Coldness. Darkness. These were the only sensations that Tatsuya felt as he drifted in the void. He had forgotten what had happened not so long ago. The only thought running through his mind right now was how he cold he felt as he was freezing from the inside out. 'Is this what death feels like?' he asked himself in a small, almost indistinguishable voice. He felt his eyes grow heavy and his breathing becoming even more shallow than it was already was. This was the end.
A flash of warm white light suddenly appeared and Tatsuya was shaken out of his stupor. It melted away the freezing feeling in his heart and he could feel strength and vitality returning to him. Tatsuya had never felt a light so warm and so comforting before. It enveloped him like a cocoon. And then he opened his eyes and drew in a sharp gasp. Tatsuya scanned his surroundings and found that he was inside some kind of deep chasm. Up above, he could see a sliver of blue, no doubt the sky. He raised his hand to the sky and found that his entire body ached and felt numb. With a grunt and a groan, he did his best to pick himself off the ground and get into a sitting position. He felt very drained and was breathing rather hard to cope with the stinging pain that coursed through his body. The only thing he remembered was falling down a cliff following a dastardly blizzard.
Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of something white and turned his head in its direction. It was a white ball of wispy flames floating in the air. It illuminated the area around it and provided a good amount of light for Tatsuya to see his surroundings. Tatsuya didn't know why, but a strange urge to approach it came over him; it was as if the mysterious white ball was calling to him. He struggled to get up on his feet, but once he did, he staggered over to the white ball of flames. He finally approached it and the white ball immediately disappeared. Tatsuya felt like he was duped. Suddenly, the white ball of flames reappeared a short distance away in front of him. 'Is it telling me to follow it?' he wondered. Hesitantly, Tatsuya approached the white ball once again. Again, the ball disappeared and reappeared a short distance away. Tatsuya continued on following the white ball and soon found himself at the mouth of a cave.
The ball disappeared once again and reappeared inside the mouth of the cave. Now, Tatsuya wasn't sure about following the white ball anymore. Who knows what will happen if he enters the cave? What if that was the home of some strange beast and the ball was actually leading Tatsuya to it to become its next meal?!
Tatsuya decided to turn back—he really didn't want to become beast food. He turned around and suddenly saw the white ball appear in front of him. The white ball was blocking his path. This was confirmed when it moved to block Tatsuya's attempts to go around it. It then moved closer to him as if nudging him to turn around. Tatsuya glanced back at the cave and then back at the white ball. 'Is it really telling me to go back?' he asked himself. He stared at the white ball floating in front of him and finally gave in. With a sigh, he turned back around and entered the cave.
The cave was darker than night and it was impossible for Tatsuya to see without the light from the white ball. The white ball guided him inside the cave and led him deep inside. After what seemed to be a few meters, Tatsuya saw the emergence of more light up ahead. As he got closer and closer to the lights, he discovered that they belonged to other white balls of wispy flames just like the one acting as his guide. And there were a lot of them, too. Tatsuya estimated that they could number in the hundreds or even in the thousands! Their light illuminated the cave and Tatsuya felt like he was really among living stars. He was in awe.
With the help of the white balls of flames, Tatsuya now understood how big the cave really was. The ceiling of the cave stretched as high as a tower and the space inside was wider than a mansion. On the walls and ceilings and even sprouting from the ground were clusters of purplish-pink crystals. They sparkled like precious jewels and looked like flowers from a god's garden. When Tatsuya placed a hand next to one, he felt a very strong energy emanating from it and it kind of scared him a bit. He made a mental note to not touch them anymore. Besides the crystals, precious silver metal ores littered the ground and stuck to the walls. Tatsuya could tell by their luster and shine that they had to be very valuable.
The white ball from before appeared behind him and pushed against his back. Tatsuya didn't need words to understand what it was trying to do. Apparently, it was tired of him lagging behind and was now aggressively telling him to hurry up. "I got it, I got it," Tatsuya told the white ball. He began to move forward and the white ball returned back to the front to lead him once again.
