The time a writer reincarnated into a new world

by booklover123az

A sickly old man passes away with a few regrets. Reincarnating into a new world as an Archdragon he sets out into the new world to live his life to the fullest and to keep his promises. With a new life of danger and adventure he would use his new skills and his past as a light novel and manga writer to change his life and the world around him. R for sexual content later on.

4. Chapter 4-Growth

'Thoughts'

"Journal"

"Talking"

[Skills]

{Special moves/arts}

Words of the World

'Greatsage/Raphael'

The light streaming into the tent had been what woke me up, blinding me, it took a few seconds of blinking for my eyes to adjust.

The flap to the tent was open revealing the young face of one of the twins, since she had blue eyes, I could recognize her as Valindra. The teen-looking elf stared at me with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin on her face.

I wondered what that look was about when I noticed it wasn't just me she was looking at. I looked down to see at some point during the night Saria had moved and was sleeping mostly on top of me with the blanket having been moved aside.

In the morning light and with my [magic sense] I had a perfect view of her peaceful face. And my question as to what she was wearing was answered, and the answer was not much.

Much like the figure in my dream, Saria was wearing a loose white blouse that had slid down one of her shoulders exposing the smooth dark skin underneath.

My eyes followed the exposed skin down to her breasts, still hugging my arm and making the edges of the blouse around the collar stick out away from the center, giving me a good view of her vast breast.

The material of her shirt was just barely covering her nipples but I swore I caught the tiniest peek at her dark areola.

And though I could only see through my [magic sense] lower down, it turns out she was bare from the waist down though the shirt did go down far enough to hide all the important bits her thighs were still mostly exposed and one of them was draped over me.

Needless to say, it was an amazing sight most people would kill to wake up to.

My cursory glance which was not me ogling the dark-skinned beauty was interrupted when Valindra cleared her throat and gave me a pointed look that said she knew what I was looking at.

I felt the blood drain from my face but thankfully it didn't go elsewhere, I tried to think fast and almost gave the typical 'it's not what it looks like' excuse.

But I thought better of it, so instead I gave her an apologetic smile and mouthed the words, 'sorry'.

That seemed to surprise her, then her face softened and glazed to her leader, and rolled her eyes before mouthing the words, 'it's fine'. There was a knowing look in her eyes with some exasperation that told me she was used to this kind of behavior from her leader.

I relaxed and as if she had been waiting for just the moment the busty elf sat up suddenly stretching her arms and giving a big almost fake-looking yawn.

She opened her eyes and gave me an innocent smile as she pushed back her hair exposing more of her flawless skin that was glowing with the morning light leaking into the tent. "Good morning cutie, oh, and good morning Val."

"Good morning boss, looks like you had a nice night." The amused look was reflected in her tone as her boss gave her the same innocent smile that I only caught a slight glimpse of given my sight was taken up by her blouse hitching up exposing a large amount of her ample backside.

I looked away already afraid any more stimulation may result in an embarrassing scene, luckily for me, the two elves were busy doing some quick talk long enough for me to sit up and grab my boots and jacket.

As soon as the two stopped talking and Saria had moved aside I was able to get out and hurriedly walked away from the tent and into the center of the camp.

I could feel the eyes of the others who were already awake on me and I knew my face must have been as red. In the end though, no one commented on it and the morning was quickly filled with preparation for the day.

And after a small delay that was caused by Elasha asking me to remove my shirt so she could give me an examination.

I was surprised at how much like a normal doctor checkup it was, it raised a few questions as to how she knew about said practices. But I had no time to ask since the moment she was done the caravan started to move.

I was offered a place on the back of one of the wagons, but I refused, saying I would prefer to walk. The pace was easy enough at first but quickly grew as the group was eager to make up for lost time.

Still, I noticed no one on foot had any difficulty keeping up the light jog that would often slow down to a more casual walk to give everyone a chance to rest.

Despite this, the team was cheerful and they often joked or told a few small stories. The air was relaxed and enjoyable despite the team taking care to watch for any dangers.

I found myself enjoying the playful banter and even asked a few questions about the area and where we were going. That raised a few eyebrows, but no one questioned my inquiry and they were happy to give me some useful information.

Such as that the mountain range I was in is called the Cannat Mountain Range, with the central mountain being called Dragon's Peak, there was also an area known as The Dragon's Nest that stretched a large part of the mountain range and most of the upper mountain.

Its name came from the large number of dragons that lived in the area, which were more or less ruled over by an old Earth dragon Lord, though his rule was really just keeping most of the dragons from becoming a problem for the rest of the continent.

I had many questions, but I waited till the group stopped for lunch to ask. One of the members of the team showed me a map of the area from the Kingdom of Farmas, which is where this particular group of merchants came from, to the Kingdom of Dwargon, that included the Kingdom of Brumund and part of a place called the Forest of Jura.

I would have liked more information but at that time the break was over, and we began to move once again.

The day hadn't been that difficult and by the time we stopped to make camp for the night, the whole group was in good spirits despite being tired from the day's march.

Well, the humans were all tired, everyone in Saria's group seemed to be in good spirits and had plenty of energy. I wasn't feeling tired in the slightest either, so after another simple but tasty meal, I offered to help keep watch.

I had expected the initial refusal since I was essentially a passenger like the merchants. However, it was Saria who said that since it was her team's turn to keep watch, she was perfectly fine with having me join so long as I stayed close to the watch fire when it was my turn to join the watch.

