The forest had changed.
After the battle with the Verdant Horror, the energy around the Tree of Life's domain felt quieter, lighter. Kai moved through the undergrowth like a shadow, his scales glowing faintly in the moonlight. The jungle no longer felt as suffocating as before.
But danger still lurked.
His evolution was nearly ready. One more enemy—one more push—and he could ascend again.
He had wandered far from the dungeon, closer to the outskirts of the forest where the land thinned and the trees gave way to clearer skies. Strange scents tickled his nose—metal, smoke, blood.
Not beast blood.
Human blood.
Kai's head snapped to the east.
He crouched low, his senses sharpened.
There—just past the misty ravine—something shimmered.
Steel.
He climbed a tree, wings flexing, and from the canopy, he saw it.
A wrecked caravan.
Or rather, what was left of one.
A circular clearing had been charred and torn up. Trees had been uprooted. A transport carriage lay split in half, its golden trim shattered. Banners flapped in the breeze, marked with a blue crest he didn't recognize.
Armored bodies were scattered everywhere—knights, mages, soldiers.
All human.
At the center of the devastation, something stirred.
A girl.
She stood alone.
Barely taller than his shoulder in this form. Slender, elegant, wearing a dress-armored hybrid gown torn at the knees. Blue hair spilled down her back in silken waves, tangled with leaves and ash. Her pale skin was smeared with dirt and blood—but her stance was proud. Defiant.
She was cornered.
By a beast.
It towered over her—a massive, horned boar-like creature with molten fangs and glowing red eyes. The creature snorted, its breath steaming. It stomped closer, cracking the stone beneath its hooves.
The girl clutched a staff in both hands. It glowed with faint magic—but her mana was spent. Her knees buckled slightly.
She was about to die.
Kai didn't even hesitate.
He launched from the canopy.
A streak of fire through the air.
The monster barely turned before Kai slammed into it from above, claws piercing its neck. It squealed in fury and pain, bucking wildly.
Kai roared and dug in harder.
The girl gasped and stumbled backward, falling on her rear, eyes wide with shock.
Kai clamped his jaws down, and with a sickening crunch, the boar's spine shattered. It collapsed in a heap.
[Beast Defeated: Infernal Boar]+45 EP Gained[New Passive Gained: Heat Immunity (Lesser)][EP: 230 / 200][Evolution Available]
The moment the system chimed, Kai turned.
He hadn't expected her to still be here.
But she was.
The girl hadn't run.
Instead, she sat on the ground, looking up at him with wide, breathless eyes.
Eyes that shimmered with starlight-blue.
She wasn't screaming. Wasn't panicking.
She looked… stunned.
"…A… a dragon…" she whispered. "A real one…"
Kai narrowed his eyes.
She was different from what he expected of humans. Not just because of her looks—though she was striking—but because of her calm.
Then she surprised him even more.
"You… helped me."
Her voice trembled. Not with fear. But awe.
Kai tilted his head.
The language was familiar.
Basic Common.
He focused—and the system quickly translated what she'd said. He'd been absorbing language fragments since touching the Sylphen's rune tablet. It was enough to understand… and respond.
"…You. Were dying," Kai rasped.
His voice came out rough and guttural. He hadn't tried speaking in Common before. The words felt strange. Too soft for his dragon tongue.
The girl gasped.
"You can talk?!"
Kai grunted. "…Little bit."
She stood up, legs still shaking, and brushed her hair behind her ear. Her armor-dress was badly damaged, but she carried herself like someone used to command.
"I am Princess Elira of House Aurelien," she said slowly, bowing slightly. "And you… Are you… Are you one of the Ancients?"
Kai blinked. "Ancients?"
"I read about dragons in the royal archives… but only high-ranking scholars believed they truly existed. And even fewer believed they could speak." Her cheeks flushed, her voice suddenly rising with excitement. "You saved me. I… I didn't even know your kind were real!"
Kai stepped back slightly. "Not… 'kind.' Just me."
"Only you?"
She looked heartbroken at the thought.
Then hopeful.
"That makes you… rare. Unique. You saved a princess. That makes you a hero."
He tilted his head, studying her.
Kai didn't know how to respond to that.
"…Not hero. Just… strong," he muttered.
Elira's lips parted in a quiet breath.
Her gaze scanned his body—the glowing scales, the sleek tail, the fire flickering beneath his chest.
"You're beautiful," she whispered.
Kai blinked.
"What?"
"I-I mean—!" She turned red, waving her hands. "Not in a romantic way! You're just… powerful. Radiant. Like a comet."
Kai snorted smoke.
"Flatter won't tame me."
Elira's eyes sparkled.
"I wasn't trying to… wait. Tame you?"
She stepped forward, slowly.
"I don't want to hurt you. I want to… know you. Study you. Maybe even protect you."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Protect me?"
The look she gave him was serious.
"You may be strong… but there are others in this world who would hunt you, cage you, use you. A dragon that speaks, that understands language and saves people? You're not just rare. You're dangerous to the wrong people."
She took a deep breath.
"My knights are dead. My caravan was ambushed. I was supposed to reach the capital. But now…"
Her eyes met his again.
"…You're the first one who didn't want something from me."
Kai felt a strange weight in her words.
She wasn't lying.
She was just a girl—yes, noble, intelligent, strong-willed—but a lonely one, too. Someone who'd never met anything she couldn't understand, until now.
"I'll remember this forever," she said. "You saved me."
Kai looked toward the forest.
The system pulsed. He was ready to evolve again.
He couldn't stay.
"…You live?" he asked.
She blinked. "Y-Yes?"
He nodded once. "Then go. Before more come."
Elira looked as if she wanted to say more—but stopped herself. She lowered her eyes.
"…Will I see you again?"
Kai didn't answer.
He turned, spread his wings, and with a single powerful beat, launched himself into the sky.
Elira shielded her face as the wind whipped around her, hair flaring behind her like a comet's trail.
She watched the dragon soar over the trees, leaving fire in his wake.
And she whispered softly:
"I will find you again, Ember Dragon…"