The ancient divine envoy sealed by the Dragon Clan, 'Alice', had never imagined…
…that the ones to wake her would be two tiny dragons.
One was a bronze-Rank, so chubby it hardly looked like a Silver Dragon—Little Silver Dragon.
The other was a Silver Rank, blue little dragon that looked like… a shark?
To her eyes, the blue one's elemental makeup was that of a ground dragon, yet it carried latent True Dragon Bloodline.
In other words, this was unmistakably a True Dragon—no, wait.
True Dragon?
[The Dragon Clan nowadays… won't even spare sharks?]
The voice that rang directly in his mind left Caesar utterly bewildered.
He could only look up at the Star Energy Spirit Doll he had just freed.
White clay shell, gear-shaped skirt, a core in her chest glowing soft red.
The System panel displayed her data.
[Target: Star Energy Spirit Doll · Alice (LV.50)]
[Attribute: Psychic]
[Status: Weakened]
Level 50—a Legendary powerhouse.
[I am Alice,] the female voice sounded again. [How did you two little ones find this place? I can sense Viola's aura on you.]
"Senior Viola sent us."
Caesar gave a concise account of meeting Bone Dragon Viola and accepting the commission to enter the Secret Realm.
At Viola's name, Alice's ceramic body hovering in mid-air visibly paused.
[Viola… that old stick-in-the-mud… still remembers me.]
A trace of emotion colored her voice.
[Tens of thousands of years… is its temper still as sweet?]
"Can't say about temper, but its ears are plenty deaf," Caesar answered honestly.
Alice seemed amused; the core in her chest flickered.
[That's definitely it.]
She circled the two small dragons once, pink glass eyes full of curiosity.
[A bronze-Rank Little Silver Dragon, fat beyond belief.]
Cecilia's tail shot up in fury.
[And another… Silver Rank, ground-dragon element yet True Dragon blood—how strange.]
Alice's gaze finally settled on Caesar.
"You can see through us?" Caesar asked.
[Of course; I can 'see' your essence,] Alice explained. [I am a Star Energy Spirit Doll of the ancient Stargod Clan. We were built as weapons of war.]
She paused, as if recalling.
[After a terrible war, I fled into the Dreamlands to escape the strife.]
"Dreamlands?" Caesar latched onto the keyword.
[A world made purely of Mental Energy,] Alice replied. [But alas, before I could stay long, the True Dragon Imperial Court found me.]
"What?" Cecilia exclaimed. "Why would the True Dragon Imperial Court seize you?"
[Because they too sought the secret of the Dreamlands,] Alice's voice cooled. [They imprisoned me here, using my Mental Energy as a beacon to force open a gate to that world. Viola was one of the wardens assigned to watch me.]
Cecilia fell silent, her proud silver head drooping.
So the Court she took pride in had also committed such shady deeds.
[Yet none of that matters now.]
Alice floated back before the two little dragons.
[In any case, thank you for breaking the Seal. As thanks, I shall grant you fitting reward.]
She turned to Caesar; those rose-glass eyes seemed to see everything.
[You are peculiar.]
[Ground-dragon element, yet True Dragon blood—muddled but mighty. And… a trace of power not of this world.]
Caesar's heart tightened.
Seen through?
[Relax; I have no wish to pry into your secrets.]
Raising a clay arm, she pointed toward Caesar's brow.
[You lifted my Seal and defeated the historical echo Viola left behind. Your Mental Energy was overdrawn in that fight, but thereby tempered. I shall share pure Psychic element and techniques for wielding Mental Energy; they will help you master your strength.]
The instant she finished, a vast, pure, utterly gentle tide of Mental Energy wrapped around Caesar.
It felt as if a terabyte of compressed files were rammed into his brain; knowledge and data on Mental Energy and Psychic-field construction flooded in.
[Ding! Host has absorbed massive Psychic-attribute factors; Mental Energy greatly enhanced!]
[Exp +5,000!]
[Level up! LV.27 → LV.28!]
[Your sonar organ, nourished by Mental Energy, gains range and precision!]
[New Move learned: Sleep!]
System notifications scrolled past; Caesar's exhausted mind, battered from boss-fighting above his level, felt as if soaked in a hot spring, every cell unclenching.
He shook his head, adjusting to the surging power.
Level 28—one step closer to evolving into Garchomp.
