First dream:

Michael lied on his bed, looking at his small house’s ceiling. He was alone and tired. There was no way to observe the day and night cycle from the underground, but since he was feeling sleepy, it should be pretty late. A bit lost in his thoughts, he yawned and closed his eyes. Right now, he was safe. There was no reason not to rest to prepare for the next day.

In the room’s comfortable silence, Michael felt his consciousness drifting away faster and faster. His awareness of his surroundings blurred as he fell asleep. The room around him was replaced by an endless, dark void.

He blinked, looking at his hands. They were translucent and blue, as if he had become an incorporeal entity.

What?

His brow furrowed as he looked around. There was only darkness as far as the eye could see, but Michael’s mind was clear.

Is this one of those lucid dreams?

Still, it was a boring dream. There was nothing to see or feel. At that moment, his chest started thumping. Automatically looking down, Michael saw a small glowing sphere within his chest. It looked like a miniature star as it flared, the flames moving and fluttering without stopping. It throbbed and pulsated, heating his body up every time it did.

Was this supposed to represent his Dragonheart? Michael’s spirit frowned. His Heart continued to beat, a bit stronger each time. Heat and power spread from his chest to the rest of his translucent form without stopping. He hadn’t activated it, so why was it reacting like this? Ordering his Dragonheart to stop beating, Michael closed his eyes. It did nothing. It continued to thump, ever faster. At this point, it was too much.

Michael’s breathing got rougher. The burning heat still filled him, as if cooking him alive from the inside. Floating in the void, he doubled over, heaving and grabbing his chest as if he wanted to tear into it and rip out his Heart. It didn’t stop, becoming more unbearable by the second.

I’m going to die.

This felt too real to be a mere dream. Something was happening, but he didn’t know what. His Dragonheart was searing his soul from the inside, and he couldn’t do anything about it. Suddenly, a foreboding feeling hit him, overwhelming even the infernal heat. Instinctively, Michael turned around.

The endless dark void rippled like water, then caved in and collapsed into itself. The ‘hole’ that appeared showed the surface of a star on the other side. Completely covered in orange and yellow flames, it floated proudly an unknown distance away from the hole. A chill went down Michael’s spine. What the hell was going on?

That was when Michael noticed him.

From the center of the celestial body, flying out at a speed he couldn’t even fathom, was a single man. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the man arrived at the hole and stepped through it, reaching Michael’s side.

The tall man’s sharp jawline nicely complemented his short crimson hair. His muscular body looked like it had been sculpted by the greatest artist to have ever lived, with perfect proportions, to the point it was unnatural. The man’s eyes were angular and with golden irises, but the pupil was a vertical slit.

However, Michael couldn’t care less about the man’s appearance. He merely stared at the man with a galloping heart. It was the first time he ever saw this man, but why did he feel such familiarity? It was as if he were looking at an old friend. A chill went down his spine as he looked into the man’s vertical pupils.

A Dragon.

He didn’t even need to think about it. Staring at the man he assumed to be a True Dragon, Michael barely noticed it as the void behind him collapsed as well. He turned around, beholding the three people walking out of the portal. One woman and two men. This time, instead of familiarity, he felt rejection and disdain. The woman stepped forward.

She had green hair and yellow eyes, and was definitely the most beautiful woman Michael had ever seen. Wearing a dress that constantly shifted colors and reminded him of the dawn over a forest, she looked at the red-haired man.

“Why are you making this harder than it needs to be? It’s over, Doran,” she stated in a low tone.

Doran only stared at her with a mocking sneer, smiling like a beast baring its fangs.

“Surrender or die,” she continued.

Even more disdain shone in Doran’s eyes as he looked at the other two.

“Three Gods of War. What an honor,” he replied in a dragging tone. “Ganging up like ants.”

The woman flashed a cold smile, not saying anything. Doran only shook his head and cracked his neck. The moment he opened his mouth, the three Gods of War moved, as if they had been waiting for it. Titanic amounts of mana resonated with the endless void, shaking Michael’s spiritual form to its very core. His gaze trembled as a concentrated beam of energy and light ripped its way out Doran’s mouth in a blazing spectacle.

Despite Doran’s ordinary size, the beam spread out once it lefts his throat in an impossible fashion. It covered everything Michael could see, including himself, forcing him to close his eyes instinctively. He could feel space itself melting away to reveal whatever unknown lay beyond it as the beam shook the very fabric of spacetime. He didn’t even dare to imagine how powerful this attack really was.

Once the heat disappeared, Michael tentatively opened his eyes. Before him was a Dragon straight out of a myth, but even more impressive. It was bigger than anything he’d ever seen; he couldn’t even estimate its size. Red scales covered a muscular body, pure fire flowing between them. The powerful arms ended in sharp claws, while leathery wings proudly stretched out of Doran’s back. Finally, a reptilian head with a snout was adorned by golden eyes and three golden horns.

