Hours had passed, and the night had come, as such Meyline left the room so that I would get some sleep to heal my body.

“Haah, it still feels so unreal” I said as I looked at the stars, that shined brightly in the stars. “It has been so long since I actually saw the beauty of the night sky, that I almost forgot how it looked.” I said thinking just how long it had been since I had forgotten about the simple pleasures in life.

‘Quite wonderful, isn't it? Well know that to preserve this sight you are going to have to work quite hard.’ the chained man said in my head as I appeared in the cave, where he was chained.

“You, I still don't get it, why me? Of all the people who did manage to kill dragons, why me?” I said as I sat down on the floor and looked up at him.

‘That is true, there were many who satisfied half the conditions of gaining the mantle of the dragon slayer, they never did.’ he said in response.

With a perplexed expression I asked, “What do you mean? Isn't anyone who kills a dragon a dragon slayer?”

With a tiny nod he began his explanation, ‘That is correct, but only partially. To humans anyone that can kill a dragon can be called the dragon slayer, but that is not how the world sees it, for the world has its own way to declare a dragon slayer.’

He continued on after a brief pause, ‘The title that I am talking about, is one that is granted by the world’s sentience itself, and as such only one dragon slayer can exist at one time.’

“… so you mean I was the last choice?” I asked with a confused look.

‘No, it wasn't that you were the last choice, it was that you were the only choice.’ he waved his head as he spoke.

“Eh? I am sure humans survived, even after the dragons destroyed the capital, and I am sure that some of them would be able to kill dragons, so again why me?” I said as I was completely flustered by the implications of his previous statement.

‘None of them managed to enter my prison.’ he said as he looked at me.

“What? I don't remember ever entering your prison.” I said.

Nodding his head he said, ‘That is true you never managed to enter my prison, but your dead body did, you killing the dragon right before my gate and lying on it covered with dragon blood was all that was required for the gates to open, and from there, well things happened that I have not the privilege to talk of right now.’

“You mean to say that the gate was the entrance to your prison?” I asked him.

‘That is correct.’ the chained man nodded in the affirmative

“But even if that was the case, I had already passed away, so what stopped the world from choosing another individual from becoming the next dragon slayer?”

‘Good question, well you see while the world does choose the dragon slayer, we too have the choice to opt someone as our successor, and unless one of us passes away without choosing a successor, the world rarely interrupts, but in turn, we are not allowed to choose someone related to us, as the next dragon slayer.’

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“That answers that, but why were you imprisoned?” I asked genuinely curious of the reason.

‘Hmmm, that is a sour spot, maybe when we get closer I will tell you, but not right now.’ he said with a tiny laugh, of what I felt was sorrow.

“Well okay.” I said, not wanting to bring up a sensitive topic, as every man has things that they would rather not talk about.

‘May I assume then that most of your small talk is done then?’ he asked me.

“Uhuh” I nodded.

Seeing my nodded the golden aired man began to speak, ‘Great then there is something I wish to teach you, as your predecessor, and the last human to have possessed the title of dragon slayer.’

Pausing for a moment from the shock of his words, “Please go ahead.” I said with shock evident on my face, along with genuine curiosity as to what this man would teach me.

With a nod he started to speak, ‘What do you think is the best way to kill a dragon?’ he asked me.

“Sword aura, or grad magic, I would presume?” I said thinking of the most obvious answers.

‘Huhuhu, well most in your position would give the same answer, but that is unfortunately the incorrect answer.’ he said with a tiny laugh.

With a wave of my head I said, “If that is the case then I have no clue as to what the answer would be.”

‘A dragon's own power.’ he said causing me utter shock.

“Huh what? How am I supposed to get that?” I said feeling as if most of my chances against were over before I even started.

With a tiny laugh he once more spoke, ‘Huhuhu worry not child, you hold the title of dragon slayer, given to you by the world itself, it allows for you to harness a portion of a dragon's strength. A tiny portion of it, but a portion nonetheless.’ he told me in a reaffirming manner.

“How does that work? I don't quite understand.” I said with a puzzled expression.

Nodding his head the chained man continued his explanation, ‘It is quite simple actually, when you kill an adult dragon you gain a tiny portion of their strength, be it physical or magical, you gain a small portion of it.’

“That doesn't sound like the most useful ability to me right now… I barely managed to kill a young dragon by myself, and that was because it was an arrogant, and weak red dragon, how am I supposed to kill an adult dragon?” I said with a frown on my face.

‘Your worries are fair in nature, but do not worry child, I will help you grow to some extent by myself.’ he said with a nod.

“How though is the question?”

‘You know, when I was young, I too had that same question, when my predecessor had passed away, leaving me behind, with no one to guide me, or protect me from those lizards.’he paused, and continued his story, ‘but when all hope had been lost in me, I had obtained something that had given me the ability to grow strong enough that even the elder dragons had grown to fear me.’

Continuing on with his story he said, ‘The heaven and earth unification technique, it was something that I had obtained in one of the zen temples that had been destroyed by the dragon’

“While the name sounds nice, I don't quite get what the technique does.” I said with skepticism in my voice.

‘The technique, from what I have experienced, unites the breath of the heavens and the will of the earth into your body, creating a perfect martial body.’ he said.

“So is it like a mana cultivation technique?” I asked with a confused expression.

Waving his head he said, ‘No, not really, the technique just improves one’s body, but it does not gather any mana inside the user's body.’

“Hmm I see I see” I nodded.

‘Well anyway, once you learn this it will still take ages for you to be able to grow your strength to a stage where you can kill dragons, but it will at least give you a fighting chance’ he said.

“But what of the present? How am I supposed to grow stronger right now?” I asked genuinely curious.

‘That I will leave to you, for if I were to answer everything I do not believe you will experience true growth.’ he said as he waved his head side to side.

“Huuuuuu that is fair, well this much is enough anyway.” I said with a nod knowing this much was enough for me right now anyway, for I too had a vast array of books stored in this head of mine that I had taken from the heavenly library of the royal palace to learn for myself when the dragons invaded.

‘I knew storing those books in a spacial ring before leaving was a smart idea. The years I spent reading those books have not gone to waste.’