"Oh, is that a little dragon? It's cute!"
I looked towards the voice. A human, the enemy. I could feel nothing but disgust and hatred towards this foe. I could feel that I must strike this adversary down at all costs. I readied my body, then leaped.
I chomped with my jaws, slashed with my claws, whipped with my tail. …However, it was all fruitless as I could only strike at air. My devious nemesis held me by the back of my neck, preventing my attacks from landing.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm your friend, alright?"
"It's fine. We're friends, right?"
After hearing her voice, I remembered another. A memory? No, no, humans are the enemy. I continued to struggle. As I did, I noticed her arms were coming a bit closer. Just a bit more and… I did it! I scratched her arms with the claws on my hind legs. I could see her face wince.
"It's okay. I forgive you."
"Yoru, I forgive you."
Another memory? No, no! Humans are the enemy… but they were not. Wait, who's 'they'? Something's… weird. I felt the urge to attack, to kill, but why?
"Let's be friends."
Before I could notice, I was in the girl's embrace and I started to see a bright light. My urge to strike heightened, but with the light, was a competing desire for calm. I gave into the calm, and closed my eyes.
Purification complete.
User lost trait: Demonification.
Error: User no longer meets the requirements for Small Demonic from.
Reverting to Tiny Basic form.
Error: User cannot revert back.
Acquired skill: Free Form Change
Reverting to Tiny Basic form.
I woke up seeing a number of messages in my head, confused. I was… moving, no, being moved. I noticed I was being carried in someone's arms. Looking up, I saw a girl, the one from earlier. She noticed my movement then smiled at me. …I laid back into her arms and tried to figure out what happened.
I got turned into a dragon and thrown into another world, although I'm not too sure about the exact order of that. I came to in a forest and there was some sort of system? My memories after that were a bit of a blur. Seems like I got demonified? This girl somehow purified me?
…Mahiru?
I looked up again. No, this girl isn't Mahiru. She feels like her, but is a different person.
At the moment, I need to focus on myself. This system thing seems important. If I think about status…
Name: 夜(Yoru)
Race: Dragon
Form: Tiny
HP: 30/30
MP: 28/28
Active Skills: Dragon Breath Lv1, Free Form Change Lv1
Weapon Skills: Bite Weapon Proficiency Lv1, Claw Weapon Proficiency Lv1, Tail Weapon Proficiency Lv1, Toxin Lv 1
Element Skills: Fire Element Lv1, Water Element Lv1, Earth Element Lv1, Wind Element Lv1, Light Element Lv1, Dark Element Lv1
Passive Skills: Improved Sight Lv2(Night Vision), Improved Smell Lv1, Kalensha Language
I feel I don't have any of the skills I had from before I became a dragon here. Well, in any case, I just got this Free Form Change skill…
Free Form Change
Can change freely between different unlocked forms. You will unlock new forms as you meet their requirements.
Cost: Depends on target form.
Current Form: Tiny Basic – 5 MP
Available Forms: Small Demonic(You currently do not meet requirements) – 15 MP
…So I can't change.
My current form is Tiny Basic, and judging by how this girl is just holding me in her arms, that 'tiny' part seems accurate. I feel like I'll be a burden being held in her arms, so I moved up and wrapped myself around her neck. She let out a surprised "oh" when I suddenly moved, but seemed calm and started petting me.
I'm currently like a small, long lizard. Almost like a snake, but with arms, legs, and wings. I'm long enough to wrap around my body over the back of her neck and have my head and tail out in front. When I looked below, I saw the girl was carrying a basket full of some sort of herbs. I wondered what she was doing with it.
We soon reached a town. I was mostly hidden under the girl's hair, so people didn't react much to us. I wonder how rare a dragon like myself is.
…A dragon. Where I was from, dragons were a symbol of great evil. I suppose that fits me, but I hope people don't see me like that here. This girl was kind to me when I didn't deserve it, I don't want to cause any problems for her. No, I want to protect her.
That said, I noticed I can't talk. I could make some sounds from my mouth, but nothing that could be turned into words. Hopefully, I'll get access to a form that'll allow me to talk at some point. Maybe I could write words with my claws? …Right now, I'd rather not disturb her life more than I have to.
As she entered a large building, I remained vigilant. There were a few people here but it didn't seem like people were paying much attention to us. I guess she is just a girl walking around while I'm mostly invisible in her hair.
She went up to a counter and put down the basket. "Hey, I got the herbs here."
A receptionist took a look at the basket. "Yes, this seems fine. I'll just mark it down and… What is that?" She was looking straight at me.
"Oh, I just managed to pick up this little one on the way here. Isn't it cute?" The girl scratched the bottom of my chin. It felt nice.
"Is that a dragon?" From her exclamation, I could hear some movement elsewhere in the building. Seems like people are interested in me. The girl I'm on merely smiled in response. "Ah, sorry. I'll get the manager."
The receptionist left through the back door, then came back about a minute later. "Please follow me."
Through the door, to the left, then through another door and we got to the office of the manager. He was a big man who didn't quite seem very happy at the moment.
"Mana, how could you just bring a dragon in here?"
The girl I was on, 'Mana', looked confused. "Is there a problem with dragons? This one is very cute and docile. Just look." She grabbed me and held me up.
She held me up to the man, who looked rather scared at the moment. "No, uh, just put it down and let it be." …Is he afraid I'm going to attack him? From my stats, I don't think I'm very strong, especially compared to a full-sized adult human.