Dumbstruck, Michael stared at Doran’s true form. The majestic Dragon’s rumbling voice echoed through space itself.

“I see you came prepared, Ceara.”

Michael turned around. Surrounded by a white globe of pure light, the three Gods of War floated. The two men were heaving and struggling to even remain standing, but the green-haired woman seemed fine. Despite her incredible beauty, Michael felt only dread and aversion as she smiled. Her eyes were as unfeeling as they could be.

“Death it is,” she said while keeping her smile. The sphere of light came undone.

Doran and Ceara moved at the same time. Doran’s right claw ripped its way through spacetime, creating large gashes in the void as it moved toward her figure. She disappeared, then reappeared far above the Dragon in an instant and pointed her hand at him. Raising his gaze in a flash, Doran roared and flew toward her. Out of her index finger, green and yellow chains surged, trying to wrap themselves around Doran. They burned to nothingness as they approached him.

Michael’s Dragonheart thumped as he stared at Doran’s chest. It was beating, just like his. The Dragon opened his mouth and another beam of light flowed out of it in a straight line. Ceara vanished once again, but this time, so did Doran. Before he could even react, Michael was dragged to another environment.

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Doran and Ceara faced each other in the middle of several stars, with a planet underneath them. The first collision destroyed it completely. The second time Doran’s Breath and Ceara’s chains clashed, everything that remained was vaporized. Stars collapsed into supernovas as the two combatants used space as a tool, teleporting and flying through.

Michael witnessed all of it, even though he should have been completely unable to even perceive a battle of this level.

“Space will no longer aid you,” Doran suddenly spoke.

Space immediately froze, completely stopping to ripple or shift. It was as if Doran’s declaration had been an inviolable decree that none could defy. Appearing thousands of kilometers above the Dragon, Ceara frowned. Doran flew toward her, assisted by spacetime just like before.

Michael watched all of this happen with wide eyes. The moment Ceara made gigantic trees sprout from the empty void itself and surround her, Doran’s claws arrived, burning with blue fire.

The moment the abilities collided, the dream cracked like glass.

Michael woke up, heaving and soaked in sweat. He grabbed his forehead with wide eyes. The memories of the dream were still completely clear to him, almost unnaturally so.

No, that was no dream.

He placed his hand on his chest. His Dragonheart raced in his chest, heating him up. For some reason, he had been shown a vision. But was it of the past or the present? There was no way for him to know.

As the memories of the two fighters’ cataclysmic power flashed through his mind, Michael clenched his fists. He was still too weak. This vision had only reminded him of that.

He sat still for a long time, staring into the air and gathering his thoughts. The memories of the vision didn’t disappear. In the end, he stood up.

There’s a long way to go.

He needed to get out there and become stronger. He had discovered that the Dragons and the so-called Gods of War had once fought, or were still fighting. The consequences of this might end up affecting him, so there was no time to waste. Silently, Michael stepped out of the house.

Second dream:

The days passed by quickly, but not quietly. Every day, Michael would study under Tairy’s tutelage, going out to hunt just enough to maintain his Villager rank. Tairy had advised him that it would be wiser to hone his abilities instead of trying to increase his rank within Bluestone Village. He was making steady progress. His Level hadn’t changed, but he got more familiar with his Skills. As Tairy had advised him, he never stopped thinking about different ways they could be used.

Finally, on the tenth day, there was a change. That night, Michael had a dream.

It started as he drifted into unconsciousness inside Tairy’s place. Sleep quickly devoured him completely. His surroundings melted away into endless darkness until he opened his eyes, reflexively looking down. His hands and arms were translucent. He immediately realized what this was and raised his head.

In the middle of the boundless void, a single creature floated.

Its golden scales still shone, even though there was no light source near them. Its long body coiled around itself, ending in a thick tail. Its horns looked like antlers, but the sharp claws that adorned its hands made it clear that this was a predator. Whiskers lined its snout. It was different from the red Dragon in the last dream, but Michael recognized it for what it was all the same.

The Dragon raised its head and stared straight at him. Its golden irises burned like a thousand stars, the vertical pupil splitting it in half like an abyss. The eyes shifted continuously, revolving as if they were made out of a nebula.

“Hatchling.”

The Dragon’s voice echoed throughout the void, even though its mouth hadn’t opened. The rumbling sound shook Michael’s spirit. Almost on its own, his Dragonheart started thumping within his chest. Looking down, he saw a golden sphere in the middle of his chest. Still, he didn’t dare look away for too long. Michael hurriedly raised his gaze and looked at the Dragon.

