, left me battered and bleeding. As I tore into the flesh, I felt my HP slowly ticking upward.
HP: 65/100
Better. Not great, but better.
I dragged the corpse back to my alcove cave, the one I'd been using since evolution. Safer to eat here than out in the open where anything could find me. The bear was massive—easily four hundred pounds—and even with my increased strength, it was slow going.
By the time I finished the first haunch, new notifications were waiting.
Title Acquired: Conqueror
Title Acquired: King of the Forest
I pulled up the descriptions.
Conqueror: Awarded for defeating the strongest monster in a designated region. Effect: Increases all stats by 20% when fighting against regional kings or alpha beasts.
King of the Forest: Awarded for becoming the dominant force in a territory. Effect: Increases all stats by 10% while within claimed territory (Thornwood Forest Region).
I stared at the screens. King. I was a king now. The forest's king, whatever that meant.
The Conqueror title made sense—I'd killed the bear, the strongest thing around. But King of the Forest implied something more. Territory. Domain. Like I'd claimed this entire region just by winning that fight.
"Huh." I looked around the small cave. "Guess I'm moving up in the world."
I dismissed the title screens and pulled up my main status to check the level-up gains.
Name: No Name
Species: Kid Inferno Dragon
Rank: D+
Status: Normal
Level: 15
HP: 65/125
Mana: 80/105
Strength: 44
Defense: 48
Agility: 40
Magic: 38
Skills: Chomp Lv 3, Dragon's Breath Lv 3, Flame Bite Lv 1, Divine Messenger Lv 2, Language Translation Lv 1
Titles: Coward, Rabbit Killer, Conqueror, King of the Forest
Five levels had given me solid growth. My stats had increased significantly from where I'd been at level 10. And with the King of the Forest bonus active in this region, they'd be even higher.
I did the math in my head. Ten percent boost while in my territory meant:
Strength: 48.4 (rounded to 48)Defense: 52.8 (rounded to 53)Agility: 44Magic: 41.8 (rounded to 42)
Not bad. Not bad at all.
But as I sat there, chewing on bear meat and watching the firelight flicker, a thought occurred to me.
What now?
I was stronger, sure. King of the forest, supposedly. But I was still a dragon. A five-foot-tall crimson dragon that couldn't communicate with humans, couldn't go into towns, couldn't do half the things I'd probably need to do to survive long-term in this world.
What I needed was a way to blend in. A transformation skill. Something that would let me take human form, or at least something humanoid enough to not get attacked on sight.
But how did you get a skill like that? The system had given me Divine Messenger and Language Translation when I needed them. Would it give me a transformation skill if I wanted it badly enough?
"Hey, system," I said aloud. "Any chance I could get a skill that lets me look human? Or talk to humans better? Something useful like that?"
No response.
"Didn't think so."
I pulled up my status screen again, mostly out of boredom, and froze.
There was a new tab. One that hadn't been there before.
[Messages: 1 New]
Messages? The system had messages now?
I focused on it and a letter appeared, the text glowing against the blue screen.
I've been having fun watching you. Make sure you keep entertaining me.
That was it. No signature. No explanation. Just that one line.
"What the hell?"
I stared at the message, my scales prickling. Someone was watching me? Who? How? Was it the system itself? Some kind of administrator? A god?
Before I could process that, another notification appeared.
SYSTEM NOTICE: Sorry for the glitch in the system. The letter you received is of no importance. Please disregard.
I blinked. Read it again. Then read the first message again.
"Okay, that's not ominous at all."
A glitch? The system was calling it a glitch? But the message had been so specific. Keep entertaining me. That wasn't random data corruption. That was someone—or something—deliberately watching.
And now the system was telling me to ignore it.
"Yeah, I'm definitely not ignoring that," I muttered.
But there wasn't much I could do about it right now. Whoever or whatever had sent that message was clearly way beyond my ability to deal with. I was level 15. If there was some god or admin watching me like I was a video game character, what was I supposed to do? File a complaint?
I dismissed the messages and went back to eating. The bear's meat was helping—my HP was up to 80 now. By the time I finished eating and rested, I'd probably be back to full.
Then I could figure out my next move. Get stronger. Find a way to communicate with humans. Maybe figure out what that message meant.
One problem at a time.
Aria
The Adventurer's Guild in Millhaven was exactly as Aria remembered it—loud, crowded, and smelling faintly of beer and sweat. Normally she didn't mind. Today, with her shoulder still bandaged and Bato leaning heavily on her for support, she just wanted to get the report over with.
