I was born in a small town of Feylance Barony. My mother died early in my childhood, and her death pushed my father to seek comfort in alcohol. Since then he had transford from the gentle husband and father into so other person entirely.
My education ended prematurely after he refused to pay for my classes, while I had to look out for myself after he stopped paying any attention to .
Despite that I had absorbed enough knowledge to form an elentary understanding of the world of Aetheria. That's why I knew how vast the size of the continent was; how many races existed on this piece of land?
Thanks to that, I knew about the vampire clans of the Empire. The Elves from our very own kingdom and the Orcs of the Sunrise desert.
The history of our world was rich and exotic, and rembering it only filled with longing for adventure. However, even this colorful and jaunty moir wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.
The continent at large was overrun by the monster that erged from the events. Monster filled with nace and a desire to snuff humanity from the plane of existence.
Why did they exist? Where did they co from? And why did they abhor humanity at large?
No one could answer such questions.
But we, as the inhabitants of the Aetheria, rose to et the challenge. Hunters of colossal strength and mighty powers stood as a line of defense between monsters and humanity.
Even then, however, there were things humanity couldn't help but feel fear toward.
Monsters.
But not just any monster. Monsters that reigned at the top of the food chain. Monster that dominated the rubble like wolves and goblins.
Dragons.
They were paragons of destruction. They were harbingers of apocalypse. And they were myths. re legends woven into fantastic tales ant to scare children.
Or at least they should've been.
That was not what I was seeing before .
"Have you co to your senses, human?" It asked .
Oh, I had never lost my senses, but the sight before filled with inexplicable emotions. I couldn't decide whether to feel terrified or amazed, or even just thankful. Because this creature, this supposed incarnation of destruction, had saved .
The dragon that towered over was a creature of marvel. It had a coat of shimring black scales that reflected the light in a way that made feel awe. Its two gigantic yellow eyeballs were reptilian in nature and currently fixated on .
I could make out two giant wings jutting from its back, currently retracted. Two ebony horns curved to give it a ferocious and intimidating look.
But more than anything, it was chained. Chained to the white pillars of light that made wonder just what I had stumbled into.
"You're a dragon?" I asked rhetorically, unable to keep the wonder from seeping into my words.
The dragon tilted its head, its nostrils flaring as it breathed out. "Have you not seen one before?" It asked.
I shook my head. "Never."
"Curious." It said. "So, tell , human, what exactly are you doing in this place?"
Whatever ga the dragon was playing at, or whether it was genuinely curious, I decided to indulge the scaly monster in hopes of stalling for ti. Hearing my story didn't seem to faze the monster, but then again it was hard to get a read on a dragon's expression.
"Intriguing." After listening to my entire story, it bobbed its head as if finding it amusing.
I felt my brow twitch slightly, but I forced myself to ask the question that vexed the most.
"Why did you save ?"
A creature such as itself shouldn't bother with tiny flies like . So why? Why bother saving a human? Was it just a ga to this monster? A form of entertainnt? I needed to know.
"I thought I had made myself clear, didn't I?" The dragon spoke with an amused voice. "Your act of defiance in the face of death moved deeply."
It seed the dragon didn't want to answer my question. Or rather it was enjoying my struggle.
"Did you also save from falling to my death?"
"Hmm?" The dragon shot an intrigued look. "Now why would you think so?"
After the pillars had lit up, I was able to map out the entire chamber. It was spacious but entirely within my field of vision. And I did not like what I saw.
This place had markings etched on its walls that wound around the pillars of light. Not a single hole could be seen, so I was effectively sealed within. To say I was fucked would be an understatent.
I was alive only at the whims of this monster.
But I wasn't going to play by its rules. I would rather die than beco a plaything to so psychotic monster in its dungeon.
That's why I needed answers. Answers about this place, about this monster before , and most of all, my purpose in this entire scenario.
I shrugged. "Just a guess."
The dragon crackled a grin, putting its terrifying maw on display. "Spot on!" It laughed with its jaw closed, yet the noise bood across the chamber loudly.
I felt relief surge within at its admission. That ant it wasn't inclined to bring an end to my existence just yet. The more ti I had, the higher my chances of survival.
"What now?" Clearly the dragon refused to answer my inquiry regarding my safety, but I still wanted to know what designs it held for .
"Smart!" The dragon spoke with its eyes narrowed. "You realized that no further information could be gleaned about your past, so you decided to inquire about your future."
While I wasn't hiding my intentions when I spoke, it was an unnerving sensation to see a monster not just speak but interpret the aning behind the lines.
At my shrug the dragon lifted its body. At first I thought my ti had co, that I had sohow pissed off this behemoth savior of mine. But instead of attacking , the dragon started to stretch its limbs, rattling the chains with its mighty strength.
I couldn't help but wonder who the creator of these light-radiating obelisks was. To accomplish such an impressive feat of caging a dragon.
"I will offer you a simple task, human," it spoke; I listened with rapt attention. "Accomplish it and you shall find freedom. Fail to do so, and you will find death. Do you understand?"
I was startled. This was straight-up giving a quest!
My attention snapped to my Hunter Profile, waiting for a new pop-up. Instead I only saw the notifications that I had been pushing aside since my fight with the goblins.
When after a mont nothing happened, I turned my gaze back to the dragon. It was staring at with its eyes narrowed.
"Were you waiting for a quest to trigger?"
"No." I denied with as much innocence as I could muster.
"Don't lie." The dragon pressed, its snout flaring as its breath ruffled my blonde locks.
"Ok, maybe?" I offered.
"Sigh..." The dragon shook its scaly head, letting out an exasperated breath. "Unbelievable."
Well, you can't bla . Call it the aftereffects of the adrenaline rush, but I was feeling pretty pumped up.
"Anyway," the dragon spoke, "the task I'm about to give you is fairly simple. If you execute it perfectly, I will even leave you with a token of my appreciation. How's that?"
While tempting, I wasn't about to accept it without knowing what I would be getting into.
"What's the assignnt?"
However, I also wasn't naive enough to believe the dragon would offer a choice. It might just consider my refusal as failure and straight up chomp down.
"Look up, human." Its snout pointed at the ceiling. I followed its gaze and saw a purple crystal similar to the ones I had seen outside. However, this one was remarkably different as it radiated a thick black plu of smoke that was being sucked up by the ceiling.
"What is that?" I couldn't help but ask, finding the stone just suffocating to look at.
"That, human," the dragon drawled, "is my heart."
My eyes widened to extres due to the surprise I was feeling. "Dragons have... crystal hearts?" That was seriously amazing!
"What?" The dragon snapped back at with a snarl. "That's not my heart, human! My heart is inside that crystal."
"Oh!" Suddenly the amazent was gone. Knowing that dragons didn't have rhombus-shaped glass hearts sohow turned the whole affair mundane.
The dragon snarled at my face, but I couldn't understand what might have rankled the scaly monster. Was it just disappointed that I wasn't looking it up in awe? The thought seed too ...human.
It must have realized that it was wasting its breath on , as it turned to regard its heart once more. "You will climb the ceiling and remove that heart. And then you will kill ."
Hmm? Not that difficult a task—wait! Did it just say to 'kill '?
Kill the dragon?
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