I kept looking the Dragon while staying quiet and still as a rock. I couldn’t risk being discovered as I was sure the Dragon would pursue me to kill me. The first time it had chased me it was without a reason, and it had already pursued me for kilometers, so imagine now after I had, even if only slightly, damaged him.

I embraced the kind shadows which were protecting me from being seen, and asked them to allow me entrance to the Shadow Dimension, but it was refused. It seems that even if now I could teleport farther than before, it didn’t come without a cost. I had yet to upgrade my power, so if I teleported farther than I could, it seemed I would have to wait some time before teleporting again.

I damned my luck for encountering the Dragon right now, but there was nothing I could do to run. While I was invisible and odorless, that didn’t make me soundless, and I was sure that it wouldn’t take long for the Dragon to find me, even if only by the slight depressions on the ground and the tree.

If only I could charge the Dragon itself full of kinetic energy, this would be easy, but I couldn’t charge any living being except myself, so it wasn’t an option.

[Come on, Lyon, think!] – I forced myself into thinking trying to find a solution towards this huge problem. I could just run, but it wouldn’t allow me to actually flee, so I discarded that option.

I was so focused on fleeing that I didn’t even think about the reason the Dragon was here, so far away from the swamp, from its home, and in a different situation, it could have been my demise, but this time I was lucky.

I looked at the Dragon, taking the time to observe it now that I was not in an immediate danger, in an effort to try and find something to take advantage of and run, but what I found was something flabbergasting.

The Dragon had a huge scar running through its entire back; the scar was like a serpentine rip through its skin probably 20 cm wide, which was in its own amazing but the fact that it was the Dragon the owner of such scar was even more amazing. The Dragon was higher than me, and the last time I had been running away from him, so I hadn’t had the chance to see it, but now that I saw such a mark it amazed me.

During my runaway, I had been throwing all kind of projectiles towards him, each and every one of them charged to the brim with kinetic energy, and as such, having an explosive amount of force, yet it hadn’t left a single trace in its hard scales, but something had accomplished to leave such a scar on such a beast.

*Krckrckrkckckkcrkckrrrck* *Thum* *Krck* *Thum*

[The heck is that noise?!] – Suddenly it resounded around the forest a deep crunching of rocks followed by something that felt as if momentary quakes were happening. I grabbed the nearest branch of the tree and held strongly. After the tremors stopped I looked towards the origin of the sound and I discovered something almost as astounding as the huge scar of the Dragon.

In the direction of the sound, a giant, 15 meters high monster was sat on its buttocks and relaxed as could be. It was the Rock Bear that had devoured me until its satiety! Was that the reason it didn’t return to the cave? It was too big to enter it?

*ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!*

I turned my head again at the Dragon, and saw his maddened face, it was clear the hatred he held towards the bear, and it was also clear that he would do anything to try and kill him. I saw the Dragon reek hate, and felt myself tremble. The next thought I had, though, was even more disturbing.

What if the reason the Dragon had pursued me for so long was because of the bear? The Bear was probably guilty about the scar on its back, and it was more than probable that I had traces of smell from the Bear from when he ate me, so it would be comprehensible that the Dragon took me as part of its pack; why else would I be alive, if not?

The Dragon shook, and its scales trembled, seeming as little torturous spikes, and then the Dragon charged.

*Fuuush*

“What?!” – I couldn’t contain and exclaimed out loud, luckily for me, the Dragon was too distracted, so it didn’t hear me. What the hell was that speed?! The Dragon had in less than a second advanced at least 300 meters! It was faster than me by many, many times! Why the hell hadn’t it eaten me last time?!

But in the depths of my soul, I knew the reason; the Dragon hadn’t been chasing me to eat me. It had done so I would lead him home, so it could face the bear! Damn, this meant that my revenge against him was farther away than I thought; the Dragon was on a whole different level, I didn’t have the strength to face him, and I wouldn’t have it any time soon.

The Rock Bear, though, didn’t seem worried at all. On the contrary, it sat peacefully, ignoring the coming Dragon. It stayed like that until the Dragon arrived, and then it casually swung its right paw at the Dragon, which was still running.

The casually looking strike was actually a full speed swing which didn’t even leave afterimages. The Dragon tried to avoid the swing by jumping sideways, but the strike accelerated even more and sent him flying through the air.

I was completely astounded. The Bear had been fast enough to counter the Dragon?! It seemed impossible considering its big frame, but this was not Earth, so it shouldn’t surprise me more than the fact that it had 4 front paws.

I followed the Dragon as it flew through the air, until it passed near a tree, and suddenly, the Dragon vanished. It wasn’t until I heard a rumble from where the Bear was that I turned around just in time to see the Dragon fly again. [The heck?! It has appeared there in a matter of milliseconds? That’s impossible!]

But as impossible as I thought it, it repeated time and time again, and yet the Dragon didn’t look to have a single scratch, so maybe it wasn’t the Bear the reason of the scar? That thought, though, was a short one.

The Dragon launched itself towards the Bear another time, but this time the Bear didn’t swung its paw laterally to the Dragon sending him fly, but swung it from up to down, burrowing the Dragon deep into the ground with such strength that I felt the whole forest tremble. I fell somewhere where there was sun, and the shadows, even if reluctantly, retreated back into their dimension, leaving me uncovered.

