“I guess we do.” I stood up facing the girl. She didn’t flinch.

  Kory’s gaze pierced through me. “I am not a burden.”

  I nodded. “I never said you were.” This conversation has already surpassed the uncomfortable category.

  “You act like I am.”

  Steel remained silent, observing as if waiting for any mistake. What did Kory want me to do? “How do you expect me to treat you? It’s hard to not feel pity for someone who’s going to die.” A knot twisted in my guts. The words forced themselves out, even if they were cruel.

  The corners of her mouth lifted, her smile was twitching. “Is that all I am? Someone to take pity on?”

  “No!” Steel embraced her in a hug, letting out a quiet sniffle. “You’re so much more than that.”

  “Those were my words!” My shout descended the room into silence. The girls exchanged glances. I felt heat creeping to my cheeks. I scrambled to regain my dignity. “What I meant to say is that you are undervaluing yourself. The fact that your situation is pitiful, doesn’t mean you have no inherent value. Every life is sacred.” I said proudly.

  Steel tilted her head. “Like the Source?”

  Kory chuckle, staring at me. “You really are a snake/bitch.” She took a deep breath, approaching me. “Steel, show him.”

  “The fuck do you mean bitch? Show me what?!”

  Steel pulled out a stack of papers, giving them to me.

  “What’s this-” My eyes went wide as I read the document.

  True Dragon Constitution

  Type: Growth Trait

  Rank: Count

  Affinity: Diamond

  Description: A natural trait which grants the user a fraction of the True Dragon’s powers.

  Instinctual Techniques. Grants the ability to use the following techniques using inner forms. Truthpower Sword, Thunderous Blink, Draconic Might, Eyes of Truth. Draconid Transformation (Locked). Draconic Flight (Locked), Immortal Reincarnation (Locked), Starmerge (Locked), People’s Paragon (Locked), Vengeful Smite (Locked) 61+ unknown techniques…

  Draconic Soul. Increases SE growth by 300%. There is nothing that can break your spirit.

  Draconic Body. Increases muscle power by 100%. Increases dexterity by 50%. Increases durability by 50%. Increases regeneration by 100%. Increase reaction speed by 70%. Increases transformation speed by 200%. You can consume 1 additional trait. Gives biological immortality. Your body cannot be changed by outside forces.

  Draconic Mind. Increases form comprehension by 200%. Increases technique speed by 200%. Increases speed of thought by 100%. Gives eidetic memory. You always remember those you owe and that which you are owed.

  Master of Reality (Locked).

  Ultimate Determinant (Locked).

  Last Hope of Dragons (Locked).

  Omnipresence (Locked).

  “Is this?” Kory nodded before I could say anything more. With each word the situation was looking more and more hopeless. I flipped the page. There was more. Kory recorded which combat style Ivaldie used, how she fought, her main strategy. She wrote down the techniques she learned herself, projected how fast Ivaldie’s SE would grow and most importantly her weaknesses. There was only one – she always gave her opponents the opportunity to strike first.

  “This is… This is amazing! How did you get this?” My eyes opened with amazement. Kory didn’t move an inch.

  “I won’t give it to you.” Her voice was cold. Steel stood behind her staring down on me.

  “Why not? Isn’t that the point of-”

  “Of the study group – yes. I want a pact.” She clenched her fists. “A real pact.” Kory glanced at Steel who took out a paper inscribed with a magical circle.

  Pact Initiation Scroll

  Type: Scroll (One-time use)

  Rank: Baron

  Affinity: Diamond-Onyx

  Description: When torn – allows the formation of a pact. The conditions must be spoken and accepted within the soul.

  “They have this in the requisition hall. Huh…” I sighed. “This is entirely unnecessary, Kory. When I won I would have given you the genome ritual without any pacts.”

  Her fists clenched, she shook her head. “I don’t trust you!” She gulped. “I don’t… You’re weird, suspicious, and hurtful. I need certainty, I don’t want a half-hearted promise that you’ll break on a whim just because you had an idea. Y-you...” She gulped.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Steel pat her shoulder, standing close. “It’s okay. I’m here with you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “This whole thing is blown way out of proportion.” While Steel was distracted I grabbed the scroll and tore it apart. “If I win the yearly exam I will transfer the genome ritual to Kory.” The scroll burst into black and white flames swirling in the air and flying into me. Immediately I felt it… It was a grip on my mind, calmly waiting in the back. The same sensation I felt when Vogelgesang made her pact, but this one was rougher, more violent. “Happy?”

  The dragon-girls stared at me with eyes wide open. Kory’s jaw was slacked wide open. Steel let out a yelp, her scales turning to a deeper shade of green.

  “Now, now. I’m really sorry for saying you’re barely a consideration. I didn’t mean it; it was my mistake. We’re still friends and there is no need to be suspicious. Got it?”

  Their astonished gazes were getting awkward.

  “We’re friends, alright.” I shrugged. “Maybe say something?”

  “Y-you, idiot!” Kory’s face twisted. “I-i was going to do a whole thing… Make you…” She groaned. “Why do you have to be like this?!”

  I smiled brightly. “Well isn’t that perfect? Friendship restored and I stand by my promise!” I put hands on her shoulder.

  Kory breathed heavily staring at me. Steel raised her hands, and shouted. “Friendship restored! Yay. We did it, Kory!”

  The pale dragon girl stared at the ground, pushing away my hands. “I-I guess we did.” She slapped her cheeks and stared at me. “I will help heal your soul faster with my technique and I will help you find how to surpass Ivaldie.” She pointed her finger straight at me. “You aren’t just taking pity on me! This is an equal exchange; you hear?”

  I swatted away the finger smiling. “Sure, sure. But speaking of Ivaldie… I already found a trait creation technique which will allow me to surpass her.” My smile grew brighter. Steel let out a quiet, “Woo.” Of celebration.

