Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.

"Let's settle this, man to man."

The dragon stood tall, touching the spot on its face where Dorian had just punched it. A knowing expression played on its features, surprised that a mere human was able to land a single blow.

"Interesting. You are worthy of m—"

As it turned its gaze back to Dorian, the dragon was met with a fireball speeding directly toward its position.

It was obvious Dorian wanted to land another hit unawares like the last time; however, this time, the dragon knew not to fall for it. Swiping its hand to the side, it sent the fireball flying, allowing it to explode at a far distance.

As soon as it happened, Dorian wasted no time. Using his Fast Speed skill, he charged forward, holding two fireballs in his hands.

'Just two more hits. Come on…'

The dragon grinned a bit, slowly finding the exchange exciting.

"You're a brave human. I expect no less from someone with such mana. Come, let me honor you with this battle!"

Dash!

The dragon charged forward, covering the distance between itself and Dorian in a matter of seconds, its hand raised to the sky, ready to strike.

Thinking fast, Dorian tilted his entire body to the side, dodging the dragon's strike while sending an attack of his own.

The force from the dragon's missed attack sent a large crack through the ground, while its eyes continuously followed Dorian's movement.

It watched as Dorian wrapped his leg with mana, aiming it at the side of the dragon's head.

Pa!

The dragon raised its other hand, using it to block the kick.

Shocked that the dragon was able to counter despite how close the attack was, Dorian got ready to leap back, when the dragon caught him by the leg.

'Shit.'

It flung Dorian's body upward, and then, from its eyes, shot a powerful laser at him, creating a huge force upon impact. Dorian's body went flying, crashing to the ground with flames burning around him as he lay there.

[Earth Shield is now on auto-active.]

After rolling on the ground for a good while, Dorian managed to get to his feet, sliding to a stop while using wind to blow off the flames burning the thin barrier around him.

'What the hell? Is it trying to kill me? If it wasn't for my shield, I would have died from that for sure… eh?'

Shock etched on his face when he suddenly saw the dragon appear right beside him.

'Fuck!'

The dragon sent a blow at Dorian, and it landed directly on his face before he could even block it. His eyes turned white, obviously slowly losing consciousness.

Though, that didn't stop him from sending his own attack. A giant earth spike formed right above the dragon, and with speed, it fell, landing on the creature.

Dorian's body was now on the ground, his vision slightly blurred as he slowly rose to his feet.

The barrier in front of his skin glitched a bit before slowly repairing itself. If it weren't for the barrier, his head would have been knocked off his shoulders by now.

'Did that get him? That should be a second hit—'

Dorian was left speechless after seeing that the dragon was simply carrying the giant rock with one hand; it had never landed on him to begin with.

'Seriously? Now I get why dragons were never in the records.' Dorian sighed, standing to his feet. 'Simple attacks like this won't do anything. I need to rethink my approach here.'

Bash!

The dragon crushed the rock with its grip, its green glowing eyes fixed on Dorian.

"Is this the best you can do? I am barely fighting you and yet you can't keep up. Then again, you are human after all. Born from a weak race!!!"

After uttering these words, the dragon charged forward, speeding through the dark mist and heading directly for Dorian, who in turn was heading towards the dragon.

Baa!

They collided. Dorian had already wrapped his arms with ice, and while they shattered on impact, his own hands were still intact. He quickly clapped his arms together, summoning multiple icicles and sending them launching towards the dragon like rockets.

The dragon crushed them all, moving its arms so fast that not a single one of those icicles had a chance to touch its body.

Then, with a single step, it launched forward, a knee right in Dorian's gut, sending him flying backward.

Before Dorian could recover, the dragon grabbed him by the head and then smashed him into the ground, blood spewing out of Dorian's mouth.

Dorian wasn't done. He wrapped his legs around the dragon's arm, and then—

Bite.

He closed his teeth around the dragon's finger, its blood dripping into Dorian's mouth. Then, as the dragon proceeded to open its mouth to yell, Dorian stuck his foot inside, digging it deep until he could feel the very back of the dragon's throat.

"Gotcha."

Boom!

A huge explosion blew inside the dragon's mouth, its head splattering all around the place as its body went dashing to the back.

Dorian, now on the ground, began coughing, his hand on his head. For a few moments, he could have sworn it had fallen off.

'That's two. One more…'

Just as he wanted to stand up.

Phew!

He noticed one of his arms had been cut off after an invisible slash came from nowhere.

Dorian's eyes widened in fear as he watched blood drip from his severed arm.

'Eh?'

[Notice, health level dropping.]

[Notice: Health level dropping.]

Dorian didn't panic; he remained calm. He gripped his severed arm to stop the bleeding, icing the surface, and with a face etched with pain, he looked towards where the dragon had just landed.

Energy surged to the sky. Lightning raged, cracking all around. The ground shook and the walls of the domain slowly cracked, threatening to break free.

Then, Dorian saw the dragon stand up within the light pouring down on it, its head slowly regenerating.

"I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I am half dead already," Dorian managed to stand, even though he was staggering.

With time, the raging energy settled, and the dragon stood there, with an almost pitiful look on its face.

"Look at you. You are doing so well despite being a human. I am quite proud that you were foolish enough to battle a dragon."

It slowly ascended to the sky, looking down at Dorian. "Rejoice, I don't intend to kill you yet, but even if you die, as long as your soul remains, then you have nothing to worry about. You will still be of use to me."

"Fuck you."

Using his wind magic, Dorian charged forward, now planning to fight with one hand since his other had been sliced off. Or so he thought—

The dragon snapped its finger, and in the blink of an eye, Dorian noticed his legs had been sliced off as his body slowly descended to the ground.

'WH…'

As he fell, he could see the dragon pointing directly at him; a small spark of mana appeared on its finger, and then—

[Notice, you have died.]

Dorian's head was severed from his body.

...

[A/N]

Thank you all for the support so far; i really appreciate it.