Prologue

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?"

― John Lennon

---

I never thought I was special.

When I was young and naïve, I simply didn't know or care. When I grew up, I learned of it and still couldn't find myself to care.

I was fine being an ordinary guy living an ordinary life.

But not everyone likes that attitude.

Maybe that's why some ROB decided that I can not be allowed to live such a boring and monotonous life. So, I was whiskered away from my home while I was still asleep and thrown into another fucking world; one that might be bordering on dystopia. One filled with demonic creatures of darkness hellbent on destroying the people. One where the two supposed Gods of the world were disappointed and left the world to rot and fester on its own. And one where two immortal exes fought each other for several millennia, going at it even now in the form of a shadow war. The only consolation I had was that I was given a gift along with it. A quite powerful one.

***

I woke up with a feeling I couldn't describe.

My body felt fuzzy, my vision was hazy and I felt like I would break apart any moment.

I've had many uncomfortable mornings in my life, mostly due to my rather unhealthy lifestyle choices. But this one took the crown.

"Huck!"

I felt something vile bubbling within my stomach, demanding to come out. And unable to control my raging instincts, I blanched.

[Welcome to—]

"Ueekk!!"

Something blue flashed in front of me for a moment, but I didn't have the willpower or awareness to realize it, much less focus on it, as I clenched my eyes shut and vomited out everything inside my stomach.

And yet, hardly anything came out, other than saliva and maybe some of my stomach juices leaving a lingering acidic aftertaste.

"Fuck!"

I finally breathed—cursed out, really— a sigh of relief once my body was no longer in a state of utter shock and struggle. My natural instincts were no longer going haywire, at least.

It took me a few minutes to gather my wits, eyes still shut and breathing deep yet sharp, but I finally managed to come out of that bizarre state, only to find myself in the middle of what looked like a forest.

"Huh?!"

I snapped my head from left to right and back, quickly taking in my surroundings as my heart rate soared up to the heavens. Safe to say, I was having a panic attack. And why not? I was supposed to wake up in my bedroom, after a good night's sleep. Or just sleep. The "good" part was dubious at best given my messed up sleep cycle. Anyway…

Perhaps because I was in such a state of panic and confusion, I missed the small "!" symbol that was now constantly hovering in my field of vision, near the bottom right corner.

Once I calmed down, realizing my life wasn't in any imminent danger—a rather hasty and ignorant but understandable conclusion on my part— and was only left with confusion and uncertainty, I finally noticed the icon in question.

"What's this?"

I wondered out loud, looking at the thing in question.

My continued focus on the icon seemed to cause something as at the very next moment I was surprised by the appearance of a very familiar blue window.

'Wait… Wait, wait, wait! This… Is this what I think it is?'

My eyes widened further as my brain worked at the speed of a bullet train, stitching together the strange turn of events and reaching a bizarre but strangely familiar conclusion.

Waking up at a completely unexpected place? Check.

An ethereal screen that suspiciously resembles one of a video game? Check.

A hot waifu by my side? Not check. But perhaps that can be resolved in the near future? A man can surely hope, amirite?

"…"

Unable to put my thoughts into words at the moment, I instead dazedly read the text that the window showed.

[Welcome to the world of Remnant, Dragon Tamer! Congratulations! You've been chosen to be the beta tester and sole host of the Dragon Taming System v0.1. Let's repopulate the extinct Dragon-kind in this world and build a beautiful and safe haven for them!]

.

.

.

"… What?"

First of all, definitely a System. But not one I was expecting. I was thinking more along the lines of a Gamer-like System because that seemed to be the standard in all the web novels and fics I read, but this seemed to be something else.

Pressing the downwards-facing triangle that was in the bottom right corner of the screen, I was greeted with a barrage of messages.

[–Admin Note–]

[This is a beta version of the D.T.S. (Dragon Taming System). As such, expect some minor bugs and changes in the future. Hopefully, nothing fatal to you or your future dragons. Thank you for your understanding. Good luck and have fun! :)

-Admin]

[P.S.: Sorry for the unexpected and sudden kidnapping. Hope this counts as an apology.]

***

[Notice! You've been awarded special bonuses and perks as an apology and for being the first host of the D.T.S.]

[Notice! You have been awarded a lifetime VIP membership to the Shop as part of your special bonus! All prices will be halved!]