The other humans looked at me with dubious looks, and I noticed how they eyed my knives and staff. I suppose they were worried I wouldn't be able to provide any help with such simple weapons, but they gave me the benefit of the doubt. I was in the second watch with Elfreda or Ivy as she reminded me to call her by her nickname.

The watch lasted a few hours but neither of us seemed to be tired. Elves seemed to need very little sleep and they could replace what I would consider traditional sleep with a meditative state that allowed their bodies and minds to rest while still remaining alert to their surroundings.

How strange that some fantasy media had gotten things like that correct. I decided to ask about it some other time.

With how quiet the night was we ended up talking for most of our watch. Though with my [magic sense] and with whatever skills Ivy had, I doubted anything would be able to sneak up on the camp.

By the end of our turn, I had discussed several topics of monsters and the finer details of magic casting.

Ivy was a fountain of information; she wasn't the most powerful spellcaster but she excelled in creating her own more sophisticated spells, and even possessed the skill called [cancel]. That was a skill I would like to obtain one day given it canceled out the cast time of any incantation or spell.

When my turn was over we made a promise to continue our discussion the next day, in a few short hours I had developed a close friendship with the newest member of the elven team, a kindred spirit in the pursuit of knowledge.

And thanks to Saria having taken the first watch she was already in her tent when my turn was over and I was able to avoid being dragged into her tent.

As tempting as it would be for others to spend the night with such an attractive woman, I wasn't comfortable doing so again.

The feelings of guilt returned when I considered going back to the shared tent. So instead I chose to sleep outside next to one of the wagons just outside of the light of the fire.

It was amazing that my once aged body would pain me with aches, even when sleeping on a soft mattress. But now this new body allowed me to sleep on the hard ground with nothing but some grass as a cushion and I was able to sleep perfectly comfortably.

I didn't have any strange dreams that night, and aside from those two strange dreams, I don't recall having any dreams since I had arrived in this new world.

I awoke before the sun rose fully rested thanks to the use of self-regeneration to allow my body and mind to recover faster. The slightly chilled spring air gave me no discomfort and I waved to the twins Valindra and Elyon who had been the last ones on watch.

Valindra gave me a nod of approval seeing how she didn't find me in a compromising position like the day before.

Said leader ended up giving me a very upset tirade on how I shouldn't have slept outside, Elasha ended up joining her though she was gentler in her tone sounding more like a concerned mother or elder sister.

It was comforting to have someone concerned for my wellbeing but it was a little frustrating to be treated like a child. Despite my youthful appearance I was still a man who had been through and seen much of my old world.

Before I could argue back, we were interrupted when the rest of the camp began to make their way to the cookfire for a quick meal.

The rest of the day was much like the one before, I walked next to Ivy and we talked some more and learned more about her. She had been with her group for about three years and had already earned her license as a B+ rank adventurer making her a cut above the average adventurer.

Between the discussions of magic during which she explained the concept of barrier magic, she also explained how the adventure guild and ranking worked.

Any time I had a question she was always eager to explain, not minding the interruptions.

It was proving to be a fine day and after the midday meal, everyone was in high spirits, with not a sign of any monsters or dangerous animals in the vicinity all day. There were high hopes we might be able to more than make up for the lost time and arrive ahead of schedule.

As if someone had said the cursed words 'what could go wrong' multiple massive roars broke the peaceful silence. The sound caused the caravan to stop, everyone looked alarmed, to me the sound was familiar and yet foreign.

Before I could ask what that sound was, Ivy grasped my arm, a look of alarm on her face, "dragons," she let out in a low tone as if she was afraid just saying the word would attract the creatures that were in a sense my kin.

That was when the familiarity of the sound clicked, I had similar roars from myself in my dragon form and in my time in the Canaat Mountains.

I didn't wait to hear what the group thought we should do, I used my skills to max out my reach of [magic sense] causing my head to throb with the overwhelming amount of information.

But through the storm of information, I was able to pick up the image of four dragons, two smaller dragons that must have been Lesser dragons as well as two fully grown dragons.

One had bright red scales with orange and the other was a dark brown with bits of green. I set a [parallel process] on each of them as I saw the Fire dragon having a chunk of its flesh ripped away by the fangs of the Earth dragon causing the two intertwined dragons to plummet.

That was when I realized the danger we were in as I looked above and spotted the figures, two small pricks of color in the wide sky quickly growing.

"RUN!" It seemed I wasn't the only one to notice where the dragons were as I heard my own shout echoed seconds after by other members of the group.

Nearly at once the whole group broke into a sprint with the horses neighing as they were pushed to their max speed.

I ran alongside the others using [magic sense] to keep an eye on the plummeting dragons, the two Elemental Arch dragons were roughly the same size and in my dragon form, I may have been slightly smaller than either one.

So when the two crashed into the ground, there was a massive impact shaking the ground, spooking the horses, and nearly knocking several members off their feet.

I felt Ivy cling to my arm to keep from falling before we continued to run, behind us the sounds of the dragon's fight were so loud we may as well have been next to them.

Suddenly a ball of fire crashed into the ground several meters to our left causing an explosion, while the fire didn't hit us the pressure from the explosion rattled the wagons and others cried out due to the sudden flash of intense heat.

That urged the group to move faster to reach the bend in the road that would take them out of sight of the battling dragons.

[Magic sense] showed me the fight, and it was a brutal event. The Fire dragon had been the one to take the majority of the impact leaving both its wings clipped. Hot blood leaked out of several gashes on its body, the liquid was steaming as it hit the ground.

The Earth dragon was faring much better, its scales seemed to be more durable with only a few cuts leaking blood and those were already starting to heal.

