After hatching from the egg, fresh air filled his lungs through his nose and mouth.
Inhale in and exhale
This simple act of breathing without a machine brought Noir such relief that he almost cried.
’The air was always so clean...’
He stood motionless for several seconds, trying to get used to this strange sensation. Everything felt... strange and unfamiliar.
Excited, he tried to move; his body obeyed awkwardly; he looked like a baby taking its first steps, and the first thing he noticed was the strange texture covering his skin.
It wasn’t smooth.
Small dark patches ran along his limbs, smooth and sturdy, reflecting the glints from nearby crystals.
’...What?’
Noir blinked, confused, and looked at his arms... no, they were now short, chubby legs.
’...What happened to my spaghetti-thin arms?’
When he turned around, he saw that his tail—graceful and powerful as steel—was covered in the same dark scales.... something was wrong.
His body wasn’t human. His heart skipped a beat. Noir noticed something else: an uncomfortable sensation on his back, as if two numb limbs were trying to move.
He turned his body awkwardly. Two small black wings lay folded against his sides.
’What is this?’
He gaped in disbelief, staring at his body. Who was this? Why was his body so small?
A chill ran down his spine, and Noir froze in place.
And a single thought crossed his mind as he looked at his current body.
’...Am I a dragon?’
Noir was no longer human; he didn’t know how to feel about it.
It used to be a fantasy. A recurring dream. In his favorite novels, the protagonists turned into dragons, gods, or invincible demons. They were freed from judgment, pain, and illness.
Who hadn’t wished for that at some point?
But now that he had become the person he had once imagined and longed to be in his darkest days, something inside him shuddered.
Closing his eyes did him no good. The image was still there. His frail body. The bed. The books. The time that would never return.
Noir opened his eyes again; all doubt had vanished from them; with it, a new resolve was born.
Then, he realized something he had overlooked in the initial shock.
’Wait... Calm down and think.’
Excitement began to fill his new body, along with a happiness he had never felt before.
’I’ve been reincarnated! Just like in the many novels I’ve read before, and not only that, but as a dragon.’
It was an absurd idea, even to him.
Noir shook his little head. Looking up, he saw some crystals emitting a faint blue light that illuminated the area around him.
So...
Ding!
[The Devourer system has been successfully installed.]
’Kakaka, I even have a system!’
He tries to speak, but only manages to utter unintelligible grunts. It seems his throat isn’t developed enough yet to form words.
And he thought again:
’Status window.’
[Devourer System]
Host: Noir Nocturnus
Race: True Dragon
Title: None
Energy Source: Mana
Unique Skill: [Devourer]
Magic: [Dragon Language]
Racial Skills: [Dragon Breath], [Draconic Claws], [Draconic Senses], [Night Vision]
’Phew... thank goodness it’s not that kind of system.’
Noir, seeing that there was no mission section anywhere in the status window and that it wasn’t speaking, felt an overwhelming sense of relief.
He hates that kind of system that assigns him missions or talks to him to belittle him... although, well, he doesn’t deny that some of them are very well written.
But Noir would rather they show his status and leave it at that.
’Hmm... let’s try this.’
He looked at his spell, which read "Dragon Language," and tried to use it. He could feel the mana surrounding him responding to his will. He opened his mouth and said:
"I..." Exhaustion overwhelmed him completely, and he felt dizzy from the fatigue caused by uttering just one letter.
’What’s going on here...? I only said two letters and all my energy vanished...’
Noir tried to move his tiny feet, which he wasn’t used to.
But he failed, and little by little, his consciousness faded completely.
***
With his mana restored, Noir began to come to; fresh air filled his lungs once more, and the sensation was strangely addictive.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
’I need to be more careful about that in the future.’
He didn’t move right away. He lay there on the cold surface, looking at his body once more and gathering his thoughts.
His small legs covered in black scales, the tiny wings folded against his back, and that tail that still felt foreign to him were all still there, reminding him that what had happened was neither a dream nor an illusion caused by exhaustion.
He was dead.
And yet, he was still alive.
The idea still seemed absurd, even to him.
For many years, his life had been confined to a hospital room, machines, and medication.
He had spent so much time imagining impossible worlds that, at times, he wished he could escape to one of them.
Becoming a dragon, a demon, or any creature capable of living freely was a recurring fantasy during his darkest days.
But now that it had become a reality, he realized it wasn’t that simple.
Noir closed his eyes for a few seconds.
His human life was still there, etched in his memory. The pain, the helplessness, and the lost years wouldn’t disappear just because he had been born into a different body.
However, he didn’t want to cling to them like chains either.
After a few seconds of silence, he made a decision.
He was going to embrace this new life.
He didn’t know if he could completely abandon his old morals or customs, nor did he intend to become a mindless beast just because he had been born a dragon.
But one thing was clear to him: he would not let his past life hold him back again.
He would still be Noir.
Only this time... he would live as a dragon.