9 Dragon's Wrath

Answer!

-"...I understand." --- SH: 53 + WN: 20 = 73

-"Don't worry. I won't let the world down!" --- SH: 1 + WN: 1 = 2

-"...Although I'm not sure about the world, I will definitely protect those I care about." --- SH: 10 + WN: 3 = 11

**-"..." --- SH: 77 + WN: 7 = 84

-----------------------------------------

"..."

Lucas felt like everything was happening too fast.

He was just a normal guy. He did various odd jobs, he mans the cashier in a convenience store and waits on people in a cafe.

There was nothing special about him. Yet everything changed when he logged into the game.

Suddenly, he's now supposed to bear the weight of the world on his shoulders...everything was simply too sudden!

"...Sorry, I need to get some air..."

Lucas shook his head and left.

Charles and Trask looked at each other and sighed. Charles turned to his daughter with a meaningful look as if conveying something.

Chloe sighed and shook her head.

"Don't expect me to go after him. This is all too sudden even for me..."

"I see...I guess it is too much for a young man to bear..."

"I need to know... Does my mom know about you? Is she also from the future?"

Charles shook his head.

"No...we came here more than 50 years ago. There were a lot of things that needed to be set up. Digging out the World Key alone took 5 years. I met your mother around 10 years after we returned to the past. We fell in love and...before we married, I told her about me."

"...What did she say?"

"She just laughed about it and thought I was joking."

"...That's so her..."

Chloe chuckled and no longer felt so tense.

After a while, she asked.

"Now what? Aren't you going to lock up my skills?"

"No. Now that a World Key has been found, it's time to move onto the next phase."

Trask said.

"Chloe...you must put together a team of people you trust. Their skills will be unlocked as well so they can train their abilities properly. After all, if we just suddenly unlocked everyone's skills when the time comes, they would panic and may not be able to use it properly against the invaders. At the very least, a small team can act with ease under such circumstances is necessary."

Chloe raised a brow.

"What? What's with that look?"

"Basically...you want me to be like Nick Fury recruiting the Avengers?

"..."

Trask and Charles were speechless.

While they continued their discussion, Lucas had left the building and arrived at some park.

He didn't really know where to go. He only wanted to get out of that place to clear his head.

Looking up at the clear blue sky, everything seemed peaceful...but all of this would change years from now...when the invaders arrive...

Thinking that, he started to ask himself.

Is it really alright for him to bear this kind of responsibility?

Lucas looked down at the golden key hanging on his neck.

The more he looked at it, the more irritated he got.

If it weren't for this stupid thing...

Lucas took it off and threw it into the distance out of anger. But the moment he did, it disappeared and reappeared on his neck again.

Frustrated, he felt anger bubbling up from within.

There was a voice in his head, seemingly echoing in his thoughts.

'Kill...! Kill...! KILL!!!'

"Lucas?"

"!!!"

Hearing someone call out to him, Lucas snapped out of it.

He frowned as he wondered whether that voice was just his imagination...or something else.

Lucas turned to look at who called him. As he did, he saw a somewhat familiar face...

"...Mii? Is that you?"

Lucas recalled a memory from his distant past.

Back when he was a kid, he had a particular half-Japanese friend who had later left and returned to Japan. That was Mica.

Mii was her nickname that he used to call her back when they were kids.

Mica showed a small smile as she looked at Lucas.

"What happened to your hair? And your eyes...are you wearing contacts?"

"Ah, this...it's just uhh...cosplay..."

Lucas flustered for an explanation as he didn't want to raise any suspicions.

"Cosplay?"

"Yeah, I'm uhh...cosplaying my character in a game...there was this get-together with my friends and stuff and we decided on this theme so...yeah..."

"Ah, I see. So that's why you didn't come earlier."

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

Mica spoke in a small voice which Lucas should be able to hear due to his heightened hearing but he wasn't focused properly at the time.

Lucas coughed as he didn't want to continue the topic anymore.

"Ahem. Anyway...what are you up to nowadays? I didn't know you were in the country..."

Mica smiled.

She looked around the park and tuckered her long black hair behind her ear.

"I'm only staying for a few days. There's someone I'm meeting here."

"Oh...I see."

Lucas looked at her again and thought she looked more beautiful and mature now compared to when they were kids. It was only natural for someone like her to have a boyfriend already.

"So, what's up? You looked a bit pale earlier?"

Mica asked.

Lucas sighed and shook his head.

"It was nothing. Just...thinking about some things."

"I see...the game you mentioned earlier, is it World Gate Online?"

"Yeah. You play as well?"

Mica nodded.

"Yeah. I'm starting a guild actually...You can join as well if you want."

"Nah, it's fine...I just started playing actually. Haven't even picked a class yet."

Besides, Lucas is too busy dealing with...all this World Key stuff. It was better if he didn't join a guild for now.

"Alright. Well, if you change your mind, you're always welcome in my guild."

"Thanks. I appreciate that."

Lucas smiled and nodded. He felt that he had calmed down a bit now after speaking to an old friend.

Mica looked at her wrist watch and said.

