"Dragons are spawns of evil that must be exterminated, no matter the cost!"
Draco's eyes were bloodshot as he tightly gripped his weapon—a black-iron spear with a purple glint at its edge. He had rough black hair, with blue eyes that seemed to boil with unfathomable rage as he marched into the Cave of Trials with the rest of the examinees.
He wore simple blackish brown armor, a uniform shared with the rest of his comrades, with tough boots that marched on the ground to create an imposing echo of death.
'Just wait for me, filthy dragons!' He growled, his anger rising. 'I'll kill you all!'
Darkness closed in on him as he entered the Cave of Trials, a massive cavern with jagged ceilings, uneven floors, and spiked walls that made it a dangerous place for humans… and a perfect hideout for Dragons.
Every five years, the Dragon Academy opened up its gates for new entrants so they could be trained to the best of their abilities and become the next generation of Dragon Hunters.
To enter the Academy, however, they had to go through the Cave of Trials.
Only those who emerged from the other side would be considered suitable—no, worthy—to possess the greatest honor in the world of Te'rah.
—Becoming a Dragon Hunter.
'This place is crawling with Dragons, which means most of us who enter will not make it out alive…' Draco thought cautiously.
Failure meant death.
'No matter, I don't plan to be among the ones who will perish here. I won't die, not until I've achieved my goal of becoming the greatest Dragon Hunter!'
As that thought burned in his mind, his eyes slowly got accustomed to the darkness of the cave, and his spear began to glow with a dull purple light. Upon seeing this, Draco grinned maliciously.
'A Dragon is nearby… hehe!'
The tip of his spear was specially made from Divining Metal, capable of discerning the presence of evil entities. Dragons were the personification of evil, which meant any item made from this metal served as an excellent Dragon Detector.
Draco steadied himself and took a defensive stance, his eyes circling around him to pick up the slightest glimpse of the monster that lurked around.
There was nothing.
Then, he closed his eyes and focused on his most reliable sense at the moment: hearing.
He tried his best to pick up the slightest hint of sound, his grip tightening on his weapon to the point that his palms whitened. His body shook, trembling not from fear but due to sheer anticipation.
After only a few seconds, he was able to pick it up.
A sound.
'I've got you!'
WHOOSH!
Draco moved swiftly, his body twisting like a whirlwind as he thrust his spear in a particular direction. He used all of his strength, his muscles bulging as he made as little sound as possible while snapping his cold blue eyes open.
He did not miss his target.
SQUELCH!
At that moment, he heard an ugly cry of pain from the monster whom he had impaled, but this only motivated him to thrust his spear even deeper into its chest.
The slithering black creature—resembling a massive lizard that had two gnarled horns protruding from its head, alongside jagged black spikes tracing behind its scaly black body to perfectly complement its grey-colored eyes—was no match for him.
The wound was fatal, and after a few seconds of struggling… the creature perished.
'The Examiner was right.' Draco grinned, retracting his spear's edge from the deceased monster's chest.
'All the Dragons in this Nest are low-tier, Rank 1 at best.'
He splattered the oily thick blood that stained his spear on the ground, allowing the weapon to recover its glowing purple luster.
Draco proceeded to kneel on top of the corpse, once again asserting his dominance over the spawn of evil, as he brought out a gutting knife from his pocket and stabbed the chest of the vile beast.
He tore the Dragon's chest open and brought something out of it.
It was shaped like a heart, obsidian black, having cracks around it that glowed with a pale white color. This was the only good thing that came out of Dragons.
"DragonHeart…" Draco grinned, pulling his backpack next to him so he could stuff it with his very first prize of the day.
While the goal of the exam was to make it to the other side of the Cave of Trials, the number of DragonHearts that examinees could harvest determined their overall score. It was barely five minutes since he entered and Draco had already killed his first Dragon. He could only imagine how many DragonHearts he would possess at the end of the Cave of Trials.
'More… I want more!'
He left the brutalized corpse behind, his cold eyes searching for his next prey.
********
"U-uwaahhh!!"
An examinee, having a petite body and freckled face screamed as she sat helplessly on the floor, eyes wide as she witnessed a hulking creature above her.
Her spear was a small distance from her after being knocked out of her hands due to her loose grip. The Dragon that neared her was large—nearly twice as big as a human—and it glared at this frail girl with hungry eyes.
"N-no… I don't want to die… I don't… want to—!"
SQUELCH!
Blood spurted into the air like a geyser… but it wasn't hers.
It was the Dragon's.
"Pathetic weakling!" Draco glared at the girl before proceeding to stab the Dragon multiple times before it died. Afterward, he proceeded to harvest the DragonHeart.
The girl who witnessed all of this was relieved, happy her life had been extended even if it was for a little longer. She slowly stood up and approached the busy Draco with eyes of gratitude, bowing her head as she spoke.
"T-thank you for—"
"Shut up!" Draco silenced her, not even bothering to look at her face. "Why did you come here when you don't have the resolve or skills to kill a simple Dragon like this?"
"U-um, I… I—"
"You are not fit to be a Dragon Hunter. It's best you give up now and save your life."
"B-but… that would bring shame to—"
"Better to face shame than death."
Draco was done harvesting the DragonHeart and walked away from the girl, not even sparing her another glance.
