Golden Dragon

On a pile of treasure every guild, explorers, and race would kill to have, was seated Eric Knight wearing badass equipment.

The grotto was filled with so much gold even the rocky walls glowed yellow. Eric's armor reflected those golden hues, despite emitting a faint pale white light, highlighting the fact his equipment had been enhanced.

His hand dung deep into a bunch of gold coins, grabbing a handful to shower his short blonde hair with it. Not because he was greedy for money—well, he liked gold of course—but because Eric was bored.

He then grabbed a precious-looking golden staff, eyed his giant silver wolf, and hurled the item. The staff traveled through the air, reaching the grotto's entrance.

The giant wolf caught it promptly, easily, and ran back to its master before Eric could even blink.

"Not much of a challenge, hun?" Eric said, before his blue eyes settled on the numerous B grade equipment next to him. He unwrapped his articulated whip attached to his waist.

And using it, he hurled the B grade equipments one by one to the furthest corner of the grotto at unbelievable speed.

The giant silver wolf's figure blurred as it fetched the items.

Any Ascender would cough blood at this nonsensical action. Playing with B grades items worth hundreds of thousands if not millions of Dungeon Points, aka DPs, like they were toys was unthinkable to most.

Those could only be found on the Lower Floors of the Gaia's Dungeon.

They were considered the best as of now. Of course, there were speculations of other existing ranks above B grade.

But those were secretly kept from public eyes and extremely rare. Found thanks to luck or only on the Deep floors that still remained unexplored until now. But soon, the explorers would set foot in those.

However, to Eric, items were only secondary. He preferred to acquire pets! Beasts, insectoids, monsters, and even humanoid beings alike. As many and rare as his class would allow him. After all, the more he had, the stronger he became.

Even if he were to only wear a straw underwear as equipment, he could guarantee victory over the previous floor's boss.

Suddenly, Eric felt tremors originating from the outside. The pile of treasures slightly trembled. Soon, the tremors intensified as a giant beast passed the entrance.

Eric smiled with satisfaction as he called back the giant silver wolf, for their prey has come.

A huge figure covered in majestic golden scales, standing on four muscular legs, towered over the puny human and its not so giant silver wolf.

It deployed its wings to intimidate its enemies, further enhancing the extraordinary aura emanating from it.

The hidden boss of the last floor known to the explorers, the Golden Dragon, looked at the human sitting on its belongings as if he owned it. A low growl resounded in the grotto, as it showed its intimidating sharp fangs.

Most, no, every explorer avoided it. Why? First, because despite being a hidden boss, everyone knew of it, so they could bypass it.

Second, because of its absurd strength, some theorised it was comparable to bosses on the Deep Floors.

It was considered suicide to confront it, but… to Eric, it was just another beast to tame. A new pet he dearly wished to add to his collection.

Using the passive skill Tamer's Eye, Eric revealed the dragon's status window.

——————

[Lv 100 Adult Golden Dragon]

Tamability: 1%

State: Angry/Vigorous

——STATS——

HP: ???????

Mana: ???????

Magic: ??????

Strength: ??????

Agility: ??????

Physical Resistance: ??????

Magical Resistance: ??????

——SKILLS——

- (?) Draconic Fire Breath

- (?) Murderous Claws

- (?) Inferno

- (B) Blinding Flash

- (B) Thunderous Roar

- (B) Fortress

- (?) Dragon's Majesty

- (?) Fire Immunity

- Etc.

——————

"Lv 100? What a ridiculous status. No wonder I can't see all the information." Eric said, standing up on the pile of treasure belonging to the dragon. "I'm sure Lucas would have loved to see this."

The Golden Dragon was a beast Eric has wanted to tame for a very long time, even when he had been on Earth. Finally, today, his dream would come true—if he didn't mess it up, that is.

Eric smirked as he summoned some of his other pets. Many beasts, insectoids, monsters, humanoid beings and even a huge rock materialized out of thin air.

Yes, he had tamed a rock.

"This much should do," he said, jumping on the back of his Sleipnir, a dark horse with eight legs and a flaming mane.

He then drew his revolver from its holster. Aimed at the Golden Dragon, who let out a deafening roar so loud the grotto trembled, as if afraid of the giant beast's fury.

ROAR!!

However, as they came prepared, Eric and his pets remained unaffected by the powerful roar.

"Shall we dance?"

***

A few years ago, in a closed metro station in Paris.

"Here, take this. It'll warm you up," Eric said, handing a hot recyclable cup of coffee fresh out of the vending machine to a homeless woman.

