"What… what is this…?" I muttered in disbelief, my voice barely audible as I stood there, unmoving.
This was the first time I'd actually used one of my so-called reincarnation perks—an ability gifted by this world's divine system upon my arrival—and though I'd read and heard plenty about them, nothing had quite prepared me for the surreal sensation that now flooded my mind.
I looked around in confusion, half-expecting someone to appear from the shadows, someone to claim ownership of the voice that had just echoed inside my skull—yet there was no one, only the whispering wind and the crackle of distant flames.
That meant the voice was internal—a mental echo, likely akin to a system message in a game, something only I could hear and comprehend.
And then, it began.
『Initiating skill bestowal process.』.
『In progress...』.
『In progress...』.
『Process complete.』.
『A-Class Skill [Freeze] has been granted to Kairi.』
"[Freeze]...? Seriously?" I blinked, a bit let down.
Out of all the cool elemental powers one could imagine in a fantasy setting, I had to get the one associated with ice, of all things—no dramatic firestorms, no thunderbolt hammers, just plain old cold.
"In anime, it's usually the underdog ability," I muttered, lips twisting into a half-smirk. "Always the edgy loner type who gets it…"
Still, it was only the first skill. There was every possibility that the next one I earned would involve fire, lightning, or even something more unusual like gravity or time manipulation.
"Kairi ?" Aria's voice drew me back to the present.
"Yeah, it looks like it worked—I got a skill," I told her, offering a reassuring smile that earned me one in return.
"Now all that's left," I added, tightening my grip around the hilt at my waist, "is to hope this new skill actually works against a dragon."
"Yes," she nodded solemnly, her eyes filled with hope and anxiety in equal measure.
We exchanged a brief, quiet nod of mutual understanding—our unspoken pact now riding on the outcome of this battle—and then I turned toward the door.
Time to slay a dragon.
Oddly enough, fear didn't grip me. There was no panic twisting my stomach, no shaking in my limbs—only a strange, swelling confidence, as if the power within me was whispering that this was already decided.
As I stepped out from the building, the oppressive sound of leathery wings filled the air above. The dragon—massive, black-scaled, and crowned with jagged horns—circled overhead, its molten breath flickering at the edges of its fanged maw.
"I'll be back soon," I said to Aria.
"Please… be careful," she replied softly, her hands clasped over her chest.
No sooner had I taken a few steps forward than the dragon noticed me.
"GROAAAHHHHHH!"
With a deafening roar, it opened its jaws and expelled a blazing orb of flame in my direction, the fireball howling through the air with murderous speed.
The sound it made was overwhelming—a rolling, thundering roar that would've shattered the nerves of any normal man.
But I wasn't normal anymore.
"Skill activate—[Freeze]," I murmured, my tone calm, almost bored.
The fireball, seconds from impact, shimmered as the air around it froze. Then, in a blink, the massive sphere of flame halted mid-air and crystallized completely—turning into a brilliant, glassy structure of ice locked in place.
Without hesitation, I looked skyward and raised a hand.
"You too—freeze."
A cracking sound rang out, sharp and clean like shattering glass. In an instant, the enormous dragon that had ruled the skies froze solid, suspended in a hauntingly beautiful lattice of glimmering frost—then shattered into a thousand glittering shards that rained from the sky like falling stars.
"I… I did it!"
I couldn't stop myself—I raised my fist in the air in a triumphant pose, half-laughing in disbelief.
The dragon, the very beast that had brought a village to its knees in terror, had just been obliterated with a single command.
For a skill I had initially thought was unimpressive, it had just proven itself terrifyingly powerful.
"Kairi!" Aria called out, sprinting toward me, her eyes wide with awe and joy.
"That was… that was incredible!"
"I'm just as shocked as you are," I admitted, chuckling as I rubbed the back of my neck.
"To think I'd be able to bring down a dragon in one strike—maybe my reincarnation perk really is overpowered."
"Truly… thank you so much," Aria said, voice trembling with gratitude. "If you hadn't come… the village would have been lost."
"You saved us all. You are… the hero of this village," she whispered, bowing deeply—and in the next moment, so did everyone else.
Around me, villagers dropped to their knees in unison, heads bowed in reverence.
"This is too much," I said, flustered. "I only did what anyone else in my position would've done."
"To defeat a dragon so easily… it's nothing short of heroic," one man said.
"And with such strength at your age, it's clear—the power of "Otherworldly Reincarnators" is truly magnificent," said another.
I scratched my head awkwardly, not used to this kind of open admiration.
In my previous life, I had never been praised by so many people—not at school, not at work, not even once. To be thanked so sincerely, to be seen as something more… it felt surreal.