Reincarnated As A Dragon With Cheats-Chapter 23: Creation

Life flashed before Pebbles’ eyes.

It was not much of a life. Barely a day old. A handful of frantic awakenings, confusion, hunger, fear. Yet it felt unbearably long in that moment, stretched thin by terror.

He crouched in the far corner of the chamber, legs folded beneath him, claws scraping uselessly against the cold stone.

The world had grown too large.

For him, it was somewhat too loud and maybe a bit too heavy.

If anything still burned inside him, it was the desperate urge to save Nightstone.

His eyes squeezed shut as if darkness could shield him. His front claws extended forward, trembling, searching for something to hold onto.

Maybe he wanted a stable surface to use as support to stand up.

Or maybe he simply wanted something to hold onto for courage...

But it was for naught.

"I have to go back," he whispered.

However, midway, his voice cracked.

He forced his legs to straighten.

Then he breathed out even before taking a proper breath in.

Finally, he lifted himself up. But it was barely for a second.

He was soon back on his butt.

Pebbles crashed back onto the ground, the stone biting into his underside.

He gasped and tried again.

His legs pushed. His claws dug into the cracks in the floor. He managed half a step before the same thing happened again.

"Nightstone..."

The name escaped him in a shaky breath. He swallowed and tried again.

"Nightstone..."

The syllables trembled apart in his mouth.

"Night... Stone..."

His jaw quivered every time he said her name, as if speaking it might somehow pull her back to him.

However, as he pressed his forehead against the cold floor, he realized maybe he had just lost her forever.

While he was whimpering, the Stone Spiders watched from the holes above.

They wanted to console him, but they could not approach. There was a strange aura around him.

So Pebbles was left all alone, but he knew that simply crying would not do anything.

However, the tears did not stop.

Even as he looked at the evolution pathways, he knew that he would not be able to defeat the Grave Shaman.

Any more delay and Nightstone might end up dead.

She might have already been dead by now.

So the tears continued.

And they would not have stopped if not for the system message.

Ding!

[The dungeon has noticed that you are in distress.]

[The dungeon is providing you with alternative evolution options.]

Pebbles opened his eyes wide as he noticed this.

Ding!

[The title Child of Endings is in effect!]

[You Are Loved Lv.1 has leveled up to Lv.2]

[Providing Superior Mythical Pathway for evolution.]

Ding!

[Pathway: Creation]

The notification flashed in front of him as some snot remained stuck to his nose.

He thought of choosing one of the other pathways so that he could put up a fight and save Nightstone somehow, but this pathway seemed different.

It was not just superior.

[Notice: If the host chooses the Creation Pathway, the host will enter a temporary dormant state inside a new hard dragon egg for a period of 5 months.]

Pebbles read that with his blurry vision, but that was not all.

If it were, he would have rejected it outright.

But no.

[Description: The Creation Pathway enables the host to create objects, items, and entities of his own. Combined with the system, the host can create an avatar of his own.]

[Note: The avatars’ levels will depend on the amount of Karma Points the host has acquired. Additionally, multiple avatars may be created when sufficient Karma Points have been accumulated.]

Five months was a long time. However, the gift of Creation was extraordinary. Furthermore, as the system explained more about this avatar creation, Pebbles felt he had to choose this pathway.

However, he still was not sure about one thing.

Why was a Superior evolution pathway given so suddenly? Why did the dungeon care so much?

The title too was dungeon bound.

He thought that this title would work in every dungeon he would ever visit.

But that did not seem to be the case.

This particular dungeon seemed just a bit too fond of him.

Especially when the further messages were shown.

These messages seemed to have been tampered with by someone.

Usually the system screen was blue in color. But another black panel appeared with red words written on it.

There was no voice.

There were only words.

[[The Child Nightstone is safe.]]

Pebbles blinked.

This was not the system. The system screen was still visible to his left, but this black screen had taken over.

Who are you? No, what are you?

[[...]]

[[Hurry, Child! Do you not want to save your pet?]]

Pebbles nodded intensely, his head bobbing up and down violently.

[[Then choose the evolution pathway!!!]]

But it will take five days. Nightstone might...

[[Humph!! Trust me and evolve!! Five days is no big deal! I will keep her safe!!!]]

Pebbles’ eyes blinked a few more times. His tears had dried up.

He felt an unknown force, as if gentle fingers had rubbed his cheeks and wiped his tears away.

A strange wave of happiness washed over him.

He looked straight into empty space and asked the same question again. "Who are you?"

But this time there was no answer.

Seeing this, Pebbles lowered his gaze and gently massaged the sides of his head.

He then looked at the evolution options and said calmly, "Creation Pathway. I choose that."

Immediately, he sought a safe place to evolve. What place was better than this? 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I want you guys to protect me."

It was a simple statement. No, it was an order. At least the spiders felt that way.

And they immediately descended to the ground and surrounded Pebbles, who now lay down in one corner.

[You have entered the state of Deep Slumber.]

Ding!

[Beginning Evolution...]

[Evolving...]

[Progress: 0.1%]

And the evolution had just begun.

.

.

.

Meanwhile:

"..."

The Grave Shaman was on the ground.

The entirety of its bones had been separated from its body.

Its skull was at the peak of a tree while its ribs lay somewhere else.

It held its left hand in its right and its left leg in the makeshift mouth of the skull, between the jaws.

And in front of it was Nightstone, who was inside a hard bone cage.

But the Grave Shaman had already lost control over it.

"Why?"

It uttered a few words.

"Even after I have given so many sacrifices, why in the hell are you protecting that damn spider!!!"

The Shaman shut his mouth tightly as he felt an immense amount of pressure from oblivion.

A pair of black, emotionless eyes stared at him from the abyss.

Then a black screen appeared and he heard the voice, a strange mixture of tones, a chimeric voice.

"Lay still for five days."

The words Five days were carved into the ground that separated the Shaman’s half body and the cage in which Nightstone was held.

"..."