The Earth dragon was much stockier and heavily built, there also seemed to be some disturbance around it as the grass around it and the Fire dragon was flattened as if some heavy force was pressing down on it.

My [parallel process] pinged letting me know it had completed its analysis, the information I gathered was not good.

The Earth dragon was using [gravity manipulation] to enhance the effect of gravity around it. It was also much older and stronger than the Fire dragon despite both being Arch dragons.

The Fire dragon was much younger it seemed and age was important, as an Arch dragon could only evolve into a dragon Lord when it reached the required level of power, intelligence, and age, which gave it the advantage of experience.

In other words, the Fire dragon had no hope of winning and should have retreated.

And yet it didn't, I hadn't noticed but as the fire dragon forced itself to rise to its feet I had stopped running and turned to stare.

With dragon senses I could clearly see the eyes of the Fire dragon, there was a determination in its eyes that went past something an animal would possess.

There was intelligence and understanding in its eyes, a fire burned in it as it roared in defiance, before unleashing a massive fireball that exploded in a wave of fire so hot it incinerated all the plants nearby and left the ground scorched.

That seemed to break the concentration of the Earth dragon or interfere with the gravity effect it had, because the Fire dragon was able to move and jump back just in time to avoid the tail from the uninjured Earth dragon.

Just then the two lesser dragons plunged from the sky onto the larder dragon's back hitting and slashing at its wings.

I was suddenly yanked back, I turned to face Oswald and Saria, both looked worried. Behind them the group had slowed down just at the bend in the road but by their expressions, I knew they were desperate to get as far as possible as soon as possible.

"Damn it kid what the hell are you doing we need to get going now! Before those damned lizards turn their attention to us!" yelled Oswald.

"He's right, those are the same Lesser dragons and the same Earth dragon from before and now there's a Fire dragon as well. We need to go before they use us as an escape."

Saria's voice was calmer but just as serious, a different side of her I hadn't seen before.

I knew they were right but something about running away and leaving the Fire dragon to die just felt wrong. A sudden screech of pain assaulted my ears and made me flinch. I turned around and used my dragon senses to see that in the few seconds I had turned away the fight had taken a turn and for some reason, I felt it was for the worst.

The two Lesser dragons had been thrown to the ground and were pinned in place by the same gravity attack. The Fire dragon stood between them and the Earth dragon, its wings spread wide as if to shield the smaller dragons despite its wings being badly damaged and bleeding heavily.

There was something so human about the scene, someone risking their lives to protect someone they cared for. The Fire dragon roared at the smaller dragons as if telling them to run away. And for a moment I was able to see into its eyes, I could see fear and determination in equal amounts.

For whatever reason, this dragon was ready to die to allow the lesser dragons to escape.

And I just couldn't just sit back and watch, I looked at Saria and Oswald who were both trying to pull away. I hadn't noticed and they both looked surprised the two combined couldn't make me budge.

But I didn't give them a chance to ask questions. "I'm not going." Before they could try to argue I raised my hand to silence them, "Look I'm not a part of either of your groups so I have no reason to follow your orders. It's my choice what I do and don't do. And I'm choosing to stay and fight."

"Ryuu you can't be serious! You'll be killed!" Sarai's voice was higher than normal and her disbelief was evident in her tone.

"Are you fucking crazy kid!? Those things are each a special A-class monster! Not even an army could take one of those down!" Oswald was doing nothing to hide the fear in his voice, but I could also see the concern he had which was touching considering we had only met the day before.

I gave them a wry smile as I calmly answered, "True, but I'll only need to beat the Earth dragon to win."

I could see their confused expressions, but Saria was nodding her head as she looked at the dragons, it seemed she was starting to see what I had figured out. "Look, I don't have much time to explain but rest me when I say I can beat the Earth dragon then the others won't be likely to attack or continue to follow us."

Oswald looked at me like I was crazy but Saria nodded with a solemn expression on her face. "Maybe, but you shouldn't fight alone, if we're careful then we might be able to help."

I shook my head before she could finish, "No, your job is to guard the caravan, right? The best thing you can do is to keep moving as fast as you can. It'll be easier to fight if there isn't anyone else who could get hurt."

At that moment the ground shook and another screech of pain came from the battling dragons, time was running out fast. "Look we don't have time to argue, I'm going and you're not going to follow me."

I turned to start running only to feel a soft hand grasp my wrist. I looked back to see the worry in Saria's eyes. "I don't like it and you're right we can't give you orders but please be careful and come back safe."

I smiled at her and nodded, "Don't worry I've killed a King serpent before so an Earth dragon should be easy."

They didn't seem to believe me, or at least Oswald seemed to think I was joking, Saria seemed to take my words more seriously.

She let go and started to run back to the group with Oswald calling for the group to get moving and disappear from sight.

I went into a full sprint letting my extra gear go into my storage, using [magic sense] I could keep track of the group of adventures and to my relief, they were quickly gaining distance so I had no reason to hold back.

Leaping into the air I turned into my hybrid form, the smaller size I figured would help me to outmaneuver the Earth dragon which was built like a tank.

My wings and tail slipped in small slits in my clothes so I had no problems moving freely.

I focused on the sight of the dragons battling, it was going poorly for the fire and Lesser dragons, there was a gaping wound on the red dragon's shoulder next to its neck.

It lay on its side still alive, if just barely, but unable to move. The two Lesser dragons were trying to slow the Earth dragon with several fire breaths but they seemed to have no effect.

