Epic of Caterpillar
chapter-281

After defeating the Dragonoid Emperor by a small margin, David slumbers in exhaustion. His consciousness now drifts away through his dreams…

Although he was exhausted, he could feel the presence of something else with him. Something greater, who is watching him.

Wondering what was it, David floats through his dreamscape, unaware of what kind of being might be peeking over his dreams, he tries to find out its identity.

A massive, reptilian eye appears amidst the void of a dream, glaring intensively over David's consciousness. It was a massive pupil, it was golden colored, with fiery sparks of heat coming from it. David could also notice red scales around the eye and then realized that it was, a giant reptilian beast, a Dragon.

A cracking, old yet firm voice filled the dreamscape, directly talking to David.

"Hmmm… You, are you the one who possesses my bloodline?"

David tried to speak, yet he couldn't, he suddenly realized that he lacked a body, he was just a floating essence, a small golden flame without a face or any other features.

"…"

"I'll take it as a yes, or I wouldn't be here in the first place… Your name is David, is it? My name is Vastrasz, the Elder Dragonoid of Flames and Lava… Or well, I was… I died long ago, yet us Dragons have the power to infuse our Will in our bloodline and lineage. Every dragon will always have a small part of their consciousness being that of its ancestors. Well, it's clear that you are not a dragon, and you inherited my lineage through the System, it seems. I don't understand how this system works, as I died a little after it appeared in Genesis, after the big catastrophe that divided the world in countless realms…"

David's consciousness floated while admiring the words of the Wise Dragon. Vastraz, checking that David was putting attention to his worlds, released a small smirk.

"But anyway, it is boring to tell you all of this, you're just a child now, and you need the power to keep on getting stronger and reach your goals? My consciousness has been in a slumber for very long, so I wouldn't mind exploring the world at your side, David. You seem kind-hearted, your achievements are amazing, and your life has been full of fortune and misfortune… You have gone through a lot, kid"

The wise yet comforting words hit David's heart the most, although his consciousness couldn't show emotions, Vastrasz knew right away that the little golden flame was being commoved by his words.

"I know how life is… I lived for very long… Thanks to the voice of my ancestors, I never felt truly alone. And I want to help you out as well, you seem to be a perfect recipient to my powers, however, you need to grow stronger to be able to develop them fully, for now, let us work together… However, I also need to be rewarded by this pact, right?"

David's consciousness was full of enthusiasm about the fact that such a wise being would help him out on his journey, and the small golden flame that represented him moved happily, while nodding at the same time, although it lacked its head.

"Glad you understand, kid. My request is simple… Yet, it may be hard for you, but I hope that you can understand… I…"

"…"

"I… I want to eat delicious food!"

"…?"

"Y-Yeah… Now that I can finally share a physical body, I want to taste all of that human's delicious preparations! Noodles, cakes, rice, pastries, bread, everything! You get it, kid?!"

"…"

Food? Really? Thought David. It was incredibly shocking for him that such a wise and powerful being desired only one thing, delicious food. However, the dragon held no ill intent, and eating delicious food was within David's scope, or so he thought…

David's consciousness nodded, making Vastrasz almost cry in happiness.

"I'm glad you understand! We will be good friends, kid! Now, wake up already, that cute Salamander Girl is crying for you again, and I can't take cute girls crying out, it breaks my heart"

David once again nodded with his golden flame form as he put his consciousness into another realm of his dreamscape…

As I opened my eyes, I remembered why I fell unconscious in the first place, I was fighting off that Dragonoid Emperor, killed it but I was too tired, and then I fell to the ground, hitting my head quite hard. I also gained a Lineage by the system reward… Ah! And that Dra-

"David sama!!!"

Blaire jumped over my body as she hugged me tightly with her strong and big salamander hands while shacking her blazing tail. The heat of her body was higher than usual, and I could feel her warm, almost boiling tears dripping over my shoulders.

