In my past life, I never had this.
When half of Earth's population was summoned to Wageah, the soldiers stripped us of our Bloodlines and Traits.
They called it a tax.
Maybe that was when I lost my dragon bloodline.
But now it was here. That meant one of my parents carried it too.
Did it belong to mom? Or to father?
Neither looked anything close to dragons.
They were normal human, as far as I could tell.
'Hidden societies called Exorcist Clans exist on Earth. Maybe either mom or dad is from them.'
I had no answer, so I turned back to the status screen.
The rest of my stats didn't surprise me.
Everything was near zero.
That was expected for a baby.
The System only showed whole numbers.
Anything under one was rounded down. So even if my Strength was 0.9, it would still show zero.
I wanted to study more, but suddenly my eyelids grew heavy.
"You are too tired. Rest for now." Yuna's voice blurred.
My body sank into the blanket, and the screen faded as sleep dragged me away.
Weeks passed. Then months.
The nights turned into training grounds.
While the house was quiet, I pushed my limits.
Yuna never let me slack.
She nagged, reminded, encouraged, and sometimes yelled when I slowed down.
I summoned my shadow, held it, moved it, and dismissed it. Then repeated the cycle until my head pounded and my vision swam.
There were nights I could barely lift my head from the pillow, but I still forced the shadow out.
Yuna scolded me once. "You will collapse at this rate."
I still continued my training. I needed to be strong to protect my parents.
She looked unconvinced by my attitude but didn't stop me.
Eventually, the results came.
Spirit: 2 → 4.
Strength: 0 → 1.
Shadow Summon: Level 1 → Level 2.
The screen confirmed what my body already felt.
My shadow lasted longer now. Almost forty seconds. It was long enough to try more commands.
'Raise your hand,' I ordered.
The shadow lifted its blurry arm.
'Wave.'
It wobbled its arm back and forth.
Yuna clapped like an excited child. "Look at that! It even waves now! It still might be an illusion, but for now, control matters more than strength. That's where you should focus."
When Shadow Summon reached level two, the time increased again.
It remained for a full minute now.
I was able to walk it across the floor, make it sit, make it crawl, and even mimic gestures. It was becoming capable of doing complex actions.
The strain on my head wasn't as bad either.
Before, it felt like someone hammering nails into my skull. Now it was more like a dull ache.
But the real surprise wasn't the shadow.
It was the Strength stat.
Strength: 1
For the first time, my body felt different.
When I pushed against the mattress, my arms resisted the weight. My legs had some firmness. I wasn't just a limp baby anymore.
I laughed quietly the first time I managed to roll to my side without help.
The very next day, my mother noticed.
"Oh! He's trying to crawl!" she gasped.
Her hands hovered over me as she called out toward the hallway. "Adrian! Come here!"
My father's voice came from the other room. "What is it?"
"He's finally trying to crawl! Come see!"
He had been getting ready for work, but he appeared in the doorway as soon as he heard.
His eyes widened, and his whole face lit up.
"Woah! My big boy is going to crawl! Let me record it!"
He fumbled for a camera, already aiming the lens at me.
Both of them watched with so much hope it was almost funny.
My mother, Lyra Estenwald, reached out and gently pushed my back forward.
"Come on. You can do it," she said softly.
I focused.
Arms forward. Legs twitching.
I pressed down on the blanket and pulled myself forward.
One inch. Two inches.
My head dropped. It was exhausting, but I didn't stop.
Three inches.
Finally, I managed to drag myself an entire hand's length forward.
"Look at him go! Our little warrior!" My dad laughed, almost bouncing where he stood.
Compared to him, my mother was calmer.
Her smile was soft, and her hands clapped lightly as she encouraged me.
They were genuinely happy.
Something in my chest tightened.
I forced myself forward one more time before collapsing against the blanket. My limbs shook from the effort, but I didn't care.
"Go! Lord of Shadows! Go!"
'…'
'Let's ignore that one.'
I crawled.
More than joy, I felt relief.
Finally, I was free.
I didn't have to be carried everywhere anymore.
If I wanted to go somewhere, I crawled there.
No more waiting to be picked up. No more sitting uselessly in one spot!
That little freedom made everything easier.
Now I could crawl away from noisy people—yes, I meant you, Dad.
His voice had no concept of silence. Even when he wasn't yelling, he somehow filled the whole room.
"Now that you can crawl, it's possible to do more training!" Yuna chirped happily.
I smiled.
She was right! More training!
I started reaching for objects. Spoons, pillows, anything I could grab.
I pushed them, rolled them, knocked them over, pulled them back again.
It wasn't for fun.
This was training for Dexterity.
Every little movement built coordination, and I worked on it daily.
The progress came slowly, but it came.
Strength: 1 → 2
Dexterity: 0 → 1
One morning, as I leaned against my mother's chest, she brushed her hand through my hair.
"My baby boy is so active these days.
"When you were born, you were so quiet I thought you would grow up to be a child who only kept to himself," she said with a smile.
We were sitting in the tea pavilion in the eastern garden.
The walls were wooden and open, and the curtains swayed with the breeze.
My father was away on work, and for once, the place was quiet.
The sun was gentle, the wind mild, and the faint scent of tea hung in the air.
Yuna was sleeping on top of my tiny chest.
It was peaceful.
"I've invited a friend over today. She has a daughter too, just two years older than you."
Her hand lightly tapped my nose.
"Maybe you two can become friends."