'So fire doesn't seem to work on it, so it might have fire resistance. And if my own resistances can be used as a reference then standard magic may not work that well, and my {death roar} is a no go unless I want to risk injuring and enraging the other dragons. But I don't want to get caught up in that gravity attack it used earlier.'

My mind was racing with possibilities and even the use of [thought acceleration] wasn't helping that much, and [parallel process] could do most tasks involving my skill so long as it didn't require any creative thinking.

Since I wasn't blinded by rage like when I faced the King serpent my cautious nature pushed me to think through my options.

Even with the seconds being stretched out no clear plan of action came to me. I launched multiple [parallel process] to analyze the Earth dragon more thoroughly trying to gain any insight into its skills or any weakness I could exploit before it noticed my approach.

In my mind's accelerated state I watched the two Lesser dragons desperately trying to fight off the Earth dragon only for it to keep moving closer by the second until the pair collapsed.

The gravity attack threatened to crush their bodies and force them to watch as their opponent passed them to look down on the injured dragon.

The downed dragon glared up at the large dragon and managed to let out a weak fireball that sputtered out before it could even reach its target.

With the last of its energy spent, it rested its head on the ground, the Earth dragon raised its talons while the Lesser dragons desperately attempted to get to their feet and stop the death blow.

My body was moving as fast as it could but it seemed like every meter took days to cross, my eyes were stuck on the Fire dragon and I had forgotten about my [parallel process]. As the talons descended I caught the downed dragon's eyes and something seemed to pass through them.

A Fire attribute Arch dragon is attempting to communicate via [dragon thought communication]...

The individual does not possess the necessary skill…

Use the subskill [Bond] to create a sub-soul corridor in order to communicate?

Yes?

No?

In desperation I gave my consent, unsure of what would happen, [Bond] was a skill I had not tried to use in the past and even [analysis] didn't give me a good idea as to how I would even use it.

Acknowledged…

The creation of a sub-soul corridor is successful. The mutual acceptance has allowed the sub-soul corridor to evolve into a true soul corridor. Communication is now possible.

The moment the words stopped I felt something happen deep within me, a direct link was established between my soul and the soul of the Fire dragon.

Through the connection, a cascade offeelings, impressions, and memories flooded my mind. Images of past events, of a massive cave where a dragon slept that far outsized me and the other two arch dragons, the great dragon being awoken by a group of humanoid figures, one the size of a child.

A roar of rage and the great dragon thrashing in pain, then more images flashed, scenes of the sky with two dragons by the fire dragon's side, other dragons fleeing, some roaring in pain, and a sense of madness seemed to spread like a virus. More and more images passed in a confusing mess making my head feel like it might explode.

Then a state of calmness was the image of the two Lesser dragons, one flew over a storming ocean, and waves rose high enough to knock the low-flying dragon from the sky and into the depths. And yet it flew with a natural grace, moving with the waves in perfect synch as if it was one with the raging sea.

A memory showed the other Lesser dragon flying through a storming sky, the clouds twisting into a swirling cone shape that came down to the ground, and yet the lesser dragon roared in defiance and continued to fly with no fear.

A feeling of pride and joy came with the memories, the pride of seeing the young growing strong and never yielding to anything. A feeling of freedom came from them and the impression that all would be well.

The images stopped then and the presence of the Fire dragon became more solid, what had been a fraction of a second had felt like weeks, countless years as the experience both good and bad passed between us.

The Fire dragon could not communicate with words but its emotions and memories held far more weight than words could convey. It was a form of communication that could surpass our own way of using words, there was little room to lie or hide one's intentions.

This was the sharing of one's truest emotions that came from the core of their beings, and what I felt from the incredible dragon was a plea for help, a desire to protect the young dragons it had watched over for many years, and an understanding that it's time had come to an end.

It was an acceptance tainted by regret that I understood all too well, it would take some time to process all it had given me.

I didn't hesitate. Through our connection I gave it my own feelings in their purest form, my grief for my lost wife that had never vanished, my love for the family I left behind, my regrets, and the confusion I felt for this new life and experiences.

It was a feeling of understanding that then passed through us and with it I accepted its final wish, I would carry out its desires and watch over the young dragons. I would work to one day understand what was causing this madness that was spreading throughout the dragons.

In the real world, a look of peace came over the Fire dragon's face, it's hard scales seemed to soften at the lips and it closed its eyes as the claws of its kin tore into its neck and snapped the bones of its neck it barely felt the pain. It faded away with a feeling of peace knowing its charges would be safe in the hands of its new kin, the dragon who walked in the form of man.

Through the connection, I felt the peace the dragon felt, but I also felt its mind fade into nothingness, all its memories and experiences over the centuries fading into the abyss.

Tears were running down my face but I didn't notice, a feeling of loss so deep it was almost like losing Tora all over again. As if a piece of my soul had gone with the dragon, I had stopped moving several meters away from the Earth dragon.

It didn't seem to notice me as it moved to the first of the lesser dragons, the one who had flown without fear through storming skies.

I could hear cries of rage and anguish from it and its kin, the anguish that did not come from a simple beast. It was the anguish from the loss of a loved one, and as I gazed at the Fire dragon's body, I felt my grief replaced with something else.

Rage, it wasn't like the anger I felt when I fought the King serpent, which had been a comical outrage, an ember compared to the burning wrath that was consuming every part of me.

As if in reaction to my growing rage the memories and experiences I received flooded my mind. Scenes of battles and the feelings associated with each scene mixed with my emotions, churning together and threatening to consume. It was overwhelming and I desperately tried to remain in control of the combined experiences and emotions.

