Starting out as a Dragon Slave

Still trembling, Isaac sat on his bed, his back pressed against the cold wall of his room. His breathing was ragged, but gradually, he felt his heart rate return to normal. His body, though physically unharmed, still bore the burning memory of the tortures endured in the other world.

But just as he began to slowly regain his senses, a series of luminous notifications suddenly appeared before his eyes, floating in his field of vision like electric blue holograms clear and precise.

[System Notifications]

[Pain Resistance] has been unlocked. Current Level: 7(Your body and mind are now capable of enduring extreme levels of physical pain without affecting your concentration or abilities.)

[Poison Resistance] has been unlocked. Current Level: 6(Your body has adapted to the most virulent poisons and various alchemical toxins. You are capable of partially neutralizing their harmful effects.)

[General Physical Enhancement]: +150% in strength, speed, endurance, and agility.(Your body has been modified by brutal draconic experiments, granting you physical capabilities far superior to a normal human.)

[Enhanced Sensory Perception]: Your senses are now refined and capable of perceiving extremely subtle details.(Your hearing, sight, and tactile perception are now beyond human limits.)

- "I... this is incredible," Isaac murmured, stunned, momentarily forgetting the phantom pain of his tortured body. He felt simultaneously astonished and strangely euphoric. All that torment hadn’t been in vain. The suffering endured by Mordred had directly shaped his body in this world.

A new notification suddenly appeared, shining brightly in the center of his vision like a silent flash:

[New Rank Achieved: A-Rank Hunter](Your stats and skills are now equivalent to those of a certified A-Rank Hunter. You have officially crossed an important threshold in your power.)

Isaac, his eyes wide open, saw a detailed panel appear before him, summarizing his status:

Hunter Status

Name: Isaac Draven

Race: Hybrid (Human-Dragon)

Age: 24 years

Hunter Rank: A

General Stats:

StatisticCurrent

[Strength : 780]

[Endurance : 765]

[Speed : 790]

[Mana : 720]

[Perception : 860]

When Isaac passed through the doors of the StarSky headquarters, his face betrayed no hesitation, no doubt. His gaze, once shining with naive innocence, had transformed into a cold mask, forged by memories of a night of atrocious suffering.

Entering the large briefing room, Isaac was surprised to find only two familiar figures waiting for him. Lazare Korr, the imposing guild master, stood there, impassive, and beside him, silent and discreet as always, was Naesha. The young woman, her hooded face revealing only her cold, piercing eyes, stared at him intently.

Lazare stepped forward slightly, his sharp gaze diving directly into Isaac’s.

- "Today, we’re going out with a reduced formation. Just the three of us."

Isaac frowned slightly but remained expressionless. Lazare immediately noticed his unspoken question.

- "The previous approach didn’t work," Lazare continued in a perfectly neutral voice. "If we want to attract the dragons’ attention, we have to adopt a different strategy."

He paused briefly, allowing Isaac time to understand on his own. Naesha’s voice finally resonated, as calm and cold as ever, subtly completing the explanation:

- "Fewer in number, we appear more vulnerable. More arrogant. We become a tempting target for an enemy seeking valuable prey."

Isaac immediately grasped the underlying logic. Lazare hadn’t said it explicitly, but his S-Rank, unique in France, made him an exceptional target for an ambitious dragon. A well-disguised trap, designed to attract the attention of an elusive enemy.

- "Very well," Isaac simply replied, his tone cold and steady, without a trace of emotion.

No hesitation, no fear. He was ready to face the worst. He had already survived much more than any other human hunter could imagine.

The portal chosen this time was isolated from the others, located in an old, abandoned industrial zone, overrun by weeds and covered in rust. The portal a tear in reality glowed faintly, emitting irregular pulses of bluish light. Around them, the silence was almost palpable, heavy with indescribable tension.

Lazare entered first, his stride calm and controlled, followed by Naesha, whose silhouette nearly vanished into the darkness of the portal. Isaac followed without a word, his senses sharpened by his brutal training, ready to react to the slightest anomaly.

When his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the new world, he discovered a landscape both gloomy and fascinating. They had entered a particularly strange dungeon. Around them stretched a complex network of corridors with dark walls, covered in a viscous organic substance with purplish reflections. The floor, also coated with the same strange substance, seemed to slightly move beneath their feet, almost pulsing to the slow rhythm of a heart buried somewhere in the depths.

- "Stay alert," Lazare ordered in a low voice. "This dungeon is not normal."

Isaac quickly scanned his surroundings. His newly enhanced senses now gave him an astonishingly precise view of his environment. Every detail, even the slightest, jumped out at him with absolute clarity. He immediately perceived a subtle variation in the ambient air, a distant whisper, an almost tangible presence somewhere far ahead.

Without conferring, they moved forward together with measured steps, each instinctively adopting an optimal position. Lazare led the way, naturally imposing a strong and menacing presence, while Naesha blended perfectly into the shadows behind him, ready to strike from the darkness at any moment. Isaac, positioned in the middle, focused intently, searching for the slightest signs that could confirm his theory of a second passage.

The first monsters appeared quickly before them. Strange insectoid creatures, as tall as an adult human, covered in black chitin and armed with sharp claws dripping with toxic substances. Isaac instinctively moved into a combat stance, but before he could act, Lazare had already responded.

The guild master simply raised his hand in a nonchalant gesture, as if swatting away an insect. An invisible force immediately crushed the creatures, their shells exploding under an unfathomable pressure, leaving behind nothing but formless sludge. The demonstration was terrifyingly effective. Lazare hadn’t even revealed a fraction of his true power, but Isaac had perfectly understood the extent of the difference between them.

