So I'm a Dragon, So What?

I move my arms and legs out some more. I hear the sound of something cracking around me.

'What is that? It's something hard...'

I start to push back against the hard wall all around me.

'How tough is this thing?! I can't even make it budge...'

I will not be perturbed though. I keep at it for a while longer before quitting for the time being.

'How long have I been here, trapped in this darkness? A day, a month? Maybe even a year...'

I have been spending my time here just thinking about whatever comes to mind.

'I wonder if my family cleaned out my apartment yet? What if they found my hidden stash of--No! I can't even think about what would happen...'

I gradually started to become more comfortable with this darkness. I started to enjoy the warm feeling I feel from time to time. Even my thoughts have been starting to mellow out, and I have been making peace with my old life.

'You know, I wonder if the others have missed me? I guess even the time I spent with that annoying Goddess wasn't that bad, too.'

I even started to enjoy the sounds of something cracking in the distance. It was...soothing, to say the least. It made me feel not alone, I think.

But eventually, the time between the cracking sounds continued to increase until there was only silence.

'I wonder how long it has been since I last heard that cracking sound...It used to be so soothing...'

I found myself gradually becoming more saddened by the loss of the only other thing I had in this darkness.

'No! I will not become depressed now! I will rise from this heavy silence and make my own ASMR! Now how will I go about doing that...'

I remembered that I would hear the cracking sounds when I flexed my arms and legs. I could just repeat what I did before, right?

I put all of my energy into moving my arms and legs again. Eventually, I started to hear cracking sounds with every one of my motions. 'So far so good...' I continued into--

'Wha-What the heck?' I saw that I punched my way through something. Little rays of light started to peek through the hole. 'Ah! I destroyed the wall! Wait, I can see something glowing out there. I just need to finish the job, right?'

I punched and kicked until I broke out of whatever I was trapped in. I felt myself slip out of my casing and onto something cold. 'I can see again! And there's even some kind of stable floor under me! Praise the Gods! Well, not that annoying Goddess. She didn't even make sure I made it here safely...Wait, where even is here?"

I looked around me but it was still very dark around me. The only difference was that scattered around me were some kind of large, glowing crystals. 'What is up with those crystals anyway? They're bigger than me, and I was a pretty decent height, I recall?'

I walked over to one of the crystals and reached out to grab it. That's when I saw my hand had claws on it. 'Ah! What is up with my hand?! When did I get claws?!' I immediately backed away in confusion and ended up stumbling onto something behind.

'Ouch! What is this thing that I tripped and fell on, anyway?' I pick it up and notice how white it looked. It was very brittle and broke in the palm of my hand. I looked all around me and saw some more of this stuff scattered all over the place.

'What is this stuff? You know it's funny, it kinda looks like these are pieces of an eggshell...Wait! An eggshell!" I start to inspect the pieces of this material all over the place. I find a mostly intact larger piece and inspect it. '...I guess these are eggshells but what are they doing here? More importantly, why are they so big?'

They can't be that big, right? I'll just try to compare the size of the eggshells to myself and base their size on that. I place the shell over my head. '...it fits almost perfectly...'

I immediately start to run away in fear. 'I can't believe there are man-sized monsters in here! There's no way! There's no way, right?! What if they come back and find me in here?! I'm not ready to die again!!'

I don't know where to run but I use the crystals to light my way forward. I continue to run until I am met with a roar of some kind. I halt my steps as soon as I hear it.

'What was that loud sound?! I'm not entirely sure where it came from but, I can't stop now. If I get outside of this dark place then, maybe I can look for help or something. Yeah, that's going to be the plan for now.'

I slowly inched my way closer to the source of the roaring from earlier. I soon found myself in front of a big wall that was blocking my view. 'Hey, who put this wall here?! Right when I was so close to making it out, too! I also don't see the source of that roar from earlier, either. What gives?'

I tried to vent my frustration on the wall in front of me when it started to move.

'What...' As the wall started to move some new light shined through from behind it as it shifted revealing wings and a long, winding tail. 'That's not a wall...' I quickly tried to run away in the opposite direction when I slipped into a small pool of water.

I quickly got up and gasped for air. I looked down at the puddle of water, which had revealed my reflection to me. 'Is that...a monster!!' I could feel myself fainting as I fell on my back unconscious.

I found myself in another pit of darkness. "Don't tell me I'm dead again?!"

"Not quite, Jacob."

I heard a familiar voice that I couldn't quite forget.

"I hope you have been enjoying your new life so far, Jacob."

"Of course I haven't, you annoying Goddess!"

