The meter-tall ruby egg I fell asleep next to has shattered. The top of it is cracked open and small red fragments of the shell-like material are all over the ground.

I can't believe my eyes.

A jet-black glimmering Baby Dragon is standing right in front of me eating my mana crystals like candy.

*Crunch*

I activate inspect and appraisal.

____________________

[Lv. 1]

Active Items:

[NONE]

Active Skills:

Plunderer [Mythic Grade]

Combat Magic [Advanced Fire Summoning]

Buffs:

Guardian’s Alliance [0/1]

____________________

The creature blinks at me with its crimson eyes and black pupils. Sharp white teeth bite down on another mana crystal as it flips its long pointed tail back and forth.

I just stare straight ahead in awe with my mouth wide open.

“It’s really a Baby Dragon….”

Everyone and their mother has heard stories about Dragons. They’re great mythical creatures that guard their treasures at any cost. The strongest, oldest, and most wise of all monsters.

How did I get my hands on a Dragon?

I gulp as we stare at each other in silence. The only noises present are the light humming of mana in the air and occasional crunches as the little creature continues to snack on the pile of pink crystals.

Almost a full minute passes, then the creature whips its tail around from its backside to poke my right leg. The creature backs up slightly, and prods at my back jeans with a small sharp arrow-tipped tail.

On the fourth poke, my jean fabric rips and its tail touches the skin on my calf. I look down and quickly pull my leg backward while flinching. It didn’t hurt that much, but it was an unexpected pin prick. This monster may only be level 1, but that tail is still sharp…

The creature jumps backward to match my retreat, the abrupt movements startled it too. I look up with a smile putting my hands in the air, but what I see leaves me in awe once again…

There’s a rectangle of blue text floating over the Baby Dragon’s head. I read it carefully.

____________________

Guardian’s Alliance [0/1]

Accept The [Demon/Dragon] Guardian’s Alliance:

[YES][NO]

____________________

Baffled by the events unfolding in front of me I choose yes. There’s no reason not to be on the same team as a Dragon…

The blue text above the small creature disappears. It shows me a wide toothy smile, then chomps down on another mana crystal.

Jaw hanging open, I continue to awkwardly stare. The meter-high creature crawls over to me with agile steps. It flawlessly weaves around the fallen mana crystals all over the ground with cat-like precision. Its agile winding body looks like a slithering snake as it approaches.

I just accepted its alliance, and this creature is only level 1. There are close to 0 threats, and it looks friendly enough… I watch it approach, while I let down my guard.

The Dragon dives between my legs and starts running around in a figure-eight pattern as it rubs its two crimson horns against my shins. It grins ear to ear, letting out a light purring noise. The tiny creature stops after about 20 seconds and looks into my eyes again, then promptly sits on my right foot white waving its long black and red tail around in the air.

*Crunch*

It bites down on another mana crystal and chews it to bits… I activate my Inspect and Appraisal skills again out of curiosity. The alliance buff must show up differently now, right?

____________________

[Lv. 2]

Active Items:

[NONE]

Active Skills:

Plunderer [Mythic Grade]

Combat Magic [Advanced Fire Summoning]

Buffs:

Guardian’s Alliance [1/1][Greater Demon Contract]

____________________

I scrunch my eyebrow trying to process the new subtle changes in information.

“This doesn’t make sense….”

Two things seem very odd. The first thing out of wack is its level. Somehow, this monster leveled up… Within the last few minutes, all it’s done is eat mana crystals and rub its head against my legs. There’s no possible way for it to level up in this environment.

I look down at the blissfully unaware scaled creature. It’s trapped in this prison too…

I feel the sensation of mana leaving my body all of a sudden. A lot of it too… The little Black Dragon sitting on my foot begins to glow a faint red color from its underbelly.

I plunder mana from the environment around me, but the constant drain continues. This little monster is plundering my MP…

I grin, then let out a chuckle while I carefully slip my foot out of the boot it’s sitting on.

