After his successful evasion, Zeke tried attacking the dragon, yet this time, the creature was the one to dodge out of the way. Avoiding every single one of Zeke’s sloppy strikes. He could feel it. His proficiency with the blade was too low. No matter how many attacks he could dodge, he could not land a single strike on the dragon, and thus, winning this bout was still impossible.

Dragons were known for their ridiculous strength, often being regarded to be just as powerful as demons. However, dragons were widely known as the most intelligent and wise species, even surpassing angels.

The way the dragon moved after avoiding each of Zeke’s strikes proved its intelligence. Each time Zeke missed, the dragon would counterattack, killing Zeke in a single attack.

After about ten thousand attempts, Zeke noticed that his body started to change, likely adapting itself to the changes in his nervous system. His movements became sharp and precise, his legs grew strong enough to effortlessly leap over any attack. His body became more flexible, granting him the ability to get out of tricky situations and positions. His eyes grew sharper, able to judge and predict motion and distance more accurately. It seemed like he had begun to slowly adapt and change with only one function in mind, killing that dragon.

Past this point, with each attempt, his lives got increasingly longer. As the dragon was no longer able to simply swat him away. Zeke flowed gracefully, constantly shifting in and out of the dragon’s reach.

He moved, weaving from under the dragon’s attack. Until suddenly, he saw an opening. He struck the dragon on the chest with all of his strength.

The blade shook. Then bent. And eventually shattered. Sending countless metal fragments

“Your edge alignment was wrong,” Fredric smirked as the enraged dragon devoured Zeke in retaliation.

Zeke opened his eyes. Adrenaline filled his veins. He rushed at the dragon, leaping up towards its head, striking it with the blade. The dragon groaned in anger as the blade shattered. It killed Zeke in retaliation. But Zeke didn’t mind.

From the moment he opened his eyes, he charged at the dragon and struck it. His sword would shatter, and he would die, over and over and over again. Until eventually, the blade didn’t break. He evaded the dragon’s attack and struck it again, and the blade shattered on the second impact.

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Another fifty thousand deaths passed until Zeke’s weapon stopped breaking. Zeke would strike the dragon repeatedly in the same spot. But the slashes didn’t even leave a single dent in his armor.

The dragon grew even more ferocious, charging blindly at Zeke. But he did not fret. He weaved gracefully out of the way of the dragon’s ferocious onslaught, dodging his wide attacks, bites, and charges. The dragon froze. It looked at Zeke with its deep blue eyes. Suddenly, its maw opened, and its body unwound, splitting perfectly down the middle. Its scales unfolded and from its body, a majestic humanoid figure stepped out. It appeared as a man who was about 2 meters tall, with long, flowing black hair, and two curved horns peeking out from his head. His body was covered in golden scales, scarcely covering parts of his nude physique in golden armor, a dark robe was dripping from his waist draped down to his knees. His hands and feet were completely covered in the same scales, along with long angular claws protruding from the tips of his fingers and toes.

The dragon stepped out from his molted shell as it disintegrated into a sea of golden particles.

“Atman,” the dragons said, manifesting a large guard less blade within its hand.

The weapon appeared crude, rusty and jagged, with one sharp edge.

“murkh maanvah,” the dragon growled, steadily approaching Zeke.

“What did he say?” Zeke stumbled backwards.

“He called you a fool,” Fredric smirked.

“What language is that?” Zeke asked.

“Sanskrit,” Fredric replied as Zeke’s head rolled clean off his body.

Zeke opened his eyes.

“How do you say ‘dragon’ in Sanskrit?” Zeke turned to Fredric.

“Ajgar,” Fredric replied.

Zeke turned around and charged at the dragon with all his might. He once again forced it out of its shell and as the creature stepped out looking at Zeke with its large blue eyes, Zeke opened his mouth.

“maanvah ajgar,” he smirked at the creature.

The dragon stood, visibly confused.

“You just called him a ‘Human dragon’,” Fredric laughed, as the dragon stared at the two, unable to understand what was happening.

“murkh ajgar,” Zeke corrected himself, after violently shaking his head.

The dragon’s eyes turned ferocious. The blood vessels on its crown pulsated as its body took on a savage expression.

“anaadrpurnah,” the dragon growled, striking Zeke through the throat.

From that point on, Zeke understood the difference in skill he had to overcome. The creature found it difficult to attack him in its draconic form, as Zeke was simply too small and nimble to handle. But once the dragon compressed itself closer to the size of a human, it could now fully utilize its body.

Each time Zeke came back, he would force the dragon to transform, and every single time, he would be killed in a single strike. No matter what he did, the dragon would stab him through the throat, looking down at his lifeless body with that deep, blue, piercing gaze.

Until eventually, a hundred thousand attempts passed. Zeke started to lose himself in the fight. All he was before, his past, and future, it all faded away into a trance, a battle with a creature he could barely understand, an intense dance of fates and desires.