When I finally woke up, I found I had been tucked into bed again. This time, I wasn't woken up by someone at the door, either.
"Good morning, young master," my bed greeted me.
"Good morning," I said sleepily. Then I sat up and opened my system menu to check out my skill tree.
"Hmm, that's weird. A notification in my inventory. Three items dropped from the boar," I said to myself.
I looked in my inventory. They were skill books. One was Summon Demonic Red Dragon Army: "Summons three demonic red dragons to fight for you. Can be upgraded over time." Next was Summon Named Red Demon Dragon Fighter: "Summon a named ally. Skill's name changes to Summon [Name] once chosen. Named ally can level up with the user and gain other benefits over time." Last was Demonic Red Dragon Form: "User becomes a humanoid demonic red dragon when active. Stats increase 20% and can be upgraded."
I was stunned. How did I get these? I was jolted out of my shock when my phone beeped. I grabbed it, and it was my sister, asking me if I got three skill books. It seemed she got the same three, except hers said "white dragons" instead of "red." I replied with a "yes" and the wide-eyes emoji.
I went through all of my skills and found it: Familia—"Dragon bond: Increased chance of skill book drops off elite demons. 100% chance skill book drops will change to a red dragon skill type." So all skill book drops will change into a red dragon skill I don't have if there is a corresponding skill. If not, I'm assuming it means I'd just get the normal skill.
I sent Ren a message telling her what I found. Then I used the skill books and looked at my tree. "I think I found my class!" I said out loud.
All skills in the skill tree were 0/10, and they were columned, showing the class they were for at the top. There was an arrow showing "New" at the top right corner, so I clicked it. Demonic Dragoon was the name of the skill tree, and at the bottom, my new skills each said 1/10. So I upgraded them to 10. I also upgraded my other skills, which were also located here, to 10. Once they were 10, my three new ones, along with my scales ability, all said "upgrade," so I clicked them.
They became Summon Demonic Dragon Legion: "Summon 30 demonic red dragon soldiers, level 100 elites. Cannot be upgraded." Summon Named Demon Red Dragon Elite: "Skill name changes to Summon [Name] once chosen. Cannot be upgraded." Plus, the text from the lower-tier version was still there. Demonic Red Wyrm Form: "[User becomes a humanoid demonic red wyrm when active. Stats increase 150%. Cannot be upgraded]." And Demonic Red Wyrm Scales: "Passive: Demonic red wyrm scales cover your body like armor. Defense increased 300%. Cannot be upgraded."
They were also already 10/10. There were some other skills I could add on there, but they were locked at the moment, so I'm not sure what I have to do to unlock them. "Maybe you have to have a skill book or equipment, like what the sword added?" I asked myself.
I then noticed my arm was covered in scales, and they were a blood-red color. I ran to look in the mirror. My whole body, face and all, I looked like a lizard with black hair and green eyes…
My phone beeped. It was Ren. She said not to worry, if I clicked the skill, I could make them transparent. Apparently, she had the same issue. She had upgraded all of her skills, too.
So I did what she said and looked normal again, but I could feel the scales when I touched my arm. "This parallel world is so weird," I said to myself. Great, I'm talking to myself now.
Since my skills were in limbo, and I was unable to use any more of my points without messing with the other trees, I decided to upgrade my stats. Once that was done, I went to my weapon skills, which had their own set of skill points, and maxed out my daito, along with the other types of katanas. In the end, I realized I had enough points to max out all melee weapons, including shields. I had some points left over, but I didn't see a point in ranged weapons, and I might need the points when I level up.
I decided I wanted to try out my named dragon summon, but I went to the training area, deciding it was a bad idea to do it inside my house. "Who knows how big this will be? I doubt my house would appreciate getting imploded," I said to myself.
When I got to the training area, Ren was already there. "Same idea?" I asked my sister.
"You mean the named dragon? Yes, but I already did that. Her name is Frost," she replied.
"How big was it?" I asked.
"Not as big as you're probably thinking, but not small either," she replied vaguely.
I sighed. "Could she be any more vague?" I thought to myself. The more I thought about it, the more this world felt like an anime or video game.
I gathered my mana and held out my hand. A red circle appeared ten feet away from me, inscribed with all sorts of runes. It was slightly transparent and spinning as it hovered slightly off the ground. Its radius was about 30 feet. Then it rose, and a 10-foot red humanoid dragon appeared. You could tell it was demonic; it had curled horns that reminded me of a ram. It had a large tail that ended in a spike that looked like a sword. Its armor was black, and it wielded a blood-red scimitar that was six feet in length, along with a black, demonic-looking tower shield that had large spikes around the rim. It had a dragon face on the front, with large spikes that looked like its horns.
