The wall in front of me began to transform, no longer refleg my image. What emerged was something... frightening. Impressive, but frightening.

  Its scaled skin resembled that of a reptile, but it was bck... No, a grayish hue, almost as if it absorbed the surrounding light to maintain its gloomy appearas huge horns - one of them broken - protruded menagly. Its reddish wings were damaged, showing rge holes.

  I couldimate its exact size, si was bent over. Maybe thirty or forty meters? No... That would be too small.

  It stared at me from above, its eyes glowing an intense purple. The mena his gaze was unmistakable.

  As expected,...

  - Incredible, a dragon!

  That's it? Is that all you have to say to me, you silly human? Listen to me!

  Bloody hell. It looks like I've pissed him off. But then again, who told me to react with surprise? After all, it was a fug dragon!

  I 400 years, no monster has been able to approach me or this cave without being corrupted. Maybe you really are a special human for having made it this far... but you're foolish enough to treat me with such triviality and indifference.

  - Well... I'm sorry about that. I'm just impressed, it's the first time I've seen a dragon.

  You should be impressed! You're in front of a unique being!

  - Unique? So you're a rare species?

  Precisely. There are young dragons roaming around, maybe even inferior species like dragos... but few carry the title of Primordial Elemental Dragons, like me!

  - And to top it off, you talk... I thought you only unicated with roars and spits of fire.

  How narrow-minded of you, human! But I 't bme you for this almost insulting ignorance. Most monsters are irrational beasts, devoid of intellect. A few stand out, like the Majins, who possess a certain intelligence. Perhaps I should crify this so that you stop pario inferior creatures.

  Don't pare me to orcs, ogres oblins-species that crawl at the bottom of the monster . I could name many others, but it would take up precious time. Just know that most of them are below us Primordials. Just like humanity.

  But of course, there are exceptions. Hybrids, elves, Yonders, dwarves and even some magical beasts have more refined qualities. Still, don't pare us to the Majins-creatures born of primordial magic, but mere parasites of our power. A disanized bunch of peculiar magical beasts.

  Dragons have a lifespan parable to that of vampires. When we reach our peak, we surpass even giants i. We are not easily outmatched by demons or celestials - although strong, none of them have ever matched our power. I've faced a few in the past, and none were a mate.

  Even if I had the ability to reproduot even my own offspring could overe. I am unique. Perfect. Among the six Elemental Dragons ience, I am Syphus, the Abyssal Dragon!

  Incredible. The envy of all species! Be honored in my presence! Hahahaha!

  - Right... It's an honor to meet you, Syphus-sama.

  Boy, he sure likes to talk. I thought he was going to introduce himself with a formal monologue, but he told me the short version of the history ons.

  In my pany, I've always had a good memory for reading dots and processing data. But st information like this still seems strao me... Will it be useful iure?

  I don't know if he's been rehearsing this speech for years or if he just likes to make versation. But it was useful... at least the parts where he wasn't bragging.

  He's a show-off and a bully. Just from that brief versation, I uood his personality - quite predictable for a man of his size.

  Even so, something in me is screaming at me to be careful.

  My rational side warns me: you're in front of a dragon, run immediately!

  But strangely, I don't feel pletely threatened.

  Still... it's better to avoid risks.

  - Thanks for the expnation, Syphus-sama. Calling you “sir” doesn't offend you, does it? I hope not. Well, I'm off.

  I turn around quickly, trying to get out of this situation. If I'm lucky, I might find a way out the other side.

  Anything is better than standing here fag a giant dragon.

  After all, I have everything I need: my healing power, herbs, plenty of water... even stoo distract me.

  And right now, any distra is better than tinuing this versation.

  - Stht there, human.

  - Gah! You screwed up...

  - You still haven't expined your side of the story. Wouldn't it be fair to repay me, since I've told you about myself?

  - Yes, of course... But five my audacity, is this the part where you devour me? I mean, a human in front of a dragon... usually that doesn't end well for my kind. And definitely not with friendly versation.

  - Hmph! You only be insultih that ridiculous assumption. Humans don't appeal to me. Besides, it would be a waste of time dev a being as small as you.

  - Save for my size, I suppose?

  - But you're a curious case. Even in front of me, you showed no fear. It intrigued me where you came from.

  Perhaps it's because he doesn't see me as a threat? This barrier is still proteg me, somehow. But even so, I mustn't uimate him. Unfortunately, I'm not creative enough to e up with a ving excuse. And also... I'm not good at lying. Maybe... maybe I should just tell the truth?

  - Right... I'll tell you where I came from. Or at least a possible expnation of how I got here. But please, I beg you... spare my life if the story doesn’t, please you.

  ***

  To begin with, I ended up telling him... well, the beginning of this situation. I died of exhaustion and somehow ended up here. That's the only expnation I have so far. I didn't reveal too maails about my life, but I did share a little about my experieh my power. I talked about the purified herbs, the stones and the stream that were ed by their own corrosion.

  - Well, that's my in... or so I believe.

  I see... Grr...

  - Hm?

  Puff!

  He bent slightly before letting himself fall to the ground, making a thud that reverberated off the walls of the cave, as if the impact had caused a small tremor.

  To put it bluntly, you've been reinated. From your evident doubts, I clude that you didn't use ahod to get to this world, am I right?

  Vaku