Chapter 2

'It's dark'.

.

.

.

.

Elvis couldn't see or hear anything, but he could feel that he was in an enclosed liquid space.

Not enjoying the feeling of being trapped in an enclosed, dark space, he tried his best to escape.

Trying his best to break free from wherever he was, something chipped off; he didn't know what it was, but he could see the light coming through, which made him happy. He tried harder to break free.

(Crack) The eggshell completely broke, and Elvis fell into the nest with liquid slime all over his body.

"Huh, where am I?" Elvis looked around the slightly lit cave.

The cave was light blue and large enough to park a private airplane, but it was empty except for a giant nest on which Elvis sat and a few bugs crawling around.

"Wait, didn't I die?" Elvis slowly regained his memory, and it was then that he noticed that he wasn't human anymore.

"Ah!" Elvis panicked and screamed, which only came out as a harmless tiny dragon's roar from his mouth.

Elvis was a bit frustrated when he checked his hands, which are now paws and claws, and his previously smooth skin, which is only filled with rough black scales.

He also touched his face and said, "Crap, my handsome face, how am I going to get girls now?"

After a while of sobbing in his so-called misfortune, he finally calmed down, mainly because he was starving.

[The host is hungry.]

[Please proceed to eat the eggshell].

"It's that sound again, which I heard when I was dying."

"Did it follow me to this world?"

Elvis began to think about the possibilities, but not for long as his stomach rumbled loudly.

[Proceed to eat the eggshell, or the host might die of hunger.]

"Eat an eggshell?".

That sounded weird to Elvis, but the more he looked at the shell, the hungrier he got.

He proceeded towards the shell and munched on it.

'Yum' Surprisingly, the eggshell wasn't bad; it had a certain sweet taste to it that he couldn't quite place his finger on, and the eggshell contained the necessary nutrients for a baby dragon.

After he was done eating the whole eggshell that was meant to last at least three days, he felt stronger and maybe a little bit bigger.

"I should leave this cave and possibly hunt for food if I don't want to die of hunger."

Elvis was already getting used to his new lifestyle.

"The deed is done; there is no need to cry over it like a woman," was the thought Elvis had.

[Mission triggered: Leave the mountain caves]

"Huh, I triggered a mission?" Elvis still doesn't know how the system operates.

Elvis first took a walk around the cave he was in, where he noticed that there were two exits.

The first exit leads nowhere but outside directly, and since his cave is located on the top of the mountain, it's only suitable for creatures that could fly high, which he couldn't yet. Perhaps his mother dragon uses this to come and go out of the cave as she pleases.

The second exit leads to other parts of the cave that contain stairs leading down.

His dragon instinct was telling him that there would be possible dangers down there; normally he would have tried to avoid anything life-threatening back on earth, but as a dragon, he can't just back down because he's scared, not when the system has issued it as a mission.

"I should explore whatever is down there," Elvis says and heads down the leading stair, leaving his safe haven alone.

If only he knew the dangers he would encounter as he progressed.

Earlier, before Elvis hatched...

The whole mountain and forest lit up toward the sky.

The whole beast and monster were scared; the light was too bright and gave them a dangerous feeling.

Not only the monsters had such feelings; even the humans far away from the forest felt the same when they saw the golden light beaming towards the sky.

—----------

In the human kingdom....

Inside the castle hall, an old man with a white beard majestically sat on a throne with a crown on his head. Although he appeared old, his body was beaming with life and energy—even more than that of any youth.

This man is none other than one of the human kings.

Guards were beside him and also at the door; the hall was filled to the brim with royal ministers of the kingdom.

Tensions were written all over their faces, and the royal ministers knew that whatever made the human king call for an emergency meeting meant something big was going to happen.

"I believe you all saw that strange light earlier?" The human king asked, staring at the ministers.

The ministers all gulped. Of course, they saw it, but the dangerous aura that the king was giving off made them too scared to talk.

The title of human king is only given to the strongest among all humans who have passed through and won many death battles.

"Yes, your majesty, we all saw it," they all finally responded.

"Good, does anyone know what that symbolizes?" The king asked again.

"No, your majesty," one of the ministers replied.

The king then explained, "I was visited by that crazy old man again, and he told me that the light signifies a creature being born that will threaten the existence of we humans and the world in general."

The ministers were shocked; they all knew what a crazy old man the human king was talking about.

The man might not be the strongest, but he is somehow so dangerous that even the king has to be wary, and he also sees a glimpse of the future, so whatever he says comes true at least most of the time.

"So what should we do now, your majesty?" One of the royal ministers spoke up.

"Although we don't know what creature it is, the light came from the forbidden forest, so gather your men to clear the forest!" The human king commanded, and the ministers were not surprised.

Their king is no different from a tyrant after all.

"Spread the words out to the entire kingdom to eliminate whatever you deem a threat;, kill the whole beast in the forest," the king said once again with a clear, commanding tone.

"Yes, your majesty, but it's going to take a while to mobilize our forces and prepare them," one of the ministers said with his head bowed.

The king thought for a while and then said, "Ok, then in the next two weeks, the expedition shall commence."

The king felt whatever creature will threaten them shouldn't be able to grow strong that fast in just two weeks, right?

"Yes, your majesty," the ministers all said, bowing and leaving to carry out the king's order.

***

While all that was going on in the human kingdom, Elvis had met his first threat.