We begin to rise out of the stifling chamber, and I begin to register the first traces of the outside world. A faint earthy smell. The red, stone-like substance morphing into a softer looking brown. Dirt. The slight sound of something buzzing. These small things occupy me until we reach the surface. That’s when we shoot out from the hole in the ground, and the world above is truly revealed to me. A world vibrant with life.
The ground is covered in a vibrant blanket of grass. Small patches of flowers dot the carpet of greenery, breaking up the otherwise monotone field with small bursts of color. My eyes wander to the edges of the clearing surrounding the hole, where massive trees rise from the ground. I follow one up with my eyes. And up. And up. They widen more and more as the tree just keeps rising. Only when I’m looking almost straight up can I see the top of the tree. Woah… My other senses are just as inundated with stimuli.
The clearing smells so powerfully of wet earth that I can almost taste it. My ears are nearly overwhelmed by the bustling sounds of life, from the shifting of the grass, to the animals tromping around. It takes a moment for me to even register that the ground is still getting farther away. What? We’re going higher? The red-eyed dragon continues flapping its wings gracefully, pushing the both of us higher more and more quickly. Mere minutes after we start our ascent, we fly through a hole in the canopy, and into the open sky. In the distance, there are mountains that dwarf the forest. Some are jagged peaks reminiscent of massive, curled teeth, while others are enormous ridges with snow dusting the tops.
The red dragon’s flying skills make the experience feel even more surreal. The movement upwards is smooth, contrary to the bumpy ride I expected. My eyes wander over the forest, using this unique vantage point to take in the sight of what must be hundreds of miles of forest.
Suddenly, the red-eyed dragon turns around, disorienting me in the process. It beats its wings and begins to fly forward again. It speeds over the trees, making everything around us turn into a blur. The speed makes me want to vomit, but I somehow keep all of the stomach acid where it belongs: in my stomach. My eyes close, and the whole experience becomes a lot less nauseating.
The experience actually becomes almost peaceful, allowing me to ruminate on what just happened. So… I broke out of an egg, was found by these dragons, and now one of them is taking me somewhere. To be thrown in the wilderness to “see if I have the talent.” What even is the talent? The talent to survive? The talent to become smart? Do I even have any way to find out? I can’t ask, and this red eyed dragon doesn’t seem inclined to tell me on its own.
Well, I think I should leave that train of thought for now. Wait… train? Oh, I bet it’s another one of those words. My mind goes back to that space again, searching for the definition. And, once more, it comes back with a blank. Well, I guess that’s one more word to add to the list… which only consists of one word right now, Surgery. And now Train. I wonder just how long it will end up getting. Well, it’s pointless to speculate.
My musings cease as I sense the dragon slowing down. My eyes slowly crack open, the nauseous feeling having mostly gone away. What I see surprises me.
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We’re in… a clearing? The red-eyed dragon is flapping its wings to keep us in place, holding me above the ground. That’s a long fall… It starts to bring us down from our place in the sky. In barely any time at all, my feet are touching the ground.
My stance is stable, and a couple of test steps reveal that my body now knows how to walk. It’s so easy now…
The red-eyed dragon speaks up, after letting me walk around a bit. “If you really can understand me, then think [Status]. It will give you an advantage out here.” The red-eyed dragon shakes its head. “Thinking that a hatchling can understand me… I shouldn’t tell Maria.”
Maria? Who’s Maria? Forgetting that I am unable to speak, I try to ask the question. But all that comes out is a squeak. The red eyed dragon chuckles. “I’ll take that as an affirmative.” Well, what about the other thing he said? Saying a word? What was it? Status? No, I remember! It was [Status]! A wall of information bombards my mind the moment I think the word.
Razag:
Level: 1
Species: Crimson Dragon Hatchling
General Skills:
[Passive - Dragon Scales] lvl 1
Skills:
Unused Skill Slots x 5
Stats:
STR: 10
END: 14
VIT: 10
WIS: 15
INT: 15
The moment the word of power crosses my mind, something changes. It’s almost like my mind unfolds, expanding into a larger version of its previous self. Multiple instincts and pieces of information are added to my mind. How to open the Status. How to level up. How to increase my stats. How there was more to the System than just this Status screen.
Bombarded by all this new information, my mind can’t keep my body upright. I collapse to the ground.
Slowly, I sort through this information. The Status opens up the same way a memory would? So when I reach for it in my mind space, it will actually come?
Okay. Next, leveling up. Killing other creatures seems to level me up. My body shivers slightly. I don’t want to kill other things, though. But… the definition of dragon said carnivore, not herbivore. So I have to eat meat. The topic changes quickly, for I don’t wish to dwell on it.
And lastly, there’s more than just the Status. The Status seems really useful already, but there’s even more? Well, I can’t say if it’s useful yet, since I haven’t actually done anything with it. But still! It does seem useful.
My musings are interrupted when the small gusts of wind coming from the red-eyed dragon stop. My eyes are drawn upwards and are only met with the sights of the forest, and the sky. No red-eyed dragon. Where did it go?