What Are Emotions?
Emotions differ from one person to another and from one being to another, and scientifically, emotions are defined as:
A conscious experience characterized by intense mental activity and by a certain degree of pleasure or suffering. Scientific discourse has drifted toward other meanings; however, there is no consensus on a single definition of emotions. Emotions often intertwine with psychological state, mood, personality, orientation, and motivation.
You may be wondering why I am telling you this.
Well, let's say I woke up in this void;
And the first thing I thought of after waking up was…
"My father, my mother, my friends."
I cried out in a muffled voice as tears streamed from both of my eyes…
At that moment, memories of my embodiment began to surface in my mind; and all I could think about was how strangely cold I was toward the situation, as if all my emotions had frozen…
"What will I do now?"
I said, wondering where this strange courage came from.
Man, I had never even held a weapon until last night; and the strange thing is that I attacked that monster with the intention of reaching this gate as if I were confident I would survive…
The second point is that I did not focus on my condition when it was revealed that my talent was of EX rank; the highest rank that can be reached; even by the end of the story, neither the protagonist nor the author reached it; yet I thought of it as if it were the most natural thing in this world…
The third point is that I fought the white-haired old man like a robot, with complete confidence; I was controlling my body; and at the same time, I felt as though I was not controlling it at all, which is truly strange for me; I, who used to be bullied…
What happened to me is truly strange; I have thoughts in my head, but I must escape from here first…
I began looking around, searching for a way out of this dungeon; but then I remembered something; the dragon's words…
It was mentioned in the novel that the dragon was present when the Art was taken; but it was imprisoned here in this dungeon and was severely injured; so what freed this dragon? And why did it give me its heart?…
Many questions are swirling in my mind, and I have no answers to them; not even who sent me here.
I grabbed my head as I thought about these matters, until I noticed something strange in the dungeon…
There was something shining with a golden color; an egg, to be precise; it was the size of a three-year-old child and had white streaks on it…
I felt drawn to this egg; yes, that strange feeling once again; as if I were being guided and unable to think about the risks…
Before I realized it, I was standing in front of the egg; and the first thought that appeared in my mind was (Protect)…
The same feeling I had when I saw the parents of this body; or more precisely, my parents after the memories merged…
As you can see, even this did not feel strange to me; seriously, what was happening to me…
I mean, how was I able to deal with them naturally while being an isolated person…
More and more mysteries, and there are no solutions…
I began moving toward the egg…
As I approached the egg, I felt a strange bond forming between us; and at that moment, I remembered the dragon's last words…
"Do not leave until you learn how to hide the egg within your body."
At first, I thought of avoiding these problems and escaping this place; but as usual, nothing goes as planned in this cursed world…
I went to the gate through which I had entered this dungeon; and as expected, I found it closed; I tried to push it with all my strength; but to no avail—I could not move it.
"Well, damn it, it seems I can't leave until I learn that,"
I said as I walked sadly toward the egg, because this place had only one door.
"Damn it."
I must plan how things will proceed in my own way from now on; because I truly do not like unexpected situations…
Well, I approached the egg, and that strange sensation of connection returned once more…
"It really seems to be a dragon egg; but which one?"
I said as I thought about the dragons that appeared in the novel…
I slapped my face with both hands and said in a somewhat loud voice:
"Focus, Erin; I need to get out of this place quickly, so I don't make my parents suspicious of what I was doing in their absence; I'll think about this later."
I extended my right hand and touched the egg; its texture was smooth, if you ask me; and I began instinctively channeling mana into it…
After doing that for a minute, I started to feel my mana reserves drop to half, so I tried to pull my hand away; but alas, nothing goes the way I want…
The egg stuck to my hand and to the ground and began drawing mana in greater amounts…
I began to feel terrified; because the mana consumption was happening at an incredibly fast rate; the first thing I thought of was that I did not want to lose consciousness in this place again; but what I feared most happened…
I lost consciousness...