They went deeper into the cave and entered a very large circular space with a ginormous oval shaped pit in the center. The pit housed something inside of it that Tatsuya wasn't able to make out. But whatever it was, it filled the pit almost perfectly. Tatsuya casually approached the pit and stood just a few steps away from the edge. The white ball flew over and floated in place next to him. "What is this place?" he asked the white ball. The white ball said nothing. 'Why am I asking a ball of fire?' he bemoaned at his own foolishness. Of course a giant ball of floating fire couldn't speak! Tatsuya closed his eyes and heaved out a sigh. "Am I crazy for actually following a giant ball of fire like it was the normal thing to do?" he asked aloud to himself. "I think my mental state got broken after taking that fall," he told himself in a groaning voice.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and a very low rumbling reverberated along the cave walls. Tatsuya opened his eyes to see what was going on when he came face-to-face with the last thing he wanted to see. It was the most horrible thing a person can ever notice first-thing when they open their eyes. It was like a scene straight out of a horror movie! Tatsuya was convinced that he was still sleeping and having a very creepy nightmare. He didn't want this moment to be true at all. But the fear felt too real for this to be a fantasy in his head. He also felt intimidated and weak and a whole host of other emotions that one can only feel in the real world.
Looking right back at him was a giant green eye with a piercing yellow slit pupil. The eye glowed brightly in the dark like a cat's. It was a monstrous thing of epic proportions! Tatsuya was like an ant to the giant eye! And while the eye focused solely on Tatsuya the entire time, the horrified Dragonborn stood very still like a possum playing dead while standing up straight.
"Why have you come to my domain?" bellowed a rumbling voice. The voice shook the cave walls and sent shockwaves through Tatsuya's body. Tatsuya was at a loss for words and had his mouth agape like a scared child. "What business do you have in my domain?" came the voice once again, this time a little more powerful and frightening.
Tatsuya managed to find his voice, well, a voice, and squeaked, "I must've taken a wrong turn! I'll lead myself out!"
The eye shifted a bit and spotted the white ball of flame next to him. "I see," came the voice in a calmer tone.
"Huh?" blurted Tatsuya in confusion.
The ground shook as the eye and whatever it was a part of began to move around. It rose up and moved further into the distance and Tatsuya stared in awe at what he was seeing. The shaking stopped and all was still again. Now, Tatsuya could see in all its glory a magnificent beast before him. Right in front of him was a dragon. Sure, he had seen dragons before, but this one was different than the others. Tatsuya could sense great power emanating from it and knew that this dragon was not like any of the other dragons he had ever met before.
The beast had glowing green eyes with piercing yellow slit pupils atop a crocodilian-like snout with flared nostrils and two wispy tentacle-like strands hung from its top lip like a mustache. Attached to his chin was a beard of white hair. Its face was long and slender like the rest of its body. Surrounding its neck, starting at the back of its head, was a mane of golden fur with streaks of red and green. Fin-like ridges the size of sails adorned its body from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Beautiful iridescent scales covered its body. When it opened its mouth to speak, Tatsuya could see rows of glistening sharp dagger-like teeth.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?" boomed the dragon's voice. Tatsuya was in too much shock to realize that the dragon was speaking to him. "I am talking to you, bearer of the Mark of Marduk!" came the dragon a little more forcefully.
"T-Tatsuya! Owatatsumi Tatsuya!" Tatsuya answered back.
The dragon then shifted and brought its head down until his eyes were level with Tatsuya's. The Dragonborn stood very still like a statue, not daring to move a single muscle for fear of being eaten in one quick gulp. "Owatatsumi," mumbled the dragon. "So that's what he's calling himself now, I see."
'Is he talking about my dad?' wondered Tatsuya. "D-Do you know my dad?" he asked the dragon.