[Notice! You've been awarded the skill [System's Protection] as part of your special bonus.]

[Notice! You've been awarded the perk [Supreme Dragon Goddess's Blessing] as part of your special bonus.]

[Notice! You've been awarded the VIP beginner's pack as part of your special bonus.]

[Notice! You've been awarded 10000G as part of your VIP beginner's pack.]

[Notice! You've been awarded 10 DP as part of your VIP beginner's pack.]

***

[Would you like to begin the tutorial now?

Yes / Later ]

…

It took me a little while to read and then re-read it all. Only then did I begin to ponder.

'Okay… I guess that sort of explains things. So, I've been Isekai'd. Given a System that is in its beta… Hmm, not sure how I feel about possible bugs. And finally, I'm in… Remnant? I feel like I've heard the name somewhere before…'

Was this a world I knew? From some movie, game, or anime? I wasn't sure.

Then, there was the System. It wasn't a Gamer System. But one that seemed to be related to Dragons and Taming? Admittedly, I was a little bummed out by that, but not wanting to jump the gun, I decided to withhold my judgment until I was certain what it was. The prospect of Dragon Taming wasn't exactly something I could just scoff at after all.

During my pondering, I had completely forgotten that I was standing in the middle of nowhere, the unknown wilderness.

A distant howl brought me out of my stupor and I realized my current situation.

'Wait, where am I and what do I do?'

I glanced around the forest scenery, unable to see very far due to the dense flora.

Now, let it be known that, despite watching dozens of shows related to survival in the wild in the distant past, I had no idea how to survive in one.

Too used to the comforts of civilization and its conveniences, my survival skills were so dulled, that they were pretty much non-existent.

So, once I was certain I couldn't do a whole lot in that regard, except maybe walk around aimlessly, hoping to find a clearing, or better, civilization, I instead focused my attention back on the System's prompt.

Seeing as this was probably my best chance of survival, I decided to work with it. I noticed a fallen log nearby and after another preliminary inspection for any dangers around—since I didn't want to be bit by poisonous insects or snakes— I sat on it.

I clicked on the 'Yes' tab and the tutorial began.

[Welcome to the D.T.S. tutorial! To become the world's greatest Dragon Tamer, you must first understand the basics of the basics. So without further ado, let's begin!]

I clicked on the downward triangle on the bottom right to continue and the screen shifted to another.

[First things first. Let's get you acquainted with the Dragon Taming System. It is designed to aid you with all your Dragon-related needs. But it's not just that. It's also your Personal System!]

I perked up at that. And immediately clicked on the downward triangle again to continue.

[Here's the list of features available to you! Make sure to go through them all to understand their basic utility!]

[Notice! Select a feature to continue.]

[Status]

[Skills]

[Perks]

[Quests]

[Inventory]

[Map]

[Shop]

[Logs]

[Dragon Codex]

[Feedback/Bug Report]

'Hmm… Let's see…'

Deciding to just follow the sequence, I clicked on [Status] and was immediately greeted by a much larger screen and a pop-up window.

[–Status–]

[The Status tab shows you a set of records related to you and, in the future, your dragons. Most things here are straightforward, but some of them have individual explanations as you go through the list.]

***

[–Status–]

Name: Damian Pendragon

Age: 18

Race: Human

Title: Dragon Tamer(Initiate)[+]

---

Tier: I[+]

Level: 1/10

---

HP: 100/100

MP: -Locked-[+]

Aura: -Locked-[+]

---

STR: 7 (Strength)

END: 8 (Endurance)

AGI: 8 (Agility)

DEX: 7 (Dexterity)

INT: 9 (Intelligence)

WIS: 8 (Wisdom)

CHA: 6 (Charm)

LUC: 10 (Luck)

---

SP: 0 (Free Stat Points)

DP: 10[+] (Dragon Points)

---

Gold: 10000[+]

♦-♦-♦

I blinked in both confusion and curiosity.

'I've been de-aged…'

Not just that, I had also been renamed. Not that I had any real qualms against that since I would have liked to do so myself, but I wasn't given the option to choose it myself.

'Oh well.'

Not like it was a big deal.

'I wouldn't have been able to come up with a good name anyway.'

But I wasn't sure how I felt about becoming almost 5 years younger…

'Damian, huh? I guess I can live with that. The Pendragon surname seems a bit too heavy-handed given my title, though.'

