Rayder crept forward, each step calculated and silent. The dense jungle around him pulsed with danger, and he dared not make a sound that might draw attention.
But before he could get far, the rustling of leaves behind him grew louder—quick, erratic, and approaching fast.
He spun around, sword at the ready, but the thick wall of trees behind him revealed nothing.
Still, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
Something was coming.
Something had found him.
Rayder didn't waste another second. He turned and ran.
But the jungle was not kind to the desperate. Twisting roots caught at his feet. Hanging vines slapped across his face. The trees grew so close together that they forced him to zigzag wildly, and the uneven terrain made each step a gamble.
Within moments, the air behind him turned foul—choked with the stench of rotting flesh and corrupted magic.
The monsters had arrived.
Snarls and howls filled the jungle air. When Rayder glanced over his shoulder, his blood ran cold. Behind him surged a wave of deformed creatures—nightmarish beasts with twisted bodies, rotted skin, and glowing red eyes. Their movements were jerky and unnatural, but their hunger was terrifyingly real.
Rayder's legs burned. His lungs screamed.
But he couldn't outrun them.
Then he spotted it: a massive tree, its trunk as wide as a tower. Without a second thought, Rayder dashed toward it.
He pressed his back to the bark, dropped into a crouch, and slammed his shield into the ground at an angle. Sword raised, he braced himself.
The first monster was a wild dog—or what was left of one. Its ribs were exposed through patches of missing fur and muscle, and green slime oozed from its mouth. It lunged with a feral snarl.
Rayder met it with his shield, catching the full weight of its body. The moment it hit, he thrust his longsword forward with every ounce of strength he had.
The blade pierced straight through the beast's chest, killing it instantly.
A chime echoed in his mind.
> "Killed a cursed magical creature. Gained magical energy. Incubation progress: 2.1%."
But Rayder didn't have time to celebrate. More monsters surged from the jungle.
He tucked himself tighter behind the shield, using the massive tree as a brace. He formed a triangular shelter between tree, ground, and shield—a last bastion against the nightmare.
One by one, the deformed creatures hurled themselves at him, shrieking and howling.
Rayder dug in.
He held the shield with his left hand and stabbed blindly with his right, lunging through gaps whenever he felt an opening. Sometimes his sword struck home. When it did, the creatures howled in pain. Blood—red, green, even pale white—splashed across his armor and the earth beneath him.
His world became a blur of screams, blood, and relentless impact.
The monsters piled up, one after another, forcing him deeper into his shelter. Their foul blood soaked into the dirt, and the reek of death thickened the air.
Rayder's strength waned.
His arms trembled. His shoulders screamed. His vision blurred with exhaustion.
He had no idea how many creatures he had killed—only that the corpses around him were stacking like a wall, burying him alive.
Then, just as his shield arm faltered, he heard a different sound—a chittering hiss—coming from deeper within the jungle.
From the darkness emerged an even worse threat.
Green Venom Ants.
Rayder's eyes widened. He had heard tales of these deadly insects—each the size of a thumb, their emerald mandibles glowing with potent poison. A single bite could paralyze a grown man in seconds.
Hundreds of them swarmed toward the tree, drawn by the scent of blood and decay.
Rayder braced himself, but to his astonishment, the ants ignored him. They turned their fury toward the deformed monsters instead.
Where the ants bit, monsters twitched and collapsed.
Rayder saw his chance.
With a roar, he shoved the pile of corpses off his shield and scrambled out from his shelter. His body screamed in protest, every limb shaking, but he didn't stop.
He ran.
The jungle flew past him in a blur. Branches tore at his face. Roots tried to trip him. But he kept moving—driven by the sheer will to survive.
Then... another sound.
Rustling. From all directions.
He skidded to a halt, chest heaving.
The sounds grew louder. Multiple creatures. Fast.
He was surrounded.
Panic clawed at him, but he forced himself to breathe. His eyes darted around.
There—a tree. Taller than any he had seen so far. Its trunk rose into the sky like a tower, its thick branches disappearing into the mist above.
It was the only option.
Rayder threw himself at the tree, wrapped his arms around the trunk, and began to climb.
Bark tore at his hands. Sweat stung his eyes. But he climbed.
Three meters. Four. Five.
And then—the sound below.
Dozens—maybe hundreds—of the twisted monsters burst into the clearing.
Rayder looked down and nearly lost his grip.
These weren't just more cursed beasts. They were something worse. Mutated.
Their forms were almost unrecognizable—slabs of rotting muscle, tentacles, bone spurs, and twitching limbs that moved independently. They snarled, groaned, and clawed at the base of the tree.
And most terrifying of all—Rayder's Dragon King's Pressure had no effect on them.
Normally, lesser creatures would flee in fear. These... were immune.
In fact, when Rayder looked into their eyes—if they had any—he saw hatred. Pure, unfiltered loathing. As if they existed for the sole purpose of destroying him.
His skin crawled.
> What are these things? Why aren't they affected...?
He climbed higher, until he reached a thick fork in the tree's upper branches. There he sat, heart racing, trying to catch his breath.
Below him, the creatures roared, clawed, and shrieked, but they couldn't reach him.
Then, a new sound joined the cacophony.
Chittering.
The green venom ants had caught up.
The jungle floor erupted into chaos as the ants clashed with the twisted monsters. The ants moved like a tide—biting, stinging, swarming over every inch of exposed flesh.
Monsters screamed. Some flailed wildly. Others collapsed, convulsing before going still.
From his perch, Rayder watched in stunned silence.
The ants were actually winning.
Though vastly outnumbered, they used speed and venom to strike with deadly efficiency. Monster after monster fell. Blood soaked the roots of the tree. Mangled limbs and torn flesh littered the forest floor.
Rayder exhaled slowly.
He was safe—for now.
But even in this relative calm, the system alerts in his mind refused to quiet. Chime after chime echoed in his thoughts.
Finally, he opened his system panel:
---
Personal Information:
Name: Rayder
Gender: Male
Age: Eleven
Bloodline Talent: Ancient Valyrian Dragon King
Dragon Traits: Dragon Rider; Dragon King's Pressure
Status: Exhausted
---
Quest Panel:
Main Quest: Collect magical energy to incubate Kidora
Reward: Unlock Pet Space
Pet: Kidora
Incubation Progress: 3.9%
Ability: Dragon King's Pressure
---
Rayder blinked in shock.
> 3.9%?
Just hours ago, it had been barely above 2%. Now it was almost doubled, and the number was still ticking up.
That's when realization struck him.
> The system absorbs magical energy when magical creatures die nearby... even if I'm not the one killing them!
The ants. The monsters. Their battle was fueling Kidora's growth.
It was a breakthrough—but it came with a cost.
Rayder's body ached. He was bruised, bloodied, and completely spent. But as he watched the jungle floor transform into a battlefield of magic and death, he knew one thing with certainty:
This war was his opportunity.
If he could endure this chaos—if he could survive long enough—he might gather enough energy to bring Kidora into the world.
And when that day came..
Everything would change..
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