After that shock, Arin awoke on a damp ground covered with a thin layer of mist.
He wasn't sure whether what he saw was reality or a dream.
A dense forest stretched endlessly, its trees intertwined as if whispering to each other. The air was heavy, carrying the scent of mud… and something else he could not describe.
Everything was silent, so much so that his own breathing sounded like noise amidst the stillness.
He looked around with hesitant eyes, trying to find logic in all that was happening.
How could he have been in an alley a moment ago, then in that strange void, and now in a forest that seemed to have emerged from a nightmare?
He understood nothing…
but what shocked him the most was his own body.
He raised his hand in front of his eyes, and his heart skipped a beat.
His fingers were longer.
His skin was softer.
His hair fell over his shoulders in a dark yellow shade.
This was not his body.
This was not the Arin he knew.
It felt as if he were wearing an identity that wasn't his own.
A different body, different eyes… even his voice sounded strange when he whispered to himself.
Who am I now?
How did this happen?
And why am I here?
What is this place anyway?
As he tried to comprehend his surroundings, something caught his attention amid the mist.
A small hut, old and leaning on the edge of collapse, nestled among the silent trees.
He hesitated briefly, then forced himself to approach it with unsteady steps.
Perhaps there was someone who could explain this madness.
The closer he got, the stranger it felt.
The walls were covered in incomprehensible engravings, as if symbols had been carved there ages ago.
When he placed his hand on the door, he felt a gentle warmth spread through his skin…
as if the wood itself were breathing.
He hesitated for a moment more, then slowly pushed the door open.
A long creak tore through the silence.
Inside, the darkness was thick.
Yet… something moved slowly, as if someone were waiting for him in the depths.
When Arin's eyes fell upon it, he froze.
Words could not describe what he felt in that moment.
Am I dreaming?
What is this creature?
No… this cannot be real.
His breath quickened, fear creeping into his bones until it felt as if the ground had vanished beneath his feet.
Death would have been better than seeing this…
Could this be… a dragon?
At the very least, it seemed so.
Yet it resembled a nightmare made flesh.
It was enormous, defying all logic.
How could a creature of this size exist inside such a small hut?
Arin paused, realizing that the hut had seemed simple from the outside… just a room and a tiny kitchen.
But inside?
The space stretched endlessly.
A vast world… a whole city… perhaps even more.
This was impossible…
What is happening?
Why am I always the one caught in these predicaments?
I hate myself…
He collapsed onto his knees, tears streaming down his pale face, mixed with shivers of fear and despair.
Was this the end of my beginning?
I still don't understand where I am…
And now I'll die here? In front of this thing?
Just as he thought all was over, the massive creature moved toward him.
His body shivered, his limbs stiffened.
My legs… I can't feel them!
Move, body, move!
But fear was stronger than any command his mind could give.
Suddenly, a deep voice pierced the silence, as if coming from the heart of the mountains:
"You wonder… what I am?
Even I do not know how you arrived here without sensing my presence.
You are now in my forest… the Silent Woods.
I did not expect a human to dare enter it.
Tell me, where did you come from? How did you reach this place?"
Arin trembled and whispered to himself:
Is what I'm hearing real?
Is it… speaking to me?
The dragon continued, its voice like distant thunder:
"It seems you are still in shock. That's fine…
But what surprises me most is your energy.
Why can I not sense all of your mana?
Are you using some kind of cloaking magic?"
Arin stammered in fear:
"Mana? Magic?
I don't understand what you mean!"
The dragon chuckled briefly, a deep laugh that shook the room:
"You don't know the meaning of mana and magic?
Are you joking?
This world is built upon them!
Curious indeed, little human…"
Arin slowly regained his breath, thinking to himself:
A world built on magic?
Then this isn't my world…
This cannot be a dream, I feel the cold, the fear… every bit of it.
No, this is reality.
It seems I… have been transported to another world.
And if this dragon discovers the truth about me, I won't survive long…
The dragon's voice cut in again:
"I suppose you have your reasons…
Or perhaps you know nothing of the outside world.
But that's fine.
You have arrived at exactly the right time."
Arin lifted his head cautiously:
"At the right time?
What do you mean?"
The dragon smiled, his eyes glittering like stars in the dark sky:
"My name is Shane.
One of the Five Legendary Beings.
I am known as the Nebula Dragon.
I have grown weary of this monotonous life inside this closed world,
and I wish to leave…
this hut that has no end."
Arin, astonished:
"A world?
Aren't we inside a hut?
What on earth is happening here?"
Shane replied calmly, with majesty:
"What you see is not what it appears.
This hut is merely a shell.
Inside… a vast world, whose boundaries I cannot even perceive.
I have tried to explore it, but loneliness and boredom prevented me.
It is as if I am a prisoner in a cage with no walls."
Arin, stunned:
"And why are you alone here?
And why can't you leave?"
Shane chuckled lightly, as if mocking fate:
"A fair question…
But its answer is not for now.
Let us just say that I need a companion to cross the barrier between this world and the outside.
It seems I am somehow sealed, even though seals rarely affect me.
So I ask of you, human…
Be my companion."
Arin remained silent for a moment, then said:
"I don't understand much of what you've said…
But I have no choice.
I have many questions, and perhaps this is my chance to find answers."
He lowered his head and whispered:
"My previous life was a hell…
I never want to return to it."
Then he raised his gaze firmly and said:
"Very well, Shane…
I accept.
I will be your companion."