Dragon Rebirth

“Kien! Run!”

I didn’t even look back before I ran out of the throne room. I never expected things to go this wrong. We were only supposed to be entering a Level D dungeon, but it was Level A. The guild I had joined wasn’t famous. It was for those who were Level D and below—the Hunters who never managed to be scouted.

“Jack! Who sent you the mission?” I yelled over to our leader, but he was already on the floor with a vampire sucking blood out of his neck.

“SHIT!”

I wasn’t the only one who knew that all of us were as good as dead. None of our powers stood a chance against Level A Monsters, specifically Vampires. The dungeon was only supposed to be full of goblins—we were lied to.

As I ran, I could hear the yells of pain from my fellow guild members behind me. I wish I could help them, but my power was telekinesis. This could never work against them.

“Please! Someone save us!” I yelled in my head.

I hoped someone would hear me—I had high doubts about it. But it was always better to try than to do nothing.

“Come to me, I can give you a second chance. A second chance at this life, a chance to save the lives that ended early because of your existence.” A loud booming male voice appeared in my mind.

“H-huh?” I faltered a bit, but immediately felt a pull.

I was being dragged to the castle basement.

“Wh-who are you?” I asked.

There was no answer until I was standing in front of a cell.

“You have finally arrived…Kien, son of Usyd, Protector of All. I am here to give you another chance at life. Will you accept your father's will?” A man with silver hair and horns and dragon-like wings stood behind the bars, looking right into my eyes.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” I questioned.

I was confused and wanted to run, but couldn’t; I was stuck.

“Answer me now, Kien, they will kill you before I can help you!” The dragon-like man yelled.

I could see the desperation in his eyes. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but trust him. It was either die by the vampires or possibly survive to see another day.

“Yes…I’ll accept his will!” I grabbed hold of the bars in response to show my determination.

“Good.”

The dragon-like man placed his hands over mine. There was a golden light that appeared from behind him and started to circle me. It was warm and comforting. I felt like I was going to be safe.

“Kill him!” A vampire yelled from behind me.

The yells from the vampires came after. I could feel them approaching me, but I still felt safe.

“Too late, you vile creatures.” The dragon-like man smirked.

The golden light entered me, filling my whole body with an indescribable warmth.

“I will be by your side in your new life, Kien. I will protect you in place of your true father.” The dragon-like man spoke before everything went dark.

**Reverse Time**

“-ien…”, “Kien…”, “Master Kien!” I remembered that voice; it sounded like my Nanny when I lived in that man’s house.

“Master Kien, get up already, today is the day you find out if you will become a Hunter.”

I opened my eyes with a groan. I could feel that same warm and comforting feeling inside me, just like when I was in that vampire dungeon. I scanned around me, and it looked like I was back in my small childhood room. My Nanny was exactly how she looked when I was eight years old.

“Nanny, what year is it?” I questioned.

“Huh? It’s 2025.” She replied while placing the back of her hand on my forehead. “You’re not sick, why did you ask such a question when you should already know?”

“2025…” I looked down at my hands. I noticed just how small they were now compared to when I was in that dungeon. “So, I’m 8 again,” I said in a whisper.

“Master Kien, hurry up, Master Hall isn’t going to wait for you forever.” My Nanny said as she was already pulling the blankets off of me.

I got out of bed and started to get ready. I didn’t have time for breakfast, but that was pretty common for me since my Nanny never woke me up on time for it. I was escorted to the front doors, where my current Guardian and his son were standing.

“You’re late, Kien. Let’s go and get this over with.” Richard Hall, my Guardian, said with a scowl on his face.

I now can tell how much he hated me. My first go at this life, he was the reason I was kidnapped. I was then left homeless, not even handed over to an orphanage, just left for the monsters to find me and kill me. I only survived because the guild I stayed in took me under their wing and picked me up. We left the estate and drove to the Hunter’s Association, which used to be the Metro Convention Center here in Toronto. Every child is to undergo a simple test to see if they will be a Hunter, and what level of Hunter they are or will become in the future. When I last went, I was no better than a Level D Hunter, and I wouldn’t get any better. Because I was considered weak by my father at the time, I was not worth keeping around.

“We’re here,” Richard said as the driver opened the door to the vehicle.

All of us got out. There was already a slew of children around, also heading into the building. I would be going into the testing room with the other kids.

“Welcome, Mr. Hall. I was informed that your son will be taking the test separately from the other children, so I will be helping him conduct the test.” I looked up to see a man with long silver hair.

The man looked like the guy I met before I came back to this time; all he was missing were his wings and horns. Maybe this guy was the dragon, but polymorphed. But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“Hmmm, fine. Take him and tell me his results, but don’t let anyone else see it till I say so.” Richard walked away from me with his son and sat down in the VIP room.

“Okay, Kien—son of Usyd, Protector of All. Please follow me, your true protector. Dedrit, Protector of Life.” He had crouched down so he was at eye level with me.

With the simple word of Usyd, I knew right away that this man was the dragon I met in the dungeon.

“I’ll be sure that nothing bad happens to you.” He stood back up and held his hand out to me.

I smiled and took his hand so we could leave the main lobby. We walked through a set of doors that led into a hallway. Testing rooms were lined up, but we passed the main ones, walking into the one at the very end.

“Lord Kien. Your test score this time around will be much different then the one you took in your first life. However, that man will be given the same results as your last life. This will allow me to take you in and protect you from him and others. Once he is no longer your guardian, I will adopt you.” Dedrit explained as he sat me down on the testing chair and hooked me up.

