Noah paced the rocky ground, the euphoric feeling of his roar still tingling in his chest.
It was as if he had both fire and thunder trapped between his ribs, but surprisingly, it felt… good.
Like he'd been caged since he stepped foot in this world, carrying a weight he wasn't aware of, but now, the weight was gone.
He felt like he could run for three days and three nights. Like he could jump into the heavens in a single leap. Like he could conquer the world beneath his feet.
He felt… like a dragon.
Arrogant.
He clenched his fist and felt the confidence that came with knowing there were a few things that could scratch him, coil in his gut.
It wasn't a wild or chaotic confidence, but a calm one, like a lion watching his prey, knowing it's death was assured.
Or a dragon watching the world knowing it was beneath his feet.
A confidence born out of fact.
With a start, he realised that the feeling wasn't all his.
It was him, and the dragon. A fusion of his mind and that ancient presence that had become a part of his soul.
The feelings hadn't come from nowhere. They'd always been within him. The confidence of becoming the top 0.001% of the world. A billionaire.
All the dragon that had been melded within him had done was to amplify the feeling.
Arlo stepped up beside him, brushing imaginary dirt off his sleeves like he'd just done something monumental.
"Feeling different yet?" He asked.
Noah turned to him, squinting slightly. "I feel like I want something big to fight. Something stupidly strong. Is that normal?"
Arlo laughed. "For a dragon chimera? Absolutely. That pride? That arrogance? That's part of the package."
"Dragons don't fear. They expect to win. And most of the time, they do."
Noah frowned, as he finally noticed something different from the feeling of being on top of the world inside him.
There, resting inside him like a burning flame, was a ball of energy. A second heartbeat.
"I can feel something." He said. "Like a sphere of heat inside me."
"That's your mana pool." Arlo replied, crossing his arms.
"Now that you've awakened, it's active. And since you're melded to a dragon, it's going to be massive. Not only that, but it'll refill faster than most people can drain theirs."
Noah gave a slow nod.
That explained the surge of power he felt during the roar. The way the Thresher's illusion had crumbled. The mana inside him had surged outward like an unstoppable wave.
They both looked up as a rumble of hooves and the clanking of armor reached their ears.
King Cillian and his knights rode as fast as they could towards them, with Sir Enzo at the front, his expression tense.
As they arrived before them, the king looked down at Noah with a hard expression.
"You knocked out the Thresher."
Noah blinked. "You're welcome?"
Cillian dismounted. "We'll have to recharge it from scratch. The energy field was completely destabilized."
Arlo gave a low whistle. "Told you he was the real deal."
Cillian's gaze remained fixed on Noah. "I assume Arlo has already told you what's coming."
Noah nodded slowly. "My awakening attracted every abyssal beast nearby."
"Correct." Cillian said. "And if we retreat now, they'll just follow you. You like a bonfire in the darkness right now. A challenge. They'll keep coming until one of you is dead. So we make our stand here."
Sir Enzo snapped to attention. "Beasts approaching!"
Noah turned and looked up.
Dozens of Abyss Wraiths appeared at the top of the gorge, somehow looking more deadly in the light of day, limbs flickering like smoke in the wind.
"What's going on?" Noah asked, his eyes narrowing as he glanced at Arlo. "I thought they're meant to disappear after I awakened my Origin Memory."
"They were." Arlo replied. "But your first wave of energy had mana in it. And if they absorbed it, they could've had enough to keep themselves here."
"Especially since they were following you as you rode here. They were close enough for the first wave, but far enough for the roar that wiped out the Thresher."
The Wraiths began to leap down the gorge.
Knights raised their shields. Arlo rolled his shoulders. Cillian reached into the air and drew a long sword made of light.
Noah inhaled, the part of him that was a dragon stirring again.
He opened his mouth—
—and Arlo slapped a hand over it.
"Don't."
Noah glared at him.
"If you roar again," Arlo warned, "you'll snuff out our powers too. The Memory affects everyone. You'll leave us helpless just in time for the second wave."
Noah growled but nodded. He stepped forward, fists clenched, as the Wraiths landed around them.
And the battle began.
The Wraiths screeched, diving at the knights. Sir Enzo met them head on. The knights around him were well trained, forming tight lines, blocking, countering, cutting down the beasts as they came.
Cillian moved like a man far younger than he looked. His sword cut through Wraiths in single strikes, and every move made him look like a dancer in a ballroom.
Arlo bounced through the battlefield like this was just another Tuesday.
He never attacked or blocked. All he did was dodge like everything was a game.
With a single tap from his finger, a Wraith would vanish entirely, erased from existence like it had never existed.
And throughout all these, Noah moved differently.
He didn't dance. He didn't dodge. He destroyed.
He met the first Wraith with a snarl, grabbing it as it was in mid air and slammed it into the ground with a crunch.
His body felt lighter than it had ever been. He was faster, stronger.
Another Wraith came from behind. He turned and backhanded it into a wall.
Three more leapt.
He tore through them like paper.
The dragon in him surged, not with rage, but with joy. The challenge. The fight. The thrill of proving his strength.
A Wraith tried to phase into smoke and Noah punched through it anyway.
They kept coming. Dozens. Like an army.
The Thresher was filled with chaos. Knights fell back into tighter formations. Enzo barked orders, keeping the line.
Cillian's blade never slowed. Arlo disappeared and reappeared across the battlefield, undoing Wraiths with a tap.
But Noah became a whirlwind. The dragon inside him laughed with delight.
For the first time since coming to this world, he didn't feel like a pawn.
He felt like a force of nature.
Like he was both the unstoppable force and the immovable object.
When the last Wraith collapsed, disintegrating into smoke, silence filled the gorge.
The knights were breathing hard. Their armors were dented but they were all still alive and in one piece.
And in the middle of it all, Noah stood with his fists clenched and his blood pumping.
This was what it meant to be alive.
He threw his head back and roared into the sky. A roar that was entirely him and devoid of mana.
Arlo walked towards him, a big grin on his face. "Now that was fun."
Cillian turned to them, his blade of light still in his hands. "And it's not over yet."
Sir Enzo raised his head. "Second wave inbound."
They turned to the ridge.
The sky was darker now. Mist began to pour in, and shapes moved within it. Bigger shapes.
Arlo grinned. "Well. Guess they really want to test the new guy."
Noah exhaled slowly.
"Good." He muttered. "Let them come."