The Long Journey After Becoming an Ancient Dragon

Chapter 2

This world didn’t classify power into tiers or realms like in a fantasy novel, at least not in Deruo's memories.

Instead, people seemed to remember powerful individuals by reputation alone—such as the human hero, the chieftain of the Titans of the Northern Icefield, or that monstrous hydra in the heart of a forest...

This world only remembered the strong—those who left a legacy through sheer power and noteworthy deeds.

Who among them was the strongest? That was impossible to tell. Creatures of this level rarely clashed, but when they did, every battle was a legendary event.

For instance, the Seven-Star Hero’s epic battle against Tananorn, the Black Dragon King.

The rough story went like this: as a ruthless, bloodthirsty dragon, Tananorn never ceased its killing and feeding. As it grew stronger, its threat to the world became too severe—it was labeled a “living catastrophe.”

And so the Seven-Star Hero, Aestrelia, set out to slay this living disaster. That simple.

Deruo channeled his magic, trying to catch a glimpse of his appearance, curious about how this human form of a ruthless monster would look.

In his inherited memories, he already knew the answer. Tananorn’s human form had been that of a strikingly beautiful, petite girl with jet-black hair and crimson eyes, adorned with ancient-looking horns that sat atop her head.

And now?

Nothing much had changed, except the aura was different, and the left horn was broken.

Tananorn’s consciousness had completely dissipated, and with it, the spiritual scars. What Deruo inherited was a body with an untainted lineage of pure-blooded black dragon.

In other words, after this restart, Deruo had been granted the highest-grade talents in this world—practically maxed-out stats from the start.

It seemed he was on the edge of a forest; he could choose to venture deeper or head out.@@@@

After some thought, Deruo decided to stay put for now.

Though he had instinctively adapted to the use of magic and the power of his new form, he chose to remain in this quiet, undisturbed place to get a feel for things and prepare mentally for what lay ahead.

Years of failure and disappointment had instilled in him a cautious mindset. Deruo never celebrated too soon; he always prepared for the worst.

Finding a clean patch of grass, he sat on a flat, smooth stone that felt as comfortable as a natural bench.

His peers referred to him as “the daredevil.”

Of course, Carter wasn’t a lunatic with a death wish. He had a reason. His wife, Molly, was gravely ill, and no healer, priest, or oddball alchemist could cure her.

They had to rely on expensive potions just to keep her alive, and his once modest family had long since run out of funds. Carter had no choice but to make money as quickly as possible while also searching for a cure.

He was in the outer part of the forest, an area where powerful monsters rarely appeared, so he moved with relative ease.

After a while, he suddenly stopped, narrowing his eyes as he sensed something unusual. There was something off about this area.

It felt like a rare herb was radiating energy nearby—and not just any herb; this was high-grade. For such a valuable plant to appear in the forest’s outer layer was unheard of!

Drawing his short sword, Carter carefully approached, following the aura.

As a veteran adventurer with over a decade of experience, he soon found the source—a nearly mature Nine-Wave Mango fruit, valuable enough to incite fierce competition among adventurers.

“Looks like today’s my lucky day,” Carter breathed, tensing his muscles as he edged forward.

Such a potent herb would certainly have drawn the attention of local monsters or even other races. There was no way it could have developed to this stage unnoticed.

So around here, there was likely...

“Stop.”

A crisp, female voice rang out, though no figure appeared.

Hearing a human voice didn’t ease Carter’s nerves; if anything, it heightened his alertness.

Magical beasts weren’t particularly intelligent; they rarely used tactics, making them easier to handle.

Monsters guarding herbs often only wanted to scare intruders away rather than kill them outright, so dealing with them was sometimes safer.

Humans, on the other hand, were a different matter. People’s intentions were unfathomable.

And, of course, it wasn’t just humans who could speak human language.