If only I knew the meaning of the name Damian, I would've most likely deadpanned.

Moving on, I clicked on the [+] icon after the Dragon Tamer[Initiate], and a new window with a description popped up.

[–Dragon Tamer–]

[You have the title of a Dragon Tamer, which gives you +15% proficiency in taming and training dragons. Additionally, you get a bonus +5% EXP gain for every kill your dragons perform.]

[Current Rank: Initiate]

'Not the most detailed description, but I won't deny a title with perks.

How does the ranking work?'

[Notice! Ranks for the Title are as follows: ]

[Initiate]

[Novice]

[Apprentice]

[Adept]

[Expert]

[Master]

[Legend]

I blinked again.

'Wait, can it understand me? Is it sentient? Hello?'

I waited for a short while but got no response. Saying it out loud didn't help either.

'Hmm… was it a system query thing? Like, it only answers certain pre-defined System related queries?'

Thinking along those lines, I tried to ask it something.

'Explain Stats.'

No response.

'What are Stats?'

Still nothing.

'Okay… That's… confusing. Not sure how this works. I'll figure it out later. Moving on.'

Next, I clicked on the [+] icon in the Tier section.

[Current Tier: I]

[You are currently a Tier I Human. The base of your race. A normal human. This tier gives you no bonuses or perks.

Level up to the max to reach the next Tier.]

[Next Tier: II Human(Magical)]

'How many tiers are there?'

[Notice! Tiers are as follows: ]

[Tier I: Human(Normal)]

[Tier II: Human(Magical)]

[Tier III: ???]

[Tier IV: ???]

[Tier V: ???]

[Tier VI: ???]

[Notice! Unlock the next Tier to reveal more information!]

This time, my query brought forth an answer.

'Hmm… So, there are 6 tiers?'

If my theory was right, my currently locked MP and Aura—whatever that was— might be unlocked once I reach the next tier. At least, MP most certainly would. Aura was very much an unknown to me until now.

But not for long.

I immediately moved on to the MP and Aura, clicking their [+] buttons.

[Notice! Your MP(Mana Points) is currently locked due to your low tier. Reach the next tier(Tier II) to unlock your MP.]

[Notice! Your Aura is currently locked. Find a way to unlock it.

Hint: There is more than one way to unlock your Aura.]

I furrowed my brows in confusion.

My guess about the MP was spot-on. No surprise there. But the Aura part was confusing. Not only did I get no description of it, but it also didn't tell me how to unlock it. Just that there are multiple ways of doing it.

Since there was no description of MP either, I could only imagine that it expected me to know and understand what it was. And I did understand what HP and MP were. Any gamer would. But I wasn't sure what Aura was. There were multiple iterations, and thus meanings, of the term 'Aura'. Was it a Martial Arts thing? Or some kind of ethereal force that you can project onto others?

Aura of Intimidation came to mind.

There were other forms too, but I couldn't remember most.

'Guess I'll add it to the figure it out later tab as well for now.'

Moving on, my stats were… less than I expected? But since I had no idea about the average values, I couldn't be sure.

'What's the average stat of a Tier 1 human?'

…

No reply.

'Hmm…'

For the time being, I assumed the average stats of a level 1 to be 10. Only because that's how most games and System stats I knew worked. Unless this was one of the outlier Systems, my assumption would most likely be accurate.

At least my Luck stat seemed to be high. Average? Normal? Well, it was my highest stat. And…

'Charm is my lowest stat, huh… Yeah, no surprises there. I knew I wasn't charming. Or sociable. Or anything worth remembering… Sheesh, let's not go down that rabbit hole right now.'

With a resigned sigh, I moved on.

Next were SP and DP. I already knew what Free Stat Points meant, so only DP, or Dragon Points, was new to me.

[–Dragon Points–]

[Dragon Points is a special currency that can be earned from doing certain Dragon-related activities and can be spent in Shop to unlock special items and places in ???. They are also an alternative currency to Gold.]

[Current DP: 10]

For whatever reason, that seemed to trigger a quest.

[Notice! First Quest unlocked!]

[Title: Dragons' Safe Haven

Description: There's a fabled land in a dimension of its own that was built as a safe haven for the Dragons. It is said to have everything that is needed to flourish the dragon kind. As the one and only Dragon Tamer in this world, you must find it.

