Riding a Dragon

As Elion stood amidst the death and destruction, enjoying his newfound power, a sudden chill ran down his spine.

The air grew thick, heavy with an oppressive force that seemed to suck the very life from the forest. The ground beneath his feet began to tremble, softly at first, then with increasing intensity.

Elion's eyes widened as he saw it—a massive shadow blocking out the sky, growing larger by the second. His heart raced, a raging fear clawing at his insides. This was no ordinary Dred.

"System," Elion whispered, his voice barely heard over the loud beating of enormous wings, "What... what is that?"

[That's the Dred that killed you before. But it has evolved.]

The shadow descended, revealing a beast of monstrous proportions. A dragon, as large as a mountain, its scales radiating with an otherworldly light. Its eyes, burning like twin suns, fixed upon Elion with a gaze that seemed to pierce his very soul.

With each beat of its colossal wings, entire trees were uprooted, tossed into the air like mere twigs. The forest, once bathed in sunlight, now lay cloaked in darkness under the dragon's massive form.

Elion's legs felt like jelly. All that confidence he had earlier? Gone.

"No way," he muttered, "System, you sure that's a Dred? It looks like it came straight out of a fantasy book!"

[Yes, it's a Dred. But Dreds can evolve. When they consume other Dreds, they grow stronger, accumulating negative emotions and fears. This one has clearly devoured many.]

"Really? Why didn't you tell me such important information? Are you crazy?"

The system didn't answer Elion's question, as if it were hiding something.

The dragon let out this massive roar, and Elion thought his head might explode. He covered his ears, but it didn't help much.

"How am I supposed to fight that thing?" Elion asked, his earlier swagger completely gone. His hands were shaking so much he could barely hold his sword.

[C'mon, Elion, don't freak out now. Remember all that training you did.]

But Elion was too scared to really listen. The dragon was looking right at him, and its mouth was full of teeth as long as Elion himself.

"I can't do this," Elion said, backing up. "It's way too big. What was I thinking?"

The dragon's claws dug into the ground, leaving huge marks. Trees were falling everywhere.

Elion couldn't stop thinking about how he died last time. It all came rushing back—the pain, the fear, everything. He gripped his sword tighter, but he couldn't stop shaking.

"System," Elion said quietly, "I don't think I can do this. This is way worse than I thought it'd be."

[Look, I get it. This is tough. But you're not the same kid who got killed before. You've gotten stronger too, you know?]

The dragon narrowed its eyes at Elion. It seemed to remember him, and not in a good way. It started moving towards him, real slow and scary-like.

Elion wanted to run, but where could he go? This thing could probably catch him in two seconds flat.

"What do I do?" Elion asked, mostly talking to himself. "How can I beat something like this?"

[First off, stop backing up. Face it head-on. Remember why you're here. This thing took your life once, right?]

As the dragon got closer, breathing hot air all over him, Elion closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, you're right," he said, opening his eyes. He was still scared, but he looked a bit braver now. "I didn't come all this way just to run away."

Elion raised his sword, its blade catching what little light filtered through the dragon's massive form. He might be afraid, he might be outmatched, but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Alright, you overgrew lizard," Elion called out, his voice stronger now despite the tremor that still ran through him. "Let's see what you've got."

The dragon Dred's mouth curved into what could almost be described as a grin, accepting the challenge. It reared back, preparing to strike, as Elion steeled himself for the fight of his life.

Just when Elion thought things couldn't get any scarier, the dragon opened its massive jaws. At first, Elion saw a tiny fireball in its throat. But in a split second, that little spark turned into a huge ball of fire, big enough to swallow a house.

"Oh crap," Elion muttered.

The dragon let loose, shooting the fireball straight at Elion. Without thinking, Elion took off running, moving faster than he ever had before. He was practically a blur, zooming between trees as the fireball chased him.

WHOOSH!

The dragon's fire breath swept across the forest, missing Elion by inches. Trees that had stood for centuries went up in flames instantly. In seconds, a big chunk of the forest was nothing but ash and smoke.

Elion kept running, dodging falling trees and jumping over burning logs. He looked up, and all he could see was the dragon's huge body blocking out the sky. It was like running under a living, fire-breathing mountain.

