After Kai finished spending time with the newly named Ember, he decided they needed a fire.
The cave was damp, the air was getting colder, and he had no idea how long they would be stuck there while Ember healed. A fire meant warmth, light, and at least a small amount of protection from whatever else was wandering around outside.
Hopefully.
Kai stood up and brushed dirt off his pants.
“Wait here, Ember, alright?”
Ember looked up at him.
Then she nodded obediently.
At least, she looked obedient.
Kai smiled, completely unaware that the moment he left the cave, Ember waited exactly three seconds before quietly following him.
Or rather, trying to follow him quietly.
Dragons were not exactly known for stealth. They were built for flying, fighting, burning things, and looking majestic on top of mountains.
Sneaking through bushes while injured?
Not so much.
But protective instinct could do incredible things.
Ember crept after him as carefully as she could, keeping enough distance that Kai would not notice her. She told herself she was only making sure he did not get mauled by a troll.
That was all.
Definitely.
Kai spent about twenty minutes searching the area for decent firewood. Eventually, he found a cluster of trees that looked dry enough to use.
Then he realized a very important problem.
He had no axe.
No saw.
No knife.
No way to cut anything down.
Kai stared at the trees.
The trees stared back, probably smugly.
“Damn it,” he muttered. “I really need to start thinking these plans through before I walk all the way out here.”
He rubbed his face.
Then he remembered something.
The quest reward.
Training Weapon Mk. 4.
Kai opened his system menu and navigated to the inventory tab. He had not explored the inventory much yet, but the function seemed simple enough. The training weapon sat there as an available item, waiting to be used.
“Maybe this thing can cut wood,” he said.
He selected it.
A new message appeared.
Training Weapon Mk. 4
Deploy?
Y/N
Kai pressed yes.
A glow formed around his right hand. It brightened for a second, then faded.
When Kai looked down, he was holding a long black stick.
He stared at it.
Then he stared at it harder.
“A stick.”
The weapon did not respond.
Kai slowly raised it.
“This is a stick.”
Still nothing.
He lowered it.
“I got a magic quest reward, and it gave me a stick.”
Somewhere nearby, hidden behind the bushes, Ember tilted her head.
Kai sighed deeply.
“Trash quest rewards,” he muttered. “If only this thing were an axe or something.”
The moment he said the word axe, the stick flashed.
Kai yelped and nearly dropped it.
When the light faded, a black axe head had formed at the end of the weapon.
Kai froze.
Then his eyes widened.
“Whoa.”
He lifted the axe.
It was still light. Too light, honestly. It felt more like a practice weapon than a real tool, but the shape had changed perfectly.
“That is actually really cool.”
His earlier anger disappeared instantly.
“Can it do other weapons?”
For the next several minutes, Kai forgot all about firewood.
“Sword.”
The axe became a sword.
“Spear.”
The sword stretched into a spear.
“Hammer.”
The spear thickened into a hammer.
“Scythe.”
A curved blade formed at the end.
Kai grinned like a child who had just been handed the most dangerous toy imaginable.
“This is awesome.”
Then a more reasonable thought entered his mind.
“Although, since it has ‘training’ in the name, it probably has terrible attack power.”
He looked at the nearby trees.
“Guess we’ll test it.”
Kai changed the weapon back into an axe and started chopping.
His theory was proven almost immediately.
The axe worked.
Technically.
But it was not good.
It took him fifteen painful minutes to bring down one tree. By the end of it, his arms ached, his hands hurt, and he had gained a new respect for lumberjacks.
“This weapon sucks,” Kai panted.
He looked at the fallen tree.
“But it sucks in a useful way.”
After another ten minutes of miserable effort, he managed to gather enough wood to justify calling it progress. Three small trees’ worth of usable branches and logs were more than enough for now.
Kai dragged what he could back to the cave.
When he returned, Ember was lying on the floor exactly where he had left her, eyes closed, looking completely innocent.
Kai smiled.
“Good girl. You waited.”
Ember did not move.
She did, however, breathe a little too heavily for someone who had supposedly been asleep the whole time.
Kai noticed none of this.
He was too busy breaking branches and arranging the wood into something that looked vaguely like a firepit. Once he finished, he sat back and admired his work.
Then another problem appeared.
He had no way to light it.
Kai stared at the pile of wood.
The pile of wood remained unlit.
He stared harder.
Nothing changed.
Five minutes passed.
Finally, Kai turned to Ember.
“Hey, Ember?”
She opened one eye.
“Do you know any way to light this? Maybe there’s a plant around here that catches sparks easily or something. You lived in this forest, right?”