The dragon quickly retracted its head and looked down at Tatsuya with a scary glare. "Know him?" came the dragon with a bite to his voice, "I practically raised him! He is the king of the Celestial Dragons, yet he does not carry himself like one at all! That snot-nosed brat has done nothing but avoided his duties to engage in crude behavior unbefitting his status! All he ever cared about was exploring the universe and having fun, never once did he take his work seriously! The only words I have for him are insufferable, irresponsible, foolish, immature, and bum!"
"That's something we both can agree on," muttered Tatsuya.
"Tell me truthfully. Are you the same man as your father?" asked the dragon.
"Don't compare to me to my old man!" argued back Tatsuya in an offended manner. "I'm nothing like him!"
"I see," said the dragon, impressed by Tatsuya's defiant words. "I will take your word for it. Now, how did you end up here?"
"I-I just followed that white ball," said Tatsuya, pointing to the white ball of flames. He then related to the dragon about the peace conference between the Okami and the Draco tribes and the terrible blizzard and how he fell down a cliff and now found himself in this chasm.
"Then it must the Wisp's will to guide you here," said the dragon.
"Wisp?" asked Tatsuya.
"The wisps are my servants," boomed the dragon. "They do my bidding and guide others onto the correct path. The path that will lead them towards their goal, towards their destiny." Tatsuya cringed a bit when he heard the word "destiny" come out of the dragon's mouth. "But I have also granted the wisps a will of their own and allow them to freely guide others as they seem fit. Although they are still my humble servants and carry out my orders first and foremost."
"So you're saying that these wisps have a soul or something?" asked Tatsuya.
"Soul?" said the dragon. He then let out a throaty laugh that shook the very walls of the cave. "What kind of garbage are you on about?!" thundered the dragon. "A soul? Is that all it takes for something to become a living being? Boy, do you even know what a soul is?"
"It's the immaterial essence of your life, right?" answered Tatsuya.
"Garbage!" boomed the dragon. "If you do not know, then do not use that term ever again in my presence." The dragon turned its head and said, "The Wisp had brought you here because it thinks that I can help you."
"Help me?" repeated Tatsuya.
"But it looks like you're more than okay now," said the dragon. "Leave."
Tatsuya was a little startled by the dragon's sudden utter of the word. "Um…."
"Leave!" roared the dragon as he reared his head in a terrifying display of hostility.
Tatsuya was baffled by the dragon's moody nature. He immediately ran out of the pit and back into the main part of the cave. The Wisp had followed him and was now floating right next to him. Tatsuya turned to the small ball of flames and said, "Thanks for helping me, but I gotta go. Your master is a really scary dude and I don't do well with guys like him." He then left the cave and made his way back outside.
He came back to the cliff from before and looked up and once again saw the sliver of blue above him that was the sky. Determined to make his way back to join his friends, he psyched himself up with a clap to his cheeks and began to ascend the cliff. He quickly discovered that the sides of the cliff were very sandy and hard to grasp. Just as he managed to make it up a few inches, he quickly slid back down to the ground. This went on for fifteen more minutes and he began to grow frustrated. The strain that the repetitive action was having on his already aching muscles was also getting to him. His breathing became hard and sweat was dripping profusely down his entire body. When he got too pissed to continue, he stopped and took a little breather. He calmed himself and filled his mind with thoughts of returning to his friends and reuniting with them. Their faces flashed in his mind and it warmed his heart: Shen, Percy, Micky, Mr. Urushihara, Prince Nobi, the servants, Takara, Sunaji, Shurai, Mizu, Aika. The last image stayed in his mind the longest and Tatsuya felt a pang in his heart. The pang turned into determination and Tatsuya now found a new goal to motivate him.
He returned to the cliff and did his best to scale it. Even with his newfound determination to motivate him forward, it was still hard for him to scale a few inches up the cliff. Still, he didn't give up. He continued to push himself, disregarding the exhaustion that was quickly settling within him. His breathing was already hard and haggard, but he didn't dare to give up. The only thing in his mind right now, the only thing that was pulling him forward, was the drive to get back to his friends. He needed to surmount this obstacle in front of him and return back to them. He needed to…. On what was his nth try, the strength in his muscles completely left him and his eyes were covered by darkness again. Without warning, his body fell to the ground and he remained still. Coldness. Darkness.