"I should get going. I'm meeting with my friends at a nearby hotel. Oh, right. We're going to have dinner soon...want to come with us?"

"Umm...no thanks. I'm fine. There are still some things I need to deal with."

"Okay then..."

Mica looked a bit disappointed but her expression returned to normal the next second. She smiled and bid her goodbye as she turned to leave.

"Oh wait!"

"Hm?"

"...How did you recognize me? Even though I look like this?"

Lucas asked.

Mica thought for a moment before smiling.

"It's just a feeling."

"Huh?"

"Goodbye Lucas. Till we meet again."

Lucas looked confused as he stood there while Mica left the park.

He sighed and shook his head.

After some time, he returned back to his apartment.

He picked up the Portal device and looked at the World Key on his neck.

"Right...This World Key should be able to connect to other worlds...right? If so...maybe I can find more World Keys from other worlds?"

As long as he can find another one...he can lead Trask and the others there so they can use it instead.

That way, he wouldn't have to bear this responsibility anymore.

"Yeah...I'm just a normal guy anyway..."

Lucas took a deep breath and held the World Key in his hands.

He stared at it silently for a few seconds before shaking his head again.

"No no no, what if I got transported to a dangerous world? Won't that be bad?...I should probably get stronger first. Yep, that's the way."

After much hesitation, Lucas put on the Portal device and logged in once more. To the world of World Gate Online.

When Lucas opened his eyes again, he was already in a different environment.

He was inside some kind of temple-like place.

"Is this the respawn point of the Dog tribe village?"

Lucas looked around for a bit and saw a few lights appearing and turning into various figures.

Some had dog ears and tail, some had fox-like mouths, some had...dog heads...

Anyway, there were various kinds of people who wore different equipment. They must be players.

Lucas looked at how weird they are and sighed in relief that he came out normal-looking.

He thought for a moment and called out.

"Status"

[Name: Lucas]

[Race: Werebeast (White Wolf), ?????]

[Level: 9]

[Class: None]

[Title: ?????, World Traveler]

[Racial Abilities: Heightened Senses (P), Danger Sense (P), Wolf Transformation (A), Wolf Howl (A), ?????(P), Dragon's Wrath (A), Dragon's Roar (A), Wrath Flame (A)]

[Skills: None]

[STR: 55 | VIT: 132 | INT: 67 | DEX: 50 | SPD: 54 | LUK: -99]

[Free stat points: 40]

"..."

Lucas jaw dropped to the ground as he looked at his status.

What's with all these question marks? How come it looked like he had another race!?

He also has new Racial Abilities...which isn't even remotely near his wolf race!

And his stats got increased by so much even though it was around 25 average when he got out of the Tutorial area...

"What kind of shitty LUK is this...!?"

Lucas sighed.

He had never heard of a negative stat yet here he has LUK at negative 99...

Lucas looked at the free stat points and hesitated. Finally, he sighed and didn't use them for now.

"Let's see how this goes first..."

Lucas left the respawn temple and looked around.

As expected of another world's village, everything looked quite different compared to the modern city he was used to.

It isn't to the point that the houses were made of wood and straws. Rather, the houses appeared quite sturdy and made of stone and cement. It was just that the architectural design was quite different from human aesthetics.

Lucas, for the first time, had finally arrived at a proper 'civilization' after playing the game for a few days.

"Looking for a sturdy tank with 200 or more VIT!"

"Level 45 Thief here looking for a party!"

"We need a healer with decent skills! Please join us!"

"Selling level 50 staff here! Name your price!"

Looking at all this hustling and bustling, Lucas felt a bit calm as he walked through the village.

Finally, he arrived at the north entrance and left.

He wanted to test out the new skills he had so it was preferable if there was no one else around him. Otherwise, it would be annoying to explain how he got them.

Lucas traveled through a forest where he saw players hunt for horned rabbits, slimes, and wolves.

As he walked deeper into the forest, there were fewer players around.

Finally, he encountered a large brown bear with hard red scales on its back.

Lucas had read about this monster from the internet. The Red Scaled Bear...a very fitting name.

It's supposed to be a level 30 monster but for some reason, Lucas didn't feel much pressure facing against it.

Maybe it was because he had met a level 300 Elder Dragon already that the pressure from this bear felt too weak for him.

Anyway, to Lucas, this was a good thing.

He gripped his fists as he stared at the large bear in front of him.

The bear growled and roar in anger when it saw that Lucas wasn't afraid of him.

*ROOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!!*

Lucas gritted his teeth.

Then, he roared as well.

Dragon's Roar!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lucas felt like shouting all of his pent-up frustrations and as he did, he felt his throat grow hotter and his shout had turned into a mighty dragon's roar!

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!"

His roar sent a shockwave around him.

The birds who heard his roar stiffened up and fell one by one to their deaths.

The various monsters roaming around the forest shivered and quickly ran for their lives.

The bear in front of him started to sweat bullets and its expression seemed to pale.

If it could speak, it would probably cry right now.

Bro! I was wrong! I thought you were just a wolf cub but turns out you're a fucking dragon!

Unfortunately for him, Lucas had no idea what he was thinking about.

The more he roared, the more he felt at peace.

