"But it is one thing to read about dragons and another to meet them."
― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea
---
[Attention!]
[Your Dragon is ready to hatch! Help it finish its hatching by gently rubbing the surface of the egg.]
Closing the notification in front of me, I blinked and rubbed the drowsiness in my eyes.
'Did I fall asleep?'
I had only closed my eyes to think about some things, but before I knew it, a supposed blink had skipped 30 minutes.
I stood up, my eyes now fixated on the egg. It was... shaking!
Feeling a surge of excitement and curiosity, I cautiously approached the egg, unable to resist the urge to touch it. As my hand made contact, I could feel the heat emanating from within, surpassing its initial warmth and reaching a scorching intensity.
"Let's see..."
I murmured to myself, my fingers lightly grazing the egg's surface. I didn't want to apply too much pressure and risk spoiling the long-awaited hatching. The trembling grew more pronounced, and cracks began to form, revealing a radiant glow that illuminated the surroundings. As time passed, I grew more confident in my actions and the touching had turned to caressing.
Finally, with a crack loud enough to startle, the top of the egg gave way, revealing a small flame and two tiny yellow horns perched upon a smooth, reddish head that bore a striking resemblance to its fiery lineage.
[Quest "Dragons' Safe Haven" completed!]
"… Wow."
I managed to utter, my voice filled with a mixture of awe and disbelief. The quest completion notice was subconsciously shoved aside as I was too busy witnessing perhaps a legendary moment.
For the first time in my life, I witnessed the birth of a real dragon. It was as magical as one might expect, if not more.
The red hatchling moved, causing the flame on top of its head to flicker and wave. Its large, slitted eyes then zeroed in on me, offering a clear view of the yellow sclera as it blinked sideways.
For a brief moment, neither of us moved an inch or uttered a noise, just observing and taking in each other.
The hatching dragon was faster to gain its wits as it finally broke our stare contest and 'kuu'ed.
That broke my trance as well, and with a somewhat cautious and nervous movement, I reached out to touch it. Much to my delight, the hatchling allowed me to touch it. I wasn't burned either.
Very carefully, I cradled the red hatchling dragon in my palm, ensuring I didn't strain its wing joint or damage the ember yellow wings that appeared delicate, with their almost paper-thin texture.
Its body felt warm and, surprisingly, soft— not what I would've expected from a scally creature of its kind. But truth be told there were no visible scales on its red body.
The head of the baby dragon appeared almost comically oversized compared to its body. As I held it, the dragon slowly tilted its head, displaying no signs of struggle or distress.
It felt strange. Really strange.
I was trying to get my mind out of the stupor of holding an actual living dragon. Even if it was a newborn, it was going to be one of the most powerful creatures on the planet… Unless this planet had many creatures that were as strong as Adult Dragons.
Now that was a thought that I was not willing to entertain right now, mostly because it was scary, but also because it was currently unprovable and inconsequential.
That thought, however, did put a damper on my mood and I was back to reality, staring down at the red creature the size of a moderately large puppy. But with wings.
"… Hi."
I finally managed to speak, only for it to instantly hit me that it might not even understand speech, much less human speech.
But still, I continued talking.
"Welcome to the world, little one. My name is… Damian. Would you like to live with me?"
I didn't know why I thought to ask such a question to a just-born dragon at that moment. Was it because I wanted to have a dragon by my side or was it because I was alone and lonely, or perhaps something else entirely. But regardless, I did and was, surprisingly, greeted with a 'Kuu!' that I swear sounded like an affirmation.
I could somehow just tell the baby dragon accepted my offer/request.
Meanwhile, the system had been pinging me with hidden notifications.
With a thought, I brought out the System interface and was greeted by a couple of notifications.
[Quest "Dragons' Safe Haven" completed!]
[–Rewards–]
- Portal to ? unlocked!
- 250 XP
- 200 Gold
[You've leveled up!]
[Attention!]
[The portal to ? has been unlocked! Visit it as soon as possible to set up things and begin training and breeding your dragons.]
[Congratulations! You've bred and tamed your first dragon! The tutorial has been completed!
Discover and hatch more Dragons, breed them, and train them to become the strongest! Your journey toward becoming the legendary Dragon Tamer begins here.]
[–Tutorial Completion Rewards–]
- 100 XP
[Notice! Class Upgrade Quest "Dragon Tamer(Novice)" unlocked!]
After reading the notifications, I immediately checked my [Status] page and indeed, my level had increased from 1 to 3 and I now had 10 SP and a plus sign in front of all 8 of my stats.
I wondered if I should spend it immediately. I could bring at most 5 stats to 10 with this.
… Or I could get my CHA to 10 and then END, AGI, and WIS to 10 with the remaining 6 points.