"Let me go!" shouted Aika stubbornly. The other princesses were trying their hardest to restrain the Draco princess. "Darling! Darling!" she screamed.
"Aika! Get a hold of yourself!" shouted Arashi.
"Darling needs us! He needs me!" cried out Aika. "He could be captured by the enemy right now and tortured! We need to go save him!"
"Don't you think we know that?!" shrieked Sunaji.
"But we need to approach this carefully," added Kanjomizu.
"We just need to attack them with all of our forces!" declared Aika fiercely. "I know that the Okami must have him! They're the ones that wanted to start this war. Well, I'll give them a war!"
"But we don't know for sure," said Kiai logically. "We'll just be acting on assumptions. And nothing good ever comes from that."
"Why not?" said Takara. "It makes sense for them to capture Boyfriend and use him as a hostage to gain the upper hand in this war. We should just destroy them all and bring him back."
"But what if he's not their hostage at all?" asked Kanjomizu.
"Who cares? As long we win in the end, it'll be a victory nonetheless," said Takara with a wicked smile.
"I agree," said Aika. "They've forced our hand."
After the duel between Aika and the Okami princess ended due to the interference of the blizzard, both sides agreed to put their peace meeting on hold. However, during the aftermath of it all, when it was apparent that Tatsuya was gone, Aika quickly accused the Okami of abducting him. She concluded that they must've used the blizzard as a cover so that they could abduct the Dragonborn from under the Dracos' noses. Her accusation sparked the conflict once again and war between both tribes was imminent. The Okami princess was undoubtedly offended by this accusation (even if it may not have been visible on her face), but she didn't dare to deny it because of how ruffled it appeared to have made the Draco princess. Now, war had been declared once again.
"It's a shame that we couldn't prevent it from happening," said Shurai.
"If only I had been more vigilant," regretted Aika.
"I wasn't referring to that," said Shurai. "Tatsu-kun tried so hard to help your kingdom avoid war," she said with a slight furrowing of her brows.
Shurai's words made Aika choke on her own guilt. The Druk princess was right. Tatsuya was the one who had proposed this plan in the first place. He had done what he could to help this war from happening between the two tribes. But now, due to her own selfishness, Aika had unraveled everything he had worked hard to put a stop to. Her body trembled at the thought. "There's no going back now," she finally said in a grim voice.
"When and where is it going to happen?" asked Sunaji.
"My brother said the Okami kingdom will be sending a messenger in a few days to discuss these matters," answered Aika.
"So you're giving them the ability to choose," said Arashi.
"I made it clear that we'll face them on no matter the time or place," said Aika.
"Always so hotheaded," commented Arashi with a small smile.
"It's because of her hotheadedness that Tatsuya is lost in the first place," said Sunaji. "Perhaps if you had paid more heed to your surroundings, you could've prevented this unpleasant event from happening and that malapert mooncalf would be here with us right now."
"Oi, Sunaji," snapped Arashi in a fierce whisper.
"No, she's right," said Aika. "And now, my hotheadedness caused problems yet again."
Shurai tugged Aika's dress and gestured for her to come closer. Aika leaned down until their faces were level. Shurai brought her hand up and flicked Aika on the forehead. The pain forced Aika's head back and she rubbed the spot with a painful expression on her face.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" she screamed.
"As long as you know what you're doing is wrong, you shouldn't beat yourself up about it. Instead, you should focus on doing what you can to make it right," Shurai told the Draco princess. "That's what Tatsu-kun would say if he was here."
"Shurai," said Aika in a soft voice.
The Druk princess' words rang true in each of the other princesses' hearts. They couldn't help but smile at those words. If Tatsuya was here, he would for sure say something like that.
"You're right," said Aika with a smile. "We don't know where Darling is right now, but we should do whatever we can to right this wrong. It's clear that war is imminent between us and there's no way of stopping it. However, if we can end this war just as soon as it started, perhaps we can prevent it from causing extensive damage to either tribe."
