"Wake up Sleepy head, we're entering the dungeon today."

*Hiss*(Alright, let me warm up first.)

Warming my body, I shook off any stress and followed Dalilah into the mouth of the dungeon. As we walked through the halls of the dungeon, I noticed that Delilah held in her hands a musket, meaning the people here had at least this level of tech in their possession.(Get a musket for home defence as the founding fathers intended)

Nothing in the dungeon ever challenged Delilah and her musket, but every so often she would let me kill a monster so I could level up. Right after I reached level 7 we came across a boss door, which was good as it meant the dungeon was still young, not ready for a monster horde to be created.

Entering the boss room, we were quickly greeted by a massive flying fish, with a dragon's head, a River King according to the system. Delilah sent off a shot into the monster's scales only for it to bounce off, only making the creature mad. I leaped onto the beast and bit into it, poisoning it with my now much more potent venom.

(System how badly poisoned was it?)

[User's venom is capable of killing 10 full grown humans with one bite, likely a beast of this size will die in 3-5 hours.]

(Then I just need to inject more into it then.)

Holding my grip, I began to claw into its flesh and envenom it at the same time, sticking spines from my tail into the flesh. It roared in pain as I slowly but surely burrowed into it before suddenly falling over knocking me out of my bloodlust. Shaking off my surprise, I continued to bite at it, making sure it was dead.

[User has defeated dungeon boss 'River King' with the help of others, EXP rewarded evenly, User has reached Max Level, Evolve? Y/N]

Calling Delilah over, I opened the evolution menu.

[Evolution Options:

Assassin Lizard: Stealthy poisonous monsters that kill their prey with a mix of ambushes and sneak attacks.

Venom Queen Salamander: The Most Poisonous form of salamander monsters and close relatives of dragons, they have more developed wings giving limited flight and poisonous spines cover their tails.

Elder Black Bandit Lizard: The Oldest form of bandit lizard, they have highly potent venom and reach sizes of up to 5 ft long.]

"So what are your options?"

*Hiss*(Assassin lizard, Venom Queen Salamander, Elder Bandit Lizard.)

"I'm not to versed in any of them, but I do know that Salamanders have the potential to become dragons in the future."

Nodding, I selected the Venom Queen Salamander, and my body shed my former evolutions skin, making my body more sleek and aerodynamic, with the red stripe that went down my back moving to my sides and turning magenta. The tiny wings on my back had grown to allow for flight, reaching a wingspan of around 7ft, by my estimate.

Shaking off any remaining skin, I flapped my wings and began to fly, though it was very difficult to stay up. After finally gaining my balance, I began to excitedly fly around Delilah. Flight was such an underrated ability, who would ever choose anything other than flight?

"You seen happy."

*Hiss*(Of Course, I love this.)

As we approached the core of the dungeon, Delilah pulled out a hatchet, slamming it into the small vine holding the core in place. Picking up the core, Delilah then crushed it in her hands and the dungeon began to crumble around us. We ran through the halls of the dungeon, and after finally escaping the crumbling dungeon, it suddenly turned back into just a normal field of grass.

Catching our breaths, I noticed that Delilah had a dangerous look on her face. Backing up, I worried for our safety, hoping her idea wouldn't get us killed.

"Let's do that again!"

*Confused Hiss*(What!? Do you want to kill yourself?!)

She just chuckled before grabbing me and Dolittle, riding off in the direction opposite of where we came from in the first place. Completely disregarding my worries, I was furious with Delilah, though secretly hoping she would do this as it meant faster growth for me.

Sitting in my pack, my wings folded against my back, I just waited for us to reach a stopping point in our journey.

***

It was a while before we actually stopped anywhere, and to our luck it was a roadside inn, one named The Talking Donkey. Delilah explained to the inn owner that I was non-hostile, and we were allowed to enter, only having to pay extra since I was considered a tamed monster by the human inn owner.

After taking my warm bed out of her spatial pouch and a fire stone to keep it warm, Delilah went to bed faster than a tired old man. Curling up in my bed, I drifted off into a deep sleep.

***

(In Lilith's Mind)

"Lily! Come and eat!"

"Coming Momma!"

A young Lilith runs to her mother's arms. They live together in a small house in the countryside, no one but themselves to keep each other company. They always have this interaction every day, and the two never get bored of the tedium.

"Do you like it Lily?"

"Mhm. Momma's food is the best!"

Suddenly, from outside, the sound of a car driving in was heard. The mother who was worried for her daughter, went to see who had arrived. This was followed by a loud gun shot and two men in black suits entering the house, dragging the scared girl into their car. This was Lilith's earliest memory, her mother's death and her recruitment into the Secret Ops.

The Secret Ops were a group of mercenaries that took their work far more seriously than most, even kidnapping young kids and training them to be mercenaries. Lilith worked for this company for thirty years under the name Lily Manchester, biological daughter of the head of the group, Bill Manchester.

This memory haunted her for all her life, and she believed she had finally gotten over her mother's death, only for the painful memories to resurface.

"NO! Leave me alone, I won't give in, I won't!"

"Hello Miss, who are you?"

Lilith was confronted by her young self, holding her favorite bear and wearing her favorite dress. Only instead of trying to comfort the child, or get them to leave her alone, Lilith just began to become fearful. Backing up, she was surprised when the scenery around her became like the forest she hatched in.

"Hello Lily, or should I say Lilith?"

She was greeted by a shadowy version of herself, her lizard self.

"Who!?"

"I'm you, or more specifically, the rage and sorrow you keep trapped in your heart."

"Then why, why are you resurfacing, I died in that life, I'm no longer there, so why should I have any sorrow in my heart?"

"we have poisoned ourselves by keeping us locked away, splitting our soul and damaging our potential in this world. If we want to become the dragon we truly desire to be, so powerful no one can control us, we need to accept our sorrow, our rage, our negative feelings."

Lilith knew she was right, she was poisoning herself, stunting her growth as both a person and actual growth by fearing her past. With a silent nod, she slowly began to accept all the negative feelings she had in her past, finding comfort that she had still felt feelings like a human being, and wasn't just the drone of her father.

***

(Morning in the inn)

As Lilith woke up, a weak magenta light glowed from her body, before quickly dying out. Her body then began to change rapidly, her short lizard legs becoming those of a humans, her arms following suit. Her body became a human's body, and adorning her face was a collection of black scales, to remind her of her roots.

From her tailbone a long black tail slowly wagged and one her back a pair of wings were folded neatly, ready to be used by Lilith. Delilah watched this unfold with a blush on her face, wondering what had happened to her contracted beast.

"What happened to you Lilith?"

Smiling warmly at Delilah with tears in her eyes, Lilith replied with.

"I finally stopped poisoning myself..."