"Bueeh…! David sama, I thought you would die, again…! I was so scared…! Please never leave me alone…!"

I patted Blaire's ruby hair as I glanced at her red eyes.

"Don't worry, it was just exhausted"

"Exhausted?! Your whole head had split open! If it wasn't for my magic… and even when I healed you flawlessly, you wouldn't wake up! I was so scared! Bueeehh!"

"Split open?! G-Gods… I should use helmets…"

"You should! Why you never use helmets, David sama?!"

"Because… Its cooler without them…?"

"Aaah! David sama, stupid! You made us all worry so much…"

Blaire used her incredibly strong salamander hands to hug me tightly, making my armor crack. She may be a healer, but the natural strength of a Salamander Demi-Human is still there… Some of my servants were present as well and were cheering my recovery.

The subleaders of my group of servants were two, one was a Werefox named Kaze, he has green hair and a good physique, his body and abilities fit the role of Spy or Ninja Class the best. He's an incredibly loyal servant as well but rarely talks.

The second is a Werelioness woman named Leonia, she has a stronger and bulkier physique, her Classes are still Ninja, but she's good with wrestling and martial arts as well, her hair and eyes are of golden color, she always as a confident smile on her face.

Both of these people were rescued from horrible states as slaves… Kaze was being tortured by its old master and was in horrible conditions, while Leonia was once a sex slave, and her older master did terrible things to her… Things that I don't want to remember. Nonetheless, after taking them from their old masters, I treated them as equals, helped them recover, and trained them, afterward they were paid to become my guards. They could perfectly choose to live their own lives, as they were freed, but opted to be at my side, and command my other servants.

"I'm glad Master David has recovered; I was very worried as well" (Kaze)

"Me too! Master David, you gotta be more careful! Next time we will help you out, no buts!" (Leonia)

"Haha, I suppose I was being too careless… I should have asked for some help instead of wanting to take on a monster that had immunity to my primary element…"

"Master David graciously defeated it, though"

"Hmm! You looked incredibly hot fighting it! I was very excited"

Leonia is sometimes very expressive with her emotions, being a lioness, she usually is very dominant, although as a slave, she was being treated horribly, she regained her will after many recoveries and rehabilitation and grew attached to me.

Although she respected my two wives before, now that they're… now that they are resting, she is trying to gain me over with her strange way of flattering me… Blaire doesn't like this behavior.

"H-Hey! Leonia, stop being a pervert…! Don't say such things to David sama…!"

"Don't worry, Blaire, it's fine…"

"B-But, don't say its fine, David sama, or Leonia will get carried away…!"

Suddenly, Leonia stood up, flexing her legs and arms.

"Alright, David sama, let's do it" (Leonia)

"W-Waaait…!" (Blaire)

"Hahaha, she is just joking… Right…?" (David)

"I'm cheering for you, Leonia" (Kaze)

After solving the misunderstanding with Leonia, we had a nice breakfast before proceeding through the Fiery Lava Dungeon, when I was unconscious, the caravan we are in slowly approached the entrance of the dungeon, interestingly enough, monsters don't approach the dungeon's entrance, so we are safe here.

Breakfast was mostly made of the meat from the Wild Dragonoid pack we fought before, I was feed with the grilled meat of the Dragonoid Emperor, which was incredibly delicious. As I ate it, I seasoned it with a sweet sauce, and it came well with fruit juice. The moment I ate everything I felt the voice of the Dragonoid Vastrasz, who was inside of my blood, it seems. His happiness resonated with my own emotions, making me feel mildly strange… Suddenly, a dragon head-shaped tattoo appeared on my right hand, it was red-colored.

After admiring this, Blaire, Kaze, and Leonia noticed it as well. Vastrasz explained to me its functions.

