Me: I'm a human summoned from another world.

I answered truthfully. The dragon was strong enough to make the demon run at first sight. There was no way I was going to retaliate in any way.

Dragon: What spell did you use?

The dragon didn't speak with its mouth. Somehow its voice would just reverberate in the environment.

Me: I deeply apologize but I have no idea what you are talking about.

I hadn't been able to use a single magical Skill against the demon.

Dragon: There it is again. Somehow I can feel that you're telling the truth. I know it's authenticity with my eyes.

I looked into the dragon's eyes. They were yellow with a black slit pupil in the centre, gazing into me.

Me: It's probably the result of a Title I recently obtained, 'Trusted'. It said that higher beings could feel it when I'm being sincere or insincere.

I answered truthfully again.

Dragon: Amusing. That vile thing has never before been able to affect me intrinsically. But then again, I never bothered to check.

I was unable to figure out whether the dragon was amused or pissed without any facial expressions and a monotonic magical voice.

Dragon: You shall come with me.

He opened his wings and flapped. That single action produced enough pressure to lift it's giant body several hundreds of meters into the sky. The trees beneath uprooted and whatever remains were left of the village, also got blown away. Thankfully I was protected by whatever spell was holding me in place. I was additionally thankful for the spell again when the dragon flew at the speeds for aircrafts. I'm sure the wind pressure of that flight would have been enough to blow my body to smithereens if it wasn't for the bondage spell protecting me.

We probably covered hundreds of miles taking me even further away from the kingdom. The dragon landed high up a mountain on a cliff. There was a cave up ahead and a smaller dragon came out of it as soon as we landed.

Dragon: I will nap for a week. Make sure no harm comes to my son.

So apparently the dragon was a female and had a young son whom the earlier demon had been trying to kidnap. And now I was its maid. And clearly she deemed me weak enough to not even be a threat to her baby dragon.

The little dragon was little for a dragon but still dwarfed me several times over. It stood at a height of about two stories and its length was four times that, half of it just its tail. Even its mouth was big enough to devour me in two bites; and that's exactly what it attempted first.

The next week, Evasion and Heat Resistance rose more levels than they had since I'd come to this world. But thank God that dragons sleep a lot! The little one slept about 20 hours a day and went without food for the whole week. I managed to survive off some herbs that grew inside the cave and a small pool of water. There was also a hoard of precious metals and objects deep into the cave but I didn't dare go anywhere near it. There was no way for me to get off the mountain by myself other than jumping off to my death.

The time that the dragons were sleeping, I would just sit and stare down the cliff, wondering how everyone else was doing. Occasionally, I would get pings from the direction of the kingdom that someone was talking about me, thanks to my newest title Foolish. But they were so sparse and few in between that I was sure that they had stopped searching for me by now and declared me dead. I would remember all those people from the village that the demon killed. I would remember all those people who came to visit me in the kingdom begging me to take revenge for them. I remembered the promise I had made. Every day I would think that I had to go back and get back with my party members and defeat the demon lord. I would remember my humiliating defeat with the demon and I would end up training till I would collapse. I also probably did it so that I wouldn't think too much.

A week later, the bigger dragon woke up. The first thing she did was take off, leaving me playing another bout of 'Escape the little one who will finish you in two bites'. She came back a couple hours later with a large number of animal and demon bodies in its mouth. It dumped it in front of the cave and went back to sleep. Tired of playing with me, the little one gorged itself on the dead bodies, even chewing down the bones as a crunchy delicacy. Then it slept for three days straight. Apparently it was just hungry and the bigger dragon was too lazy to get it food regularly.

The next time the little one woke up, it didn't try to eat me. It just followed me around, occasionally trying to poke me. I did my best to dodge those as I was sure that I'd die by a single poke from its nails. I’d seen it try to poke rocks and their aftermath was not a pretty sight when I imagined my body in their place. But now that it was full, our routine began to change. It would sleep for much longer at a single stretch and would genuinely play with me. Over time, I got close enough to him that he would let me ride him and run around inside the cave. I would notice the bigger dragon occasionally open one of its eyes to look at us and then go back to sleep.

