Even though it is daytime and the sun is at its highest point, the light does not pass properly through the leaves. The air is suffocatingly humid and hot. Everywhere, it is possible to see small volcanic formations releasing smoke, indicating a mixture of biomes in this forest.

  A black lizard, almost the size of a wolf, walks on four legs, with thick, hard scales. It calmly climbs a tree when it shifts its gaze to the side and sees, from afar, Nagaro’s partially exposed back.

  Nagaro releases fireballs at a high cadence, knocking down one of the scaled monsters.

  That’s another one.

  Now there’s only…

  Before I finish the thought, the last one throws itself at me, knocking me down and biting my left shoulder, exactly where my cloak is torn.

  "You miserable skewer!"

  I touch its body in the belly region and immediately release my fire Skills, throwing it far away. I get up from the ground while my shoulder gradually restores itself.

  I run toward it. Swiftly, I lift my foot and kick the head of the white-scaled monster. At the same time, it brings its claw down on my face, tearing my flesh.

  I don’t stop. Stomping hard against the ground, I surge forward and drive my fist into its face. The already cracked scales finally shatter with my last blow.

  I lock onto its face, unleashing a relentless barrage of blows. Causing bleeding on its head, but the monster resists, still standing firm on its feet. It tries to grab me, but I dodge laterally to the left, lower my body, and with a clenched fist, rise in one motion, striking its chin.

  Its right hand begins to glow as it invokes a fire Skill. I do not allow it to fire. I grab its wrist, making it miss the Skill, and with my other free hand, I punch its face.

  The force of the blow sends it flying. As I move my arms, I launch my fire Skill, blowing it apart.

  My regeneration is already acting on my face, restoring it.

  I do not lose sight of the creature. Amid the flames, it rises, trembling and disoriented, but I am already jumping and landing on top of it. When it comes to its senses and looks up, it is already too late; I bring my fist down on its head, sinking it into the ground.

  I wait a few seconds, watching for any sign of movement.

  "..."

  Realizing that it does not move, I conclude that it has finally died. I look around to make sure there are no more of them nearby. On the ground, I spot others like it, also fallen; they are the ones I knocked down. Like this last one on the ground, now I can observe it better.

  The monster is my size. On its head, two large, thick horns protrude, slightly curved backward. The scales on its body are white as snow, but the dirt makes them dull, still beautiful. Its muscular frame supports a face that juts slightly forward, giving it a predatory profile. It resembles a dragon, except it stands upright, walking on two legs.

  I touch its arm for a moment, feeling the hardness of the white scales.

  They are one of the most resilient monsters I have ever faced. If I don’t use all my strength in every strike, they don’t fall.

  Could these be the dragons of this world?

  I observe their bodies more closely, and soon an idea comes to mind.

  "This seems to be a drake."

  Since last night, I have been facing them nonstop.

  I need to move quickly from here.

  My eyes widen as I sense multiple presences. When I turn my face backward, I see several of those monsters in the distance.

  One of them notices me and points a finger at me while screaming.

  "Graaa!"

  Soon, all of them spot me. My ears catch several identical screams coming from even farther away. They are coming here.

  I frown.

  "Damn!"

  I run as fast as I can. The scaled monsters chase after me. I can’t waste time fighting all of them, I wouldn’t be able to bring them down together, and even if I could, from the noise I know there are many more.

  If I can find an extremely deadly biome, maybe I’ll have a chance to escape.

  ***

  With great effort, I manage to shake off those persistent creatures, passing through an acidic biome and then, shortly after, through a toxic biome.

  Thanks to this maneuver, I deviate from the original route, and for a moment I lose my sense of direction toward the Silver Mountains.

  Now I am in a green forest, and the situation is even worse.

  In the darkness of the night, high up in the trees, among the leaves, I am hidden. My body and my clothes are dirty. Several marks of wounds, scratches, and bruises cover my face.

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  My Source is at its limit, but I cannot stop fighting. I make every effort not to make a sound.

  On the ground, my eyes catch sight of a huge body, about six meters long. It looks like a serpent with legs, but due to the darkness I cannot clearly distinguish its shape. I deduce that it has white scales from the reflections emitted by its body.

  On its head, two crooked horns project backward. The long neck snakes across the ground. It is sniffing for me. The legs, despite being short, leave heavy footsteps. A wyrm. And it’s hunting me.

  With fixed eyes, I follow the movement of its body. I wait patiently until its head is exactly at the point where I was moments ago.

  Very slowly, its snout smells the ground. My eyes grow more and more like those of a predator.

  "..."

  With rapid movements, I descend from the tree in an instant, my arm bathed in fire. The creature raises its head, but I am already bringing my hand down, striking the top of its head directly.

  The fire explosion I trigger sweeps across the entire area.

  The monster’s roar reverberates, and right after that, it retaliates, launching a blazing beam that incinerates the exposed ground.

  ***

  The sun rises the next day, but no creature dares to leave its burrows and hiding places. Fear is evident.

