Starting from the outer tip of the wings, the great black dragon began to disintegrate. Fragment after fragment, its body was trapped in a dense stream of red-hot air.

Sparks and burning slags pulsated inside that blackish mass, which remained suspended in the air in a circular motion. When also the dragon’s neck and head were sucked into it, it began to wave sinuously. ​​

The black and red air current took a downward trajectory, swiftly meandering towards Yoichi. The young warrior could not believe his eyes: although it did not obey his commands and behaved in a hostile manner, that black dragon was Kenji, his little Nekage.

“Hahah! So it’s all real! It’s all true! Kenji! You’re a… a…” Yoichi’s happy words were interrupted by the massive fiery shadow that swooped in his direction. Having no way out, he looked around, unnecessarily hoping to find a place to escape that shadow-shaped nightmare.

Resigned to his fate, Yoichi opened his arms wide. Bravely awaiting the impact, a smile appeared on his face.

*vooom* – Like a sharp, ethereal weapon, the air current pierced the young tamer’s chest, impaling him. A pain so intense that it could be compared to death caused him to lose his senses.

…

“Aaargh!” Yoichi screamed, falling backwards and slamming his back on the room bed. He pushed his body away from the stone sink and pulled his hands out of the water.

*anf*anf*anf* – exhaling fear-soaked air from his lungs, the young tamer touched his arms and chest. Looking up at the ceiling, he still couldn’t realize he was back in the world he called ‘reality’.

“Screek? Screek!” Kenji exclaimed, worried. The baby Dragon jumped on the bed in a hurry, assisting its master.

Yoichi turned his gaze towards his pet, continuing to gasp. Grabbing its black reptile body, he lifted it above his head.

“Hey, buddy… you have no idea what I just saw,” he smiled, trying to convey to his Oracle the strong emotions that pervaded his body.

“You’re back, Yoichi” Ryutaro’s voice echoed in the room. Believing he was close to the end of everything, the young Nightblades warrior had almost forgotten the presence of the old monk.

He left Kenji on the bed and slowly stood up, fixing his wrinkled clothes. He wiped his hands on his trousers and pulled back his hair, taking one last, deep breath.

His gaze fell over the stone sink in the direction of the veil on the gatekeeper’s face. The monk lay in the middle of the room, his hands crossed behind his back and his appearance calm and focused.

“Judging by the face you made when you came out of the Tear Vision, you must have discovered something upsetting,” Ryutaro commented.

“How was that possible? How did you teleport me to a desert?” Yoichi inquired. Naively, he had not yet realized that his soul was the only thing that left the Dojo’s room.

“Desert?”

When Ryutaro showed his surprise at hearing his answer, Yoichi stood still to think. If he has no idea where I’ve been, he can’t imagine what I saw. There’s no doubt, what I experienced was only in my head. It can’t really have happened.

Thinking of the smallest details of that strange phenomenon, the young tamer looked out the window. The morning sun lit up the training arena. On the stone tatami, tens of warriors of some guild were intent on carrying out their daily training.

“Tell me, boy. What did you see?” Ryutaro spoke again. The gatekeeper slowly approached his young guest. “Fear not. Everything you tell me will remain within these four walls. I have no interest in betraying your trust,” he added.

The words of this old monk sound sincere. When he showed me the ancient tome that was given to him by the Emperor’s father, he did not hesitate for a moment, blindly trusting me. Yoichi continued to think.

The eerie aura that enveloped Ryutaro’s dark figure had never disappeared. However, despite the huge age difference between them, the empathy in their speeches was palpable.

“I was in a desert, supreme Ryutaro. There was no one with me… only me and the sand, an infinite expanse of sand,” the young tamer replied, approaching the stone sink. “I tried to call you and call Kenji, but no one answered me. Everything changed when I pronounced its real name…”

“Ildriss…” the gatekeeper interrupted, whispering the name which had got his attention from the beginning.

“It looked like nothing had happened, but… suddenly a huge black dragon appeared on the horizon.”

“A black dragon? Like that of drawing?” Ryutaro inquired again, astonished by the tale.

“Very similar to that one, yes. Although I immediately realized that the place I ended up in was just a parallel world created in my mind, the warmth of the sun, the desert sand and the anxiety I felt when I was about to be killed seemed real”, Yoichi explained. “At first, I didn’t understand why such a big and powerful being wanted to kill me, but when I tried to call my Oracle back inside me…”

“It disappeared and returned to your body… I understand, I understand everything…” Ryutaro murmured. Yoichi’s confusing story seemed to have completely caught the old monk’s attention.

After those words, he began to walk back and forth around the room. It was as if, what Yoichi had just said, was the answer he had been looking for for so long that he couldn’t remember.

“And now? What does all this mean? Is Kenji a dragon for real? How is it possible? I thought the dragons were extinct!” the young tamer boomed, waiting for a concrete response from his interlocutor.

“You said it tried to kill you. How?” the old man asked. His head quickly turned towards Yoichi, causing the cloth veil to move in front of his nose.

“Um… he… well, he breathed a fire beam! Luckily I managed to dodge it, otherwise, it would have pulverized me. How come Kenji wanted to kill me? He has always protected me and always obeyed my orders, so far! That’s what Oracles do, right?”