Chapter 2: I, Who Became a Dragon

Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain. Unbearable pain. Pain that would make you wish you were dead.

As an ordinary human being, Louie had never experienced this kind of pain in all his life. It was as if his body and soul were being torn apart.

As a protective mechanism, humans would lose consciousness once their pain passed a certain threshold. Perhaps because lizards have no similar mechanism, or perhaps because the pain had blasted straight through any such frameworks, Louie remained conscious The searing pain only heightened his awareness.

Slowly, in this intense pain, Louie noticed that his awareness had sublimated and had begun to leave his body. In this paradoxical state - suffering through insufferable pain while staying awake - Louie felt like he was ascending to heaven, or becoming an immortal as inexplicable changes were happening to his soul.

His consciousness and soul had transcended the limits of living creatures and was watching the world from a 360-degree perspective. Even if he was in a small lizard's body, he was able to observe everything.

As a soul, even the darkness of this strange crack was unable to block his 'vision'. And so he was surprised when he saw that the 'metal' he had bumped into earlier on was not a metallic mineral at all, but some clearly artificial construct. A spaceship of sorts.

The "spaceship" had a perfectly smooth surface and an indescribable color. Its metal shell harmonized its flawless exterior, leaving not a single gap. Louie knew that this was definitely not a human artifact. According to his understanding of human technology, it was absolutely impossible to make this near-perfect metal shell.

This spaceship-like object was not very big. It was about 6-7 meters in length, but this length was enormous to a small lizard like him.

Suddenly, the strange spaceship's outer shell flickered with a faint gloss. A crack opened in the center, causing the perfect construct to split in two. From its center, a glowing five-colored crystal slowly flew out.

The moment he saw the crystal, even Louie, now a mere disembodied soul, felt an urge to kneel and submit - as though it was not some suspicious crystal, but the essence of a god. The apotheosis of all living things and an existence that towered over all other life.

Although Louie had never seen such a creature before, its appearance alone made him understand that it was not a creature that could exist on Earth, but a creature that appeared in Western mythology and legends... a dragon!

Only this dragon looked as though it was still in its infancy since it was only about 4 meters long. Nevertheless, it had a smooth and perfect appearance. By the time it grew up, it might reach 40 meters long, or even more than a hundred meters long. How majestic and spectacular would that be?

This newly born dragon was breathing softly, and Louie felt his consciousness being drawn to it. He felt his soul was quickly approaching and merging with the dragon.

At the same time, Louie felt a burst of fatigue and sleepiness. The once maddening pain instantly disappeared. A powerful force began to flood into his sea of consciousness, but the feeling of fatigue was so strong that his willpower could not resist it. He slowly fell into a deep slumber and began to dream.

He dreamt that he had become a divine ancient dragon that straddled the land. Countless creatures that could only be seen in myths were kneeling in front of him. Even the gods in heaven prostrated on the ground. The angels were subservient, and the demons were in deep terror. He wore a crown on his dragon head, enjoying the worship from all the races!