The creature lets out a light chirping sound of confusion as it twists its head around and crawls toward me to get another sweet hit of my mana. [Mythic Grade] Plunderer must have some kind of mana to exp conversion attribute. If that’s the case, it must have a very low conversion factor. It only grew from level 1 to 2 with half a dozen high-grade mana crystals and almost a full bar of my MP. Still, if my hypothesis is right, that’s a really neat skill.

I’ve never seen or heard of a [Mythic Grade] skill before. Maybe this is unique to Dragons? Or maybe this is the next rank after [Legendary Grade].

Now for the second change, the “Guardian’s Alliance” has been updated from [0/1] to [1/1] but [Greater Demon Contract] has also been added. The last time I checked, I was definitely not a Greater Demon.

Letting out a long exhale I look down at the mini Dragon as it looks back up at me. I raise one finger in the air and light it on fire.

The little creature perks up and shows me another one of its toothy grins. It twists its tail in the air and mimics my fire, lighting the tip of its tail with a dark red flame. I smile and put my fire out, it bobs its head back and forth, then does the same.

“Well… We’re going to be spending a lot of time together little guy. I might as well give you a name.”

I scratch my chin, then tap my foot a few times. The Dragon just stares at me, blinking and waiting patiently. I stare back for a moment, trying to come up with something cool.

“Ember. That’s a good one, Ember The Eternal Dragon. How do you like it?”

The little creature still just stares straight ahead. I roll my eyes… What was I thinking? Like it could actually understand me…

Unless…

“Telepathy.”

I activate one of my newest skills from the labyrinth, my [Legendary Grade] Telepathy skill. The moment I do, a soft, wise voice enters my mind.

“Hello Master, nice to finally meet you. “

Shocked, I reply sending my voice directly into its mind.

“Master? I’m… your master? You… can just call me Jay, and I’ll call you Ember.”

The tiny creature waves its tail with excitement.

“Yes M- Yes Jay. If you say so.”

“…”

“So this is our Labyrinth’s top floor? I will protect it with my life.”

Ember grins while spinning around to take a look at all four white walls. Then walking over to my loot piles and lying down directly in the center of my mana crystal stash.

*Crunch*

“I’m grateful for the mana crystals. It is a great awakening gift.”

*Crunch*

I watch the little creature chomp down on half a dozen more crystals. It doesn’t bother me much to be honest, there’s an unlimited supply of mana around us. This Dragon can eat all the crystals it wants.

Ember speaks using the telepathic link again.

“You’re an unusual Demon Ma- I mean Jay. Most Demons don’t look like humans.”

*Crunch*

I reply.

“Most Demons? What do you mean by that exactly…?”

“Your core shows me that you’re a Greater Demon. I just haven’t seen any that look like humans as far back as I can remember.”

I stare straight ahead as my mana crystals disappear into Ember’s mouth one by one. It continues.

“What are the maximum MP allowances here? How much mana are we working with to start? These crystals are nice and all, but I’ll need to plunder some of the mana from our surroundings if I’m going to gain any serious levels.”

“Well-“

“Is this a new labyrinth? Or has my egg been dormant for a while? This seems to be an odd one, but a Labyrinth is a Labyrinth. It’s our duty to protect it after all. Right?”

My heart starts to beat out of my chest. Everything is starting to become very clear to me now, and I’m really not sure how to handle all this newfound information.

If my guess here is correct, Demons and Dragons create some kind of special contract to defend Labyrinths. A Demon fends off intruders while the Dragon absorbs mana from the growing labyrinth. The growing labyrinth attracts greedy hunters that inevitably try to challenge the top floor’s defenders. If the Demon and Dragon can successfully defend their territory, the fallen hunter’s MP is added to their stash and the domain grows in power.

The more power that is gained, the greater the Labyrinth grows. The bigger the labyrinth grows, the more hunters arrive to gain riches. It’s a never-ending cycle.

The only issue here is…. I’m not a demon, and this dragon has no labyrinth full of mana to absorb.

I have to think this through very carefully.

I gulp, then the two of us sit in silence for over a full minute. My mind races for plausible solutions to take full advantage of this situation.

Finally, an Idea comes to mind. I smirk and reply.

“Ember. There’s been a change of plans. We’ll be leaving this Labyrinth.”