"Wow! He's so cool looking!!" I said excitedly.
The system screen popped up, prompting me to name him and stating that he was a level one elite. I suppose that means I have to level him up, too. There was also a selection for a skill tree for him. I made a mental note to look at that later. I decided on Dracarys and typed it in.
His wings folded in, making them look like a cape, and he bowed. "Thank you, Master," Dracarys bellowed in a deep, reptilian voice. Then he disappeared.
The system screen notification came up: "Skill name changed to 'Summon Dracarys.'" Now it was time to try out another skill.
"Demonic Red Wyrm Form!" I yelled, charging my mana.
I was instantly engulfed in flames and grew to 15 feet tall. I was a more menacing-looking version of Dracarys. My horns reminded me of Hellboy's when he became king of hell. My katana was attached to my side and was now 10 feet long, 12 feet counting the hilt. My wingspan was 30 feet, and I had very large, very sharp fangs. Everyone was staring at me in awe.
A minute later, my sister was covered in ice and became a 10-foot white version of me, albeit very feminine-looking. "So this is what they look like, and I'm still shorter than you," she said in a reptilian voice.
"Seems so," I said in a much deeper voice.
"Doesn't seem to be a timer for how long this lasts."
As I said that, the system screen chimed. "Red Wyrm Form lasts until the user dies or deactivates it," is all it said.
"So we either die and revert, or we cancel it," Ren said.
We canceled the transformations and were engulfed in our respective elements again as we returned to normal. The others were just staring at us, jaws dropped.
"Demonic Dragoon class," I yelled over to them. "Our swords enabled the class," I added.
I grabbed my phone and called Xavier.
"Did you need something?" I heard through the phone.
"Well, sir, I've noticed this world is like the video games of my world. With that said, are there, by chance, dungeons?" I asked.
The phone was silent for a few minutes. I was worried I'd asked something stupid. Then he replied, "Yes, there are dungeons. It's where the demons pour out of when too many spawn in them. They get overcrowded. We just haven't figured out how to enter them to prevent it."
"Well, if this works like a video game, I bet I could figure it out," I replied.
"Alright, I'll text you the details for the one that's closest to our location," he said, then hung up.
A second later, I got a text with coordinates. The name was Raging Fire Tempest. I smirked because I was immune to fire attacks.
"What's so funny?" Ren asked.
I showed her my phone, and she started laughing. "Those poor demons. If you figure out how to enter it, you're going to slaughter them," she said, still laughing.
"Sure am," I replied with a chuckle.
I went through the portal to the post office. Once outside, I brought out my wings and took to the air towards the dungeon. "I'm going to level up Dracarys and make him as strong as possible. This dungeon will make that start easy," I thought to myself.
When I arrived at the dungeon, I started looking around. "Well, there is a gate, but it can't be that easy, or they'd be driving into them," I thought to myself. Then I had an idea and summoned Dracarys.
"Do you happen to know how to enter the dungeon?" I asked him. I figured since he was from this world and was similar to the demons that came out of them, he might know how to get in.
"Sir, don't you see the red crystal next to the door?" he asked in reply.
"In that crevice halfway up the wall?" I asked, peering in.
"Yes, sir," he replied.
There was a red crystal in there, so I touched it. There was a white light, and then we were inside. The entrance looked like the inside of a volcanic cave, and it was so hot I saw ripples in the air.
"Well, Dracarys, looks like we're the first ever to enter a dungeon. Ready to beat it with me?" I asked.
"Sir, we're immune to fire. Won't this be a slaughter?" he asked in reply.
"Is that a problem for the big demonic dragon?" I asked teasingly.
"No, sir. I was just making sure it was okay," he answered with what looked like it could be a grin. It was hard to tell with the dragon-like muzzle he had.
As we ventured deeper, we started to encounter fire demons—lesser demons at first: bats and lizards made from fire, even some rats. As we got deeper, the demons got stronger: imps and goblins, then devils, which were really just bigger imps, orcs, and trolls. We were destroying everything we came across, which was really just Dracarys. I was standing back, watching to see what he could do. I was technically over-leveled for this dungeon, so it wouldn't be fair if I fought.
He was doing great until we got to the boss. It was a giant molten fire elemental that looked like magma moving around like living sludge. He had some difficulty with it; the thing was immune to physical damage. He was doing very well dodging, though, which was a huge plus.