Finally after a month, the big dragon arose, stretching its wings and giving it a few light flaps. I hid behind the little one to prevent being blown away.

Dragon: Human, you have kept my son good company. You are to live here and continue doing so till he learns to fly.

The dragon commanded me as if it was an obvious thing to do.

Me: How long with that take, Ms. Dragon?

I tried to ask respectfully.

Dragon: Ms. Dragon?

The biggest problem with this being was that it was impossible to tell the emotion from the speech. One wrong word and I could be dead.

Me: I'm not sure what to call you. Do you have a name? Mine is Lyca.

The dragon finally opened its mouth and let out what could only be described as a roar.

Me: Umm.. Is that your name?

Dragon: Yes.

Me: I don't think my throat can produce that kind of sound..

Dragon: Then you may call me as you please.

Me: Then, Ms. Dragon, could you tell me how long it will take for your son to be able to fly?

Dragon: I don't know. Could be now. Could be centuries.

My mind completely blanked out at the massive difference in the life-spans of our respective species.

Me: I deeply apologize, Ms. Dragon but I really need to go back! My fellow men wait for me so that I can defeat the demon lord!

I bowed deeply in request.

Dragon: I can perceive your truth and I can feel your sincerity. It is bizarre.

She would take the conversation at her own pace.

Me: Ms. Dragon, I beg you! Please let me go. I swear I will return once my duty is done!

Dragon: Dragons are strong enough to fly since birth. You teach him and let him take you down this mountain.

She declared that she had no intention of listening to my request and told me to do it by myself.

Me: But if he learns to fly and another demon comes after him!?

Dragon: Dragons are independent once they can fly. I will no longer be responsible for the safety of this child.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She said that and took off to get more food for her son. And as a repeat of last time, came back and slept.

I was left by myself to think how I could make the little one fly. He was my only way to get out of this place and Ms Dragon had assured me that he was strong enough. Maybe he was scared? I learnt later that wasn't the case and it was because he was lazy.

I tried cooing him into attempting to fly, dragging him, threatening him but nothing worked. For one, he didn't even understand human speech like Ms Dragon did. If all dragons were this lazy, I could imagine how old she would be just because she managed to learn human speech. On second thoughts, it was probably some kind of translation magic. Yes, most definitely that. There was no way that prideful dragon would ever lower itself to learn the speech of us lesser beings.

A few more months passed and by this world's standards, I had already been in this world for more than a year. I came up with a name for the little one myself because when I asked his mother, I got another roar in return. I called him Rhaegal, which was the name of one of three dragons in one of my favourite TV shows. I was desperately waiting for its last season before I got summoned. I wonder how it went.

Rhaegal and I got incredibly close during that time. He would give me chunks of his food that I would cook using my fire magic. He would compete with my fire magic using his own fire breath which would sometimes be a broad flame thrower and a super focused beam, the others. Needless to say, I never won that game. I managed to make a kind of brush for him and I would clean his scales and nails. He loved when I did that. He would let me ride him and run around the cave. Sometimes we would fight but my Evasion had maxed out so he would never hit me and none of my attacks(even lethal ones, I tried) did any damage against his scales. We would eventually tire out and sleep and start playing again the next time he would wake.

One day I started to get a lot of pings from the kingdom. A lot of people were talking about me. It got so much that it started to overpower my own thoughts. I realised there was something going on in the kingdom; the first thing that came to my mind was a demon attack. I thought I had to go there right now. I woke Rhaegal up and begged him to attempt to fly but he didn't understand me. I decided to make one last desperate attempt. I stood at the edge of the cliff, ready to jump. Rhaegal realised what I was doing and tried to swat me back with its tail but my Evasion skill was too high for that. I jumped over it and down the cliff. I had my back to the ground so I wouldn't be able to see when I'd hit. I just looked at the sky, hoping for a miracle but not putting my faith in it. If I'd learnt anything in my time with these dragons is that they didn't care about anyone else. That's why I was surprised out of my mind when Rhaegal jumped after me and spread its wings. It flapped its wings, slowly overtaking me and then he turned. I already had all my defensive skills at max so the impact didn't hit me too hard.

