Jaiden felt warmth seeping through his body, the light behind his closed eyelids glowing an intense red as the sunlight filtered through. Slowly, he opened his eyes, the world around him blurry at first. With a quick rub of his hands, his vision cleared, and what he saw left him momentarily stunned.
The memories rushed back in fragmented flashes: his death, the void, the black hole, and then waking up in someone else's body. Jaiden pieced it together quickly. He had seen his fair share of anime to understand what had happened.
He had been isekai'd.
Sitting up, Jaiden tried to look around, only to find himself lying in a dense bed of grass. The blades were abnormally tall, reaching nearly two feet high, and swayed gently in the breeze. He got to his feet, his movements shaky and unsteady, his soul still adjusting to its new host.
As he stood upright, the scenery before him took his breath away. He was on a grassy hill, surrounded by an expanse of lush, vibrant forest. The sun's rays kissed the earth warmly, while a cool wind brushed past him, carrying the scent of wildflowers. In the distance, rivers gleamed like molten silver under the sunlight, weaving through the terrain.
The trees were unlike anything he'd ever seen—many stretched miles into the sky, their tops vanishing into the clouds. Some were so massive that their sheer size seemed impossible, their canopies blanketing the horizon.
It didn't take a genius to figure out he wasn't on Earth anymore.
"Wait… that means…" Jaiden muttered, a sense of giddy anticipation creeping in.
As if on cue, the towering trees ahead of him swayed violently. It wasn't the wind—it was something far more powerful. Jaiden's eyes widened as the source revealed itself: a colossal dragon.
The creature emerged from the treetops with terrifying grace. Its obsidian-black scales glinted under the sunlight like polished armor. Two pairs of massive wings unfurled from its back, their sheer span blocking out the sun. Its cyan eyes glowed with an otherworldly intelligence, scrutinizing everything around it.
In its jaws, the dragon held a massive snake, its body reminiscent of a titanoboa from Earth's prehistoric times. The snake's lifeless form hung limp, dwarfed in comparison to the dragon's size. The beast's sheer presence radiated an aura so overwhelming that Jaiden couldn't move, paralyzed under its gaze.
The dragon's eyes flicked toward Jaiden, scanning him from head to toe. For a moment, Jaiden felt as though he were a mere insect, insignificant in the presence of such an apex predator. But the dragon made no move to attack as if jaiden wasn't worth the effort.
With a single powerful motion, the dragon launched itself into the air. Its wings sliced through the sky with a sound like thunder, but once airborne, the creature didn't flap them again. It seemed to glide effortlessly, as though an invisible force carried its massive frame.
Then, mid-flight, the dragon's wings folded inward, and cyan energy began to radiate from its body. Jaiden's eyes widened in awe as the dragon accelerated, the energy around it intensifying.
Shooohhh!
The dragon broke the sound barrier, a massive sonic boom tearing through the forest below. Trees were uprooted, their trunks obliterated as a shockwave of destruction followed in the dragon's wake. Jaiden could only watch as it disappeared into the horizon, leaving nothing but devastation in its path.
His legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. But it wasn't fear that left him trembling.
It was awe.
"HOLY SHIT. What the fuck was that?" he whispered, his voice trembling with raw, primal excitement. His eyes burned with exhilaration.
For the first time, he truly understood. This wasn't just another life. This was a world filled with creatures and powers beyond his wildest imagination. And Jaiden wasn't afraid.
He was ready.