The requirements have been met, intrinsic skill [dragon Rage] has been acquired…

Notice [dragon Rage] has evolved into the extra skill [dragon Wrath].

The awakening of [dragon Rage] followed by the evolution to [dragon Wrath] made all the data I had acquired flowed smoothly through my mind.

At least the ones related to fights did, the rest were being pushed aside but even then they threatened to break through the mental defense I had gained.

The instincts of my body mixed with the experience and memories of the Fire dragon, our combined memories and desires building on each other till they were too strong to contain.

Notice, the evolution of the extra skill dragon Wrath is successful. dragon Wrath has now evolved into the Unique skill dragon Warrior Fury

dragon Warrior Fury: Grants the user greater combat potential and can aid in guiding the user to victory.

Muscle Memory: All previous combat experience is engraved into the user's body and new combat styles and arts are easier to learn.

Optimize: All mental faculties and skills are optimized for combat including the use of magic.

Sage: Increase the user's ability to process information at a far greater rate.

Greater Instinct: Natural instincts are greatly increased allowing the user to react to combat situations with more speed and efficiency.

Enemy analysis: Analysis of an opponent will now have a greater chance to reveal skill, attributes, magicule count, and potential weaknesses.

A combative skill that optimized my mind and body for combat using whatever abilities I already possessed that would aid me in any future battles I would face.

I felt myself giving a sad smile, this new skill… a final gift to remind me of the commitment I now had and a combination of our desires. 'Well, that's alright with me, I don't plan on failing to keep my word anymore.'

Thanks to [thought acceleration] all that had only taken a few seconds, and while it would take me years to fully process and sort through the plethora of new memories and experiences, I had been given and what I was able to understand was enough to cause a shift in my mind.

With no time to waste I raised my hand to the sky and called forth a bolt of lightning tinged purple to strike the Earth dragon, my skill [Lighting manipulation] allowed me to focus the power of the bolt to avoid harming the Lesser dragons.

The power of the bolt striking its side scorched the scales of the Earth dragon making it bellow in pain nearly knocking it off its feet.

Thanks to my new skill my analysis was far more effective and revealed more information on my enemy. The Earth dragon was a mighty beast, with a magicule count lower than that of the King Serpent but with far more combat experience given how easily it had been able to defeat the three other dragons.

But as the lightning bolt had revealed it was far from invulnerable to the right form of attack and I had every intention of using this information to my advantage.

The Earth dragon growled at me before letting out its own roar, I could feel its use of coercion trying to drive me away. In response, I created what appeared to be two clear colorless orbs, and using a simple wind spell I launched them at the dragon.

Both flew at around the speed of a bullet, the first hit and released a burst of water that covered the dragon, it had no time to register the attack that did nothing. Because a moment after the first orb struck the second one struck and instantly there was a burst of freezing air.

The cold vapor hid part of the dragon but the effect was clear as ice spread all over its body from the point of impact.

It roared in discomfort as its body was quickly becoming stiff with a layer of ice coating its body and more importantly its wings.

It jumped at me flexing its powerful body before the ice could fully cover its body and some of the ice fell off its wings, for a moment it seemed like it would be able to fly, but I simply fired another three of each orb causing the ice to spread quickly coving its wings and causing it to fall to the ground and desperately try to roll around and break the ice that was freezing its body.

I couldn't help but give a grim smile as I saw how potent the simple application of science and a magic spell I learned from my discussions with Ivy.

The creation of a barrier was as simple as controlling the magicules to solidify into a wall of energy that could be modified to block a specific target, things like elemental attacks or physical attacks for example.

Of course, if a barrier can keep something out, it could just as easily keep something in which made barrier spells a perfect form of container for something that would normally be more of an

AOE attack.

That allowed me to create my two-step attack, the first attack was simply put, an orb of highly compressed water. Not a spell that caused much damage, its purpose was to increase the effectiveness of the second phase of the attack.

The principle was the same as the first but the liquid in the container was liquid nitrogen enhanced by an ice ball spell and my [Ice manipulation] skill to increase its ability to reduce the temperature of anything it touched.

The result was a deadly spell that could freeze a normal person down to their bones in seconds.

I wasn't dumb enough to think it would be enough to kill the dragon, but it would give me enough time to force a temporary [bond] with the Lesser dragons who had been released from the Earth dragon's gravity field.

Forcing a bond had the effect of forcing a one-way connection, I could push my emotions and memories on the target but I could not receive any back unless the connection was accepted willingly. Like talking directly to a person's ear who refuses to acknowledge or respond to you.

In any case, I didn't have time to wait for them to accept the bond. The moment the connection was established I tried to communicate that I was not their enemy and that I was there to save them.

Understandably, I felt vague emotions of confusion and suspicion mixed with their grief and anger when they accepted the connection. Though I doubt they fully understood that they had accepted the bond.

Still, I had little time, seeing as the ice was cracking on the Earth dragon, so I sent them the memory of the connection I felt with their kin and the feelings we had shared.

I hoped that was enough to convince them to listen to the next impression I gave them to get away from the fight so I could fight without concern for their safety.

That was all I was able to do before the cracks spread quickly and the dragon broke free unleashing a massive roar filled with rage and bloodlust. It was well and truly pissed now and I had no doubt the real fight started now.

Its wings were still partially coated in ice but even so, it flew into the air straight towards me, if I hadn't been running an analysis with [parallel process] this would have taken me by surprise.

But now knowing it could use gravity manipulation to fly I was prepared for this attack. I took up higher into the sky angling myself so as to put some more distance between us and the Lesser dragons.

