And just like that, they were gone. Emre had waited until the afternoon to check the Section 1 pool. Which, in the spur of the moment, he decided to call the Silver Pool. Not because it was silver in any way. It would just remind him of Silvis. Was that weird? He hoped not.
Regardless of his naming choices, the large unit had indeed moved on. Nothing was left aside from a scrap of cloth and a dead firepit. The trampled footprints all led off into the forest opposite of where he was facing the shoreline. They had gone north.
He glanced throughout the surroundings, making sure that everyone was gone using his Perception skill. Confirming that he was alone, he pulled his small body from the waters and began to search around the area.
They really left nothing. He sighed, not sure what he was hoping for, and started to head into the treeline. His den wasn't that far inside so he would see if he could reinforce it before he started his evolution.
Then a glint caught his eye. His head jerked toward it with narrowed eyes only to realize it was just something in the dirt. Something small sitting at the base of a tree. Emre cautiously headed over, noticing that symbols were carved into the bark just above it. His mind could read these words despite them not being English.
'For Little One' is what it said. Emre's eyes widened and he finally looked down at the object. It was a small rose gold bracelet band with a small bright blue gem embedded into it. Intricate small designs and symbols were carved into it. Was this from Silvis? It must have been since Silvis was the one who called him that.
He reached forward and grabbed it with his small-scaled hands. Surprisingly, it started to change. The design didn't change, but it sank into a smaller size that looked like it could fit even his tiny wrist. It had to be a magical item...
'Voice, what is this?' Emre asked with interest.
[ Answer, a Band of Protection. A bracelet that can be activated to protect the wearer from injury. High quality. ]
Emre felt shocked. Did Silvis just give this high-quality magic item away to a swamp lizard? His heart shook as he gently slipped it onto his wrist. It reformed once more, tightening to become snug. He would have to take good care of this.
He couldn't imagine what was going through Silvis's head to leave him something like this. It was simply unheard of. He would have to find them for sure in the future. He had to pay them back for this pure generosity.
A bit shaken, he continued to walk into where he knew his den was. He would have to test it out later. He didn't quite know how it worked so he should probably figure out how to use it as soon as possible. Especially if he could use it to save himself from a severe injury in the future.
He stopped in front of where his den was. A large tree loomed above him, the roots snaked out of the ground, sticking out of the dirt here and there. There was a small hole between one of the roots. If he was possibly going to become bigger, he should make the entrance larger... As well as the den itself.
Emre spent most of the day digging out the den before he settled down inside with a small sigh. He hadn't even eaten yet and he was tired.
'Voice… Show me the evolution options.'
[ Dart Lizard, a long small venomous lizard with bright colors. Does not evolve further ]
[ Spiny Lizard, a large venomous lizard with large spikes on its back. Does not evolve further ]
[ Greater Spiny Lizard, a massive venomous lizard with large spikes on its back ]
[ Radiant Faerie Dragon, a small lesser holy dragon with leaf-like wings and prehensile tail, unlocked through [Tirian's Angel] ]
The first two were out of the running. He wanted to become a dragon so he wouldn't evolve into something that couldn't evolve further.
Wait… The Radiant Faerie Dragon… Wasn't that already a dragon? Why hadn't the voice given him this option before? Ah, that was before Tirian's Angel had been unlocked. He decided to reconfirm.
'Voice, what do I need to become to start on the dragon evolutionary path?'
[ Answer, a Greater Spiny Lizard or Radiant Faerie Dragon ]
Emre's eyes narrowed. 'Voice, show me the future evolutionary paths for the Greater Spiny Lizard and Radiant Faerie Dragon that lead to a True Dragon.' He hoped it could do this.
[ A Greater Spiny Lizard can evolve into a Spiny Drake or a Spiny Wyrm. A Spiny Drake can evolve into a Lesser Dragon. A Lesser Dragon can evolve into a True Dragon. ]
[ A Radiant Faerie Dragon can evolve into a Lesser Radiant Dragon or a Radiant Wyvern. A Lesser Radiant Dragon can evolve into a True Radiant Dragon ]
It seemed the radiant dragon path was simply a path given by Tirian for him. It even skipped bothering with being a lizard any longer and went straight into being a dragon. Only Lesser Dragons and True Dragons could shapeshift into humans though.
He felt that if he became a Radiant Faerie Dragon, he would be stuck on a holy path. He didn't know much about the magic of this world enough to know if radiant magic was worth it… He figured he should ask a ton of questions first.
'If I don't go on the radiant dragon path, will my radiant abilities go away?'
