Drahon stared at the message in surprise.
Horn Shroud?
Allows you to make your horns invisible at will?
Drahon was surprised and at the same time, elated.
All his life, he had always wanted to remove the horns. Sometimes he got angry and hit the horns on the wall, but they wouldn't come off. He had tried pulling them and even cutting them, but it wasn't possible. The horns were actually a big part of him.
Now, he had the chance to get rid of them at will. It wouldn't take them away forever, but then, make them disappear any time he wanted.
"Does it have a limit?" Drahon asked.
The runes replied:
[It has no limit. When you activate it around people, it works just fine, but you cannot use Horn Shroud in battle as it will play a big role in your fights.]
Drahon was so excited he almost screamed. Finally, a way to hide the horns.
Since he wasn't taking it off his head completely, he was satisfied. It may sound crazy, but he had grown to like the horns; it sort of gave him a sophisticated look, and in a game like this, it would surely be very useful in case he needed to make friends or hang out with the other players.
"How do I activate it?" he asked the runes, which he was certain was his system.
[Just imagine the horns are no longer on your head and it becomes reality.]
Drahon decided to try it. Taking a few steps backward, he closed his eyes and imagined the horns were off...
A second passed...
He felt nothing.
His dragon, Roarn, was looking at him, a fascinated look on its face. Drahon noticed the look and decided to touch the place his horns earlier were. Doing so, he noticed nothing was there anymore.
He almost screamed in exultation.
This felt like redemption. Finally, he would be without his horns.
A loud blast from the sky broke into his excited state.
A message in bold italic fonts was stretched up in the sky. Suddenly, an almost stentorian voice echoed high up in the clouds.
[LEVEL ONE BEGINS]
[This is the territory of the skeleton monsters and the frost monsters. The goal is to power up, defeat all of the monsters, and go on to the next level.]
Drahon looked at the sky, trying to read the words together with the female-like voice that was speaking.
[Skeleton monsters here: 250]
[Frost monsters here: 250]
[They are all large and monolithic. Some are easy to kill while others are deadly. Few are dangerous while little are menacing.]
[So that makes it four Ranks of Monsters you'll face from each side:]
[Fourth Rank: Easy]
[Third: Deadly]
[Second: Dangerous]
[And the highest:]
[DEADLY]
[They all vary in appearance, but don't bother too much—your system will detect the rank of the monsters as they come, giving you time to know how to face it.]
[This place is divided into two. The skeleton monsters live on the left, while the frost monsters live on the right.]
[Altogether, they are five hundred monsters. Your killings will be tracked so you know your progress, and it is advised you form groups as that will be essential for survival. Also try and take shelter, as you all are currently in the skeleton monster zone and they will soon be out for food.]
[Good luck, players.]
Immediately those words were said, the letters in the sky disappeared, and the orotund voice was gone.
Drahon exchanged glances with his dragon.
The game had officially begun.
———
Drahon mounted his dragon, and it took to the skies, flapping its wings calmly.
The sky was with clouds, grey with a mixture of foggish white. For some weird reason, it looked scenic to Drahon.
High above the ground, he felt like he was in space. The wind hit at his face with the similitude of biffs, and he enjoyed every single one of them.
As his dragon flew slow and steady in the sky, Drahon couldn't help but want to make it go faster. He wanted to zoom at high speed and even go up in the clouds.
But then, just as that thought came, he could see other players flying beside him far away, some at a nearer distance, and soon, they were all over the place.
Going at high speed certainly would not be advised at this point.
A Bronzer dragon rode closer to Drahon. The rider looked like a young teenager. If he was to guess the teenager's age, he would say fourteen, and that was because of his young face and small body.
But then he could be wrong.
Drahon noticed the player was very near to him, and it was intentional. Seemed the player wanted to say something to Drahon.
"Hey. Nice to meet you," the player said. He was a male, actually.
Drahon only nodded, acting like he wasn't paying attention.
"Your dragon looks huge and really cool to the eyes. Must be a higher-ranked dragon?"
Drahon gave the boy-looking teenager an indifferent look and then faced forward, thinking of what to reply.
Drahon had made a decision when he awakened his dragon that he wouldn't want to boast about its rank or Tier. Doing so could potentially put him in danger, as players with lower-ranked dragons might want to steal his dragon or do something bad to him.
Realistically, they couldn't actually steal his dragon unless he was careless. And any potential harm depended on how careful he was.
If he was careful enough, no one would harm him without getting a hard time. He still needed to train, though, to actually become good at fighting and using a sword, as he had awakened the Draconic Swordsman class.
Somehow, he wondered what class the others awakened.
Coming out of his brief thinking, Drahon took a look at the boy again and shrugged.
"I don't know, to be honest. To me, I find the rank and tier pretty low, not what I wanted at all…"