Dragons (3)

George was glad that his plan succeeded but he wasn't sure if the price he paid was too high.

He provoked the alpha dragon intentionally to use its power against the weakest looking dragon. George didn't need to focus on the body of the alpha dragon to predict what it wanted to do to him. He had manipulated it from the start as good he could and used its anger against it.

But he didn't expect that the last attack would cause an explosion upon contact...

He had moved to the side and hid successfully behind another black dragon who was too slow to react when the alpha dragon slammed into it...

George recalled quickly his Astral Star back into his head once he had catched the injured dragon, trying to keep himself up because the pain coming from his back felt like it was killing him...

The smell of his own badly burned flesh almost made him throw up but he closed his eyes as new information flooded his mind.

"So there was such a thing?" Said George to himself as he went quickly through the new information in his mind.

*ROAR*

He was forcefully pulled back to reality by that roar, filled with brutality and killing intent.

All the pain reemerged instantly and he gritted his teeth, 'Right, now is not the time to be distracted! I know what I have to do...'

[Assimilate] Ordered George mentally and a deep humming sound came from deep within his body.

The alpha dragon realised that the deceitful creature had fooled it and was about to go berserk when it saw something that made it stop.

The badly burned skin on the back of the deceitful creature began to fall down, revealing many small black scales beneath it.

The other dragons also gasped in shock as they saw the strange creature transform...

George looked down at his hands that were covered by many small black scales while his nails had transformed into claws as he sensed two horns grew on top of his forehead.

The pain that had been haunting him vanished immediately after transforming and he felt...powerful.

An unfamiliar energy flooded his body, empowering him and making him feel like he could take on anyone or anything.

'Incredible...' Thought George intoxicated by the unfamiliar feeling of real power.

He turned around, staring at the group of Inferno Dragons standing across him that were looking at him in utter shock when his black eyes met theirs.

George revealed his sharp fangs when he smiled at them, especially at the Alpha Inferno Dragon before turning around, suddenly sprinting away at an inhuman speed.

The Alpha Inferno Dragon trembled in anger before roaring at the sky, it immediately went after him with the other Inferno Dragons following suit.

George looked back at the group of berserking dragons hunting him down, running even faster towards the area with the big lake...

It took him only 10 minutes with his increased speed until he made his first step into the green grass.

The Inferno Dragons stopped right before the grass, angrily roaring in his direction. The Alpha Inferno Dragon looked very unwilling but there was a tinge of fear in its eyes when it looked into the forest. It roared a last time before turning around with its underlings, vanishing into the nearest lava stream.

George did notice that they gave up hunting him the moment he entered the forest, but he still decided to go on, only stopping when he reached the shore of the big lake.

His eyes widened now that he stood in front of the lake.

The blue colored surface of the lake looked unlike anything he had seen before. There were many sparkling lights dancing over the water, exploding into many smaller lights when coming into contact with the water before sinking inside it but there seemed to be no end to the spectacle.

George was completely captivated by the wondrous spectacle in front of him. He only turned his eyes away after noticing that his power kept decreasing. He leaned over the clear water, observing his own reflection on it.

The way he transformed reminded him of the Super Saiyan 4 form from Dragonballs, just that he had black scales instead of fur and no tail. His muscles were slightly bigger and more defined than before but what disturbed him was that he had a bald head. His precious rastas had been burned to crisp by the last attack from the Alpha Inferno Dragon...

He saw his reflection on the water transforming back as the energy that had been empowering him vanished...Followed by a wave of exhaustion that forced him to sit down on the ground.

'No pain, no gain huh...I managed to get an Inferno Dragon but it's injured...Is that why the [Assimilate] skill only lasted for such a short time?...I wish I could beat up that arrogant Alpha Inferno Dragon black and blue instead of fleeing like a p*ssy...'

George was delighted that the Inferno Dragon that he catched had already started healing inside his Astral Space. The name of its race just appeared inside his mind like the other things, like the two skills he acquired after catching it.

'[Summon] and [Assimilate] are the skills I gained. One could say that the Astral Star only really awakens once someone has catched a beast. My Astral Star has started to absorb an energy called Flux around me and I can vaguely sense that Flux now. Such a convenient thing, I won't need to worry about feeding my Inferno Dragon as it feeds on the Flux that my Astral Star absorbs...'

He relaxed, sitting on the shore of the lake while enjoying its beauty, his breathing slowly becoming steady again.

George sat peacefully while thinking how he should proceed once he had recovered when the water in front of him became uneven as ripples spread.

His expression turned ugly when he saw that, it meant that something was about to emerge from the water and he didn't even have enough strength to stand up...

'I'm so screwed this time...' Cursed George in defeat, waiting for the creature to show itself.

A serpentine like beast emerged slowly from the lake, looking at him with curiosity.

George felt all the air in his lungs escape as his eyes widened. He was totally stunned.

The serpent-like beast was so beautiful that it immediately captivated him. Its body was slim and he couldn't see how long it was because the rest was inside the water. It had beautiful grey scales that glittered under the sun with strange black ink like spirals on them which looked like someone had painted them carefully with a brush. It moved slowly but its every movement looked graceful in his eyes, but what really captivated him was its eyes that were completely white without pupils. Its dark and long eyelashes seemed to move slowly.

"So beautiful..." Muttered George out of reflex.

The serpent widened its eyes when it heard him and revealed a happy expression.

It hummed at him with an incredible melodic voice, he could tell that it was pleased.

'Even its voice sounds lovely...'

The serpent showed more of its graceful body as it spinned slowly around until it was 4 meters in the air.

George sighed, "You are the most breathtaking thing I have ever seen..." He meant it when he said it, thinking that it wouldn't be so sad if it was this incredible beautiful creature that killed him...