Dark. It's dark. And cramped. Geez, what's going on here? I stirred a little in the small space; I was surrounded by something hard and smooth. What is this? I feel like I just woke up…that's a shame, I was having a really nice dream about dragons and games…I'd like to go back to it.
I try to stretch out my legs, only for them to bump against the hard surface. Something is just not right here…hold up.
My eyes burst open! I turn my head about the small, dark space, taking in every detail I can see, which isn't much, honestly.
Racial Skill Discovered!
Darkvision
Due to your draconic heritage, you are able to see in the dark. You can't discern color too well in pure darkness, only shades of gray.
So…it wasn't a dream! I feel the realization sink in. My eyes almost immediately adjust to the darkness. Just as the description says, I can only see things in shades of gray. I'm in some kind of circular shape. I reach my hand out- Holy mother of nutcrackers!
My hand is a reptilian talon! That's right. I'm a dragon now. I crane my head around to take a look at my body; sure enough, it's the draconic avatar I created with Katie in the Record Room. Even though I can only see in shades of gray, I can clearly discern and see all the details of what I see. My body is definitely in a more premature state. Of course; I'm just a wyrmling…hold on…am I…am I inside an egg!?
I begin shaking and ramming into the hard surface. After a moment or so, a crack of light appears in my vision. If that doesn't confirm I'm in a freaking egg then I don't know what will! Excited at the prospect of being free, I shake and beat against the egg even more. More cracks appear; I'm able to fully stretch out one wing! I can feel it…the air. I strain myself, pushing out with all my remaining limbs and tail. The egg bursts apart!
+1 STR for hatching from your egg successfully!
Oh, that's nice. I squint my eyes, once again having them adjust to a sudden source of light. I'm on my back; looking up, I can see some sort of stone and wooden ceiling. Looking around a little more, I appear to be in an almost castle-like building.
I flail and flap my wings a bit, rolling over to stand on my four limbs. I take a better look around; Uh-oh…I think to myself. I'm surrounded by people. That can't be good! I have no idea where I am, I've been reincarnated as a dragon, and the place where I manage to hatch is full of people!? What if I'm in a world where dragons don't exist? What if I get kidnapped by a government for study? What if dragons are considered a menace or something here? This is bad, I need to get out of here and get my bearings! I quickly glance from side to side, looking for an exit of some sort, only to freeze at the sight of spiky pink hair.
Hold on…I know that hair…A memory stirs in my mind. I look at the face of the pink haired man, only for my jaw to drop. Standing above me, is none other than Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail, with Lucy Heartfilia standing right next to him, her hand on his shoulder.
Unbelievable. After I make solid eye contact with Natsu for a good five seconds, the people, the guild of Fairy Tail, I realize, come alive! Meaning everybody starts to flail about and panic, with mixed reactions.
"See!" I see Natsu talking more than I hear him, "I told ya it was a dragon egg!"
The people in the guild hall are all shouting, asking questions; a couple are backing away in a panic, while others seem to be frozen, staring at me, not quite sure how to react. Though I do see Cana blinking rapidly at me, before she takes a long hard look at the liquor bottle she's drinking from.
I feel myself begin to panic, my body tensing up. What's happening? I think to myself, Something is…screaming at me to get away! Is it my instincts? Why isn't Gamer's Mind working right now?
Makarov, the freaking Master Makarov, must have noticed my panicked state, "Everyone simmer down, right now!" He called out, causing most of the guild to go quiet, "You're scaring it, and the last thing we need is a panicked baby dragon! A dragon, of all things! Assuming it even is a dragon…" He said that last part softly to himself, but I still heard him.
Natsu took a few steps toward me, a big smile on his face. For some reason, that smile brought me a sense of calm…
"Hey there buddy!" He waves to me, crouching down so he's nearly eye level with me. I don't even come up to his knees…heck, I'm pretty sure I could fit on his shoulder right now. I thought royal dragons were supposed to be big? Or am I just smaller in size because I'm an arcane dragon? And a wyrmling, no less.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" He exclaimed, "Let's see…we're going to need a name for you…"
"Natsu, slow down" Lucy exclaimed, "A freaking dragon just hatched in the guild, we've got more important things to worry about than a name! It probably can't even understand you!"