I could keep an eye on the mass behind me with my [magic sense], despite its bulk, it was quickly catching up to me. 'Heh, that's right rock for brains, keep following me away from your element.'

An Earth dragon by its very nature was stronger when it was on or under the ground, their defense, physical power, and area of effect were all deadly in close range.

So the solution was simple, while it was frozen I used sound manipulation to try to send small sound waves with the intent to give it the effect 'incited' by manipulating the frequency.

Now the plan was to keep it in the air and pelt it with long rage attacks to weaken and incapacitate it so I could use one of my stronger skills to finish it. To that end I prepared my next spell, I felt a little nervous as I slowed slightly allowing the dragon to get closer, its jaws opened wide intending to rip me apart.

That was when I spun around and launched two orbs I had created, the first one was a small ball of light that exploded in front of its eyes into an intense flash causing it to close its eyes and screech at the searing pain it felt in its eyes.

That was when the second orb flew straight into its mouth, a larger and more powerful version of my nitro-freeze technique. My aim was as accurate as it was due to using [magic sense] while keeping my eyes closed, and the effect was instant.

The orb released its dangerous contents directly into its stomach, quickly spreading the deadly liquid and freezing the fluids that so many living things possessed, even those of a more magical nature.

With all the pain it was in as its insides froze I was able to fly past its body, I spun around once I was past it and used the [parallel process] I had set to prepare spells ahead of time to cast multiple lightning bolt spells enhanced with [Lightning manipulation] to contain the focus of the attack.

The clear sky was momentarily broken with several purple tinted lightning bolts striking the Earth dragon, scorching its scales and outer flesh while its internals were being frozen.

The pained cry of the dragon did nothing to appeal to my sympathy, and I gave it no time to recover or rest, not that it could easily recover. Self-regeneration healed damaged and missing flesh, but it did little to any flesh that was being frozen as the ice prevented the regrowth of new tissue.

In that way, ice magic was far deadlier than fire since scorched flesh could be healed or replaced more easily.

With all the damage being done to it from the inside and out, it no longer had the strength to keep itself in the air. I flew ahead of the falling dragon at full speed and landed on my feet, a few seconds before it crashed.

Looking up at a fellow member of my race I felt no sympathy but a small amount of regret due to whatever led the mighty dragon to go mad and pursue the now duo. But mixed with that was the feeling of joy that came from a fight that challenged my mind and pushed me to new heights.

"It's a shame you had to be my enemy, I would have loved to see you in all your glory." I placed my palms near each other, and a thin oval-like barrier formed, the air seemed to be violently vibrating until fire burst inside with arcs of lightning arcing and solidifying together. "Out of respect for your help, I'll set you free of whatever madness is shackling you and end your suffering!"

I raised my arms above and past my head, and I swung my arms down and released the oval-shaped attack of magically enhanced plasma.

The extreme temperatures of the attack focused into an impossibly sharp blade that cut straight through the dragon's scales, flesh and bone were no match for the attack that incinerated the closest bits of flesh.

There was a massive crash as the dragon hit the earth, first the body and then the neck and head.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, standing straight I looked at the results of my work. The once majestic dragon that radiated with strength and power like a mountain now lay broken, its eyes once filled with a burning rage now were empty.

I reached down and closed my eyes, now that the fight was over I had several feelings competing in my mind, respect for a powerful opponent, satisfaction and triumph in the defeat of said opponent, a sense of loss, feelings of regret that such a thing was necessary.

And now that the fight was over I could feel my head throbbing, [dragon Warrior Fury]'s effect had kept the memories the Fire dragon had given me at bay to allow me to focus on the fight.

But now I realized I had been given the memories of a being several centuries old, and even if I didn't receive all of its memories, the amount I did receive was still more than my total lifespan.

The weight of all those memories was threatening to crush me and swallow my identity in the far sea of memories.

I cried out in pain and fell to the ground clutching my head. I needed a way to stop the potential destruction of who I was and in desperation, I activated several [Parallel Process] along with [Optimize] and [Sage].

I gave my skill the job of organizing and sorting the memories and to my relief, it worked, the pain faded away and though a few images still flashed in my mind it was no longer crippling.

I got up and looked at the Earth dragon's corpse, now that I could think I could take notice of how different my own emotions felt.

Ever since I had arrived in this world I had been growing to enjoy fighting, and the thought of killing was no longer so disturbing, and now with these new memories, it was clear that my new body was having an influence on how I felt and reacted to the world around me.

An alarming conclusion to come to, to have a part of me altered and changed without having any choice in the matter was disturbing.

'I don't like it, but my entire being has already changed. Hell, I'm not even human anymore, but so long as my memories of my past don't change... I…I just don't know. This all seems like too much to process so soon.' I flinched as a few memories seemed to force themselves to the forefront of my mind.

The memory was of a massive dragon, power radiating all around it, yet despite its intimidating size, the memories gave a feeling of peace and trust.

A smaller dragon approached and growled, it lunged forward seeming to bite at the much larger dragon's head before jumping back when a puff of smoke came from its kin's nostrils.

The larger dragon raised its head and looked down at the smaller dragon. A feeling of amusement came from it, as if the Lesser dragon was simply a child trying to goad its elder into playing with them.

Another dragon, an Earth dragon given its scale color, and overall build approached the Lesser dragon. There was no hostility from the Earth dragon as it nudged the smaller dragon away as if chastising it for disturbing the elder.

It led the Lesser dragon away peacefully, then the vision shifted, the same Earth dragon was fighting off a swarm of Energy bats. There were far more than I had faced and they seemed to be larger as well.

