Kagiso blinked erratically. His ears rung and his stomach lurched. He scanned the maze of shelves and the starless sky above.

“A space between spaces. The Void. Are these Our holy grounds or are these just cemeteries? Is this our heaven or is this our hell?” the Black Dragon rumbled nervously. The pale purple horizon grabbed his attention, and he looked up at the mountains of shelves in the distance.

“Only way to know is to explore. I hope I have enough, Mana…do I need Mana?” Kagiso wondered as he strolled down an aisle. “A Black Dragon? The sons and daughters of the Martyr King. What brings you to this desolate realm, Chosen One?” a disembodied voice rumbled curiously. The sight of a magnificent tree, with an entire galaxy resting on its canopy, flashed before Kagiso’s eyes and he remembered the vision of the mountain.

“Ah! Then you have not stumbled in here clumsily like a babe. You have your eyes firmly fixed on the distant shore.” The disembodied voice rumbled excitedly, and a few stars dotted the pitch-black sky. “Who are you? Identify yourself.” The Black Dragon rumbled threateningly, and the voice laughed.

Thousands of translucent bubbles materialised instantly and the purple eyes inside each one opened slowly. Kagiso waved his right hand and his eyes searched and scanned every centimetre of the dimly lit shelves. He glanced at the top right-hand corner of his field of view and the map of an ever-expanding library on top of an endless ocean of ash dunes.

“I am not there. Not there either.” The voice sang. “You are alive, but you are not amongst the living.” Kagiso rumbled warily and he followed the sound of the voice. The Black Dragon closed his right eye. His many Astral eyes blinked, and his Astral body stood in front of a wall of monitors in his mind palace “Excellent! Use everything at your disposal.” The voice rumbled excitedly, and a series of monitors lit up.

The sound waves ballooned and washed over the shelves. The residual sound waves bounced off every object, ballooned again, and the world looked like a chalky drawing on a blackboard. Kagiso waved his right hand. The blank monitors switched off and the respective eyes closed. The remaining Astral eyes rose and shone brightly to light up his path forward. Suddenly, a purple sun rose with his eyes. The tiny white lights orbited the purple star that now illuminated the eerie library.

“Every sight, smell, sound, taste and sensation. You, and all like you, are the product of these experiences. Quantifiable. Predictable.” The disembodied voice rumbled arrogantly. The Black Dragon stopped in his tracks. He tilted his head back and stargazed. “Can I control my foresight? Are they not visions shared by the King? My foresight? This is not His All-Seeing-Eye, but mine? Are we not trying to model ourselves after them? No, that would be the death of evolution. An influence beyond the Councils? Yes, a force we all bend to, and one that can be bent.” Kagiso realised, and he stood absolutely still.

The stars fell, and the Black Dragon watched carefully. The thousands of white lights emitted a familiar but foreign sparkle, and he held his hands out. The glittery bubbles orbited Kagiso, and one drew his curiosity. The Black Dragon followed the trail of white bubbles to a shelf, with a bright white book on it. He reached out to touch the book, and it opened a portal to a strange pocket dimension with a blindingly bright flash.

“That was close.” Kagiso muttered. He lowered his right hand, and the bubble popped immediately. The Black Dragon scanned the Mana fields that contained his most probable futures. Kagiso spotted one, wherein he wandered the library aimlessly and stumbled upon a golden treasure chest, eventually. The Black Dragon laughed hysterically, before he looked around at all the mysterious scrolls, books, boxes and digital storage devices on the shelves.

*

Kagiso tapped his chin and frowned. He leaned forward, squinted and sighed. The Black Dragon paced back and forth for hours. He pondered the matter for days and finally concluded.

“I am fairly certain this wasn’t here before.” Kagiso muttered. He pulled the book out of its shelf and a golden light shone through the gap. The Black Dragon peered through it, and he spotted a wooden chest.

“Hold on, I’ve seen that before.” Kagiso said with surprise, and he pointed at the chest. “Hmm? Well, when was it?” The Black Dragon asked, and he shrunk. “It’s on the tip of my tongue. I swear after a while, the library outside starts to look like the library inside. Ah! Oh yes! I forgot I was looking for this.” Kagiso rumbled jovially. He strolled across the wooden bridge and walked off the edge.

The Black Dragon spread his wings and grew instantly. He knelt before the beautifully decorated chest and opened it carefully. Three Mana fields, the size of watermelons, burst out of the box. Each bubble contained a book, a bronze ring and a black staff, respectively. Kagiso chuckled and held out his hands.

“Nice try, but I am taking all three. Everything in this chest belongs to me.” The Black Dragon rumbled, and the Mana fields answered his declaration. The interdimensional energy fields wobbled and vibrated, before they drifted towards him. Kagiso slipped the ring onto his right middle finger. He grasped the staff with his right hand and rested the Chrononomicon on his left palm.

