Chương 192: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 192 - Rolls-Royce's Choice

"Human friend, in my long years, you are the first to hear this story. All stories begin with a Brass Dragon hatching from its egg..."

"When I was still inside the egg, the world around me was a warm ocean. My consciousness was muddled, but somewhere deep down, I already felt the urge to break free... (fifty thousand words omitted)""Hey! When someone is telling a story, you should look at them!"

"That is basic respect!" The rambling voice of Rolls-Royce drifted over from not far away. Su Nian curled his lip, flew a little higher, and spotted the Brass Dragon exactly where he expected, on the platform behind the spire of the Dark Sovereign Hall. Rolls-Royce was coiled on the platform, and seated directly in front of him, bound hand and foot and face the color of ash, was the human adventurer Tal. Su Nian didn't need to guess. Tal had probably given up hope entirely by now.

There had once been a chance of going home. That chance was gone the moment he followed them into the underground city. He wasn't going back, not in this lifetime.

"Rolls-Royce!" Su Nian called out, gliding over and landing beside the pair. The moment his feet touched down, the entire palace shuddered. Su Nian shifted his weight carefully. The obsidian construction was solid, but he was starting to worry about what happened if he wasn't careful.

"Oh! Master, what brings you here? And... your aura is even stronger than before. You've gotten bigger again..." Rolls-Royce looked up at the Black Dragon with undisguised envy. He'd already known Su Nian was a variant dragon, so the growth itself wasn't a shock. Throughout history, variant dragons had come in every bizarre form imaginable, but they all shared one trait: they grew fast. Very fast.

"I came to offer you a choice." As he spoke, Su Nian reached through the golden thread connecting them and placed the inheritance of three abilities directly into Rolls-Royce's mind. [Host, please note: as Rolls-Royce is a pure-blooded dragon, your abilities can be inherited by him, but the effects will be significantly diminished. Improvement will be limited.] The System chimed. Su Nian's expression didn't change. Expected. It was a simple principle, really.

Like in a martial arts world, give an ordinary person ten years of cultivated power and they'd go from a nobody to someone who could scale rooftops overnight. But give a second-rate expert those same ten years? They'd still be a second-rate expert. Just a slightly more well-fed one. Rolls-Royce, for his part, was stunned. He stared at the Black Dragon in disbelief, because what had just appeared in his mind looked almost exactly like a dragon bloodline inheritance ritual. Almost.

The three abilities the Black Dragon was transmitting were far more blunt about it, no repeated study required. Just choose, and it would be done. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He reined in his shock and his awe, and turned his attention to the three options. Scale armor: he was nowhere near the Black Dragon's level, but as a Brass Dragon, he wasn't bad by normal standards either. Decent. No urgent need there.

Breath weapon: Brass Dragons had their signature Sleep Breath for control and a line breath for raw attack. Practical, versatile. No reason to change that. Which left Muscle Enhancement. Rolls-Royce had always wanted to be stronger. Not Black Dragon levels of sheer imposing mass — he wasn't that ambitious — but even a third of it would do. He made his choice. The moment he did, the Sovereign Hill's energy automatically released one portion, and it flowed along the golden thread into Rolls-Royce's body. ROAR!

The sensation hit like an explosion, pure, crackling pleasure. Rolls-Royce couldn't help himself. He threw his head back and bellowed. Inside his body, concentrated energy rewrote his muscle tissue. His dragon frame visibly expanded, right before Su Nian's eyes. It wasn't the dramatic transformation the gnolls had undergone, or the changes in Bugs Bunny's crew. His bones didn't grow. His frame didn't shift. But the muscles on every inch of that frame swelled larger and harder.

It was like watching a delicate little girl wake up one morning as a pint-sized berserker packed with twice the muscle she had any right to carry.

"Great master — thank you for your gift! I feel incredible. My strength has more than doubled!"

"If a Thunder Giant appeared before me right now, I would have full confidence wrestling it into the ground! Roar roar roar!" He pressed his dragon head flat against the ground beside the Black Dragon's front claw, the gesture of submission and respect, and for the hundredth time, Rolls-Royce felt the quiet certainty that following this Black Dragon had been the smartest decision he'd ever made.

"Good." Su Nian nodded.

"You're one of the peak combat forces in my underground city. Keep pushing, hold yourself to a high standard, and protect our home." He was satisfied with the improvement. He also had no intention of sticking around. A few parting words, then he turned and flew. His head was already full of Anna. He had no time for conversation. Because the moment you let Rolls-Royce catch a thread, and he'd already sniffed one through the golden line when Thunder Giants came up, there was no stopping what followed.

If he stayed even another minute, the Brass Dragon would enthusiastically explain exactly how he knew about Thunder Giants. Then he'd get into the full story of his history with Thunder Giants. Then which one of them had won, which had lost, how long the recovery took, what he ate while recovering, and on and on and on until, Su Nian was already gone. With the dragon heart working for her, Anna's recovery was extraordinary.

By the time Su Nian returned to the palace, the little darling who'd been lying flat on the throne was already sitting up, bleary and half-awake. She rubbed her eyes with both hands, head still swimming. The Black Dragon flew in front of her. Brought his enormous head close. She just sat there with a dazed look on her face, not quite registering what was happening. Then he stuck out his tongue and gave her face a long, broad lick. Su Nian had grown considerably since the last time. His dragon tongue had kept pace.

The lick didn't just wake her up, it physically lifted her from sitting to standing.

"Brother~" Anna grabbed onto the Black Dragon's huge tongue and held on. Memory came back in pieces. Her wide, round eyes traveled over his body, scanning him carefully from one end to the other. No wounds anywhere. The worry in her expression melted away, replaced by happiness, and a fair amount of bewilderment.

"Brother, you... you really are just getting bigger and bigger..." She stared at him. His claws were large enough to serve as a bed now. An actual bed. She could sleep on one. How long had it even been? She still remembered when he was three or four meters long. Was this just how dragons grew? Were they all this absurd? Her eyes drifted to the main dorsal spine. The shock deepened. Before, it had been twice her height. Now it had to be four times.

And before she could wrap both arms around it, now the width made that completely impossible.

"Brother..." The elven girl slumped back onto the throne, still clutching his tongue, her delicate face scrunched into a pout. Her pink cheeks puffed out. The look she gave the Black Dragon was pure wounded aggrievement.

"When are you going to be able to take human form..." She stared at him. If he kept growing at this rate, giving him a bath was going to kill her. ➤ Next: Anna's Dragon Breath