I was just smoking "grass" with an Old Dragon.

"Br-brother Talon opened his eyes! Are you okay!? Brother!?"

A crying six year old girl. Her tears were akin to an eternal waterfall. It had no end.

"Nina, don't let up! Press harder!"

A boy trying his best to act strong to give his little sister strength.

The familiar voices of my younger siblings. A forgotten feeling of warmth and comfort from a thatch house.

Am I experiencing a psychedelic trip?

It was too outlandish of an experience.

How can a memory be so vivid?

It's like I am experiencing the folly of my youth. Of a time when I challenged a beast that was out of my league. Several times stronger than my own.

The pain of the gouged out flesh. A gash left by the merciless fangs of a Bakunalis. It felt real… too real!

HOLY MOTHER OF A PROSTITUTE GOD!

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Oh how long had it been since I last screamed in pain. The body that long grew accustomed to pain that it would automatically suppress the sensation. This fuelled vessel of mine had endured far worse.

A severed leg.

A gouged out eye.

A pierced lung.

In a fight a moment's hesitation would prove fatal.

Moreover, after getting captured by the Entei Empire and tortured for information I have grown far too accustomed to pain. Yet, why was it that I couldn't handle this pain!?

"SHIT IT HURTS!!"

When pain assaulted my very being.

Only then did I realize.

"It's real!?"

Or it's just a really powerful drug.

"FUCK! IT HURTS!"

Nah, it's definitely real.

How the fuck did it get to this?

===

My name is Archon. I no longer have a surname at this time so I doubt it would be necessary for me to speak of it. All my life I had several occupations but nothing had been more prominent as being an attendant.

I lived for 86 years and more than ninety-percent of my life was spent as an attendant to three different people. The last Master that I offered my services to was also the longest.

Dragon Lord Metis, that was the name she gave me.

Caked in blood and a foot in Death's door, she appeared before me in her full glory.

"I have come searching for an Attendant. Your loyalty and skills have been renowned and far widespread that it has even reached my ears. My name is Metis of the High Heaven. Human, do you wish to go under a contract with me?"

She announced her name with confidence. But in truth I had not even heard of her.

Having served two heads of Nobility, I have been introduced to many secrets of the world. Technology that could fold space and deliver you to the other side of the continent. Magical Items that could sunder the heavens. Mythical beast that lays dormant underneath the capital of the Empire.

But never the Metis of the High Heaven.

Perhaps it was a con. A beautiful lady offering her hand to a pitiful man whose end neared.

At the time I thought, 'If this is a con, I will gladly offer my life.'

A musing of a dying man it was.

Death would be liberating.

But another chance would allow me to repent.

It was a win-win for someone like me.

"I offer you my all. My soul and all."

"I don't need your soul. Just your loyalty."

She employed me when I was still in my early thirties and brought me to her castle hidden behind the clouds.

Over the Horizon, up the highest Glacial Mountain, an invisible path leading to a palace built on clouds awaited. There, she healed and nursed me and in retired I served her with loyalty and piety.

Alone, taking care of her… as well as her eccentric ventures.

And that's 52 years ago. Now I am an old man with gray hair. My body retained its mass, but I lost most of my strength.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

There are few things that's good about growing older. But I managed to grow a beautiful beard. So that immediately eliminates most of the bad.

Besides, most of my tasks are menial at best. Not needing much physical labor.

"My Lady, the samples have finished refining."

"Ah, perfect, I have finished preparations as well."

A beautiful woman that's as tall as an oak tree. Horns that resembled the starry skies. Her body is slim yet full of power. Skin without a sight of blemish like porcelain. Silky long black hair and eyes that swirl with the grace and depth of a galaxy. Tied together by a gown that touched the ground yet remained clean.

She is the woman that I serve.

The master of the Flying Castle, Dragon Lord Metis.

My Lady is a Dragon Lord… or something along those lines. I sound unsure but that's because I actually am.

She's a bizarre creature who does not follow normal conventions, after all. The Dragons who visited her castle all bowed their heads.

Though I am the attendant of such a powerful being, I don't really get respect.

"But, he is but a lowly human! How can someone like him deserve the honor of serving her Holiness! How about the kid from the Eastern Cloud?"

"Wow~ the Fire Dragon King really speaks his mind as if the subject of his ire wasn't here. How rude. Isn't he, my Lady?"

"What did you just say, human!?"

"Nothing, nothing."

This happened twenty years ago. Just as I got used to working in the Castle.

There were many who opposed my existence in the Castle. In their eyes, a lowly weak existence like myself was less than the dirt between their nails. To have someone like me as an attendant was an obvious source of shame.

And I'd have to agree.

Even amongst humans, I am particularly weak.

The one he just mentioned was a testament to how important this job was. When the Fire Dragon King spoke of a kid he did not mean some ten year old kid. This Dragon is talking about an old man five times my age, 'He must be talking about the Sage of the Eastern Cloud Order.'

He is the Master of a large organization that is on par with a country. I've read about him. I heard he's an enlightened one. How nice. Such a powerful person is seen as an attendant.