"And how do will we do that, exactly?" asked Sunaji.
"If we combine our strengths, I'm sure we could find a way," said Aika.
'Combine our strengths,' thought Kanjomizu. An idea popped up in her head and it seemed to be a pretty good one, too, but the fear of how it will be reciprocated by the other princesses made her hesitate to say it out loud.
"Do you have something you want to say?" asked Kiai. She had noticed the look on the Naga princess' face and immediately knew what it meant. 'If I don't say anything right now, she wouldn't have the confidence to say what was on her mind.'
All of the princesses immediately turned to Kanjomizu. Kanjomizu's face turned a deep shade of red from having all of their eyes on her. "I-I-I-I-I-I…," she stammered uncontrollably.
Aika walked up to the Naga princess and held her hands tightly in her own. "Mizu, please," pleaded the Draco princess.
Kanjomizu swallowed a gulp and took a deep breath. "I was thinking that we could build an alliance between all of our tribes and make a united stand against the Okami. With all of our strengths combined, we could scare the Okami from fighting a long war. We could also end the war as soon as it started by utilizing all of our resources and abilities together."
"That's a pretty good idea," said Arashi with a nod.
"But that would mean we would have to go meet with the king of each tribe and have them sign an alliance," pointed out Sunaji.
"Well, I don't think it would be that hard to convince our fathers," said Takara casually.
"Convincing our fathers is one thing, but there's also the matter of time," said Sunaji. "Depending on when the Okami decides to hold the first battle, we might not have enough time to go around the dragon realm and request an audience with the king of every tribe."
"You're right," said Aika. "But we have to try nonetheless. It's the only way we have any chance of preventing this war from destroying our tribes," She then turned to Kanjomizu and told her with a sincere smile, "That was a very good idea, Mizu. Thank you."
Tatsuya felt a warmth surrounding his body. It grew and grew until it completely covered his body and the darkness that once took hold of him was dispersed into nothingness. He opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by light. It took him a moment to realize that he was right back inside the cave. The wisps that had surrounded him backed away to give him some space. He stood up and came face-to-face once again with the mighty dragon that was this cave's lord.
"It seems that you are fortunate," huffed the dragon. "My Wisps have taken quite a liking to you." The dragon swayed its head to the left. "Perhaps this is fate that we are to meet like this."
"Fate?" asked Tatsuya with a grimace. Once again, he had become a victim of the one thing that he hated the most. "I don't believe in fate," he stated fearlessly out loud.
The comment immediately elicited rumbling laughter from the dragon. "Ho ho ho ho ho ho! You don't believe in fate? What absurdity?!" The dragon continued to shake the cave with its voice before finally calming down. "However, I find your heretical comments amusing. So, you don't believe in fate."
"It's fate that brought me into this entire mess in the first place," said Tatsuya.
"I see," said the dragon. "Dragonborn, if you desire the power to crush fate and cease to be its slave, I will give it to you."
"The power to crush fate,…" muttered Tatsuya.
"Do you not want to be the master of your own life?" asked the dragon.
"I…I do!" stated Tatsuya confidently.
"Excellent!" The dragon released an ear-splitting screech up towards the sky and the sound reverberated around the room. The ground and the walls shook as if an earthquake had struck the cave. Tatsuya had to tightly shut his ears lest he becomes deaf. Once the screeching stopped and the sound waves dissipated into nothingness, the dragon turned its attention back to Tatsuya. "Dragonborn! Listen as I reveal to you my identity." Tatsuya uncovered his ears. "I am Shenlong, Celestial Dragon of Divine Protection!"
Tatsuya couldn't believe his ears. This dragon was a Celestial Dragon?! That means that he was in the presence of a god! However, he had never before seen a Celestial Dragon in their dragon form before.
"What is it, Dragonborn?" asked Shenlong. "Is this your first time meeting a Celestial Dragon?"
"Um, no, but all of the other Celestial Dragons I met were, well, more human-like," answered Tatsuya honestly.
