Orion teleported into what looked like a jungle—
But this jungle was far from normal.
Trees towered like miniature mountains, their massive trunks disappearing into the mist above. The grass beneath his feet shimmered with a faint green glow, and most of the plants radiated soft light under the moon. The entire jungle felt ancient… alive.
"Right… what did I expect from a fantasy, magic-filled world?" He muttered.
He could spot monsters scattered throughout the area, lurking between roots and vines. Thankfully, his Odorless skill was active. He had no intention of fighting in the middle of the night—especially in a strange place like this.
So he moved forward carefully.
"Grrr…" his belly growled.
After walking for hours, hunger finally caught up to him. Orion wanted to hunt something to eat, but every living creature he encountered was a monster—and he had zero interest in eating monster meat.
With a sigh, he pulled out a magic stone from his inventory.
"Haaa… I guess this will have to do."
He was honestly sick of magic stones, but he had to admit—they had saved his life more times than he could count.
"System, where am I?" Orion asked while crunching on the stone.
[You are currently in the Great Primordial Jungle.]
"Primordial Jungle…" Orion muttered. "What an imposing name."
Soon enough, he would understand why.
After hours of nonstop movement, exhaustion finally set in.
"Man… I'm drained. I need to rest."
He leaned against a massive tree and looked upward.
Then an idea struck him.
If he climbed high enough, most ground-dwelling monsters would leave him alone. Thankfully, he had some experience in climbing—he'd been a Boy Scout back on Earth.
As he started climbing, he quickly realized just how massive these trees really were.
"Holy shit… I just need one branch. Come on…"
Minutes of climbing passed before he finally found one. The bark was smoother and thicker than any tree he'd seen on Earth, forcing him to use his claws to get a grip.
Eventually, he pulled himself onto a wide branch and sat down. Using nearby twigs and broken branches, he hastily fashioned a crude protective barrier around his perch.
"Whew…" Orion sighed in relief. "Finally… some peace of mind."
Orion brought out some magic stones from his inventory.
As he ate, his thoughts drifted to everything that had happened over the last few days.
His soul had merged with an ancient dragon's.
His race had changed—again.
He gained new skills.
New classes.
And then… his final moment with Ember.
He had tried desperately not to think about it.
"Aghh…" Orion facepalmed. "Why did I have to do that?"
He didn't even fully understand why he kissed her. Emotions had overwhelmed him.
He knew that even if they loved each other.
They couldn't be together.
She was dead.
Orion clenched his fists. His mind drifted to the strange woman who had brought him back to life.
If I can get strong enough… then maybe…
He clenched his fist.
From now on, he would do everything to get stronger.
After making his resolution.
"Yawn…" Sleep finally began to take him
just as he was about to fall asleep—
"Sssss"
A sudden hiss came from above.
Orion looked up—and his blood ran cold.
A snake.
Not just any snake.
Its body was as thick as an anaconda's, but its head flared like a cobra's. Green scales shimmered with a sickly glow, practically screaming poison. Its cold, vicious eyes locked onto him.
"… Of course. It had to be a snake."
Orion had a serious snake phobia—not fear exactly, but pure disgust. Snakes made his skin crawl.
He instantly activated Dragon Charm and Flame Pulse.
The snake recoiled slightly, trying to slither away.
"Oh no, you don't."
Orion wasn't letting this chance slip. He had always wanted to kill a snake.
Using Flash Movement, he appeared on the branch near it and drew his Dragon Bone Sword. He slashed—
The snake leaped upward, but Orion still managed to slice part of its tail.
"Sssss!"
The creature retreated to another branch.
Then its tail began to regenerate.
"…What?"
"Appraisal."
[Pond Cobra — C-Rank]
Extremely venomous • Possesses regeneration
Cutting off its head is the best way to kill it.
"That's super annoying."
Orion leapt after it and slashed at its head—
But the cobra dodged with terrifying speed and sank its fangs into his leg.
Orion jumped back to another branch.
"Damn it—!"
The bitten area rapidly turned blue, but his body immediately began fighting the poison.
"Let's finish this quickly."
He lunged again. The cobra countered, slipping beneath his blade and biting down on his thigh. Its massive jaws wrapped around his entire leg as venom flooded into his body.
"AGHHH—! You ugly bastard!"
But the snake was stuck as well; its fangs had sunk too deep into Orion's thigh, and it writhed violently, trying to free them.
With a snarl, Orion slashed with his claws—
Decapitating the snake in a single motion.
The body fell limp.
He grabbed his bleeding thigh, dizziness washing over him. The poison was making his entire body numb. He could feel all the cells in his body were focused on fighting the poison.
Then a realization struck him.
"God… I'm an idiot. I could've used Dragon Transformation…"
Regret flooded his mind.
Then—
[Congratulations!]
[You have created the skill: Poison Resistance (B-Rank)]
"…Oh."
He felt the poison's effects fading little by little. His limbs were regaining strength, and he could finally move again.
"That's… really convenient," he muttered.
He couldn't even process what had just happened.
Still bleeding, Orion tore off some glowing leaves and wrapped his leg with a crude bandage before lying back on the branch.
"Poison Resistance… what do you mean I created it?" He looked at the system.
[Due to possessing an ancient dragon's soul fragment, you can now create most of the skills in this world.]
[Your body rapidly upgraded its healing factor to counter the large amount of poison. This triggered the conditions for the Poison Resistance skill.]
Orion's breath caught.
He wasn't just happy.
He was euphoric.
"If my conditions were better, I'd be dancing right now…"
"So… if I meet the conditions for a skill, I can create it?" Orion asked, excited.
[Yes.]
"But how am I supposed to know the conditions?"
[Skill creation recipes are available in the System Shop.]
"Oh System… you're the greatest."
Excitement surged through him.
"Now I just need to upgrade the shop—damn, I can't wait."
With all that good news, Orion finally thought he'd sleep well.
But then—
"GRAHHH!"
"RRUKH!"
Heavy footsteps echoed below.
Orion peered down from the tree.
At least ten creatures stood there—similar to goblin brutes, but far larger, taller, and more muscular. Their green skin was rougher, and massive tusks jutted from both sides of their mouths.
"Appraisal."
[Orc — C-Rank]
Orion let out a deep sigh.
"… Here we go again."