Covered in brown winter clothes, and a tattered grey blanket, she smiled behind her scarf at the kind gesture and stretched her gloved hands to grab the steamy cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Eric. Just what I needed." She said, before taking a sip. "It's perfect."

She felt grateful to the young man. He'd come by from time to time at night to sleep in the metro too, always bringing food or drinks. But also always with a few bruises.

During winter, when trains stopped their shifts, the underground metro stations would always be opened for homeless people who had nowhere else to sleep. The employees wouldn't dare let people sleep outside in the cold.

Every year, many individuals died this way, after all.

She watched Eric hand cups after cups to the other homeless people, with a smile on his face. Clearly, the young man wasn't penniless like all of them, on top of being handsome and kindhearted—though, he wasn't rich.

She always wondered why he'd talk to them, the people rejected by society. Those who struggled to make a living.

Having finished distributing the coffee, Eric sat next to the homeless woman on the piece of cardboard laid on the floor, brought out a blanket from his backpack, and covered himself with it before leaning against the cold wall.

Then, as per usual, he took out his smartphone to open the mobile game, TamingGo. A video game where the player was a tamer whose aim was to tame every beast in the game—though it was unachievable since each update brought new beasts.

The player would have to move around in real life to find and capture them.

At first, he hadn't been too keen on playing video games. He had preferred spending his free time practicing parkour.

A sport invented by a French man consisting of… pretty much running around and climbing structures. Yeah, like monkeys.

It resulted in Eric having a toned body fitting his previous occupations as a beast tamer in a circus and a part-time job as a model for the famous cloth brand, Jack's Secret.

With time, he came to enjoy playing TamingGo and video games in general. After all, his little brother, Lucas, had loved to play video games, particularly with Eric.

And since they were orphans, Lucas had been his only family.

Until five months ago, where Lucas drew his last breath because of a damn virus, plunging Eric into loneliness. Breaking him.

Eric had a few friends, yes, but it wasn't the same. None could understand the connection he shared with his little brother. The one he had sworn to protect, to take care of.

If he could have given his life for Lucas, Eric would have done it without batting an eye. He was the kind of person who would do anything for his brother.

His only family.

Since that grim day, Eric has tried to keep himself from falling into depression. Pushing him to quit his previous jobs and participate in underground fights every night.

Why? To seek the thrill of danger. To feel alive. Ironically, he discovered he had a real talent for fighting. Thus, becoming quite known.

While he wasn't fighting, he adapted a merry-go-lucky attitude and frequently played TamingGo because it reminded him of his brother.

The time they spent together having fun catching beasts. Exploring new areas. Some of them off-limits like construction sites or abandoned buildings.

Eric felt that as long as he played it, his brother would never truly die and remain in his memories. As long as he could remember those happy days, that would help him continue living.

Life was hard. One had to grasp every bit of hope one could get. Be it tangible or intangible, like Eric's happy memories.

As for why he'd come to this particular metro station to hang out with homeless people. Well, at first, it was because he realized that this area was a good taming spot, with a higher chance to encounter a rare shining beast.

A beast his little brother had dreamt of taming: The Golden Dragon.

It only appeared at a specific time, with an average encounter rate of 0,00001%. However, Eric had already spotted it twice in this area, but the beast eluded him somehow.

His second reason was that he liked to help others. It brought him a good feeling, a sense of satisfaction. When he wasn't fighting or playing TamingGo, he would always share whatever he could with homeless people. Volunteer for charity events.

But really, it was just out of selfishness. The good feeling it brought him somewhat erased his grief for a short time. If it wasn't for it, he probably wouldn't be helping people as much as he was doing it now.

Of course, he wouldn't mindlessly risk his life to help someone else. Even if he sought the thrill, risking his life for someone other than family was a no-go.

Although remarkable, and praiseworthy, he'd leave that to those heroes in comic books, movies, and animes.

Eric only helped others when he wanted to and also if it was realistically possible. That's what he'd always say anyway, which resulted in his little brother shaking his head in disagreement.

Lucas had still been a 13 years old teenager full of dreams when he had died three years ago, so he hadn't been able to understand certain things about life.

Eric sighed at this thought before checking his beast radar for any sign of the Golden Dragon.

'Still no luck today. I suppose I'll try again tomorrow.' He thought, before closing the game to read a web novel.

Tired from his day of work, he fell asleep after reading for around an hour.

Embracing the coldness of the winter night. Welcoming the dreamless sleep.

However, tonight, for the first time since Lucas's death, he would dream.

Or so he'd come to believe.