The tiny dragon stumbled from the den. He had light gray scales and a white underbelly. Tiny wings sprouted from his back as he galloped on four legs over to where we stood. Two white horns protruded from his head, curling into the air like the antlers of a deer. White hair, glowing intensely as if made of fire, clad the top of the dragon’s neck, sticking up like a mohawk. Similar hair adorned the dragon's limbs. His eyes were a glowing sapphire, sticking out against the muted colors of his scales.

  The two striking eyes focused, narrowing at the sight of Kyr, then the tiny dragon's gaze turned to me. He strode forward casually and jumped up, plopping right into my arms.

  “Well! Here’s your son—”

  “Brother,” Kyr replied angrily.

  My mind went blank as I struggled to understand the dragon’s family dynamics. “The egg you laid… was your brother?”

  The dragon woman opted to ignore my question, instead holding out both arms, waiting for her brother to go with her. But the tiny dragon, Azazel, did not budge, sticking up its chin indignantly. Suddenly, her demeanor changed.

  “Azazel,” she cooed, as if speaking to an infant. “Come to big sis, will ya?”

  “No!”

  “You were just reborn, come, I need to teach you…”

  The tiny dragon curled up in my arms, making itself comfortable. “I’m staying here with my brother.” He harrumphed.

  “Thaleres is not here, what are you…?” She stopped, narrowing her eyes at me. “The demon!? Azazel, that is not your brother, he stole—”

  “Don’t call my brother that!”

  “But he is a demon!” Kyr stomped the ground in frustration, then the air began to thicken. It was different from whatever she had used earlier that rendered us immobile. This felt more… dangerous, somehow.

  She looked up, eyes widening like a puppy, then began to beg in a high-pitched voice, “Please, please, please, come with me, brother is going to be so mad at me.” She clasped her hands together as if praying, and I swear I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

  “I’m staying.” Azazel sat up, crossing his front limbs like a tiny angry toddler.

  Kyr hung her arms, arching her back forward and staring at the ground in defeat. We all sat still for a moment, taking in the sibling fight between the two dragons. Then, Kyr transformed, morphing into the same obsidian-scaled dragon that Cedric and I had encountered in the ravine. I hurried backwards, along with my companions, as the creature began to expand, crushing the grass below her.

  Her violet eyes bore into mine, then she began to speak. “You better keep my brother safe, demon. In the meantime, I will find Thaleres, and we’ll see what you have to say to him, Azazel.” Her wings flapped, kicking up dust in her wake, and she soared into the sky, disappearing into the horizon.

  My shoulders relaxed, and I exhaled heavily, not even realizing I had been holding my breath in. My companions did the same, all of us letting down our guards at the same time. Somehow, we had survived the encounter with the demon, a dragon, and two gods.

  [I need to apologize to you, Carter.]

  You know my name?! And apologize for what?

  [I thought you were an idiot. But it seems like this entire world is run by idiots!] Joshua screamed.

  “What should we do about him?” Zorrack said, pointing a finger at the tiny dragon sitting in my arms. The demon looked like he wanted to pet the creature, slowly inching closer.

  “He’s kinda cute,” said Viressa.

  “Should we keep him?” Cedric added.

  “I already have a replacement,” Fang lamented sadly, but Zorrack scooped him up, petting him gently on the head. The Warg's tail wagged excitedly behind him.

  “Hey there, Azazel, right?” I asked, holding the dragon out in front of me. He stared into my eyes as if he had just won the lottery.

  “Hi, Brother!” The tiny dragon said happily, flapping his wings.

  “I think you might be confused, I’m a demon, like, from Hell. I don’t think I’m your brother…”

  “You're my brother!” Azazel insisted, and the air began to grow heavy, similar to the skill that Kyr had used on us.

  “Ok, ok, brothers, right,” I agreed, setting the dragon down in the grass. But he immediately jumped up, perching himself on my shoulder like a parrot.

  Too bad he already has a name, would’ve been a great opportunity to introduce Smaug to this world…

  Surprisingly, a red panel appeared, signaling that I had completed Joshua’s quest.

  [Are you fucking kidding me?! That doesn’t count!] He raged, brewing in anger.

  Haha.

  Huh, Legendary? Pretty useful too. I’ll save this for later.

  [This is not right.]

  I inspected my new companion's profile, a blue screen shimmering in the air.

  His base PR is considerably higher than mine; maybe his race has something to do with it?

  “The system called you the True Dragon of Will, what's up with that?”

  “Ah, well, you see,” Azazel rubbed his eyes, as if clearing a windshield from rain. “According to my booklet, there are three True Dragons, including me, and whenever one of us dies, we are reborn a couple of years later as Hatchlings.”

  So other races also get booklets…

  “Interesting. So, does that mean you have memories of your past life?”

  “No, the booklet says I can regain my full strength and memories when I reach level one hundred.”

  “One hundred!” I shouted in surprise. Of course, one hundred seemed like a natural level cap to be fair. But our conversation was interrupted by a new system notification.

