The creature's body was covered in shimmering scales that glistened with a fiery red hue. Its small yet muscular frame seemed to be filled with immense innate strength.
The head bore a faint resemblance to a human's, but with elongated, sharp features and a set of small horns protruding from its forehead. A long, slender tail swayed behind it, flickering with embers.
As if welcoming its birth, the air around it grew warmer, and the fire inside its blood began to awaken, increasing the heat further. The draconian's eyes, a glowing amber, snapped open—filled with confusion but also an increasing sense of clarity.
"Where am I…?" the young draconian muttered in a rasping voice, his words a strange mix of human and dragon dialects. His breath was hot, and when he exhaled, small sparks flickered in the air.
But before he could think further, something deep within him began to awaken. His eyes opened wide as he felt the Dragon Inheritance inside him, feeding him basic knowledge of this world as well as the Dragon's wisdom.
The young draconian gritted his teeth in pain, feeling his mind get overwhelmed merely by the inheritance. But it wasn't supposed to happen like this, judging from what he had gathered from that knowledge.
Soon, he found the reason. It was because he was not a full-blooded Dragon; instead, he was a Draconian, as he saw his face reflected on the shiny cracked eggshell.
"I… am not a dragon?" he muttered in confusion.
But he decided not to focus on that and instead began to digest the knowledge the inheritance was giving him.
…
After a while, his mind calmed down as he took a deep breath.
"My true name is… Zaroth… Drakonis," he said after collecting himself. All True Dragons receive a name from their legacy upon birth.
It was said that the will of the world grants these names. One-word names for Draconians, two-word names for True Dragons, and three-word names for Irregular Dragons.
"So… I'm equal to a True Dragon despite being a Draconian?" Zaroth said in confusion.
This was all too new to him. He had just been born and learned that he was a Draconian. Even though he knew he would be a True Dragon in this life, finding out he had become a Draconian instead of a Dragon dealt him a blow.
After all, the status of Draconians and Dragons was worlds apart. One was the master, while the other was the slave. True Dragons never treated Draconians as part of their species; they always saw them as slaves to order around.
But before he could think further about this, another sound echoed inside his mind.
[Ding!]
[Welcome back, Host.]
Zaroth's eyes lit up. 'Yes! Echo! How did I forget about him?!' he thought with excitement, nearly forgetting the rewards he had gotten.
"Wait, wasn't it the Thunder Dragon Inheritance that I got? How did I become a Fire Dragon?" he asked aloud, waiting for the system to answer him.
But seeing the lack of response, he shook his head. "System, Status screen."
[Ding!]
Limitless System
[Host: Zaroth Drakonis]
[Title: Half Dragon]
[Age: 15]
[Race: Draconian (Half Human, Half Fire Dragon)]
[Bloodline: Half Human, Half Fire Dragon]
[Physique: Half Human, Half Fire Dragon]
[Soul: Half Human, Half Fire Dragon]
[Energy Source: Mana]
[Rank: None]
[Abilities: Eye of Revelation, Mark of Fate, Fire Affinity]
[Treasures: Soulpiercer Sword (Bound to soul)]
[Inventory: Five slots available—
-Physique Reconstruction Liquid
-Damaged World Tree Seed
-Strange Stone
-1,000 Tons of Meat
-Thunder Dragon Inheritance]
His eyes lit up when he saw the name of the system. 'Limitless System—yes, this was the reward I got.' He heaved a sigh of relief as it seemed only his Bloodline had been messed up.
He looked further. "Huh? Age 15?? How? I've just been born?!" His face turned dumbfounded upon seeing his age.
[Host, the duration when you were inside the Dragon Egg has also been taken into account.]
Realization dawned on him. "Ah… so I was an egg for 15 years." He glanced at the broken egg beside him, which was similar to him in size. He still felt weird knowing he had hatched from an egg in this life. This overturned his entire understanding of his past life.
He shook his head and continued reading. "Race… bloodline… physique… soul? There are different souls for everyone?" he asked aloud, but the system did not reply this time.
Then, he closed his eyes and looked inside himself to scan his inheritance. He came up empty-handed, as he hadn't unlocked its full extent. He only had a basic understanding of this world and the Dragon Language.
"I'll look into it later," he muttered, then continued, "Energy source… mana, huh? Looks like it's a world of Warriors and Mages. And the number of species in this world is also amazing." He spoke with amazement as details of various species surfaced in his mind.
"No rank… well, I'm just a baby anyway," he chuckled to himself. "Abilities… Eye of Revelation… Mark of Fate… Fire Affinity."
He glanced back at the egg and tried to activate his ability. 'Eyes of Revelation!' His body felt weak all of a sudden, and he dropped to the ground.
[Hatched egg of a Fire Dragon]
"…" He speechlessly looked at the prompt that appeared in front of him. Tiredness hit his entire body as he felt dizzy from the drain on his small form caused by using the technique.
"Ugh… This shitty ability used all of my energy and gave me just this much information?" He nearly coughed blood in anger, but soon calmed down.
After taking a few deep breaths, he continued, "Mark of Fate… looks like I won't be able to find out more about it for now. Fire Affinity… this should be from my Dragon Bloodline."
He glanced down again, looking at his claws. He still wasn't used to his new body, and moving his limbs felt unnatural. Exhaling a sigh, he said, "Soulpiercer Sword… I can't feel it… maybe I'm too weak right now."