Later that night, Aiden was inside his Pocket Domain, while his avatar maintained the spatial lock over the demon woman, who had grown considerably quieter since being brought here.

She sat on the ground now with her arms wrapped around her knees. She was done with her repeated attempts to break free from the invisible barrier holding her in place.

Syra's translucent form hovered beside Aiden and she spoke firmly. "On no account should you trust that goddess."

Aiden glanced at her. "I wasn't planning to."

"They always come for the same thing," Syra continued. "But dragons have known for ages never to grant them boons, especially as it breaks the balance in their hierarchy."

She paused and her expression grew more serious. "When a dragon grants a god a boon, that god is able to exercise the particular skill bestowed on them at the same level as the dragon would."

Aiden then said, "Even if I wanted to I can't grant a boon yet."

"Not yet," Syra agreed. "But it'll eventually become a possibility."

Aiden considered that for a moment before speaking again. "Out of curiosity, with everything I've learned so far, especially about angels, where do dragons truly place in all this?"

Syra floated closer. "I didn't become the Black Dragon early enough to encounter angels personally," she admitted. "But to the best of my knowledge dragons are always the apex beings."

She gestured vaguely upward. "Even if an angel could rival any of our strengths, there's only still a handful who can do that, and gods will always fall below us."

Aiden nodded slowly.

After a moment, Syra spoke again. "I know I chose to stop being the dragon and all, but I still wish I could help with the whole situation at hand, with the demons and everything."

Aiden smiled. "You're doing pretty fine as my guide."

Syra shook her head slightly. "There are others who could do a better job," she said. "You can speak to any of the four dragons now, and moreover at some point even that use will fade."

She paused and her translucent form drifted closer to sit the next rock platform beside him. "I wish i could be something more than just being a spirit guide."

She smiled faintly. "But I'm also glad I passed the system on to you. You're a much better dragon and you're growing faster and stronger."

"As a Skyfang, your strength already surpasses what I had at the Adult Dragon level. By the time you reach Dragon King level you'll probably be the strongest variation of the black dragon or stronger than any other dragon in history."

Then she met his eyes. "So in that, I'm still glad."

Aiden smiled and nodded, then suddenly an idea struck him. "I believe your essence carries your soul as well," he said.

"Well, yes," Syra replied. "It's bound to the system, and so will yours be if you ever choose to be done with it."

Aiden considered that for a moment before speaking again. "If you desperately want to be out there, then there could possibly be a way."

He paused, then continue. "The spell I copied from Thamoryn a while ago, Soul Branding. Only issue is who would willingly give their body up."

Syra smiled knowingly. "I knew that was where your thoughts were headed," she said.

"I doubt such a thing is possible for us who were once dragons, and even if it was I wouldn't want to take over someone's life that way."

She drifted back slightly. "Thank you for having that thought of helping, but my complaint was a fleeting one anyway. There's no need to act on it."

Aiden nodded slowly and turned his gaze back toward the demon lady who had stopped struggling and was now staring at him, with her red eyes filled with something between hatred and fear.

"What do I do with her?" Aiden muttered

Syra looked over toward the demon lady, but didn't say a thing.

Aiden shook his head. "I hate having to keep her this way as a prisoner. Frankly it would've been better to just kill her off and be done with it."

"But I guess it's not just as easy to do so," Syra said, finishing his thought with a smile. "You may not be driven by so much humanity anymore, but dragons still have a sense of justness, and it would feel unjust killing her."

Aiden nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sure you'll come up with the right decision," Syra said.

"Hopefully," Aiden replied. "And part of those right decisions would be me ranking up right now."

Syra nodded and simply watched him.

The reward method of the system had changed since the update.

By realizing the current situation of the world and the need for Aiden to become Dragon King as quickly as possible, it had discarded Experience Points and directly gave him level up rewards instead.

It had also converted original rewards that hadn't been used into level ups.

The Permanent Quest to find the original Cronyssia had been reconverted into three level ups.

The side and special quests with the same objective to protect the party that traveled with him, had also been converted to a total of three level ups.

The special quest to aid Cronyssia in battle against the possessed Dravion had gotten three level ups as well.

That was a total of nine level up rewards, bringing him from Skyfang Level 1 to Skyfang Level 10.

And just earlier today after completing the special quest to find Oberon and Thamoryn he'd gotten another level up reward.

But since he'd reached the max Skyfang rank he'd gotten a notification, with the system telling him he was due for a rank up.

It had asked him to inform it when he was ready.

And now, he was.

"System, rank me up."

[The Host Has Ranked Up And Will Now Be Referred To As An Adult Dragon]

His mana surged suddenly, and this time it was distorting space slightly within his Pocket Domain.

The demon woman, confined within the spatial lock, shouldn't have felt such overwhelming pressure. The barrier separated her from the outside, yet it did nothing to shield her from it.

The force pressed down on her, and right now, she felt more fear than ever before.

[The Host has undergone a new qualitative change]

[The System commends you on achieving the next step in your Progress as the Future Dragon King]

[You will now receive the following upgrades and rewards]

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