Legends say there's a portal that leads to it. But only the true Dragons can unlock it.

Objectives:

- Get a dragon's egg.

- Hatch the egg.

Rewards:

- Unlock the portal to ???

- XP

- 200 Gold

Failure:

None]

[Accept?]

[Yes / No]

'A safe haven for dragons? Sounds interesting.'

I thought while clicking on the 'Yes' button.

'Now, how the heck would I even get a dragon's egg? The shop, maybe?'

The sudden quest distracted me for a moment as I wondered about this special dimension for dragons, but once I recovered, I finished looking up the Status page before I got ahead of myself. I would check the Shop soon anyway.

The last one was Gold.

[–Gold–]

[The main currency of the shop and ???. You earn it from your dragons and through Quests.

Spend it to buy various items and places related to dragons and ???.]

[Current Gold: 10000]

I had 10000 of it. I wasn't sure if it meant Gold coins or just straight-up KGs or bars of Gold. I also didn't know how to take it out—assuming I even could, that is.

It had taken me a little while to go through just one feature and I still had the rest. But I was too excited to be tired.

With a deep breath and anticipation, I closed the Status window, clicking the X button on the top-right corner. Apparently, the system worked both ways. Manual clicking and using mental commands.

Since there was no one here, I could be lax and use my hands, but I would have to use mental commands once I was near people. People… Another world…

And now that was a whole other thing. One I didn't want to think about just yet. Thankfully, the System provided me with a reasonable distraction.

Next, I immediately moved on to the [Skills] menu.

[–Skills–]

[Here you can find all your skills. Skills are of two types: Active skills, which require MP/SP/AP, and Passive skills which don't require anything.]

Looking through the very short list of skills, I had only 2.

[–Taming–]

(Passive)

[You have the ability to tame Dragons and draconic beings that are below Uncommon rank. Additionally, increases {Level}% Affection, Reputation, and Obedience with tamed Dragons.

Note: Unlock the next rank of Dragons by reaching level 10.]

[Level 1/100]

***

[–System's Protection–]

(Passive)

[This is a special ability given to you due to your unique existence in this world. No one other than you can see or feel the core of the System. Additionally, it protects you against all mental and spiritual attacks, probes, and effects.

Note: System abilities that affect the real world are noticeable by others.]

[Level: MAX]

***

'So, a Taming skill and a special skill. Both passive and non-combat-oriented. Not bad. But I wonder how I'll gain more skills. Does it work the same way as the Gamer System or…?'

I piled that thought into the 'To do later' tab as well.

I did catch something in one of the skills descriptions.

'Do dragons have ranks too?'

[Notice! Dragons are ranked based on their rarity as follows: ]

[Common]

[Uncommon]

[Rare]

[Epic]

[Legendary]

[Ancient]

[Divine]

"Hmm."

I hummed, cupping my chin.

'Got it. So, basically, what this is saying is I can get Divine Dragons in due time. Sounds… Overpowered as hell. Probably won't be easy to get though, given their maximum rarity. And I can only tame Common dragons as of yet. Welp. That's probably end-game stuff. No point thinking about it right now when I'm a level 1 noob.'

Opening the [Perks] tab, I found my current perks and another pop-up.

[–Perks–]

[A tab to see all your active perks. Perks usually give passive bonuses and are earned through special actions or Quest rewards.]

***

[–Supreme Dragon Goddess's Blessing–]

[Your noble goal has impressed Entranos, the ancient and supreme Goddess and the progenitor of all Dragons. She gives you her Divine Blessing.

Bonus Perk: Dragon's Favourite

Doubles the Gold gains from all Dragons.

Gain the affinities of your Dragons.]

***

[–Dragon's Favourite–]

[Due to the blessing from the Dragon Progenitor herself, you are now adored by the Dragons and Draconic beings.

+25% gains to Affection, Reputation, and Obedience from all types of Dragons and Draconic beings.]

***

'Not bad. I'll take it.'

So far so good. More or less.

[Quests] tab had the list of my active and completed quests. Currently, it only had the one Quest I received.

Next was [Inventory].

[–Inventory–]

[A sub-space that stores items and equipment. You can store and retrieve items and equipment with a mere thought.]

***

In the blue rectangular grid, I had a singular box that resembled very much one of those loot boxes and chests from gacha games.