Always the voice of reason, I think to myself. Lucy is…well she's a lot prettier than I thought she'd be in person. I don't really feel all that attracted to her, which I find weird, but I still can't deny she's attractive. Usually I'm head over heels for pretty girls like her, why aren't I blushing or something? Is it because I'm a dragon? Am I not attracted to humans now? Strange, that'll take some getting used too.
Natsu is…well, a lot more ripped in real life than I thought he'd be. Seriously, how does one eat like he does and come out looking like that? Maybe I need to get on this fire diet, it seems to work wonders!
"Okay," I turn my head to the voice that spoke; Gray Fullbuster, shirtless and standing next to Erza Scarlet, "This is going to be the only time I say this. Was the Flamebrain right? Is this really a dragon?" He pears at me, getting a closer look, making me take a couple steps away from him, closer to Natsu. I'm no good in large crowds; I wasn't all that social in my last life.
"Master?" Erza turned to Makarov.
"Don't look at me," Makarov shrugged, "I've never seen a real dragon before."
"I'm telling you guys, it IS a dragon!" Natsu exclaimed, exasperated before turning back to me, his face breaking out into another grin. Wow, talk about a one-eighty! "And I've got the perfect name for him! Kilgara!"
"Kilgara? How do you even know it's a him?" Lucy raised an eyebrow, "Where did that come from, anyway? It's kinda…"
"Awesome?" Natsu smirked, "It's just the name that came to mind! Be he a boy or a girl, it still works!"
"I was going to say scary," Lucy shook her head, turning back to look at me, then to Makarov, "What do we do?"
Heck if I know, lady, I thought to myself, turning to Makarov as well. I wonder, what will they do? I'm actually genuinely curious to see how Fairy Tail will handle a dragon hatching under their roof. This should be interesting, if nothing else. I still can't help but feel uneasy though. Fairy Tail was a show that I really enjoyed! I watched all the anime and read all the manga; and with my eidetic memory I'm able to recall every detail! Which is exactly why I'm uneasy…
"Hm…well, it certainly looks like a dragon…" Makarov eyed me.
I turn my attention back to the nearest people in front of me, Natsu and Lucy. Natsu is still smiling at me, while Lucy appears to be…well, honestly I can't tell what she's feeling. I can tell she's weary, but there also seems to be a sense of wonder in her expression. Can't say I blame her. Dragons are pretty dang wonderful. And even in this magical world, they are still extremely rare. Nearly extinct (at least, I think they're supposed to be, but with the amount of dragons and slayers that pop up throughout the series, I really can't be too sure).
"Alright, Kilgara!" Natsu beamed down at me, "We need to figure out where you came from! Maybe then we can find Igneel!"
Hold on, he did name me Kilgara! What's up with that? That can't be a coincidence…did Katie do something on her end? And Igneel…if Natsu doesn't yet know where he is then I at least know they haven't faced Tartoros yet. And then there's Gajeel staring at me from the corner there, along with Wendy. I can't get a read on Gajeel at all! His face is so blank! No sneer, no shock, no nothing! Wendy has that look of an innocent girl; I can practically smell the curiosity rolling off of her as she stares down at me. I look around a little more; no Panther Lily. Have they not been to Edolas yet? Or is Lily just not here today?
"Natsu, how is a newly hatched baby supposed to help you find Igneel?" Lucy asked, "Your best bet would be to search the forest we found it in, but even then, the egg fell from the sky!" Wait, my egg fell from the sky? In a forest? Huh?
"Oh, right," Natsu scratched the back of his head, "But at least we have a place to start!" He held his hand out to me; slowly, I started to make my way over to him. I can't explain why, but Natsu has this strange, out-of-character aura of calm that I'm feeling drawn to.
"Hold on, Natsu," Erza stepped forward, making me jump forward in a near panic on instinct, landing awkwardly on Natsu's shoulder; Wow, she has quite the presence! I thought as I stabilized myself.
