"Child, that was very impressive. We dragons are typically rather haughty, so you won't catch anyone else saying this, but you're comparable to our most talented youth! It's an extremely rare acheivement to take on death mages without equipment able to penetrate or directly affect their skills, and even when that happens, 90% of those cases are because of the warrior's skills that are able to take over that role. A feat like yours, though, where someone relied on just combat ability, bodily strength, and pure ingenuity is truly incredible. I was right to believe in you!"
Yi Qiang, to his own dismay, felt a bit of pride rise up in him. He wasn't very experienced with fantasy conventions, but he was rather sure being complimented by a dragon was no short order.
"Stop it, I'm blushing," Yi Qiang responded sarcastically. "So, what now?"
"Well, child, now my son hatches, and the both of us say goodbye."
Hearing this, Yi Qiang felt a pang of pain in his chest. Surprising even himself, he really didn't want to say goodbye to this gentle and loving dragon so soon after meeting her. It was likely attributed to his parent-figure issues - he only ever had a father as a parent, and, well, it was quite a bit of an understatement to say he was a less-than-supportive father. The warmth Elavia had shown him was something Yi Qiang was yet unaccustomed to, but he never wanted to say goodbye to it. He had no idea this was something he sorely needed.
Over the span of time he was locked in his own thoughts, Yi Qiang's emotions began to overflow, the sheer quantity and vastness of them overfilling into Yi Qiang's psychic connection with Elavia.
And, given the nature of the telepathic link, she understood immediately.
"Oh, you poor child. Your mind is so weathered, so mature and calloused, it's easy to forget you are still so young. So strong, but so young. Truly, extraordinary, to carry such a large burden on your shoulders. Unfortunately child, this weight is one for you to bear alone - I cannot take this mantle or share it with you. You must learn to accept whatever was so excruciating to you. You must allow it to become part of you. That will take time, time that neither of us have, so you will have to wait for the day you finally recover. And, it pains me to say I cannot be there when that happens."
Yi Qiang didn't respond. Any notion of false masculinity had been beaten out of him long ago by the many female teachers he'd had, but he still suffered from the fully human instinct to feel embarassed after sharing such primal, real emotions. He felt ashamed, embarassed, and weak, almost as if he had returned back to his training days as a child. Thankfully, he was distracted slightly from his shame by Elavia, no doubt understanding of what he was feeling, continuing on with business.
"You have no doubt already passed the first hurdle, the one most well-known as being the hardest to cross - gained the hatchling's subconscious approval. Both the infantile nature of any hatchling's consciousness and the innate pride of the dragons make this very difficult, but your actions of saving him from a life of undead slavery has imprinted you deeply into his subconscious. You've also cleared the second obstacle, by establishing a close relationship with the hatchling inside the egg - yes, saving someone's life will do that. Now, from here, it's a walk in the dungeon. All you need to do is walk over, and, if my son's eggshell is warm, drip your blood onto it. Then, the Dragonbonding process will start, and I won't be able to interfere.
Yi Qiang nodded, walking up to the egg still in the place it was during the ritual. Upon feeling it was warm, he held his still-bleeding pinkie stump over the shell. The moment the drop of blood touched the eggshell, everything changed.
Yi Qiang saw white.
As Yi Qiang hunched over in agony, the wheels of fate began to turn.
"Mr. Gu! Please, come with me! Patient ''Innovation" has gained a class!"
An elderly man, sitting alone in a dark room covered in dimly-glowing monitors, turned towards the young intern who burst in, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. His hands never stopped dancing on the keyboard, though, even as he put his attention on the intern.
Aware that the unassuming Mr. Gu had the power to easily destroy his career, the intern shuddered and continued.
"He's gaining a unique class, Mr. Gu. And the system cleared him for advanced integration."
Mr. Gu's expression changed. He paled and roared.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier! Lead the way!" The elderly man rocketed out of his seat and out of the room, slamming the door behind him. A few seconds after he left, though, in the dark room, the monitor next to the one Mr. Gu had been working on turned on, displaying a flickering message on its screen.
The message disappeared, and everything reverted back to normal.