The more he raged, the calmer he felt.

Suddenly, a black flame shot out from his mouth.

Wrath Flame!

Seeing this flame, the bear quickly tried to flee but it was too already too late.

It was still shaking and unable to move properly after being intimidated by Dragon's Roar so it was unable to evade the Wrath Flame.

The black flame only grazed its fur but it was enough to completely engulf its whole body in the fire!

Not only that, even the surrounding plants and trees also caught on fire as it continued to spread!

[You have leveled up!]

The moment this window popped up in front of Lucas, he snapped out of it.

"H-huh?"

As he did, the black flame had already completely erased everything around him within a ten-meter radius.

The black flame that wouldn't extinguish suddenly disappeared, just like that.

"What...happened...?"

Lucas looked around him in confusion.

He only wanted to test out his new abilities but...he seemed to have been out of control just a while ago?

As he looked at the destruction around him, he remembered the last words of the dragon who killed him before.

"You shall carry my Wrath! Kill every single one of these damnable vampires for as long as you live! You shall be the bane of their kind! The reason for their extinction! The end to their race!"

"If you fail to kill them...my Wrath shall consume you and you will kill every single being you touch no matter which world you live!"

"NO ONE WILL ESCAPE FROM MY WRATH!"

...

Lucas felt a chill down his spine.

Is this...what he meant?

This power...does using it mean that I will lose control of myself?

In his mind, he thanked the heavens that he didn't shout out loud in frustration earlier back on Earth.

Otherwise...if he lost control there...

Lucas sighed.

Suddenly, he heard shouts coming from afar.

"Quick! That roar came from over there!"

"It must be a Boss!"

"Don't let those bastards get the kill first!"

It seems the players had thought there was some kind of event and a Boss had appeared. Now they are scrambling to fight the Boss and take its loot.

Lucas looked at where the bear used to be...but forget about loot, not even ashes remained.

When monsters are killed, they don't exactly drop gold coins or equipment. One would have to manually dismantle their corpses to get their materials which are then used to forge equipment or weapons.

The scales on the back of the Red Scaled Bear are supposed to be very durable and can be made into armor. Now, even those scales were turned to nothing by his black flame.

Lucas sighed and quickly left the scene to avoid confronting the other players.

He returned to village once again and looked at his status.

[Name: Lucas]

[Race: Werebeast (White Wolf), ?????]

[Level: 10]

[Class: None]

[Title: ?????, World Traveler]

[Racial Abilities: Heightened Senses (P), Danger Sense (P), Wolf Transformation (A), Wolf Howl (A), ?????(P), Dragon's Wrath (A), Dragon's Roar (A), Wrath Flame (A)]

[Skills: None]

[STR: 55 | VIT: 132 | INT: 67 | DEX: 50 | SPD: 54 | LUK: -99]

[Free stat points: 45]

Now that he has reached level 10, it's time for him to pick a class.

All his stats except for LUK is actually higher than it is supposed to be for his level so it isn't a problem for him to choose any class.

He could be a Swordsman, dealing damages and fighting with swords. Swordsmen can advance to two classes at level 50. Swordmaster and Blademaster. Swordmaster is still using swords, just with a higher level of skill. As for Blademaster, they can use spears, lance, or other bladed weapons.

He could also be a Knight, using shields and heavy armor to tank enemies. Knights can advance to either Paladin or Sentry. Paladins can heal as well as support their allies while Sentries can wear even heavier armor, making it seem like they are a moving fortress.

Being a mage is also nice as he could use magic. They can advance to the various element-specific Mage and learn even more destructive spells for that element.

A Thief is also a popular choice. One can choose to be a Rogue or Assassin at level 50. While Rogues are more skilled with setting traps, scouting, and tracking, Assassins deal high damages and critical hits when they sneak up to you.

There's also the long-raged Archer and Gunner class. Archers can turn to either Hunter or Ranger while Gunners turn to Gunmaster.

Or maybe he can be a Healer instead? At level 50, they can change to either Priest or Druid.

Lucas thought about what he should be.

-----------------------------------------

Class Change (Poll ends in 3 days)

-Swordsman

-Knight

-Mage

-Thief

-Archer

-Gunner

-Healer

-----------------------------------------

AN: So...yesterday, I started to write this chapter since I thought the first option would win and that no one else seemed to be voting anymore...but suddenly, the votes inflated and now, "..." had won so....had to rewrite the whole thing again XD

To you guys, it might just be a simple dialogue but it still affects the MC's state of mind and emotions so the outcome of the two is completely different for this chapter.

If you want to read the other version, you can read it here in my drive and see. For the guys in Webnovel...you can't copy paste link anyway so just hop over to Scribblehub if you're curious XD.

But to sum it up, it's basically like this:

For "...I Understand." -> Lucas is calm headed and can accept the situation he is in. He doesn't mind working with Trask and the others but not let himself be a slave for them. Lucas then moves into their secret base for convenience as he needed to train and such.

For "..." -> Lucas shows he still can't quite come to terms with what's happening to him. He leaves and goes off on his own.

That's all XD

See ya next chap! AND STOP USING ALTS DAMMIT! XD

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