It felt like he had been falling for ages and when they finally landed on a hard ground, it felt as though his bone had broken.
Rhett stood up and looking around him couldn't see Ash. He felt sort of scared. His surroundings were scary. The sky was very dark, a cloudless, dour and sombre horizon. The place he was, was a street.
Flooded by street lights, it was sure radiating brightness even though the sky was dark, cloudless and unforgiving. Rhett looked and couldn't see Ash yet again. His mind suddenly became weary, had he not made it?, he thought.
Suddenly a hand touched him by his shoulders, giving him a start. Turning back, he saw that it was only Ash, a wide grin on his face.
"What took you long?", he asked a startled Rhett.
Rhett stretched his back and asked Ash: "Where are we?".
"A bizarre version of earth", came the reply. "An old earth really".
Inside his coat, Ash brought out an almost small sword and handed it over to Rhett who reluctantly collected it.
"What for?", he asked.
Ash smiled. "This is worse than your earth, here, it's a damn nightmare. Beasts, monsters, many creatures are here, so I guess safety comes first".
Rhett nodded in the affirmative. "So what do we do now".
"We go to one of my old friends, then from there, we find a way to get back to the slayer's domain".
Ash patted rhett by the shoulder and quickly went forward, Rhett following behind. The place seemed to be without wind because there was no motion, just a windless walk.
Rhett thought he heard a growl, turning back, he saw a medium sized red dragon.
Ash, frightened, quickly took to a corner, crouching below.
Rhett raised his sword in the air and the dragon followed his motion, pouncing at him. Rhett moved sideways, his slashing the air upwards the dragon who just ducked and went into Rhett, who was jolted to the floor.
The dragon breathed fire from its mouth at Rhett's head but he dodged and sent the dragon a kick, which jerked it backwards, landing on the wall.
Rhett quickly stood up, and his sword forward, he ran and dived it at the dragon's stomach who gave out a loud cry before vanishing into crimson ashes which swirled and twirled as it went to the sky.
Rhett knelt on the floor, a knee bent and the other standing. Ash quickly came out of hiding and went over to him.
"Nice one", he said. "But let's not celebrate as that's only a weak dragon, some slay it without struggle".
Rhett stood up. "But I had a bit of struggle slaying it".
Ash struggled. "That's why you need to improve more I guess".
Rhett's stats suddenly appeared before him:
NAME - KING RHETT
RANK - DRAGONSLAYER
Slayer hub - Level/10
[XP - 200]
{XP needed to next level: 400]
Abilities - [GAZE KILLER]
Artifacts - [ NONE FOR NOW]
Ash smiled. "Your XP has really increased, soon you'll get to the next level. And soon my king, you'll be very powerful enough to slay a dragon with ease".
"I wish", said rhett. They now continued walking forward, advising they stick to the shadows. Away from the lights coming from the long street lights.
"How do I get artifacts?"Rhett asked.
"You get artifacts after slaying a boss dragon or find it hidden somewhere, but that's hard though", came the reply.
They turned left, the street deserted, not even a single car passing. They soon saw a monster though, walking opposite the place they were, at the other side of the road. They quickly hid, allowing it to pass before they continued again.
"I was thinking", began Rhett. "Are there any other ranks other than dragon slayer and can I have another rank?".
Ash brooded on that for some moments. "Yes they are other ranks. Well, you're king of the dragon slayers so you got dragon slayer rank. Other slayers get their ranks, demon slayer, shadow slayer and the likes".
Ash paused, then now walking in slow steps continued: "At rare occasions when a dragon slayer slays a ghost monster or a shadow monster, or the other monsters. The slayer's rank changes and he/she is given, ummm, I think another more dope rank. I've actually forgotten the name though".
Rhett nodded and sighed. "So what's our life now? It no longer harbours any use. The ghost slayers have done it, they have taken over my kingdom. I guess I'm no longer fit to be called king".
Ash sighed. "You are still king m'lord. For escaping. This isn't the first time the ghost slayers are attacking us. The last time they did, they murdered our king and set our kingdom ablaze. But I escaped and we started again, coming to earth and looking for a king for ages before we finally saw you. We were actually living in those trash cans".
Rhett gave out a faint smile. "I feel like I was rushed at being king. It was easy to me, at least it felt easy. All of a sudden I was king of a village or kingdom or whatever".
They turned right now and ash said with a smile. "Yeah it was rushed but we were badly in need of a king and you fulfilled the prophecy. You slayed an ice dragon. My king, you are still king and I assure you that you were chosen, you are a chosen king".
Rhett paused and looked at ash for quite long, and then gave him a hug.
After the embrace, Ash smiled and slowly pointed to a house, a cottage like building really, olden days like.
"You know I was a pizza guy before you guys met me and made me a king. You changed my life In a way".
Ash smiled as he walked towards the building, standing in front of the door. Rhett followed him and stood, facing the door that looked very old and emaciated in a way.
"Now let's get some help m'lord", said Ash to Rhett as he gently rapped on the door.