Unlimited Power 02 - The Ranger's Domain
Chapter 170 - Cursed Dragon

That sounded like a threat, but a pretty weak one since Ryan knew that Orgar could emit a dreadful aura powerful enough to paralyze most humans. That wasn't a threat… it was a warning.

"I will not give details as the circumstances as to why I decided to help her. Still, I can talk about other things. For example, when I left my body and gave my powers to Alissa, I accepted my inevitable death. One person can have two personalities inside of her, but one person can't have two spirits in a single body. Eventually, since I am not the true owner of this body, my powers and spirit will become completely absorbed by Alissa. She will become a powerful half-dragon. A human who has the same potential you have, but the raw power dragons are born with." 

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Ryan asked.

"Because Alissa is immature and fusing two minds isn't something that happens without some issues. Although once that happens, Alissa won't change completely, in overall, her choices will become harsher and savage."

"So, she will inherit your behavior," Ryan said.

"The dragons' behavior. We are proud creatures with unrivaled strength, so she will inherit most of those traits to a certain extent. Another trait that dragons that excel in comparison to other species are our hatred. When we replace an opponent that messes with us, we hunt them down until the opponent is annihilated. However, in some cases, a few dragons aren't strong enough for that. So, their hatred grows stronger to compensate for their lack of power. Their grudges feed their soul until they become a real source of power… and that is how a cursed dragon is born."

"Cursed dragon?" Ryan frowned.

"A cursed dragon is one of the strongest species of dragons… if you think that dragons are all monsters, you will freeze in fear when you replace one cursed dragon. They are vicious creatures that can be described as natural disasters. Wherever they go, they destroy everything. To obtain even more power, they even ate other dragons."

"And?" Ryan asked.

"While I can't say that Alissa has some grudges thanks to you, she has been developing some dark feelings inside her. You only spoke the truth of her ways, but you forced her to face her own shortcomings too directly, and now she is feeling inadequate in some aspects. She can't accept that since she already thinks that she already suffered enough for a lifetime… if you keep pushing her too far, eventually, those dark feelings will grow stronger, and once my mind completely disappears inside her, there is a small chance that she will become a cursed dragon and you… you will be the main focus of her hatred."

That was quite a fascinating theory. It didn't look like Orgar was lying. Still, Ryan couldn't bring himself to care all that much about the subject. As if he could change his ways to for the sake of convenience. If Alissa were to become a cursed dragon, that would happen with or without his influence. Besides, it wasn't him who wanted to work with her. It was the other way around.

"I will keep that in mind," Ryan said and then turned around to resume his job.

"You really are a troublesome human… let's make a deal. If you promise not to be too harsh with Alissa in the future, I will tell you an interesting piece of information."

"If it about what Alissa mentioned, I am not interested," Ryan said. "I will eventually discover what she was talking about."

"No, it is about something else. She would know that I opened my mouth to talk about it if I tell you about it. What I am going to tell you is something that even she doesn't know. Just by knowing that, you will gain a huge deal of power, and every time you defeat a dragon, you will grow much stronger."

That sounded way too convenient… Still, Ryan was interested in it. He had decided that he wouldn't change his ways for the sake of convenience, but Ryan also decided that he wouldn't choose his path to gain power. In the end, Ryan made his choice since it was also tiring, to be honest, and harsh all the time with Alissa.

"All right, if the formation is worth of it, I promise that I won't be so harsh with Alissa in the future," Ryan declared.

"Eat dragon hearts. Whenever you do, your status will increase by twenty points."

"All of my status?" Ryan asked in shock.

"No… only a single one."

"Can I at least choose which status will increase?" Ryan asked.

"No, it will vary from dragon to dragon. For example, if you kill a dragon and the highest attribute of that dragon was endurance, their dragon heart will increase your endurance."

"That seems annoying…" Ryan frowned.

"Not satisfied yet? You can also obtain dragon hearts from T-rexes and earth dragons. They are a weak variation of us, the real dragons. Their hearts will also increase your attributes on a weaker scale."

"I guess that is fine…" Ryan sighed. "Although I think it is weird that T-rexes are considered dragons."

The only real thing that dragons and dinosaurs had in common was the fact that they looked like oversized lizards. Regardless, Ryan learned some interesting things with that conversation. To think that humans and monsters could become one like that… it wasn't that surprising. After all, Ryan himself had the blood of three different types of monsters inside him.

Another interesting fact was that Ryan couldn't understand why Orgar would lead to such lengths to help a single strange human. Ryan didn't like that analogy, but Orgar sacrificing himself to give Alissa a chance to live was like a human giving their life to save an ant. It was different from Ryan, who risked himself and decided to fight ten dragons for Arthur's sake. They were both humans, after all. Still, he decided not to pry about that subject. The last thing that Ryan needed in his life was sentimentalism.