One Last System

"Shit," the single curse was all that left my mouth.

A surge of mana rushed through my veins.

Noticing that something was wrong, the dragon flinched, its deep, lake-like eyes carefully observing every last of my movements...

But at this point, I couldn't care less.

The surge of mana caused by my realization cracked the ice that my body felt like turning into. And within a single second, I lowered myself to my knees, tensed all the muscles in my legs...

I brought my hand up to the biggest of my pouches before throwing it aside. I also infused a small bit of mana into the formation stones inside, prompting those few formations inside to kickstart the process of activating my mage's tower.

It all took no longer than a single second. And all of my efforts came to fruition right at the very same moment.

Prompted by the main bunch of formations, my mage tower reappeared in the world.

'Disturb!' I thought, infusing the skill with more mana than it would take on its own.

And right as I felt the skill take over the space in which I was, I straightened my legs, leaping forward with all my might.

The world around me disappeared. The laws of physics, even though I didn't really understand them yet, changed as well.

For the next few moments, there was only one thing that I focused all my efforts on.

And it was survival.

'Even with all that I discovered, I still can't even begin to imagine what this place is,' I thought, closing my eyes to stop my brain from frying.

I knew what would happen to a simple app if someone inputted a letter instead of a number in a variable. Without a proper defense mechanism established by the app's programmer, the entire app could turn over belly up.

And I was worried that by opening my eyes, or rather, allowing any sensory experience to reach my brain, I would simply bug myself out!

As such, with my eyes closed while I ignored everything that came from my sense of hearing, touch, smell, and vertigo, I fully focused on circulating my mana through my flesh.

After all, in this strange world where nothing made any logical sense, only mana could keep my body from simply falling apart.

'Now!'

It wasn't my conscious thought but an instinctual reaction. A sense I developed just by using the combination of the moves and skills a few times in the past.

'I guess I'm a fast learner,' I thought when I forcefully dispersed the energy that held the space of the world itself at bay, plunging myself back into the normal world.

'How far?' I thought, raising my eyes and looking around.

The surroundings... were pretty damn inconvenient, given how I landed in a very middle of a fucking forest!

"I need to get higher," I muttered, only to send my hands towards the nearest branch.

Acting as if I was right back in the forest where Lucius trained me how to move, I quickly climbed up to the very top of the massive woodlands. I then finally gained a proper perspective allowing me to scan my surroundings.

'Where are you, Mia,' I thought, looking around while needles of panic continued to prick at my soul.

There was a chance that my guess was wrong, and the mana monsters that accompanied the past form of the dragon were just some random people. There was also a chance that they weren't people but some weaker monsters instead.

And even if they were the very hunters that inflicted that cursed wound on the dragon's wing, there was a chance they wouldn't pose a threat to Mia. Maybe they would even turn out to be friendly.

There was a set probability behind each of those scenarios. Yet, just like there was a chance my worries were unfounded, there was a chance I would be too late to prevent a negative scenario from playing out!

'Just where the hell are you?' I thought, straining my eyes to the limit of their ability in hopes of finding a single landmark that could guide me back to where Mia was.

SWOOSH!

A sudden bout of wind smacked my face.

As I was fully focused on scanning the landscape, I actually failed to notice the being that orchestrated this sudden change of winds.

And it was nothing else but the same dragon that I fought with just a few moments earlier!

'What is it doing here?' I thought, watching how the dragon circled right above me only to dive down and plummet from the skies.

I raised my guard, reinforcing the shields within my mage's tower. In the end, it wasn't the first time for the dragon to come at me in this exact way!

'I guess hoping for peace was pretty stupid,' I thought, preparing myself for the powerful slam...

Only for the dragon to spread its wings while still relatively high up and flap them a few times, softening its approach only to land down directly on the trees, crushing them underneath its weight.

And then, those massive and deep eyes of the dragon turned towards my face.

'Gulp.'

I could swear the sound of me swallowing my saliva filled the entire forest. In this tranquil moment in which neither of us moved, I desperately attempted to sound out the dragon's intention.

In the end, the dragon didn't attack me. Instead, it simply turned around on its spot so that it would face me with its tail side. And yet, despite showing its back to me, it twisted its long neck only to cast yet another glance at my face.

​ "Do you want to help me?" I asked.

As stupid as it might be, right now, I was too damn worried about Mia to bother with silly stuff like my own safety!

The dragon didn't reply to my question, though. Instead, it pointed its long chin at its back before straightening its neck back to its natural, front-facing position.

Once again, I gulped down my saliva.

Now that I could say I got my answer, the consequences of potentially climbing on the dragon's back dawned upon me.

And for but a moment, I hesitated.

Yet, right as the doubts struck my soul, a single image appeared before the eyes of my mind. A scene in which Mia was bleeding out while the curse prevented the girl from healing her wounds or even calling for help.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

"Let's do it!" killing all my doubts, I jumped forward, only to land directly on the dragon's massive back. I then circulated the mana in my hands before pressing them towards the dragon's back.

I dared not to grab its scales, worried that it could somehow rouse its wrath. As such, I could only use my mana to keep myself stuck to the dragon's back.

"I know you just healed your wing, and it might not be in the best state," I uttered, pressing my forehead against the scales of the dragon's back. "But if my guess is correct, then my mate might be in a lethal danger right now," I continued to whisper.

I had no hopes of the dragon understanding the meaning of my words. What I hoped for, though, was the tone of my voice conveying the state of my soul to this magnificent being.

The dragon spread its wings to the side, not caring about a huge swath of the forest that it felled while doing so.

"So please," I continued to speak, even though the dragon had already proved both its wisdom and willingness to help. It took a step forward, starting to run in order to gain the momentum necessary for it to climb to the skies.

"Take me back to her!"