Mr. Gu hunched over a large screen, reading large amounts of text.
A young man stood next to him, emitting an authoritative air.
"So, Mr. Gu? Any complications?"
The old man looked up, a dazed look in his eye.
"Huh?"
"Any complications?"
He snapped back to normal.
"Oh, no, of course not. But this young man is extraordinary. We should keep an eye on him."
Far away, a monitor flashed with a brilliant light and emitted a loud beeping. The alarm continued for thirty seconds before stopping, just moments before a hastily-dressed young woman burst into the room.
"Of course it has to happen while I'm on break! God, what is it?"
She ran over to the monitor, her face paling when she found nothing on it.
"Oh hell, what did I miss?"
If only the woman had been there fifteen seconds earlier. Then, she would have read:
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Completely unaware of the waves being spread around the world he used to live in, Yi QIang writhed in agony.
He had experienced pain before, but, in his long years, never like this. He... was helpless. All of his defenses meant nothing. It was as if, before this agony, he was a crying child, a primal being submerged fully in pain. Pain.
Every cell was simultaneously burnt away, restored, and shattered. Pain.
In the unending whiteness that Yi Qiang toiled to open his eyes to, all he saw was a screen filled with unfamiliar symbols and lines.
Time meant nothing in the vast expanse of white and the roiling tumult of pain. Yi Qiang had given up on defending himself - no longer did he fervently wish for each second to mark the end of his suffering, or try to ignore the agony. He accepted it in its full force, his mind becoming the pain. He focused only on it, and through that, it began to diminish.
Only the moment he fully sank into it did the pain stop.
And he found himself back where he was.
Yi Qiang landed on the ground, overwhelmed. What...
Mr. Gu looked to the young man next to him. "Mr. Qiang, this class is something we only included as an easter egg - it was never intended to be actually played! Shouldn't we at least explain the class a bit to him?"
The young man looked at Mr. Gu calmly. "I'm confident he can figure it out. He's done harder things on Earth, that's for sure. All you need to do is not get in his way, and treat him like any other patient. Oh, but do watch out for the DIO bug we found. It's likely already wormed its way into the game. All we can hope is that it isn't too damaging - the AI that runs the game programming has a lot of valuable information. Well, Mr. Gu, why don't you get back to your post? Tell me if anything suspicious happens, will you?"
Yi Qiang's Current Stats
Name: Yi Qiang
Race: Empyrean Dragonsahn
Class: Dragon Marksman
Level: 1
Resources:
Health: 2451
Health Regeneration: 455/min
Stamina: 1226
Stamina Regeneration: 227/min
Qi: 371
Qi Regeneration: 76/min
Stats:
Strength: 228
Dexterity: 216
Agility: 241
Vitality: 228
Constitution: 396
Vigor:69
Free Stats: 200
Skills:
Active:
Dragon Marksman's Judgement(Level 7 Novice)
Arrow Burst(Level 4 Apprentice)
Mark(Level 1 Journeyman)
Empyrean Dragon's Armaments(Lvl 1 Novice)
Analyze(Lvl NA)
Passive:
Rapid Training(Lvl NA)
Empyrean Dragon Physique(Lvl 5 Apprentice)
Qi Control(Level 1 Novice)
Sneak(Lvl 5 Journeyman)
Bow Mastery(Lvl 4 Master)
As-Of-Yet Unnamed Empyrean Dragon's Stats
Name: None
Race: Empyrean Dragon
Level: 1
Maturity: Hatchling
Resources:
Stats:
Strength: 60
Dexterity: 48
Agility: 42
Vitality: 72
Consitution: 66
Vigor: 60
Maturity: Hatchling
1.2 multiplier on all stats
Skills:
Passive:
Empyrean Dragon Physique(Level 5 Novice)
Empyrean Dragon Scales(Level 5 Novice)
Empyrean Dragon Qi(Level 5 Novice)
Ancient Suppression(Level 5 Novice)
Active:
Heavenly Bulwark(Level 5 Novice)
Emperor's Dignity(Level 5 Novice)
Ancient Awareness(Level 5 Novice)
