... What?

The fuck?

Defeat the dragon? Hey system, you're joking, right? Shouldn't quests be reasonable for my level? Is this some sort of revenge for the previous quests being too easy? Are you trying to teach me that farming is bad? Seriously…

I was staring at the huge creature, covered in brilliant dark blue scales that reflect the light of my flame. It had a long body and whiskers, huge horns twisting from its head and deep red eyes trying to invade my very soul. I thought that dragons in this world would be in the western style, but this one was clearly an eastern dragon.

Qokirath, Goddess of the Deep, level 142

Shit… A god? I'm level 5! It's too early to encounter a dragon god! Let alone get a quest to vanquish one!

"Little girl, you killed all my servants. How shall you compensate this one?" Now that I knew it's a female dragon, I could see the signs of a female voice as she spoke to me telepathically. It was an odd experience, hearing someone, especially with so much force behind their words, talk into my mind. But I was distracted by something that Qokirath said…

… What?

"Little girl?" I frowned.

A subtle smirk appeared on the dragon's face. "You understand, little girl? Then perhaps this one shall not eat you, for now. What is wrong? Don't like being called small? Expected this one to call you by your… Name?" The last word carried an obvious mockery to it.

No, I didn't really care if you called me Spellblade or little boy or whatever, why did the dragon call me a girl? It's a female dragon, calling me a girl to be offensive doesn't make sense…

I was starting to get a really bad feeling about this whole transmigration deal, but I couldn't really focus on that right now.

My prep was to talk things through, but the que-

Chain Quest: Mysterious Presence – Befriend the dragon. 1000xp, Dragon Friend title.

Oh! It's a branching quest! I don't have to fight it out! Thank god! Err, thank goddess!

Still, how am I supposed to go about doing that?

"I apologize for killing your servants, but they weren't living peacefully in this land." I said honestly. Actually, I really hoped that my Social Manipulation skill would work, but I had no idea how it is supposed to activate. When I used my other skills, it was as if my body moved on its own, so I hoped that I would know what to say in such a situation. Reality wasn't so kind, so I only hoped that the skill will make others perceive my words more favorably.

"Do you think this one's servants need to behave themselves?" The dragoness growled, seemingly impatient. Was this going well? I did not feel like this was going well…

"Well, yes? If they behaved well, they would have been alive, right?" I blurted out. Am I really not eager to experience death?

"You are courting death!" Ah, the dragon seems to feel the same way.

"I'm sure I'll experience it once or twice sooner or later, but I'm not looking forward to it." Of course! The trait of running my mouth once I face an impossible foe!

Qokirath narrowed her giant eyes, though it was still a size larger than a doorway, looking at me suspiciously. In response, I hurried to change the subject. "No, wait, forget that. These kobolds weren't here for that long, so you couldn't be really attached to them right? And if you were, you could have released your mighty presence earlier, stopping me and showing that they are under your protection! They aren't that precious to you, surely?"

"This one has claimed them as hers, their value does not matter. You have claimed their lives, so you must repay in kind." With that declaration, I felt that it was a shame to spend all these skill points. Am I really bad at this?

"But if you kill me, then you really get nothing out of it beyond a tiny bit of satisfaction. How much is that worth, killing a little… Human." Damn, I can't call myself a girl just for the sake of groveling! If what she said was true, then this is a gender bender adventure! How could I miss such a thing for nearly 8 years!

"Are you implying that you have value?" Qokirath shook with laughter and the cave seemed to tremble.

"More than a bunch of kobolds, for sure! Besides, I'll be much stronger in the future. You won't regret having a friend like me!" What did I just say? You can't just tell a dragon that they should be your friend… They are notoriously arrogant!

"Friend?!" The dragon snorted, letting out a gust of wind from her nostrils that nearly blew me off my feet. Well, it did seem less hostile now, so it probably didn't offend her as much as I thought it would.

"Okay, okay! It was too hasty of me to suggest friendship so quickly… It's not really beneficial to you, considering the gap between us, huh?"

"At least you know your place, though your personality is lacking." Qokirath glared at me, but she was willing to listen at least.

"Then… How about I prove my worth?" I suggested helplessly. If I manage to have a dragon goddess as an ally, my future will be bright! Also, I was really curious what the chain quest might lead up to… It couldn't be a two or three step quest, right?

"Hmph! You killed my servants, so letting you off with death would be too lenient." The goddess contemplated my suggestion. From her phrasing, it feels like having her friendship won't be simple, but that's expected. The reward is 1000xp, so it couldn't be too easy…

"You shall complete a task for this one. Do it well, and your debt shall be forgiven. Do not presume that you shall be this one's friend, impudent child!" Ah, at least she didn't call me a girl… My heart can't really stand it at the moment.

"Alright!" I cheered a bit too loudly. "What's the task?"

"Fool, you think your current ability is enough to accomplish anything for me?"

"Well, you did have a bunch of kobolds…"

"Silence!" The dragon roared, but I did notice a slight blush on her scales. I did not think dragons can blush… Wait, is she delaying?

"Once you obtain actual capacity, this one shall let you know how to earn forgiveness!" She declared with an air of importance, but it only confirmed my suspicions.

There is no task! You have nothing for me to do! What's up with this lame acting? Why do you need to pretend? A freaking dragon god… Does she want to let go of the whole kobold slaughter deal but her pride won't let her do it without some sort of compensation? Is this a tsundere dragon?

… Cute.

"Okay?" I answered, though I couldn't fully conceal my confusion and suspicion from my voice, and the dragon noticed it. Well, at least she chose to ignore it.

We're both in an awkward position, it seems…

"Umm… Since this matter is settled, may I ask something?" I tried, as changing the topic at this moment felt like the best thing for both of us.

"What is it?" Huh, regardless of race, age or power, Qokirath and I are somewhat similar… Even our gender? Argh, stop thinking about that for now!

"You're the Goddess of the Deep, right? I thought that it would imply the sea, not a cave… It's not even that deep." That thought was one of the firsts I had, after "oh crap" but before "oh crap". There were a lot "oh crap"s when I saw her, okay?

The dragon look aside, seemingly embarrassed. That's… Alarming. "You are too insignificant to know of such things. Perhaps when you grow out of your pond, you will be qualified to know of such things."

I couldn't help but sigh. No, it was obvious. If it was something about her failing, there's no way she will admit to it to someone whose existence she barely acknowledges. If I want to know more, I'll need to complete whatever task that she has in mind in the future and grow stronger. How strong do I need to be in order for a god to notice me?

I wanted to ask her more and find out about other things, but Qokirath did not seem to be willing to participate anymore. Before sending me off, she cast a tracking spell on me, telling me that she'll inform me when I'm ready, though I suspected that the one that needs to prepare is her.

Also wanting to try something, I enabled the social features of the system and added Qokirath to my friends list. It was successful and she did not react, so I didn't know if the system requires permission and she nonchalantly gave it, or if I can add anyone to my list. Perhaps I should test it in the village…

With Qokirath on the list, I could always see her position on the map, which would be useful. Sending her private messages may come in handy, depending on how it works, but I won't dare do such a thing in the near future anyway.

She didn't even acknowledge me as she went into slumber, that lazy dragon goddess, so I simply left, somewhat sad that I couldn't complete my quest in one go.

Besides, I was worried about something else!