When I woke up, I was in immense pain, my body was scorched black, my left arm, the arm that I braced the shield with, was gone, not to mention I was in a small, fleshy chamber filled with acid. Did I die? This sure as hell isn't heaven, so it must be hell, right? My 'Rapid regeneration' had already kicked in, so the pain was subsiding and my arm regrew in a matter of minutes. Leveling up my 'Rapid regeneration' was worth the pain. Compared to the hour or so I had to wait for my arm to regrow on the 70th floor, this is nothing.
Wait, my skills are working here, that probably means that this isn't hell, that would mean that I am not dead and that means that we actually managed to get out! Or I might just be in the belly of the 'Flame dragon' slowly being digested. Either way, I'll make you throw up before you digest me, you oversized lizard! With my newly regrown arm I used 'Pierce' on one of the walls of my new 'cage'. Water immediately started gushing towards me, then I widened the hole and swam out.
It seems that I was on the 100th floor and the 'cage' trapping me was the belly of a huge shark-like monster. I inhaled my lungs full of water to start 'Underwater breathing', the sensation was very uncomfortable, but compared to being burned alive, it was heaven.
Now then, how the hell did I get to the 100th floor? The last thing I remember was being barbequed on the 101st floor. The entrance was destroyed, we were trapped, so… That's right, the water from above, the water that extinguished the flames wasn't one of Alex's skills, he actually somehow blasted a hole in the ceiling and connected the two floors!
Wait, Alex, where is he? I frantically looked around. Calm down, Isaac, He must be on the shore waiting for me, yeah if the bait survived then the fisherman is surely safe. I quickly went to the shore, but he wasn't there, my panic slowly returning. Maybe he is looking for me? I searched underwater for any signs of him even using 'Mana sense' to look for a powerful presence, but there was nothing.
Lastly I decided to swim down to the 101st floor through the newly opened hole. There I found the dead 'Dragon' and a pile of rubble from which a charred hand was extruding. I quickly dug the mangled corpse out of the rubble and took it to shore for inspection. It was him! The body had numerous cuts and bruises, the stomach was open, spilling out the guts, the limbs broken.
What happened, how did he die, by the way his body is mangled and the fact that he was directly under the rubble means that he ignited the explosives by hand, but why? It hit me. Huh… Ha ha ha ha hah… The idiot did that to save me, if he had waited for at least a moment, I would have been a pile of ashes by now. He knew that he hadn't properly leveled up his 'Rapid regeneration', so there was a real risk to his life, but the idiot still took it. What an idiot… Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! IDIOT!!!
No, give me a break, that can't be. He, who always prioritized his own survival, actually sacrificed his life? Something like this isn't possible, right? I mean we probably were friends, but his desire to survive, his drive to go home, those were far stronger than any friendship that we felt thorwars each other. After all he tested his new potions on me to make sure they were safe before using them himself and I was always the bait. That's right, he just made a mistake, that's all there was, right? But the timing was so perfect…Tiers slowly began welling up in my eyes.
Huh… Well, it's not like I can change anything now, now is there? Nor can I ask him directly. Let's move forward. The only things that I can do now is absorb the power of the 'Dragon' and complete the idiot's final wish. For that I'll need… I looked at the lifeless body of Alex. I am sorry for this.
I severed and set aside one of Alex's arms and wrapped the rest of the body in a fur that he used as a sleeping bag. I'm sorry that you will be buried without it, but I need it. I need it for the completion of your last wish. Let's hope that wherever you go, you won't need it.
Absorbing the power of Alex was just like absorbing the power of any other monster, physically it was uncomfortable, but psychologically it left a wound on my soul. Then came the time for the 'dragon'. I've heard from Alex that 'dragons', while monstrously powerful, aren't monsters, so he hypothesized that eating their flesh would be useless for us, but their hearts would be a completely different matter. That is because 'dragons' store their mana and their souls in their hearts.
Knowing the target is of course important, but how to get to it is just as important. 'Dragon' scales are far tougher than steel, the 'true dragon's' scales were even tougher, no matter how long I hatched at it with my knife and skills there was no use. That left me with two ways to get in. No surprise, I chose the mouth. Getting to the heart thru the inside wasn't that difficult, but my absolute lack of dragon anatomy knowledge and the fact that all organs to me look the same hindered my quest severely.
After some time I just decided to take a bite from everyone of the organs that I came in contact with hoping to finally reach the heart through the process of elimination. That worked like a charm, but what I didn't expect was the reaction I would get after tasting the heart. An unimaginable burning pain seared my body, I knew I had found it. I kept eating until I had consumed all of it.
The pain worsened ten times. I screamed in pain and started hearing a voice in my head. "Destroy! Destroy everything in your path, Destroy this dungeon, destroy this kingdom, destroy the world itself, until there is nothing that remains - destroy! And finally, when there is nothing left, destroy yourself!" Is this the voice of the dragon or am I just going crazy? It's so overpowering that I can't think straight, but that isn't the only problem. My own desire to destroy, to destroy everything… I can barely contain it!
I Wanted to burn those that had betrayed me and Alex, those that betrayed my mother, everyone and everything! And I would have gladly done it if it weren't for the instinct that told me that if I lose control now, I will destroy myself. So I persevered, I controlled my urges, controlled the voice in my head and finally it subsided, finally I could rest…
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On my way out of the dungeon I was solemn, even though I had gained extraordinary skills from the 'Flame dragon', I wasn't in the mood to test them out. All that I wanted was to get out and find a good resting place for my fallen comrade.
When I finally saw the blue sky above me, I was relieved that our journey had come to an end. We met many great foes, became far stronger than anyone, but in the end, for one of us, it all meant nothing. It took us a whole three months to clear the dungeon, the outside world felt so unreal.
The first thing that I did was book a room in a tavern and a proper meal with the money I had on me. When the tavern boss saw the corpse on my back she said nothing and just gave me a sad and somehow knowing smile, I guess it's pretty common in these parts. The food looked really good, but I didn't taste anything. I ordered some drinks, thinking that I could drown my sorrows, but because of 'Poison resistance', no matter how much I drank, I felt nothing.
Finally I staggered to my room, Alex was already waiting for me there. He was sitting in a corner, so I took the bed, thinking that a good night's sleep might fix my mood. I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking of how I could have changed the outcome of the battle, how I could have saved my friend.
The morning came and I hadn't closed my eyes for the whole night. It was time to give him a proper resting place. We went to the local cemetery, which was huge compared to the size of the town we were in. I gave the overseer some money and he allowed me to pick a place for the burial. After walking for a while, we found a perfect place. It was on a small hill, under a tree. That would be his final resting place.
The funeral was nice, even a priest showed up. Since I was the only one aside from the priest at the funeral, the grave digger either from competition or thinking that he might be given something decided to show his sympathy and stayed till the end. I gave him a few coins and left.
At the cemetery gates there was a small kiosk that sold white mourning masks. There is a tradition in this world to hide your face when someone important to you dies with a full face white mask with no decorations and just two eye holes. I bought one and immediately put it on. There were two reasons for that purchase - the obvious and the fact that I didn't want to be recognized by anyone I knew and, subsequently, be questioned by them.
This is it, Both Alex and Isaac are dead. From now on I'll be known as… Adam. A fitting name since I am the first of my kind, the first and the only one - the first human with monster blood running through his veins. Now then, I have to keep the promise, to destroy and to protect, to protect and to destroy. For that I have to return to earth. As I am now, there is no one in the world that can stand against me. I will hunt down those that might try and I will return!