I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-334

Ch-334. **Baby Hydragon**

—

“……The state of the *Star Guardians* is a sorry sight.”

After the Golden Scale Knight Order had departed,

the massive wolf that remained behind in the Land of Stars broke the silence.

A mythic beast, one that bore the title of *Star Guardian* in name.

Yet its pride and dignity had been utterly crushed.

“*Wolf of the Black Marsh.* Had you fought with everything you had, you wouldn’t have lost all of the Stars so easily.”

The Giant of Ruin, having finished regaining his posture, shook his head as he spoke.

The Wolf of the Black Marsh.

He had seen through the fact that the wolf had not gone all out.

Yet the wolf simply shook his head.

“If I had, one of us would have died. And isn’t the same true for you, Giant of Ruin? No—did you ever even intend to win in the first place?”

“……You cannot kill a *Druid*, can you?”

Had he fought with the intent to kill, the outcome would have been different.

But from the very beginning, the Giant of Ruin had never intended to kill the *Druid of the Golden Scale*.

“The World Tree—no, all of nature—is dying. And in the same way, countless beasts, even the power of our mythic kind, grows weaker with each passing generation.”

The continent that had risen into the sky.

The problem was that as time passed, the power of the land itself was steadily diminishing.

As the land weakened, nature withered. As nature withered, beasts grew ever smaller.

And mythic species were not exempt from that influence either.

With a grim heaviness in his heart, the Giant of Ruin spoke.

“……At this rate, one day we will devolve into nothing more than mindless beasts. Unless a *Druid* restores the land’s power……”

People often thought of druids as *those who make seeds sprout*.

But their most important role lay in *restoring the strength of the land*.

That was why, from the start, the Giant of Ruin had never intended to kill the *Druid of the Golden Scale*.

If those believed to be exterminated had returned, how could one draw the line between life and death, even if one could not welcome them with open arms?

Rather than that—

He had seen it.

The druid’s potential.

His will.

“How did he seem to you?” the wolf asked.

The Giant of Ruin nodded.

“He didn’t seem all that different from us.”

“Hm. True enough. From the start, it looked like his goal was only *suppression*. In that sense, he was the same as us.”

He did not engage in unnecessary slaughter.

It meant he understood the reason *Star Guardians* existed—and each other’s needs.

Likewise, the *Star Guardian Knight Order* had no intention of being hostile toward the *Golden Scale Knight Order* either.

That was why they had tried to suppress them as quickly as possible and bring the battle to an end.

“But still……he’s extraordinary.”

“Extraordinary?”

*Extraordinary*—not ordinary by any means.

Recalling the situation just moments earlier, the Giant of Ruin spoke.

“He knows what consequences his actions will bring. As if he were reading the future, as if he had experienced countless scenarios……”

“Does he have foresight? A prophet, then?”

There were such people, occasionally.

Those born with foresight.

Those blessed by the gods.

They could not see the future with certainty, but they were right about seven out of ten outcomes.

They were called prophets and often performed miracles.

But the Giant of Ruin shook his head.

“No. It’s not that. It’s as though he’s lived through so many situations and experiences that it merely *looks* like foresight. Every action and decision he makes is masterful. If it were just foresight, he wouldn’t be able to make that many choices so quickly.”

His decisions were swift.

His actions, decisive.

And yet every outcome turned in his favor.

Growing and combining his sword.

Producing a weapon of an entirely different caliber.

And that wasn’t all.

It even felt as though he knew how the Giant of Ruin himself would act.

From the start, it felt like he had been waiting for him.

He arranged and distributed his knight order’s forces, shaping every situation to his advantage.

And yet, the Giant of Ruin had never met the Druid of the Golden Scale before.

A man who was certain as though he had experienced it all, despite having no such experience.

What should one call that?

The wolf pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Well……the future changes depending on choices, so those with foresight tend to hesitate when it comes to *choosing*. But he has none of that?”

“None at all. And yet, he knows. Do you understand what that difference means?”

