Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

Time flew. And before anyone knew it, the feast was just the day after tomorrow. Sarynn and Yula were going about their routine as usual. The preparations for the feast were mostly done by the Lavans and Kivus. Rayne was also going about her duty as normal.

As for Alayne, there was barely anything for her to do. There was nothing that required her involvement, aside from pondering about her future.

To ease her mind from all the heavy thinking, she aided Henry in hunting down games for their meals. After that, she spent the rest of her days loitering around the nest. Initially, she would assist Yula in her carvings and engravings but she quickly learned the sheer difficulty in shaving off rocks and stone with just simple swords and knives. Needless to say, she gave up before long.

Alayne also tried her hand at fishing but she came to realise her lack of talent for it. Even with Sarynn’s teaching, she didn’t even get anywhere near being a novice. Not that Sarynn’s outlandish way of fishing was any help in the first place. In the end, Alayne found herself wandering aimlessly around the nest.

While Alayne did offer her aid in helping Henry patrol the fringes of his territory, he declined it as she would only be a liability instead of support.

At present, Henry was out patrolling the borders. He brought Sarynn along as he would be passing by the small lake where he and Yula were ambushed by an Angler Fish with two hind limbs and the ability to walk on land that used a sort of water flower, instead of a glowing bulb, as bait to lure unsuspecting prey.

Coincidentally, this lake was close to the cave Henry had set his sights on, so he needed to be more thorough with his hunt and sweep.

“So this is the place where that exciting tale took place?” Sarynn cheered in glee as she skipped to the fringe of the lake.

“It’s not a tale,” Henry retorted with his eyes rolled back. “It really did happen, mind you.”

“I didn’t say it wasn't real. A tale doesn’t denote a forged happenstance.”

Henry shrugged. “I suppose it doesn’t.”

“Anyway, just be careful.”

“Say that to the creatures lurking in the deep. Should they even attempt to attack me, they will sorely regret it. Then again, they know better.”

“What if they don’t? What if they’re not from here?”

“Even if they aren’t, they will be the moment they sense my presence. I’m the sovereign of the waters. Unless of course, they lack primal instinct.”

“What kind of creature lacks primal instinct?”

Sarynn giggled. “A human.”

“Ah, of course.”

“Ironic, wouldn’t you say? Despite being the reigning predators of the world, they lack the most basic of instincts. Maybe that’s why they always overreach their capabilities and overestimate themselves.”

“Maybe, but surely you’re not expecting to find a human under the lake, are you?”

“What are the odds that they found some say to traverse underwater for a long period of time?”

“You tell me. You have been around in this world longer than I have and you have also seen more.”

“Well, I know for certain they have tried but since the water is still as peaceful as ever, I say they didn’t have much luck in that endeavour.”

As soon as those words left Sarynn’s lips, a humanoid creature emerged from the lake in a sudden manner. It then immediately pounced towards Sarynn.

“Oh, my? What’s this?” Sarynn muttered curiously as she gracefully dodged the humanoid creature’s sudden assault.

“Peaceful… right.”

“I know, I know.” Sarynn shook her in exasperation. “This is truly unexpected. And how curious. I know not of such a creature that lurks in the waters of Ulrum,”

The assailant was a humanoid reptilian-like creature, standing on two limbs, though its elongated forelimbs showed its capability of traversing on all fours. It was no bigger than Henry’s current form and taller than Sarynn’s human form by a head and more.

Interestingly enough, the creature bore great semblance to a Dragon, which struck Henry’s curiosity. The creature took notice of Henry’s presence, who was in his humanoid dragon form and looked his way, giving him the same curious gaze it was given.

“You dare turn your eyes away from me?” Sarynn chided the creature and sent spears forged of water at it.

The creature noticed the incoming attacks and hopped out of the way. However, the water spears followed the creature’s manoeuvres and the creature failed to react to the unexpected development fast enough. The water spears pierced right into its flesh and tore the creature apart.

“Huh, simple,” Sarynn sneered. “You’re not as challenging as you appear.”

“Be on your guard, Sarynn. More are coming.”

At Henry’s words, Sarynn sharpened her gaze and turned her focus to the lake. Right on cue, more of the humanoid reptiles burst forth from the lake.

“Just how many of you are there? And why am I only finding out about your existence now? This calls for an investigation.”

“Less talking, Sarynn!” Henry shouted and joined the fight. He shot a few Firebolts for starters and finished the ones that dodged his attacks with his claws.

As for Sarynn, she lazily waved her hands around, commanding the water to kill her enemies for her.

These creatures were not weak by any means. Henry and Sarynn were simply incredibly high up in the food chain. The humanoid reptiles were slaughtered the moment after they made their appearance. The creatures eventually realised the futility of the assault and they began to retreat.

“Shall we follow them?” Sarynn asked though she dove into the water before an answer even came from Henry.

“Such a handful,” Henry muttered and dove after her. He shot through the water like a torpedo, trailing after Sarynn, who was chasing after the humanoid reptiles.

To Henry’s mild surprise, the humanoid reptiles were as fast as Sarynn when it came to water traversing. Henry could barely catch up. He had to pour into his tail and limbs in order to not fall behind. The lake’s depth was vaster than Henry expected.

They arrived at an impasse of a large wall during their pursuit. There was a large hole in the wall and the humanoid reptiles swam into it. Sarynn was spared of any hesitation and chased the creatures right into the hole.

