"My username! It isn't my real name anymore! Identity kept secret!" Edward celebrated by pumping his fist into the air, "Now I just need a mask and I'll be unidentifiable to the rest of the player population! This is great news! Now that I've accomplished what I set out to do, it's time to play the game normally!"
Edward removed his sword from his sheath. Then, with a gleeful smile, he stabbed himself in the neck.
When he woke up, Edward was lying back-first on a vast green plain. His eyes gazed upon the clean white clouds above. His body felt drowsy from his sudden death, but Edward paid it no mind as he sat up and looked at his surroundings. The dungeon entrance poked out of the ground just in front of him. From where he sat, it looked like nothing more than a small cave.
"Man, that was painful," Edward muttered with a solemn expression. He put his hand over his neck and rubbed it slowly. His mind focused on the painful memory of the moment just minutes prior, "Isn't there a way to turn down the pain in this game? Or is that another change from my 'ascension'?"
When he stabbed himself, Edward was expecting to find himself dying immediately. Maybe he would see a death screen, but he would then wake up at the dungeon's entrance. Instead, his sword pierced through his neck and brought all of the appropriate pain with it. His first death was slow— as he had to wait to bleed out.
"Still, it's not worse than that pain from earlier," Edward muttered as he slowly stood up. He stared at the dungeon for a moment in silence. His mind was still occupied thinking of the events from before. When he spent time looking at his notifications, he noticed something that confused him. However, when he thought of it, a nagging feeling arose from within him.
He opened his notifications once more and gazed upon it. Then, he used his newfound skill [Appraisal] to gain an in-depth description of it.
︽
Soul Companion: [UNNAMED]
A tamed creature tied to the user's very soul. As such, they are capable of bridging the divide between worlds, so long as the user's soul is located in that world. Due to your title, the companion has taken on the identity of a Platinum Dragon.
Name your companion to summon him.
︾
'A companion? Already?' Edward thought to himself. Due to his skill [Dragon Tame], he knew he would eventually get draconic buddies, but he had no idea it would happen this soon. He was fully expecting to be at a high level before he could even attempt to tame dragons, 'It doesn't look like this guy needs to be tamed, anyways. I only have to name him?'
Edward began to think of any dragon names he could think of, but the only ones were from popular dragons with overused names. He couldn't really name his dragon after the villain of a popular movie, now could he?
'Dragon… scales… wings? Wings… birds? No, that's lame. I'm not naming my first dragon after a fucking raven,' Edward thought to himself, 'tales involving wings… folklore?'
Then, in a moment of inspiration, he had an idea.
"Icarus?" Edward mumbled, "No, Ikarus sounds better. With a heavy enunciation on the 'a', it sounds like something a dragon would be named."
︽
Soul Companion: Ikarus.
︾
︽
Lvl: 1
XP: 0%
Race: Platinum Dragon
—
HP: 10
MP: 5
SP: 20
HUNG: 10/10
---
DMG: (Breath) 11
DEF: (Dragon scale) 27
—
POW: 2
AGI: 4
END: 2
WIS: 1
LUC: 1
︾
Suddenly, a bright flash of light erupted in the space in front of Edward. A figure moved through the air for a moment before landing on the ground. Edward managed to catch sight of the creature only once it had landed. Ikarus, the dragon, was only the size of a small dog, but he was already more impressive than Edward was expecting.
His overall frame was similar to a cat's in the way Ikarus was more agile than powerful. His waist and legs were slim but powerful— like a feline's, though his neck was a little bit longer. His tail, which was as thick as his body itself, was twice the size of his torso and just as flexible as a kitten's. As Ikarus stared at his new master, Edward noticed the tail waving back and forth with dignity and grace. Even though he was larger than a cat— Ikarus seemed to act exactly like one. As soon as Ikarus landed on the ground, he sat down and gazed into Edward's eyes with an intelligence that could never have been claimed by canines.
On his back, Ikarus had two sets of wings— four total— that were similar to a bat's wings but thicker. The spine of each wing— the slim portion that kept the rest of the wing together— had a small claw on the wing's end. As he sat down, Ikarus tucked all four wings safely against his body— or at least he tried to. The existence of his four wings caused them to overlap each other, so his wings almost appeared as a cape.
Ikarus's body was covered in a layer of silvery scales. When he moved, some of the scales would create illusions of light as the sun was reflected to Edward's eyes. Each time this happened, he saw every color of the rainbow reflect at him. Because of the scales, each of Ikarus's limbs appeared beefier than they were. Compared to his shins, Ikarus had massive thighs on each of his four limbs. Unfortunately, his feet seemed underdeveloped. Instead of the wide dinosaur claw most dragons in media had, Ikarus only had two claws on his back legs and one clawed finger on his front legs.
Ikarus's head was exactly as Edward pictured it, just younger. His snout was long and sharp— the corners carrying small sharp scales that seemed similar to a jawline. His teeth were as sharp as most dragon teeth might be, though they were still small and a little underdeveloped. Some of his teeth, however, seemed to poke out of his snout-like vampire teeth, which Edward thought looked very adorable. Ikarus didn't have any horns— only the sharp scales that acted similar to his jawline all over his face. He had a few acting as eyebrows, as well as some large ones running down his neck like a mane.
His eyes were colored a deep blue, like the sea, and were set far into an indent in the center of his face. As Edward concentrated on Ikarus's eyes, he found them similar to the eyes of an excited kitten. The slit pupils were wide open— almost like circles— which made his eyes almost as dark as Edward's.
"Hey, buddy," Edward whispered. Immediately, Ikarus slowly stepped forward and let out a soft growl. The growl was similar to a purr— just more reptilian. Edward crouched down to one knee and opened his palm in Ikarus's direction. He was delighted to find his new dragon running up to him in delight. Ikarus put his chin against Edward's fingers.
For the next few minutes, Edward found himself giving Ikarus as many scratches as the little man deserved. Ikarus's body seemed to move in rhythm with Edward's hand— always demanding more pets and scratches.
"He's exactly like a cat," Edward mumbled. He continued to play with Ikarus for a few more minutes— until the both of them were satisfied. After that, Ikarus climbed atop Edward's shoulder as if he owned it and began to rest.
Afterward, Edward stared at Ikarus. His eyes were deep and calm. If anybody gazed at Edward in that moment it would be obvious he was deep in thought. Then, Edward exhaled and quickly logged out.
When he opened his eyes— only a moment later, he quickly sat up and gazed at his bed. A flash of light erupted near his feet.
Out popped Ikarus, eyes curious and awake.