'Is this part of the test as well? Somehow, I don't believe it.'
Layla had finally reached the river's shore and decided to head toward where she was supposed to find her item for success.
But she found a giant lizard sitting on the shiny rock she needed.
Something about that lizard felt familiar and looked different from any lizard Layla had seen.
'Did this backward world have primitive life forms on top of primitive technology? What should I do now?'
Layla wondered as she looked at the stone with an almost hopeless look.
Her instincts told her that the creature before her was not a lizard but a dragon. The aura of magic she felt from that creature threatened to overwhelm her, and she wanted to take a step back.
But her ambition was much more powerful than Layla's fear, and she stepped forward to grab the shiny stone.
[The 'First class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance feels curious about you. He wonders if you will reach out to grab the stone.]
The system confirmed this creature's identity for Layla, but instead of reassuring her, it made her even more confused and scared.
What did someone like The 'First class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance want from an ordinary six-year-old student like Layla? Had he figured out her secret or something?
The thought made Layla pause, and her eyes became more vigilant.
[The 'First class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance is curious about what made the user stop. He wonders if he should try and provoke you to get you to move]
The system's sudden prompt made Layla grab the small, shiny ball from underneath the professor's claw.
It was a miracle that the dragon never attacked her. But there was a reason behind it, and that was the dragon's real identity.
[The 'First class' Great Wizard Rodric Burnance feels curious about you. He insists that you take the other two crystals as well.]
The dragon lowered his mouth and dropped two more shiny balls before Layla. His eyes looked insistent, almost as if he was begging Layla to take the other two balls.
But Layla had no intentions of doing that.
Her purpose behind getting the top three position was to choose the master of her liking. She did not want to grab any more attention to herself than necessary.
"I will take this one. I should get going now."
Layla stood up and brushed off the imaginary dust from her body. She quickly put the shiny ball into her bag before leaving.
All the time, she felt Professor Burnance's eyes on her back, and it felt like it would burn her alive.
[??? Wonders if you are cheating on it.]
[??? is contemplating whether it wants to burn the world.]
[??? has decided to burn the forest and all the creatures trying to approach you.]
That made Layla pause.
She had decided not to pay attention to what was happening around her, but she could not ignore such obvious signs of danger.
"Wait a moment! Stop! If you want to talk to me, then come out and say it to my face. There is no need to hide and make threats like this."
Layla spoke out loud but did not expect the creature to listen to her. But she did not expect her words to be listened to.
[??? Feels curious about you.]
[??? has decided to approach you to form a contract]
That was the only warning Layla got before she felt something heavy hitting her head and her neck.
The sudden pressure caused Layla to rub her head in pain, and her small body felt like it was being crushed because of the sudden weight on her back.
When she forced herself to look back, all she could see was a small black creature wiggling itself on her back and making itself comfortable.
[??? Feels delighted to meet the first creature it saw when it opened its eyes into this world.]
[??? considers you family]
[??? is curious about your response]
"Wait a second. Can you get off my back for a second? I need to take a look at you."
Layla spoke, causing the creature to yelp and step off her back. Only once the pressure was gone did Layla feel like she could look behind.
And as soon as she did, it made her headache worse.
The creature had made a home on her back and looked like Professor Burnance but a blacker version of the professor.
Even without looking at the creature, Layla could tell it was a dragon, one of the mightiest creatures in the world.
According to the original work, dragons were creatures akin to minor gods, and sometimes, they were even more powerful than gods.
The main male character had been a human-dragon hybrid (because, of course, he would be. This was a romance fantasy world, after all), which made him unstable.
Dragon population was numbered in double digits and kept under wraps, with only three full dragons introduced except for the main character.
And this was neither of them.
'Fuck! I already met Professor Burnance and not this dragon…. now that I think about it, didn't the real villainess also have a dragon?'
The more pressure Layla put on her mind, the more she recalled from the original story.
And in the original story, Layla Lockhart had a dragon imprinted on her as a kid. But because the original lacked sympathy and care, she drove the dragon mad.
It was never mentioned as more than a passing thought, either.
'Oh well! This is not something I need to be concerned about. First, I should decide what to do with this dragon.'
[??? is looking at you with expecting eyes]
[??? Hopes for you to name them something admirable.]
The creature looked up at Layla with its big, begging eyes, and she knew that she was being roped into this situation.
"Ugh, you will not go away until I name you, right? Fine, I guess I no longer have a choice in this matter. Let's find a name for you and get this over with."