His words and actions were cruel—insensitive too—but those were precisely his intentions.
'She's clearly unfit for the challenge. It's better she returns to the shore and forfeit. So what if she is mocked? At least she will still be alive…'
Removing his thoughts from the stranger, Draco swiftly advanced forward.
"S-save me… Please! Plea—uarrghh!"
He encountered another examinee who needed help with an assaulting Dragon, but before he could help—
CRUNCH!
—The Dragon crushed through the person's skull and ended his life.
"YOU… YOU MONSTER!"
Draco's eyes burned with rage as he attacked the feasting Dragon with more ferocity than usual, stabbing it multiple times even after its death.
"Haa… haaa…" Now covered in Dragon's blood, he breathed heavily, his eyes pitifully resting on the deceased examinee.
'How tragic.'
Dragons could easily end a human's life.
They were truly the apex predators of this cruel world.
'I wonder if that girl is still alive…'
His thoughts went to the cute, freckled girl he saved earlier. He genuinely hoped she turned back and saved herself from a gruesome death.
"Tch." Drago shrugged off his thoughts and proceeded ahead, hearing even more screams around him, but he maintained his own composure.
'I can't afford to be distracted.'
He had trained and practiced every day—ever since he was a child—for this moment.
'I won't fail… I won't die!'
Right as he was having this thought, he suddenly noticed something.
It was a particular area that seemed to glow bright white within the cave, and unlike the other jagged areas, it looked smooth as ice. The tip of his spear began to glow a very bright purple color, but Draco ignored it.
His gaze was solely on that particular section of the cave, drawn to its light; almost like he was hypnotised.
Before he knew it, he was walking in that direction, finding a small crevice barely big enough for him to crawl through. He advanced regardless, feeling a sharp increase in heat despite the white rocks around him looking frosty.
After reaching the end of the crevice, he found himself in a massive clearing.
It could contain a thousand men without any problems, and it was covered in pure white rocks, with some golden gems sticking out of some places like small pillars of splendor.
However, despite how fantastical the place looked, it could not compare to the entity that occupied it.
A massive colossus, over a hundred times larger than Draco, lay in the room, bathing in the magnificent balls of light that danced around it like fireflies.
The creature had smooth skin covered in pure white scales, with golden lusters around its edges. It had five horns, each tip glowing in brilliant gold. Two wings were furled around its back, and its massive tail lay still as did the rest of its body.
Its gentle, beautiful form did not change what it was, though. Without a doubt, this was a spawn of evil as well.
—A Dragon!
It was completely different from the low-tier Dragons that reeked of ugliness and corruption, which Draco had easily killed, however it remained a vile creature regardless.
… Or did it?
Despite the imposing, seemingly omnipotent presence of this Dragon, it simply lay still on the ground—neither attacking nor retreating, as would be the natural instincts of Dragons.
Why?
It was badly injured.
Golden blood clotted around its chest, revealing a small glint of its DragonHeart. Its eyes were barely open as it looked at Draco with a sad, scared, and utterly helpless expression.
At that moment, something appeared before the boy's eyes.
[Special Event Reached]
~Choose wisely! Will you kill this Dragon and or spare its life?~
"B-beautiful…"
As Draco stood still, his wide eyes looking at the Dragon before him, he was paralyzed.
For the first time in his life, he lacked firm resolve.
His mind became foggy with uncertainty.
Kill or Spare?
He had no clue what to do.
Before he realized it, his tight grip on his weapon loosened and he slowly approached the powerless Dragon. There was something pure… innocent… about this Dragon that made him unable to muster any killing intent.
It almost felt like this glorious creature was speaking to him.
And so, despite the sheer amount of hatred that dwelled in his heart, Draco threw away his weapon and stepped forward. His blue eyes showed compassion for the first time as he neared the creature, his hand reaching out for it.
The Dragon, initially frightened by his presence, closed its eyes in acceptance.
And so, Draco touched its head.
Then—
[System Notice]
~You have chosen to spare the Dragon~
~You have failed the Secondary Quest: Kill Every Dragon You Encounter~
~Penalty will apply…~
Draco did not notice this System window that appeared, instead he focused on the warmth he felt upon touching the Dragon's head. There was no hate or rage in his heart any longer, instead he was overcome with peace.
With… love.
At that moment, a bright golden light shone within the massive space, consuming both Draco and the Dragon.
[Secret Condition Reached]
~You have awakened a New Class (Legendary)!~
Congratulations,
At that moment, Draco's body experienced transfiguration.
His hair turned completely white, and his eyes became bright gold. Golden tattoos of a Dragon wrapped around his body as markings formed around his bright eyes.
It was right at this moment that he noticed the System Window for the first time.
'What? What is this? What's happening?'
However, before he could completely wrap his head around the situation around him, he was shown yet another System Window.
This time…
[System Notice]
~Tutorial (Part 1/3) has been completed!~
You can now log out
'What?!'
Draco… or rather, someone else, opened his eyes and found himself in a completely different world. He was in a pod-like mechanism, with a VR helmet on his head as his body remained still within the soft but claustrophobic machine.
Tears streamed down his face as he stepped out of the VR Pod and took off his helmet, his mind still reeling from the experience he just had.
Dragons… the Cave of Trials… Draco… Everything about that world…
'… Was it a game all along?'