"...I see you are still sticking me with those terrible adjectives. Anyway, I wanted to see how you were doing in your new life."

'I haven't got to do anything. Besides, I think I just died again...'

"You are not dead, silly. Just unconscious! There is a difference, you know?"

"Still reading my thoughts, I see. Well, that's good that I'm not dead. Well, not yet anyway"

"Why would you be dead? I made sure you would be surrounded by friendly people, just like you said!"

"That thing back there did not seem friendly. It was big and scary. But then again, that reflection I saw was just as scary...What was that anyway?"

"Don't you remember? I tried to give you the best experience you could want, but you didn't make it easy. Let me tell you~ I never heard of anyone who wanted to be reincarnated as a dragon in all my years in charge of reincarnating mortals. Well, there was that one guy I made into a slime but that's a different story..."

"Wait, I don't remember telling you to reincarnate me as a dragon! What the heck?!"

"Oh, you didn't? I could have sworn I read your memories perfectly...I saw that you always liked dragons in the things you called anime and videogames. You had plenty of shrines built to them in your room."

'That wasn't a shrine! That was just the bookcases full of figurines, and I didn't watch everything dragon-related! I'm not some kind of fanatic!'

"There was even *those* kinds of videos featuring dragons who could transform into human women and--"

"STAHP! Please, just stop! You've said too much!" I wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

"I even took some of your wants and written them down in my notebook to help me remember. But, you so rudely tried to destroy the precious notes that I took down for you...'

"...Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't know you were taking notes for me."

'Even though what I saw were just childish doodles...'

"You are forgiven."

"Alright, so let me get this straight. I have been reincarnated into a dragon, and the world in which I have been reincarnated into is the world of Arcadian Records, is that correct?"

"Yes! All of what you have said is true."

'Wow, I'm not sure what to make of this, but I don't want to waste this new chance at life that I have been given! In this new world, I will get serious!'

"Oh, it looks like you are going to wake up soon so let me give you the real information I wanted to give you." I could see the space around me start to dissipate.

"I will be coming soon to provide you some help in this new life of yours! I'm looking forward to seeing you grow in this world styled after the game Arcadian Records!"

'So the Goddess is going to come and help me? She's probably just trying to get out of work and be lazy some more...'

"I heard that, Jacob! Once I get there I'm going to--"

Her sentence was cut off as I awoke in the dark space around me. I was warm as I felt something over me. 'What is this...Eh?' As my eyes started to adjust to the darkness around me I could see that I was next to something large. It was the large dragon that I saw before I fainted.

I immediately backed away from it as I did I felt it start to shift again like before. It seems it had awoken just as I had. Its large frame started to get up as it stretched to the ceiling of this huge place. A cave. That's what this place was. What other place had crystals growing from its walls and stalactites growing from its ceiling?

The giant dragon looked down at me making me feel even smaller than the huge crystals did. I could see it scan me over as if it was trying to size me up. That's when it sent forth a deep roar that reverberated through the cave.

I became frozen in place as the roar drained me of any strength to flee that I might have had.

'I knew it was going to try to eat me! Friendly, my butt! Dang lazy Goddess! She didn't even properly make sure I was sent somewhere safe like she had said!'

I saw it lean its huge head over to me. 'Not like this! I just started my second life!' I closed my eyes to the approaching danger.

"Can you hear me now, little one?"

'What was that? It was like it came from inside of my head! Was it that dang Goddess again? No, this voice was too different, far too masculine. No, this voice belonged to someone else...'

I opened my eyes carefully after nothing had happened. I looked over myself and saw that all of my limbs were still intact. In doing so, I noticed the dragon still looking at me, and it even tilted its head to the side.

"Don't tell me you aren't able to speak, little one?"

There's no one else here, so by process of elimination the voice was coming from this dragon in front of me. It seems to be speaking to me telepathically. 'So if I want to reply, I just have to think about it really hard, right? I think that's how it worked in anime...'

'H-Hello...'

"Ah, so you can speak, little one." His tone of voice sounded much calmer and pleasant somehow. I was relieved that he wasn't so loud anymore. 'Wait, why was he yelling at me before?'

'I am glad you are at least able to communicate telepathically. I was perplexed when you didn't answer my call, but I am confident you will learn how to do that soon enough.'

The dragon seemed to give off a less threatening vibe than before.

Oh, so that's what that roar was from earlier. For a second there, I thought I was going to be eaten.

'Oh, are you hungry, little one? If so, your mother will be arriving soon with today's dinner.'

Oh yeah, I guess I haven't eaten anything. I wonder what dragons eat?