[VIP Beginner's Kit]

I clicked on it and was greeted with a pleasant surprise.

[Notice! You've received the following items!]

- 1x Fire Dragon's Egg(Common)

- 1x Instant Fire Dragon's Habitat(Tier 1)

- 1x Instant Dragon Berry Farm(Tier 1)

- 1x Fire Dragon's Temple(Tier 1)

- 5x Construction Golem(Tier 1)

- 5000x Dragon Berries

- 5000 Gold

'Huh. That's… helpful? Wait, a dragon's egg? Does that mean…?'

My theory was proven correct when I opened the [Quests] tab again.

[Title: Dragons' Safe Haven

Description: There's a fabled land in a dimension of its own that was built as a safe haven for the Dragons. It is said to have everything that is needed to flourish the dragon kind. As the Dragon Tamer, you must find it.

Legends say there's a portal that leads to it. But only the true Dragons can unlock it.

Objectives:

- Get a dragon's egg. (Completed!)

- Hatch the egg.

Rewards:

- Unlock the portal to ???.

- XP

- 200 Gold

Failure:

None]

'Neat. Half of the quest is already done.'

Out of curiosity, I checked the main attraction among the gifts now sitting inside my Inventory. The Dragon's Egg. A red egg with a yellowish top and a wavy pattern was sitting quietly in one of the boxes of my inventory's grid, besides other items that seemed to be all structures. And berries. Red and spherical, pointy-looking things attached to a short green leafy stem.

I wondered if they were edible and if I'd have to survive on them in case I didn't find a settlement I could enter.

I shook my head. I was yet to begin my adventure—the hunt to find a human settlement.

'No need to be pessimistic from the start.'

I didn't take out the egg, fearing I might mess up something.

I still had no idea how to hatch the thing. Maybe the [Codex] menu would help. I didn't get a response when I asked it to the System.

Anyway, slowly but steadily, I was making progress. Only a few more features to go through.

The next one seemed quite helpful in my current predicament.

[–Map–]

[A map that tracks and saves the places you visit and shows your current location.]

***

It looked like a standard map like in most RPGs, just a lot more realistic. Inside, I was a blue mouse pointer with no tail, facing southeast. A small circular region around me was 'unlocked', so to say, showing the 2D top-down view of the forest. But everything else was greyed out and I couldn't decipher anything. There were, unfortunately, no labels visible, nor were there any signs of civilization nearby in the region I had unlocked.

'Hn. Guess I'll have to do some manual exploration. Speaking of…'

I had been lingering in the same spot I woke up in this world. I wasn't sure how long I had been staring at the screens, but now that I was looking at the map, I realized that it might be better to start looking around. The rest of the System features could wait. It was not safe to reside inside a random forest.

But before that, I did quickly check the [Shop] menu, hoping to get some supplies in case I needed to stay in the wilderness for longer. I even checked for paid Map region unlocks but there were none.

Alas, it seemed to only possess things related to Dragons. Interesting things for sure, but nothing I needed right now. I'd be doing a more thorough dive into it once I was in a safe location. The middle of the forest wasn't safe.

As if to prove my point, I heard another howl, this one sounding closer than the first one.

'Time to leave, me. Don't push your luck.'

Being a Level 1 noob without any weapons or armor, I was absolutely helpless in case of a dangerous encounter.

So, choosing a direction that wasn't where I thought the howl came from, I started moving. My aim: To find signs of civilization, preferably a road that led to a city or town, but I would take a small settlement as well.

As I trekked through the vibrant and cramped forest floor, my mind was finally catching up to my reality and I started feeling the emotions: loss, uncertainty, and fear.

I was taking it a little too well until now but I had just lost my home world. Basically, everything and everyone I knew and loved.

I was uncertain about my present and future. What did this world have in store for me and was I ready to face it?

And finally, while I was able to hide it well, even from myself, I knew some part of me deep down was afraid.

Change is a scary concept in general for many. And the kind of change I had just experienced was on a whole different level. It was only due to my familiarity with the situation through questionable sources that helped me keep it under control. But it was only fair that I felt the way I did. It was okay to be a little scared.

*Awooooo!*

The distant howl for some reason hadn't lowered in its intensity and I was starting to panic a little as I increased my trekking speed.

'It's probably just a wolf. Calm down. No need to panic.'

***