It most definitely wasn't a thought born due to some insecurity or desire regarding my low CHA stat. Nope.
After some consideration, I decided to go with the first and probably the best way. As much as the low CHA stat bugged me, it wasn't really something I cared for as much as, say, STR, END, or INT stats.
[–Status–]
Name: Damian Pendragon
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Dragon Tamer(Initiate)
---
Tier: I
Level: 3/10
---
HP: 130/130
MP: -Locked-
Aura: -Locked-
---
STR: 10
END: 10
AGI: 10
DEX: 7
INT: 10
WIS: 10
CHA: 6
LUC: 10
---
SP: 0
DP: 10
---
Gold: 10000
♦-♦-♦
'Done. I'll increase DEX and CHA to 10 next time I get points and then go from there.'
I tried to feel any changes in my body, but I couldn't feel anything different at a glance. I wasn't expecting to suddenly grow a six-pack or suddenly become good at calculus, but I had hoped the change in points would be visible given the low stat values, even if barely.
'Hmm, maybe I need to gain more stats to feel a clear difference.'
Next, I opened the [Quest] tab to quickly check what the new quest was all about.
[Title: Dragon Tamer(Novice)]
[Description: You have been initiated as the one and only Dragon Tamer on Remnant. Now, it is your job to find and breed as many Dragons as possible. Bring the mighty Dragons back into this world and show the world your prowess as a Dragon Tamer.
Hint: You can buy Dragon eggs from the Shop or breed Dragons in the Breeding Den.
Objectives:
- Have 3 Dragons
- Level up at least one Dragon to Level 10
Bonus Objective 1:
- Breed 2 Dragons
Bonus Objective 2:
- Have 3 Dragons of different types.
Rewards:
- Class upgraded to Dragon Tamer(Novice)
- Quest Continuation
- XP
- 2500 Gold
Bonus Rewards:
- Guaranteed Uncommon Dragon Egg
- Dragon Showcase Trophy(Tier 1)
Failure:
None]
[Accept?]
[Yes / No]
Accepting the quest, I wondered about a certain aspect of the system.
'The notification says I've already tamed this baby Dragon. But how? Did I seriously just have to ask it? Is it really that simple? … I mean, I'm not complaining. I like simple things. But still… I thought it would be more complicated than that.'
Well, I wasn't going to deny such convenience. So, I accepted it and moved on.
The red dragon in my embrace had settled down by this point and had its eyes closed.
'Guess it's asleep.'
I carefully made my way back to my own 'shelter' and sat down before checking out my other rewards. In particular, the portal to ?. There was no notification to explain to me how it would be opened. Which I thought was a problem. How was I supposed to know how it would work?
'Now, how do I open this portal, I wonder?'
I mused, half expecting another notification to answer the question. Alas, I was let down this time.
'Summon Portal… Nope. Portal… Nope. Activate Skill: Portal… Not this either. Wait, it is even a skill? … Nope, it doesn't show in my [Skills] tab. Hmm. Explain Portal. What is Portal? System query: Portal? Aaand I've run out of ideas. God, I'm unimaginative. But this system really needs a better User Experience.'
After some time pondering over it, I decided to give it up for the time being.
[Would you like to file a Manual Bug Report/Feedback?]
[Yes / No]
I blinked in surprise at the new prompt before deciding to select 'Yes'.
This seemed like a reasonable complaint. As I affirmed, a new screen with an interface resembling a simple chat application came up.
[User #DTS001(Damian P.): ]
I took some time to formulate my complaint and then typed it using the onscreen keyboard. It probably looked like I was wiggling my fingers in the air from the point of view of someone who couldn't see the system. Good thing I was all alone, so it didn't matter.
[User #DTS001(Damian P.): Hello, Admin. I would like to file a complaint regarding the first Quest rewards. The Quest "Dragons' Safe Haven" unlocked the Portal to ?, but there was no description, and/or it wasn't clarified properly how to open the said portal, only that it can be opened by a True Dragon. I would like to request a better explanation regarding that.
Also, I would like to request a better explanation for how the System Query thingy or whatever it's called (it's the thing that answers questions) works. I get answers to certain questions while not to others, and it's confusing.
That's all. Hoping for a positive reply.
Thank you.]
'Hmm. That sounds good enough.'
I clicked on 'Send' and re-read the message one last time before closing the window.
'…'
But after a moment, I reopened it and typed another message.
[User #DTS001(Damian P.): P.S.: I know this might be me asking too much(and that it's not what this function is intended for), but, can you please allow me to say goodbye to my family back on Earth, or let my family back home know I'm safe and didn't run away from home? Please tell them I'm very sorry, and that they shouldn't worry too much. Or if that's not possible… can you erase their memory of me? Make it so I died along with my parents in the car crash 3 years ago. They've been really nice to me these past few years and don't deserve the hurt and worry from my sudden disappearance. Please. I won't ever ask for more. Again, sorry to bring this up here, but I don't know how else to contact you.]