'Compared to someone like me, he is indeed a good choice. But—'

"Then do you perhaps mean to say that my decision is incorrect?" My Lady gave a short reply.

She always shut them up.

That was the last I remember someone tried to get me fired. At least actively. There were many attempts to get rid of me. I don't want to get into things but let's just say I got used to sensing people and I can now resist a Dragon's Poison.

My Lady is treated with majesty.

Everyone who ever visited. Whether they had the titles of Kings or Emperors. Whether they controlled one Country or one Empire. Even those whose name I have only heard in songs would approach my Lady as if they were walking on eggshells.

That's how strong she is.

Even at this age I remain ignorant as to what she is. Even after serving her for years. I have not been able to grasp her existence. Even after reading in the library that has no end, I remain stagnant in the shadows. Forever grasping air, never touching truth.

The only thing I can say for certain is that she's beyond normal convention. And that's coming from someone who had seen the world at the throes of apocalypse a handful of times.

Even now, I am conflicted if I should be in awe or scared of decisions.

For you see. This Lady of mine is as graceful as she is insa…cough*... ahem, allergies, oh yeah, eccentric.

"Did you just think of something rude, Arc?" she asked as she box from my hand.

"Whatever could you mean my Lady? Do you mean to say that you felt this old man who had served you through sickness and in health that I would ever dare to speak ill of you? I am honestly hurt."

"Hmm, you're getting better at hiding your thoughts. I don't like it."

"It was my Lady who made me learn how to do it. More importantly—"

"You're just going to brush off my comments like that? How rude you have become. The audacity of this human." she teased as she laughed.

"Ahem… this is a mysterious material that even my Lady had never seen before. I have gone through the Records ten times and I have not found anything that resembles this. Even the recorded Otherworldly Materials that have been discovered aren't like this. I am simply worried that it might harm my Lady."

"Oh Arc, ever the worrywart. But I see the root of your concern. However, this is something that must be done. This plant that managed to terraform an entire Continent a week after it crashed onto this world. Summoning Ancient Creatures of the past. Isn't that interesting? And I want to see more of it and I can no longer wait."

Her eyes were shining when she spoke. Her excitement could clearly not be contained.

"But—" I could no longer say anything. However, my worries remain.

The Ouroboros Flower that's the name My Lady granted the flower that suddenly appeared in the world. When I say suddenly appeared, I do not mean it came from space. I know when something is from outside our world. I can sense it.

No, it simply appeared. It wasn't created through a ritual. Nor was it summoned from a different dimension. It just existed and terraformed the Fire Wind Continent to a hellscape. After it had landed it woke up the Elden Creatures in deep slumber underneath the ground. It even brought back the wildlife that had long disappeared.

It was a mystery.

It took a great deal to retrieve it.

Even My Lady had to act. She descended to the world and came back bloodied… that was the first time I saw her like that.

After researching it. She decided to refine it and turn it into incense.

My Lady has an ability to dismantle and understand the nature of things by ingesting them. She says that inhaling them by turning them into smoke was the best and most efficient way.

"It is like a hallucinogen. It would fill me with information and would lead me to know of its origin as well as its effect. Do not worry, I will create precautionary measures and ensure it will not kill me."

That means she expects to at least suffer.

Normally, she would do it alone. But this time… I decided to join her.

"I cannot let My Lady do this alone."

She was surprised to hear my words. But smiled and patted my head as though I was young, "How truly loyal."

Back to the present, My Lady led me to the room she uses for this ritual.

The Room of Wonders.

The door was closed and four orbs on each side of the room dimly lit the room.

The walls were painted to look like the expansive cosmos. Though the room was small. No bigger than five paces in the square room. In the middle of the room there were two cushions and a black plate.

"Come, Arc, sit down with me."

My Lady offered me the other cushion by her side.

Sitting by her side, I was silent. She was the one who did everything.

She first crushed the refined Ouroboros Flower to fine powder. My Lady meticulously managed the fine powder and created a flowery design.

"Does forming that into a flower have anything to do with the ritual?"

"It makes it fun to watch while it burns." she laughed once more.

There was nothing else to do. She had already finished preparations while refining the flower. I was left with the finishing touches so all that was left was to burn the powder.

Snap!

A crisp echo of her fingers snapping appeared in the cramped room.

The light from orbs on each side turned off and was replaced by the blue fire on the tip of My Lady's fingertips.

"I am beginning now, steady your breathing."

I followed her advice and I calmed myself. She lit it in the center. And it slowly spread to all sides of the flower. Slowly, the smoke became thicker. Filling the room with an indescribable scent. A delectably soothing aroma that made me feel light on my toes.

It felt like the smoke was invading my body.

It felt like I was floating. Up to a different plane of existence. I saw a lot of things and relived memories that I have forgotten. The memories became clearer. And a few minutes later… I was screaming in the past.

"AAAAAHHHHHH~"

In pain.

At death's door.

And devoid of the grace and maturity I have cultivated over the long years I spent with My Lady.

"SHIIITTTTT…."

But, try getting poisoned and cut at the same time.

It hurts.