"Ho ho ho ho ho!" laughed Shenlong. "I don't bother taking the forms of mortals! Actually, I have always stayed away from mortal settlements."
'That explains why he's living in this cave,' realized Tatsuya.
"Are you saying that you would feel more comfortable if I took on a mortal form?" asked Shenlong with clear spite in his voice.
"N-No! Of course not!" immediately answered Tatsuya.
Shenlong snorted and lowered his head until his eyes were the same level as Tatsuya's. "Let it be known that I do not concern myself with the outside world. Even more so, I deem the world of mortals a realm beneath my divine existence. If these words displease you, if you now curse me for my values, then leave this cave and never return! I will not stop you nor smite you." Tatsuya said nothing. "However, the story in your eyes have piqued my interest. I will not command you to tell it to me. But I cannot lie about my curiosity."
Tatsuya gulped and then he began his story. He started with the arrival of Aika. He told how her appearance was the beginning of his introduction to the world of dragons. Then he talked about his first battle against an actual dragon—the ice dragon that tried to kill Draco princess that night. He had saved her and that was when the Mark of Marduk first appeared. He didn't forget to add the part about his ability to transform, either. He moved on to his encounters with the Scourges and his eventual meeting with Kanjomizu. Next was his introduction to Prince Nobi of the Draco tribe. Then it was Arashi who appeared next and the revelation of her true identity as a dragon surprised him considering their history as childhood friends. Then he learned about the true identities of a close teacher as well as those of his friends. Soon, his entire life began to revolve around dragons. He told of the creation of the Cultural Mythologies and Supernatural Research Club, his introduction to Dracolax and the evil organization Ouroboros, and his battle against the Sanryu.
Before he could forget, he also told about his contentious meeting with the dragon slayers Natsume Torahime and her (less contentious) friend Toki Nekoyashi. He then proceeded to tell of his meeting with Shurai, whom he described as probably the easiest princess to deal with, and the rocky start of his relationship with Sunaji, whom he described as being the hardest princess to please. He moved on to tell of their trip to the beach and their battle with a golem. Whether the golem had any connection with Ouroboros is still unknown. Along the way, he detailed his battles against Dracolax-powered dragons and the many transformations he had unlocked in order to deal with them.
His father's arrival and the revelation of his identity as a god was next, although he was ready to skip it altogether but felt that it was necessary to the timeline. Following that, he detailed his first few meetings with Aris, the Yellow Terror. Then he moved on to detail his shocking discovery of his school's student council. His fight with the dragon slayer Yaju was next and Tatsuya couldn't hide his frustration at all regarding their fight. He went on to tell of the challenge Aris had given him regarding his destiny as the Dragonborn and the fight that he had with a Scourge with Arashi's life on the line.
Tatsuya told of his initial feelings of anger and frustration following this, which led him to meet Yong. Shenlong subtly reacted upon hearing this name but said nothing. Tatsuya told of Yong's advice to him and the new confidence it had given him to deal with the Yellow Terror. It came time for the school festival and the night of the big fight. It was gruesome and fierce and Tatsuya was easily getting bested by Aris. Although he was hesitant at first about telling this, since he found it very hard to relive, he did it anyway and detailed his fight against Kanjomizu who had been manipulated by Aris. And when it came time to tell about his face-off against the Yellow Terror, Tatsuya didn't embellish anything and told it straight. He stressed how powerful the Yellow Terror was and his own inexperience fighting against an opponent like this. He didn't sugarcoat his defeat at the hands of Aris and explained how he really thought that he had died.
Luckily, his friends helped him get a second chance and he challenged Aris for the final time. Their fight was unforgiving and Tatsuya told of how he had to resort to certain tactics in order to beat his opponent. Finally, he had beaten Aris and dealt a very big blow to Ouroboros. After the battle, he happily moved on to tell of the Ginger Sakura concert. His fanboying over the idol was quick to irritate Shenlong and the Celestial Dragon threatened to crush Tatsuya into the ground if he didn't move on. Tatsuya knew that the Celestial Dragon wasn't lying and he immediately moved on with his story.
