This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

Chapter 125 Hello, Nivalis

Once fully equipped, Rita's health was just over 4,000—barely enough to survive two hits from the dragon. But her speed was unparalleled, and she never got greedy for damage, making it nearly impossible for the dragon to land a direct hit. The dragon had to resort to area-of-effect attacks instead.

Even when the young dragon used its wide-range *Divine Gift* spells, it made little difference. Rita could teleport a hundred meters away in an instant. And even when the dragon managed to graze her with an attack, Rita had countless healing methods at her disposal.

The battle was going far better than Rita had anticipated. Although a direct hit from the dragon could knock off 90% of her health, she had plenty of ways to heal: her skills *Emerald Feast* and *Fountain of Light*, various healing potions from basic to advanced, *Ginseng Essence*, and numerous buffing foods.

And if worse came to worst, she still had the *Blood Bodhi* in her inventory, which could grant her five seconds of invincibility.

Rita realized quickly that the dragon, though powerful, was a bit... slow. Instead of using basic attacks, which could still deal significant damage, the dragon seemed addicted to flashy, drawn-out spells that took too long to charge.

In fact, once the two became somewhat familiar with each other—or perhaps because the dragon was embarrassed by constantly missing—she started announcing her moves aloud before casting.

Dragon: "Aurora Veil!"

Rita reflexively asked, "What element is that?"

The dragon paused mid-cast and solemnly explained, "Ice, my strongest ice spell." Then she resumed her charge.

Rita: "Thanks..."

Rita couldn't help but wonder if having such a pet might lower her own intelligence. This dragon was a bit slow.

The fight dragged on from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m., lasting a grueling eight hours!

At one point, the dragon's health dropped to 30%, only for it to fully restore its health and mana using a *Divine Gift* ability. And it did this *twice*. Even though Rita had mentally prepared for such things, it nearly made her cough up blood in frustration.

There was even a little comedic interlude. Throughout the battle, Rita had to stop every so often to eat something for buffs. She kept munching on food while the dragon, seeing this, couldn't help but grow envious. By the third hour, the dragon couldn't take it anymore and roared, "You're eating again! That's cheating! I want a break too—let's stop for ten minutes so I can eat something!"

Rita, panting between dodges, retorted, "But if you eat, you'll heal."

Dragon: "You're healing too when you eat!"

Rita: "But it's my food."

Dragon: "... Fine, you give me food, and then we can keep fighting. If my health drops below 15%, I'll count it as my loss."

Rita quickly agreed. She needed a break too, and with the dragon having just healed back up to 93%, she didn't stand to lose much.

Rita cautiously approached, still prepared to teleport away at a moment's notice. The dragon had proven to be honorable, but Rita had long learned to stay on guard. She spread the contract out on the ground. "You can check it."

The dragon grabbed the contract with her claw, carefully inspecting it. Satisfied that everything was in order, she pricked herself, drawing a bit of her own blood to write her name in elegant, complex symbols.

Rita followed suit, pricking her finger and signing her name in blood.

As soon as she completed the final stroke of the "A" in her name, the symbols on the contract glowed gold, and a few seconds later, the scroll dissolved into two glowing orbs that flew into the foreheads of both Rita and the dragon.

The dragon scratched her name into the ground with a claw, slowly introducing herself. "My name is Nivalis."

Even without the translator, Rita could now understand her perfectly.

Rita looked up at the beautiful young dragon, grinning brightly. "Hello, Nivalis. I'm Rita."

At the same moment, a system notification rang out with a world announcement.

**[World Announcement: A player has successfully signed a pet contract with a mythical creature. The Pet Ranking function is now available.]**

**[Ding—Player Rita and her pet Nivalis have entered the Pet Rankings. Would you like to conceal this information?]**

Rita instantly selected **No**.

There was no point in hiding it. Unless she never let Nivalis out of her pet space, this would be impossible to keep secret. So why bother?

Opening the new Pet Rankings interface, Rita saw her name already at the top.

**Pet | Level | Species | Contract Holder**

Nivalis | Level 14 | Dragon | Rita

Her private messages immediately exploded—even though she had restricted her messages to friends only.

Shadow.Q, Rick, Zoey, Samuel, Skylar, her trainers—practically everyone in her contact list had messaged her.

Even her email inbox had gone berserk, with over 99,000+ unread messages in an instant.

It was 1 a.m., and everyone was still awake?