Day 5

~ Rumi ~

I was born about 60 years ago. I spent nearly 12 years in the bottom section. I just needed to raise my poison resistance so that I could become a black widow dragon when I evolve.

Black Widows have special poison that can kill any creature they reach strong enough. They are also very good at close combat, which is why I'm always hanging around up here now.

I had a few encounters with other dragons and got some experience fighting. But it's hard for me because my venom isn't as strong or fast-acting as theirs.

Then I met this goblin tribe and stayed with them for a few years. Unlike the rest of their kind, these goblins were actually smart... Well, the female members of the tribe were. The males followed my orders quite well enough. Then again, I wasn't exactly gentle with them either. I let them live and even gave them something resembling freedom but only if they agreed to follow my rules.

One day, while I was telling them how to use clubs the only faun girl my best friend left exploring. She came back when she told me a scary male dragon wanted her help hunting Poison Bison.

Curious about meeting a new Dragon, I went to go meet this dragon in person. He seemed like an odd one; he talked too much and seemed to have strange ideas about what his territory should be.

Dragons who are sent down must have great potential and it's rare for anyone to be alone in this Labyrinth So if he is here, then that means he is the son dragon king or queen. I bet he chose a hybrid evolutionary line. Which was a really popular choice for dragons back at the academy. All because of Auntie Prima.

Mothers dragons and our hated rivals take care of us until we are able to speak. Then drop off the ones with the most potential in the Great Draco Labyrinth. A giant biome. A pocket dimension. Generally, it is a place rich with mana and resources. It has everything from fire-resistant trees to waterfalls and lakes of lava. Everything you need to survive.

But the problem with the Great Draco Labyrinth is that there are a lot of powerful creatures living inside it. And not all of them will let anyone else live peacefully. There are many dangers and enemies waiting for people who don't know where they're going. If you wander into the wrong dungeon, things can go horribly wrong.

Settlements are found everywhere, made by races trying to carve out their own little safe space. Some are big enough to house thousands. Others are little more than tents. You'll find all sorts of places here.

Last she remembers, her dinosaur rival was in one of her dad's settlements in the dangerous part bottom layer. Her father had been grooming her to be a hero or something.

But this place is under the control of an evil dragon Azantar, also known as The Dark Master, a rare and powerful Onyx Dragon. Those dragons have the unique ability to weld multiple attributes. Usually, dragons can get one attribute. Azantar was the first dragon to take control of his place. He was loved in Dragonair, our home continent. However, Azantar became arrogant and over-confident as time went by, and his power and knowledge grew far beyond what was expected, as did his lust for power. Fearing his lack of restraint, the dragon council tried to have him murdered. Filled with hatred for his own kind, Azantar killed over 1000 dragons, kings, and queens and made a deal with Scorn of the Damm, a vast, innumerable army of daemons and corrupted races who seek to destroy all life.

He's planning on using the Dark Lands, a massive labyrinth filled with monsters and cursed dungeons. Once he's done here, he intends to conquer the world. To make sure he has plenty of minions, he used the most powerful ritual ever created.

The dark power corrupted his physical appearance and altered his voice. He grew so large that his roar could be heard from miles around. The flap of his wings generated powerful hurricanes and caused fissures by walking and grew hideous mutations all over his body (such as limbs and even eyes), and his skin started to decay.

He launched a war against the dragon race with his army in the Draco Labyrinth. Only when Primera, The Deathlady, and my mother were able to deal with him and seal him inside the top layer of Labyrinth. My mother is a War dragon. They have a wide array of strengths and abilities, with examples including incredible fortitude, massive size, or the abilities of dual welding attributes.

My mother is a highly valued member of the dragon council. She was offered a position as the leader of the Dragon Race at the age of 1,000 and accepted. No dragons had ever done that before. Auntie Primera didn't want to rule anything but the area she controlled.

I don't know why my mother married that bastard. Maybe she really likes being the boss. Or maybe she thought she would be able to get rid of him after she gets all the power she needs…

Anyway, she won't tell me what the plan was.

We dragons have an ancient tradition. When we find a dragon or dragoness, we want to spend our life with. So we kiss him or her, and a jewel is formed.

It is a magical object that bonds the dragon and the dragoness, which melds their minds on a basic level, binding them for life in the most enduring friendship and love forever.

I still don't why she didn't kill him. But I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

All I know is that he was a bad guy. Every single dragon from the dragon council hated him. Even the daemons hated him.

My mom and my auntie Prima took care of me for a few years before sending me off to the Great Draco Labyrinth.

My goal is to find my father and learn everything I can about him, including why he turned to the dark... maybe kill him if I don't like his answers.

