Rayder surveyed the bleak land around him. It was desolate beyond imagination. Even the trees—what few remained—were covered in a thick, grey rock-like layer, rendering their bark unchewable. The air was dry, and his parched throat burned with thirst. A bitter taste lingered in his mouth, and an uncomfortable pressure built in his chest. Anxiety gnawed at him.
His mission was clear: to find the energy source needed to hatch Kidora. But in this lifeless wasteland, hope felt increasingly distant.
Then, movement caught his eye.
A snake coiled lazily on a tree branch nearby.
Rayder's instincts kicked in. He grabbed a fallen dead branch and poked at the snake, trying to dislodge it. The snake didn't react at first, but Rayder remembered the power he had just awakened—Dragon King's Pressure.
With a simple mental command, he released a sliver of his might. The snake immediately began to writhe and flee, overwhelmed by the invisible force. Rayder quickly reapplied his pressure, and the serpent froze, paralyzed with fear.
A smile crept across his face. This ability was more useful than he had imagined. It wasn't just intimidation—it was control.
Without hesitation, he killed the snake with a swift strike. However, another problem arose. He had no means to cook the meat. Eating it raw would be his last resort.
Then it hit him.
He was surrounded by volcanoes.
Why search for fire when lava flowed nearby?
Rayder roamed for a while and finally found a location close enough to molten rock. Using a dead branch, he skewered the snake and roasted it over the lava's searing heat. The smell was pungent, but after days of hunger and desperation, the meat was heavenly.
He devoured it eagerly.
For the first time in days, he was full. He lay down nearby, letting the warmth from the nearby lava soothe his tired body. His stomach was no longer growling, and his muscles relaxed.
The warmth lulled him into a rare moment of comfort.
But the moment didn't last.
Rayder sat up and reopened his mission screen.
Objective: Find energy to hatch Kidora.
He sighed. It hadn't changed. No hints. No guidance.
"What kind of system gives a mission and doesn't help?" he muttered, frustrated. He called out mentally, "System, you there? I need information."
No response.
"System? Hey! Even if you're lazy, at least give me a direction. Hello? Godfather? Master? Overlord? Please!"
Silence.
It was as if the system had fallen asleep after dropping off the egg.
"If I could give you a 1-star review, I would," he grumbled.
Still, it was useless to argue with a possibly broken system. He stood, wiped the dust from his robes, and pressed on. There had to be something deeper in the ruins that could help.
With the Dragon King's Pressure active, Rayder continued his journey through the decaying land. Creatures—those that didn't flee—cowered or froze under his invisible aura. Some simply dropped to the ground, paralyzed with fear.
Rayder walked through this grim world as if it were a haunted house designed only to test his courage. What once might have terrified him now simply amused him.
"This could be my private backyard," he chuckled.
He passed ruined structures that looked ancient—perhaps remnants of Valyria's lost civilization. But despite the scale of the architecture, everything had been stripped of value. No artifacts, no supplies, not even bones. Only time and decay remained.
As the last sliver of sunlight dipped below the horizon, night fell swiftly.
Rayder's smile faded.
The eerie quiet of the ruins transformed into something sinister under the cover of darkness. He knew he had to find shelter—and fast.
He spotted a partially collapsed ruin and made his way toward it. The stone blocks were massive, but he managed to find a triangular gap beneath two leaning slabs. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was dry and provided enough protection to survive the night.
The darkness deepened. Rayder curled into himself beneath the stone shelter.
The unease returned.
His thoughts wandered back to his old world. He missed his home. He missed his friends. Were they still alive? Did they even know where he was?
The loneliness gripped him like a vice.
But still, he clung to hope.
"If I can just hatch Kidora," he whispered, "I'll have the strength to complete the mission. Maybe... maybe I'll even find a way home."
He repeated this mantra until his breath slowed, though true sleep remained elusive.
Not long after, he noticed flickers of red light in the distance.
Dozens of glowing fire-earthworms emerged from the cracked ground, their bodies emitting a gentle, pulsating red light. They swayed and twisted hypnotically in the dark.
It was... beautiful.
Then a vulture landed nearby, perhaps drawn to the glow.
In an instant, the earthworms lunged.
The vulture let out a single squawk before being dragged beneath the earth. Dozens of earthworms swarmed it, tearing the bird apart. In seconds, it vanished—no bones, no feathers, nothing left.
Rayder held his breath.
Before he could even recover, a massive red snake slithered out from behind a rock. It was as thick as a grown man's arm and longer than any serpent Rayder had seen before.
The fire-earthworms, which had been so powerful moments ago, panicked. They retreated underground, but a few weren't quick enough. The snake struck with lightning speed, devouring them one after another.
Its power was terrifying.
But its dominance was short-lived.
Without warning, a black shadow swept down from above. It moved so fast Rayder barely registered its shape. A sickening crunch followed, and the red snake was lifted into the air, then vanished with the predator.
Silence returned.
Rayder didn't move. He didn't breathe. His hands trembled.
Whatever that shadow was—it was beyond anything he had seen so far.
"This place..." he whispered. "It's a human death zone."
The Valyria Ruins at night were worse than any nightmare he could have imagined.
He remained still, terrified to make a sound. If even those powerful monsters weren't safe, what chance did he have?
He huddled under the stone, eyes wide, ears alert for the slightest sound. Fear pressed down on him like the very stone above him. But amidst that fear burned a tiny spark of resolve.
He had made it this far. He wouldn't give up now.
Even if the system was silent. Even if he was alone.
Even if the ruins wanted him dead.
As long as he had Kidora's egg, he had a purpose.
A mission.
And a future.
Ãdvåñçé çhàptêr àvàilàble óñ pàtreøn (Gk31)