Zegan had gone straight to the healer's quarters. His ribs were broken, possibly worse. The healer had taken one look at him and ordered complete bedrest.
Which meant Aria was handling the report.
She pushed through the crowded common room and headed for the stairs, Bato trailing behind. The Guild Master's office was on the third floor, and by the time they reached it, her shoulder was throbbing.
She knocked.
"Enter," came a tired voice.
Guild Master Zeta sat behind a desk buried in paperwork. Her purple hair was tied in a messy bun that looked like it hadn't been combed in days, and the dark circles under her eyes suggested she hadn't slept much either. She was maybe thirty, but right now she looked fifty.
She glanced up as they entered, and her expression shifted from exhaustion to mild interest.
"Aria. Bato." Her eyes landed on Bato's bandaged shoulder. "I take it the demon bear hunt didn't go well."
"The bear is dead," Aria said.
Zeta's eyebrows rose. "Is it? Then why do you both look like you got trampled by a horse?"
"Because we almost died," Bato said flatly. "Multiple times."
Aria took a breath and launched into the report. The ambush. Zegan getting knocked out. Bato getting gored. Her nearly dying. And then the dragon.
Zeta's expression grew more and more incredulous as Aria described the fight. By the time she got to the part where the dragon had asked permission to take the corpse, Zeta was leaning back in her chair, one hand pressed to her forehead.
"Let me get this straight," Zeta said slowly. "A dragon—an inferno dragon, juvenile, maybe five feet tall—killed the demon bear. Saved your lives. And then politely asked if it could keep the body."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And then it just left."
"Yes, ma'am."
Zeta was silent for a long moment. Then she sighed, long and deep.
"Well, shit. That's more work."
Aria blinked. "Ma'am?"
"I guess we have another alpha beast on our hands." Zeta started shuffling through papers, clearly looking for something. "Where's the regional map... ah, here."
She spread a map across her desk, pushing aside forms and reports. Her finger landed on a spot northeast of Millhaven, in the mountain range.
"Thornwood Forest. That's where the bear was, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"What's an alpha beast?" Bato asked.
Zeta glanced at him, surprised. "They didn't teach you that at basic training?"
"I... might have been sick that day."
Zeta sighed again. "An alpha beast is a monster that has taken control over a specific region, either intentionally or unintentionally. It becomes the dominant predator—the strongest creature in that area. Other monsters either submit to it, avoid its territory, or get killed."
She tapped the map. "The demon bear was the alpha beast of Thornwood Forest. Nothing else in that region could challenge it. That's why the area was relatively stable—one strong monster keeping everything else in check."
"And now the dragon killed it," Aria said, understanding dawning. "So the dragon is the new alpha beast."
"Exactly." Zeta leaned back, rubbing her temples. "Which means we have to monitor it. Track its movements. Figure out its behavior patterns."
"Why?" Bato asked. "It didn't attack us. It seemed... intelligent. Controlled."
"For now," Zeta said. "But if that dragon gets any stronger, or if it evolves again..." She shook her head. "An alpha beast that powerful could trigger a monster stampede. Everything in that region would flee, trying to get away from it. And where do you think they'd run?"
Aria's stomach sank. "Here. Toward the town."
"Exactly. We'd have dozens, maybe hundreds of displaced monsters flooding toward Millhaven. The town guard couldn't handle that. Hell, even with the full guild mobilized, we'd be hard-pressed."
The office fell silent.
"So what do we do?" Aria asked finally.
Zeta pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and started writing. "First, I file a report with the regional office. They need to know we have a new alpha beast. Second, we post a notice—no one hunts in Thornwood Forest without guild approval. I don't want some idiot adventurer provoking the dragon. Third..."
She paused, pen hovering over the paper.
"Third, we hope it stays peaceful. Because if that dragon decides it doesn't like humans, we're going to have a much bigger problem than paperwork."
Aria thought about those intelligent eyes. The careful way the dragon had moved. The fact that it had saved them when it could have just let the bear finish the job.
"I don't think it wants to fight us," she said quietly.
Zeta looked up. "Let's hope you're right. Because if you're wrong, a lot of people are going to die."
She went back to writing, and Aria knew they were dismissed.
As they left the office, Bato leaned close and whispered, "Do you really think it's peaceful?"
Aria remembered the dragon's eyes. The intelligence there. The hesitation.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But I hope so."
Because if it wasn't, they were all in serious trouble.