“Sarynn, don’t!” Henry shouted. Since he was using his Murux Voice, his speech was not impaired by the fact that they were underwater.

“It’ll be fine,” Sarynn’s reply came from the hole. “Hurry. You’re going to lose my trail otherwise.”

“You’re seriously a handful,” Henry groaned and followed Sarynn into the hole.

Thankfully, Sarynn and her pursuit target slowed down considerably as the passageway they entered was narrow and filled with turns, allowing Henry to catch up to them with ease.

However, things instantly went awry when they exited the narrow passageway and into a large underwater cavern. There, what awaited Sarynn and Henry were hundreds of those humanoid reptilians. They had swum right into their nest.

“Not a word from you,” Sarynn grumbled just a second before Henry was about to tease her about her previous statement.

“What were you expecting when you chased after them?”

“This, actually,” Sarynn answered with a titter. “But I didn’t think there would be so many of them. Predators of such a size are usually… small in numbers. It’s how it always has been. But look at them now… they are in the hundreds. Thousands, even.”

“Do you know what they are?”

“I don’t… I have never seen them in Ulrum before, nor have I heard about them outside of Ulrum. Could they be creatures from another dimension that came through a portal?”

“I would have known if that was the case.”

“Hmm, most curious.”

“Yeah, save it for later. Incoming!”

Among the hundreds of the humanoid reptiles eyeing warily at them, two of them shot towards Henry. A probe, Henry presumed. He made short work of the two creatures with Jetstream Breath. He felt a wave of fear wash over him when he decapitated the two creatures with ease.

It would seem we’re underestimated, Henry grinned.

Afterwards, four of them went after Sarynn but they were also made short work of by Sarynn’s mastery over the water. She even made them into fillets.

Though stricken with fear, the humanoid reptiles did not waver and continued their assault on the two. The humanoid reptiles were undoubtedly faster and significantly more agile than Sarynn and Henry, but their offensive capabilities were no match for the two’s overall prowess. Especially with Henry, the humanoid reptiles could not leave so much as a scratch on him even though their claws and fangs had grazed him countless times in the relentless assault. Eventually, the humanoid reptiles fell one by one and after the death toll was around twenty or so, they stopped their assault.

As their blood oozed out of the numerous carcasses’ body parts and dyed the water red, a small stream of the blood wafted into Sarynn’s nose. Her brows raised in wonder and disbelief.

“Oh, now this is most curious,” Sarynn muttered.

“What is? Figured something out?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I know what they are.”

“Really?”

“Rather, I know what they were.”

“Were?”

Sarynn nodded. “I recognised the taste and scent of their blood. They used to be something I very much considered a delicacy. It would seem they have evolved while I wasn’t looking. The interesting part is that they possess the blood of Dragons.”

“Obviously. They look like me in this form. What were they called?”

“Reiars. They used to be only as big as a rabbit. The biggest one was only the size of a fox.”

“And these Reiars evolved into the creatures before us. Is this common?”

“Animals only evolve when the perseverance of their species as a whole is threatened. They evolve in order to survive and continue thriving. You might just be the reason for that.”

“But I didn’t threaten them.”

“Not directly. Your existence has already greatly shifted the balance of Ulrum and these Reiars may as well be only the first to evolve. We may even see more creatures evolving in the future.”

“Oh… great. Well, whatever, the reason is, let’s find a way out of this predicament first.”

Sarynn laughed without any restraint. “Henry, my dear, you call this a predicament? It can barely be called sports. Evolved, these creatures might have, they are still nothing before us. Their evolution has given them an unfounded swelling of confidence.”

Henry rolled his eyes.

“If they won’t come to us, then we will go to them,” Sarynn declared and charged towards the Reiars as she shifted into her true form.

Shrieks and cries erupted from the Reiars as they realised who they had messed with. They immediately scattered in all directions but there was nowhere for them to go except that one passageway. There were many other exits and entrances but they had outgrown all those means.

Just as Sarynn was charging a breath attack, Henry moved in front of her.

“Stop it,” Henry said.

Sarynn swallowed the energy she was accumulating after giving him a frown. “What?” she asked.

“This is enough. What good is it to cull them all?”

“They challenge my right as the sovereign of the waters. I’m putting them into their place. Besides, I’m not going to cull all of them.”

“Then, this is enough. They are already running scared.”

“Are they? I know these creatures, Henry. They are sly. They will strike the moment we turn our backs to them.”

“And we shall retaliate in kind if that happens. But we will not be the aggressor.”

Sarynn sighed. “You won’t instil any fear into these creatures’ hearts with mercy. You stand at the zenith, dear. They will drag you down if you show even the slightest hint of weakness.”

“I don’t consider mercy to be a weakness. Even if they strike when my back’s turned, do you think I will be fazed even by a little? Not even you could.”

Sarynn gave an astonishing frown and glance at Henry before her expression morphed into delight, coupled with a chuckle. “It would seem I misunderstood you, my dear husband. Spoken like a true apex predator. Your words reminded me of Zyryx, the lord of the skies in the West. It never looked over its shoulders as it believed there was no force that could hurt it even if it dropped its guard. And Zyryx lived till this day. Very well, Henry, let us leave this place at once.”

“After you,” Henry said.

Sarynn gave the cowering Reiars one last glance before leaving the cavern and Henry followed closely behind her. The Reiars’ gazes trailed after them until they were completely out of sight. They did not leave their hiding spot until hours had passed after the two had left.