("After finally eating, I feel quite revitalized. Thanks to this energy, I was finally able to grant you some of my powers, here, this tattoo will help you canalize my powers better, by activating it with your Mana, you can enhance your physique, by developing my lineage more, and leveling it as you said, you will gain more Dragonoid-like features until the point of transforming into a true Dragonoid or even an Elder Dragon")

("I-I see… It's quite complicated, but this will make me stronger, right? I get it…")

("It's not as simple, kid! If you eat more, I think I could have enough energy to give you more power…")

("I'm already full!")

("Oh right, humans have such small stomachs… Sigh… Never mind, then, I shall go to sleep, for now, call me whenever you need my powers")

("Ugh, will you just eat and sleep? Is this how dragons are?")

("Yes, that's how we dragons are. Now, good night")

"Ugh…"

Blaire and my servants noticed that I was a little bit annoyed by this lazy dragon. I thought he would talk to me some more…

"David sama, what is it? Did the meat hurt your belly?" (Blaire)

"Ah! It's not that… We need to talk about something…"

"Huh?" (Blaire, Kaze, and Leonia)

After explaining things to everyone about this new lazy and gluttonous dragon inside of me, everyone seemed rather happy. Even Blaire, who seemingly prayed to Dragon Gods was happy that one of the beings she admired so much as offered its help to my cause.

After polishing my armor and taking the helmet out of my Item Box, I grabbed my trusty sword the [Fire Bringer Blade], as it resonated with a scarlet light, right at the moment when I grabbed it with my hands. It seems to have missed my grasp.

Blaire wore her Priest clothes, with her [Salamander's Soul Staff], a special Staff given to her through her Epic Skill. While Kaze and Leonia will accompany me as well, making a party of four. Both of them wore spy-like clothes, but Kaze wielded daggers and a short sword, while Leonia wore shoulder pads, a small chest plate, and gauntlets.

I remembered getting the map for the Dungeon conveniently after defeating the Dragonoid Emperor, so I took it out, the white paper suddenly turned colorful, as different routes, walls and treasures appeared inside of it, showing each important location, alongside different monster spawn points and treasures, even showing which treasures were mimics or other traps. However, it only showcased the floor we are in and not the entire dungeon, so we will need to advance through the next floors to reveal everything on the map.

Also, there were Dragonoid Adamantine Scales on my Item Box, which could make up for some amazing armor, but I lacked a Crafting Skill and my sisters were in the previous village, so I couldn't request them anything for now.

(David's sisters are all specialized in Alchemy, Crafting, Blacksmithing, Mathematics and such, they are all talented scholars in different fields instead of fighters)

We proceeded through the first floor while using the useful map, I was in the front accompanied by Leonia, while Blaire and Kaze remained at the back, protecting and alerting us from ambushes.

The Map couldn't show living beings moving, so we had to do with our sensing skills to detect upcoming monsters. However, we could easily avoid confrontations as we could see the spawn points locations, evading them, and preventing unnecessary floods of monsters was fairly easy.

After defeating three small groups of Flame Lizardmen Soldiers, which were rather weak, with strength comparable to a young hobgoblin, we went through small rooms and looted the chest. We mostly obtained small potions, but some equipment dropped as well, a pair of gauntlets was given to Leonia, which gave her a greater punching strength.

Suddenly, my fiery senses kicked in as I felt the presence of a greater monster, glancing at the left corridor, a giant and elongated being appeared. Red and shiny scales covered its long snake-like body, as its giant head glanced at us with its four eyes, a massive jaw opened wide, showing a sticky tongue, which released a powerful toxin.

"That monster…!" (Blaire)

"Blaire, do you know it?" (David)

"Y-Yes! That's a Lava Basilisk! Those monsters would sometimes come to our village, and only a group of experienced warriors could take them on…!" (Blaire)

"Heh, we are that group then, David sama, awaiting orders!" (Leonia)

"Hm, let me inspect its status!" (Zake)

Kaze quickly inspected its status and was surprised by something.

