Baek Lang had a saying she often repeated.

“Only scales!”

With no fur at all.

Saying that, she had pushed me away with her forepaws.

For a lizard to have no fur is common knowledge.

It would be more plausible for her to suddenly grow wings.

However, I had become a being that broke even that common sense.

I had turned into a lizard with rich white fur.

I couldn’t help but wonder if it was still right to call me a lizard.

“...I just found it amazing that fur suddenly appeared.”

Baek Lang averted her gaze.

Just a moment ago, she had been all over my fur, and now it seemed she had come to her senses.

“Hmm, well. This much is still passable for fur.”

She blushed and stole glances at my fur.

What did fur mean to wolves?

Seeing Hwi Hwi also liking my scales, it seemed like this was a measure of appearance.

“…The color is the same as mine.”

She wiggled her fingers.

Had she imagined something strange? Suddenly, she chuckled softly.

Then she met my gaze again.

“Geh geh.”

“...Hey!”

Out of nowhere, she slapped my chest.

I still didn’t quite understand the principle behind Baek Lang’s behavior.

Was this how women were?

“Geh?”

“What do you mean by geh? You sly lizard!”

Why was she acting this way again?

“I was just mindlessly touching while you were asleep.”

If someone overheard, they might misunderstand.

I had only touched her ears, tail, and cheeks.

“Hmph, I don’t know. Even if it looks like this, I saved your life once, so I deserve proper compensation.”

But I had also saved her life once, hadn’t I?

I wanted to say that, but all that came out was a sound like “geh geh.”

Even if my claim was valid, it wouldn’t change the fact that Baek Lang had helped me.

So, did she want something in particular?

Let’s hear it.

“…So.”

The bravado she had earlier seemed to vanish, and she started to fidget again.

Yet she was still wagging her tail, making it impossible to know what she was thinking.

“This time, if I touch you all I want, you won’t say anything, right?”

Gulp.

I could hear her swallow.

Baek Lang’s eyes pierced through my white fur.

Oh dear, what could possibly be good about this for someone who’s not even a child?

“…You’re doing this because you touched me!”

I’m not a child!

*

“Gorong...”

Baek Lang let out a cute sound and fell asleep in my arms.

I had intended to suggest her joining the cult of divine beasts, but she seemed to be more exhausted than I thought.

Even though the horn of the Igal-Dragon healed our bodies, it seemed it didn’t restore our fatigue.

The power Baek Lang had shown while fighting the Red Dragon had surely pushed her beyond her limits, so her body couldn’t help but bear the burden.

“Hyoloron...”

She returned to the form of a wolf, curling up instead of that uncomfortable human body.

Was she trying to say she wanted me to touch her?

“First, I’ll... then Ilang, in order...”

Seeing her mumble in her sleep, she must have been extremely tired, so I decided not to disturb her.

There was something even more important that needed to be done, something just as crucial as touching her fur.

From Lania to Breaking Dragon, and from Breaking Dragon to Breaking Dragon.

It was time to check what I had gained from my two evolutions.

“Geh.”

**Status Window**

【Gomodo - Breaking Dragon LV1】  
HP: 14800/14800  
MP: 7400/7400  

…Is it really okay for me to have become this strong?

It seemed like I had doubled my strength compared to when I was Gomodo Lania.

No wonder I was still alive during Rizamon’s festival of rejuvenation.

In truth, this number wasn’t that high for having undergone two evolutions.

However, considering my size hadn’t changed much from when I was Lania, it was a pretty satisfactory result.

But HP and MP are not resources that hold great significance.

The more, the better, but once you reach a certain amount, it seems like just a game of numbers.

What’s important isn’t that.

“Geh.”

**Skill Window**  
_________________________  
【Skills】  
「Responsive Life-Death Strike」  
「Dragon Claw Hand」  
「Small Dragon Ascend」  
「Small Weightlessness」  
「Sky Poison Stab」  
「Cult of Divine Beasts」  
「Wall Tiger Attack」  
「High Dragon Claw」  
「Dragon Horn LV1」  
「Cult of Divine Death Beam LV10」  
「Dragon Scale LV10」  
「Reverse Scale LV5」  
「Poison Creation LV10」  
「Gathering Poison LV10」  
「Dragon Blood LV1」...  
_________________________

Skills like Tail Cutting were listed further down.

A few of my skills had leveled up, and “Sky Poison Stab” had somehow evolved into “Sky Poison Strike.”

Among them, the skill I should pay special attention to was the one right below my martial arts skills.

**Dragon Horn.**

It probably meant the horn of a dragon.

Dragon Scale, Dragon Blood, and Dragon Claw (presumably).

And now, there was also Dragon Horn.

It was immediately clear why my body had grown fur.

It was visible.

But I couldn’t see my horns.

If it were visible on my head, that would be strange.

I walked to the puddle of water in one corner of the cave to check my appearance.

…Is this me?

I revealed my teeth and grinned.

I looked like a lizard with an utterly adorable appearance, without any aversion.

Seeing it like this was quite moving.

Though I hadn’t grown that much in size, my arms had become remarkably thick.

With a strike from my arm, I could probably smash in the skull of any ordinary foe.

I could apply small-scale transformations to increase my size further, and though my form suited quadrupedal movement, I could also stand bipedally in emergencies to increase my stature.

My hand-to-hand combat ability had dramatically increased.

The strength of Dragon Scale had also hardened beyond compare to before.