“How will you do that, though?” I questioned.

“These testing machines have never been hacked or fooled, so how did he plan on doing it?” I thought in my head. I was curious, though.

“It’s easy, Lord Kien, all I have to do is suppress your abilities to make it look like you are no better than Level D for the first test, then the second one, I won’t interfere and allow you to have your full power for the testing,” Dedrit explained.

“Oh, okay then.” I smiled, ready for the two tests to be conducted.

Just before the test started, I could feel this pressure surrounding me. It wasn’t pleasant, and I didn’t want it to continue. The pressure disappeared once the first test concluded. I breathed a sigh of relief right after. I could see that he was typing away; he made me a fake hunter ID. Kids at age 8 did get hunter IDs, but couldn’t enter dungeons. They needed the IDs to join guilds and learn how to use their powers.

“Okay, Lord Kien. It’s time for your real test.” Dedrit had finished what he needed to do.

I nodded my head and prepared myself for the actual test. I was curious to find out exactly how strong I was going to be. And since Richard said not to display my Level without his permission, no one would know what Level I was till I was no longer in Richard's family tree. I could feel that the test had started. I could feel another kind of pressure. This one didn’t hurt; it just felt normal.

“Alright, Lord Kien. Your testing is done.” Dedrit smiled as he typed away and printed out the real hunter's ID.

“So what did I get?” I questioned, already leaving the testing chair, having already removed all the hook-ups.

“Come and see Lord Kien.” He held out the real ID.

I ran up to him so I could see it. I looked to see what it read.

On the front of my ID was the basic information. Dedrit even kept my real name hidden.

Name: KU

Age: 8

Race: Human (Dragon)

Level: A-SSS

On the back of the card were my skills and levels.

Skills:

Telekenisis: Level A

Mana: Level A

Fire Manipulation: NA

Gas Manipulation: NA

Strength: Level D

Intimidation: Level C

Unique Ability: Dragon Heart

“Wow, I’ve never had this many before. I just had Telekenesis, and it was at level D…to go with my stagnant Level D life.” I was happy to see that I was already level A. “W-wait, it says level A-SSS. What does that mean?”

“It means that you are currently at Level A because of your age, but as you train and get older, you will become Level SSS,” Dedrit explained with a large, proud smile.

My jaw dropped, I couldn’t believe I was going to become Level SSS, there have only been three in the whole world, so that means I was going to be the 4th one.

“Come, we should give that man your fake hunter’s ID. I will follow you with your real one. When you are to be kidnapped, I will find you and protect you. You will then become a part of my family.”

Dedrit pocketed the real ID while handing me my fake one. This was so I could hand it over to Richard. I also needed to look sad in front of him. I couldn’t let him find out I was faking anything. After leaving the testing room, we walked over to the VIP section where Richard was.

“Mr. Hall, Kien has completed his testing. Please have a wonderful rest of your day.” Dedrit was quick to walk away once he was done with what he needed to do.

I didn’t even look up, I just kept my head down pretending to be ashamed.

“Show it to me,” Richard commanded.

I kept my head down and, with shaking hands, I handed my hunter’s ID card to him.

Name: Kien Hall

Age: 8

Race: Human

Level: D

Skills: Telekenisis Level D

Unique Ability: None

“Disappointing, no wonder you’re not my child.” Richard sighed and pulled out his phone. “Stay here, I’ll have someone collect you later. I don’t want to be near you right now.”

Though I no longer care about this man, those words still hurt. And since I was back to being an 8-year-old, it stung enough to make me cry.

“A disgrace to the Hall family.” He added before he left with his real son.

I knew that if I were to stay here, those people who were supposed to be kidnapping me would come pretending to be the bodyguards escorting me home. I needed to make sure that Richard believed that his plan for my being kidnapped was successful, so I stayed put and waited for ten minutes before those people showed up.

“Young Master Kien, we are here to bring you home. Please come with us.”

These men looked strong and dangerous. They gave off that negative vibe of gangsters. People who would never be bodyguards for a child of a regular kind of man. Even in my first life, I tried to avoid them.

“D-did Daddy send you?” I asked, trying to stick to the innocent child act.

“Yes, now, come with us.” The man who was bald with face tattoos smirked.

“O-okay…since Daddy hired you, I’ll go with you.”

I followed them out of the Hunter’s Association. There was the black van from my first life. Immediately, I started to act like my old self, trying to get away from them, but they quickly knocked me out. I knew at this point, I was going to be waking up in front of a dungeon that was about to have a dungeon break. There, I was supposed to be saved by the guild that was going to take me under their wing. But now that was going to change. Now that I had my true power and the help of Dedrit, a Silver Dragon, I didn’t have to put the guild in any danger.

I woke up to find that I was already in front of the portal to the dungeon. It was red and there were cracks in it, which meant that it was about to break.

“Lord Kien, you’ve finally woken up. Would you like for me to deal with this, or would you like for me to assist you?” Dedrit asked as he assisted me off the ground.

“Assist me, I would like to see exactly what I can do.” I dusted myself off.

This dungeon break was a Level B dungeon, so I knew that all of the monsters were Level C or B, none higher than that. This meant that I would be able to take them on since I was Level A. But I was only a kid after all, so I could only do so much before I needed help.

“As you wish, Lord Kien.”

The Portal broke, and large Orcs came rushing out in hordes. It was time to fight and win.