Chapter 2: I Devoured the Remains of the Young Dragon
“Your Draconic is quite standard…”
“Who taught you?”
Language is both a product and a symbol of civilization.
Based on Hermione’s survival memories and the short videos he had seen on Earth, Zhou Mingxiang roughly confirmed that her arrival was in the early to mid-stage of the Second Era of the Mysterious World—the Era of the First Flame!
In this era, various transcendent races, under the leadership of the so-called “Eight Ancient Gods,” the progenitors of these races, had gradually shed their initial savagery through generations of survival and propagation, establishing their own civilizations.
Even subordinate forces like sea monsters, treants, and humans gradually developed their own cultures and racial languages.
However, the languages of humans and other subordinate races only served for inter-racial communication.
In contrast, races naturally favored by nature, such as dragons, giants, and elves, developed languages that, in addition to communication, could harness natural powers!
This meant that even if humans risked their lives to consume special traits, their mastery of supernatural abilities would still lag far behind dragons and giants.
Thus, among the frail yet more rational human tribes, outstanding individuals gradually emerged who secretly learned these transcendent languages.
Hermione was one such prodigy.
Besides mastering many racial communication languages, she had learned the tongues of giants and dragons.
Hermione’s tribe was a vassal to the giants, so if she truly wished to learn Giant Speech, there were ways and means.
But Draconic was a language inaccessible to humans!
Because to the mighty dragons, frail humans appeared only as food!
Faced with the curious inquiry of the veiled monster woman, Zhou Mingxiang swallowed hard and forced himself to say, “I once devoured the remains of a hatchling dragon.”
The woman in the black dress replied calmly, “So it is.”
Zhou Mingxiang was stunned; her words suggested that the secret carefully hidden by Hermione could be easily perceived by her.
For reasons unknown, the black-dressed woman, who had restrained her monstrous traits, slowly explained, “Devouring transcendent individuals grants the eater the various abilities of the devoured… This is no secret among transcendent races, only humans who have never birthed a strong one remain ignorant of this common knowledge.”
What Hermione had risked her life to uncover was merely common knowledge among transcendent beings… The gap between races was like an unbridgeable chasm.
Zhou Mingxiang lowered his head and smiled bitterly.
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The woman in black continued, “Among transcendent races, this act is called trait-devouring, but not all traits can be freely consumed.”
“Carelessly devouring traits leads to madness…”
“Even similar types of traits can corrupt one’s spirit and increase mental burden.”
“Take you as an example: if you were to consume several similar dragon traits, your power would grow, but you would go completely insane, and your body would undergo mutations.”
Her unexpectedly gentle tone surprised Zhou Mingxiang—originally, he had feared becoming her next meal. He lowered his gaze, concealing the thought that had just surfaced.
At the same time, Zhou Mingxiang couldn’t help but recall—
Her description resembled the potion system explained in the videos!
The potion system referred to the method by which humans in the Mysterious World sought to become true transcendent beings by using evil spirits, dragons, monsters, and magical trees, flowers, or crystals, combining their parts with other materials to brew potions. By ingesting these potions, humans could absorb and wield different abilities.
The video also pointed out that the potion system was a sequence of progressive enhancements with twenty-two paths, each path ranging from sequence 9 at the lowest to sequence 0 at the highest. Since sequence 0 equated to the level of a true god, these were also called the twenty-two paths of the gods!
On the same path, one started by consuming sequence 9 potions, fully digesting them before moving on to sequence 8, and so forth. Taking multiple doses of the same sequence increased the risk of losing control.
Had he truly crossed into the Mysterious World described in the videos?
A shadow flickered in Zhou Mingxiang’s eyes.
The woman still harbored doubts because the videos described Zhou Mingrui as the protagonist who would arrive in the Fifth Era of the Mysterious World.
Moreover, the videos emphasized that Zhou Mingrui’s arrival was not a mere transmigration; he had been frozen in time by a pillar-level being.
In the story, Zhou Mingrui’s endless search for the way “home” ended in sorrowful realization: he had always been on Earth… The hometown in his memories was a prehistoric civilization long destroyed.
At that thought, Zhou Mingxiang sighed softly. The homesick Zhou Mingrui, if he ever faced that day in the story, would surely find it impossible to accept such a reality…
With that, Zhou Mingxiang ceased pondering the uncertain future and thanked the seemingly gentle monster woman before him, “Thank you, madam. My name is… Hermione. May I know your name?”
Always adaptable, Zhou Mingxiang did not find it difficult to accept his new identity in this world, even if it was as a woman.
The monster woman replied, “I know who you are. I have heard your name.”
“You hold considerable renown among humans… Though I do not believe your flamboyance is a good thing. You should consider yourself lucky; transcendent races pay no mind to the growth of weak species like humans.”
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Seeming to realize she had said too much, the woman paused before continuing, “‘Doom.’ That is what the demon wolves call me.”
Doom…
Neither in the indigenous memories nor the video stories had Hermione ever heard this name.
“Are you… a demon wolf as well?” As she gradually accepted her identity, Hermione cautiously asked, “To be honest, you resemble a human woman very closely, and one with an elegant and charming aura.”
Hermione spoke sincerely. Under the veil of “Doom,” the woman’s tightly pressed lips curved into a faint smile, but it vanished almost immediately.
The lady resumed her calm tone, “I am a demon wolf.”
This lady called “Doom” bore none of the cruelty expected of demon wolves; her temperament was surprisingly human-like!
Hermione mused, “Talking with you almost made me feel as if I were conversing with a fellow human.”
Doom’s gaze sharpened slightly, as if recalling something. After a few seconds of silence, her voice turned a bit cold, “In this world… humans as bold as you are rare. You seem to have forgotten that you are the ‘King’s’ reward—his food.”
In Hermione’s memories, there was a faint recollection of this: while searching the wilderness for material rich in traits, she had the misfortune of encountering a hunting demon wolf.
As a rare human transcendent, she was captured alive and brought before the “Demon Wolf King’s” palace. Yet, the legendary brutal Demon Wolf King showed no interest in such a fragile human and didn’t even have the appetite to eat her.
So much so that Hermione never even saw the Demon Wolf King, Fregla’s, face. Instead, the palace’s gusts swept her before Doom.
The demon wolves seemed to regard this as the “King’s” reward and tacitly accepted that Hermione, a human female, belonged to the “Goddess Doom.”
Hermione sighed, “When I was brought deep into the demon wolf palace, I knew I had no hope of escape. My life now depends entirely on your whim. If you truly want to eat me, all I can do is surrender my flesh.”
“But…”
“I beg you to protect me.”