Elion panted as he ran, "I've never fought a dragon before, but if I cut its neck, it should die, right? That works for most things."

[Well, I wouldn't recommend doing that.]

"Details, details," Elion muttered, ignoring the system voice. He had a plan now, crazy as it was.

Elion stopped suddenly, digging his feet into the ground. The earth cracked under him as he gathered all his strength into his legs. Then, with a massive push, he launched himself into the air.

BOOM!

The ground exploded where Elion had been standing. He shot up like a rocket, rising to the same height as the flying dragon Dred. The wind howled in his ears as he climbed higher and higher.

The dragon's eyes widened in surprise. It clearly wasn't expecting its tiny prey to suddenly appear right in front of its face. Before the Dred could react, Elion was already swinging his sword.

The blade whistled through the air, aiming right for the dragon's neck. The neck was huge, about as thick as a skyscraper, but Elion put all his strength into the swing.

"Take this, you damn lizard!" Elion yelled as his sword struck.

CLANG!

Elion's sword hit the dragon's scales and shattered into pieces. His eyes went wide.

"You've got to be kidding me," he muttered.

But Elion wasn't about to give up. "Inventory," he said, activating his sub-dimension skill. A portal popped up next to him, and he quickly grabbed another sword he'd made earlier with his [Creation] skill.

Thinking fast, Elion aimed and threw the sword with perfect accuracy. It struck the dragon Dred right in the eye.

ROOOAAAR!

The dragon let out a scream so loud it shook the entire forest. Elion's ears started bleeding, but he managed to land safely on the ground.

"Ouch, that thing is loud," Elion grumbled, rubbing his ears.

Quick as a flash, he opened his inventory again and grabbed more swords. He threw them as hard as he could at the dragon, but they all broke when they hit its scales.

The dragon, now seriously angry, turned to glare at Elion. Then, faster than Elion thought possible, it dove straight at him.

"Whoa!" Elion yelled, caught off guard.

[Elion, listen up!] The System's voice cut through his panic. [The dragon's weak spot is the back of its neck!]

"Now you tell me?" Elion shouted back.

Just as the dragon was about to reach him, it opened its mouth to breathe fire again. But Elion was ready this time. He jumped high, dodging the flames, and landed right on the dragon's back.

The dragon immediately shot up into the sky. Elion nearly fell off, but he grabbed onto the scales and held on tight.

"This is insane!" Elion yelled as he started climbing towards the dragon's neck.

The dragon, realizing Elion was on its back, flew straight up, heading for space. Elion struggled to keep his grip as the air got thinner.

[Elion, we're leaving the atmosphere!] The System warned.

"I can see that!" Elion gasped. He looked down and his jaw dropped. The Earth below was a mess. Where there used to be green continents, now most were black or brown.

"What happened down there?" Elion asked, struggling to breathe.

[Focus, Elion! You can't breathe in space!]

Elion held his breath as they left the atmosphere. His head was spinning, but he forced himself to stay conscious. When the dragon slowed down a bit, Elion saw his chance.

He opened his inventory one last time, grabbed a sword, and with all his strength, stabbed it into the back of the dragon's neck.

The dragon Dred thrashed around silently—there's no sound in space, after all. After what felt like forever, it finally went still.

However, the silence of space was soon broken by a system message appearing before Elion's eyes, accompanied by its voice echoing in his head.

[Congratulations! You have successfully killed an evolved Dred!]

[You have leveled up! (10x)] [Lv. 78 → Lv. 88]

[Quest: [Revenge!] Successfully completed!]

[Reward: Skill [Dragon Breath Lv. 1]]

"Great," Elion muttered, starting to feel lightheaded. Then he realized something. "Wait a second... we're in space!"

The dead dragon started falling back to Earth, with Elion still on its back.

"System!" Elion yelled as he fell, passing the atmosphere. "I swear, whether I come back alive or dead, we're gonna have a long talk about this!"

[Well, look on the bright side. You're only falling from 3,260 kilometers up.]

"FUCK!" Elion screamed as they hurtled back towards the planet.