Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

Henry stared fascinatedly at the Murux Heart of the Ogre he had just cremated. It was round in shape with a crude and rugged surface. There were small cracks running along the body. Its colour was a deep red that appeared to absorb the lights shining on it. The Murux within wasn’t as profound as the one he consumed previously but it was near the level of a Titan.

When he consumed it, the knowledge of various magic and spells flooded into his mind. The surge of knowledge came on a tad too strong as nearly tripped on his own feet. The increment in his Murux was little but the side benefits were tremendous. He brought up his hand to his eye level and snapped his fingers. Sparks were produced with that snap and the sparks transformed into a ball of flames which he caught in his palm.

“Whoa… awesome…”

Despite being able to produce larger flames than this small fireball in his palm, there was something romantic about producing flames with just a snap of his fingers. He then flexed his fingers and lightning crackled around his hand. He waved his hand gently in the air and the vapour converged above his palm and formed a ball of water.

Though these gains were insignificant compared to the abilities he already had, that was only at a glance. Before this, he could only produce flames through his mouth. Now, he could make fire with his hand alone and he could control the intensity of the flame. In other words, the benefit he obtained from the Ogre was about control and mastery instead of just an increment in his firepower. Magic Master, he dubbed it.

Just where did the Ogre come from?

Henry wondered in his heart. If there were other monsters like the Ogre with plenty of Murux running through their veins, he sure would love to know where this rift was connected to. He tried sticking his hand into the rift but the result was the same for him, it felt like touching a solid and unbreakable wall.

Henry sat in front of the rift and waited for more monsters to come through. It wasn’t a wise idea but he was curious to know just what sort of foreign wonders awaited him. As he waited for a minute and another minute and another, no more creatures or monsters emerged from the rift.

Hmm? Is that all?

Henry sighed in disappointment. He had hoped to harvest Murux Hearts this way but it would seem it was not doable. Perhaps not all of the creatures and monsters were foolish enough to dive into a black hole that they knew nothing about, Henry surmised.

Just as Henry was beginning to close the rift, a tentacle shot out from the portal, a tentacle twice as thick as his limb. He twisted his body out of the way but the tentacle followed his movements. He leapt away from the tentacle’s grasp but it persisted on his trail. Eventually, the tentacle caught Henry’s right hind limb and pulled him into the rift.

Oh, fuck!

Henry dug his claws deep into the ground to get a grip but he only ended up ploughing the ground. As he was standing quite close to the rift from the beginning, he was instantly dragged into the portal. However, the tentacle failed to pull him in. The tentacle was able to go in and out of the rift but it couldn’t drag Henry through the rift.

Henry seized this chance to cut himself free. The severed tentacle writhed and shuddered in pain before retreating back into the portal.

“What the fuck was that?!” Henry shouted out loud. Though he had questions, he didn’t delay any longer on closing the rift. He spread his arms apart and began closing the rift, but the tentacle returned alongside with more of its kind.

Henry tutted and flew backwards but the tentacles chased him down at a terrifying speed. He fended the tentacles off with his Fire Breath. Half of the tentacles were caught in the fire but the other half successfully evaded his flames and continued in pursuing him. He slashed at the tentacle that got too close to him with his claws.

After flying backwards for a quarter of a mile, the tentacles reached their limit and weren’t able to pursue Henry any further. They started slithering back to the rift but Henry wasn’t so nice to leave these tentacles be. Outside of the tentacles’ reach, he unleashed Fire Breath at the retreating tentacles. The tentacles retreated even faster when they felt the heat. In the end, only two tentacles made it back into the portal while the rest were charred into cinders.

Great… Now, what do I do?

A problem had arisen and it was partially his own fault. If he had closed the rift instead of being greedy about it, this wouldn’t have happened. But what’s done was done. In order to close the rift, he needed to get rid of the tentacles first but it was on the other side of the portal. As long as the tentacle monster lingered near the rift, he would not be able to close the rift.

Henry picked up a rock and tossed it in front of the rift. Immediately, a tentacle shot out from the portal and struck the spot where the rock had hit.

“Just great… it’s sensitive to vibration.”

Henry sighed inwardly and slowly approached the rift. Though it was a hitch, it wasn’t an impasse. A single tentacle alone was able to overwhelm his weight but that was only when he was in his humanoid Dragon form. Once he was close enough to the rift, tentacles emerged from the rift like vipers. At the same time, Henry assumed his true form and original size. The tentacles wrapped around his neck and limbs and tugged… but Henry didn’t even budge.

My turn.

Henry grabbed the tentacles tightly and began pulling. With only a slight degree of difficulty, Henry managed to pull the monster through the rift.

Huh, it’s really a squid.

The monster Henry pulled out from the rift was a squid, a giant squid, but no bigger than Henry in his true form. Henry couldn’t sense a great amount of Murux from the squid but another thought crossed his mind.

It has been a long time since I last had a squid. I like fried squid but there’s no oil to fry it in. Maybe I can grill it.

