4

I started reverting to my original form as soon as the rock loosened. Yanking my head free of the rock with a grunt. The queen was still alive somehow. Most of her ass end had already turned to stone, and she was dying, but she wasn't dead yet. She only had one leg left.

She was dragging herself along with the one leg she had left as her body continued to slowly turn to stone. She wasn't calling her minions to her side anymore. They were scattering as she went into her death throws. I roared triumphantly. This was a big kill for me.

I'd struck the final blow on the queen of the hive. My contribution to this particular quest would be pretty high. I was practically salivating at the reward. I smacked off a few dying spiders, and jumped into the air. I still had mana left so why not use it.

Lightning danced within my scales as I let it all loose. Killing all the spiders near me in a shower of lightning bolts. I really wished this elemental fusion thing had happened sooner. Using lightning became even easier then breathing. I breathed lightning down onto the spiders on my way back.

Breathing lightning didn't cost me any mana, but breathing lightning wasn't the only thing I was doing. I was a flying lightning storm. Raining power down on all my enemies. Not all the spiders were killed with a single lightning strike, but I was reducing the number of enemies really quickly. I was running out of mana really quickly doing this, but I didn't really care.

I was just trying to push up my kill count as high as possible. Any, and all bonus XP would be welcome.

Darkness affinity level 1. Arachnid queen killed Quest related XP. Quest completed. Calculating users contribution. Estimated time needed to complete calculations 4 hours.

A headache hit me at that moment as a new set of horns sprouted at the edge of my crown of horns. I shook off the pain as I came down for a soft landing. My crown of horns was nearly complete now. I held my wings out loosely. Ethan was awake now, and stared at me disapprovingly.

{You should have told me before you left,} Ethan raised an eyebrow at me.

{I'm fine,} I stretched slowly as the first rays of dawn peeked over the horizon, {Just doing a little more damage while I've got the time.}

{You really shouldn't treat your life as if it's a game,} Ethan frowned at me, {Even if you do have that system in your head.}

I snorted at him. Content to ignore him for now. I was a little worn out, but I didn't need to sleep for now. I would wait for the time being. My wings twitched as they came in slowly.

Folding neatly along my sides as I settled. The humans nearby looked at me funny. I ignored them too. Hissing as the wound on my neck stung me again. I really should have channeled more mana into it to seal it up, and regrow the missing tissue.

I'd earned the break. I needed half as much sleep as a normal human so I'd actually done more on less sleep. I looked out over the new lake Gaia had created. She'd caved in the entire tunnel system that the spiders had carved out. Using all the mana she had available to her at the time.

I briefly wondered just how much power she would have at her peak. She'd allowed me to contract her as a summon. Maybe it was a sentimental thing. Since I'm the new dragon prince. I shook off the thought.

I didn't need to overthink her involvement. My tail twitched as I dropped my head down to relax. I hadn't been to my inner world in a while. I hadn't wanted to go to my inner world lately either. Maybe that was why.

No. That couldn't be it. Something was a little off. I wasn't sure what it was. My head hadn't felt right for a while now.

A few weeks maybe a month. Then there were those random thoughts that kept popping into my head. They didn't feel entirely wrong. They just didn't feel like my thoughts. Like the thought of summoning Gaia.

They were quiet thoughts, but they had been getting louder. You're the one that doesn't think your plans through properly. I froze at the random thought. I ticked my tail back, and forth irritably. Where were these thoughts coming from?

Why didn't they worry me more? They felt almost natural, but they weren't mine.

{What's bothering you?} Ethan came over to sit on my arm.

{Not sure,} I shrugged lazily, {Just something off in my head.}

"Something off in your head isn't a big deal?" Ethan seemed to forget we were having a mental conversation.

"Just some random thoughts I've been having catching me off guard," I smirked, "Like I said before. Not a big deal." I sighed, "Like when I used to salivate whenever I thought about raw meat."

We both lapsed into silence after that. We had full access to each other's minds now that our bond had risen to the advanced level. I decided to look through the memories of what Ethan's family was like. They were a cold bunch. Obsessed with the power, and prestige that being natural ability users granted them.

Ethan's one friend had been hired on to motivate him to become stronger. When it didn't work they turned him against him. Resorting to mental, and literal torture to get results. Eventually they went too far, and Ethan broke. That was why he was so terrified of people when we met.

When your family, and every person you've ever met is only there to torture you. When you don't have anyone to fall back on. Breaking becomes an inevitability. Not a possibility. He was treated fairly well until he turned five, but then the training began.