Regardless, Mana let me down onto the desk, and I sat down. "I don't think it's very dangerous, see, it's being rather calm and obedient right now."
"Th-that's not the issue. Look, uh… I know you don't really have many memories, but what do you know about dragons?" Don't have many memories? Amnesia?
"I know this one is very cute." I'm not sure about being called cute all of the time, but then again, I've been called worse…
"That's not…! Okay, whatever. With the current demon lord, some people are going to be rather wary of dragons, so be careful of that." Demon lord? "Where did you find it anyways?"
"Oh, I found it by the river bank near where the herbs were."
"I see, I see. We'll look into it. In the meantime, take good care of that dragon. Where's your friend?"
"She said she's going to spend the day at the alchemist's. That's why I went out alone today."
"Best for you to go tell her about what happened. Starting from tomorrow, I'll put you two on some hunting quests. If you're going to take care of a dragon, it'll be important for you to get stronger."
"Get stronger?"
"Dragons are very rare, so it won't be surprising if people come after you because of it. I'll do what I can to prevent it, but it'll also be good for you and your friend to be able to better protect yourselves and it."
"Yes, I understand." Mana said as she bowed. I used this chance to climb back onto her and around her neck.
"Also, that little dragon's name from its status is 'Yoru'."
Oh, people can see other people's status? Mana seemed shocked too. Looking at her face, she seemed to be mouthing my name. "Alright, Yoru. Got it. Thank you." She bowed then left.
We exited the building entirely and went towards another one nearby. There was a strong smell inside. I guess this is the alchemist's.
There was a woman by the front counter. "Ah, hello. You have something very interesting with you." She was looking straight at me.
"Ah, yes. I was hoping to talk to Kisma."
"Of course. Kisma! Your friend is here to see you!" She called out behind her.
A girl came out from the back door. "What is it Mana, did something… what is that?"
"This is Yoru, a dragon. I'm going to take care of it."
"Yoru… a dragon? How? Why?"
"I found it on the way back from picking herbs. It seems to have taken a liking to me." She patted me on the head.
"Out of all of the… no, well, of course something like this will happen to you."
"Isn't it amazing?"
"Yes, amazing. Incredible. Completely unbelievable." Kisma said dispassionately, but then seemed to have recovered from her shock. "So, what's next for us?"
"Well, the guild manager wants us to do some hunting tomorrow so that we can get stronger to better protect it."
"Okay, makes sense. Although, are you prepared for a hunt?"
"I… uh… have this?" Mana took out a sheathed… dagger? Or a knife?
"You are not going monster hunting with just a knife. …Ma?" Kisma turned to the other lady at the counter.
"Go ahead. I'll be fine by myself here."
We, now the three of us, went out and went into another nearby building. Another counter, another woman here.
"Hey Kisma. You want me to make something weird again?"
"Those are proper alchemy tools, not 'something weird'. In any case, no, we're going out hunting tomorrow so she's going to need some equipment."
"Ah, you must be Mana who I've been hearing about…" Her eyes focused on me. "Is that-"
"Yes, it's a dragon. Mana somehow just found it and it's attached to her now. We need to get stronger to properly protect it, hence…" Kisma let that trial off.
"Alright, gotcha. So miss, what do you have right now for fighting and how do you normally fight?"
Mana took out her knife. "I only have this knife right now, but I've done some kendo in the past."
The woman at the counter seemed confused. "Kendo? What's that?"
"Kendo is, um… a sword fighting technique."
"Do you need a special type of sword for it?"
"Ideally, I'd use a katana, a slightly curved, thin single-bladed sword, but I think a normal sword will also be fine."
"I don't have that sort of specific sword, but for something more normal, this could work for you." There were a bunch of weapons all over the place, she took a normal-looking sword from a wall and handed it to Mana.
I jumped off of her and onto the counter so that I wouldn't interfere with her movements. I think I heard a "it moved" from somewhere as I did this, and I looked towards Mana.
Mana unsheathed the blade and gripped the handle in both hands. She moved the sword above her head, and swung it down in front of her. She repeated the action a few times, then she just sorta stood there looking at space for a bit before sheathing it. "I think this sword will be fine."
"One gold." Mana's eyes grew wider at the price, but then she took out a gold piece and handed it over.
"Uwah, a whole gold for the sword. I don't have much money left now." Mana complained once she got out.
"I don't know how much swords cost in your world, but one gold is actually cheap for one. She gave you a discount." Kisma countered. "Once we do a few hunts, you'll need to get some armour as well. Speaking of which, I didn't know you knew how to use a sword."
"Ah! I only started kendo for some exercise, it wasn't really a big thing."
"Sword fighting, for exercise. The more I hear about your old world, the less it makes sense."
"Ahahaha…"
We separated, Kisma going back to the alchemist's and the two of us back to the guild. We ate dinner there, Mana giving me some of her steak. Since I was really small, it didn't take much to fill me up. After dinner, she headed towards a bedroom in the same building. I guess she has her own room here? She sat on the bed and raised her arm. I took that as a sign to get on it.
"So, your name is Yoru? It sounds very similar to a word I know in Japanese, meaning 'night'. Probably just a coincidence though, there weren't any dragons where I'm from. Maybe whoever named you is familiar…"
Mana laid down on the bed while holding me above. "The people here are nice, but I just want to go home…"
This girl… isn't Mahiru. Mahiru isn't this weak, she was strong. She was… no, I don't know her that well. I never was a… true friend of hers. I will protect this girl. It might not make up for all of the sins I've done, but I hope it will be a start.
This one seems to be pretty promising so far!