Pay attention to this 'scary' dragon. I can see why the faun goblin would be scared. I

see a 160 cm (63 in) in length and 85 cm (33 in) at shoulder height. Black and green western dragon/dino croc hybrid with dark black horns, glowing amber eyes, a light green underbelly, a long red, whip-like tail, quills on its head and its spiky osteoderm-lined back, purple spikes that go down his back too, four long hind legs with sharp purple claws, and dragon wings.

This male hybrid has numerous burn scars on him. His tail is full of scars like he pierced something sharp and hard. His face is cut up, and a freaking amount of cuts on his body.

He even has a dragonfly with him! Dragonflies offer protection for young dragons.

They provide an extra Exp boost to dragons. Significantly shortened evolution time. Usually, it takes 20 years for a dragon egg to its first evolution. But with a dragonfly, you can reach it in a day.

The only downside is they are cowards, snarky, and the after the second evolution. Exp is much harder and longer to obtain.

I should befriend him... then kill him later and take his dragonfly.

I should be about his age right now. Boys are easy to seduce.

At least that's what my mother says.

So let's go kill the cute dummy and take his dragonfly...

~ A Few Hours Later~

That idiot knocked us out. His scream nearly killed me.

Wait till I get him.

"Well don't you look better" I hear a voice stopping me from killing the bastard... I can't believe I kissed him!

It was his dragonfly. Looking very amused at the moment.

"What" I stop when I hear my voice in my head.

Rumi Information Attributes Traits. Titles. and Skills -Name- "Rumi" STR 30 Skills 12 -Race- Black War Dragon VIT 12 Traits 4 -Sex- Female AGI 30 Titles 2 -Rank- F* DEX 21 Resistances -Level- 22/35 INT 33 Health 120/122 CHR 42 Physical Resistance 6 Stamina 600/600 WILL 42 Magical Resistance 33 Mana 0/0 MAG 42 Mental Resistance 34

When did I gain 22 levels?! When did my stats become this high!?

The only thing that makes sense is my weak defences. War dragons have a terrible defence when they are young. That's why we have to be careful.

But now my defences are way higher than normal. My INT is way above average. And my MAG is almost double.

But I don't understand why my physical resistance is so low.

My panic is cut short when my sense of smell has gotten better.

We are not in the cave anymore. We are somewhere deep underground.

Lucky for me, I have night vision. My gaze stops on the dragon I meet in the cave hours earlier.

"His name is Dracul" The dragonfly speaks to me, but I'm too busy staring in disbelief to respond to him. "Watch him while I go, scout, the area."

He'd evolved?! How is that possible!?

While he doesn't look that different. His feather quills are now bronze-metallic in colour. He also seemed to have gained a tattoo, it being a line of an unknown language inscribed onto his flesh, beginning above his left eye, and trailing down towards his right frontal arm, curling around said arm, and ending at his wrist. He had also seemed to have become well-developed, having grown visible muscles as well everywhere. His horns are now pale purple, and his body size has grown to fifteen feet long.

By Shenron, my husband...

I stopped thinking when I said, my husband.

My gaze is now focused on his forehead. A Dark green and magenta jewel is embedded on his forehead. It's glowing and pulsating.

"...."

But I'm still going to kill him... I don't want a husband!

[Lover of the Dragon King Candidiate] LVL: 1 has been granted. New Skill has been gifted.]

"Huh?"

I look down at myself, stunned. What did I just do?

[Lover's Aura (Passive & Active) LVL 1 EXP: [0.00%]

The Manifestation of bween Draucl and Rumi. An ability to protect themselves with the light of their souls to repel attacks of all kinds. It bears their burdens and shields both their bodies and hearts. Attributes increase depending on the amount of (MP). Must be near Dracul to take effect. A side effect is able to naturally learn compatible skills.

Passively increases STR by 30%. Passively increases DEX by 30%. Passively increases VIT by 30%. Passively increases INT by 30%. Passively increases WIS by 30%. Additional 30% increase to STR when the skill is active. Additional 30% increase to DEX when the skill is active. Additional 30% increase to VIT when the skill is active. HP regeneration speed is increased by 100% when the skill is active.

When attacking, your next attack will be boosted by 10%, stacking up to 5 times. This stacks with other effects such as increasing damage with elemental attributes. Also, when attacked by an enemy near your lover, you will automatically block, dodge, parry, and counterattack if they are weaker than you.

Not believing what I'm seeing I read the message again just to make I'm not hallucinating. There's no way I got a skill!

I reread it over five times and the text did not change. I really do have Lover's Aura!

I'm keeping him!

I look into Dracul's face and grin.

"I'm soo keeping you Dracul." I declared to my sleeping husband.