This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist-Chapter 261: Dragon Island · Holy Cup · North Year · Snow Pile

Although Nivalis had said that Ton Ton Mountain was the closest major city to the Dragon Nest, it still took them over thirty hours of flying before they finally saw the Dragon Nest in the distance.

The Dragon Nest was truly a sight to behold—three gigantic dragon bones, resembling three massive, sprawling white mountain ranges. Just one of these bones, in its pre-game form, would take an ordinary person an entire day and night to walk along its spine.

Around the bones, various dragons of different colors and sizes lazed or competed in combat.

Before Nivalis and Rita could even get close, two dragons, one blue and one white, flew over to them. In the blink of an eye, they appeared right in front of Nivalis.

In the presence of such massive dragons, Rita truly felt the difference between adult dragons and young dragons. If Nivalis’ size was comparable to an airplane, these two dragons were like towering skyscrapers, each resembling an international CBD building. Above their heads were two small lines of red text:

[Holy Cup, Level 150, 100% | 100%]

[North Year, Level 150, 100% | 100%]

Nivalis immediately introduced the two dragons, "Mother! Father!"

The blue dragon, Holy Cup, and the white dragon, North Year, were as magnificent and powerful as Nivalis had described. Rita dropped her Animagus form and reverted to her human shape. In front of such powerful beings, pretending to be an animal was pointless. Moreover, as Nivalis’ contract-bound partner, it was important for her to maintain a cordial relationship with the neutral dragons.

Holy Cup, as Nivalis had said, was an incredibly powerful and beautiful ice dragon. Her blue scales sparkled like crystal or the shimmering surface of a lake under the sun, and the deep blue gem embedded in her forehead caused a dizziness upon just a single glance. Her presence overwhelmed Rita, who could barely catch her breath. As Holy Cup drew near, a dozen debuffs instantly appeared on Rita.

The white dragon, North Year, exhaled gently at Rita, instantly replenishing the blood she had lost. Not only did it remove all the negative states, but Rita also gained seven additional beneficial buffs.

North Year’s body was slightly smaller than Holy Cup’s, entirely white and radiating a gentle, pure aura. Her gaze was filled with love as she looked at Rita and Nivalis. She was the epitome of a caring "mother."

Before Rita could greet them with a "Hello, Aunt and Uncle," several more dragons arrived.

Leading them was Snow Pile, the elder dragon Nivalis often mentioned. With a staggering level of 186, despite the word "snow" in his name, Snow Pile was actually a red dragon. Behind him followed black, purple, and green dragons...

For a moment, Rita felt as though she had stepped into a magical realm or a children’s world like Teletubbies.

She followed Nivalis, greeting everyone. Whether they were older dragons or simply higher-ranked, she referred to them as "Senior" or "Master."

Rita had expected these powerful dragons to ignore her, seeing her as little more than an insect compared to their level 150 strength. However, to her surprise, while the dragons didn’t exactly greet her with enthusiasm, they all nodded when she greeted them.

Nivalis had marked Rita as a "star," and together, they flew side by side toward the Dragon Nest.

Rita spoke to Nivalis in her mind, "Your big dragons are all so gentle! Even Snow Pile, the elder dragon, isn’t nearly as harsh as you said."

When Rita greeted Snow Pile earlier, he not only nodded but even said, "Greetings, young one."

Nivalis casually responded, "That’s because we have an equal contract, and you also carry my blessing."

It suddenly dawned on Rita, remembering what she had read in the books: "If you wish to earn the friendship of a dragon and its kind, it’s best to make an equal contract with the dragon you admire." At the time, she hadn’t really thought about it. She had simply pitied Nivalis because of her previous life and had made the contract without much thought. She never imagined that one day she would find herself in the Dragon Nest.

Nivalis continued, "Plus, dragons can always tell if someone is being sincere or not. If you treat them with honesty, they’ll recognize it."

Dragons, with their natural ability to sense emotions, could tell if someone had ulterior motives. But when someone treated them with genuine sincerity, the connection was strengthened.

Rita often thought of herself as selfish and cold-hearted, always preferring to show others that she was a "bad person" to avoid any expectations. She couldn’t imagine sacrificing herself for others. But to Nivalis, she was the most adorable human—soft-hearted, sincere, strong, and real.

It was precisely because of Rita’s emotional "stinginess" and caution that her kindness to Nivalis became even more precious. Both emotions and her tools, like Curio, were rare and thus valuable.

Even though they had known each other for only a few months, Nivalis knew that, in Rita’s heart, she was the most special one. If Rita were to choose someone she trusted most right now, it would certainly be Nivalis.

It was a choice between being a blade of grass in a vast plain or a flower in the desert. Nivalis thought that only a fool would pick the former.

There was one thing she had never told Rita—something she couldn’t share with any other species outside the dragonkind. According to dragon law, they could bestow blessings upon their equal contract partners. The best part was that the dragons would never take back their blessings. But for these blessings to take effect, there was one important condition:

The contract partner must harbor no greed or malice towards the dragon, must treat them with full sincerity at all times, and never show any false affection. The dragon didn’t care whether the partner was good or evil—it was the genuine emotional exchange that mattered.

The dragons could sense emotions and lies effortlessly, and their blessings were deeply tied to the sincerity of the relationship.

Holy Cup, North Year, and Snow Pile had probably noticed the blessings on Rita, which was why they had treated her so warmly.

After bringing Rita back to her home, Nivalis set off with the gifts. Rita originally planned to accompany her, thinking it would be rude not to, but Nivalis told her it was fine. She only needed to come along to meet Holy Cup, North Year, and Snow Pile. The other dragons weren’t fond of interacting with non-dragon species, and it would make them uncomfortable.

Rita sat down immediately. i-dragon? i-dragon sounds great, i-dragon for sure...

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Nivalis told her to treat the Dragon Nest as her own home and gave her access to the treasure vault, saying that she could visit it anytime if she was bored. Then, Nivalis grabbed the gifts and headed out.

The laughter of Nivalis and the roars of other dragons echoed from outside, shifting locations as the quiet Dragon Nest became lively again.

Rita looked around at Nivalis’ home. It was still a hollowed-out dragon tooth, but its size was far larger than her Blue Star villa—almost as big as a football field, though not as refined as a villa. It was divided into several rooms: a bedroom, entertainment room, treasure vault, and bathroom.

The floor was made of dragon scales, and since the dragons built their nests in the bones of their ancestors, Rita suspected these scales were also from their ancestors.

Such acts, which humans might consider sacrilegious, could actually be a form of companionship and reverence in the eyes of dragons.

Rita didn’t enter the treasure vault. She decided to sit quietly and think about how to inquire about the bone tiles when she visited Holy Cup, North Year, and Snow Pile. But her peace was short-lived.

Soon, Nivalis’ loud voice echoed from outside.

"Ha ha, here comes the Supreme Starlight! The esports genius! The only true dragon of Blue Star! The holder of the Pet Ranking’s top position! The contract dragon of Blue Star’s strongest player—Ni~~va~lis!!!"

Rita shut her eyes in pain and buried her face in her hands.