They continued to progress silently, each enemy eliminated with disconcerting ease. Naesha would briefly disappear into the darkness at each hostile appearance, leaving behind only perfectly sliced corpses—enemies that never even knew where death came from. Lazare, for his part, barely moved; his mere presence was enough to silence any potential resistance.

Isaac remained focused, on high alert. The deeper they delved into the organic depths of the dungeon, the more he felt a subtle sense of unease.

Lazare stopped, his gaze meeting Naesha’s. He nodded silently.

- "Let’s continue," he finally said calmly. "It seems our little strategy worked. We’re here for this."

The three hunters resumed their march, descending even deeper, guided by Isaac’s sharpened senses, now leading the group, more focused than ever.

The massive door before them pulsed softly, like a living heart at the core of this organic dungeon. Lazare stopped abruptly, raising his hand in a silent gesture. His face, usually calm and impassive, had slightly tensed, his eyes gleaming with a rare vigilance.

- "Wait," he murmured in a low voice, charged with unusual gravity. "I feel something different this time. An energy... extremely wild, brutal. Be ready. Whatever’s behind this door, we must remain strong."

Isaac, his muscles tense, nodded silently. His instincts were already screaming that something abnormal was there. Beside him, Naesha had completely frozen, as silent as a deadly shadow, ready to strike.

Lazare slowly pushed the door open, which creaked with a dull groan, revealing the dense darkness of a large circular room. Its walls were covered in that nauseating organic substance, its faint pulsations echoing strangely in their ears.But they had barely crossed the threshold when the metallic scent of blood violently filled their nostrils, accompanied by an oppressive, powerful aura—almost palpable.

The dungeon boss, an enormous creature with dark scales bristling with sharp spikes and massive claws, was already lying at the center of the room, reduced to an unrecognizable corpse. Its body was torn, mutilated, covered in blood and deep wounds. Its blood-soaked carcass lay pitifully on the ground, a testament to terrifying and ruthless violence.

Sitting nonchalantly on that shredded corpse, a humanoid figure observed them in silence, casually holding a thick iron chain. The chain, rusted and bloodstained, was connected to a second silhouette kneeling at its feet—visibly reduced to a state of slavery, submissive, shoulders hunched under the weight of her condition.

The figure watched them with a predatory smile.

As Lazare, Naesha, and Isaac slowly advanced into the room, their eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, finally allowing them to clearly distinguish the two mysterious individuals. Isaac suddenly felt a violent chill run down his spine, a nearly paralyzing sensation of disbelief, a brutal shock.

His breathing quickened imperceptibly, his muscles tensed to the limit of their endurance, and his face paled slightly under the impact of what he was seeing before him.

Belgaroth.

The red dragon belonging to one of the most noble bloodlines of the Draconic Empire. His mere presence imposed a visceral terror, a primal instinct for survival. His crimson skin gleamed faintly under the dim light of the dungeon, and almost invisible runic patterns traced along his arms, softly pulsing with the rhythm of his monstrous heart.

Belgaroth was not in his draconic form, but even so, his appearance was intimidating. A massive musculature, a mane of scarlet hair cascading over his broad shoulders, and above all, blazing eyes of intense red, piercing, burning with a predatory glow. He wore a long dark leather cape adorned with draconic embroidery, and his powerful hands rested negligently on the thick black iron chain.

At the other end, kneeling, hands bound and head lowered, was Akane.

Isaac felt his heart skip a beat. A dull, deep pain gripped his chest as his eyes widened slightly.

Isaac felt his mana boiling inside him, uncontrollable. His pupils slowly tinged with a blazing orange, glowing more intensely as rage consumed him from within. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and a slight tremor coursed through his contracted muscles. Belgaroth’s presence—his nonchalant, arrogant demeanor, sitting on a smoldering corpse—only fueled the inferno of his anger.

- "Well," Belgaroth murmured in a drawling, contemptuous voice, "here are the famous human hunters. You arrived a bit late for the party. As you can see, the master of this place has already been... cleaned up."

His powerful hand pulled slightly on the chain, causing Akane to stumble forward, her fragile figure hitting the ground with a dull thud. She did not protest, did not even raise her head. Isaac felt a chilling shiver run down his spine, the rage rising in him like an erupting volcano.

- "How dare he...?"

His pupils flared even more intensely, the air around him charged with a subtle electricity. Naesha, at his side, noticed the subtle shift, her piercing gaze turning slightly toward him, evaluating, ready to intervene if necessary.

Lazare, however, remained perfectly calm, his gaze fixed on Belgaroth. A simple smile stretched across the red dragon’s lips, amused by the situation.

- "I suppose you’re here to explore, to ask your little questions," he continued nonchalantly. "You imagine yourselves as the predators, don’t you?"

Lazare did not respond, his sharp gaze analyzing every gesture, every movement of Belgaroth. Naesha, meanwhile, did not move—like a frozen shadow, her hidden daggers ready to deploy at the slightest signal.

Isaac, however, struggled not to explode. Every breath was a challenge, every heartbeat a detonation of contained rage. His mana pulsed, burned, wanted to escape, to strike, to destroy. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Belgaroth didn’t recognize him, and he had to exploit that advantage as much as possible.

"I will destroy you, Belgaroth.I will destroy you for what you did to her.I will destroy you for every scar on her skin.I will destroy you for every time she had to bow before you."

Lazare straightened slightly, placing a gentle hand on Isaac’s shoulder, silently urging him to calm down.

- "I don’t think we’re late," Lazare finally responded in a composed voice. "I actually think we are right on time. You will follow us, willingly or by force, and when you face the interrogation, your arrogance will fade along with that little smile."

An icy silence settled in the room, their gazes locking, their auras tensing. The air vibrated with palpable tension, ready to explode at any moment.