  "Aaaah!"

  I am hurled far away, knocking down trees along the way and crashing into the ground, opening a massive crater in the earth.

  My entire body aches. I spit blood onto the ground. The long sleeve of my cloak and my left arm are devoured by the monster. I cannot remain in the crater for long; I leap out, dodging a pale blue beam.

  Everything behind me freezes. When I look ahead, I come face to face with a creature nearly four meters tall. Two long, thick horns rise from the top of its head, slightly curved backward. It is a white-scaled wyvern.

  Its wings, connected to its forelimbs, lift it into the air. From there, it begins firing ice beams from its mouth.

  Immediately, I demand that my body regenerate, and within a few seconds, my left arm is restored.

  I run to escape the range of the attacks and climb the trees to hide and gain a better position.

  In an instant, my surroundings freeze, but I manage to dodge. When I look at the sky, I see a colossal attack from the wyvern covering the entire area where I am.

  I am hit. The low temperature feels as if winter itself has arrived. Frozen inside a mountain of ice, I cannot move. Parts of my body crack like glass.

  I frown.

  "Aaaah!"

  My entire body sparks and emits waves of fire. The force of the flames shatters the mountain of ice; the temperature is so high that the ice melts and evaporates around me.

  I lock my eyes on the wyvern and, raising my arms to the sky, fire several fire cannons. The wyvern dodges and moves even farther from the ground, leaving my range.

  The wyvern almost becomes a black dot in the sky, causing me to miss every attack.

  "Rum!"

  It opens its mouth and releases a concentrated jet of ice. Seeing this, I plant my feet firmly on the ground and, with my arms moving close together, fire a massive fire cannon.

  Our attacks collide, rending the sky in flashes of red and pale-blue, blinding any creature for kilometers.

  In the sky, the wyvern keeps its mouth open, releasing ice without showing effort. On the ground, I sustain the fire. My body trembles under the strain; maintaining such an output is tearing me apart.

  My legs begin to give way. I see the freezing beam gain ground, rapidly closing the distance.

  I look on in desperation, but then grit my teeth.

  "There’s only one way!"

  Furrowing my brows, I draw in as much air as I can and plant my feet into the ground. I feel my Source empty in moments; my brown skin even turns pale. I release a torrent of fire so dense and violent that everything around me ignites. The ground softens, melts, and smokes.

  With a thunderous, cannon-like blast, I unleash the greatest fire cannon I have ever conjured. The heat incinerates the entire forest and, in an instant, overwhelms the wyvern’s attack, catching it off guard.

  Upon seeing my fire cannon, the wyvern falls into despair, but it is far too late. The last thing I hear is its desperate, painful scream.

  It is swallowed by the attack, completely incinerated. Nothing remains of its existence.

  The glow of the fire fades on the horizon. Everything around, for kilometers, continues burning and smoking. Thick black smoke spreads across the region.

  The flames on my body extinguish immediately. With my Source depleted, I feel a torturous suffocation and a total lack of vigor.

  It feels as if I am broken; my regeneration is not acting. Burns cover my body. I look at my arms, completely blackened and charred. I cannot feel them.

  Without the strength to stand, I fall onto my back on the melted ground, my eyes wide open. I can’t calm myself or breathe properly, gasping desperately as suffocation tightens around my chest, struggling not to die suffocated.

  Long, agonizing hours pass until I manage to control my breathing, still drawing in air forcefully through my nose.

  I remain fallen, my body severely damaged, unable to move. My Source remains dry. I pushed it far beyond its limit.

  Such agony… when I let my Source run out, it feels like I’m being torn apart from the inside.

  The sun sets, and everything around me continues to burn and smoke. I feel a little better, but I am still unable to leave this place.

  My anxious gaze reveals my unease.

  I don’t like this.

  Staying exposed like this is becoming monster food.

  I pray that my Source returns so that my regeneration can act as soon as possible.

  I watch as the sun disappears and the moon rises on the horizon. Soon, I turn my attention to the five Silver Mountains.

  I believe that in three more days of walking I’ll get there… no, if I run as soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll reach them in less than a day.

  Something, however, has been bothering me since I left the Silver Forest. Upon closer analysis, I realize that the nearer I get to the Silver Mountains, the more scaled monsters I face. I no longer encounter any creature without scales, and to make matters worse, all of them are extremely strong.

  I even think that I might not be able to continue like this. I shake my head, denying those thoughts.

  I sigh.

  "Aaah."

  But now that I’ve come this far, I won’t turn back. I’ll go to the end and see what’s there.

  ***

  In an extremely dark cave, a massive body sleeps among gold, treasures, and precious stones.

  The hot breaths leaving its mouth and nostrils indicate that it would not wake anytime soon.

  But upon sensing the fluctuations of Skills colliding at a great distance, its red, vertical eyes open in an instant. Its wings stretch and retract, and its tail strikes the ground a few times.

  Awakened, it begins to move.