“You are growing. But it is not enough. You are still pathetic.”

Michael felt almost sure that the creature had sneered at him.

“…Why have you brought me here?” he asked tentatively, unsure if he would be able to even speak in the void.

“To tell you of your fate.”

His Dragonheart started beating faster.

“We stood at the peak,” the golden Dragon continued.

Suddenly, the environment changed. Like paint on a white canvas, the void was replaced by scenes and images of another time. One depicted a blue Dragon flying through orange skies, while another showed an enormous Dragon ripping a star in half and swallowing its core. Both Dragons differed from each other in appearance, almost as if they were unique. Michael had no idea if those things had really happened.

“There was nowhere we could not go. The Heavens bowed at our very presence. We were worshipped and feared, as we should be. As the Multiverse’s most perfect entities, we reigned supreme. But…”

The Dragon started shining. Its golden scales glowed as wings made of pure light took shape behind it. Light flowed throughout its entire body like a physical force and gathered around its claws and fangs. The creature’s eyes burned with power.

Suddenly, the void cracked like glass. The images and pictures disappeared as ethereal chains ripped their way out of the holes and pierced the Dragon’s body. They were both enormous and countless. After an unknown amount of time, they wrapped themselves around every corner of the Dragon. Michael could tell that even its Dragonheart hadn’t been safe from the chains’ onslaught. As if they had never been there, the chains disappeared, but Michael could tell they still existed. He saw the Dragon for what it really was.

A warrior who had been defeated.

“The gods turned their backs the moment ‘he’ appeared.” The Light Dragon’s voice took on another tone, as if it were spitting out the words. “Dragonslayer. Wingbreaker. Our kind’s requiem. Erasil, the Transcendent.”

“…You fought. You lost.”

The Dragon growled in distaste.

“I was only one of many. Each of us was powerful enough to face even the Martial God if the need arose, but it was different for the Dragonsbane. He reached a pinnacle that even we did not know of.”

Michael furrowed his brow. He felt like he was failing to keep up with the conversation. Why had this Erasil decided to go against the Dragons? And why had the other gods turned against them? Uncaring about his feelings, the Dragon continued to speak.

“The Great War spanned hundreds of thousands of years. Over time, our numbers were culled by the unison of the divine and the Transcendent. Yes, we lost.”

Michael’s spirit shook his head. He didn’t know what to think about what he had just been told. He struggled to grasp the scale of the Dragon’s words, which were informing him of events that far surpassed everything he had ever come in contact with.

“You still haven’t explained how that affects me.”

It was a question asked to make things as clear as possible. A low chuckle echoed throughout this realm where only the two of them existed.

“You do not know how unique you are. You do not know what your existence means. Once they find out about you, all of the gods who pulled us down from the skies will not spare any effort to hunt you down and kill you.”

Even though he currently wasn’t corporeal, a chill went down Michael’s spine. A frown made its way to his face.

“…That only means I need to hide well.”

“Foolish. There is no way to hide a Dragonheart from the gods. Your only chance is if the ones of us who still remain help you.”

His words caught in his throat as he cursed in his mind. He understood the implication of the Dragon’s words; he had been doomed from the start. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and bit the bullet.

“…What do you want from me?”

The Dragon’s eyes shone brighter.

“Revenge.”

The word echoed, weighing down the atmosphere.

“…And if I don’t do it?”

The Dragon shook its head.

“You will lose everything you care about all the same. Only, all hopes of the resurrection of our kind will disappear.”

Michael scoffed. He couldn’t care less about the fate of the Dragons, but if he was going to be hunted down anyway, it was better to have their help. He couldn’t let any of his friends or his mother get caught up in the storm of bullshit he had realized he was in.

“Fine. Will you help me?”

“I already have. The Blessing will assist you well, weak as it is. Become stronger faster than before. Know that your fate hangs in the balance. You have enemies you are not even aware of, and they are much greater than your current self.”

Michael rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. He felt like a nuclear bomb had just exploded right next to his head. At least this confirmed that the Blessing had been the work of this Dragon.

“What is your name, Dragon?”

The dream started to come undone, the void tearing like silk and collapsing. Yet, through all of this, Michael could see the Dragon smile.

“Clyranth. Light Dragon, Clyranth.”

The ethereal chains appeared again, tightening their grip around Clyranth’s body. Michael gave the creature one final nod before his consciousness returned.

He opened his eyes, looking at Tairy’s house’s ceiling. With a deep breath, Michael raised his body.

Damn it.

He thought he was doing pretty well, but now he was supposed to fight against beings that had defeated the Dragons, who could tear celestial bodies apart? It was a nonsensical burden. He stared at the floor in silence.

His back felt much heavier than before he fell asleep,