I decided to look into his skill tree. He had three skills that looked promising for the time being. Mana Imbue added magical damage to all of his attacks and was a passive ability. Magical Veil increased magical defense and was also passive; it gave a 5-20% increase, depending on whether it was 1/10 or 10/10. Last but not least was Fire Eater, which allowed him to eat the essence of fire to gain health and mana. Basically, any fire elemental attack now healed him. It was also passive. I quickly maxed them out. He glowed, and then he quickly made short work of the boss.
Once the boss died, we were ported to a treasure room. This dungeon, sadly, didn't have anything worth grabbing except this golden dragon idol. The description said it would imbue a fire dragon with legendary strength. Dracarys picked it up and was swirled in golden light. The system screen came up: "Dracarys learned Magma Eruption. The user can summon magma from the earth to incinerate enemies." I quickly maxed that out, then the system chimed, "Skill can be upgraded to Magma Control." So I upgraded it. Magma Control said the user could summon and control magma like an extension of their own body.
In the end, I set all experience to go to Dracarys and opted out of experience gain. He was now level 35, close to 36. We were ported out of the dungeon, and I decided to fly back to headquarters. I told Xavier what I found out. I had taken pictures of where I found the key to the entrance, and I showed him. I left and went home, leaving him looking very excited for once. Boy, did that look creepy. I was out the minute I hit my pillow; I was so drained.
Meanwhile, in another dimension, within a stronghold that looked like it was out of hell itself…
"Master, we have a problem," a sniveling, pitiful voice said.
"I already know. The humans figured out my dungeons. One defeated one, and now they are scurrying to the others," a very deep, ominous voice bellowed.
"Master, that isn't all, sir. Two of the humans… they found two of the nine weapons," the sniveling voice said.
"Which ones!!" the ominous voice bellowed so loud it seemed the world shook.
"Red and White, sir…" the sniveling voice whined.
"I see, Joken. I want you to monitor them and warn me if they find any others," the ominous voice commanded.
"Yes, sir," the sniveling Joken said.
I woke up in the middle of the night, and something felt off. "House, is anyone else here besides me, or nearby, that's not a neighbor?" I asked.
"No, young master. And the neighbors are all sleeping, according to their houses," the house replied.
"And you're sure? Because I feel like I'm being watched," I said.
"As far as I can tell, there is no one here. I am equipped with sensors for circumstances like that, sir," the house replied, sounding exasperated.
Well, now I felt like my house was getting irritated with me. I just couldn't shake this feeling, but I lay back down and soon fell back asleep.
Unbeknownst to Cole, he was indeed being watched. Joken, safely hidden within his own dimension, was viewing Cole through a strange-looking mirror. "How did he sense me?" Joken thought to himself, thinking about his plans to follow Cole and find out more about this strange human. Joken let out a long sigh. "If he can sense me, this may be more dangerous than I thought. I'll stop reconnaissance for now. I'll have to test this later," Joken said to himself, agitated. It just didn't make any sense to Joken. How was a measly human able to tell he was watching him? The security couldn't tell. Hell, he was even able to peer through the veil of their pocket dimension, and no alarms sounded. So how was that human able to? Joken just became more and more confused and irritated. "My head is starting to hurt," he said to himself.
Joken was a four-foot-tall, old, shriveled-looking demonic wizard who carried a staff that resembled a spinal cord all the way to the tailbone tip, with a demon's skull on top. He was very old and very loyal to his master. He decided all he could do now was wait and make plans. "Maybe I should only spy on him when he's not alone. He may not notice. For now, I will plan how to take care of this issue," he thought to himself.
When I woke up, I decided I would look at Dracarys' skill tree. The skills I activated were in the Draconian Guardian class. He had some new skills I could now activate, with him being level 35. One was Healing Aura. This was a passive ability that healed him and allies. Minor wounds would heal instantly, and it increased the healing of moderate and major wounds. It also kept fatal wounds from killing you. I quickly made this 10/10, and it allowed me to upgrade to Divine Aura. Now, minor to major wounds healed instantly, and it converted fatal wounds to minor, which healed ten seconds later. Commander's Aura I upgraded right away to 10/10. It was a passive ability that gave forces under his command a 200% increase to all stats just by him being on the battlefield. Next were a couple of activated abilities: Taunt, which stopped skills in progress and caused the target to exchange one blow with him; and Provoke, which was similar but didn't stop any skills, and the more it was used, the less likely the target would attack anyone else. Then I found an amazing tank ability called Mass Goad, which caused all targets within a 30-foot radius to stop all actions and attack him for five minutes, with a ten-minute cooldown. At 10/10, however, it became a 100-foot radius and lasted ten minutes, with the same cooldown. He could literally spam it and prevent all skills and abilities from activating from foes. I was starting to think Dracarys might be broken. In fact, everything to do with my class and anything to do with it seemed broken. Next, but not least, was Shield Throw. At 10/10, he could throw his shield, and it would ricochet off up to 20 foes, stunning them for two minutes. The cooldown was three minutes, and the shield returned to his hand.
