At first, I didn't know whether I should feel happy or not. I had finally left my home, but I was abandoned in a forest. In the end, I decided that from that moment on, I would live my life the way I wanted. I would do everything I could to survive and become strong. Once I was strong enough, I would take my revenge.
By the time I finished thinking this through, it had already grown dark. I started to feel cold. I looked around to see if I could find any shelter. That's when I spotted a cave. Since I had never been in a forest before, I didn't know what kind of creatures might live there. Without a second thought, I entered the cave. I didn't expect to find company inside...
As soon as I stepped into the cave, I noticed huge crystals emitting a blue light. Surprisingly, the cave was warm. The farther I went inside, the less cold I felt. Suddenly, I tripped over something. When I looked down, I saw a large snake-like thing. But it was much bigger than any snake I had ever seen. It was so long that I couldn't even see its head. My curiosity was piqued. I started following the direction where it grew thicker.
After turning a corner, I realized what it was that I had first mistaken for a giant snake. It was a dragon. My breath caught for a moment. Luckily, it was asleep. I quickly turned to run but tripped over a rock and fell to the ground with a loud thud. I quickly got up and tried to run again, but it was too late. The dragon had woken up.
I had no chance of escaping, and my legs were trembling so badly that I could barely stand. Slowly, I turned around. The dragon was staring at me angrily. Now that I could see it better than when it was asleep, I noticed how beautiful it was. Its red scales glistened in the dim light coming from the crystals. At first, I was terrified, but my fear slowly faded. If it had wanted to kill me, it would have done so already. Instead, it just kept looking at me with its black eyes.
- How did you get here, human? - the dragon suddenly spoke.
I couldn't understand how I could understand his words. (Later, I found out that I could not only understand the dragon but also other monsters. This turned out to be one of my "superpowers.")
- They abandoned me in the forest because they found me useless. I have no magical power. - I replied.
"Humans have such high expectations these days," the dragon thought, but aloud, it only said:
- If you'd like, you can stay here. I've lived in this cave for thousands of years, and I'm very bored. In return, I'll teach you and give you food.
- Will you also help me become stronger? - I asked.
- Of course. But don't complain later if my training is too tough. Now, I'm going back to sleep. Do whatever you want until then.
- Wait! - I called after it. - What's your name?
- Brenton - it replied.