SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

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[Level 4 → 10]

Ignoring the system panel before him, Zich remained on the ground even after the undead dragon had collapsed. His body was tired, and his mana felt almost empty, but his mind was not focused on the pain.

’Tiamant... why does that name sound familiar?’

The thought kept circling in his mind. The battlefield around him was still filled with smoke, broken trees, and injured Association members, yet he did not move. His eyes stayed half open as he stared at the sky, trying to remember where he had heard that name before.

’Tiamant. Tiamant. I’ve heard that before.’

Zich’s fingers twitched against the ground as he searched through his memories from his old world. He had read a lot of useless things back then, especially when he was bored, and some of that information stayed in his head without him knowing why.

A few seconds later, it clicked.

’Wait... mythology.’ His eyes widened slightly. ’Tiamat... or Tiamant? Mother of dragons. Ancient dragon goddess. Something like that.’

The system had not called the orb an undead dragon soul. It had called it the soul orb of the ancient mother of all dragons, Tiamant. That meant the undead dragon he had killed might not have been a simple dragon boss.

Zich’s heartbeat quickened.

’Did I just capture the soul of a dragon goddess?’

The thought made his exhaustion feel lighter for a moment. Greed rose in his chest again, stronger than before. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

A normal dragon summon would already be insane. If this soul orb truly belonged to something on the level of a dragon mother, even a weakened version would be priceless.

Zich lowered his head and smiled faintly, suddenly realizing that risking his life had been more than worth it.

Right at that moment, a shadow fell over him, and his eyes narrowed.

"Are you okay?"

The voice carried a bit of concern, but it was familiar enough to make Zich’s eyes snap open fully.

He looked up and saw Helen standing near him. Her blond hair was slightly messy from the fight, and dust stained part of her clothes, but her eyes were focused on him. She looked serious, though there was a small softness in her expression that made Zich pause.

’Why is she here?’

Zich pushed himself up slowly. His legs still felt weak, but he forced himself to stand properly. His hand moved to brush dust off his sleeve, but he stopped when he saw the uneven blood stain on his shirt.

His brows twitched. ’Annoying.’

Helen noticed his expression and blinked. "You almost died, and the first thing you care about is your clothes?"

"It bothers me."

For a moment, Helen stared at him. A small laugh escaped her mouth before she quickly covered it with her hand. "You’re strange."

"Either way, that’s not the reason I’m here." Helen opened her palm toward him.

Zich’s eyes dropped to the five soul stones resting in her hand.

They were the same shards he had scattered earlier to distract the dragon. During the chaos, he had dropped them across the battlefield, and he had almost forgotten about them after the soul orb entered his body.

"You dropped these," Helen said. "I kicked them together before anyone could step on them or take them."

Zich stared at the shards for a moment.

In this place, those shards had value. Even if Helen did not know their full use, she could have kept them. She could have said nothing. After everything that happened, nobody would have blamed her.

But she brought them back.

The act was simple, yet it made Zich’s gaze linger on her face for a second longer than usual.

Helen tilted her head. "What? Are they not yours?"

Zich took the stones from her palm. "They’re mine."

Her fingers closed after he removed them, and she watched him store them away carefully.

Zich’s expression returned to normal, but his voice lowered slightly.

"Thank you."

Helen waved it off, though her smile returned. "It’s the least I could do since I couldn’t join the fight."

As she said that, her eyes shifted toward the distance.

Jayden stood there with his arms folded, his face cold. His gaze was fixed on Zich with clear dislike, but he did not say anything. The tension in his jaw made it obvious he wanted to.

Helen’s smile faded as she sent him a sharp glare. Jayden looked away first.

Zich noticed the exchange and raised a brow.

"You wanted to join?"

Helen sighed and folded her arms. "Of course I did. But someone kept blocking me and saying I would only get in the way."

"Well, I’m alive. You returned my things. Good enough."

Helen stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. "Oh, in case you are not aware... you also took first place, by the way."

Because Zich had muted announcements earlier, he had not checked the ranking after the dungeon, the ambush, or the dragon fight.

[1st Place: Zich — 294 Points]

His expression barely changed. After all, he had deliberately robbed Rael, and with that plus the dungeon, it was more than expected.

"Thank you. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave," he said, giving a single nod to Helen.

Zich closed the ranking screen and turned as if to leave. He still needed time to understand the soul orb in his body, and he wanted to get away before too many eyes focused on him. The battlefield was already starting to recover from shock, and several Association members were looking his way with mixed expressions.

Before he could take more than a step, heavy footsteps approached from the side, causing everyone to turn in that direction.

Arnold walked toward Zich, his expression strict and unreadable. Dust marked his clothes, but he did not look injured. Even after fighting the berserk dragon, his breathing remained steady.

’Why is he coming toward me?’ Zich stopped walking.

"Kid," Arnold said as he stood in front of him and looked down slightly. "We have a lot to talk about."