Ember slowly stood.
She walked over with an expression Kai could not fully understand.
If he had to guess, it would have been something like, You are struggling very hard with something very obvious, and it is strangely adorable.
Of course, Kai did not know that.
Ember lowered her head.
Then she breathed out a small flame.
The firewood caught immediately.
Warm orange light filled the cave.
Kai stared at the fire.
Then at Ember.
Then back at the fire.
“Oh my god.”
Ember sat proudly.
Kai slowly covered his face.
“You’re a dragon. Of course you can breathe fire.”
Before he could properly mourn the fact that he had forgotten one of the most basic facts about dragons, a loud popping sound exploded in front of him.
It was sharp and sudden, almost like a firework.
Ember immediately jumped in front of Kai, claws spread, teeth bared, and tail raised despite her injured wing.
A low growl rumbled from her throat.
Kai blinked.
“Ember, it’s okay.”
She did not relax.
Her golden eyes scanned the cave, searching for a threat.
But there was no monster.
No attack.
Only a glowing system window hovering in front of Kai.
Insight Gained!
Companions Menu Unlocked!
Open Menu?
Y/N
Kai’s heart started racing.
“Oh.”
He pressed yes.
A new screen appeared with large letters at the top.
Companions Menu
Available Companions:
Ember
Her name was written in red.
Kai glanced at Ember, who was still standing protectively in front of him.
Then he tapped her name.
The screen changed.
Companion Profile
Name: Ember
Age: 20 Dragon Years
Species: Adolescent Montolian Dragon
Species Information: Locked
Requirement: Bestiary Required
EXP to Level Up: 0/200
Affection: 105%
Status: Deeply Attached / Overprotective
Bond Level: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Shared Skill 1: Fire Breath
Due to your growing bond with your first companion, you have gained access to a weaker version of Ember’s Fire Breath.
This skill improves as Ember’s mastery improves and as your bond level increases.
Shared Skill 2: Locked
Requirement: Higher Bond Level
Shared Skill 3: Locked
Requirement: Higher Bond Level
Shared Skill 4: Locked
Requirement: Higher Bond Level
Shared Skill 5: Locked
Requirement: Higher Bond Level
Bonus Perk: Slow Aging
Your aging speed is reduced compared to an ordinary human.
Current Effect: You age 25% slower.
This perk may improve as bond level increases.
Kai read the screen.
Then he read the first shared skill again.
Fire Breath.
Everything else immediately became less important.
The affection percentage.
The overprotective status.
The slow aging perk.
The fact that Ember was apparently already at five hearts.
All of that could wait.
Because fire breath.
Kai closed the menu.
Ember turned her head toward him, confused.
Kai inhaled.
Then he thought very hard about breathing fire.
He exhaled.
A burst of flame shot from his mouth.
Kai’s eyes went wide.
Ember’s eyes went wider.
For a second, neither of them moved.
Then Kai slowly raised both fists.
“Yes.”
He breathed out another tiny puff of smoke.
“I can breathe fire.”
Ember stared at him in complete disbelief.
Kai grinned.
“I can breathe fire.”
In that moment, he felt cooler than he had ever felt in his entire life.
He had no sword skills.
No armor.
No map.
No proper survival knowledge.
But he had a portable flamethrower built into his face.
That counted for something.
Before he could celebrate further, another notification appeared.
Insight Gained!
Mana Bar Unlocked!
Equip?
Y/N
Kai pressed yes so fast his finger nearly went through the screen.
A translucent bar appeared in the corner of his vision. When he focused on it, the details became clearer.
Mana: 16/20
Kai stared at it.
Then he glanced at the fire he had breathed a moment ago.
“So one fire breath costs four mana.”
That seemed fair.
Probably.
He had absolutely no idea what would happen if his mana hit zero.
But fire breath was incredible, and Kai had never been accused of being a wise man.
He inhaled again.
“Kai,” he said to himself, “this is probably a bad idea.”
Then he breathed fire anyway.
The mana bar dropped.
12/20.
He laughed.
Again.
8/20.
Ember watched him with growing concern.
Again.
4/20.
Kai’s head felt a little light.
“Okay,” he muttered. “One more.”
Ember made a warning sound.
Kai ignored it.
Because fire breath.
He exhaled one final burst of flame.
0/20.
For half a second, Kai felt amazing.
Then his vision tilted.
“Oh,” he said.
His legs gave out.
Ember lunged forward to catch him, but Kai collapsed before she could reach him.
He hit the cave floor and passed out instantly.
The last thing his brain managed to process was one simple, important lesson.
Mana was not optional.