Following the defeat of the Yellow Terror, Tatsuya told of arrival of Takara. He then detailed his meetings with Amora and Aitvaras. He told of his first time visiting the dragon realm when he came to receive an award for his defeat of the Yellow Terror. But what surprised him the most was his discovery that his sister was also a dragon. He then talked about meeting magical beings back in the human realm and witnessing a fight between them during his visit to a shrine. He then received an invitation to come to the dragon realm by the Draco king and explained how that was the reason why he is here now.
His arrival to the dragon realm began with witnessing a tournament that was held in honor of the Three Lords festival. He couldn't help but gush over the fight between Regus and Galark and how it went down. Shenlong really couldn't care less and gave Tatsuya a subtle grunt. Tatsuya cleared his throat and moved on to detail his arrival at the Draco kingdom. He talked about his meeting with the Draco king and how apprehensive he was at first. That night, he had also met the Three Lords and was pleasantly surprised to reunite with his Uncle (Senshi). Shenlong gave what sounded like an approving grunt at the mention of the Celestial Dragon. When he continued to talk about the conflict between the Draco tribe and Okami tribe, Shenlong let out a very subtle rumbling sound.
Next, he moved on to his meeting with the other Dragonborns. He didn't hide his surprise at all and honestly expressed how he felt when he first he met them. His fight with Shen was next and he told of his shock upon learning of the Dragonborn's ability to transform at will. He then proudly revealed that he eventually learned how to do it, too, during the battle. Shenlong simply let out a snort; whether this was supposed to be a positive reaction or a negative one, it's hard to tell. After the fight, he told of his meeting with Alekso, Dex Lector, and Duke Cors Khyber. He didn't hide his unpleasant feelings towards the duke at all. But he regained his positivity when he told of the king's acceptance of his plan to deal with the Okami tribe.
Tatsuya took a deep sigh before moving on to tell of his meeting with Ralus Khyber and the latter's challenge to him for Aika's hand in marriage. He was honest about his feelings toward the duke's son and didn't hold anything back at all when he called Ralus a spoiled, arrogant, and narcissistic jerk who couldn't do anything without his father's influence. When he told of his victory over Ralus, Tatsuya haughtily called his opponent's sword skills subpar and "not even enough to win against an elementary schooler".
Finally, he moved on to talk about the day the two armies were meeting each other to discuss peace. He told of his meeting with Kiai and the Wyvern tribe's decision to act as witness to this peace meeting. For the rest of the story, since he had already told Shenlong about this before, he simply provided a very concise summary about what happened.
Tatsuya finished his tale and became silent. Shenlong didn't say a word and the entire cave was quiet. "Your tale has revealed to me a lot about you," said the Celestial Dragon finally. "You are arrogant, stupid, foolish, dense, impulsive, vindictive, insecure, irresponsible, disrespectful, boorish, prideful, unconfident, fearful, envious, crude, ignorant, naive, guilt-ridden, hotheaded, unlucky, heretical, rebellious, self-important, small, childish, abusive, selfish, contrary, stubborn, harsh, pessimistic, and lame."
Those words struck Tatsuya like sharp blades and they were even more painful than normal since they came from the mouth of a literal god. But he couldn't argue back. No matter how hard he wanted to say something to defend himself, the god's words gave him a harsh reality check.
"However, you managed to at least show some maturity and heroism when the situation calls for it," added the Celestial Dragon. This bit of praise was enough for Tatsuya rise back up with a smile on his face. "Even though you don't show any growth outside of battle," added Shenlong snidely.
"I-I-I-I…," Tatsuya attempted to argue back.
Shenlong let out a thunderous laugh that shook the cave to its core. "You amuse me, Owatatsumi Tatsuya! Fine! I will give you the knowledge to break free from the chains of fate!"
Tatsuya's body shook with excitement at hearing that declaration. "Thank you!"