Riley quickly left the house through the backdoor and closed it like how Kira did. 

She was surprised once she started to drink the human’s blood, it tasted better than expected. It tasted sweet. That's not how low level blood was supposed to taste.

 

‘Is it because she is a human?’ Bloodshed thought.

 

Finally reaching a deeper part of the forest the dragon took off its dress and polymorphed back into its true form. 

 

‘Finally no more weakness.’ 

 

While relishing in the return of power Bloodshed looked straight ahead, almost like it was waiting for something. After a few minutes it glared at the air in front of it...until.

 

[Your title [One Who Chooses] is reacting..]

[Your title [One Who Chooses] is reacting strongly!]

 

[...You have consumed blood, XP Gained.]

 

[[One Who Chooses] has accepted your choice.]

[Your title[One Who Chooses] has been upgraded!]

 

[One Who Chooses: You have discovered the blood element. You have chosen the bloodline of Blood Dragon. To feed but not to maim. ???]

 

‘So it is true.’ 

 

What Bloodshed wanted to test was if it was possible to grow without killing. This way it should be possible to quell the instinct of fighting stronger foes for their blood while avoiding the killing of humans. The dragon's instinct started out as a desire for tasty blood. While growing it enjoyed not only the blood it gathered but the fighting needed to gather it.

 

Bloodshed gently grabbed the discarded dress in its claw and flew off to visit the Karp.

 

…

 

Bloodshed landed next to the pond where the Karp lived. It was worried about the Karp recognizing it after evolving but the lack of attacks meant that there was no issue.

 

The dragon created a blood ball above the water. This was quickly followed by an identical water ball floating next to it. Now having the fish's attention the dragon tried to speak to it. But there was a problem. Monsters were unable to make the precise sounds a human did, thus the dragon was unable to speak to the fish in its current form. 

 

‘This is a big problem.’

 

If Bloodshed was unable to use language in its current form there was no way the Karp would be able to learn it.

 

‘I was excited to finally be able to talk to my first friend.’

 

The dragon decided not to give in so soon. Even if there was no way to speak as a monster, did that really mean there was no way to communicate?

 

Bloodshed started trying to form sounds similar to words it knew in the human tongue but they mostly came out as low or high pitch wines. The Karp just looked at the dragon strangely before going back to manipulating its water ball. The fish was making its ball grow larger and larger. Eventually the shape would get unstable and the ball would return back to the lake. Unfazed, the Karp continues its experiment, making the ball slightly larger each time before losing control.

 

…

 

‘This is impossible!’

 

Bloodshed had tried for hours and the day had long gone by. But it was still no closer to making any form of word. The fish eventually swam to the other side of the pond to not be distracted by the dragon's strange ritual. Bloodshed let out a cry of rage but something was different.

 

*Roaaaaar*

 

The roar seemed to each out across the forest. When it reached the other monsters they too would roar at the sky or get agitated. Even the fishes in the pound were swimming around frantically in agitation.

 

[You have learned the skill Will Infusion.]

 

[Will Infusion: This skill is one created by ancient monsters. It allows leaders to command their pack by infusing growls with commands or emotions.]

 

This was it! The dragon was still unable to say words in its current form but this skill might be even better than what it was trying to do. This way the fish would not have to learn the human language but instead just learn the skill. And even if the fish couldn't learn the skill at least now the dragon could tell it stuff.

Before Bloodshed could testout its new skill it heard a quiet noise from the pound.

 

*Plop* 

 

It heard what sounded like a bubble popping and was instantly filled with an intense feeling of surprise.

 

‘No way.’

 

*Plop*

 

Bloodshed heard the noise again and this time it was filled with an intense feeling of joy. This emotion like the last quickly disappeared and the dragon's real feeling filled its chest. Bloodshed had never felt this emotion before but what it was feeling was envy.

 

‘I had to try all day to get this skill and the karp learned it after seeing me do it once.’

 

*Roaaaar*

 

*Plop* 

 

The dragon let out another cry of rage but its feelings were smoothing for a moment but another intense feeling of joy.

 

Calming down from its envy Bloodshed thought about its new skill. 

 

‘Judging by the feelings I'm getting from the skill at level 1, it seems to only be able to communicate emotions. But it should be able to communicate thoughts in the future.’

 

*Plop*

 

A feeling of joy filled the dragon but it quickly changed into irritation.

 

‘I already lost to the Karp in element control. I’m not gonna let it beat me in leveling a skill.’

 

A new feeling of competitiveness filled the dragon. While the fish was just happy to have something new to practice. This led to a nightly training session between the Karp and Bloodshed.

 

…

 

‘Happy.’

After a whole night of training the dragon was able to level the skill to 5.

 

‘Happy.’

 

This seemed to be the turning point as the skill started being able to handle basic thoughts.

 

‘Happy.’

 

This was good because even if the fish was able to communicate with the dragon. Bloodshed didn't know how many meanings the fish knew from the runes.

 

‘Happy.’

 

‘Stop!’ The dragon irritatedly yelled at the fish.

 

‘Sorry…’

 

While it was good that communication was now possible the dragon now had to deal with someone that talked more than Kira. No. It seemed more like the fish was content with constantly announcing its current feelings to the world.

 

‘Now it is time to return to the human.’ Bloodshed Thought.

 

Night had passed and it was day time, the dragon wanted to see the human town and after practicing all night it didn't want to use its new skill anymore.

 

‘Leave.’ The dragon sent.

 

‘Sorry.’ The Karp replied sadly.

 

‘Dame. It misunderstood me.’

 

The dragon was quickly digesting more words from the human tongue. That meant the ability to understand and express itself better.

 

‘Leave. Come. Back.’ The dragon sent.

 

‘Happy.’ The fish replied before sending a wave of water at the dragon.

 

Since there was no killing intent the dragon just stood there but made sure to keep the dress above the wave.

 

‘Return. Soon.’ The fish sent.

 

‘Yes.’ The dragon sent as it smiled.

 

…

 

While flying towards the village the dragon still decided to practice its new skill after the display from the fish. The sooner it could communicate better with the fish, the happier its first friend would be.