Becky stopped a few feet away from Desaray. Her friend since childhood was now whithering on the ground in pain. Her blood-covered arms had huge gashes in them that went down to the bone. But Becky somehow knew that Desaray’s pain was not due to these wounds. It was something else that was causing her to kneel over and hug her body. Becky reached out with her hand and took a step forward while gently calling out to her bestfriend: “Desa? Ahh!”

Becky was suddenly launched backward as a surge of energy suddenly spread out from Desaray’s body. She tumbled to the ground scrapping up her arms and legs as she skidded across the ground on her side. Although she was in pain, Becky was still more concerned about Desaray. She pushed herself up and looked in the direction her friend was in, but she could not see Desaray anywhere. All she saw was what looked like blue fog swirling around the spot that Desaray was last in. “Wha!? What is going on!? Desaray!”

Within the blue fog, Desaray was curled up in the fetal position. Her entire body felt as if it was being broken apart. Her muscles, her bones, and even her skin. It all seemed to be breaking down and reconstructing itself. Normally one would pass out due to shock, but Desaray was still wide awake. She could see her hands and arms starting to change. They were getting smaller and turning blue. She had no idea what was going on, but she felt as if the world around her was starting to change.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but the pain in her body was starting to subside. She could now get a decent look at what was going on around her. In front of her was still the blue transparent screen, but more than that, there was a wall of blue fog encircling her. “What is….. Hmmm? What the hell is wrong with my hands!?”

Desaray looked down at her hands… no these were not hands but claws. While the palms of her claws were a light blue color, the top part was covered in ice blue scales. She looked down at herself to see that even her body was no longer the same, and her line of sight had adjusted to be a bit wider. “Hmmm? What’s this?”

She noticed something new on the ground next to her. She reached out and poked it with her black claw out of curiosity. “That’s….. I can feel that!?”

She hunched over to inspect it even closer, only to see it move slightly with her body movement. “Is this a tail? Wait! If I can feel that, and it’s a tail, then do I?”

Reaching up with her claws, Desaray touched the top of her head. She felt two small protrusions sticking out of it about two inches long. She was now sure she had turned into something incredible. Just as she was getting her bearings, the blue fog finally dissipated and finished entering her body. A dinging sound could be heard in her ears, causing her to look at the blue screen in front of her.

[Evolution Complete….]
[All Systems Online…..]
[Welcome To The World Order System]
[Force Opening Status Window]

{World Order System}
[Name]: Desaray Harris
[Race]: Ice Dragling 
[Age]: 14
[Level]: 1 
[Monster Rank]: F

[Evolution Requirements]: Reach level 20 and kill 3 Rank E Elites

[HP]: 50/50 
[MP]: 20/10

[Skill Points]: 0
[Skills] 
{Ice Breath (Lvl 1)} {Ice Immunity (Lvl Max)}

“This…. I knew it!” Desaray yelled out as she jumped up into the air before slumping back down. “I love dragons. I love ice dragons the most, but….. I wanted to be a dragon girl! Not a full pledged dragon! No wait…. It says here I can evolve, so maybe….. Maybe there is still a chance…. But more importantly. I need to check on Mike and then…. How am I supposed to go back like this…?”

“Desaray? Is that you?” A soft yet confused sounding voice came from Desaray’s side. She turned to see Becky slowly getting up off the ground staring at her in shock and with a bit of fear in her eyes.

“Ah…. If I told you I was, would you believe me?” Desaray lowered her head. Her shoulders and tail slumped slightly. She had no idea how to explain things since they all just happened. She herself was still trying to grasp her head around it. She had gone from a healthy fourteen-year-old girl to a monster. This was not normal, no matter how you looked at it. It was like something straight out of a fantasy story, yet then again, so were goblins, and there was a dead one lying on the ground just a few feet away from her. One, she had killed herself.

“Uh….” Becky was highly confused. She could see Desaray’s uniform spread out around the small figure in front of her. The figure had ice blue scales covering its entire body except for its underbelly, which was a light blue, and two transparent light blue horns on top of its head. And the voice alone was very much familiar but…. “I have a mole some place on my body, and only you and my mother….”

“Left butt cheek just above the thigh.” Desaray interrupted. She only knew this because they used to bathe together.

“Shhh!” Becky’s cheeks blushed as she ran over and tried to cover the blue figure’s mouth. But when she realized that it was not a human head, she slowly put her hands down and hugged the figure. “Desa!”

Tears streamed down Becky’s cheek. Her best friend had become a lizard! “Desa, how did this happen!? You became a lizard thing!”

“I am not a lizard! I am a dragon!” Desaray snorted as she pushed Becky away. She sighed and looked down at herself. “I do not know. As soon as I killed the goblin, a blue screen popped up in front of me, spewing all kinds of things, and then I was overcome with pain. The next thing I knew, I was like this. I have no idea what is going on, but I now have a game hud and even a status screen.”

“This….” Becky was unsure how to take all of this, but she was slightly jealous if this was the case Well, about everything except the pain part.

“Anyway, we can talk more, but first, we need to move. I don’t know how, but I can sense quite a few things heading this way, and they are not human. I am too short to carry Mike now, so you will need to help pull him out of here. His chest is still going up and down slightly, so he is alive…. I will get his feet. Just take lead us to where Jake and Yu are.”

“Okay.” Becky nodded. She knew this was the right move. She walked over to Mike and knelt down and put her arms under his armpits, and pulled him up. He was heavy for her, but it soon felt lighter when she saw Desaray lift his legs.

“If it gets too much, let me know. And if we get attacked, just drop him and run. I will deal with it.” Desaray wanted to make sure Becky knew to run away as soon as possible if things went south. She could sense that there were many beings around them but did not know their exact location or how far they were from her. She only knew that they needed to go into hiding for the time being and try to figure things out. She also needed to try to get in contact with her father. But she also did not know how to explain her current state to him. She let out a deep sigh as she mumbled: “One step at a time.”