I dragged my legs to the dragon skeleton as the sky started being blanketed by murky dark grey clouds. A few rays of sunshine shone through the thick clouds. The majestic carcase soon came into view. Instinctively, I lifted my right arm up. The palm of my hand was up against the skull of the creature.
My eyes widened as I felt a shock run through my hand and spread across my whole body. I could not move an inch of my body. I just stood there until the shock stopped.
"What the hell was that?" I thought to myself.
My body did not hurt at all and instead, I felt better than I did before. But I did not notice any other difference. The sky lit up as a flash of lightning struck the ground, followed by the deafening thunder. A light mist trailed behind.
"I better get the shelter ready. There will be heavy rainfall soon," I thought.
Hurriedly, I ran to a nearby tree and began plucking some large leaves. Additionally, I gathered some dried twigs and branches. Leaf by leaf, I covered the ribs of the dragon and blanketed the ground beneath. Using the firewood that I had collected, I set-up a small campfire to keep me warm and to grill the food. The delightful aroma soon permeated the air as a nice char began surrounding the meat. At that point, I was already starving and the smell made me drool uncontrollably.
"At least I have something to look forward to."
As the orange flame flickered, sparks floated upwards and a yellow glow appeared on my skin. After an hour of slow roasting, I gently removed the meat and began devouring it. In the bat of an eye, the food was gone, leaving behind only pieces of bones. I laid down after the heavy meal and stared at the veins of the leaves that were sheltering me. Droplets of rains incessantly fell on them causing relaxing splashing sounds. It would have been a therapeutic scene had it not been for the situation I was in. My eyes gently closed as I tried to get some rest and I slowly fell in a slumber.
From the darkness of my sleep, a figure appeared. The grand humanoid figure had red scales covering parts of his body and had a long tail. The man had spikes running along his spine and tail. His nails were long and looked more like sharp blades. He was performing a set of basic techniques, but anyone with eyes could see that he was a master and that these basics had been refined to a high level. There were four strikes in total using all of his limbs.
"This is a very realistic dream."
"Who said this is a dream? Focus on the techniques and learn them you idiot. These are very barebone moves of the draconic style," the humanoid said.
My face wore a shocked expression as I tried to understand what was happening.
"Who are you," I asked.
"You are sleeping inside my skeleton and you ask such stupid questions?"
"That shock that you felt earlier was a small part of my spirit that was still left in my corpse. I am just trying to teach you some techniques as you look so pathetic," he added.
"Are all dragons like you?" I asked.
"All dragons are humanoid figures but we can transform into our full form, but only for a limited amount of time," he replied.
I was amazed when he said this. I was actually speaking to a real dragon. Judy would have been so excited if she heard this.
"Who killed you?" I asked curiously.
"I do not know his name as us dragons rarely interact with humans, but all I remember was that a sword covered with red aura slashed my neck in a single strike."
"Will you always appear in my dreams?" I asked.
"No, my spirit is currently weak, so I will only appear in rare situations," he replied.
"Now stop wasting time and analyze my moves."
With a careful eye, I observed every subtle movement he made and he explained everything in depth. I practiced alongside him to get the hang of it.
"Doing something in your sleep is very different to doing it in real life," he said.
"Thanks captain obvious," I replied sarcastically.
"You little shi-"
"I guess my time is up for now. If you were not such a smartass, I could have shown you more, but you have a lot to learn already. I wish you the best of luck," he said
"I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Drago."
His image began fading and disintegrating into particles as darkness enveloped me. I snapped out of my sleep and was gasping for air. My body was covered in sweat from head to toe. By the time I woke up, the sun was already up. I stood up and bowed to the dragon before getting into the stance that he showed me.
Before beginning, I visualized the technique and after remembering every detail, I tried to emulate it to the best of my abilities. I lost balance and fell numerous times.
"He was right, it's much harder in real life."
I pulled myself up and identifies where I went wrong. After rectifying my mistakes, I attempted them again. Drago was performing these strikes with such nonchalance and finesse that I was fooled into thinking that they were easy.
"My balance is an issue. I only have one arm."
If these were the basics, how tough are the advanced techniques! My punches and kicks improved with every strike. This went on for what felt like hours. My body began to feel heavier. Sweat dripped down my skin. My mouth was now wide open as I was huffing and puffing. My cardiovascular strength was lacking, so these moves took a heavy toll on my body.
"I guess that's enough for now. I need to go meet the orcs in the beast kingdom."
I tidied up the dragon skeleton before heading back into the ominous forest.