“……A true god, perhaps.”

A god.

Not merely one who possessed divinity.

Whether demi-divine or quasi-divine, beings with divinity were not unheard of in this world.

Even the Giant of Ruin himself was a sacred being with demi-divinity.

The *god* they spoke of was something else entirely.

The gods who existed at the dawn of creation.

But most of them were gone.

They had perished in destruction, or lost their names and become *forgotten*.

The most representative examples were the two goddesses, **Leah** and **Pina**.

“He was bearing the *Blessing of Creation*.”

“……!!!”

The wolf recoiled in shock.

All the listening Star Guardians stared in disbelief.

How could a druid’s god be carrying a goddess’s blessing?

And not just any blessing—one of the *Zero Regulation* class!

“And that wasn’t all. When my chest was pierced by the Golden Scale Druid, I felt the presence of other *gods* as well.”

“……Is that why you couldn’t move?”

“Yes.”

The Giant of Ruin nodded.

The sword he had tried to pull out, but couldn’t.

The reason he had fallen wasn’t simply because he had lost his footing.

For a being like him to stumble over nothing and collapse?

Impossible.

It was simply that—

For a moment that felt like an eternity—

“Dead and forgotten gods. It felt as though he was being loved by such beings.”

The will of the gods.

Their very existence.

That was why, when the druid stepped onto his chest, he had not dared to move.

The two dead goddesses.

And not only the druid god said to have perished long ago.

*There was more. Many more traces of gods within him.*

Truths known only to the Giant of Ruin, guardian of the Mother Star.

He had encountered many gods, and had witnessed their fall.

That was why he could be certain.

*Gods that existed since the beginning, but vanished for some unknown reason……*

Why did their traces remain within him?

Why were they leaving such marks upon him?

As if begging him to recognize them.

As if asking him to resolve their lingering grudges.

It was as though the gods themselves were fervently courting him.

Even the goddesses.

Thus, he might not be merely a *druid god*.

Rather, the qualification of *druid god* might be just one among the many *qualifications* he possessed.

If that was the case—

*……There’s nothing to be gained from making him an enemy.*

So long as he was not *evil*, drawing closer to him would be far more beneficial than keeping one’s distance.

“Perhaps we should have fought him properly,” the wolf muttered with regret.

The Giant of Ruin let out a small chuckle.

“Even if we had, it wouldn’t have been easy to win.”

“Well……that one called Albino, was it? He didn’t look easy to deal with.”

To be honest, he was a monster.

Had it been a true war of mutual slaughter, the Star Guardians would have been annihilated.

Albino alone would have killed half of them.

Even the Giant of Ruin lacked confidence in defeating Albino.

Even assuming death in the fight, at best it would have been six to four……no, perhaps seven to three.

More likely, he would have lost.

“What about *Raiga*?” the Giant of Ruin asked.

“…….”

At that question, the wolf fell silent.

He hated to admit it, but that human was no less monstrous than Albino.

They claimed it was unavoidable because hostages were taken, but in truth, they simply couldn’t stop the combination of the two.

The Giant of Ruin nodded slowly.

“Humans grow strong quickly. Even if we blink for a moment, they surge ahead. The goddesses didn’t favor them for no reason.”

“Are you saying we’re falling behind?”

“Wolf, I mean that *we* must move as well. We’ve grown stagnant under the name of *Star Guardians*. It’s time for a generational shift.”

The Giant of Ruin subtly shifted his gaze to one side.

The massive serpent **Dramut**, meeting his eyes, trembled slightly.

Dramut had been taken hostage first, and among the Star Guardians, he was considered one of the weaker ones.

The Giant of Ruin continued.

“Through the experiences in the World Tree’s dungeon, we Star Guardians will rise higher. Those without qualification will lose it, and those with qualification will take their place.”

The Golden Scale Knight Order.

Seeing them, clashing with them, made it clear.

At this rate, the name *Star Guardian* would become meaningless.

They might one day hand over the qualifications of every *Star* to someone else and fade away.