  “W-what? How?”

  “Why’d you think I got my soul damaged? I was searching through the archive to find a solution. Let’s go to the cafeteria, I’ll tell you on the way.”

  I told them about the datum I encountered in the Archive, the massive trait stone, the technique that was engraved into me, and the needed materials.

  We sat around a table in the corner of the cafeteria. This place always seemed full, but now there were slightly less clones running around. The food remained the same. Thankfully it was tasty.

  “So that’s about it. I have to master trait crafting, complete my combat foundation, and farm the onyx dungeon.”

  “Farm? This is not a- Never mind.” She sighed. “You need to be healed first.” Kory said without hesitation.

  “I can help with dungeon delving! My Dragon’s Might has been getting stronger.”

  “Mhm.” I swallowed a particularly juicy bite of the sandwich. “I’m basically on the verge of skyrocketing in power. I even thought up of techniques to defeat Ivaldie… I just need to well, use them.” I nodded to myself. “That said, I’ll be joining the technique design course once it’s done.” I chuckled. “It’s going to be a nasty one.”

  “T-that’s good.” Kory nodded. “So about the healing… We’ll have to sleep close by.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not sleeping on the floor.”

  Steel slammed her fist on the table. “Magnus!”

  “Fine, I guess I’ll sleep on the floor.”

  “Thank you…” Kory quickly made a triangle with her hands, scouter showed that it was the energizing form. Her body glowed for a second, and she became less pale. “I’m going to get some potions to help with concentration. Steel, you should train that combat style I found you. Magnus… Wait for us in your room.

  “You know; you are a lot bossier when you’re not stuttering.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “W-well my affinity shifted slightly.”

  “Whatever you say.” I ate the last piece of the sandwich. “While Steel is eating her fourth sandwich, tell me more about gestation. I want to know how Rame came to be.”

  “Okay. So it started with…”

  With how fast Steel was eating, there wasn’t much time for the story, but I got the gist. Rame lived in a tribe on some island, flying around and ruling over like a dragon should. There were barely five members there and all they did was hunt, live and love. She basically rummaged through at least 10 life stories, all of which ended disappointingly quickly.

  Yet, even in those glimpses dragons showed incredible power. Her jumbled mess of a story ended with a message from Rame himself.

  “My scions, these were the last peaceful days of the Cradle, a home we all once had, taken by a malicious monster. You must stand strong. Train, reach your full potential, and spread the glory of dragonkind. Together we will never allow another tragedy to happen.” Kory nodded sagely. “When I woke up from the pod… It wasn’t pretty. It took me less than a year to get my own ego. I was faster than most.”

  Steel looked like a mess, sniffling while looking at Kory. By this point, I realized that perfect memory does not help with storytelling skills. This was miserable to listen to. “That was certainly enlightening.” I stood up. “So… We all have places to be, books to read.”

  Steel mewled, staring at the table sadly. “Y-yes. There are always places… and books.” Kory pet her head, looking at the huge dragon girl with worry.

  “I’ll be waiting for you in my room.” I grabbed the box with my new stuff. “Good luck with your things. Don’t take too long.” Without goodbyes I left them behind.

  This conversation made me feel a lot better and in some ways a lot worse. Ivaldie’s trait was stupidly idiotically ridiculous and it would keep growing stronger. My answers to her ridiculous power were growing short and I had to bet more and more on God’s Flesh.

  I returned to my room. It was as barren as ever. Now I had a question – what can a young, lonely man do in his room? The obvious answer was read. So I read a bunch. Archive Surfing was nothing compared to Archive User Manual. I’d even call it uninspired, but the information was useful.

  Frankly it was mostly a huge list of do-s and don’t-s. I got bored several times and had to switch to doing the forms and drawing. Without starpower they weren’t going to do anything, but it sure as hell wouldn’t hurt to practice. Thankfully, scouter allowed me to adjust my positioning better. Just like that the time passed quickly and a knock resounded through my room.

  “Come in!”

  Ivaldie and Steel, came inside. Their eyes became wide upon seeing my room… It was turned into a mess during one of my more vigorous form practices, but I didn’t care what they thought.

  “Don’t look at me like that. I was working on important forms.”

  Steel nodded. “I work on forms too, but my room doesn’t look like that!” She leaned down and picked up a paper. “What’s this?”

  “That’s a drawing of the force form. Turned out pretty nice, eh?”

  Kory shook her head. “This looks nothing like that… Is that a laser? Force form doesn’t do that.” She narrowed her eyes. “I Want to Shoot Lasers from my Hands? Why is my scouter showing that?”

  “Stop judging me! Just tell me what I need to do to get healed.” I sighed, collecting my drawings from the floor. When I had nothing to do, my room usually looked worse than this.

  “I’m not judging I’m just saying.” Steel shrugged.

  Kory bumped her shoulder, making her stop. “You need to fall asleep.”

  I tilted my head. “I hope your technique is as good as you say it is. Can you like clear some space?” Pushing away them both, I marked a nice rectangle with my eyes. “What are you waiting for? Get to it! The boredom’s been killing me.”

  “Right… Steel can you leave the room.”

  The green girl nodded, and silently marched out. Taking a deep breath Kory took out a pair of potions and drank them. She gently dropped on the bed and closed her eyes. A blue mist started flowing from her body. Scouter said it was just starpower mist, but I didn’t buy that.

  “Say, Kory, you have a trait don’t you?”

  She let out a yelp. “I-I do… It’s a sleeping trait… You’re scary.” She closed her eyes again.

  I shook my head, trying to find the most comfortable spot on the metal floor. There wasn’t one. Nevertheless, I lay down and closed my eyes. It took me longer than I expected to fall asleep.