As if the giant squid could hear Henry’s thought, it trembled violently and floundered strongly. The tentacles around Henry loosened. It tried crawling back through the rift but Henry’s grip on it was tight. Henry straightened his claws and plunged them right through the squid’s head, instantly killing it.

Henry didn’t immediately retract his claws but instead, he fiddled around the insides of the squid’s head that were also its body. After rummaging around for some time, he finally found the squid’s Murux heart, which was disappointingly small. But he consumed it nonetheless. The effects he felt weren't anything special as expected. Hell, it didn’t taste good. There was a slightly bitter taste after he had consumed the Murux Heart.

Henry stared at the rift. He had half a mind to just jump through the rift and plunged himself into an adventure into the unknown. But he held himself back upon remembering the women waiting for him back at home.

He then quickly closed the rift without any further delay and promptly made his way back to his abode with a knotty heart. After this rift, he didn’t sense any other rifts appearing along the way back.

****

“Where have you been!?” Yula shouted as she stared down at Henry who was in his human form and pinned on the ground by her shadows.

Henry had only just returned to his nest when Yula’s shadows came out of nowhere and constricted him. Since Yula didn’t mean any actual harm, he didn’t perceive the shadows coming. Or rather, his danger senses didn’t detect Yula’s shadows.

Even if he was pinned down now, he could easily break free if he just put some strength into his struggle. But doing so would be boorish since he was in the wrong for leaving without giving them any explanation.

“I’m sorry,” Henry said with a wry smile. “It was urgent but it wasn’t a big deal and I didn’t want to needlessly trouble you.”

“If you don’t want to trouble me, then don’t keep me in the dark! Do you understand?!”

“...Yes, I understand.” Henry nodded. “Truly, Yula, I’m very sorry.”

Though no tears could be seen leaking from her eyes, sobs could obviously be heard in her voice. “Just don’t do this again, Henry. I don’t care where you go or how long you’re gone… just please tell me beforehand at least.” With a wave of her hand, the shadows dissolved into thin streams of darkness and merged back with Yula’s main shadow under her feet.

He rose to his feet and pulled Yula into a hug. He embraced her tightly as he stroked her hair and rubbed his cheek on her head. “I’m sorry, Yula. I didn’t mean to scare you. I didn’t think you would be so worried.”

“Time has changed, Henry. The appearance of these rifts… This place is not safe anymore.”

“I agree, Yula. We’ll need to move to a place where we will have more privacy and random strangers are less likely to stumble into.”

“But where though?”

“Don’t worry. I already had a place in mind.”

This place Henry had in mind was somewhere he coincidentally found just now when he was flying back home. It was a place where people or creatures would not accidentally stumble into.

“Anyway, how’s our guest?”

“Wary and dubious, that’s all I can say. Well, I don’t blame her. I would be wary and dubious too if a bunch of strangers with bizarre powers, who live in the middle of a forest, saved me for no apparent reason and even gave me a warm reception.”

“Where is she now?”

“In the cave,” Yula said and then they both walked into the cave.

Though there were different sections to the cave, such as where the beds were, where the pseudo-living room was, and where the storage was, there was no partition or any walls, so the cave interior gave off the impression of a stone-age studio apartment.

On a large bed made of a bundle of straws with a large leather cloth on top, sat a girl with shoulder-length dark blue hair and a slender figure. She was wearing simple black pants and a black shirt. Upon a closer look, Henry realised those garments was woven from Yula’s shadows.

“Her original garments are currently being hung out to dry. So I let her wear these for the time being,” Yula explained upon seeing Henry’s inquisitive gaze.

“Does she know what she’s wearing?”

Yula smiled and nodded. “I made it in front of her. You should have seen the look on her face. Despite being a world filled with magic, weaving shirts of shadows is still an astonishing feat.”

“Have you asked anything about her yet?”

“I asked her where she's from.”

“What did she say?”

“She didn’t. She just glared at me.”

“Did you… threaten her with your shadows or anything?”

“What? No. Of course not. Why would I do that?”

Henry chuckled. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

Yula narrowed her eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking of letting loose some of my… moral constraints.”

“Ah…”

“Ah, Henry, you’re back!” Sarynn, who was sitting beside the girl and watching over her, hopped off the bed as she cheered. She scuttled right up to Henry. “You know, when Yula heard you were gone without saying anything, she was— hmmph!?”

“Shut up,” Yula said coldly as she wrapped a strip of shadow around Sarynn’s mouth.

Henry smiled warmly. “I see you two are getting along well. I am glad.”

Yula glared at Sarynn. “Not for long if she can’t hold that tongue of hers.”

“Well, I leave you two to it then,” Henry said and walked past them while Sarynn was still being subdued by Yula’s shadow.

When the girl noticed Henry approaching, she flinched and scrambled back into the corner of the bed.

“Don’t you dare come any closer,” she said.

Henry smiled, a plain one, and sat on the edge of the bed. “Oh, sweetheart. You are in no position to make any demands.”