With the voice of unknown origin coming from his back, he was alarmed and wanted to move but all he could do was remain in shock. His feet were trembling with fear when he heard the voice.
He was only guessing it but if what he was thinking was indeed the truth then he knew he was doomed.
Apparently, he wasn't in the bathtub anymore and he wasn't naked as well. He was standing in a place where all he could see was darkness and only darkness as if no light could penetrate this place and illuminate the area.
With those regular clothes, he watched in front where darkness had enveloped the horizon itself and had no source of any light. And this was what was odd...even though there was no light, how could he see his figure?
But it wasn't the time to be dwelling on such a problem, because from what he had guessed, the voice was somehow familiar to him and he didn't want that voice to belong to the monster he was thinking of right now.
Slowly, Oslo turned his head to look behind him and although the darkness had swallowed his eye, he could see that vicious majestic figure behind him.
Lava coursing through its body hot as ever and steam blowing out of its scaly nose. He was suddenly in front of the terror he wished to forget of again and again.
The monster in front of him was no doubt the dragon he had encountered in that E-Rank dungeon while ago and looking at its figure, it didn't seem dead in any way and was proud as ever.
He subconsciously took a step back and gulped his dry saliva. The only thing he had inside his mind was the terror he had experienced back in the dungeon and he felt as if the nightmare had come to haunt him down again.
With the darkness surrounding both Oslo and the dragon as if cutting them of reality, there was no place to run or hide. The darkness stretched to as far as the eyes could see and Oslo didn't know where it led. Knowing that he wasn't in his bathtub anymore and the dragon was in front of his with the vicious look,
"W...W-Where...am...I?" He mumbled in fear.
"Grrrr..." Blowing out the stream of smoke from its nostrils, the dragon said, "Human, Give me that body of yours."
"My body?" Oslo felt a chill run down his spine as he subconsciously used both his arms to cover his chest when he heard that. He didn't know what the dragon was up to but if that creature was involved then it was bound to be something of no good.
He turned his trembling legs and started running away from the dragon. No matter where the darkness led, it was fine if he could avoid the dragon.
"Grrr...running away? Pointless effort." You cannot run far within your own mind. The darkness stretches far and what it does is..."
The dragon hadn't even finished its sentence when Oslo saw the long tail of the dragon again.
"Makes you run in a circle!"
What? Oslo was sure that he had run opposite bit how come he was behind the dragon...Don't tell me that it has trapped me in some kind of space.
Slam!
Just as Oslo was planning to turn around again, his body was slammed to the ground by the claws of the monster. It was enough to make him cough a bit of blood.
With those claws weighing him down, he couldn't move his limbs anymore. Like a bow, the dragon bent its body and its head came right in front of Oslo. Using its claws to lift Oslo up, it opened its jaw wide as it could and was about to drop Oslo from above and swallow him alive.
"Die and let me be the new soul that controls this body!"
Hopelessness... yes, it was hopelessness what he had felt. The dragon was about to eat him alive and he couldn't even move to avoid his fate. Were all his efforts going to waste just like that? Think... Think... there must be something. There must be something I could use to escape his clutches.
But he didn't need to escape his clutch because the dragon loosened it itself dropping Oslo's body towards its mouth.
Think!
What can I use? What can I do? Millions of thoughts passed through his mind in a flash and he came to a sudden realization. He didn't know if it was going to work but he had to rely on it as it was his only option.
Just as dragon was about to munch him off, Oslo shouted,
"Wall!"
Just as he thought of a wall, a wall made up of brick appeared in front of him on which the mouth of the dragon crashed. Stepping on the brick wall, he jumped away from the dragon and landed softly in the ground.
He was bewildered by the fact that he had just now discovered and laughed idiotically, "Hahaha...it worked... it really worked."
He had just thought of it and a wall appeared out of nowhere and blocked the mouth of the dragon. Just as he had guessed before. He had taken the dragon's speech into consideration that they were actually inside his mind and if he was really inside his mind like the dragon said then why should he run.
Nothing was impossible for him inside his own mind.
Everybody was the god of their own mind and they could fantasize all they want for what they want inside their mind and it would appear as per host's wishes. It was the world of its own and the host was the creation of it.
No one was too be defeated inside their own mind if they knew how to use it to their advantage. But someone with higher abilities could easily shatter through their trick.
And for some unknown reason, the dragon didn't choose to crush his mind. Or it couldn't...? Hehehe, an evil smile was pasted on his face and his fear turned into arrogance as his character just revolved 180.
