Emrys watched in horror as the Magmabane and Devourer closed in on him, their eyes filled with hunger.
But all of a sudden, they turned towards each other.
'Surprising' Emrys said quietly in his mind.
The Magmabane's flames engulfed the Devourer, who retaliated with a crushing blow.
Emrys' eyes widened in shock. What was happening? Why were they fighting each other? He stumbled backward, looking around frantically for his team members. But they were nowhere to be seen.
"Where...where's everyone?" Emrys stammered, his voice shaking. Was he alone? Had the others abandoned him?
"Cowards!" Emrys spat, his voice venomous with anger. "They left me to die!"
He had always known there was a ninety nine percent chance that hunters would do this to their fellow members. But as Level E rankers, he expected them to at least take down the two beasts with their years of experience.
Emrys' mind began to race as he realized that his team's betrayal might not be just a coincidence. Maybe this was their revenge for him interfering with their bullying of that boy the previous day.
Had they seen his actions as a challenge to their authority? Or had they been waiting for the perfect moment to strike back?
What if they used him as bait to get free from the intermediate beasts?
The thought made him ball his fist in fury.
If he ever survived this then he would make them pay for their actions.
Meanwhile, the Magmabane and Devourer continued their fierce battle.
He took advantage of the distraction and ran to safety.
Luckily ,he was able to find a rocky platform and so he hid behind it, peeking out to watch the battle between the two intermediate beasts.
They were fighting for him, showing their strengths to prove who was going to have the prey.
The Magmabane and Devourer were evenly matched, their powers locked in a struggle that seemed to shake the very foundations of the cave.
It was a well-known fact among hunters that intermediate beasts, like the Magmabane and Devourer, were always evenly matched in terms of power.
They occupied a middle tier in the beast hierarchy, and their abilities and strengths were always balanced, with neither surpassing nor falling short of one another.
As he rested his head on the wall, he felt a warm, sticky liquid trickle down his abdomen.
Emrys brushed it off as sweat, but the sensation grew, spreading a throbbing pain through his stomach.
He carefully touched his midsection. His hand became wet, coated with a crimson liquid.
Emrys pressed it gently to stop the bleeding but the pain increased with every passing second.
His hands instinctively clutched his stomach as if to hold himself together. It was the first time he was feeling this much pain on a mission hunt.
He figured out that he had been hit during the fight and he was only starting to bleed now.
If the intermediate beasts didn't turn against each other then he would have been killed at that instant.
Emrys' flashed back to his adopted mother, Akira. He remembered her pale face and how she struggled to breathe daily.
He had risked everything to hunt, to provide for her treatment. But now, as his own life slipped away, he wondered if he would be able to keep his promise.
His gaze traveled to the crimson liquid that was all over his hands and he couldn't help but wonder if this was the end.
The wound in his stomach seemed to be draining the very life force from him, leaving him extremely weak.
Emrys thought to himself, 'I don't want to leave Akira and Kael in this harsh world. I also haven't taken revenge on those humans that killed my mother. I can't die in the hands of two intermediate beasts. No… I don't want to die yet.'
The wound seemed too severe and it was obvious that he wouldn't be able to survive.
He had lost so much already, and the thought of leaving the family who had changed his perspective of the world was too much to bear.
His vision began to blur, and his thoughts grew hazy. Emrys felt his consciousness fading into the darkness.
He tried to fight back and get on his feet but the cave looked like it was spinning before his eyes.
Sighing deeply, he stopped trying to fight it and simply laid there.
Before Emrys could finally close his eyes, a green virtual screen appeared, obstructing his vision.
[Congratulations, you have gained the Dragon Lord System] it flashed.
Emrys' tried to process what was happening. He was dying, and yet...
[You have been chosen to hold the power of the ancient dragons. Your new life begins now.] the system announced.