"Hm?! It has over two thousand HP… It will be a tough enemy, David sama, please, be careful!"

"Alright, Vastrasz, enough of lazing around"

I infused my Mana into my Dragonoid Tattoo, as the tattoo expanded over my arm, my two hands were suddenly covered in hard and red adamantine-like scales, while my fingers obtained long white claws. My skin turned slightly orange, and my body was infused with powerful strength.

"T-This…!"

("Do you feel it now, kid? This is just but a fraction of a Dragon's true strength! Now, rampage and tear apart that Basilisk, I want to eat it!")

[NAME: Blaire

[CLASS: [Sacred White Flame Bishop]

[RACE: Flame Salamander (Demi-Human)

[LEVEL: 72/150

[STATUS: Wary.

[HP: 190/190

[MP: 246/246

[STAMINA: 150/150

[STRENGTH: 154

[DEFENCE: 117

[MAGIC: 232

[RESISTANCE: 158

[SPEED: 160

[CHARISMA: 50

[LUCK: 15

[Skills]

[Lesser Epic of Blaire; The White Flames Bishop (Unsealed)]

[Flame Salamander Physique; Level 3]

[Superhuman Strength; Level 2]

[Status Effect Resistance; Level 4]

[Enhanced Blazing Senses; Level 4]

[Deviant Life Perception; Level 3]

[Lesser Pain Reduction; Level 6]

[Sturdy Bones; Level 5]

[Scavenge; Level 2]

[Butcher; Level 4]

[Unarmed Battle Techniques; Level 3 ([Head Blow], [Savage Kick], [Weak Point Detection])]

[Fire Attribute Magic; Level 5 ([Fireball], [Blazing Whip], [Flame Spears], [Inferno Wall])]

[White Flames Attribute Magic; Level 4 ([White Flames of Recovery], [Antidote White Fire], [Stamina-Boosting Heavenly Blaze])]

[Chant Time Reduction; Level 2]

[Magic Affinity; Level 4]

[Benevolent Heart; Level 6]

[Mana Recovery; Level 4]

[Title]

[Flame Salamander Chief Daughter], [Slave], [Heavenly White Flames Priestess]

[Bestiary]

[Flame Salamander (Demi-Human)]

A species of Demi-Human which bodies slightly covered in red scales, their skin is usually pale orange, and their eyes are between gold, orange, and red. They possess human-like appearance outside of their large hands, which are covered in scales, four strong fingers, and large white claws that can crush rocks with ease. Males have two small horns on their foreheads, while women lack this feature.

They have long tails covered in scales that are covered in a thin layer of flames, however, this fire can be controlled by the Salamanders and its not an ordinary fire that can easily set ablaze fabric or wood, this fire is special and does not harm other living beings and represents the Salamander's emotions. If the fire is small, the Salamander will probably be saddened, depressed, or very fatigued, and if it's blazing with energy, the Salamander is happy and full of enthusiasm.

Flame Salamander (Demi-Human) are descendants of the Ancient Dragons who once roamed Genesis and then ascended to godhood. Fire Salamander, who are monsters, are capable of evolving into this race of Demi-Human, but to that, they need high intelligence, almost the same as humans, and something like that is almost impossible to happen outside of the Grand Forest, where various species of monsters possess human-like intelligence and emotions.

Flame Salamanders have long lifespans, reaching up to three hundred years, if they manage to evolve into higher races, they can live up to five hundred years.

[Class Explanation]

[Sacred White Flames Bishop]

A unique Class that only Flame Salamander Shrine Maidens have access to after living for very long and devoting themselves to the Dragon Gods. Another requisite is that they need to have an affinity with the Sub-Attribute of White Flames.

This Class grants bonuses to Magic, Resistance, and MP while leveling, and it grants some bonuses to White Flame Attribute Magic. Some Skills that can be purchased with Skill Points for this Class are [Benevolent Heart], [Chant Revocation], and [Mana Recovery].