The dragon's expression was however grim and couldn't believe what had happened. Was it luck? or the kid had caught on? It had thought of eating the soul of the kid alive inside his mind since it couldn't take physical manifestation with its current strength but it wasn't going as planned. It wanted to gain control of the body but somehow it had failed.
As if checking if it was out of luck or not, it again forcefully bent its body like a snake and tried to eat Oslo's soul again in one bite. But of course, Oslo had caught on and easily hovered in the air, dodging the incoming attack.
He then pointed his finger toward the dragon and...
BEAM~!
BOOM!
Its tail now had a hole in it as the laser beam passed through it and Oslo was above with a proud look on his face looking down at the dragon. He felt that he was some kind of fantasy movie where he was a superhero saving the city from the monster. Of course, the city was his mind and the monster was the dragon which now had a big hole in its tail.
Shriek-
The dragon shrieked as it again bent its body and sprung towards Oslo for the hope of taking revenge for what he did, but Oslo wasn't just going to let it have its way. He flicked his finger and many iron bars that were red in color appeared out of thin air.
Swoooooosh~
The bars pinned the dragon down in the ground not letting it move even a scale. Although the bars were red in color as if red hot, the dragon felt as if it was stuck in a chunk of ice...no it was even colder than ice. For a fire dragon-like itself to be restrained in the cold bars, it was the worst case possible.
It was the polar opposite to the element it governed and too cold, that the chills were running down its scaly spine. Since it couldn't move any longer, it could only curse Oslo from its mouth.
Oslo then landed in front of the dragon's head and slowly patted its scaly nose,
"Yes, just like this...you need to learn how to behave."
"Grrrrrr..." Covering Oslo's whole body in the steam it exhaled, it said, "Foolish humans don't push it. Right now that I'm caged and immovable, you dare treat me like some pet. I'll not let it slide...remember this."
Its voice was loud and Oslo could clearly understand what it was trying to say. Of course, the dragon meant that even monkey comes to tease the caged lion but when it is free, the monkey runs with its tail hidden nowhere to be found. But Oslo didn't mind any of that crap because right now, they were inside his mind and he was a god here. He knew that even if he let the dragon free for thousand times, it wouldn't be able to do jack to him.
"Cut the crap! I'm getting right to the point." Oslo said, "Since the voice told me about soul mark, I considered it to be quite a good thing to have. From then, I always thought of forming a pact with White Crane since it was obedient at least, but now that you're caged, I don't mind forming a pact with you."
"If you're useful and become helpful then I might as well let you live if you form a pact with me," Oslo said solemnly.
"Form a pact with a human? Hahahaha, Don't make me laugh! Since when were the puny humans so mighty to order that? Do you think that this dragon emperor would just bow to you and lick your boots? Dream on!" The dragon said without hesitation,
"I'd rather die than degrade myself into being a puppet for some human to use."
"Since you said it like this, I almost felt that I'm the bad guy here. I feel bad for you but think about it. Life or dignity?" Oslo said slowly as if to make dragon hear it clearly and not to miss a single word.
"Life or dignity?" The dragon snorted, "Isn't it obvious? Its dignity for this proud emperor."
Oslo then sighed and looked at the dragon with eyes filled with pity,
"It would be a waste to let go of the life you have. Think about it very carefully. You have only one life and if it's gone then you won't be coming back and will have nothing...literally nothing and your name wouldn't even live for hundreds of years. So, if you want to do something big then you must live."
"Hmph...I don't need a life." The dragon said, "I've already lived for about a million years."
Million years? Oslo gasped and couldn't even imagine how much of time was it that the dragon had survived through. Didn't it feel lonely and boring living that many years and if it was indeed bored because of that then it did make sense that it had chosen to die?
Or not, since it wanted his body to survive. What was it? He was more confused the more he thought about it. It seemed that no matter how much he tried he wouldn't be able to persuade this dragon into forming a pact with him.
But Oslo hadn't given up on his next power-up. He looked at the dragon in its eyes and said, "OK then, since it has come to this, I'll ask you one last time in my own style."
Swooosh~
With but thought of his, a book appeared in his hands and when the dragon read the title of the book written on its a bluish-white color, it gulped its dry saliva in fear. The title of the book read like this...
Millions of ways to torture a dragon gently so that it would adhere to every command of its master.
Oslo with an evil smile on his face turned the first page of the book and read the content aloud, "If the dragon doesn't obey you then first what you need to do it make it feel home. Try being familiar with it by feeding it its favorite food."
He then closed the book and looked at the dragon with a smile all the same. Slowly, he opened the mouth of the dragon and said,
"You know...I always wondered about this."
"CAN A DRAGON EAT THE SUN?"