Taking a deep breath, I clicked 'Send' again and closed the window.
Leaning my head back against the wall, I watched the glittering sky, unable to hold myself back from the thoughts and memories of… what was now effectively my past life.
My eyes felt warm and after a moment, the warmness tickled down my cheeks as the thoughts of what was lost finally hit me in full force.
'I wish I could meet them one last time. Just to say goodbye. Please stay happy, Auntie, Uncle, and June. I'll miss you guys.'
***
I opened my eyes to see the morning sun peeking from the mountain range.
'I… fell asleep.'
I thought blearily, rubbing my eyes, trying to get the sleep out of my system.
Some movement on my stomach made me flinch and dart my gaze toward it, only to find a certain red thing curled up and sleeping.
'Ah, right. I forgot about it.'
Carefully, I brought my hand to pet the back of the dragon hatchling's relatively large head, observing the little flame thing residing on top of its snout. It was a curious little thing. There didn't seem to be any visible holes or pores from where the flame could emerge. Instead, it was just floating a little above the dragon's snout.
The touch seemed to have awakened the little thing as it opened its large eyes, its slits contracting as it looked at me.
I was still not used to looking at those slitted eyes. It wasn't as if they were scary. Just… different.
"Hey, little guy. Good morning. Sleep well?"
I was once again talking to a baby dragon assuming it understood me. But in my defense, it probably did because it replied with what looked like a cheerful cry.
Smiling, I had a moment of realization and pulled up my Inventory screen.
'Let's see… Dragon Berries. There we go.'
The red, spiky berries were the largest berries I'd ever seen, each being as big as my fist.
Taking one out of the Inventory, I brought it closer to the hatchling.
"Hungry?"
The little thing looked at the berry in curiosity and then took a sniff before opening its mouth, showing its gums.
It didn't have teeth.
'Oh.'
I hesitated, unsure if it could even chew the berry.
Squeezing the berry slightly, I found it quite soft.
'Hm, I think it can chew it even without any teeth.'
Nodding, I brought the berry near its mouth and fed it.
It chomped on it, crushing it in its mouth and spilling some of the juices down.
"Ah."
I had to put it off myself and place it on the ground. I didn't want my shirt to get the red berry juices on it.
[Notice! You've fed your Dragon a Dragon Berry. Dragon Berries are a Dragon's favorite fruit and have the magical properties that allow Dragons to grow in strength and size.]
On top of the little red dragon, a new window popped out showing information about it.
[?]
[Fire Dragon
Level 1
Health: 100]
The XP bar beside its level indicated that it was one-fourth full.
'Interesting. It has the same health as I do. Are our level progression similar?'
While I was busy checking the screen, the baby dragon had come closer to me and started nibbling on my leg.
I blinked, coming out of my thoughts, feeling the light nibbles, and wondered what it was trying to convey.
It opened its mouth and then looked at me with its large eyes.
'Cute.'
I pulled out another berry and pushed it near its mouth. It opened wider and I placed it inside, before pulling my hands. Even if it was a just-born baby and didn't have teeth, I wasn't going to put my hand inside a dragon. No sir, not risking my fingers to find out what happens if a dragon chomps on your fingers.
It chomped on the berry for a little while before swallowing it entirely, dropping juices from its mouth in the process.
I noticed the XP bar going up again, now halfway full.
"Hm."
'So, each berry fills approx. 1/4th of its XP bar to dragons. Does the XP requirement change or remain the same for higher levels? Will have to look out for that. But this… is still nice. It means it can gain XP without fighting or killing enemies. Wait, can I power-level my dragon with this?'
Eyes widening at the realization, I looked at the little red Dragon who was sitting on the ground, looking at me with its innocent-looking eyes.
"Want more?"
I asked, somewhat unsure if there were any risks involved with the idea of feeding it too many berries, like overeating.
Really, there should have been a more in-depth and proper explanation about these things. I was going on a hunch here. I didn't want to screw anything important. I didn't want to hurt my first pet dragon. Wait, was it my pet though? I mean, I had 'tamed' it, so it was, right? Hmm…
Seeing the baby dragon open its mouth again, I pulled out a bunch of berries and started feeding it. After swallowing 2 more, I got a notification saying my Dragon had leveled up. The same was visible on the window, with its XP bar now empty and the level changed from 1 to 2.
'Nice.'
"Want more?"
I asked, hoping the little dragon would deny it once it was well-fed. So far, it had eaten 4 of these giant berries and showed no signs of stopping.
It growled cutely and opened its mouth wide which seemed like an affirmation to me, and I began testing the limits of this dragon's ability to eat.
***