"Woah, little guy, easy!" Natsu chuckled. Little guy? I hate that he's got a point…
Erza stopped moving toward us, her arms tense, her face focused as I jumped up, "Before you go off looking for Igneel again, we need to decide what to do here."
"Erza's right," Gray said; dang, he's ripped too. If I wasn't a dragon now, I'd be jealous of these guys! And wow, Natsu's shoulder is really warm! Before I could process what I was doing, I wrapped my tail around Natsu's scarf, settling on his shoulder even more, "A dragon literally just hatched in our guild hall. This could rock the world as we know it!" Gray continued as he eyed me on Natsu.
Everyone turned to Makarov, their gazes questioning.
"What are you all staring at me for?" Makarov raised an eyebrow, "Natsu is the one who found the dang thing. As far as I'm concerned that makes whatever happens his choice and responsibility."
"Makes sense to me!" Natsu smiled.
I let out a little rumble from my throat; or at least, I tried to. It came out as more of a rumbly squeak, more than anything else. Where did that come from?
"Master," Erza spoke up, "Are you sure it's wise to leave such a creature in…Natsu's care?"
"He raised Happy, didn't he?" Makarov shrugged, moving back up to the bar, which he leapt up on. He then took a sip from his drink, "Besides, the thing seems to have taken quite a liking to him already."
"I guess that's true," Lucy said, looking at how I was settled on Natsu's shoulder, "But this is a little bigger than a cat hatching from an egg!" I recalled the story of Happy's birth. And while Natsu had done a decent job raising the blue cat, I could see why they would be worried; in all honesty…as good as Happy turned out, he was definitely raised by Natsu.
Lucy slowly stepped closer to me and Natsu, cautiously raising her hand; she began petting my neck. My scales must still be thin, because wow! This felt nice! Another strange, squeaky rumbling escaped my throat. Oh gosh, did I just do the dragon equivalent of a pur!? Oh, what the heck, I can hardly bring myself to care! Between Natsu's warmth and Lucy's ministrations, I'm content where I am for now! Geez, what's happening? Am I turning into Natsu and Lucy's draconic puppy? Or second cat? Man, I just can't bring myself to care right now…
Lucy couldn't help the little giggle that escaped her when she heard me "pur."
"That it is," Makarov acknowledged Lucy's statement, nodding before taking a longer swig of his drink.
"How are you so calm about this, Gramps?" Gray questioned, looking at me and Lucy, then back to Makarov.
"Oh, I assure you, my boy, I'm a panicking mess on the inside," He nodded sagely before he took an even longer swig of his drink, his face now sporting a light blush, "The first dragon egg discovered in centuries, hatching right under our own roof, and it was Natsu who discovered the thing. Heck, he's somehow already made a bond with it! I'm half convinced the world will go up in flames within the next year!" He absolutely downed the rest of his drink, before slamming the mug down on the bar counter.
"Now listen up!" Makarov cried out, hoisting up a new mug of alcohol, "Everyone eat, drink, and make merry! We're celebrating the arrival of our two new members and the end of the world! Welcome to your new home; to Wendy! To Carla! To the calamity to come!"
I guess Fairy Tail really will take any excuse to drink and party; not even two seconds later everyone who had a drink raised their mug and cheered! Everyone started dancing, laughing, and overall seemed to be having a grand ol' time.
Natsu then turned his head to get a better look at me, "See that, Kilgara?" He nodded his head toward where a fight had already broken out, before uncoiling my tail from around his neck; I leapt onto Lucy's shoulders, who gave a high pitched squeak, "Watch how a Fairy Tail wizard takes care o' business!" Natsu leapt straight into the fray, shouting, "Fight me, Frosty!"
He wasn't even punching the right person…
Lucy just sighed, before shaking her head slightly as a small smile came to her face. I gave her a side glance, before looking back at the absolute chaos I was about to call my life. I couldn't help thinking, What just happened?
A few hours later, I found myself staring around the now quiet guild hall. Everyone had either passed out or fallen asleep. While all the chaos was going on, I found myself sticking around Lucy, rarely leaving her shoulder. She had a nice, relaxing scent; something that reminds me of a cross between vibrant apples and dewy flower petals. I tried speaking to her, Levy, and Erza when they were sitting around a table on the far side of the hall; I only got comments on how surprisingly cute my "little roars" were.