[ Answer, no, but they will not be able to be used to their full capabilities ]
So if he chose the radiant path, he would be able to use his radiant magic better… 'If I choose the radiant dragon path, will I not be able to use other magic?'
[ Answer, no, all dragons can use all of the elements other than radiant and shadow. ]
'What are all the elements of magic?'
[ Answer, base elements are fire, water, earth, and wind. The holy elements are radiant and shadow. ]
'Are holy elements rare?'
[ Answer, yes, holy elements are extremely rare ]
'Wait, how rare are dragons? Are they rarer than holy elements?'
[ Answer, dragons are very rare but not as rare as holy elements. ]
Well, the answer to his evolution was pretty obvious. He didn't want to be limited in the magic that was gifted to him by Tirian, especially not if it was that rare. Plus he'd be able to skip a whole evolution phase if he chose the Radiant Faerie Dragon instead of the Greater Spiny Lizard. It almost felt like a cheat to go with Radiant Faerie Dragon. To go straight to a Lesser Dragon after that evolution phase… Wasn't that being too generous?
Not only would he be a rare dragon, but he would be the rarest of dragons with the usage of holy elements. It almost felt ominous that this world was being so kind to him. Maybe Tirian had an ulterior motive to put him into this world? It's not like he was anything special on Earth.
But, he learned that healing others granted him so much experience... Being radiant would allow him to use his healing spells easier and in turn, get more experience. But now that he knew how rare radiant magic was, he wondered what Tirian was thinking when she gifted it to him.
To think that he was becoming a dragon-like this just to become a human… It was kind of foolish now that he thought about it. Of course, he would still want to become a strong dragon anyway. He would just have to think about whether he wanted to delve back into the human world. He certainly had plenty of time to figure that out though.
For now, he should just become stronger and stronger! He didn't want to be so weak as to be killed by a simple little push. Plus, if he could use radiant magic, he could save people's lives. Lives were important… If he could prolong a good person's life, he would not hesitate to do so.
With his mind made up, he curled into a ball in his now large den and closed his golden eyes.
'Voice, I choose Radiant Faerie Dragon.' He spoke inwardly with his resolve.
[ Evolving into Radiant Faerie Dragon ]
At first, he didn't feel anything different happening. He opened his eyes to look at himself only to feel a surge of warmth spreading through his body. He tensed in surprise feeling the heat growing warmer and warmer until it was hot. It was burning hot.
He felt like he was being kicked into the ground with a hundred feet while someone poured hot water onto his insides. He gasped in pain, curling up into a ball even further as his muscles spasmed. The pain made it feel like he couldn't breathe.
But this all lasted but a few seconds as his consciousness faded out and his vision blacked into darkness.
Finally, he opened his eyes. He could hear birds chirping outside and a slight warm breeze drifted into the den. His vision was blurry, but he realized he felt quite good. He could recall the pain from before he passed out but was surprised to find that he was not achy in any way.
Using his small-scaled hands, he wiped the tiredness from his eyes and let out a small yawn. Standing up, he stretched only to feel something strange upon his back and his head hit the top of the den which he had considered quite high before.
Wait, what was he doing? He had just evolved! Quickly, he twisted his head to take a look at his body.
His scales were no longer dark and murky like the swamp, but instead a pale sky blue with white banded markings that reminded him of a unique tabby cat. In fact, there was a small stripe of gold that ran along his side that seemed to connect with a small golden swirl upon his shoulder.
The most noticeable thing, however, was sets of wings upon his shoulders. There were four sections in total, very similar to how a butterfly's wings looked with a mixture of blues, golds, and dotted with white. Instead of being that round smooth looking shape that butterflies had, his were more jagged and resembled a leaf more than anything, along with the darker veins that connected each part.
He swished his tail into view, seeing that the tip slowly faded from the blue color into the same golden color as the stripe on his side. He could curl and bend his tail with flexibility, remembering that he was supposed to have a prehensile tail.
His legs were much longer compared to his previous squat self that had resembled an oversized gecko. He resembled a dragon far more than he did before. His head was slimmer, his hands were more versatile, and his new wings of course. He was also a bit larger than before.
Judging by how much smaller the den seemed than before, where he was about the size of a Chihuahua, he was probably the size of a Shiba Inu now. The den was quite cramped now. He couldn't even stretch out his wings to their full length.
'Voice, show my status.'