Having examined my arms, it was time to look at the two horns adorning my innocently cute head.

Indeed, horns had grown.

Two of them.

With a straight shape extending backward, they might not be suitable for combat.

If I were to use them, they could serve to ram into an opponent.

…Thinking that way was juvenile.

Having a skill meant possessing special abilities.

With my heart racing, I activated the detailed view.

**Dragon Horn LV1**  
The horn of a dragon.  
Grants temporary access to ?’s ??.

There’s a saying: “Simple is best.”

The simpler the explanation, the better the effect.

When I first received skills like Tail Cutting, I thought it was ridiculous to be given two useless ones, but as the explanations were simple, their effects were enormous.

Originally, the Tail Cutting I had could create an infinite number of Gomodo tails, which all creatures loved, and this new version pretending to be Tail Cutting had saved me multiple times.

Dragon Horn was the same.

While the explanation was simple, its effect was extraordinary.

Though the wording was broken, it could be interpreted as a dragon’s authority.

Of course, my interpretation might be wrong, but for now, that was all I could read.

Dragon’s authority.

Figuring out what that means wasn’t difficult.

I had used it in combat against the Red Dragon.

It was likely the ability to tame fire and promote plant growth.

If an ordinary lizard heard that, they might think it was just a plant?

They could say that, but I, who had used it firsthand, knew just how good that ability was.

The seeds buried deep in the land occupied by fire sprouted into enormous trees in an instant.

While the consumption of resources like MP was significant, it was also fast enough to block the flames of the Red Dragon, and there were plenty of plants to work with.

This ability meshed very well with my style of hiding variables and throwing in variations during battles.

Plants had grown even in the volcano, so it could be assumed that they could thrive in most places.

In a dense jungle, I could wield the trunks of fully grown trees at my will.

“Geh geh geh...”

Is this the ability of a mid-tier dragon?

Well, the Red Dragon spews fire like it’s nothing, so I should be able to use this much.

Fire, water, and plants.

Now I could manipulate all three powers.

I could control poison as well, but let’s set that aside for now.

The three powers I manipulate have a commonality.

Fire, water, and wood.

I could control three of the five elements of Yin and Yang.

Of course, I’m not particularly skilled with fire and water, and I’m using the powers of Hwa-ri and Seol-sam.

What if I added the powers of earth and metal?

A lizard that could wield the powers of the five elements.

And what if I also controlled the forces of Yin and Yang?

“Geh geh geh...”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

A golden future unfurled before me.

Of course, thinking about it now felt like a distant future, but it was as if I had already gained three of the five elements.

“Geh geh.”

If what I could wield with Dragon

 Horn wasn’t the power of wood, I would have misstepped, but growing plants could only be the power of wood.

There’s no way a brief rainfall could represent the power of water.

With no enemies around and my body feeling fine, should I try using Dragon Horn once?

I focused my mind.

Drawing up my internal energy from the lower dantian.

“Geh!”

**Dragon Horn!**

….

“...Gehh?”

Is this how it’s used?

Earlier, I had used it just according to my will.

“Geh geh geh!”

I struck a somewhat cool pose, but nothing happened.

…Do I need to use my horns?

Tap tap.

I tried tapping my horns, but nothing happened.

“Geh geh...”

This was starting to frustrate me.

“Geh!”

I consumed MP.

But nothing happened.

…Is it because there are no plants around?

Looking over at the dandelion-like flowers, it didn’t seem so.

Could it be that I got tricked by the skill?

“Geh geh geh!”

Yeah.

Let’s see who wins in this battle.

At that moment, I was in combat with an imaginary foe.

Crrrsh.

“Geh?”

I heard a strange sound from the ground.

Zzzzzzt.

Zzzzt?

I had definitely used my ability on that little plant over there.

Why was the ground…?

Thump!

“Gehhhh!”

The rocky ground cracked, and an immense amount of plants began to grow.

Rustle!

It wasn’t that the skill had failed; it was the plant right beneath me that was growing continuously.

I had kept pouring MP without even realizing it.

Still, there’s a saying that failure is the mother of success.

If I learn once during these checks, I won’t make the same mistake again.

…Since it looks like there’s a lot, maybe I should tone it down.

Swoosh!

As I violently cut down the growing plants, Baek Lang’s voice could be heard from the distance.

“Hey, did you do this?”

It seemed she had woken up from her sleep because of the plants.

“Oh dear, you nuisance.”

While saying that, she exhaled cold air and froze the plants that had grown.

Szzzt!

After a fierce battle, I was finally able to get things under control.

In this case, it felt like a cheap lesson.

“When did you get so friendly with plants?” 

“Geh geh.”

Baek Lang walked over to my side.

“But it’s a bit strange. We’re in the volcano, yet why are you using the power of wood?”

“Geh?”

That was a bit strange, but it wasn’t completely nonsensical.

I’m not an ordinary spirit; I’m a divine beast under the protection of the status window.

……This evolution didn’t come with the help of the status window, did it?

“Since spirits that have overcome the trials of the dragon gate aren’t that numerous, I wonder if this is normal.”

“Geh geh.”

That did sound a bit strange.

It seemed Baek Lang thought I had defeated the Red Dragon.

But in reality, I had only put a collar on the Red Dragon and put her in the hot springs.

While it wouldn’t be a huge issue if she found out, I felt like I would get a contemptuous look.

“…Why the face?”

“Gehhh...”

“Come here!”

I’m still only one year old!