Towering trees forest

Well, it seemed strange, but he and Devon had some bit of resemblance.

Firstly, their names started with the letter 'D' and ended with 'N', they didn't seem to care, and now they were both seventeen.

"I'm seventeen too," Drahon said and grinned.

Devon made a face of surprise.

"You're seventeen too? Damn, I had guessed you'd be eighteen," he said.

Drahon smiled.

"This is technically the first time I'm having a conversation I actually wanted."

Devon shrugged. "Me too."

An awkward silence followed, and then it seemed like both of them were trying to muster out words.

"This game is a redemption, you know," Drahon said. "Finally, I can be like a normal kid and have friends."

Devon smiled.

"That isn't exactly my aim, at least for someone from my background. I kinda hate people, but I consider you a friend"

Drahon nodded and after that they walked in silence. He didn't know why, but the last words sounded pretty grim.

---

The wind rustled now as they walked through the middle of the towering trees. Some of the other players were laughing sheepishly, like they had lost it.

For some reason, Drahon thought it wasn't wise to be so loud in a place like this, noting they had just killed monsters not long ago.

Devon must have felt the same because he looked at the laughing figure for quite long before looking away.

He wasn't the only one laughing, by the way.

A young man who could be roughly over twenty years of age and a lady around the same age were the ones laughing.

From the looks of things, the young man was flattering her with words, and she was blushing.

Drahon thought it was outright daft and unreasonable. Of course, most players entered into the game not only to win but also to do the things they couldn't do in the real world, and so perhaps that was what these two morons were doing.

Calling them morons might seem wrong, but then, that was plainly the truth.

It seemed like the players didn't know the perils of the Dragon Game. The encounter with the twenty-one monsters might have looked easy because of what Drahon and Devon did, and so the two laughing players must have dismissed it as nothing.

Drahon had wanted to tell them to stop but changed his mind, not wanting to be that serious person who couldn't take a joke.

But then, the thought lingered deep in his mind:

Noise attracted the skeleton monsters.

The ones they encountered long ago had not been expected. They never thought it would happen. He didn't expect it, and neither did the others, and that was why they lost three players.

The skeleton monsters must have been triggered by the sound of dragons flapping their wings and the noise of the players in the air, noting that the voice from the sky with the words had earlier warned them that skeleton monsters were near.

And now, just finishing off a bunch of them, some players were laughing like maniacs.

Drahon was about to continue thinking of how stupid these two players could be when he felt a chill crawl up his spine.

He stopped, furrowing both eyebrows.

A few seconds passed.

Devon, who was now a few steps ahead of him, hesitated and walked back, looking straight into his face.

"Feel something?"

Drahon nodded in the affirmative.

"Yes," Drahon said and smiled, dismissing himself for being silly.

"Maybe I'm just being silly. I felt a chill crawl up my spine, that's all," he explained to Devon.

Devon smiled and said to him,

"C'mon, let's go. If any danger is to come unexpectedly, it won't affect me, and now that I consider you a friend, it won't affect you too."

Drahon was now intrigued.

"Why?"

Devon shrugged as they began to walk forward again, catching up with the other players.

"Well. I awakened a Demon Dragon. An SSS one at that, and so you see, it came with cool abilities."

Drahon listened to every single word Devon was saying, seemingly engrossed. He couldn't actually believe his ears. The player he thought would be a villain figure and be hard to get along with was now telling him the Tier of his dragon and even a skill, acting like they were friends before the game.

"I awakened a skill that makes my dragon appear without my consent if there's serious danger that could potentially harm me. So if some monster is to come, that's when my dragon shows up. Whoosh, and I'll be into the sky."

Drahon slightly opened his mouth in surprise and was about to say something like:

'Oh nice,' when Devon continued:

"My bond with my dragon was very smooth and felt like it was made just for me. I'm at 97 bond percentage with it."

Drahon again was surprised. Well, now he wasn't only surprised but astonished.

97%?

No wonder he had assumed a Demon Dragon was more powerful than a Fire Dragon when in reality it wasn't actually so.

Drahon had just learned something now though. Maybe the performance of a dragon in combat actually depended on the bond percentage.

Let's say one player has a Bronzer Dragon with a 99% bond, while another has a Winterer Dragon with only a 39% bond. Even though the Winterer is supposed to be the stronger species, the Bronzer would easily outperform it. Why? Because bond percentage plays a huge role in how effective a dragon is in battle, sometimes even more than its rank.

Same was the case with Drahon and Devon. Devon's dragon might seem really cool and dope compared to Drahon's, but that wasn't the case; it was actually the bond percentage making the difference, as both dragons were Tier SSS.

When Drahon's bond percentage with his dragon increased, he awakened a skill. His bond percentage is only at 68, by the way.

Talk less of Devon, whose bond percentage is a staggering 97.

This meant that Devon was basically one with his dragon, and this would have given him a lot of skills and even a better chance to bond with another dragon.

"So if I'm to plunge into the sky to avoid danger and you're not aware in time to summon your dragon, I'll give you a boost by carrying you along in that instant moment into the sky so you can summon your dragon."

Drahon was about to say thank you when a gust of foggish wind swept into their path.