Chapter 1: Not Fear
"Come on, hit me harder!"
Noa shouted as a punch to his gut left him breathless.
The pain was strong.
But his will was stronger.
And instead of lowering his head to his bullies, Noa smirked and said again,
"Try again!"
His misty blue eyes narrowed, and his dry lips curled into a sneer, showing extreme emotions like anger, hatred, and... disgust.
Not fear.
Suddenly, two rough hands clamped down on his arms.
And no matter how much he struggled, they left him nowhere to escape.
Being a short high schooler, his frame and strength couldn’t compare to the three boys beating him up.
His hoodie covered his weak body, and his pants were wrinkled and worn out from too many washes.
Another fist slammed into his guts, evading his senses.
It left a stinging pain in his stomach. Arching his back and coughing from the blow, Noa kept laughing.
"You punch like a bitch," he taunted. "I bet a 10-year-old girl could hurt me more."
His voice was loud enough, and it was laced with malice and mockery, striking harder than the punches he had to endure.
"This fucker!" Jake, the leader of the bullies, yelled, his voice heavy with rage.
His face flashed red, his veins popped up, and he swung again. This time, he didn’t hold back, aiming at Noa’s jaw for the maximum damage.
The sound of knuckles hitting bone echoed in the school playground, but it only seemed to fuel his fury. His breath quickened, his fingers ached with pain, and his fists shook in humiliation.
Yet, after looking up at Noa, all he saw was another smirk.
"Might as well give up," Noa mocked again, and addressed the two boys as they held his hands. "You guys should replace him. His punches can’t even hurt a mosquito. I think you guys are wasted on someone like him and should find someone stronger to follow."
He knew what would happen if he spoke this way, but he did it anyway.
Two minutes later, he lay on the ground.
He was bruised and was hurting all over, yet the smile never faded from his face.
"I won," he exclaimed.
Yes, they beat him up, but as long as he refused to lower his head, he couldn’t be defeated.
That was how he thought about life in general.
The bullies left him alone because of the bell, as if afraid that the teachers would scold them for being late.
Noa cared about none of that.
He roamed around the school.
Strolling toward a bathroom at the far end of the hallway, his steps were steady and unhurried.
Even his face remained calm as if nothing could faze him.
It wasn’t the first time Jake and his lackeys had attacked him.
He also knew it wouldn’t be the last time.
Because a skinny orphan who had no one to protect or stand up for him was an easy target. Unfortunately for them, Noa never backed down, making their job harder each time.
’What should I read?’
He thought after reaching the bathroom and sitting on the toilet.
Choosing something to read from the endless list of webnovels had him browse for a couple of minutes until he finally found something fun to immerse himself in.
The soft glow of the screen revealed his strongly shaped features.
His messy black hair covered his full forehead. It was unkempt, as he didn’t care enough to fix it. The pair of gray eyes gave him a calm, yet distant impression of someone who knew more than they showed.
His thumb tapped the phone lazily, opening a new world before his eyes.
The world of fantasy novels captivated him as if they promised a distant, foreign land from his dreams to escape this boring world.
Noa was devouring Chapter after Chapter when a faint scent of smoke tickled his nose.
At first, he ignored it, believing the cook had burned dinner again.
But when the smell got stronger and the distant chaos reached him, Noa knew something was off.
Soon, the gray smoke seeped under the doorframe.
"Oh, shit!" he exclaimed, nearing the door instantly.
But—
No matter how much he struggled or how hard he tried to yank the door free, it didn’t budge.
’Someone locked me in here,’ he realized.
Of course, the faces of the potential culprits surfaced in his mind, but he had no time to dwell on that.
The smoke flowed under the gap. It was strong and suffocating, stinging his eyes and lungs, which made him cough violently.
His fists moved first.
They pounded on the door, shouting as well, "Let me out!"
His voice was hoarse.
It was losing strength every moment. Behind him, the small window offered a way out, and instead of hesitating at the thought of jumping from the third floor, Noa sprang into action.
However, just as he was about to reach questionable safety, an explosion erupted.
Heat.
Pain.
Agony.
Then—darkness.
But.
It didn’t end there.
The darkness was followed by a primal voice, echoing—or rather drifting—toward Noa.
[From bones to ashes...] the voice greeted.
Hearing this, Noa’s eyes snapped open, and he greeted the endless void before him. There was no excess sound, no light, or weight around him.
The world around him was stripped of every rule he had known.
"Where am I?" he asked, his consciousness barely holding on as the last echoes of the flame still followed him.
At least they started to dim, replaced by eerie calm.
[You are dead, young man.]
The same being who welcomed him spoke again, rumbling like distant thunder and enveloping Noa to the core.
"I know that much. But if I’m dead, what is this place? Who are you, and what the hell am I doing here?"
His surroundings looked and felt surreal. Despite that, he remained calm.
But then, in this darkness, something stirred—something both mesmerizing and intimidating. Her figure glowed deeply, even though the surrounding space was barren of light.
[So... this is the heir Fate promised me.]
She spoke.
Again.
Not with sound, but with life. With strength. With divinity.
For a moment, Noa just stared at her scales. Her horns looked like spears sculpted from falling stars.
But when her luminous, sharp gaze pierced the darkness and locked onto his eyes, he felt shockingly small.
"Dragon?"
Noa’s lips curved into a grin, showing extreme emotions like surprise, curiosity, and... excitement.
Not fear.