I was flying. No, Rhaegal was flying and I was riding on its back. I looked back to the cave and Ms Dragon shot a laser to the sky. Rhaegal turned around and did the same. Ms Dragon then went back to sleep and I never saw her again.

Thanks to the constant pinging, I knew the direction of the kingdom and had Rhaegal fly straight in that direction. After a few hours of flight, the pinging died down considerably but it was still there. I had Rhaegal land in the forest outside the kingdom so he wouldn't cause a commotion.

Me: Thanks Rhaegal.

I hugged him across his chest. He closed his wings around me, thankfully controlling his strength to not crush me.

Me: Be safe, alright.

I rubbed my hand on its snout. I had forced him to leave his safety and become independent. There was a huge amount of guilt inside me and I had no way to get rid of it. My only respite was that I knew first hand how tough he was and there should be hardly anything that would be able to hurt him.

He rubbed his nose against me and snorted. I didn’t know if it was possible but it felt like he was crying.

You have obtained a new title!

Title

Trusted by the Dragons(Hero Version)

Description

One who has come to be trusted by one Dragon will be trusted by all.

Effects:

1. Dragons will not harm you unless you provoke them.

2. Skill Dragon Sight

Added effects due to Hero version:

1. Lesser dragons who are underlings of the dragon whose scent lingers on you, will be willing to do you favours (Ask them nicely, they are still Dragons!)

You have obtained a new skill!

Skill

Dragon Sight(passive)

Mana cost

N/A

Description

Dragons can peer into the very souls of the world. No truth can stay hidden if a dragon decides to look for it.

Effects:

1. You can detect statements as truth or lies.

I had a sad parting with Rhaegal. I promised him I would somehow find him once everything was over even though I knew how impossible that promise was. Maybe if I got pings from him talking about me and he stayed in the same place while I slowly made my way over… Yeah, impossible.

I put it out of my mind and entered the kingdom. People were out and about more than usual and nothing seemed to be wrong. It especially didn’t seem to be a demon attack like I had been fearing. I asked some random person what was going on and he told me a new hero had been announced today. I was taken aback, but what really got to me was that the people didn't seem to be happy for a new ray of hope. It was more like they were celebrating a festival. As if no one really cared about the heroes and what they did. I asked someone if they didn’t care about the demon attacks.

Random person 1: Nothing to do with me.

Truth.

My new skill Dragon Sight told me he really believed he had nothing to do with the demons going around. Weren’t there so many of them? I asked around more.

Random person 2: Demons? Never seen one.

Truth.

Random person 7: My great grandfather once slew a demon by himself!

Lie.

Random person 40: I heard rarely some demons manage to get through the guards and create havoc but personally I haven’t met anyone to whom it happened.

Truth.

I frantically went around asking people. Surely, someone had to be troubled by demons right? It couldn’t be that I wasn’t really needed? Had I been living a false reality? Was my perception so terribly skewed because it was me who would go out looking for demons to hunt? What about the village in the forest? Would they have kept living like these people had I never showed up there and broken the equilibrium? What about all that I heard in the castle? What about all those dreams of those soldiers? If I had this skill then would I know that they had been lying to me? Or had they also been living a false reality? Or were these people who didn’t know of the world outside?

I didn’t know what to think anymore. I asked around for my party members. It turned out that one of them was living close by but the people suggested against going to him, calling him a liar and fraud for boasting about being in a party with a Hero. I knew it was the truth so I went anyway. I found him sitting in a bar with a skimpy woman at his side. I didn’t have any feelings towards him so I didn’t care if he was seeing another woman but there was a little part of me that was jealous. Wasn’t he supposed to love me? I have forgotten his name, so I’ll call him ‘Mark’.

Me: Mark.

Mark: Hmm? Who are you?

He turned around to look at me but didn’t recognise me.

Me: You don’t remember the woman you claimed to love?