“Finally. Behold, my Prince, and lament. Steep is the price of power and lonesome is mountaintop.” The disembodied voice said sombrely and the golden letters injected themselves into the Black Dragon’s veins. He roared and writhed in agony. Kagiso dyed his staff black. He spread his wings and backed into the shelves. The Black Dragon shook his arms furiously. However, his treasures clung to him desperately.

Kagiso clapped his hands, but the staff absorbed the antimatter particles too quickly and he could not annihilate the glittery gold that covered his left hand. The Black Dragon flapped and flapped, but his feet remained rooted to the ground. His wings knocked the items off the shelves and scattered whatever had fallen on the floor. Kagiso thrashed around for weeks, before he had finally absorbed all the book’s contents and secreted enough antimatter to satisfy the staff.

The Black Dragon drifted off to sleep, and time stood still. He dreamt of a little boy who had as many eyes as there were stars in the night sky. The child spoke, but his words fell on deaf ears and so The Universe stripped him of his voice. He pointed, uttered a word in silence and painted entire worlds with the tip of his index finger. The boy smiled and laughed at the astonishment on everyone’s faces. He pointed again, issued another silent decree and a watery tunnel opened.

On the watery tunnel walls were countless glittery bubbles that contained entire galaxies inside. He snapped his fingers, said one last word, and the tunnel stretched on for all eternity. Paths branched out in every direction, before the Astral Realm ballooned and every galactic supercluster in the known universe sparkled. Suddenly, everything contracted again. The world moved around Kagiso, and he reached his destination in a single step. The Black Dragon drifted thousands of kilometres away from a bright blue gem of a planet.

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“What is this world? Is this your home? So many humans, so little space. This tiny planet birthed…everything. Those were your memories…but how? Are you human or Dragon? Who came first, us or them? The Here and There. Do they know that soon it will be everywhere? We all have our part to play, and I must understand mine. Use everything, including your self.” Kagiso realised and the little boy laughed hysterically in complete silence. Tears rolled down the Black Dragon’s cheek as he laughed harder than he ever had before.

*

The newborn Dragons gathered in front of the muddy testing grounds to shed their statuses. They awaited the arrival of the examiners eagerly and lined up in the formation they had hatched in. A few glanced to the sides, and their eyes bulged. A slumbering Black Dragon had appeared mysteriously in the only empty spot. The Golden Eyed Sisters giggled and the Moonglow brothers sighed with embarrassment.

“Where in The Universe have you been?” Raymond asked angrily. “You missed the opening ceremony.” Duke chastised. “Sorry, sorry. I had a very late morning. Calm down, I am certain nobody noticed that I wasn’t here.” Kagiso joked, and he opened his eyes slowly. The Black Dragon stretched his arms and yawned.

The newborn Dragons turned their heads. “How did he grow two hundred metres taller overnight?” “Is it an illusion?” “No, he isn’t just bigger.” “Hmm. He has a more noble presence.” “Is that the same Dragon?” “By The Universe he’s big.” “So, this is why the geezers were making such a big deal about him?” “Was he hiding his true strength this entire time?” they whispered to one another.

“Just in time. Chosen Heir or not, I will not hesitate to fail you. Gear up! Step through the doors and proceed to your respective exam halls! Rules are simple. Cheat and you fail.” The examiner rumbled angrily. Her robes fluttered in the morning breeze and tall wooden doors materialised in front of the newborn Dragons as soon as she had finished speaking.

“That was just one rule? What is considered cheating? She didn’t explain anything.” Mei thought frantically and her door creaked open. “Ugh. Why is the first test always a written exam?” Domanique wondered. She turned to her left and spotted the Black Dragon staring at the clouds. “Moonglow knows how to build them.” the Minotaur Dragon thought, before she reached out and pushed the doors open.

The Black Dragon’s door cracked open, and he strolled through the narrow gap. It shut behind him and Domannique’s brow furrowed. She looked over her shoulder, scoffed and shook her head. The Three Horned Wyrm watched his brother suspiciously. He turned to his door, studied the magical seal on it, placed his palm in the centre and broke it.

A group of newborns exchanged confused looks. They pushed the doors with their minds, bodies and souls and many opened slowly. The rest scanned the doors, and only a handful detected anything strange in the magical plant cells and its Mana. The remaining four’s confusion turned to panic, and they began attacking the doors. The instructor sighed and stomped her foot. The doors vanished, and she failed them on the spot.

The newborns, that had passed the test, walked through the tunnels of light. They passed through the curtains of light on the other end and emerged from the bright white rectangular exits. The examinees landed on a dry salt bed and stared at the desert wastelands stretched out in front of them.

The Dragons took off and scanned their terrain from a bird’s-eye view. Some hovered in the sky for hours, before they settled on a direction. The rest found the exit to the pocket dimension in moments and raced towards it immediately. Kagiso crossed the wasteland in a single step and a thought popped into his head.

