Greed.
A fundamental desire, an emotion inherent to all living beings.
Even the Shaolin, one of the esteemed nine orthodox sects, seek to transcend such desires, yet to me, desire is the essence of life itself.
The drive for humans to progressâ
The struggle to obtain and conquerâ
Be it material greed, the thirst for honor, or even primal lustâ
Whatever it may be, it is ultimately desire.
To me, it is the most primal aspect of humanity.
Which makes one wonderâ
"Is it any different for dragons?"
Be it their bloodline or Yuseon herself, who arrogantly proclaimed her greatness, they were no exception.
In my eyes, dragons are no different from humans.
If anything, they are even more transparent in their desires, not beings devoid of them.
Otherwiseâ
"They wouldnât possess such instinctual power."
This thought crossed my mind as I gazed at the unfolding scene.
Crrraack!
A bone-chilling sound drew my focus.
It was black.
A world of deep black interwoven with faint traces of blue spread before me.
"Fascinating."
It was my first time witnessing this directly, and the sight was refreshing.
"So, this isâ¦"
Authority.
It evoked a variety of emotions.
Unlike the dragon's speech, the rapid regeneration, or the near-perfect body I possessed as a humanân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"This is the real deal."
This wasnât a level of martial prowess that could be attained through training.
It was pure power, intrinsic to oneâs very existence.
When I opened my eyes, I instinctively understood that Authority now coursed through me.
Yes, instinctively, I knew.
That I had Authority.
What kind of power it held, how it could be wieldedâ
What conditions were needed.
I didnât need to experiment or test it to understand most of it.
Unlike the powers Iâd gained before, which required relentless practice to uncover their secrets,
This power was absurdly convenient.
"Utterly unfair."
I couldnât help but find the situation unreasonable.
The martial arts I had painstakingly refined over years,
The energy I had meticulously built up, consuming and accumulating it bit by bitâ
All of it felt trampled upon simply because I had become a dragon.
It was utterly unfair.
Perhaps thatâs whyâ
My unease seemed intertwined with this power, which had been shaped by my deepest desire.
This power seemed designed not for use against humans but solely against dragons.