Chapter 9 - Burden of the Dragon

One thing's for sure, teleportation sucks. It's like being thrown into a blender, every part of your body twisted, stretched, and squeezed at the same time. Your head feels like it's being squashed like a lemon, while your legs stretch out like rubber bands, and your hands…well, they shrink to baby size. I am pretty sure that I turned into a T-rex for a solid second.

And the side effects? Oh boy. 

Once you're done spinning around like laundry on high speed, welcome to the nausea. Before I knew it, I was bent over, vomiting up what I'm pretty sure was the Wyvern meat I had for dinner yesterday, making a second appearance. Yeah, gross.

But, let me tell you, it wasn't any better the second time around. However, you get used to it in the long run. After a couple of minutes, the world stopped spinning, and I could finally stand without needing to hug the ground. I wiped my mouth and took a look around.

"What the hell is this place?" I muttered to myself.

I was standing at the base of a volcano. Not the Genesis Volcano, that was as familiar as my own room at this point, but a different one. in front of me was a massive stone ball, easily three times my size. And sure, I'm tall for a six-year-old, but this thing was huge. I had to crane my neck just to take a look in the whole thing.

This wasn't the Genesis Volcano. I had seen that mountain enough times to know it like my own face, and it definitely didn't have this strange mix of brown and red colors. Honestly, it felt like I had been transported to Mars and if I looked up at night, I would risk seeing a blue planet hanging in the sky.

This mountain seemed to be made of sand rather than rock, as if the heat and the pressure were too much for a solid stone to hold its shape, destroying the bond between the molecules. I could see a worn path leading upward, carved out as if it had been used countless times before, with the sand unable to cover it.

I was confused, to say the least. My mind raced. "Where am I? What is this place?" I knew that this was a trial, one my father had been preparing me for, without even bothering to explain why.

"That demon," I grumbled, shaking my head. "If he knew about these challenges, he could've at least given me a heads-up instead of just making me train like hell for no reason.".

I looked up at the sky, the sun seemed to be torturing these lands and I included, the heat almost unbearable. And, then, something hit me "Wait, I am outside. I am free."

I couldn't stop the grin that spread across my lips, and before I knew it, I was laughing like a madman "Freedom!" I shouted, throwing my arms up toward the sky like I'd just escaped from prison. "Finally, no more cursed training!"

There was no castle. No overbearing father. No invisible barriers to keep me caged. For the first time in years, I was completely free. A small part of me even started thinking about all the things I could do now. Maybe I could finally be a merchant, or an artist, or even a bard, there were a few Earth songs I remembered that could kill it in this world.

Saving the world? Nah, that's a job for someone else. I'd leave the heroics to the main characters and enjoy the simple life. Heroes are not born, they are made. I just had to create a few of them and everything would be fine.

But just as quickly as the joy came, it slipped away. A familiar face crossed my mind, my mother, Queen Isabel. The way she'd look at me sometimes, those sad eyes, like she was still mourning the unborn child that never had a chance…because of me. I killed her child. My grin faded, replaced with something heavier. Guilt.

"Damn it," I muttered, lowering my hands. I couldn't shake the feeling of shame that settled in my chest. I wasn't her real son. I wasn't truly their child. I'd been reincarnated, but part of me had started accepting them as parents. That wasn't supposed to happen, right? I wasn't supposed to care this much. I am an adult from another world, not a child.

"What the hell am I doing?" I whispered to myself, trying to push the emotions away as I kicked at the sand. I needed to refocus. I had been happy for a second, where had that gone? "Let's go for freedom," I said half-heartedly, though the excitement was already nowhere to be seen. I kept walking, trying to find that feeling, but I completely lost it.

After about ten steps, my forehead slammed into something solid. I stumbled back, rubbing my head.

"What…?" I stretched my hand forward, and sure enough, there was something blocking my way. Just like the one from last night. Another magical barrier.