Although I understood what I was saying, I realized how foreign my words actually were to me. I wasn't speaking english, and I certainly wasn't speaking any japanese I knew. I could hear and feel that the words I spoke were of a different language. Whenever I tried speaking any english or japanese words I knew, I got severely tongue tied; they came out as little incomprehensible squeaks or roars.
There's something else I want to confirm, "Status,"
Name: Kilgara
Age: 0
Race: Royal Dragon, Hatchling
Rank: Normal
Alignment: Neutral Good
Level: 4
Class: Runecaster – LVL 4/100, 54%
HP: 100 [Regens 20 per minute]
MP: 1400 [Regens 130 per minute]
SP: 100 [Regens 20 per minute]
STR: 13
END: 10
DEX: 10
INT: 56
WIS: 26
CHA: 50
LUK: 20
Points: 15
I can read my stats here, but it's all written in words, numbers, letters, and even a kind of kanji that I don't recognize! It must be written in draconic. That is so cool! Ah! And hold up, hatchling? I thought my first phase was wyrmling? Ah well, it makes sense.
Tapping on my class, Runecaster, I bring up its specific skills.
Runecaster LVL 4/100, 54%
Gain 2 INT and 2 WIS every level up
Allows for the use of a written rune language to cast specific spells
Runecaster Skills:
Draconic - Novice
Runecaster Skills? Not much here…it only tells me I'm a novice in draconic runes. Not very helpful…how do I level it up then, or obtain more skills? Does it happen as I complete quests, or as I actually use the ability? There's too much about this system that I don't understand.
I found myself wanting to get frustrated, but I just couldn't bother with it. I started tapping on the words in front of me randomly, in an almost bored fashion; when I tapped the word 'skills' something actually happened! A map of grayed out bubbles with lines connecting them all appeared!
Class Skill Trees discovered!
As your class and subclass level up, you are able to access more, stronger abilities. With Class Skill Trees you now have the option of delving further into your class's abilities. Use stat points to gain access to perks found in skill trees.
The amount of perks seemed endless…and this was all for one class! Well, now that I know where it is, I'll have to take a closer look at all of these sometime! Scrolling through them, I already see one that I'd like to get, though it's way far down the tree: Writtenless Casting. A perk that would allow me to cast my rune spells without having to write them. I'd just have to be able to picture the rune in my mind! And with my eidetic memory, that won't be too much of a problem! It cost 100 points though! Dang, they get more and more expensive the further down the tree you get!
Hm…I wonder what other things my stat menu can do. Let's see here…
Tapping on my HP, MP, and SP stats brought up how those were calculated.
HP= END x 10
SP = END x 10
SP/ HP Regen = END x 2
MP Regen = WIS x 5
MP = INT x 25
I definitely need to put more points in endurance. Wow, it determines a lot of things! I wonder if I'm able to train stats the old fashioned way, or if it has to be through points. Something to test later on.
Next I pulled up my perk menu.
Earthbender
You are able to telekinetically control the earth around you, and now have access to the earthbending skill tree.
Longevity
You have an unnaturally long lifespan for your race. Assuming you are not killed by outside forces, you will live for a long time by the standards for your race.
Corded Muscle
Your muscles are bulging, and have a lot of power behind them, though it will take some training to back up that natural talent.
For every level up, you gain +2 to your Strength stat.
Eidetic Memory
You have a powerful memory. You rarely forget anything you see. You are able to recall a memory clearly, and can even see it play out in your mind for a few seconds at a time if you concentrate.
Chocolate Sense
You are always able to tell where chocolate is if there is any nearby.
The earthbender perk is supposed to give me access to its skill tree; I tap on the perk, and sure enough, a skill tree popped up, along with a more in depth description of how earthbending worked with the system.
Earthbending
A skill that allows telekinetic control of the element of earth. Using said skill uses SP; the amount of earth one can utilize is determined by their STR stat and amount of SP.
