The setting sun cast rays of deep reds, yellows, and purples across a small field. The irregular craters and mounds of dirt created shadows—long fingers stretching away from the sun.
Just moments ago, the sound of a death cry shattered the sky, causing waves of fear to echo beyond the field and into the ancient forest beyond. As the cry slowly subsided, an eerie silence settled upon the land. No creature dared to make noise, a mixture of panic and dread filling deep within their souls.
The silence was only broken by a strained gasping from a collapsed warrior, his once magnificent armor melted, shredded, warped past salvation. His long black hair, matted with dirt and blood, hung over his face to cast dark shadows across his features. The warrior stood through the pain, using pure will more than any power he had remaining, his great sword braced against the ground to steady himself.
His left arm swung lamely at his side, snapped in multiple places; it had already started to swell. He ignored the pain and frenzied heat that radiated from it as he started to move towards the green dragon he had just killed.
Dragons were supposed to be a legend, a myth, a god-like being with infinite power; yet he had found it, fought it, and killed it. Minutes passed by as the bloodied man made his way to the dragon’s body, his consciousness fading in and out and his unwavering determination blinding him to all his surroundings.
The body of the dragon loomed over the warrior’s, green scales like an emerald tapestry. The scales scattered the last rays of the sun into beautiful geometric patterns, marred only by the blood and savage lacerations covering the once perfect being.
Using his own weight, the warrior sunk his great sword into the dragon's stomach, releasing a river of blood to come spilling forth, filling the craters around the dragon. The warrior ignored all of this as he cut his way to the heart. When he got close, the warrior was surprised to find that in front of the heart was a large scale so hard that his sword could not damage it.
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Curiosity finally dragged the warrior out of his single-minded state. Switching his focus from the heart to the large scale, he carefully cut out the scale and marveled at the size and impenetrability. The scale was around three feet in width and a little more in length. After failing to make any kind of mark on the scale, the warrior set the scale aside and continued with his original task of reaching the dragon heart.
By the time the dragon heart was cut out from the dragon, the sun had set, leaving the battlefield in darkness. Using the tiny sliver of moonlight, the warrior carefully inspected the heart before delicately cutting it open, exposing a small spherical pearl deep within.
The dragon’s core radiated energy so dense that the air around the core felt heavy, distorting the moonlight and causing it to dance around the core like a sentient life form. Without pause, the bloody warrior quickly brought the core to his mouth, swallowing the powerful core. As the core traveled down his throat, unimaginable power violently spread throughout his body, the power ripping then reforming his muscles, bones growing larger than condensing into harder stronger ones, skin hardening enough to turn blades but still keeping its elasticity. Shouting out loud as his body was forcefully reformed, the warrior felt his consciousness start to waver, the pain overwhelming him.
At the same time the warrior’s voice rang out, his body emitted a bright clear light, the surroundings briefly becoming day. It was as if the sun had come back out for a split second, lighting up the world for a second time in one day. As the momentary light faded, the warrior’s consciousness finally turned dark as he passed out.