That done, I looked through the loot we got from the dungeon to see if we got any skills from the demons in there. Sadly, they must have been too low level, because I only got one. I assumed this came from the boss: "Summon Named Magma Elemental: Skill's name changes to Summon [Name] upon choosing. For those of the dragon familia, the skill changes to Summon Named Draconian Magma Elemental upon use." I used it. I upgraded it to 10 and was notified that the skill could be upgraded to "Summon Named Red Draconian Magma Lord." Of course, I upgraded it. I was very curious about what a Magma Lord would look like compared to a Magma Elemental, and a Draconian one at that.
I decided to take a break. I wanted to give some thought to the name I gave my Magma Lord. For now, I grabbed my laptop and decided to do some online shopping.
"Man, I really need to furnish my house," Cole said to himself.
I quickly got a couch, a reclining armchair, a TV with an entertainment center, and a cable package. Cable in this world used magical tethers and was instantly set up as you paid for it. Hell, when you bought something online, it appeared in your house, using your thoughts as a guide for where you wanted it placed. I couldn't decide how I felt about something rummaging through my thoughts, but I let it slide.
Sadly, my house didn't really care for my new couch.
"Why would you get something so hideous, young master? It clashes with my drapes," the house asked.
"Clashes with your drapes? I'll have you know I'm the epitome of the finest designer couches. Your drapes are so last season," the couch replied.
And it went on like this for hours. The armchair got involved, as did the TV and entertainment center. Before long, I had a headache. I purchased earbuds so I could set them up with the laptop and played music to drown them out.
Continuing with my shopping, I found a smartwatch. It had an AI installed in it. The description said it could help with stats on demons, loot drops, and could even guide you with your skill tree. I bought it and put it on. Then a beautiful woman appeared, sitting on my bed. She was stunning: beautiful green eyes, thick, curly orangish-red hair, and a figure that would make a goddess jealous. I didn't understand what had happened, and I didn't know where she came from.
That is until she spoke. "I am your new AI interface. Hmm, it seems I got a perverted owner," she said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.
"Well, we're designed based off preferences in your thoughts. You gave me a large chest, and we won't even talk about my rear, and I'm in a skintight bodysuit. Thankfully, once made, I get to choose my clothing," she explained a bit harshly.
Her outfit changed into loose-fitting black jeans and a long, loose black hoodie. "That's better. Now your eyes won't wander," she said, glaring at me.
I felt like maybe my AI was defective. All she'd done was basically yell at me.
"Alright, let's integrate me into your system," she said.
She started to glow, and my system started to chime.
"Wait, don't do that yet! We haven't even gotten to know each other first. We may not even get along," I pleaded.
I tried to stop it and even pulled off the watch. She started to glitch and blinked in and out. My system screen went all hazy, then I heard a loud pop. The watch somehow went back on my wrist, and it wouldn't come back off. She blinked back in. My system screen came back and said, "Full integration was completed."
"Well, that's strange," she said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I'm not just integrated. I seem to be your system. That's not supposed to happen. What did you do?" she asked angrily.
I started to stutter. "I-I-I… I only took the watch off…" I explained.
"You took it off? In the middle of integration? Are you stupid? You glitched it and caused a bug!" she yelled at me. "This is such a pain, way more than I bargained for. It can't be helped; we're stuck like this. That watch is part of you now, and so am I, by proxy," she said, a little less angry. "What are you going to name me? You haven't done that yet. I guess you're not just a perv, but lazy, too," she grumbled.
"Well, I've just decided. You're Enya. It means 'little fire' in Irish. I think it suits you," I replied.
"Now that I'm part of your system, I see where the issue is. You aren't from this universe. I can see your memories now. Before you ask, I'm part of you, thanks to your mistake. You don't have magic in your universe, which means you didn't know removing the watch was bad," Enya started. "So, I can't really be mad about what you did. Make no mistake, though, I'm not happy about this situation," Enya finished.
In the other room, the furniture and the house were still arguing. I randomly heard the house threatening the couch with fire. I started to laugh, and Enya glared at me.
