Zathron was a world born from the legacy of ancient dragons, beings that reigned supreme during the primordial era. But during the centuries-long intergalactic war, two of the most powerful races—aside from the dragons themselves—the Phoenixes and the Tailed Foxes, betrayed their ancient allies. Their alliance led to the dragons' extinction.
Yet, in a final act of defiance—or perhaps mockery—the dragons chose not to disappear entirely. Instead, they bestowed their bloodlines upon the weakest race in Zathron: the humans. That single decision changed everything. It gave humans the strength to stand shoulder to shoulder with the planet's mightiest beings. It made them powerful.
Dragon bloodlines carried hierarchy. A gift from a mere soldier dragon couldn't compare to that of a sacred one. That's why the House of Drakios, whose lineage traced directly to a primordial dragon god, rose above the rest. Their power was unmatched, and within the human domain, their word became law.
That was why the House of Drakios was King.
In one of the Drakios estate's training halls, a boy stood locked in combat with a mechanical training robot, wielding nothing more than a wooden sword. Sweat poured from his brow, each breath heavy with exhaustion. He was nearing his limit—maybe he had already passed it—but he didn't stop. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the sword and shouted, "Again!"
The robot was already in motion before he even finished speaking, swinging its wooden sword in a swift arc aimed at his side. But the boy was ready. He ducked low, narrowly dodging the strike, and countered with a quick jab at the robot's metallic legs.
It wasn't enough.
The machine jumped, pivoted mid-air, and slammed its knee into his head. The blow sent him flying, crashing into the wall with a thud that echoed through the training hall. He felt the sharp sting of pain shoot through his ribs—at least a couple were cracked. Still, he pushed himself up on shaky legs, wiping the blood dripping from his nose. He wasn't done.
But just then, the doors burst open, and his younger sister stormed in.
Without even glancing at the robot, she threw her hand forward. A wave of draconic energy surged from her palm, slamming into the machine. It smashed into the wall and shattered into splinters.
She stopped in front of him, her eyes glistening and lips trembling in a pout. And just like that, the boy felt worse than any hit the robot had landed. He'd promised her—sworn, actually—that he'd stop being reckless during training.
"Sera, I—" he started, fumbling for an excuse.
"Save it," she snapped, folding her arms, her glare sharp despite the tears in her eyes. "You're just going to lie again. Then you'll go right back to breaking yourself and call it training."
She was angry—but in that small, furious way only she could be. And despite everything, she still looked painfully adorable.
Nert smiled and gently placed his hand on her forehead, giving it a light pat. "I need to get stronger, Sera—strong enough to make it into the academy," he said. Then a grin crept into his voice. "Wouldn't it make you proud when your brother wipes the floor with those spoiled brats from the five great families while spanking their butts and making them call him daddy."
Sera giggled, leaning into his palm and rubbing her forehead against it. She loved his pats more than anything. "Hehe, you don't need to worry about all that, brother. Sera will always protect you from the bad guys."
His smile froze for a moment, then turned faint and bitter. "I guess I'll be counting on you, Sera," he said, his gaze drifting to the splintered remains of the robot scattered across the floor.
He stared at the metallic debris for a moment, then mumbled under his breath—too quiet for Sera to hear, "To protect me… the once-in-a-lifetime trash of the Drakios."
*****
Kelly felt like she was drowning. Not in water, but in a sickening, endless fall through a space that felt hollow and bottomless. Time had started to lose meaning. Sometimes it felt like only seconds had passed. Other times, like hours… maybe even days.
Then suddenly, a blinding flash of light hit her, so sharp it clouded her vision. Her eyes, used to the dark, struggled to adjust.
But the real relief came when she felt solid ground beneath her feet.
She barely had time to register it before her knees buckled and she collapsed, retching onto the floor.
There went her breakfast—coffee and bacon, now decorating the ground in a sorry mess.
As her vision cleared, she pushed herself up shakily, her eyes meeting his.
Jayden.
He stood there, watching her like she was some fascinating experiment—like a toy that had just done something unexpected.
She tried to swallow down the hatred burning in her blood, the way his presence lit it on fire.
Tried, and failed.
"Well, would you look at that," Jayden said with a grin. "Why'd you stop throwing up, honey? I was having such a blast. Watching someone as gorgeous as you hurl up a smelly mess? Intriguing. Oh, the contrast."
Kelly ignored him, forcing herself to stand straight as she took in her surroundings—and froze.
They were in a marketplace… or something like it. But that wasn't what made her tense up.
The people.
Their crescent-shaped pupils gleamed in every possible color, their ears were long and pointed like the elves she'd read about back home, and their eyebrows were sharp—almost blade-like. They looked human… but not.