In a space of emptiness, which appeared completely white, I was standing literally in the middle of nothing; and it seemed that I did not feel panic, because I felt almost safe; which is strange, if you ask me…
After standing for a long time with nothing appearing around me; suddenly, a small creature appeared, the size of a three-year-old child; which oddly matched the size of the egg; notice the irony in my words…
That creature approached me; if you asked me to describe it, I would say: it was a small silver dragon with some golden lines…
Suddenly, I felt the dragon's gaze meet my eyes; there was nothing malicious in its look; rather, it was looking at me with a sense of familiarity…
As if our thoughts synchronized in that moment…
The dragon extended one of its hands, and then my vision turned to darkness...
I woke up in the same place I had been in after some time; and the first thing I noticed was the disappearance of the egg; so I did what anyone in my position would do…
"Status."
I muttered in a low voice as I stared into the empty space before me, waiting for that screen to appear.
Name: Erin Brown
Gender: Human (Half-Dragon)
Talent: EX
Rank: +E
Strength: +E
Mana: E
Endurance: +E
Intelligence: -D
Magic: E+
Luck: S
Art: Flash Strike Art (Two Stars)
An art that allows spear strikes to be 90% faster and stronger for critical hits.
Spear King Art (Five Stars)
The strongest spear art in human history; you are the first and last heir to this art.
The First Spear King Style, consisting of five moves.
Current mastery rate: 3%
Skills:
Reader's Mind (EX)
Helps you think five times faster than normal, making time appear to slow down; resists all forms of mental attacks and is unaffected by the Author's abilities.
Dragon Presence (S) (Passive)
Most creatures and monsters fear you and instinctively avoid you; you can emit a mysterious pressure that affects all creatures of equal or lower rank.
Bonds:
Dragon Egg (Unknown)
?????
The first thing that happened when I saw my status was that my lips curled into a smile—the first of its kind for me in this world…
A smile of satisfaction.
How could I not, when I had obtained the spear art I wanted; the strongest style in this world; even the protagonist and the author struggled greatly to bring down the thief of this art; but that is a story for another day…
The second thing I noticed was that I now had a connection with a dragon; that is something great, but where did the egg go?
As soon as I thought of the egg, I felt a burning pain in my chest…
"Ah."
A groan escaped my lips…
I took off my shirt to find a mark or tattoo of a dragon image directly over my heart, imprinted in silver…
I immediately knew that the egg was there; and I could sense it in a strange way; it seemed to be sleeping at the moment…
You may wonder why I said "she" and not "he"; it is merely a feeling I have, nothing more…
After I recovered my energy, I began searching around the dungeon for anything useful…
I mean, there had been a dragon in this place; and dragons are known for hoarding treasures…
But I was disappointed, as I found nothing; after that, I prepared to leave this place…
As I began walking toward the gate, I remembered something important—wasn't there an orc on the opposite side?
The moment I remembered that, I started trembling abnormally; because it reminded me of an unpleasant situation; and by that, I mean death, almost...
I took out my spear from the storage ring and began activating all my skills with extreme focus; I really do not want to die…
As soon as I approached the gate, it opened by itself, which surprised me a little…
It seems there was a mechanism waiting for me to take this egg out…
I exited that cursed door, only to be greeted by a strange sight, to say the least…
Disgusting, at best.
Numerous corpses of orc monsters were scattered here and there…
The stench was so pungent it nearly made me choke…
The scene was truly revolting; naturally, I began to vomit…
"Urgh."
This means someone is here; and someone strong, and not kind at all…
I thought of one thing: (Escape).
I hurried to flee from here, my steps quickening as I climbed the stairs; and after running for about thirty minutes, I saw the end of those stairs…
I reached the top and breathed a sigh of relief…
"That was truly terrifying."
After I exited and began walking toward the village, I heard a new voice addressing me…
"What do we have here?"
I turned around to find a man who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, saying…
"You were the one inside that gate, weren't you?"
He said it with the ugliest smile I had ever seen in my life…
As he gently wiped the blood off the spear he was holding…
"Let's talk, little thief."
This is going to be troublesome.