But the ultimate purpose of the Star Guardians was to protect the Stars—the bodies of the goddesses.

To prevent petty beings from wielding the goddesses’ power.

To keep it out of the hands of evil beings like the Demon King.

*The Abyss is rising, and the Demon King is moving in earnest.*

There would only be more who sought the Stars.

Star Guardians must grant the goddesses’ power only to those who were qualified.

Thus—

Naturally, they had to grow stronger.

At least it was fortunate that among the younger mythic species, there were quite a few with promise.

The moment they exited the dungeon, a full generational shift would begin.

*Not all knight orders will be like us, but……*

What worried him was the Golden Scale Druid and his knight order.

The seven knight orders that had entered the dungeon.

They would not all be like the Star Guardians.

They would inevitably clash, and inevitably be consumed.

Especially a few particularly troublesome ones.

The White King was one of them.

The way he looked at the Golden Scale Druid was far from ordinary.

*Watch yourself.*

The Giant of Ruin silently wished him fortune.

*

Beyond the door lay a vast grassland.

A place notable for rabbits hopping about energetically.

Yet not a single knight could be seen.

*So it’s a solo run disguised as a team battle.*

I understood the intent.

Each person would raise their *Monster Soul* and meet again at the final battlefield.

There would be various devices at play, but in the end, the objective was the same—be the final victor.

*So this is the Monster Soul.*

A stone.

With runes engraved upon it.

I looked down at the *Monster Soul* lying before me.

【Monster Soul (Grade 0, None)】

* When the ‘Soul’ is used, a Grade 0 monster matching the user’s attribute is summoned.

A summon aligned with the user’s attribute.

Using the Soul was simple.

*Tap.*

I nicked my finger with the blade and spread the falling blood over the runes.

Then—

*Ssssss—!*

【‘Baby Hydragon (Grade 0, Beast, Fire-Attribute, Normal)’ has been summoned!】

Baby Hydragon?

It seemed my possession of the *Hydragon’s Soul* had influenced it.

The same runes appearing directly on the stone confirmed it.

Soon after, a Hydragon about the size of a three-year-old child was summoned before me.

Nine heads combined with a dragon’s lower body.

*Wobble, wobble!*

Its small size made its waddling movements rather amusing.

《Hidden Trait ‘Beast Lord’ activates.》

《The summoned ‘Monster Soul’ is influenced by the summoner.》

《For details, check the status window of ‘Baby Hydragon.’》

Activation of a hidden trait.

Beast Lord, true to its name, was a trait specialized in taming pets.

But that didn’t seem to be all.

I stared intently at the Baby Hydragon’s heads.

At the same time—

Name: Baby Hydragon (Grade 0)

<Stats>

Strength: 10
Vitality: 6
Agility: 4
Intelligence: 3
Mana: 8

Judging by base stats alone, it was nothing special.

So frail that it might barely manage to hunt rabbits.

But the moment I reached the section that followed, I doubted my eyes.

Natural Regeneration: +51,400%
All Nature Attribute Stats: +514%
Light Attribute Stats: +100%
All Resistances: +20%
Minimum Physical Resistance: +50%
Total Experience Gain Rate: +500%
Proficiency Efficiency: +2,100%
Damage: +120%
Additional Boss Monster Damage: +20%
Total Penetration: +34.3%
Curse Penetration: +15%
Curse Reflection: +40%
Curse Duration Increase: +30%
Sensory Sharing: +200%

“…….”

Faced with the endless parade of additional stats, I was left speechless.

Every single one of those additional stats was identical to *my own*.

Especially when I saw the massively amplified natural regeneration gained through *Endurance*, I shuddered.

At the same time, I understood exactly how I should grow this thing.

*Kking?*

*Kyaeng!*

The Baby Hydragon looked at me with fearful eyes.

All nine heads leaned back—but there was no escape.

*As long as it doesn’t die in one hit.*

So long as it wasn’t instantly killed, its overwhelming natural regeneration would restore it.

Which meant—