And when they laughed or chatted, Kelly caught glimpses of their pronounced canines. She suddenly felt like a stray pup tossed into a den of wolves.
Not helped, of course, by the grinning predator already beside her.
Her gaze drifted upward—and her breath hitched.
Floating islands.
Mansions sprawled across them like palaces in the sky. Strange figures moved along the clouds, too distant to make out clearly. But it didn't take a genius to guess the structure here: the ones on the ground were lower. The ones in the sky probably belonged to some kind of upper faction.
Kelly wasn't stupid. Whatever this place was, she'd been pulled into some supernatural mess—alien people, floating mansions, flying beings. Under different circumstances, she might've been excited. Her curiosity usually welcomed the bizarre.
But standing here next to a boy who literally said her death would be his personal entertainment?
Yeah. Not exactly the dream trip.
Kelly looked at him, half expecting no answer—he didn't exactly strike her as someone with all his screws intact. "Where are we?"
Jayden giggled, spreading his arms like he was delivering some grand proclamation. "Welcome to Zathron, little girl. Or as I like to call it—your first training room."
He grinned wider. "This is the world where I whip you into something useful. The perfect stage to keep me entertained. I've got a personal grudge against dragons, see? And watching you beat the crap out of their little inheritors… mmm, that's going to scratch a very specific itch."
Then his voice dropped a note darker.
"But if your performance disappoints me… if you're pathetic—" he leaned in slightly—"I tend to get angry. And when I get angry… well, I do very, very bad things."
Kelly stared at him, her expression unreadable. Slowly, a smile tugged at the edge of her lips. "The worst you can do is kill me, monster. But I stopped fearing death a long time ago."
She didn't want to die—not yet. But that never meant she feared it. Her fear had died with her brother. She just didn't want her death to be meaningless. Threatening her with it was pointless.
Jayden smirked. "Oh, I'm sure your sweet little mummy and daddy back home don't share your impressive tolerance. I doubt they've got your kind of mental resilience."
Kelly froze. Her knees wobbled slightly.
Jayden's grin stretched wider. "Unlike you, they'll scream. Loud. Especially when I peel the flesh off their bones nice and slow. What about Kelvin? Brian? Think they'll cry for help while I carve into them?"
"That's enough." Her voice was low, trembling—but not with fear. With rage.
And right then, staring into his smug, twisted face—she found it.
The thing she'd been missing her whole life.
Resolve.
It filled her, boiled her blood with searing hate. Her fear turned into fury. Her pain, her helplessness—all of it focused, given direction.
She didn't understand this world. Didn't even know what she was anymore. But he said it himself—she could get stronger.
And she would.
Strong enough to tear off his head with nothing but her bare hands.
Looking at the hate burning in her eyes only made Jayden's grin stretch wider. Turning away, he walked deeper into the marketplace. "Come on, we can't miss all the fun."
Kelly hesitated for a moment, then followed, her gaze drifting around as wonder began to push against the fury in her chest. The shops lining the streets shimmered with colors and shapes unlike anything she'd ever seen, and the air itself… it felt strange.
There was something in it—some kind of energy—that seemed to seep into her skin and swirl in her lungs. It was addicting, like breathing for the first time. Compared to this, the air back on Earth felt heavy, polluted, dead.
People turned to look at her as they passed, their crescent-shaped pupils narrowing in curiosity. Kelly figured it was because she looked different—an outsider dropped into their world. But Jayden slowed, glancing back at her with a slight frown.
That's when Kelly noticed it too.
Her body glowed faintly, lit up by soft, floating purple particles clinging to her skin and clothes. The same refreshing energy she'd been feeling—it was visible, and it was clinging to her like she was a magnet. She tried to will it away somehow, like maybe she could shut it off. Nothing changed.
Jayden stared, his expression unreadable. "What a strange physique," he muttered, almost to himself.
Kelly caught the slight confusion in his tone, and oddly, it gave her a flicker of satisfaction. If she could keep him guessing—even a little—it was a win.
But then his face twisted in irritation as he snapped, "Try not to actively absorb the Cosmic Dust in the air. You're glowing like a damn lantern."
She wanted to disobey him out of sheer spite—but the attention she was getting was starting to make her skin crawl. So, reluctantly, she forced herself to go still, mentally distancing herself from the energy in the air. Slowly, the glowing purple particles faded and disappeared.
Too late though.
A small stir had already spread across the marketplace. Four burly men approached, their bodies heavy with muscle and their grins feral. Their eyes weren't just curious—they were unsettling, gleaming with something far less innocent.
They completely ignored Jayden, turning to Kelly with all the swagger of idiots who thought they owned the street.
"Hey, princess," one of them said, his voice like sandpaper. "The boss over there wants a word. He's got an eye for… unique collections."
