So much pain… everywhere, so much pain. Pain and light. Give me the dark… I'm so weak, so tired. I just want to lie in the dark… and fade away.

  But I can't.

  All around me, all light turns to nothing and I stand up, in my true draconic form. All around myself is an infinite void of nothing. No light, but no dark either. In front of myself, 2 screens.

  {You have died}

  {Would you like to use skill:“Throughout time”?}

  For a moment, for just a single moment, I consider saying no. I wasn't strong enough. Again, I wasn't strong enough.

  “Smokewind.” I mutter to myself. “Darkness… and now Evelyn. I'm such a failure…” Slowly I sink to the ground.

  “You certainly are.” A voice sounds behind me. For some reason, I'm not surprised to see someone else here. As if it were only expected. “You failed. You let your friend die and then got killed yourself.” The figure is a man made of complete darkness, save for 2 purple orbs that make his eyes.

  “I know.” I sigh. “I don't need someone voicing it for me.”

  “Oh, but you do.” The man sits beside me, looking down into my eyes. “Without reflection, there is no change. Most would say that nothing can change the past, that there is nothing you can do. Most would just wallow in despair and try to give up. But that's not quite right.” The man smiles warmly down at me. “You can change the past, young timeling. You can make the past your future. You can save them.” For a moment I can't speak. I just look up at the man. Then, slowly, I push myself up.

  “But what if nothing changes? What if I fail again, and my friends have to die again?”

  “Then you can keep on trying.”

  “But what if no matter how many times I try, they just keep dying and dying and there's nothing I can do?!”

  “Then you can keep trying.”

  “But… what if its too much for me?”

  “Then you can keep on trying.”

  “But… my skill won't save me forever. It has a cooldown period.”

  “you will be fine. Go back. They need you. Just saying but but but won't fix problems. Dig your claws into the ground and do it.”

  “You… you're right.” I say, sighing. “Thank you.”

  “You needed help, and I was here.” The man smiles to me.

  I reach up, and accept the prompt. Slowly, the world around me begins to melt away.

  “Who are you?” I ask as everything begins to vanish.

  “I am Abhorrence. God of darkness and time.” And then everything vanishes into light.

  {The requirements have been met. Skill evolved.}

  <{(0)}>

  “Abhor?” A voice brings me back to my senses. I blink, looking around. Snowstorm is in front of me, looking at me with a worried expression. “You spaced out a second. Are you ok?”

  For a moment I just stare. Something about the look in my eyes shuts him up. Aftermath stands beside me.

  “Abhorrence…” I mutter to myself. Aftermath freezes in place.

  “You died, didn't you?” Aftermath says, looking down at me.

  “Snowstorm…” I say, turning to him. “I’m the only one going.”

  <{(0)}>

  “I don't get it. Why did he leave us?” Evelyn protests. “We could have been useful to him!” She feels frustrated, pacing about the room as Snowstorm lies on his bed.

  “I know, its stupid.” He agrees. “I just hope he doesn't die. It's all I can hope.”

  “But how will he get around?” She asks, worried. “He's never been to Camica before!” Snowstorm flinches, which makes evelyn suspicious. What does he know that she doesn't? Should she be worried?

  “I'm more worried about who he will be facing.” Snowstorm nods and sighs. “Do you know about anyone named “Grand General Brennen?”

  Evelyn spits out her water.

  “Huh?! How do you know about him? He should still be in seclusion!”

  “So you do know about him?” Snowstorm asks probingly, and Evelyn nods.

  “He… is my grandfather.” She tells him. Snowstorm's eyes widen in surprise.

  “I didn't know you had family other than your dad.”

  “We aren't close.” She explains, fidgeting. “He only cares about his own power and growing that of his kingdom. As far as I know, he has been alive for over 600 years, and reached tier 4 around the time I was born. He is also a variant human species.”

  “What kind?” Snowstorm asks, half curious and half worried.

  “Superior superhuman.” She responds. “Its one of the few variant species with a tier 5 evolution.”

  “So this man is trying too become a god?” Snowstorm frowns. “Well, it'll likely be thousands of years before reaching that level.”

  “But back to Abhor, is he ok?” Evelyn asks, worried.

  “No, he isn't.” Snowstorm shakes his head. “He's acting the way someone who went through a lot of pain does after being given a path forward. It still hurts, but with the knowledge the pain will end, he can keep moving forward.” Evelyn sits down on Abhors bed and lies down.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “What pain?” She asks. “What happened to him?”

