"Thornbloom Twig… suppresses coughing? Not bad."
"Starleaf… eases the lungs? Good. Taking it."
"Crimson Spore… increases blood production. Slight toxicity? Hmm… usable. Barely."
Rain poured down in sheets.
Logan moved quickly through the forest, soaked to the bone, relying on [Insight] to identify plant after plant in his field of vision.
Anything that might ease Aurelia's symptoms, he grabbed without hesitation, clamping it between his teeth.
Before he realized it, he was already deep in the woods.
But even after searching a wide stretch of forest, he hadn't found anything that treated heart failure directly.
Not that it surprised him.
Even on Earth, heart failure was something you could only control, not cure. And this world depended entirely on wild herbs—no labs, no synthesized medicine.
This, however, was a fantasy world.
Maybe he just hadn't found the right thing yet.
At the very least, the herbs that he'd gathered might buy her some time.
With that thought, Logan turned and followed the stream back toward his lair.
Then--
CLANG!
A sharp metallic crash cut through the rain, coming from somewhere ahead.
A moment later, muffled human shouts followed—urgent, panicked.
Logan froze mid-step.
"...Humans?"
His dragon face turned into a scowl.
Even if he still carried memories of being one, this body reacted to the word human with pure instinctive rejection.
Especially when the wounds of that high-tier Mage's explosion still throbbed faintly across his scales.
In a world like this, running into humans usually meant trouble.
And at this time, he was just a Tier 3 Young Dragon.
Every part of his body was worth money.
Logic said: steer clear. Take a wide detour. That was the safest move.
But reality did not give him that option.
The sounds of battle were getting closer -- heading right for his cave.
It was obvious—someone was being chased and trying to take shelter in the mountainside.
Logan emitted a cold snort in his head.
Forest caves on rainy days were often monster dens.
People who ran blindly into danger like that didn't tend to live long.
He had no intention to get involved.
But then, one thought stopped him dead in his tracks.
Aurelia.
If humans barged into the cave
What would happen to that unconscious Foxkin girl didn't take much of an imagination.
Discovered. Taken. Treated as loot. Sold off.
And next time? He wouldn't get another chance to "acquire" an SSS-tier special NPC like her.
Logan knew full well--
In her current condition, if she was taken from the cave, there was almost no way he'd be able to steal her back.
That was not an acceptable outcome.
Through the roar of rain, the black dragon was quietly climbing a tall tree.
His wings flared and beat with a low, muffled sound while scales scraped bark as he walked with surprising agility.
Using the dense forest and the pounding rain as cover, he crept toward the source of the commotion.
It didn't take long to get a good view.
A young human male knight stood at the mouth of the cave, shield held up.
The shield was broken all over, but he held his ground.
Behind him, a female fire mage clutched her staff, lobbing fireballs as she stumbled backward toward the cave.
Chasing them was a group of mercenaries in matching gear.
Black viper insignias shone on their armour, in sharp contrast to the rain.
"Miss! Get inside!" the knight roared hoarsely. "I'll hold them off!"
System notifications popped up almost at the same time.
[Wells: Level 21.Knight-Captain (No threat to you)]
[Selene Level 18,Fire Mage (Trash mob)]
[Night Viper Mercenaries: Level 16 - 20 (Group of trash mobs)]
[Note: Multiple trash mobs detected.]
With the overlay of [(Insight)] on the system's evaluation, Logan made a snap judgment.
Individually, none of them were a problem.
But in numbers? That was a different story.
Worse still his dragon breath was still in progress.
In his present condition, he couldn't even put out a full blast.
The knight was barely holding the line and the mage had already backed up to the entrance of the cave.
If this dragged on any longer the humans would break into his lair.
Logan knew--he could not afford to wait.
He rapidly opened the Evolution and Modification interface.
The optimal upgrades were obviously [(Efficient Breath Gland)] and [(Compressed Breath)].
But, they cost 2000 and 3000 upgrade points respectively.
He couldn't afford either.
Logan cursed through his teeth and went for the next best thing.
In the next second 1000 upgrade points had been spent.
He bought [(Basic Hardened Claws)] and [(Basic Reinforced Scales)] .
If it bought him even one more second, it would be worth it.
There was rain streaming down his black scales.
The dragon squatted low in the shadows of the trees, muscles tight.
This time, he didn't want any trouble.
Trouble had come to his territory.
[Ding! Modification initiated. No significant pain response. Process will be fast. No need to worry, Host.]
Just as the system promised, this was nothing like the agony of eye mod.
Logan felt his body only stiffen for a moment, followed by a tingling itch that spread across his scales - like cold water trickling down his spine.
When he looked down, this transformation had already taken place.
His once black scales now had a faint metallic sheen that caught the rain and reflected a cold, silvery light.
His claws had grown bigger, thicker. The once-ivory tips now shone with a steel-gray hue, like they'd been dipped in real metal.
[Upgrade complete. Now go die gloriously.]
That was [(Insight (Basic))] deadpan commentary from its usual.
Logan's dragon lips twitched.
He'd never really killed a human before.
But that didn't mean that he'd hesitate now.
Between draconic instinct and the hard earned survival skills of one who'd lived on the edge, the mental barrier was already gone.
He'd tasted blood. Eaten raw meat.
Be it by his liking or not, he was now a dragon.
Logan dropped the herbs onto a tree branch, then kicked off the trunk in a powerful lunge.
The force of it exploded through his limbs.
His black body rocketed out of the canopy of the trees like an arrow let fly from a bow. Wings spread wide—silent, controlled—he dove straight for the mage, killing intent rolling off him in waves.
Rule number one of group fights: take out the squishies first.
Other dragons might've made a grand entrance-roaring to the heavens, announcing their presence then coming down in all their majestic glory.
But not Logan.
He didn't need theatrics.
He needed a clean kill.
...