Kelly followed the man's thumb toward a smug-looking guy lounging against a counter, where a shop was casually selling what looked like three-headed chickens. His expression screamed rich brat with too much power and zero common sense.
Of course. Arrogant young master? Classic. Authors back home would've loved this.
"Fuck off," she said flatly. She didn't even raise her voice—just dropped the words like trash on the floor.
One of the men blinked. "What's 'fuck'?"
Kelly facepalmed. Right. New world, new rules. She was a girl of culture, she has to adapt.
"It means go shit yourself."
That got a reaction. The men grimaced, and the one who looked like he'd eaten too many bricks stepped forward, sneering. "You've got no idea who you're messing with. Young Master—"
Kelly rolled her eyes so hard it was almost theatrical. "Let me guess, 'will have your head on a spike by nightfall'? Wow. Try something original, Grandpa. That line's been overused since the '80s."
None of the men understood exactly what she said, but it was pretty obvious she was insulting them.
"Good. Very good," one of them muttered, clapping slowly in mock applause. "You really don't know your place, do you? Pure-blooded human trash. Any other human would be begging for a chance like this, and you have the nerve to reject the Young Master's kindness? Fine. We'll find you once you leave this market, and when we do—"
"Can we leave?" Kelly asked Jayden flatly, already done with the drama. She honestly didn't know why she was still standing there listening to these budget villains.
Jayden gave her a disappointed look, like a kid whose favorite scene got skipped. Then he sighed and turned back into the crowd. "Whatever."
Kelly followed, shooting a glance back just in time to see the so-called Young Master muttering under his breath, clearly pissed. His goons were still glaring at her like they wanted to eat her alive.
She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath as she caught up with Jayden. "Ugh. Stupid villain quotes. And why are the worst ones always so damn ugly? Are they fed dung or something?
***
Over the next few hours, Jayden and Kelly wandered through the marketplace. Jayden moved with the energy of someone far too excited to be here—kind of surprising, since Kelly figured he should be the more experienced one. Still, she got used to his oddly bubbly attitude, especially since she kept refusing to answer his questions or engage in conversation. For all she knew, they were just waiting for the perfect moment to kill each other, so pretending to be friends felt pointless.
By evening, Jayden seemed done. Kelly started to suspect the boy was completely broke—he hadn't bought a single thing despite wandering all day. But more likely, nothing had caught his interest. Jayden was strong, insanely strong. She didn't know how powerful the rest of these alien humans were, but she doubted any of them could snap their fingers and twist space like he did.
Bottom line: none of them gave her the same sense of dread Jayden did. They were probably too weak to be worth his time.
The two stepped out of the bustling market and into what felt like a forest. Trees stretched overhead, forming a leafy canopy that gave Kelly welcome relief from the fading sunlight.
Jayden wore a satisfied grin—like someone who just finished a three-course meal. Which, technically, he did. He'd been sampling the food stalls, eating whatever looked interesting. Apparently, the shops had a strange system for folks without money: if you could punch some weird-looking recording disc and score over a hundred, they'd give you a free meal.
Well, every disc Jayden punched shattered instantly, so the food shops were more than happy to let such a "powerful" man eat their delicacies for free. Kelly even noticed some of the shopkeepers trembling with excitement.
But unlike Jayden, she wasn't feeling so great. Regret was creeping in for rejecting all the food he'd offered. She was pretty sure he knew she was starving and was probably gloating about it right now.
As they approached the forest, Kelly suddenly heard multiple howls echoing through the trees. She froze, her legs trembling slightly.
"Are those… monsters?" she asked, though the answer was obvious. You don't expect ordinary zoo animals in a world full of strange, otherworldly humans.
"Scared?" Jayden's voice was amused.
He stepped closer, eyes narrowing. Then, casually, he drew a sword from thin air. After everything Kelly had seen, she wasn't even surprised.
"When you walk into a forest," he said, lowering his voice, "the first thing you should fear isn't the beasts. It's the humans. They're cruel, cunning, and just as likely to stab you in the back."
Kelly raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to sugarcoat it with all that talk. We both know how much we want each other dead. So, go ahead—strike."
Jayden's eyes darkened as he stepped closer, his breath warm against her face. "Don't mistake me, Kelly. I am no human. No mortal. My chains are broken, my limits erased. I am immortal."
He handed her the sword, then bent down to whisper in her ear. "Entertain me, please."
And just like that, he vanished.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps surrounded her. From the shadows of the trees, a group of familiar men appeared—eyes burning with malice... and something more twisted. A feeling that made her skin crawl.
Kelly glanced down at the sword in her hands and let out a heavy sigh.
She was alone, stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Surrounded by four burly men with very bad intentions.
Holding a sword she had never even trained with.
Kelly couldn't think of any other word to say but…
"Fuck."