The memory came from someone laying on the ground, a feeling of pain came from the memory and it wasn't hard to realize the perspective I was seeing the memory from was the source of the pain. The Earth dragon slayed the bats in short order, even in large numbers they were no match for its strength.

When the battle was over the Earth dragon looked down at the down dragon and gently helped it to stand. There was a gentleness that was in contrast to the ferocity it showed moments ago.

A few other memories passed, all showing the same Earth dragon interacting with others, always acting like a guardian watching over its younger and less experienced kin.

When the memories ended I knew the dragon I had just slayed had been the same one who had shown so much kindness and concern for his kin.

I had to wonder what exactly had happened to cause such a change in a once gentle dragon. The memory of the largest dragon and the shadowed figures came to mind, somehow connected to what was going on with this madness taking over other dragons.

I got back up and rested my hand on the head of the fallen Earth dragon, "So you knew that other dragon? And yet something drove you to hunt them and the dragons under their protection. Truly it's a tragedy this happened, I would have liked to get to know more about you. Well, it's too late for that, but again I promise I'll find out what caused this and I'll find a way to end this. So please lend me your power."

I activated [Converter] and converted its body and head into magicules, I fused a small amount of its power into myself and stored the rest for later. In time I may be able to make its strength my own but for now, having a small part of its power would have to be enough.

Extra skill [Gravity manipulation] successfully acquired.

Extra skill [Earth manipulation] successfully acquired.

Out of habit, I set another [parallel process] to analyzing the new skill I had acquired, but I didn't pay the voice much mind as I flew back to where I had left the Lesser dragons with the body of the Fire dragon.

The fight hadn't taken us that far and I found the Lesser dragons were still next to the body of their fallen kin. Both were curled up against their protector letting out soft whimpers.

It was a sad sight and I was reluctant to interrupt the grieving pair but I had to let them know what the Fire dragon's last wish was.

I slowly approached them and reached out to them with [Bond] . I created the link once again and tried to share a feeling of calm. I wanted them to know I meant them no harm.

After a few seconds, I felt the bond solidify and I could feel their emotions wash over me, they had a deep sadness but also a sense of acceptance.

It was hard for me to understand how they could so easily accept the loss of someone they were so close to. My own experience with grief was a long and hard road to recover some semblance of life, and even now I still had yet to fully let go of my loss.

I found myself admiring the dragons, I felt their curiosity aimed at me, at what and who I am. I tried giving them the memories once again of what had passed between me and their guardian, this time I took it slow and tried to express my own feelings and acceptance of the responsibility given to me.

Both dragons were slow to show any emotions aside from uncertainty, after a few minutes they both rose up and walked slowly to me.

I could feel acceptance coming from them as they both lowered their heads, I gave them a sad smile and placed a hand on each of their snouts. "Don't worry, I promise I'll take care of you two. And one day we're going to make sure this doesn't happen again." I knew they couldn't understand language but they could understand what I was feeling as I spoke.

They seemed to like what they could perceive from me as I felt a warm happiness from them, their happiness helped to soothe my doubts and confusion. There was so much going on but this small moment helped to ground me in the here and now.

The requirements have been met. All parties have fully accepted the sub-soul corridor. Complete the bond to create a soul corridor?

Yes?

No?

I accepted without much question, I could guess this would solidify my connection with the dragons which I hoped would help me to communicate with them.

With my acceptance I felt the bond between me and the younger dragons solidify, there was no sense that it was fading and I felt a deeper connection to the dragons. Enough to be able to tell them apart despite them looking very similar.

Both of them gave a deeper level of joy now, the sorrow they had felt was nearly gone now. It was an infectious joy that made me smile, it seemed I was right about a greater feeling of closeness.

Looking past them I decided I couldn't leave the body of their kin there to rot, "I hope I'm not being arrogant in thinking I understand what you would want. But you wanted to protect these two, I'll be watching over them from now on. So I hope you'll allow me to make your strength my own so I can stand against whatever might threaten your family."

I placed my hand on the brave dragon's side, I didn't want to leave any of it behind so I did something I had been considering ever since I learned having fewer magicules allowed me to fuse more power into myself.

I activated [Energy Drain] and [Gather] on myself, I could feel my resistance trying to prevent harm to myself but I willed my defenses to lower allowing the vampiric skill to drain my power and put it away in [Storage]. I grit my teeth and endured the pain of having my magicules drained away, I could feel the pair becoming restless from sensing the pain I was going through.

I sent them a feeling of calm and tried to assure them I would be okay, I wasn't sure exactly how much of my own reserves I had drained but the pain had simply become too much for me to handle anymore.

I was sweating profusely and my body was shaky with an ache that didn't come from my body so no amount of rubbing would help it to fade away.

I took a deep breath to steady myself and forged ahead, I used [Converter] to transform the Fire dragon's body into pure magicules and fused them into myself slowly. It was a long process and I lost track of how much time passed but when I was finally done I felt unsteady on my feet.

Magiclue sickness had struck me again and I almost fell to the ground. One of the Lesser dragons, the one who flew through the sky even when a twister was forming, caught me with her neck. I smiled and patted her neck, "It's okay, I just need some time to rest."

Extra skill [Fire manipulation] successfully acquired. Four elemental attributes have been acquired in addition to the individual's spatial attribute.

Extra skill spatial manipulation acquired.

The requirements have been met. The individual will now evolve into a unique monster now known as The Elemental Arch-dragon.

'Evolve? What's it talking about? And five attributes? Did I ever have even one attribute?' Attributes were based on the main four elements: air, fire, water, and earth.