The description didn't say how much earth I'd be able to use with said amount of STR and SP. Not very descriptive. Looking at the skill tree itself only Basic Earthbending, the first perk, wasn't grayed out.
Basic Earthbending
You are able to telekinetically control earth around you
I need to find somewhere I can play around with the system and my abilities. The descriptions I've found seem to give me a general idea on how to use them, but it's clear to me that I'm going to need to actually use them to get a good feel on…well, how to use them.
Coming back to the present, from what I've gathered from the guild, this is the first day that Wendy has ever been in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Now that my memory is so good, I know what comes next as far as the canon timeline: Daphne with her artificial "dragons." I could get involved, either in a more direct or indirect way, or I can choose to sit this one out. I'm honestly not sure what I should do. I was literally dropped here with no preamble, no build up, no nothing. I don't have any specific goals or anything like that either; although…I pulled up my trait list, scrolling to a specific one.
Destined Enemy
You are destined to do battle with a very strong foe. No matter your level of power, you will be evenly matched. The outcome of this battle is indiscernible.
I do have one objective in mind. Get strong and smart enough to be this guy. Being that the universe I'm in right now is Fairy Tail, I can't help but wonder if this enemy will be Acnologia. It would make sense…Acnologia is an arcane dragon slayer; one that turned into a dragon, no less. And I'm a literal arcane dragon…that has me wondering something else.
Would I be able to eat magic like Acnologia does? Or does that only apply to the dragon slayers? I have no recollection of dragons in Fairy Tail eating their own element except Acnologia, who is technically a weirder of dragon slayer magic even as a dragon. And as an arcane dragon, do I have any kind of arcane or magical resistance? There's so much for me to discover…Time to get excited, I smirk.
I look around a little more. Everyone is still out cold. As I began moving slowly around everyone (which wasn't hard to do, I was barely the size of Happy right now, though my wingspan is bigger) I noticed movement from the corner of my eye.
Lucy was stirring in her sleep. As I watched her change position, I recalled something that I have yet to try out.
"Observe," I whisper.
Lucy Heartfilia
Race: Human
Wait…that's it!? Shouldn't observe let me see what the stats are of someone!?
Observe, (Active)
Provides information on a target.
Tapping on the words, I see what the problem is.
Level 1
Allows one to see the target's name and race.
I really don't understand this system at all! Why not just put the level next to the name of the skill!? Ugh…guess I'll have to see if I can level this up by using it. I decide to put that theory to the test; I use it on everyone I can see, though one thing makes me pause, my breath catching in my draconic, wyrmling throat.
Natsu Dragneel
Race: Etherious Demon
That's right…Natsu isn't human. E.N.D...
I let out a breath. Lucy stirs more in her sleep; it seems she's waking up. Hmm…what to do, what to do…I begin making my way over to Lucy. Do I want to go along with canon? Or should I make changes? If I do decide to interfere with things, how should I do it? I need to decide what my goals are here…I stop just behind her as she sits up and begins to stretch.
Before I'm able to jump up to her, I see her look around; her gaze lands on something, and a small, bright smile comes to her face. I look over where she's looking; Natsu, with Happy sound asleep on his stomach. It doesn't seem like Lucy notices me as she stands. She walks over to Natsu, and looks down at him. From where I'm standing, I can only see the far side of her head, but I swear her smile got bigger.
I walked over to Lucy, and made a small squeaking noise. She jumped a little, turning around quickly; she looked down at me as I rubbed up against her legs. I stood on my hind legs, making a grabbing motion with my front talons. What? If I'm gonna be this small, I'm gonna milk it for all its worth, dang it!
"Are you…asking me to pick you up?" She tentatively asks, cautiously reaching down. She gently grabs a hold of me, hoisting me up. I crawled up her arm and chest, careful to not scratch her (even as a small hatchling, my talons were like little razors). I settled on her shoulders, wrapping my tail around her neck like a loose scarf. As I close my eyes, I see another small smile on Lucy's face. I feel her rubbing my neck again. Mm.
Whatever I decide to do, one thing is certain. Being this small definitely has its perks.