I met Raine at the adventurer's guild just as planned, and she explained the location.
"The closest dungeon is a short travel south from here. It's one of the rare natural dungeons."
Natural? There are artificial dungeons?
"Are those important?" I ask.
"They're the easiest way to acquire materials from monsters or to practice fighting them, or even just to have fun. It should be a breeze for you, though. You won't have to be in transformation the whole time." She answers.
That made me so relieved, this felt like it was actually going to be fun!
The entrance to the dungeon looked surprisingly intricate, and the first few floors had nothing that took more than a quick spell to deal with.
We were just about to move on when suddenly, the sound of something heavy sliding on the ground interrupted us, and I noticed that a hidden passage was opening.
I got a little too confident and didn't hesitate to go in, but as soon as I did, an invisible barrier kept Raine out.
"It seems I have to clear this part on my own."
"Be careful! I don't want to tell anyone something happened to you!" Raine called.
The path forward was way more narrow than it was up to this point, there was no way I was fitting normally.
"I'm going to have to go through this in transformation." I complained with irritation.
"You'll probably need my sword then, I'll wait outside the dungeon for you. Don't even think about getting hurt! That old fossil back at the village will die if he hears bad news." Raine demands and tosses her sword through the barrier. It seemed that it let objects through.
I tried to dispel the barrier, and to break through it, but I couldn't do it even with an incantation. That really surprised me.
So, I had no choice but to pick up the sword and continue forward in transformation.
I move onward until eventually I walk into a larger chamber.
"Oh? The great one didn't tell me you would be so young!" A voice booms through the silence.
The sudden voice startles me to no end, especially since I was not expecting to hear anything talk in here.
I immediately looked up and realized in front of me was a tall and slim man.
A human? No, he was wielding twin hook swords, and appeared blurry and translucent with a long, flowing cloak.
"The only way out of here is to defeat me. I'll even give you the first strike!" He declared with a smirk.
"Who are you supposed to be?" I ask cautiously.
"I'm the guardian of this dungeon, and let's just leave it at that. I'm not answering any more questions. You'll just have to get past me if you want them."
"And what if I don't want to?"
I would rather not fight at all.
"Then you will stay here for an eternity. No magic you could try will work here."
That would be terrible on its own, but I have no idea what my lifespan is as a dragon. It's probably long.
There's no way I'm going through another lifetime being helpless and waiting to die.
I lunge forward and take the first swing, but it gets blocked easily.
Just as quickly, I jumped back to get distance.
Even an idiot should be able to deduce what those hooks are supposed to do.
Binding swords is absolutely not an option.
"That's good! But it's my turn now!" He yells with a wickedly excited cry as he speeds forward and takes a swing.
I can feel it and try to duck under it and swing my sword at the created opening, but he also miraculously rolls out of the way.
Great, now we're at a good distance.
Is what I thought.
Danger!
I was taken by surprise for a few precious moments from the unexpected warning. As I finally dodged back, I barely dodged the incoming sword and was grazed on my cheek.
Gah! I was sure I was far enough away. How?!
Many things went through my head, including magic.
But as I looked up, I realized he had hooked the two swords together to greatly increase his range.
Is there even a way I can beat him without magic? Transforming in this cramped space feels like it would make my situation worse, not better.
"
"I told you! No magic here!" He laughs and swings again.
I don't believe that, there has to be a reason! Maybe I can still use it on myself and objects.
"
"Whatever you do, I can do the same!
But this time I know what to do.
First I use
I rush him and throw my sword past his other sword, the strong pull of the magnetized sword flying past yanks a sword out of his hand.
"What is this?!" He stammers and tries to swing with his remaining sword.
With my ability to sense where the attack is coming from, lunging into range of a sword unarmed isn't as stupid as it would be.
Success! I have a hold of his arm!
"
Electromagnetism for the win! Thank you, elementary physics.
He drops the sword and is sent to the ground, defenseless.
I'm still not sure what he even is. There's no way he's human with that weird translucency.
But he doesn't seem to be dead. Even so, the door to continue forward opens anyway.
Whatever he was guarding must be pretty important. I leave him there and move on, after grabbing my- Raine's sword back.
I considered taking his hook swords too because they were cool as hell, but I figured I didn't need to become a thief for no reason.
"Welcome, dragon." A voice reverberates through the next chamber.
Not again! Why is my transformation so obvious?!
"Relax, I've already known about you for a while now. I also know you're not from this world." The voice echoes again, revealing itself to be coming from a well kept man sitting on what could be described as a throne.
"Who are you? I'll go through you just like the last guy if I have to!" I question.
"I'm the God of Fate, Chrome."
"A 'god'? I haven't heard of any gods." I doubt skeptically.
"Yes, we haven't interacted much with humans, except for the light goddess that their church follows. There are many other gods in charge of maintaining this world. As well as the demonic god plotting to control it."
"So what am I supposed to do about it?"
"Your destiny is to stop the demons, whether you want that burden or not." He says.
I never thought I had a choice in the first place from the moment I heard about demons.
If you get reincarnated it's always because you're expected to do something.
"Why doesn't that goddess just go defeat the evil god herself then?" I questioned. It's a perfectly sensible thing to ask.
"Oh, she's tried. But none of us are favored by destiny, so there's no guarantee of winning. There's also the minions to worry about. Ever since she thought the summoning didn't work she's stopped caring about how her following acquires more power." Chrome utters blankly in thought.
"Hold on a second! Summoning?!" I interrupt.
"Of course. The spell we used is forbidden, and takes many gods to use, but considering the circumstances we all agreed to try it. From what we knew about it, it could summon absolutely anything you want as long as it existed somewhere. Well, I'm sure you know what we asked for..." He explains.
"So why am I dragon?" I inquired curiously.
"...You weren't a dragon before coming to this world?" He pauses.
"No, there was no such thing as a dragon where I used to live, and if there was they were long gone." I answered firmly.
"Oh, I guess that explains why you're so good at human transformation. Most dragons wouldn't be able to do that so convincingly, let alone control it so well."
"That didn't answer my question..." I pushed for the answer again.
"Well, they wanted you to be born in the royal family of this country, when that didn't happen they thought it must have failed. However, dragons are the only mortal race that can have enough Mana capacity to rival a god. Perhaps the summoning decided that was the only way you could achieve what you were summoned for? But gods still have higher authority Mana, so good luck with that."
"Unless there's anything else I need to know, then I guess I'll be going." I conclude.
"Wait, take this." He stops me and throws me a black cube. "It's a prophecy cube. You can see a possible future if you put it up to your head."
That sounds like an incredible thing to have, I should save it for when I need it.
"And don't let the knowledge of your destiny affect your choices too much. Nothing is predetermined, only guided. And your companions do not have nearly the same destiny as you do. If you get careless you might have already lost everything you care about by the time you confront the demons," He warns as I move through the exit. "And thanks for giving my guardian a fun battle after so many years."
The exit of the secret chambers dropped me back at the dungeon entrance, where I rejoined Raine and returned her sword.
"What happened in there?!"
"Nothing special, just a small detour." I chose not to disclose any of what just happened.
"How did you get the cut on your face? That's not going to show up on your normal form, right?" She asks with a faint nervousness.
I guess she's worried about Gramps seeing it and flipping out over a small nick.
It'll probably be fine...