  Two items appeared in my inventory, and I equipped the Amulet. It appeared around my neck, a blackened metal chain hanging loosely. Attached was a diamond-shaped golden pendant with a red ruby in the center. An info panel appeared before me.

  A set item? I guess I’ll need to try and find the other two.

  I rummaged through the inventory menu and selected the other quest reward I had received.

  Huh, so this world has dungeons as well? Not being able to leave unless you beat the boss is kind of a big drawback, though…

  I closed the message, deciding to return to the item at a later time.

  “Alright, now, before I was so rudely interrupted, I believe I was saying we should all try and unlock our classes?” I said to my slowly growing group of companions.

  “Yes!” Shouted Fang, still curled in Zorrack’s arms.

  “Good, well then, Fang, what is your class upgrade quest?”

  “Er. I don’t have one yet.” He admitted sheepishly.

  “I have one,” Viressa said, raising an arm. “It says I need to cast my skills twenty total times.”

  I nodded, and Zorrack went next. “Mine says to defeat a creature above level five.”

  “I have to dodge five skills.” Cedric finished.

  Why are their quests so much easier than mine?

  [Maybe because they're not quite as stupid as you.] Joshua replied with an evil chuckle.

  “Great!” I exclaimed. “Let’s go find a creature to kill, and at the same time, Viressa and Cedric, you guys can go about completing your quests as we go.”

  “There were some strong-looking creatures in the forest earlier.” Fang chimed in.

  “Sounds good to me!” I said, and we began to make our way towards the forest. The trees were tall, reaching up into the sky and obscuring the sun’s light. The trunks were thick, and if they were hollowed out, even Zorrack’s hulking figure could easily fit inside each one. The leaves were a dark green, branches extended to create natural canopies of darkness as we entered the forest. The floor was made up of small shrubs and other bushes, and fallen sticks and leaves crunched as we crept forward slowly.

  “It’s kind of creepy in here.” The tiny dragon still perched on my shoulder whispered, and I shuddered in agreement.

  “There!” Cedric called, and I spotted the herd of creatures he was gesturing towards. They looked like some sort of majestic deer or elk, clad in a mossy green coat. Their antlers extended upwards, covered in vines. They were tall, and even though they stood on four legs, they approached the height of the large demon beside me.

  “Are those things level five?” I questioned aloud, but none of my companions had an answer.

  I guess we’ll have to find out.

  Wanting to test my new skills, I used the one I had earned from Joshua’s quest. My HP pool lowered slightly, but now with Joshua’s HP added to mine because of the Split Soul skill, which totaled around three hundred, it seemed safe enough.

  [Summon Lesser Fire Spirit]

  Two wisps of pure flames appeared in front of me, only barely larger than my fallen brother, Kril, had been. They whizzed around like a pair of fireflies, and mentally, I urged them forward to attack one of the Barkmaw Stags. They zipped forward aggressively, shooting out tiny fireballs at the stag, which recoiled in pain and began to take damage.

  “Attack!” I yelled, and my companions leapt into action, engaging their skills. Zorrack used his strength to grab hold of the creature that my fire spirits were attacking, holding it in place for the wisps' flames. Fang joined him, biting ferociously at the ankles of the creature. Viressa fired a firebolt at a second creature, who had begun charging towards us. Cedric activated his Ring of Shadows, sneaking up behind a third Stag and stabbing it in the side before retreating, only narrowly dodging a swipe from its antlers.

  I took a look through my class skills and chose one to activate.

  [Willing Host]

  I felt a searing pain as I activated the skill, now using my own HP pool rather than mana to cast. A timer began, ticking down the three-minute limit for the skill’s effects. I aimed the skill at Zorrack, and I watched as his body began to glow with a menacing red aura.

  I wonder if he can hear Joshua now?

  [This guy is definitely dumber than you.] Joshua answered.

  Zorrack continued to fight, but he began yelling in frustration at the new voice in his head. “Will you shut up!? I’m trying to focus!”

  I hesitated to activate the other skill I had gained.

  [I won’t do anything, promise.]

  How can I trust you?

  [You can’t. But, I just wanna stretch my legs, it’s cramped in here. What do you say, Carter?]

  If you do anything evil, I swear to god I will never use this skill again.

  [Promise.]

  [Parasitic Manifestation]

  My body felt like it was getting torn inside out, spilling my guts all over the forest floor. But just as the sensation had begun, it suddenly stopped, and I was face to face with a spitting image of my new demon body. Although this version looked more like a zombie, and even as we stared at each other, it slowly began to crumble away, the two-minute timer ticking above me next to the Willing Host one.

  I, or I guess, Joshua, stretched, looking around. I could no longer hear the parasite gnawing at my head, instead, the copy of me began to speak. But it wasn’t my voice.

  “Well, isn’t this lovely?”

  He turned, surveying the battle around us as my companions slowly massacred the group of Stags. Then, he spat out a sentence with violent conviction.

  “What if I just killed you all right now?” His eyes glimmered with cruelty, and my entire body froze in fear.

  Will”, and he will not be too OP until much later down the road :).