"Anyway, let's eat." She sniffed but frowned, pouting.
"It doesn't smell."
'Are you a dog!?' Eryke screamed in his heart.
"It tastes good."
After saying that, he immediately pulled back the chair like a gentleman to let her sit.
"Oh, you are a very good boy."
She whispered in his ear before sitting down casually.
Then she looked at the pizza with bewilderment.
"How do I eat it?"
"Just cut a slice and eat it."
"Cut a slice?"
She stared, bewildered, as he cut it for her with a knife and handed it to her.
"Here, how does it taste?" Eryke asked with a smile.
"Hmm."
The dragon lady opened her mouth and directly ate, making crumbling, crispy noises.
With the crushing sounds, a strange silence followed for a moment.
Then she abruptly stood up and wiped her hands with a napkin.
"That was delicious. Give me more."
Her cheeks flushed red.
"Alright," Eryke the First spoke casually and made another bacon pizza.
The Dragon Lady ate it in big mouthfuls and spoke with excitement:
"More."
"Alright." He cooked, she ate.
"More."
"Alright." He cooked, she ate again.
"More."
"..."
"More."
".."
"More."
"."
"More!?"
"All the ingredients are finished... lady." Eryke the First huffed.
"Oh," she sulked. "The name is Eleanor, the Dragon of Winter Gale."
He paused, his pupils dilating slightly. There was information about her sent by the main body, and she was…
One of the four Dragon Lords, almost one of the strongest in the entire dragon race!
Eryke the First opened his parched lips.
"What do you want from me?"
"Don't be scared, little level 1 dragon. Do you want to work for me?" She extended an olive branch to him.
Eryke the First looked at her hand and spoke quietly.
"Do I have a choice?"
"Great!?" Eleanor beamed. "Of course not. If you had other choices, would you still be here?"
"You still have to fight in the arena. However, you will no longer be a slave. Instead, you'll fight for my faction, and in return, you'll gain your freedom and benefits."
"... Can I get the knowledge of the Dragon Bloodline?"
"Alright." She gestured for him to sit down. "There are nine levels of the Dragon Bloodline. I, for instance, have reached the seventh level of the Draconic Bloodline, while you were below level one, called the Duckling Level. Now, you are at level one."
"I see." He nodded.
"Also, you are only a half-dragon, so your limit is level one. You cannot go beyond that."
"Then what should I do to improve?"
"You have to abandon your human bloodline and completely become a dragon. I can help you with that."
Eryke the First was silent, not because he wanted time to think, but because he was sending the information to the main body for him to decide.
They shared the same consciousness, but their brains didn't work the same way, especially since the main body was more attuned to both third-person and first-person perspectives at the same time.
It was like playing chess—the actual player might not see the whole picture, but the spectator would have more insight than the player.
Snore! Snore!
Eryke, in the real world, was lying flat on the bed, his legs spread apart, completely exhausted.
Then, suddenly, he sat up and rubbed his sore head.
He glanced at the capybara-shaped head of the alarm clock with groggy eyes.
He turned on the lights and slumped onto the study table.
Tapping his legs frequently on the floor, he gritted his teeth but, in the end, sighed.
"Alright, let's go with it," he agreed in his heart.
It wasn't him, but his clone. Besides, once the clone truly became a dragon, the benefits would be endless.
And maybe he could even send the second clone into that world.
***
"I agree."
Eryke the First nodded, and Eleanor smirked wider.
"Haha, good choice then."
"The pleasure is mine," he spoke casually, though in his heart, he thought, My life won't be easy with this crazy woman.
With that, he was escorted to a room, where his hands and legs were bound, and empty syringes connected to a long pipe inserted into his body.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes," Eryke the First replied.
"Start the process."
She sat cross-legged in her throne-like chair, a sly smile on her face.
Lightning flashed in the room, accompanied by a muffled cry of pain from him. The mental immunity, combined with the Hive Mind, prevented him from being corrupted by the Dragon Bloodline, but the pain was unimaginable.
His very being, the essence that defined him, was being taken, stripped bit by bit, and every single second of it was pure agony.
Eleanor watched this scene with amusement.
"Has anyone ever survived their bloodline being extracted?"
"Negative, milady." At some point, a butler appeared beside her and answered.
"That's why he's such an interesting toy to play with," she replied with a chuckle. "An Awakener who isn't corrupted. Although we assumed there might be some people who wouldn't become corrupted, based on their strange abilities, this is the first time we've ever seen it. And it fell right into my hands—how amusing!"