Starting out as a Dragon Slave-Chapter 14 - : Dependency.

Isaac stared at the numbers in front of him, his brain still numb from the pain.

His statistics had skyrocketed.

He felt his heart quicken. It wasn't a monumental change, but it was real. He was stronger, faster, and above all...

He looked down at his arm.

The scales gleamed in the pale moonlight filtering through the window. A mixture of fascination and apprehension overcame him. Was this her new body? His new self?

He inhaled deeply, trying to calm his mind.

Then an idea occurred to him.

He concentrated on his arm, trying to interact with this new part of himself.

At first, nothing happened.

Then, slowly, he felt a diffuse warmth under his skin. A strange sensation of movement, as if his body were responding to his will.

Before his eyes, the scales disappeared.

Isaac stared at his arm, still in shock at what he'd just seen. The scales were gone.

As if they'd never existed.

He ran his hand over his skin, brushing the surface carefully. It was smooth, warm, human. Yet he knew they were still there, somewhere, buried beneath the flesh, lurking beneath the surface, ready to emerge at any moment.

He closed his eyes, overcome by a strange dizziness.

He took a deep breath and concentrated again.

His mind groped around, searching for that instinctive connection, that new link he'd just discovered. At first, nothing happened.

Then an unpleasant shiver ran down his arm.

He felt movement under his skin, as if something were crawling underneath, trying to emerge. A cold, unsettling, almost sickening sensation.

He winced.

And suddenly, they sprang up.

The scales returned to the surface, piercing his skin in a slow, inexorable thrust. A dull pain accompanied him, like thousands of needles sinking into him. It wasn't unbearable pain, but it was enough to elicit a muffled grunt.

His arm was changing, metamorphosing before his very eyes.

He watched those scales... his power.

They were bluish, almost crystalline, with a deep glow, as if an inner light inhabited them. They formed a kind of irregular pattern, covering part of his forearm in a natural alignment.

He ran a finger over it.

It was hard.

Solid.

Cold.

A material halfway between obsidian and steel, a natural armor that pulsed slightly under his touch, as if it were part of him... which it was now.

A shiver ran down his spine.

Was his body changing from the inside too?

He had to know for sure.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated again.

This time, he immediately felt the connection. It was like a muscle he'd just become aware of, a faculty unknown to him until then.

He ordered the scales to disappear.

A diffuse warmth spread through his arm, followed by the same creeping sensation under his skin. The scales trembled for a moment... then slowly began to recede, retracting beneath the flesh as if they'd never existed.

Isaac gritted his teeth.

It was even more unpleasant than when they first appeared.

His skin closed naturally, swallowing those inhuman fragments inside him. Within seconds, his arm was back to normal.

He blew out a breath, his heart racing.

He could control this.

Make those scales appear or disappear at will.

A hesitant smile appeared on his lips. But this fleeting euphoria was quickly replaced by a more pragmatic question.

- How effective are they?

A thought crept into his head.

He had to test it.

His gaze drifted to the kitchenette drawer. Without thinking, he leapt to his feet and yanked it open. His trembling hand fumbled for a moment before closing on a kitchen knife.

He pulled it out.

The blade was worn but still sharp. Sharp enough to cut into flesh.

Isaac swallowed hard.

He stretched out his right arm and, with intense concentration, reactivated the scales. A strange tingling ran through his skin, like an internal itch, and then, slowly, the scales reappeared.

One by one.

The process was both fascinating and disturbing. He could feel his own body changing, hardening, adapting.

He raised the knife.

For a moment, he hesitated.

- Come on, Isaac, don't be such a crybaby.

Then he gently laid the blade on the scales and applied pressure.

Nothing happened.

Not even a scratch.

He inhaled deeply and pressed harder.

The tip of the knife slid across the scales without finding a foothold. He frowned, squeezed the handle, and this time, he struck.

CLANG.

The metallic clang echoed through the room.

Isaac held his breath.

He looked down. The blade had left no mark.

His heart missed a beat.

These scales were... tough. Very tough.

The thought sent a shiver down his spine. If these four scales were enough to cancel out a blade strike, what about ten? Twenty? A hundred?

- HAHAHA

If his whole body could be covered...

He could take anyone's attack.

The image of a hobgoblin swinging a mace at him crossed his mind. And he wondered.

What would it be like if he were covered in scales?

A smile spread across his face. He was going to get stronger.

But before he could savor that realization, a searing pain shot through him.

- AARGH!

Isaac let go of the knife, which fell into the sink with a thud.

His arm burned.

The scales trembled for a moment... and began to recede beneath his skin.

Isaac's eyes widened. He hadn't expected it.

Unlike their fluid appearance, their retraction was violent. It was as if his own body was fighting against them, refusing to let them disappear.

He bit his lip, but a muffled complaint escaped him. His fingers clung to the edge of the sink as he felt each scale force its way under his skin, as if they were being torn from their place.

Isaac gasped, short of breath, as the scales slowly retracted beneath his skin.

The pain was insidious, unlike anything he'd felt before. It wasn't a simple physical wound, but a feeling of being torn away, as if something essential had been stolen from him.

His fingers tightened against the sink, his legs trembling beneath him. An icy sweat trickled down his temple as he looked at his arm, now back to normal.

But it was only an appearance.

Inside, something was wrong.

His body was screaming.

A lack.

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A visceral, unbearable need.

Isaac inhaled deeply, trying to calm his panicked heart. He clenched his fist, contracted his arm, hoping to make the scales reappear.

Nothing.

They weren't coming back.

A wave of panic swept through him. It couldn't be true. He'd controlled them, he'd summoned them and retracted them at will... so why weren't they coming back?

He put his hand on his forearm and squeezed his skin, as if to force the scales out.

But they didn't move.

A shiver of anguish ran down his spine.

And then it got worse.

The sensation of lack became a dull ache, a hunger that lay not in his belly, but in his whole being. A brutal, insidious, all-consuming addiction.

Her own body was crying out for more.

More moonstones.

More power.

He gasped, putting his trembling hands to his face, trying to suppress this craving that was beginning to drive him mad. It wasn't just a craving... it was a primal need.

If he didn't absorb more stones, something inside him was going to break.

He knew it.

He could feel it.

His fingers clutched at his hair, his nails almost digging into his skull. His mind was screaming at him to get out. Find a dungeon. Find something.

He needed to evolve.

To grow stronger.

Or else... he'd get lost.

His eyes rose slowly to his reflection in the dirty kitchen glass, an insatiable hunger reflected in them.