Emrys' vision blurred, but the green screen remained, hovering in front of him. [System Initialization Complete. Welcome, Emrys, Dragon Lord. Your current status is:
[ Health: Critical (80% damage)]
[ Mana: Depleted (0% remaining)]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 12]
[ Intelligence: 8]
[Quests Available]
[Survive for 1 hour (Reward: +10 Health, +5 Mana]
[Obtain the two intermediate crystals; Reward :+20 health]
[Skills Unlocked:
[Dragon's Breath (Level 1): Deal 10 fire damage to enemies within 5 meters]
[Dragon's Scale (Level 1): Increase defense by 10% for 5 minutes]
His eyes widened as he took in the sheer amount of information. What was this system? How did he get it? And what did it mean to be a Dragon Lord?
He tried to speak, but his voice was barely a whisper. The system seemed to sense his confusion and so its metallic voice rang out loud in Emrys' head.
[ For now, focus on survival. You have 59 minutes to complete your first quest.]
Was he dreaming? Hallucinating? Or was this some kind of twisted reality? He tried to pinch himself, but the pain in his stomach made him gasp instead.
"Survival?" Emrys whispered, his voice shaking. "What's going on? Is this real?"
The system didn't respond. Emrys looked around, trying to take in his surroundings. He was still in the cavern.
Was he dying and seeing visions of a fantastical world? Or had he somehow stumbled into a realm beyond his own?
[Time remaining: 58 minutes.]
He remembered the fierce battle between the two creatures, the Magmabane and the Devourer.
Now, as he looked around, he saw that the fight had ended, and the two beasts lay on the ground in a weakened state.
The Magmabane's body seemed to be shrinking and its once-molten skin solidified into a dark crust.
The Devourer, too, lay still, its massive body trembling weakly.
Emrys' eyes widened, The intermediate beasts were now weak from fighting themselves and he realized that this was a huge opportunity to defeat them both.
The system's message rang in his mind once again.
With a determined look, Emrys pushed himself up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his stomach.
He stumbled towards the weakened creatures.
The sword which he had lost in the dark earlier was now at his reach and he grabbed it.
Emrys summoned the last of his strength as he ran towards the beast, he swiftly plunged his sword into the Magmabane's core.
The creature let out a faint hiss, but it was too weak to defend itself. Emrys wasn't done with the attack, he twisted the blade, ensuring a fatal wound and only stopped when he saw the black liquid trickling down.
The other intermediate beast sensed the Magmabane's demise and weakly raised its head.
It felt like the system words gave Emrys confidence, he lunged forward to deliver a swift attack to the beast.
He quickly plunged his sword into the Devourer's eye socket, silencing its weak roar.
As if that was not enough, Emrys pulled the sword out and stabbed the Devourer's chest completely, ignoring the horns of the beast as it tried pushing him backwards.
[Congratulations Dragon Lord] The system words rang in his head and only then did he stop.
Emrys stumbled back, with blurry vision. He had done it. He had successfully defeated two intermediate beasts.
[Task Complete: Obtain the Crystals. Rewards: +30 Health, +5 Mana]
As he read the system messages with weak knees, his legs gave way, and he fell to the ground.
The wounds in his stomach throbbed, and his vision began to fade.
"No...not yet..." Emrys whispered, his voice barely audible, his eyes shut close and he drifted to sleep.
One hour later, Emrys slowly opened his eyes, groggily taking in his surroundings. He was met with a pleasant surprise - his body felt energized.
The pain in his stomach was gone, and his energy had returned. He sat up, looking down at his hands in wonder. The wounds had vanished, leaving no scars behind.
[System Notification: Your body has been fully healed.]
Emrys stumbled to his feet, still trying to process what had happened. He remembered the creatures, the battle, and the crystals. He had to retrieve them.
As he made his way to the beasts, he noticed that the bodies of the Magmabane and the Devourer were still lying there, motionless
Emrys began to dig into their flesh, searching for the crystals.
But before he could even cut into the first body, the system intervened.
[System Notification: Task Already Completed. Magmabane and Devourer intermediate Crystals already retrieved and stored in your Virtual Inventory.]
Emrys' eyes almost poked out of its sockets in confusion. What did this mean? He looked around, wondering if he had missed something.
[Virtual Inventory Update: 2x Intermediate Crystals - Crystals of Vitality and Strength]
He soon realized the truth. The system had automatically retrieved the crystals for him, while he was unconscious.
Turns out the system was even better than he originally thought.
But why him? Why did he awaken a system?