'Eh…?'
Liang Wei blinked several times, but the image in front of him still didn't change.
There were too many trees, enormous ones that stretched toward the sky. He looked to the sides and it was the same…
There were only trees everywhere.
The sun barely filtered through the leaves, but that didn't tell him anything. He didn't recognize this place. He couldn't even sense the presence of another person nearby. It was as if he were completely alone in the middle of nowhere.
'This doesn't make any fucking sense…'
The last thing he remembered was that he was bleeding. A lot of blood, and most of it wasn't his, but a good part of it was.
He had crushed the most powerful clans in his world, one by one, with his bare hands.
No weapons, only using the techniques he had learned throughout his short life.
In the end he had won, but he had also lost too much blood.
So the conclusion was obvious.
'So… I really did die in the end…'
It didn't bother him at all. He had lived the way he wanted and died standing. There wasn't much more to ask for.
What did bother him was not understanding what the hell was happening now.
Then, right in front of his eyes, a screen appeared.
It was translucent, with a golden glow that floated in the air as if it were the most normal thing in the world. With letters that shone clearly.
[Welcome!]
[Teleportation completed successfully.]
Liang Wei looked at the screen without any particular expression.
He didn't say anything. He simply observed it while a new window expanded underneath, showing what seemed to be his data.
[Cultivation System]
[Function in this world: Binder.]
[Unique Ability: Transformation Contract.]
[Bond Points: 100/100]
[Instruction: Points can be used to bind beasts through the seal.]
[Warning: Bonds are permanent and irreversible.]
Liang read each line again and again, just to make sure he wasn't seeing it wrong.
'What the hell is this?'
His brow furrowed slightly in irritation. A dull annoyance at the stupidity of the situation.
System?
Binder?
Beasts?
So this was what came after death. Another life in another world. With rules he didn't understand and a floating screen giving him instructions like it was a game.
He clenched his fists.
The sensation felt the same as always, his body responding the same way. The muscles, the tendons, the strength behind every fiber. Everything seemed to remain the same as before.
'It seems I kept the same level as before.'
That was the only thing he cared about. As long as he could fight, then he didn't care where he was.
But before he could test his strength by punching a tree, something in the environment changed suddenly.
A gust of wind appeared out of nowhere, violently lifting dust from the ground and tearing several branches from the nearby trees.
The sound that followed was like a deep roar that made everything around him tremble.
Liang didn't even flinch.
'And now what?'
When the dust began to disperse, he raised his gaze toward the sky.
And what he saw made him bare his teeth in an incredulous smile.
It was enormous, not to mention gigantic…
A creature that blocked part of the sun with its body, covered in red scales that shone like molten metal.
Wings that could cover a mountain. Claws the size of an adult man. And eyes that looked down with an intensity that would have made any normal person run.
A dragon.
A real fucking dragon.
"Is that…?" he muttered, still with that smile on his face. The kind of smile that appeared when you found something interesting.
The golden screen appeared again at his side, this time with an alert.
[Beast proximity alert detected: Vermella Dragon.]
[Classification: SSS Rank.]
[Element: Primordial Fire.]
[Available Option: Activate Transformation Contract.]
[Cost: 100 bond points.]
[Confirm?]
Liang Wei processed the information in less than a second. He didn't understand what it meant by SSS rank and primordial fire, but that thing was diving straight toward him.
Running was useless, even if his strength was the same as before, he didn't have wings. And that thing was falling from the sky like a meteor with claws.
'How convenient to have 100 points…'
He didn't know what that contract would do, much less what "transformation" meant. But between dying crushed by a giant lizard or trying something he didn't understand, the choice was obvious.
"Confirm."
[Transformation Contract active.]
[Bond points: 100 → 0]
[Binding in process…]
What happened next was instantaneous. The pressure suddenly disappeared.
The dragon simply vanished from the sky. As if it had never been there.
The wind stopped blowing and the roar disappeared.
Liang slowly straightened up, lowering the arm he had used to shield himself.
"Did it work?"
But before he could confirm his doubts, something slammed into his chest.
"…!"
"KYAAAAA!" A sharp, feminine scream was the only thing he heard before the impact.
It wasn't as strong as he expected, but enough to make him lose his balance. His back hit the ground and he was dragged several meters backward, kicking up dirt and leaves in his wake.
When he finally stopped, there was something on top of him.
It was warm, and it was something breathing rapidly against his chest.
Liang Wei opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw were horns. Two small horns, dark red, almost black, protruding from a head covered in white hair. Long, messy strands that fell over his chest.
Whatever that thing was, it was on top of him, clearly disoriented, trembling slightly.
It was a woman. Or at least it had the shape of one.
Before Liang could say or do anything, the golden screen appeared once again.
[Binding completed.]
[Vermella Dragon has been transformed into a humanoid form.]
[Current bond level 1 – Mark of Recognition.]
[The Qi of the bound beast now flows toward the Binder.]
Liang's eyes moved from the screen to the figure on top of him.
She still hadn't moved, with her face still buried in his chest and her shoulders trembling.
'So that's what it meant by transformation…'
It wasn't exactly what he expected, but he wasn't disappointed either.