Becoming a Dragon

Vagnerd's eyes turned into a black corridor lined with teeth. His gaze was like a bottomless dark hole, pulling anyone who looked into an abyss. It was that very same sixth-tier spell that had once slain Tiansheng Zhankuang in an instant. *Eyebite.* Recognizing the spell and terrified that someone would fall victim again, Mantou shouted a frantic warning: "Dodge! Don't look him in the eyes!" The three players dove in different directions in unspoken coordination, not giving Vagnerd the slightest opportunity to lock his spell onto them. "Oh? It seems you've met my soul shard." Vagnerd seemed mildly surprised, then nonchalantly tapped the Cult of the Dragon insignia on his chest. Those faint, shimmering ripples expanded violently like waves at the gentle tap of his knuckles, leaving no place to hide. The shimmering light eventually formed a massive sigil on the ground in the shape of a single eye, enveloping everyone within its bounds. *Symbol of Fear.* It was yet another sixth-tier spell! Caught within the spell's radius, the three immediately plummeted into absolute terror. As if beholding something unimaginably horrifying, their fleeing bodies froze dumbly in place, trembling uncontrollably from head to toe. "Come out, my loyal hounds. Bring these creatures to me." "I smell dragon blood." Vagnerd snapped his fingers. Under the influence of his magic, several iron cages around them sprang open. From the deep darkness came clamorous barking mingled with the imposing might of a dragon's roar. Several five- to six-meter-long dragon-morphed barghests bounded out of the dark. Drool dripped from the corners of their mouths, their tongues lolling to the side. Their jagged, chaotic teeth were sharp as blades, and their triangular eyes glowed with an eerie light, brimming with savagery and uncontrollable power. Their bodies were solid and burly, each lump of muscle like a ball of cast iron. Their fur was sparsely covered in scales and coated in bloodstains, reeking of a nauseating stench. "My lovely pets haven't eaten in quite some time." "Still, they'll have to wait until I've finished my research before I toss them the scraps. Such splendid specimens must not go to waste." Vagnerd paid no heed to the viscous fluid on their hides, affectionately petting the grotesque beast. Leaning in close to the ear of one dragon-morphed barghest, he whispered in fluent Draconic: "Capture them alive." "Woo—awoo!" The dragon-morphed barghests let out excited howls. Upon receiving the command, they went wild. Baring their fangs, spattering drool, with every hair and scale standing on end and their eyes flashing blood-red, they lunged furiously after the three who had just broken free from their panic. Vagnerd added a "kind" reminder from behind: "Make sure the specimens stay alive. Though missing an arm or a leg is only natural." "Go." At his words, the dragon-morphed barghests grew even more ecstatic, howling as they pounced forward, eager to tear everything to shreds. Mantou ran for his life toward the exit, but two legs could never outrun four. The barghest behind him sprang like a coiled spring, covering more than fifty meters in a single leap. Its massive paw pinned Mantou directly to the ground, and the rancid, sweltering breath from its maw blasted into his face along with thick saliva, making his scalp tingle with dread. "Holy crap, what the hell is this thing?!" On the other side, Singo darted left and dodged right, rolling back and forth to narrowly evade several pounces. Before long, however, two more barghests closed in from different angles, leaving him no choice but to stand frozen in place and surrender to keep the beasts from tearing off his limbs. "Hraah—!" With a furious roar, Tiansheng Zhankuang actually pried open the barghest's massive claws by brute force. Yet the barghest merely snorted. Its knotted muscles swelled slightly, and several tons of weight bore down. The colossal force instantly pinned Tiansheng Zhankuang to the floor, leaving him no room to resist. Clamping the players in their jaws, the dragon-morphed barghests returned to Vagnerd from different directions, obsequious smiles plastered across their monstrous faces. Vagnerd looked the players up and down. "Splendid. Marvelous." "The information from my soul shard was correct after all. It truly is that red dragon's bloodline—he really is different!" He looked down, staring into Mantou's eyes, and spoke word by word: "Tell me. The soul shard I left here—what happened before he died?" Instead of looking into his eyes, Mantou squeezed his own shut. "Now!" Singo shouted from nearby. With one hand, Singo pulled the pin on the stun grenade he had long prepared. A violent blast shook the air, and the blinding flash dazed even the barghests. Seizing the opening to slip free from the barghest's grasp, Singo treated the syringe filled with true dragon blood like a dart and hurled it straight at Mantou. *Whoosh—* The sharp needle pierced skin and plunged into Mantou's body. The blood containing a sliver of progenitor dragon power flowed into his veins and fused with his existing red dragon bloodline, instantly triggering an explosive reaction. "Roaaar!" Mantou threw his head back and roared. Whether it was due to the digitized nature of a player's body or the uniqueness of Cassius's Bloodline Boon, the inherently incompatible bloodlines of the red dragon and white dragon did not suffer severe rejection. Instead, they blended together, and the magical essence of the dragon bloodline underwent a rapid sublimation, unleashing peerless, immense power. Dozens of notifications flashed across Mantou's interface: [You have accepted a special item: Dilute Progenitor Dragon True Blood] [Your dragon bloodline has been strengthened] [You have gained the Bloodline Sublimation effect] [You have acquired the special ability: Transform into Dragon] [At the cost of your life, you can transform into a dragon wyrmling for three minutes] [Note: Upon respawning, you will return to your original form and must expend your life once more to unlock this form] Mantou's entire body underwent a dramatic metamorphosis. The surging power of the bloodline reshaped his flesh unchecked: his upright stance collapsed onto all fours, a tail sprouted from his coccyx, and the wing bones on his back jutted outward before tearing through his skin, unfurling bloody, newly formed wing membranes. In this moment, having burned his entire life force and undergone bloodline sublimation, he was a true wyrmling. Having transformed into a dragon, Mantou let out a fledgling roar, thinking to himself, *Holy shit, I'm invincible!* The newborn wyrmling writhed, and the mighty strength inherent to dragons allowed him to easily break free from the bewildered barghest's claws. "Ruaaa!" "Daddy's a dragon now!" "Die, you old bastard who experiments on his own daughter!" Mantou's wyrmling form flapped its wings clumsily, lunging claws-and-fangs-first straight at the black-robed wizard. Vagnerd merely tilted his head slightly. As if gazing upon a priceless treasure, he stood rooted to the spot, forgetting to dodge. "Finally found it..." "A truly flawless work of art..." "I... I must have it." Staring blankly at the pouncing Mantou, he muttered to himself in a voice so steeped in obsessive fanaticism that it sent chills down the spine.