The Red Dragon spread its wings and took off toward the sky, with its wing thrashes sending whirlwind gusts of hot air that nearly knocked me to my feet. And that is how I found myself here: dangling off the side of a flying Red Dragon, holding on for dear life.

Winds raged about me as I scrambled up, using the ridges on the scales to hoist myself up. The dragon coiled and rolled, trying to shake me off, but I was not willing to let go. The volcano below opened its fiery maw, reaching out to swallow us whole. Step by step, I climbed my way to the head of the dragon, where the horns crackled with raw energy. "Time to bring you down," I said between gritted teeth.

Gripping one of its horns for balance, I raised my fist and pounded it into the dragon's skull with all my might. The impact reverberated through my bones, but I didn't let up. Blow after blow, I hit the dragon's head until it let out a pained, disoriented roar. Its wings faltered, and we began to plummet. It fell over itself. We crashed through the trees, the ground thudding with every crash, until we finally came to a stop.

It sat there, dazed, tongues of flame licking at the sides of its mouth as it let out a confused, concussed bellow. Fire erupted from its jaws and scorched the earth and the trees around us in an attempt to keep me back. "Tough bastard," I grunted, wiping blood from my mouth. Without hesitation, I launched myself forward, delivering a thunderous punch to its jaw.

The dragon swayed, its massive body collapsing with an earth-shaking *Thud*. Dust and debris filled the air, but I knew it wasn't over. The dragon still breathed, its chest heaving with labored effort. For my final blow, I launched myself into the air, the force of gravity pulling down on me with frightening force. I aimed directly for the middle of its skull, and every bit of strength within me went into my fists.

When I landed, the impact felt like an explosion that sent shockwaves into the ground. Dust and debris flew in all directions. And when it settled, I stood victorious, standing atop the dragon's bloodied, dented head. It was finally dead. Standing there, I caught my breath, feeling it—the rush of power filling me. The power of the dragon became mine, and his Fire Magic flowed through my veins.

I took a deep breath and let loose a torrent of flames into the sky from my mouth. The fire roared like an inferno and split the clouds above me. "Damn… that's nice," I said. Having defeated the dragon, I reached for my magic pouch in my pocket, an everyday-looking bag with extraordinary properties. No matter how small or heavy the object, it could fit inside the pouch without changing its weight.

I pointed it at the dead dragon's massive corpse, and in an instant, it was sucked inside. As I slung the pouch on my waist, I glanced back at the smoldering volcano and let out a low whistle. "Whoever made this pouch was definitely a god… or close enough," I said.

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Day 68

As soon as I came back to the city, I waited eagerly to show off my newfound strength. Ruby and Silvia just sat on a log, munching bread as I stood before them. "Okay, you two. Watch this," I declared, extending my fingers. A turn of my wrist was followed by flames bursting all around my palm and then shooting up into the sky in a spiraling column of fire.

The Earth beneath us shuddered with a slight heat, the fire bisecting the sky across like an orange-red beacon. I wheeled around to face them, hunting for wide eyes or slackened mouths. Instead, Silvia yawned, and another piece of bread slipped lazily into her mouth. "You incinerated half of a forest for that party trick, didn't you?" she asked. Ruby, on the other hand, moved his head sideways, his broad red eyes sparkling in the firelight.

"You're both impossible," I said, plopping myself down. "Do you know how hard it was to take down that dragon? I punched it out of the sky!" Silvia smirked and replied, "We know what you can do, fucking dumbass. You stealing powers from a dragon is about as surprising as Ruby eating all the dinner leftovers."

Ruby smiled happily, gnawing on what was left of his snack at the sound of his name. Their lack of concern was… disappointing. If nothing else, that kept my ego in check. A few minutes later, I decided to train with Ruby outside the city walls while Silvia watched on the sidelines. There was still a lot I wanted to test. Possibilities felt endless now that I had Fire Magic and the Wordless Magic.

As the sun crested higher in the morning sky, I raised my hand and channeled fire into my palm. Flames manifested instantly, but this time, I shaped them—not just into fireballs or torrents like you'd see from mages here, but into things I'd seen only in movies back on Earth. A wall of fire? Done. A blazing phoenix that spiraled around the clearing? Easy. Twin swords made of searing flames? It felt like child's play.

Ruby stared at me, dazed, his red eyes tracking all my movements. "How… how did you do that?" he stuttered, and his broken words were getting stronger day by day. I smiled, settling my blazing sword against my shoulder. "Imagination, Ruby. It's all about imagination." "Imagination?" he repeated, blinking in puzzlement.

"Yeah," I replied and let the flames disappear. "People where I come from—on Earth—we've spent so much time creating stories and fantasies that we can dream up anything. Dragons, giants, heroes, villains… magic beyond anything you've seen here. We use it to escape reality, to make life a little less boring." I stood up, calling forth another ball of fire and shaping it into the form of a dragon. All I have to do is see it and make it so.

Ruby's eyes went wide as the fire-dragon flew a few meters before bursting into sparks. He clapped his hands together, his grin so big it looked like it might split his face. "I want to try!" he said. I laughed. "Go ahead, show me what you've got."

Ruby spread his arms wide, furrowing his brows as he concentrated. A thin flicker of flame appeared now, wavering like a candle's, and he panted as that sputtered and fizzled out, but the determination stamped on his face made me proud. I ruffled his hair. "Well, not bad for the first try. You'll get there." And I started thinking of the people in this world already by afternoon when Ruby rested.

They were so full of magic potential and still didn't even find a way to invent something new; they used the same old spells- fireballs, barriers, healing lights as if nobody had ever dreamed that it might be otherwise. "They lack inspiration," I thought to myself, raising my eyes toward those clouds drifting by. That's all it is.

On Earth, humans created whole worlds in their heads, fantasies born from boredom, pain, or the simple desire to explore. Here? No, people seemed content with the status quo. They followed the same tired old traditions as if creativity were some forbidden art.