**Leigard's POV**
Leigard's day was as chaotic as ever: train, train, train. One would think he would get tired of this routine, but the horrors of his past life taught him that strength mattered more than ever for the future.
To maximize the benefits of knowing the future, Leigard planned to visit an old, forgotten section of the family library.
As he walked to the library, nostalgia hit him like a speeding truck. It was just as he remembered—a massive space filled with books arranged by topic.
He greeted the old librarian before dashing deeper into the library.
After almost an hour of searching, the atmosphere changed drastically. Although the area had been tidied up, everything looked aged and isolated, devoid of life. From the flooring to the shelves and books, wear was evident. After several failed attempts to find a hidden mechanism, he eventually succeeded.
"I did it!" he shouted in excitement, only to hush himself upon realizing how loud he had been in a library.
The sound of rusted mechanical wheels echoed around him.
Clank, clank, tink, ring!
As a bell sounded, a bookcase moved apart, revealing a small room with no windows. Leigard had no idea what to expect since he had never discovered this secret entrance himself.
Once he entered the room, the shelves began to close again as he heard the mechanical wheels moving. The room shifted, and he felt it descend.
After a thirty-second wait, the room stopped moving, and the bell rang.
"Ding!"
The door that sealed him in slid open, and Leigard's jaw dropped. He knew there was a cave, but he had never imagined it would look like this. Although talented, he had not paid much attention during his younger years to learn the details of this hidden place.
Inside the underground cave, weapons and armor of varying ranks—from A+ to legendary SS—lined the walls. There was also a training ground and a trophy case. Leigard was shocked to realize the past version of himself had lived above this treasure without knowing.
The main reason for his visit was to form a contract with a dragon egg that had been kept here. In his past life, his father had discovered this cave and given him the egg, where he had formed a soul bond with the dragon. He knew it would be easier to tame the dragon since he still had the soul imprint that the dragon would recognize.
Finding the egg he sought, he bit his finger and drew a runic sign in the air, infusing it with mana. The process was straightforward; when the baby dragon inside the egg sensed the old bond, it reacted cautiously but ultimately accepted the contract.
"With this contract, I, Leigard Dragon-heart, swear to look after you and protect you, as long as you do the same." The baby dragon was surprised, having expected a master-slave contract rather than one of mutual respect.
Now trusting Leigard more than ever, the dragon accepted the terms. A golden aura illuminated the entire cave.
Leigard received a system message:
[Soul contract formed]
[Dragon eyes evolve to Dragon Sense Lv. 1]
[Dragon transformation unlocked]
With the contract complete, Leigard checked his status to ensure everything was finalized.
**//———————[STATUS]——————//**
Name: Leigard Dragon-heart
Class: Sword Saint
HP: 13/13 MP: 15/15
Strength: 13
Agility: 11
Defense: 13
Intelligence: 15
Skills: Dragon Transformation (Lv. 1), Dragon Sense (Lv. 1), Dragon Heart (locked)
Soul Contract: Infant Dragon (Ignis-flare)
Title(s): Regressed, Dragon Blood, ????
**//————————[STATUS]—————//**
Leigard was pleased to see the dragon accept its old name, Ignis for short. With that task checked off his to-do list, he reminded himself to explore the training grounds out of courtesy, although he genuinely wanted to enjoy the spacious area, even larger than the one at his mansion and academy.
---
**Marc's POV**
While Leigard trained, the story's other protagonist, Marc, found himself in a life-or-death situation with demonic worshippers.
With all the priests useless and the attackers powered up, it felt like a losing battle. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the priests collapsed one by one.
They were okay, having simply depleted all their mana. This only happened during Cursed Tool Destruction Rituals (CTDR) when the tool was of a higher rank than the priests, or the priests were of the same rank but lacked mana.
As the priests fell, the demonic energy, previously contained by holy magic, spread throughout the area, causing other adventurers—including Bandage Face—to collapse. Left alone with the demonic worshippers, Marc faced the choice of accepting death calmly or fighting to survive.
With only the cursed tool as his salvation, Marc jumped to grab it, determined to take as many foes with him to the underworld as he could, even if it meant going mad in the process.
Readers please I was told to make my novel more engaging which I am clearly not good at. So to improve I would like to hear your choice on what powerup Marc should get to survive his situation. Please comment your choice.
A. A mask that drives him insane but improves all stats by 5%(upgradable)
B. A bracelet that absorbs blood and increases strength and defence by 5%(upgradable)
C.A sword that controls him for 20mins whiles increaseinh all his stats by5%(upgradable).