Expanded sonar meant earlier detection of danger and prey.
But what intrigued him most was the new Move.
Sleep?
Isn't that the most basic Psychic-type Move in the pokémon world? Sleep for two turns, recover to full health, but become a sitting duck.
Kapu-Lias Caesar skeptically tapped open the skill description.
[Sleep]: Through deep slumber, recover 10% of your max HP (based on current proficiency) over 2 turns, with a 10% chance (based on current proficiency) to cure all status conditions.
[Special Note: As a creature possessing True Dragon Bloodline, you can enter the 'Dragon's Slumber' state with this Move. While asleep your body will slowly grow, vitality will continuously accumulate, no longer restricted by the limits of your current form's size.]
No longer… restricted by size?
Kapu-Lias Caesar's entire dragon body froze.
In his present Garchomp form he stood only 1.6 meters tall and weighed under sixty kilograms. Strong for his kind, sure, but compared with those dragons dozens or hundreds of meters long he was the littlest of little brothers.
This skill could actually let him grow taller while he slept?
That's just idling for levels!
And the kind that breaks species limits, no less!
As long as he slept long enough, he could grow as massive as an Ancient Garchomp!
Heh-heh—this was a huge profit!
While Caesar was still euphoric, Alice on the other side had drifted up to Cecilia.
[As for you, Little Silver Dragon…]
Alice poked Cecilia's round belly with a hand of baked-clay texture.
'W-what are you doing!'
Cecilia stepped back, mortified.
[Your Bloodline Legacy is fascinating; your affinity with many elements is abnormally high.]
Alice withdrew her hand, tone tinged with wonder.
[Among them are the ancient Secret Arts of our Star Energy Spirit Doll clan… It seems your Silver Dragon tribe has taken a very different path in the evolution of its Bloodline.]
[Since that's the case, I'll guide you onto this path early—it will help you master elemental power.]
With that, Alice's fingertip glowed pink-violet and tapped Cecilia's forehead.
Cecilia's body stiffened, then she stood stock-still.
Caesar glanced over curiously.
Immediately, his System panel began spamming notifications.
[Target: Star Energy Spirit Doll Alice (Lv.50) has opened Tutoring to Silver Dragon Cecilia (Lv.15)!]
Caesar blinked.
Tutoring? What mechanic was this—an NPC passing skills in-game?
The next second his eyes nearly popped out.
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Calm Mind!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Flash!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Amnesia!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Mirror Coat!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Trick!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Role Play!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Trick Room!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Ally Switch!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Psychic Terrain!]
…Caesar: '?'
Now he couldn't heh-heh at all.
'Dude, seriously?'
Calm Mind, Trick Room, Psychic Terrain—any one of those was strategic-tier, and Alice called them 'some Secret Arts'?
She'd basically copy-pasted her entire skill pack!
Yet this was only the beginning.
The System prompts didn't stop; they scrolled even faster.
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Treasure Gathering Skill!]
Caesar: '?'
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Tail Whip!]
Caesar: '??'
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Sing!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Harden!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Minimize!]
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Defense Curl!]
Caesar's expression gradually blanked.
The art style had suddenly gone off the rails.
Treasure Gathering Skill was fine, but Tail Whip? Sing? Harden, Minimize, Defense Curl—what the heck?
A foreboding crept over him.
Sure enough—
[Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move…]
Metronome!
Swift!
Bounce!
Swagger!
Follow Me!
Wish!
Yawn!
Slack Off!
Tickle!
Lucky Chant!
Happy Hour!
Celebrate!
Autotomize!
…A torrent of skill text flashed before Caesar's eyes; his CPU felt fried.
He stared at the blissful, light-wrapped Little Silver Dragon, gaze turning stranger, more sympathetic, finally settling into the look reserved for endangered species.
Metronome… Bounce… Yawn… Slack Off—what even were these!
Was that Bounce the same Bounce as Magikarp's?
And what were Happy Hour and Celebrate—starting a party before a fight?
Caesar's entire dragon body went numb.
He seriously suspected this Star Energy Spirit Doll named Alice had passed Cecilia some weird stuff disguised as Secret Arts.
At last the frantic spam slowed.
Until the final line popped up: [Silver Dragon Cecilia has unlocked the new Move: Transformation!]
Caesar: '?'
Holy supreme Ditto, man!!