"I wasn't laughing at you. Can't you hear the house and the furniture arguing?" I asked.
She sighed, then started laughing when the couch threatened the house with termites. "Okay, yeah, that's pretty hilarious," she said. "Good ice breaker," she added.
She was looking at my system stats, then gasped. "Wow, you are strong as hell. You also have strong summons and a one-of-a-kind class. Well, sort of. There's a white version," she exclaimed.
"Yeah, my sister has that one," I said.
"Whoa! Both in one family? That's amazing. I guess I actually lucked into a good owner. Even if you are a perv," she said.
"Still with that?" I asked rhetorically.
"Hey, you wanted an AI. I'm sorry I've got more personality than you're used to. You're going to have to live with your choices," she said. "Besides, I'll be an asset, and you'll love having me before long," she added.
She started laughing again. The TV threatened electric fires. "That fight is too much," she said with a laugh.
"Yo! All of you, pipe down and get along, or I'll set the whole place on fire, with all of you inside!" I yelled.
"Sorry, young master. We'll get along," they all said in unison.
I decided it was time to go out for a bit. I really needed to get out of the house before I killed it and my furniture.
"Enya, I think we're going to go out to the training yard. I want to name my Magma Lord, and I don't want to have him come out in the house," I said.
"That makes sense, and I get to see new places," she replied.
When we got to the training yard, no one was there this time. I decided to name my Magma Lord, Ifrit. The summoning spell changed to "Summon Ifrit," and he appeared in front of me. He was large—20 feet tall—made of red volcanic rock, with veins of magma pulsating through intersecting lines all throughout his body. The veins glowed intensely.
"Whoa! Big dragon humanoid," Enya said. "Looks like he's a spell caster. His class is Volcanic Mage. This is sort of like an upgrade to a Fire Mage class. Oh, and that volcanic rock is his armor. He's made of magma. Those veins are the bits of him peeking out," Enya added.
Ifrit bowed and then vanished, the naming complete. Cole looked at his skill tree in the system.
"Level one Volcanic Mage. He's got no skill points yet, but he's got some passives: Volcanic Armor, Volcanic Aura, and a skill, Magma Control. Seriously, he starts out with Magma Control?" Cole said.
"Well, he is made of magma. It kind of makes sense. Though I am not an expert, I am only stating my opinion," Enya replied.
"Even your disclaimers have a smartass tone," Cole stated.
"I suppose I should take Ifrit out to level him," Cole said as his wings sprouted from his back. He flew through the portal and out of the post office so fast, the only indication that he had been through there was the wind.
Arriving at the dungeon, he summoned both Ifrit and Dracarys.
"Hey, guys!" Cole greeted his summons.
"Hello, sir. I'm glad we're here at the dungeon. I've been meaning to speak to you about it," Dracarys said.
"Oh?" Cole replied questioningly.
"Yes, sir. Did you know they have different difficulties? We did normal last time. There is also a Nightmare mode," Dracarys said.
"Oh, how do I access Nightmare mode?" Cole asked.
"Before you ask that, Cole, you should know that Nightmare mode is level 50-100, not 1-50 like normal mode," Enya stated.
"Okay, we'll table that, then, until you two are higher level. Level 35 and level one won't last long in Nightmare mode," Cole said.
"Agreed, sir. I was only letting you know," Dracarys said.
As they entered the dungeon, Cole decided to set up a strategy. "Dracarys, you're my tank. Don't let anything near Ifrit. Ifrit, deal as much damage as possible, but try not to take heat from Dracarys," Cole ordered.
"Yes, sir!" they said in unison.
The dungeon started off rocky, as Ifrit was dealing more damage than you'd expect at level one, but as they went on, they started to get used to working together. Anytime Ifrit took heat, he'd move closer to Dracarys, making it easier for him to taunt. Dracarys always had one eye on Ifrit.
"Ifrit, your damage is amazing," Dracarys said.
"Thank you, sir," Ifrit replied.
"You guys are starting to work great together. Ifrit is even catching up. You got to 38, and he's 35 now," Cole stated. "You guys are starting to level at a closer rate, now that he's caught up, though," Cole finished.
Once they finished the boss room, Dracarys managed to hit 40, and Ifrit hit level 38.
"Alright, guys, that's enough for the day," Cole said, dismissing his summons.
Cole then ported back home. As he walked in, he noticed the furniture was no longer fighting with the house. So he went back to his room.
"That was a fun day," Enya said.
"Yeah, now I have to look through Ifrit's skill tree, but I'll work on it tomorrow," Cole said, exhausted.
Cole laid down and passed out.