"Great." I sighed, running my hand along the barrier. It blocked me in completely, trapping me in this invisible box. No matter where I turned, it was there, like a giant, invisible prison.

"Fuck!" I punched the barrier in frustration, but it nothing happened. No matter how hard I hit it, the damn thing wouldn't budge. I rested my back against it, sliding down to sit on the hot sand.

My mind raced as I tried to figure out what to do. There had to be a way out of this. It's a challenge. Think, Christian, think. "If Father's been preparing me for these trials, there has to be a reason. There has to be something I missed."

My eyes landed on the stone ball again. Suddenly, one of my father's training sessions appeared in my mind. Twice a week, he would take me to the back of the Genesis Volcano, strap a bag of heavy stones to my back, and make me climb all the way to the top. When I got there, I had to toss the stones into the volcano. It was a complete hell of a training.

Of course. It had to be the same here. The trial was the same, just with one massive stone instead of a bag of smaller ones. I needed to push the stone up the mountain. Simple. In theory.

I got to my feet, dusting off the sand, walking towards the stone ball "Alright, let's test this out."

I planted my feet into the sand. The surroundings seemed even more desolate and barren than before, not a single sign of life could be seen. The horizon was polluted by the endless expanses of reddish-brown sand, as if this region had never touched a single drop of water. It really did feel like Mars.

"Well, here we go" I muttered, rolling up the sleeves of my black shirt. The coiling red dragon embroidery on the back of it seemed to represent the pride of Aestum. I took a deep breath, locking my arms in place as I pressed my back against the stone.

"One… two… three." I counted under my breath, steadying myself.

I pushed with all my might, my muscles swelled as oxygen and adrenaline coursed through my veins. For a second, nothing happened. I could feel my feet digging into the sand, but the rock remained in place. I kept pushing. My legs burned, my arms ached, and just when I was about to give up, the stone shifted. It was just an inch, but enough to break the inertial.

"Come on," I growled, pushing harder. Slowly but surely, the stone began to roll up the path. The sand made it harder, but I was moving. It was working.

As I passed the point where the barrier had been, I felt a surge of happiness. My theory had been right. But I didn't stop, I couldn't. If I let go now, the stone would roll back and crush me, and I'd be stuck here forever. That was worse than any training session my father could dream up.

"Just keep going," I told myself, ignoring the burning pain in my legs and arms. I had no idea how long this would take, but stopping wasn't an option. I had to get out of this invisible trap, one way or another. 

So, with my legs shaking and my lungs burning, I kept pushing the stone up the mountain. Because as bad as this trial was, being stuck in this desolate wasteland forever would be even worse. Without water and food, I would die in a couple of days under the relentless punishment of the sun.

Each push felt like a battle against the mountain and myself. Sweat covered my face, stinging my eyes, dripping off my chin.

Step. Push. Step. Push. 

The stone shifted under my hands, grinding against the sandy path, the way becoming steeper, refusing to give me any momentum. The weight of the stone felt like it was doubling with every foot I climbed.

"Why… is this… so… damn… hard?" I grunted through gritted teeth. My voice was barely a rough whisper, my throat dry and without a drop of saliva.

I didn't know how many hours passed. My body was working on instinct, working on a pure and primal desire to live. 

The only though in my passing through my mind was: Keep pushing. I have to get away from this. I felt like a tiny ant trying to move a mountain. After an eternity, I could feel an unbearable heat reaching me. I instinctively knew that I was nearing the volcano's mouth now. No, I was already there. I could see it hissing and spitting the lava.

"One more! Just one more push!" I urged myself, searching for any last shred of strength in my body. My arms felt like they were ripping apart, my muscles screaming, my legs about to break as I dug my feet deeper into the sand, pushing with everything I had left. 

And finally, I did it. The rock tipped over the edge and plunged into the bubbling lava below. But before I could feel any sense of relief, my feet slipped. I hadn't been watching the edge, my back still against the stone, and with nothing to hold me steady, I lost my balance. 

I felt the ground disappear beneath me.