Grandfather did not give me enough time to regain my bearings after his heavenly beam of fire. I hastily retreated a few steps as pain racked my bones. 'Can I do it? Can I survive another blow?'
These thoughts constantly swirled within my mind. A part of me did not want to acknowledge it, but I was scared, I was deathly afraid of his next attack that I did not want to linger here for any longer.
Yet, to retreat was not an option. 'Think! There must be a way to get out of this!' I racked my brain trying to desperately think of a plan, any plan that could help me survive.
'His first attack was a physical one with his tail, the second one was a magical attack, then what will the third one be?' I wondered, where was it going to come from?
Just then, grandfather suddenly made his move. An abnormal amount of mana rushed towards him almost forming a whirlpool of sorts. Flames suddenly erupted from his large body, he was literally on fire!
For a second, I simply stood there mesmerized by the beauty of it all. He truly looked majestic, his red and orange flames caused the surrounding space to break. I did not doubt that if even one of those flames so much as grazed my body, that would be the end of me.
At that moment, faced with overwhelming might and power, my heart was surprisingly calm. The fear that had gripped my heart moments ago vanished, and the only thing I could feel was respect.
Respect one had for someone truly strong, respect for overwhelming strength. I was not disheartened, no quite the opposite, I was excited! My grandfather was without a doubt an ancient dragon, It would only make sense for him to be this strong!
'This only means that even I could reach...no! I will reach that height! And for that, like hell I'll fall here!' With determination, I let out a roar full of defiance.
'He said I had to survive one last attack, but that doesn't mean I can't launch one of my own!'
I lunged forward and sent a large water ball soaring towards his face. Faced with my attack, grandfather's gaze was full of disdain and disappointment.
As soon as the large water ball closed in on him it suddenly exploded creating a faint foggy veil, and that was exactly what I was aiming for. A small but thick ice sickle broke through the fog and lunged towards grandfather's eye.
I knew I had no chance of doing any damage to him, and I did not hold any hopes in breaking through his scales' defenses with my attacks, hence I opted to go for what seemed to be the only weak point I could think of, his eyes...
The Ice sickle attack was flawless, I summoned the large water ball to divert his attention and then quickly sent the ice attack right behind it, this way he would have no way to defend against it.
Or so it should have been...What I didn't take into consideration was the ridiculous heat the flames surrounding his body emitted. I was hoping that with the speed of the attack, it would manage to land.
But I was wrong. As soon as the ice sickle broke through the fog and closed in on grandfather, the heat emitting from his flames suddenly erupted causing the ice to melt, completely nullifying my attack.
'Well, I'll be damned,' I bitterly chuckled. I failed, I was exhausted, my body was protesting in pain, and I honestly had no energy for any additional attack.
But it was all worth it, It was nothing but a mere second, a fraction of a second even, but his unchanged face flickered as a hint of shock flashed through his gaze. It wasn't much, but It was enough for me to be satisfied.
'If only I had enough time,' I mumbled as I raised my head high waiting for grandfather's last strike.
His flames quickly rose to the sky, seemingly reaching out to burn the heavens itself. The sea of flames then rushed towards me bloating the sky and dyeing my vision red before I descended into darkness.
'Is this the end?'
Just then my eyes shot open in puzzlement, I was no longer standing on top of our mountain, no I was in an entirely different world, a world of flames. The sky was crimson, the land was barren and grey with countless volcanoes all around.
'Is this hell?' That was the first thought that crossed my mind, and as if to clear my doubts an ancient voice replied.
"You are inside my soul space little one."
'G-Grandfather?' I asked hesitantly.
"Hmm, I suppose you could call me that." Answered the voice with a small hint of contentment.
I was looking all around the place, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from when grandfather's figure suddenly materialized out of thin air in front of me.
This time, he did not appear in his true size but was more or less the same size as I was. 'So you could do stuff like that inside a soul space.' I inwardly mumbled to which he nodded.
"Indeed, a soul space is a dragon's most formidable strength but also his greatest weakness," He said.
I did not quite understand, yet I still nodded. "You will have the right to apply for the rite of passage only when you are able to master your control over your soul space little one," He explained in a serious tone, his eyes seemed different from earlier.
'Rite of passage?' I mumbled, this was the second time I heard about it, the first being with Amanita.
I raised my head to glance back at my grandfather, still confused, and asked. 'You said I had to survive three of your attacks but I only managed to withstand one' Before I could finish, grandfather, interrupted me.
"You already passed little one," He said.
'Passed? But how?'
"My first strike was to test you against a physical attack, to which you barely passed, the second was to test you against a magical attack, to which you also barely passed, while the third was a soul attack, and for this, you have no one to rely on but yourself," He said, yet I was still confused. What soul attack?
"The fact that your soul could retain its shape and rationality while in my soul space is enough for you to have passed."
'What?"