“Is this the right thing to do? Should I have flown here? No, this should be fine. Still, to make enough pocket dimensions to test everyone is beyond impressive. I wonder if they will grant me access to the Dragon Guard’s resources. I hope everyone’s doing well. It feels like centuries since we spoke last. Fascinating.” The Black Dragon thought. He waved the holographic monitors away and left his field of view relatively bare.

Kagiso flapped his wings and crossed the threshold. He passed through the white tunnel and made his way to the next stage of the exam. The targets at the end of the firing range surprised the Black Dragon. He landed behind the line and scanned the thousands of stone titans. The first few legions raised their heads and charged across the rocky wastes.

“A sweeping attack. A skill would be quicker. However, a conventional Blade Wheel wouldn’t be enough. The Wind Lance would not suffice either. The targets are too tough to pierce with the elements alone. That seems too simple, though. Who wouldn’t know how to infuse their attacks with Mana? Even Dragon fire has enough traces of it to guide you to your Well. Wait, I’m forgetting. Everyone has their own trial.” Kagiso remembered, and his black staff materialised in his right hand.

The Black Dragon raised his staff and gripped it tightly. He swung it horizontally and activated one of the four small monitors orbiting his right wrist. The Death Wheel cleaved through the stone titans, before it crashed into the humanoid targets in the rear. A bright white explosion engulfed half of the rocky wastelands and the shockwave flattened everything.

The bright white explosion contracted, and the energy formed the door to the next stage of the examination. Kagiso flapped his wings and took off. He flew through the tunnel and emerged in yet another rocky wasteland. However, the targets’ faces were more detailed, and they wore golden suits of power armour. The bright blue accent lights flashed, and they all raised their heads.

“This feels more like experimentation now or are they testing my limits. Did father have a hand in this? Not much is told of the rebellions, and whatever was archived made certain to paint the founding members of the Dragon Guard in a favourable light. So many truths. I wonder what they will do with this one.” the Black Dragon wondered, and he clenched his left fist.

Kagiso swung his hips, slid his left foot forward and punched the air in front of him. He activated the Cosmic Lance skill around his left wrist and unleashed a glittery pillar of wind. The stormy tube broke against the targets’ bodies, and they continued their charge at a snail’s pace. The Black Dragon sucked his teeth, and a memory called to him from the deepest recesses of his mind.

Kagiso’s Astral body folded the space between it and the light in the distance. The apparition stepped forward, and the world unfolded behind it. The Pirate Lords flashed before his eyes, and he smiled. Craven tossed a glittery orb at him, and Kagiso caught it curiously. He studied the glittery light inside, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Flecks of gold materialised around the Black Dragon. The gold sparkled, and Kagiso appeared before the nearest target. He threw a blindingly quick punch and the Divine Lance obliterated everything behind it. The Black Dragon snapped his fingers and the remaining golems aged horribly. Their armour rusted away, and their stone bodies crumbled.

“Use everything. I cannot believe I almost forgot about them.” Kagiso rumbled shamefully. The divine Mana emitted a warm, golden glow. The Black Dragon enveloped his left arm in the strange interdimensional light and his right arm in the mysterious interdimensional waters. He placed his hands together and kneaded the two energies together. The targets rebuilt themselves slowly and Kagiso smiled. “Predictable and I know I can do a lot more than this.” He rumbled confidently.

*

The Black Dragon was the fourth one to finish his exam. He absorbed the warm energies back into his cells, but the other three had already noticed. Raymond charged at him, and he barely grabbed Kenpachi’s arm in time. The Dragon bone katana stopped millimetres away from Kagiso’s neck and he stared at the red eyed Dragon calmly. The Three Horned Wyrm lowered his gaze in shock.

“Oh, I was going to wait until there were more of you. But I guess you can start now if you want.” Victor rumbled sinisterly. The Dragon Guard recruits looked around and the elders took their seats. More doors of light opened and a few more Dragon Guard recruits popped out. They scanned their environment and spotted their comrades and opponents, before they noticed the small crowd. Every Dragon of age from every clan had gathered to witness the final test.

“To commemorate the Expansion Wars, to remind us of our failures and our successes. To cement your oaths to your responsibilities and your ambitions. You will compete in a battle royale. We etch this final painful lesson in all recruits and pray to The Universe that you will never need it. Do not be afraid. We have filed your DNA and nano-configurations and added you to the Respawn System. Kill, die or fail, those are your only options.” The Dragon Guard General rumbled, and the Dragon Guard recruits’ shoulders dropped. They clenched their fists and lowered their heads.

“Divine Lance.” A single voice uttered, and a pillar of light burst through Kenpachi’s back. He vanished quickly and appeared on the other side of the coliseum. Mei placed her hand on his back and her drones surrounded the Black Dragon. “Have you lost your mind?” she screamed, and Kagiso raised a single index finger. The Dragon Guard recruits looked up and the Void Spells sparkled. “What would you do if I did? What could you do if I did?” Kagiso rumbled arrogantly.