[ Name, Emre ] [ Radiant Faerie Dragon ]
[ Lvl, 12/30 ] [ Exp, 400/650 ]
[ Stats ] [ Stat Points, 6 ]
[ Str, 9 ] [ Dex, 9 ] [ Int, 13 ]
[ Con, 6 ] [ Wis, 9 ]
[ Skills, Swimming [Lvl 6], Climbing [Lvl 2], Venom Bite [Lvl 8], Venom Spit [Lvl 2], Claw [Lvl 4], Ambush [Lvl 6], Perception [Lvl 5], Stealth [Lvl 5], Light [Lvl 1], Healing Touch [Lvl1], Light Bolt [ Lvl1], Healing Breath [Lvl 1], Radiant Flame Breath [Lvl 1], Dragon Detection, Telepathy ]
[ Titles, Other-Worlder, Tirian's Angel, Frog Slayer ]
Four whole new skills. Two of them didn't even have level requirements on them. He could only assume they were static skills that couldn't get any better. He quickly asked questions to figure out what they did.
[ Healing Breath, a breath that can heal upon contact rather than damage ]
[ Radiant Flame Breath, a flame breath that burns upon contact. Does more damage to dark creatures ]
[ Dragon Detection, a passive skill that allows a dragon to detect the mana flow of creatures and objects in the same vicinity ]
[ Telepathy, a skill that allows mental conversation between creatures within 100 meters of each other ]
Another healing skill was handy! The flame breath was also interesting because it implied that there were dark creatures. He wondered what defined a creature, dark? Dragon Detection was basically magical Perception which would be handy. As for Telepathy… he would finally be able to talk to others!
He folded the foreign feeling wings upon his back neatly before squirming his way out into the open. Once he was out, he didn't hesitate to stretch out his wings to their full length.
They were beautiful with the sun barely dappling through the leaves above. They looked very similar to a Monarch Butterfly wings, but the black that would be there was instead a dark blue, the inner circles of the markings blended from a lighter hue of blue at the top and then into golden at the bottom. The white dotted the dark blue rims.
Emre could not help but think that he was quite beautiful. He moved his wings slowly, trying to get a feel of this new extension of his body. Learning to fly… He wondered how hard it would be.
With a determined huff, he began to flap his wings. They were quick and strong, the grass waved at the wind that he was creating. He felt the force of the wind and the strength behind each flap. He figured he would get tired, but he only felt more energized as his body began to move by itself. It was as if his body knew exactly what to do.
If he thought about it, his body would respond. He wanted to go above the trees. Quickly, he was among the thick canopy, avoiding the outstretching branches as he pushed through. He even kicked one of them to spur himself upward.
The leaves tickled his scales as he passed through until finally, his form burst through the treetop. His golden eyes squinted, wincing at the sharp light of the sun that he had barely been able to see these past few days.
The swamp canopy was so thick that the sun barely came through. This was the first time he was truly seeing the sky of this world. It was vast and blue just like Earth, with the dotting of white clouds. He could even see two moons instead of one.
He inhaled the fresh air, his wings still flapping as he continued higher. Then finally, he started to glide. The bracelet that he had forgotten on his wrist glinted brightly in the sunlight and he silently wondered where Silvis was in the forest that stretched out in his view.
He could see tall mountains in the distance and where the trees continued to stretch out. If he flew higher, he'd probably be able to see where the trees stopped but thought better of it. He wouldn't want to exhaust himself after just getting these wings and end up plummeting. In fact, he should probably land now.
Looking down toward the treetops, he began to search for an opening. He spotted one not too far and swerved toward it. It didn't take long for him to glide back into the trees and he soon realized that he was right above the swamp now. Finding a spot to land, he gripped onto the bark with his little claws and quickly curled his tail around the branch to secure himself.
He had landed on a tree that lay in the middle section of land in the swamp. Aside from the outskirts of the water source, there was this one section of land that lay right in the middle. He hadn't really paid much attention to coming here before and stuck to mostly the Silver Pool and Section 2 of the swamp which was at the northernmost end.
The southernmost end of the swamp had the largest section of water. He was scared to go there in case something big resided in the middle where it was the deepest. It was too dark so he couldn't even see if he went under the water. He would have to rely purely on his sense of feeling and the muffled hearing.
He decided that life was better, so he hadn't gone into that Section. It was Section 5 of the swamp. Thinking of a name… he figured he could call it the Black Depths. An ominous name for an ominous place.
But now he was a dragon. He could fly and go wherever he wanted. Well… maybe not wherever. But, he could finally leave the swamp! It was a good home to him for these few weeks but the only thing here was frogs, fish, and any large monsters that decided to pass through.
He wouldn't be able to grow stronger here. 50 to 100 experience a day simply wasn't going to cut it. It was time to find some more formidable prey… or even predators. It was time to leave the Black Swamp.