“Kid.” I groggily blinked.
Had I fallen asleep?
Where?
Wasn’t I at school?
Was I lucid dreaming?
“Kid.
Pay attention.” I looked up and saw a massive red dragon staring at me.
His enormous maw released smoke and sparks with every slow breath.
His claws dug into the ground as he grunted.
Then a tiny dragon, no bigger than a rabbit, crawled off the larger dragon’s back.
She floated clumsily through the air, gave a tiny yip, and crashed into me with a purr.
“Kid,” the large dragon repeated.
“Why is her soul here?” I blinked.
What?
Her soul?
The dragon?
Wait.
“Are you Ddraig?” I couldn’t help but exhale roughly.
Shouldn’t he be trapped?
“Oh?
It looks like my name is still famous, even among brats.” Suddenly, the aura around him changed.
The air grew heavier.
Older.
Prouder.
“I, Ddraig Y Goch, formally thank you for saving my sister’s soul.
However you managed it.” The great dragon sat proud and tall.
“I won’t lower my head to anyone.
It took the One Above and the devils below to lay me low.” His voice rumbled with ancient pride.
“But thank you for saving her.
I don’t know why she is here after so long, but it is a relief.” I stared.
I was so confused.
A big fuck-off dragon had appeared in my dream to thank me for saving his sister.
A sister I didn’t even know I had saved.
That was great.
I was glad.
Really.
But how the fuck was he here?
System.
Help me out here!
[Answering Query…] [Host is not in a standard dream.] [Current Location: Shared Draconic Soul-Space.] [Cause: Nascent Dragon Soul resonance with Ddraig Y Goch.] Ddraig snorted smoke.
“Your little one cried out.
I heard it.” I looked down at the tiny dragon currently trying to climb into my shirt like a cat.
“She cried out?” [Correction: The Nascent Dragon Soul established instinctive kinship contact.] “That horrifying thing in your soul is correct.” “I’ll ignore you calling it horrifying since I simply don’t have the capacity to give a shit right now.” “You’re on the path to becoming a dragon, all right, brat,” Ddraig chuckled.
“So she’s your sister, huh?” I said as I rubbed the small dragon’s head.
She purred.
“I didn’t know.
She was just there one day, and she wanted to go into my Mana Core, so I let her.
She’s my partner now.” Ddraig’s eye narrowed.
“Brat, for dragons, that is a life-bond.
Closer than contract.
Closer than blood.
I’ll gore you if you hurt her.” “I didn’t know!” “I don’t care.” I sighed and sat down.
“System.” Ddraig raised one massive brow ridge as he listened.
[Memory Fragment loaded.] [Spell Sequence Initiated.] [Displaying possible future fragments.] “What the…” Ddraig started.
Then he fell quiet while watching the possible Plot of Draconic Deus.
I may as well warn Ddraig in advance.
Maybe he would whip Issei into shape.
“Oppai Dragon and Butt Dragon,” Ddraig muttered in dumbfounded horror.
He snorted a huge plume of smoke.
“Thanks, brat.
Knowing even this much solves a lot of problems.” “Just make sure to keep your partner in line.” “What you saw isn’t the future, kid.
It is a possible future.
My sister doesn’t exist in this timeline anymore.
She died many years ago…” His gaze shifted to the tiny dragon curled against me.
“Thank you, primordial power, for pulling her from that hellscape.” Ddraig’s voice rumbled once more.
“See you later, Raoul.
Little one.” I slowly began to fade back into unconsciousness, my little baby dragon snuggling close to me.
— DING.
[Achievement Unlocked: Witness the Soul of One of the Heavenly Dragons.] [Title Acquired: Dragon’s Benefactor] Effect: Dragon-blooded creatures are more likely to view Host warmly.
Warning: Phoenix-related species may react intensely, ranging from passionate hostility to deep affection.
Wonderful.
I couldn’t help but mutter mentally when I woke up.
A big old scary dragon had bothered me during my nap.
I glanced at Issei.
His aura had begun to grow.
Koneko was glancing at him too.
Looks like Ddraig was waking up completely soon.
— Ahh.
Walking home.
How peaceful.
Ignore the huge barrier way off to the right, barely visible in the distance.
That was clearly not something good.
Oh.
It was gone.
Spooky.
Hm.
After showing Ddraig those future fragments, “canon” was pretty much thrown out the window.
I didn’t know how much he could do with the information, but he seemed grateful for it.
And frankly, there was a lot of crap I saw that could have been avoided with basic planning.
The Rating Game marriage contract bullshit was one of them.
They were devils.
Contracts were important to them.
Didn’t like the contract?
Find a loophole and exploit it!
The myths about devils were all like that!
I rubbed my hair roughly and exhaled before looking around.
What to do today?
Well, I had dealt with devils and yōkai.
Should I visit the church?
No.
That crazy Freed guy might be here soon.
The Boosted Gear was beginning to awaken, which meant everything was going to start soon.
I needed to learn martial arts properly.
My eyes drifted to a piece of paper stapled to a streetlight.
“Ryozanpaku Dojo, huh?” —