Mark: Huh?

Skimpy woman: What! Didn’t you say you were past all that and loved me!?

Truth.

She slapped him and left with a huff.

Mark: Look woman, I have no idea who you are..

Truth.

He just rubbed his cheek where he was slapped as if it were a regular occurrence. I didn’t answer him and left. Surely, I couldn’t have changed so much that he wouldn’t recognise me just after a year?

I went to find the next guy. I’ll call him ‘Mark2’.

I found out that he had settled down with a wife in one of the better parts of the kingdom. I knocked on the door of his house and a pregnant woman appeared. My feet turned to leave but I stopped myself.

Me: Is this the house of Mark2?

Pregnant woman: Yes it is. And you are?

Me: I’m an old friend of his. Is he home?

Pregnant woman: Yes sure. Hey honey.. There’s someone here to see you.

She screamed to the inside of the house. Mark2 came out. He hadn’t changed a bit.

Mark2: You’re alive?

Me: Right in front of ya.

I smiled back at his reaction but he didn’t smile back.

Mark2: Honey, you go inside.

He told his wife.

Me: Aren’t you happy to see me?

Mark2: Obviously I am.

Lie.

My mind blanked out.

Mark2: How did you manage to survive?

Me: …

I didn’t know if there was any point in answering him.

Me: Did you look for me?

I simply asked.

Mark2: We looked for several weeks but couldn’t find you.

Lie.

Me: Is she your wife?

Mark2: Y.you see.. I thought you were dead and I couldn’t wait for you forever..

Truth.

He was telling the truth but the statement was too generic.

Me: Did you ever love me?

I asked him directly. He stood up straighter and looked right into my eyes.

Mark2: I did.

Lie.

I left. I didn’t even bother looking for the third guy and left the kingdom. There was nothing here for me. I regretted leaving Rhaegal’s side. He was the only one for me in this world but now there was no way I could find him.

Before I left, I took a sword with me. I hunted demons day in and day out, making my way over towards the demon territory. I didn’t know why I was doing it but I had no idea what else to do. My life after the high-rank demon blasted me away helped me learn how to live by myself, whether it be for survival or to be with only my thoughts.

To reach the demon lord’s castle, there were two major routes. One was the shorter but more dangerous one; through The Bottomless Marshes, then The Forest of The Laughing Witch and lastly The Abandoned Towers Where All Rots. The second route was safer but much longer. By now I was strong enough and had plenty of experience to fight mid-rank demons by myself so I chose the first path. Admittedly, I wanted the path where I would not require to think about my own life and how pathetic I was.

The Bottomless Marshes was a place where there was little land and it was full of swamps. Demons lived inside the swamp and would try to catch your feet and drag you down. I had no problem here thanks to my maxed out Evasion.

The Forest of The Laughing Witch was filled with a hallucinating mist. Thanks to having so many different types of demons before, I had Mind Resistance and the mist had no effect on me. I easily defeated the weak demons that would appear, thinking I had lost my mind.

The Abandoned Towers Where All Rots was again a piece of cake since I had Rot Resistance thanks to all that food that Ms. Dragon brought and Rhaegal would never finish and just go to sleep. It would rot for days before I would throw it away.

Finally, through everything that had happened, I reached my final destination, the one that I was brought to this world for; I reached the demon lord’s castle. I was about to open the giant golden doors in front of me but the high-rank demon’s words stopped me. I knew for a fact that even if now I faced that demon again, I would still lose. And he said that the demon lord was easily a thousand times stronger than him. I probably would have never believed him had I not met the dragons and realised how weak I actually was. My body shook as reality finally sunk in and my hand refused to open the doors in front of me.

I sat down in front of the golden doors and hugged my knees, and just stared at the gate. I had reached a point in my life where I had nothing. Behind me was nothing. In front of me was death. I didn’t know what to do anymore. The thoughts that I had been suppressing by constant fighting came back to haunt me. I sat there for several hours just staring at the doors, hoping to just somehow disappear when the doors opened and a human-like demon came out.

???: How long are you going to sit outside my home?