The last time I analyzed myself I had no attribute listed so how could I possibly have four? There were three more attributes, space, light, and dark but I didn't know too much about the last two. And the last time I analyzed myself had been…when I first arrived…when I was barely able to process the information my analysis gave me.

As the thought crossed my mind I felt myself growing weak, my vision was fading as the greatest feeling of drowsiness I had ever felt overwhelmed me.

I slumped to the ground and felt the dragon I was leaning against also slump to the floor, and the other followed immediately after.

I had just enough mental faculty left to set up a [parallel process] to set up a defensive shield around me and the dragons before everything went dark.

The darkness that surrounded me was familiar, like when I died and came to this world. It was a near complete deprivation of all my senses creating a limbo-like environment, though this time I was faintly aware of the world around my body thanks to my [magic sense].

Similarly, I was aware of strange feelings running through my body, like a low buzz of energy coursing through my every cell.

Evolution into the unique monster Elemental Arch-dragon successful…

All physical abilities have been improved…

Magicule levels have been increased…

Extra skills [Fire manipulation], [Ice manipulation], [Water manipulation], [Wind Manipulation], [Lightning Manipulation], and [Earth manipulation] have been successfully combined into the Extra skill [Elemental Master]...

Extra skill [Elemental Master] has successfully evolved into the Unique skill [Mystic Hydra]...

Extra skills [Gravity manipulation] and [Spatial Manipulation] have successfully combined into the extra skill [Spatial Control]...

Next, all those connected to the individual through a soul corridor will now receive an increase in power…

Successful…

Both Lesser dragons will now evolve into Arch dragons…

The individual Lesser dragons have each received the Extra skill [dragon Vassal]…

All three individuals have received the skill [Thought Communication]…

All Evolutions are now complete.

'That…was a lot. I didn't realize a soul corridor could allow others to evolve alongside me. I didn't even realize I was so close to evolution, I thought it took centuries for a dragon to evolve, but then again it also requires having a close-to-human intellect as well. So that might have allowed me to bypass some of the requirements, but still, an Elemental Arch-dragon? I guess I really did acquire multiple attributes. My Converter skill seems like the most likely reason for that development.'

"That was fast, I didn't expect you to evolve so soon and into a creature I've never seen before as well. You're doing well so far, but you must continue to grow if you are to set me free. Do so and I promise you a great reward."

The voice took me by surprise, it was one I remembered from my dream the night I killed the King Serpent.

Now that I was more aware there was something powerful in the voice, a deep resonating tone that made my core shake with the power it held. As if a deity was speaking to me, but just as soon as it had arrived it vanished again leaving behind only the memory of its presence.

I was left with nothing but questions and my own thoughts in that dark place, so much had happened in the past two days.

I had met people for the first time since I had arrived, I had dreamt of that beautiful girl, and I had fought and killed a dragon that had once been kind but something or someone had influenced it into turning against its kin. And I had taken on so many memories and several new responsibilities and promises.

The thought of killing the Earth dragon disturbed me, now that I was aware of it as an intelligent being, not just some wild beast. And being a member of the same race brought a dark thought to my mind. 'Was that the same as killing a human being?'

I shuddered at the thought and I wanted to deny it at once, I was not a murderer, I would never kill another person. I was barely willing to learn self-defense in my past life.

Writing about violence and fighting was one thing, a simple fantasy, but I had never wanted to be like those characters in animes and mangas.

Those who could slaughter armies with their bare hands had been different from the other monsters I had faced, those had been wild animals with no real intelligence.

There was a clear difference but those thoughts couldn't distract me from the core understanding that the Earth dragon was once a living being with a long past and centuries of experience.

And even if it had been self-defense I had still ended its life in such a cold and calculating manner. I had frozen its internal organs while pelting it with lightning before removing its head.

In that dark space, I wanted to curl up and remain there, to hide away from the knowledge that I had taken a life in such a horrendous way. 'What the hell is wrong with me?'

I could feel my revulsion to what I had done growing by the second, I wanted to cry, to scream, to beat my fist into the ground and try to get the memories of what I had done.

But to make it worse I remembered how I hadn't been disturbed earlier, how I had so easily spoken to its body and taken its power for myself. The memories of everything I had felt were just too much, it was as if I had been a different person I could not recognize.

'What is this world doing to me?'

I don't know for how long I remained there, in that darkness but I didn't want to leave, knowing that the world out there had influenced me so much in such a short amount of time.

Even the promises I made faded away, so overwhelming was my grief and fear, an old repressed memory came back. Back when I was a young teen, the sound of explosions, and the shouts of people running. The oppressive darkness as we waited for it all to pass and the silence that followed after.

But then I felt another figure pressed against me, a hand took me by the shoulder and we walked out of the cramped darkness. A young teen girl with long black hair, together we climbed out of the dark into the light of day. And despite the destruction around us she smiled at me and promised that we would be all right.

Even if the world could be an ugly place so long as we never let it change who we are at our core, so long as we kept on living we could always change things. Even if just a little we could make the world a better place.

With those words echoing in my mind I felt the oppressive darkness fade away and felt the strength to open my eyes and return to me, the first words that left my lips were the name of that teen girl, the one I would one day marry and one day lose. "Tora"

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Dang, that was a long one, still, it was fun having more characters appearing. Again I want to thank Singular Ash for editing this chapter. I decided to publish this chapter a day early since it was finished a bit sooner than I had originally thought it would. I hope you all enjoyed it and are looking forward to the next one. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!