Silence fell over the battlefield.
The Plant Dragon stared, vines slowly retracting, her eyes wide in disbelief. "You… we really did it. We beat it."
Draco slid down from the beast's neck, his knees buckling beneath him. He panted, every breath ragged, but his gaze was fixed firmly on the creature before him.
A notification shimmered faintly before his vision.
[You have tamed: Rank 3 Aquarius Solamis Champion.]
[You have Leveled Up]
"Level… twelve, huh?" Draco's lips curved faintly, though the exhaustion was clear in his voice.
But as the glow of the system faded, a grim realization followed.
It had taken everything—his will, his strength, his strategy—just to push past this single battle. The effort needed now to rise even one level was far beyond what it had been before. The ease of growth within the Tutorial was gone.
This was the real world now, and advancement would no longer come cheap.