  “I'm not the right person to tell you.” Snowstorm shakes his head. “When he gets back, he will tell you if he wants to. Just ask.”

  “I worry about him.” She says, staring up at the wooden ceiling. “He didn't even come to say goodbye… is he angry?”

  “Of course he's angry. So am I.” Snowstorm snorts, sitting up. “With what happened to Darkness…”

  “Abhor is strong, so he will be fine, right? He just needs to avoid my grandpa.” Evelyn insists, but her enthusiasm falters at Snowstorms look. “...Right?”

  “I… I hope so, Evelyn. I truly hope so.”

  <{(0)}>

  Sirens sound all around as another wall is smashed clean through. Carrying Darkness on my back is easy in dragon form, but it comes with the side-effect of not being able to summon my trident. Something I noticed is that everyone's soul has a shape, usually the shape of their body. However, their soul doesn't change shape when they transform. However, my soul changes shape to match my form, which has a few benefits, but I can only summon my trident as a Demi-dragon or human, and when turning back into a dragon, the trident vanishes.

  I had arrived here an hour before the last time. The people I killed were preparing for the experiment in another room when I snatched Darkness. They tried to chase me, and, it turns out I was still kind of angry at them. I didn't kill them if that's what you think, but one will be drinking from a straw the rest of his life, the second will never have children, and the third now has burn scars and a lack of any hair on her body. Even without a skill to boost it, fire is still fire.

  I smash through the final wall out of the laboratory into the open and immediately bolt down the street. At first I considered illusion mana, but it drains me fast, even more so when hiding multiple individuals the size of dragons. It is for this reason that I run at full speed through the industrial section of the city to get out of here. I can't fly since I am using my wings to keep Darkness’ limp form from falling off my back. And it's for this reason that 3 commanders manage to ambush me as I get to the very edge of the city.

  BOOM!

  I leam to the side, narrowly avoiding an arrow moving faster than I thought possible. It was fired by a woman with long green hair tied in a ponytail, holding what looks like a compound bow filled with enchants. It's a soul weapon I think, but somehow with modifications. She looks kind of familiar

  2 other commanders land to either side of me, forming a triangle to keep me in. I lay Darkness to the side.

  Each of the commanders wears armor like that of commander Jensen. Speaking of the guy, he is one of the 3 here. I frown. I can kill them all, but that would likely get the attention of the Grand General. I don't want that. However, I don't think I can get out here without at least incapacitating him.

  “How do we kill this beast?” One Commander asks the other 2. A man with short curly brown hair and a strong but wiry frame, holding 2 kataars in his hands.

  “I dunno, how are you going to kill me?” I smirk, my tail lashing side to side. The man freezes, flustered.

  “Y-you can…”

  “Yes, I can talk, you sorry sack of bricks.” I say flatly. “All dragons can. And you were dumb enough to kidnap and brutalize my father figure. So all hard feelings as I kill specifically that one.” I point to commander Jensen, who just glares. “You two seem less horrible, so don't fight and you live. Maybe.”

  “Yeah, right. You're a meare tier 2 creature. You can't beat three tier 3's.” The woman shoots back, her arrow pointed to me, charged with energy.

  “Go ahead.” I say, my voice infused with a hint of mana. “Do it.”

  She does.

  Dark mana defence

  My scales turn an even deeper black, and the arrow just bounces off. The woman stares at me in shock.

  “H-how?!” She takes a step back, nocking another arrow.

  “Basic defence skill plus high defence equals extremely durable.” I say, nodding sagely.

  “You mutt!” The man with the kataars jumps at me and stabs downward. The katarrs actually leave a chink in my scales, but that is literally it. I slap him with my tail and he flies right into the woman. I then turn to good old Jensen.

  “Go to hell.”

  Dark mana claws

  Before he can react, his head falls from his shoulders, my claws wreathed in mana. The last 2 commanders look at the corpse, then to me, their gazes filled with horror and anger.

  “Fine!” The woman grounds out. “Take your “Father figure” and go. I don't intend to fight a battle I can't win.”

  I nod and turn to go.

  “Wait!”

  “What now?” I frown, turning to the woman.

  “You said that all dragons can talk. You mean that they’re sapient?”

  “Yea, we aren't, like, parrots or something.” I say flatly. “Whats your name?”

  “Commander Rosalina Rangrow.” She says after a moments hesitation.

  “Wait, Rangrow? Do you have a daughter?”

