Murky found himself surrounded by darkness, unable to feel his limbs or hands. It was a strange feeling, but it brought him a sense of calm.
"The way I died was a bit sad, but not enough to make me regretful," Murky said to himself.
Remembering how the dragon hit him hard in the chest and his head hit the cave stone hard wall was not a pleasant feeling to remember right now.
"I was already weak at that time, maybe that's why I died so easily."
He didn't feel angry at anyone or anything because he trusted his instincts and knew that if his plan failed, then he failed.
Which also caused his death.
What was so bad about it? In the movie "Taming Hundred thousand of Dragons," there was a creature called NightFlash that looked like a dragon.
It was kind and grateful. The main character helped the NightFlash when it was being chased by another dragon, and in return, the NightFlash helped the main character by unlocking its hidden powers.
Murky wondered if the NightFlash Alpha that took his life, named Snow White, had the same gentle nature as other NightFlashes.
He thought that if he gently tapped its forehead, Snow White would show appreciation and wake up, just like the NightFlash in the film. But Murky was surprised when Snow White didn't react right away or react the way they like the normal NightFlash. It even passed out.
"I even had an Ancient essence for it, hoping that if I healed it and let it grow, it would appreciate my efforts and become its dragon rider. But, well, I failed miserably."
Murky said sadly. But he didn't have any other way to tame the NightFlash dragons except to rely on their natural kindness.
"Haha, at least I'm not completely pathetic. But maybe I should have killed Snow White and tried to find a regular NightFlash too. Then maybe I would have survived."
Murky came to the realization that he was lacking something essential—he lacked the ruthlessness required to survive.
"This was the same reason I perished during the 2028 war in my previous life. Sigh, I never seem to change. Always assuming that everything would align with my desires.
"It's a bit pitiful that I couldn't alter this aspect of myself. The only difference now is that I no longer blame myself, but I should have grown more ruthless in pursuit of my goals."
As Murky continued to express his grievances, his words were met with an unsettling silence.
He strained his senses, trying to pierce through the surrounding darkness, but all he could perceive was silence.
"Is this what happens to the players who died in game to become catalysts beings? Are we condemned to darkness as a form of torment, driving us to madness?
"Such a cruel and brutal process."
He muttered, his voice echoing in the stillness.
He couldn't help but recall the memories of prisoners haunted by the fear of sensory deprivation torture.
They would be confined to a pitch-black chamber and injected with a substance that rendered their senses useless.
It was a terrifying experience for any human. Without sensory perception, their emotional and psychological responses would be magnified, distorting their sense of time and space.
Now, it seemed that Murky was destined to endure this very torment.
He could only wait for the darkness to consume him and push him towards the edge of insanity.
He doubted that even an hour would pass without feeling like an entire year had gone by. He didn't want to face such an outcome; he didn't want to lose his sanity.
However, Murky was in a helpless situation.
Suddenly, a glimmer of light illuminated the screen in front of him.
Ding!
The sound broke the silence, and a series of messages appeared on the screen.
[ The player StupidLove has been outside the Draugrkins' territory for an extended period and will be considered an outsider if they don't return immediately. Time remaining: 20 minutes. Additional penalty: the player StupidLove's reward will be halved. ]
Murky didn't react immediately.
Just as he was about to protest, "But I..." he sensed movement and caught a glimpse of a familiar glow reflecting in the creature's blue eyes.
It startled him.
What was happening?
How was he supposed to feel?
He had thought he was already a corpse on his way to becoming a catalyst creature.
Suddenly, the creature rose up, and Murky had to look up to see its towering form, even though only its two blue eyes were visible to him.
Confusion flooded Murky's mind as a soft, feminine voice whispered in his ear, saying, "It's me."
He should have been shocked and questioning, but instead, he felt bewildered and unable to make sense of the situation.
Then, the creature revealed its sharp row of orca teeth and let out a piercing scream.
"KRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
The sound echoed in Murky's head, snapping him out of his daze.
He looked up in the creature's eyes in terror, unsure of what he was facing.
He sensed danger and realized that despite his earlier belief that he was dead, he was actually alive, and now he's going to truly die.
Before he could say another word, "I-" he noticed that the creature's attention remained at him, causing him to quickly close his mouth.
Murky had no idea what was unfolding, but he knew he was in a dangerous situation.
Suddenly, the soft, feminine voice spoke again, stating matter-of-factly, "Yes, you are."
Murky felt a surge of anxiety, swallowing hard.
Then, to his surprise, he saw the creature open its mouth once more. But this time, a brilliant white light shone from its long, massive throat.
Murky tightly shut his eyes, bracing himself for the end, convinced that death was imminent. But to his astonishment, the attack never came.
Instead, a warm light surrounded him, gently caressing his skin with its comforting warmth.
Slowly, Murky opened his eyes and beheld the sight of a magnificent, towering creature.
It resembled a dragon, with hints of a cat and an axolotl in its features. But now, it sported a stunning black feather on its massive chest, and its eyes had transformed from blue to a captivating yellow-green hue.
Murky was awestruck. The creature that had once seemed weak and damp, like a newborn wet chick, had now metamorphosed into a breathtaking dragon right before his eyes.
"Hey," a woman's voice spoke in his ear once more, breaking his trance. "Don't stare at me like that."
Murky realized that the creature communicating with him was none other than Snow White.
With trembling lips and hands, he managed to utter a word.
