Sigh…its just one thing after another…

The knight was indeed powerful since I could feel heavy pressure coming from its presence. In fact, a visible dark malicious aura was surrounding it. But my previous encounter with the bearded centipede has left me desensitized to lesser threats. That thing’s deathly aura dwarfs this knight’s by a large margin, like comparing heaven and earth. Hence…my stale reaction…

If anything, my body is actually more tensed towards his gigantic sword. It’s a greatsword!

Back in Earth, those things were popular in fiction and video games because of its unrealistic size and awe. But in reality, they were very impractical as weapons due to their sheer weight and mass. It’s a weapon that solely exists in fantasy.

And yet, this knight is wielding the said weapon with one arm and with no apparent effort. Once again, I’m shaken with excitement at the fact I’m in one of those said fantasies.

Back to reality though…how the heck am I supposed to deal with this?

I may be part dragon, but I’m actually still a child standing no more than 3-feet. Looking at this knight feels like I’m looking at a towering giant.

Probably feeling my hesitation, the knight decided to make the first move and approached me with heavy steps.

I narrowed my eyes and let go of the shroom. The same trick won’t work twice considering this thing’s an undead. Being small, I know he’ll have a harder time hitting me, so I need to make use of my speed and nimbleness. He’s obviously strong, but there’s no way I believe he can quickly move that mass of steel.

…!!

However, as if to mock my beliefs, he lowered his posture when he arrived 6-feet away from me and charged at supernatural speed. His sword became a blinding mass of black light that arced over my head.

This time however, despite my miscalculation, I reacted the moment he charged and dodged to the side while spewing a fireball. It connected, but the next scene blocked my thoughts of victory as I saw the knight using the momentum of the swing to block my fireball from the side.

Spinning the sword with both hands, he spun and used the momentum to chain another overhead attack. It was slower than the last attack, but the force was more than double. I dodged backwards, but as he struck the ground, an explosive shockwave blasted towards me like a fan.

*BOOM*

I tried to curl myself into a ball while blocking with my left arm, but as if to ignore my scales, the shockwave ran through my body causing a wave of unbearable pain.

“AAAAAARGH”

Even though the blast is nothing compared to when the centipede’s tail hit me with brute force, this attack felt more refined like a technique as the shockwave seemed to travel along my body while causing damage entirely.

With blood dripping from my mouth, I was still standing but I was barely hanging onto my consciousness. I saw the knight just standing there as if appraising my struggle for survival. Angered at the idea of being treated like a form of amusement and being underestimated, I snarled and bore my fangs. I don’t know since when I could move my right arm, but with my rage I was able to find power within me and lifted one of the large stone fragments on the side with both arms.

Despite being a child-sized dragon man, I had incredible strength enough to lift boulders 3-4 times my size. After all, how else was I able to lift up the shells of the larger rock crabs while getting them to come out?

I threw the stone fragment at the knight and in one motion it just knocked it aside with its sword. Seeing as I was lifting up another stone fragment, it decided to charge once more and swatted me with the flat side of the sword. It could’ve killed me then and there, but probably due to its nature as an undead that loved to toy with life, it slammed me with the flat of its sword and knocked me to one of the buildings surrounding the square.

Uuugh…I’m feeling woozy…

I was smashed through the wall of the broken down stone building and was lying inside. I tried to stand up again but this time I was more dazed so I was half kneeling while trying to lift myself with one of my arms. The knight slowly approached like a reaper ready to take my life.

Grrr…damn skeleton…making fun of me again. I refuse to die to this! To being treated like a toy for one’s amusement! I’ll show you…let’s see if you can take all of my flame!

I was resolved. Even if I lose, I refuse to only be seen as a life to be toyed with. My other half…no, my whole soul is screaming that it wants to be acknowledged as one of the strong. I refuse to bow down to an unfair death where I was left with little choice but to fight while being looked on as weak.

I gathered power below where my navel should be. It was an instinctual act where I charged all the energy I have into a final attack. The skeleton sensed this and rather than rushing to stop me, it instead raised its sword as if to challenge my power.

A little more…come on…just a bit more…

Searching every nook and crack within my body, I was trying to gather as much power in my lower abdomen as much as I can.

The knight, sensing I was almost done, stopped within several feet from me.

We locked eyes with each other…the next move would decide this fight…

With the sound of something breaking from above, this became the signal of our last struggle. The knight raised its greatsword and charged with unearthly speed once more.

Unbeknownst to me, the large part of the ceiling that broke and made a sound fell really close behind me. How close are we talking about?

…it fell on my tail.

With a pain so sharp, feeling like a nail bat was shoved up my ass, my pupils shrunk and I released my bottled power along with a literal earth-shattering roar.

“GAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOON!!”

The earth cracked…the building shattered…and the knight before me stabbed its sword to the ground to hang on as everything was blown away.

As if hanging on for dear life, the knight looked like a scarecrow swept in a storm.

As the pain on my tail subsided, so did the power of my roar. I was panting hard from the excessive expulsion of my energy. The knight lost its malicious aura, and its eye sockets no longer glowed; it looked like an ordinary skeleton of a person that has been dead for ages.

It’s finally over… is what I wanted to believe.

The skeleton stirred, and as it stood up, I was surprised at what I saw…and I’d be further shocked in the next few moments.

The skeleton before me…or rather, the knight with a translucent blue face with a majestic mustache stood before me and looked onto me with his glowing white eyes.

“Haha! I’ve been freed! Thank you my little young friend. I, Sir Gaius Helmight, the Last Guard of Ellara, am in your debt. Come! We have much to talk about in my many years imprisoned by death’s corruption.”

I just stared at him dumbfounded, but with exhaustion finally taking me, I fell unconscious before him.

“Hmm…it seems this poor dragonling exhausted more of his power than I thought. Very well, I shall take it upon myself to ensure he recovers then.”

With his other free arm, he lifted me onto his shoulder effortlessly and walked towards the castle.

And so my life begins in this place of death.