  “I- how do you know I had a daughter?” She frowns, looking at me suspiciously.

  “Is her name Evelyn?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Weird, she told me her mom was dead.” I frown to myself.

  “No, but I did fake my death. I didn't want my daughter getting special treatment, positive or negative, because of my position. So, she isn't dead? Commander Jensen had said she was eaten by dragons… no offence.”

  “None taken. The guy beat her unconscious when she trued to speak up for us after he raided our home and tried to kill us all. I think he only left me and Snowstorm alive to kill her.”

  “He… what?” Rosalia's face goes beat red, glaring down at the corpse.

  “Yeah. Now she lives at the great tree in the Verdant forest. She is about to reach tier 2.”

  “Wait, really?” Rosalia now looks excited, then worried, then contemplative. “That's the huge tree in the forest to the east, bordering our territory, right? The largest forest in the world?”

  “Yeah, it is.” I nod in confirmation. For a moment she hesitates, then she steels herself, knocks an arrow, and quick as a flash, puts an arrow through the other commanders head.

  “I was not expecting that!” I blink in surprise.

  “Dragon, please take me with you.” She looks up at me. For a moment I think it over. Then I lift up Darkness onto my back.

  “What's your speed?”

  “165.”

  “Damn, thats good. Lets go.” I nod in respect, then shoot forward, running as fast as I can. It's not as fast as flying, but it gets the job done. I just really have to hope this doesn't go badly.

  <{(0)}>

  “What is that you have?” Rosaline asks as I dig around in my pouch. I had packed food for the extremely long treck home. The bag is spatially expanded and has enough food for 2 months, keps clean. I pull out a kebab.

  “Just a pouch with my food in it.” I say. “One sec, I should shift to have a smaller stomach.”

  “What do you- oh my gods!” She jumps back as in a flash of light, I'm in my human form. “So you weren't a dragon?!”

  “No, I am a dragon. I just got a human form when I reached tier 2. Super handy.” I bite a chunk of meat off the stick as I sit down on a log. We had run for over 11 hours straight. She got tired. I didn't.

  “Hungry?” I ask.

  “I don't require sustenance as a tier 3.” She replies, but her eyes don't leave the chicken kebab. I sigh, reach into my bag, and toss her another kebab. She catches it and, embarrassed, takes a bite.

  “Its good.” She says after swallowing. “Thank you, dragon.”

  “My name is Abhor.” I say. “Calling me dragon is like if I called you human.”

  “Abhor is your name? You know what that means, right?” She asks hesitantly.

  “Yes, I do.” I say flatly. “You aren't the first to ask. This guy named me when I was 3.” I gesture to the unconscious form of Darkness. He still is asleep, and I don't blame him.

  “Dragon- I mean, Abhor, look. I… I'm sorry for…”

  “Don't.” I say, raising a hand. “It won't help.”

  “I… ok.” She nods then sits down beside me on the rock. For a moment we just sit in silence, looking up at the sky of endless stars.

  “So… what is your relationship with my daughter?” Rosaline asks me, turning to me.

  “Friend.” I say simply. “She is a friend, though it's kind of funny thinking back at how we met.”

  “How did you meet?” She asks curiously. This is clearly a woman who loves gossip and I am oh so happy to divulge.

  “She tried to murder me in a robot suit.”

  “As you do.” Sne nods, a smile creeping onto her lips.

  “Wanna see?” An illusionary image begins to form, showing the scene where me and Evelyn first met.

  <{(0)}>

  We ended up chatting as we ran, and chatted some more when we took breaks. We only rested for her to regenerate stamina and for me to eat. I only need a single meal once every few days to stay up and running.

  Slowly, I managed to dump my whole life story upon her, from when I was little and lived in the mountain, to when it was raided. She flinched every time I mentioned something bad her people did. She even asked to leave some flowers at Smokewinds grave some time, which I nodded and promised to take her there. Eventually, though, it got to the recent moments.

  “So… the Grand General killed you?” She looks at me with horror and empathy. “Are you ok?”

  “Definitely not, but I'm getting better.” I say with a sigh. “I don't recommend dying. It's not fun.”

  “I…”

  “Please just stop trying to say sorry! It's not helping!” I snap at her, then cover my snout with a claw. “I-”

  “It's fine.” She assures me. “I can see why Evelyn likes you. I… hope to see my daughter again. I haven’t seen her in so long, and I think she needs to know what happened to her father…”

  “What happened?” I ask, worried.

  “He's dead.”