"You-
"You are Snow White?"
The dragon nodded, confirming his suspicion.
"Yes, it's me, Snow White. I quite like that name. And I want to thank you for granting me the breath of an ancient dragon. It gave me life and hastened my growth," Snow White replied.
Ding!
[ Name: Snow White.
[ Level: 1.
[ Dragon class: Six star (Disaster Class).
[ Dragon Talent: Six fury flash
[ Status: Extremely Healthy (Energetic) ]
She drew closer to Murky's face, and to his surprise, he no longer felt threatened. Her feline pupils filled his vision, shimmering with what seemed like joy.
Murky still couldn't believe that everything was real. And then he listened attentively as Snow White expressed remorse for her previous actions and apologized for biting him earlier.
He understood that she had mistaken him for a threat and had acted out of self-defense.
In response, Murky reassured her, "It's alright, Snow White. I forgive you. You didn't know."
Snow White felt that her earlier apology wasn't enough.
She closed her draconic eyes and pressed her giant head against Murky's chest, purring affectionately like a contented pet or a loving girlfriend.
This made Murky stunned.
Wanting to reassure her, Murky spoke softly.
"It's alright, Snow White. It's not your fault. You didn't know."
Shortly after, Murky sensed a surge of energy flowing through his body, leaving him curious. "Wait, why do I feel so energized?" he wondered aloud.
He also looked at his bitten arm earlier, and he noticed that although it's gone, it was healed, with no scars.
His body felt incredibly strong, as if he had been injected with a surge of vitality akin to Viagra. However, the effect permeated throughout his entire being, not just on his breeding tool.
Snow White lifted her draconic head, pulled it back and looked at Murky once more.
"Ah, yes. I realized that you were vulnerable and lacked means to defend yourself. So, I have made you my rider. With this bond, you'll have the ability to protect yourself. It's both an apology for what I did and a token of gratitude for what you've done for me," she explained.
Hearing this revelation and observing the dragon before him, Murky began to understand why he could hear her voice.
However, he couldn't help but feel a bit confused. This situation differed from what he had seen in film. According to it, while dragons and their riders could share a connection, direct mind-to-mind communication wasn't common.
"How is this possible? How can we communicate like this?"
Murky asked, his confusion evident.
Snow White, eager to answer her rider's question, replied.
"It's because we're now connected. By emitting my sonar waves, I can make you understand my thoughts in your language."
Absorbing the information, Murky thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
Then his body twitches involuntarily as he grasps the situation.
"Does this mean that I...?"
In the movie, young Draugrskins in the village had to be drenched in blood to activate their dragon genes. However, there were some individuals who, despite immersing themselves in boundless dragon blood, still couldn't awaken their genes.
The main character was one of those people who couldn't awaken their dragon gene, and Murky realized he was in the same predicament. He couldn't awaken the dragon gene either, or he wasn't born with the mutated gene in the real world.
However, there was one way to awaken the dragon genes for those who couldn't, and that was by becoming a rider.
It suddenly dawned on Murky that he had indeed awakened his dragon gene because he—–now had become a rider of the Snow White dragon.
"I see... so that's how it works," he said quietly, starting to understand the special bond he shared with Snow White.
Suddenly, Snow White changed the subject and mentioned that Murky's friend had also arrived in this place.
Since he was dressed like Murky, she explained that she spared him and even defeated the dragon that was chasing him, thinking he was Murky's friend.
Snow White also mentioned that her guardian dragon, Happy, liked Murky's friend and made him his rider.
This revelation left Snow White asking.
"Can we trust him? Is he really your friend? Should we see him as a threat?"
She wondered, unsure of what to do next.
As Murky remembered the character Herald from the "How to Train Your Dragon" movie, he realized he already went here in this deep cave while he was unconscious..
Herald was the main character in the film, known for his cleverness and his bond with dragons.
Murky recalled how Herald used an instrument created by his late mother to defeat a huge dragon named Kirov.
However, Herald discovered that Kirov had a symbiotic relationship with a Boa Constrictor Dragon that cleaned Kirov's body. This led Herald to come across the constrictor dragon and be chased until he found the lair of Murky's dragon Snow White and Seven Special Dragons.
As Murky recalled the story from the film, he remembered that the Seven Special Dragons initially attacked the constrictor dragon but not the main character, Herald.
The constrictor dragon overwhelmed the other dragons, swallowing six of them and casting one into a spring river.
Surprisingly, the dragon that emerged from the spring became even stronger and more powerful.
It engaged in a fierce battle with the constrictor, eventually managing to defeat it after a challenging fight.
Herald then took care of the exhausted dragon, forming a rider and dragon partnership.
This made him a rider.
When Snow White persisted with her question about Murky's friend, suggesting they should kill him, Murky shook his head firmly.
"He can be trusted. You don't need to worry."
He reassured Snow White. Murky had faith in the main character and believed that he was reliable.
However, he wondered what would happen now. The events in the movie didn't actually occur, so would there be any consequences?
But Murky simply shook his head. He didn't care about that.
At this moment, he was a rider of a disaster class dragon, and a powerful one at that, even stronger than the main character's initial dragon.
Observing Murky's certainty, Snow White nodded in acceptance.
"Very well then. If you trust him, I will too."
She acknowledged, her voice filled with a newfound understanding.
Suddenly, Murky looked at Snow White and asked, "Wait, what about your other protector or dragon dwarves?"