The Bear, while waiting for the Dragon to climb out of the hole it had ended in, looked directly into my eyes. I felt a fear I hadn’t felt ever, yet I didn’t feel as if I was in danger. It just felt as if the single look from the Bear could kill me, if he willed it. That kind of look didn’t last too long, though, it suddenly transformed into one of thanks and appreciation…

[Wait, what?] – I was confused as to why it would feel grateful towards me, but the single thing I realized was that this was my only chance to run away, and so I did it.

I ran through the forest and towards what I thought was the direction of the cave while feeling the tremors intensify even as I was farther from the battle. Suddenly the tremors stopped and I turned around, wondering if the Dragon was dead. I was having mixed thoughts of relief for its death, as the Bear didn’t seem to want me dead, and regret, for not being me myself the cause of its death, when something felt from the sky and impacted the ground a few meters from me. I looked at it, and as the dust dispersed I met with the scariest thing I could think at the moment.

*Grrrr…*

The now bruised Dragon was growling in front of me, and now that it had seen me it was close to impossible to run away, even less possible knowing its true speed. I hadn’t even started turning around when the Dragon vanished from where it stood and bit me with strength.

*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGH!!!!* – As I felt its teeth pierce my skin, muscles and even my bones, I couldn’t help but scream in pain. [Motherf****! I’m going to kill him as soon as I’m powerful enough! Damn him and damn all his ancestors, and hell, even damn all his descendants was he ever to have them!]

The world around me blurred for a moment, and suddenly we were in front of the Bear again, a dizzy feeling wandering around my head.

*Grrrrrr!* The Dragon seemed to be threatening the Bear in some manner, but they were beasts, it was impossible to communicate, right? That’s what I thought until the Bear, which until now had been as “peaceful” as a rabbit, made an expression that made even the Dragon flinch, which in turn made me feel more pain again.

Surprisingly, though, the Bear seemed to accept to whatever terms the Dragon had communicated him, because he suddenly lifted its left paws and approached them towards its superior right paw, grabbing its rocky skin with both paws, and then…

*Crack*

I was flabbergasted, the Bear had ripped its own paw, and it seemed it did for me? Why? But the amazement increased even more when he ripped its second right paw, throwing it away. I then looked towards the now empty shoulders, and was surprised to find they weren’t bleeding, hell, they didn’t seem any different from its torso.

The Dragon suddenly dropped me and dashed straight at the Bear, only for him to swing its left paw at him again. Unfortunately, this time its strike was slower than the Dragon, and it took advantage of it and bit on the now almost defenseless torso. The Bear roared painfully, and I felt angry, the Bear had defended me. Why?

I didn’t know the reason, but either way I couldn’t help but feel grateful, so I wanted to help. Unfortunately, I wasn’t faster than the Dragon, or stronger, or sturdier, I was all but able to fight him, so I started thinking, trying to find a way for me to help the Bear.

The Dragon was still biting the Bear, and it was trying to rip part of its torso, when something unbelievable happened. While its left paws were away from the Dragon, the Bear managed to push him away from itself and sent him flying. I looked towards the Bear and I saw a thing that didn’t make any sense. The Bear’s paws which it had ripped a few moments ago, where there again.

I say it didn’t make sense because if the Dragon knew it could do that it wouldn’t have asked it to rip its paws, so that meant he was confident in killing him after he lost both paws. This could only mean a thing; this was not a skill the Bear should have. The fact that he grew back both paws together with its look of thankfulness, made me realize this was on me.

The Bear, after eating me repeatedly until it was full, had somehow acquired my ability to grow back anything, or at the least limbs.

The Dragon was getting up, but I decided this was it; I wouldn’t disturb anymore the Bear. I called the shadows, even when I knew they shouldn’t let me enter yet, and asked them to carry me one more time, even if then I would have to wait for a long time to do so again. The shadows stopped impeding my pass towards the Shadow Dimension, and just as the Dragon was closing its maws on me, I vanished into shadows.

-----

Suddenly, I woke up and stood up as fast as I could, only to find myself at the cave I had started calling home. I tried to connect to the shadows and felt something hard to describe. I felt more connected, in more control of the shadows, yet at the same time I felt completely disconnected; I couldn’t access the shadow worlds or even call upon the shadows.

I hastily opened the system only to find myself with a bittersweet surprise.

The user has synchronized with the Shadow Dimension and has been attuned to it. The Shadow Dimension level increases greatly.

Shadow Dimension: B low tier --> G mid tier

By forcing the power beyond its possible capabilities, the user has damaged the portal that allows him entry to the Shadow Dimension. Until the damage is healed, Shadow Dimension is unusable.

Status X-System Status Name: Lyon Ironblood Soul Points: 26.770 Mutations: 4 Powers: 3 ( 2 ) Mutations Acquired: Wolverine Locked Deadpool Locked Gambit Unlocked Angel 20 %

Nightcrawler Blocked

----- ----- Powers: Power origin: Fenrir, the Immortal Wolf E mid tier Wolverine + Deadpool Kinetic conversion and acceleration G mid tier Gambit Shadow Dimension G mid tier Nightcrawler