Several hours earlier…

The desert city of Dracokin was preparing itself for another invasion attempt. Due to the high risk of Aetherium poisoning that incapacitated many citizens caught in the fight, the healers focused on training on handling Aetherium poisoning and first aid procedures to stabilize victims. The whole city was on high alert, and everyone, following Zenithia’s advice, prepared themselves for tell-tale signs of a pillar of light coming down, including what she said a ‘subtle flash of light’.

While the guards, the dragon riders, and the mages were on high alert and could not leave their post except to rest, many others, especially those in the reserve, could still walk around freely in the city. One of them was Richie, the dragonborn who was once a human from another world.

He made a promise to Ritik to support him against those who might be trying to harass the kobold or giving him an unequal opportunity. No one would believe that a kobold happened to be a high-ranking mage. Richie certainly did not at first. So, he became his guardian as he continued his research with the Mark.

The dragonborn wondered if he should try and learn the technology of that world, especially if he wanted to help. He had a bit more knowledge on contemporary machines. By ‘contemporary’, he meant 21st century machines. He was aware that the fantasy world he ended up in had technologies similar to his own world with a magic twist, such as a video phone, an ‘electric’ stove, and power, all dependent on mana generators. They operated and powered differently from the ones he knew, but functions were interchangeable. He could easily impart his knowledge and experience in engineering to improve the magic-powered appliances.

He started thinking whether he should access the ‘archiver’, the computer database analogue of that world. It would take a little more time, though, considering how archivers had a very complicated user interface akin to command-based operating system. His father might understand it, but not Richie.

As he pondered on what to do to pass time with Ritik and Keeshar, he started to wonder if the light dragon would attack while they were lulled into a sense of false security. He did not with for it, but he could not deny that the light dragons would try and attack soon, a sentiment that his friends shared. Dracokin was spared the worst of the damage due to Zenithia’s support and Shawar’s weakened state. The next light dragon would be more prepared.

He would wish that he was wrong.

Somewhere in Dracokin, or more specifically inside the soldier barracks near the northern exit of Dracokin, the soldiers were resting and relaxing after a long day. Their shifts were over, while guards from a different guard shift prepared themselves to take over. Many of the soldiers were young and inexperienced. Unlike the older soldiers, they had never seen combat beyond the training they had in military school. For them, Pol Hain was just a major event written in most history books.

The Pillar of Lights were the first major crisis they had to face, alongside Shawar’s attempted invasion. The young soldiers, all barely in their mid-20s, were terrified of the unknown threat and the realization that their peaceful lives were over. They could no longer be bored with guard duty and police work. This time, a crisis was at hand, and they had no choice but to stay alert and survive.

Unfortunately for them, that test came in the most unpredictable way. It all started when a barely visible pillar of light appeared inside a supply closet. No one expected the enemy to infiltrate them like that, especially not after Shawar’s invasion. Everyone assumed that the pillars of light were big and bright. No one expected a barely visible, subtle one that was akin to teleportation.

But the pillar in the supply closet was a fact contrary to their perception.

The light dragon certainly did not expect to end up inside a supply closet, or in a barracks, for all that matters. Thus, when he popped his head out to the oblivious soldiers, he silently tried to sneak out, thinking no one would notice him. One of the soldiers noticed him sneaking out of the supply closet and froze; he wasn’t looking at a light dragon. He was looking at a light dragonborn.

The dragonborn looked at the stunned soldier and said, “Well, what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be ringing the bell?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” The soldier absent-mindedly walked away when he realized who he was just talking to. By then, he became terrified and ran across the corridor shouting, “The light dragon is here!”

The light dragonborn scratched his head and said, “This is why you got invaded, you idiots. Oh, well. Time to find the aberrant. Now, where is he?”

Many soldiers with swords and shields surrounded him as he walked the corridor.

“That was fast,” he said. “Should’ve just run away, though. Oh, well. Can’t blame people with a death wish.”

The dragonborn did realize that they were wielding enchanted weapons, each imbued with offensive magic. The invader quickly showed how useless their weapons and their armors were when strings of anti-magic light beams proceeded to twist around their protections and struck their heads, instantly killing them. The dragonborn did not even move an inch.

His presence, and the danger he posed, alerted the soldiers enough to ring a bell to warn the rest of the city. The dragonborn let out a smirk, knowing that it all went according to his plan.

“Now, then,” he said while making a low stance just as soldiers came to the barracks, armored to the teeth. He let out a toothy grin. “Let’s start the party!”

At Ritik and Richie’s position, they heard the ringing bell. Ritik instantly knew they were being attacked. Everyone went into full alert as Richie ran towards where the bell was heard. Ritik and Keeshar followed as they reached the northern gate to find the soldier barracks in ruins and the soldiers dead or dying, along with civilians already caught in the blast. Richie did not stop to assess the situation, but instead ran towards the one who caused it: the light dragonborn that was going to finish one of the soldiers before Richie conjured a lightning sword and swung it towards his enemy. He smiled as he stopped the conjured sword with a light construct short sword. The light construct was much more solid than the lightning sword, and it evidently won. Richie’s enhanced reflexes were the only thing that stopped him from being decapitated by the sword.

The light dragonborn’s strength and reaction was too fast for Richie. After Richie dodged, the light dragonborn grabbed his shirt and slammed him to the cobblestone road. He then swung his sword with the intent to kill. Richie managed to roll out of it and stood up, finding out how agile his new body was. While he knew it was useless, he conjured another unstable lightning sword, causing the light dragon to chuckle.

“Out of ideas?” mocked the light dragonborn.

“Oh, I’m just getting started, asshole,” shot Richie back.

“Ooh… sharp tongue you got there, whiskers. Not so much for the sword, though.”

They started clashing again, with Richie determined to keep him away from the heavily populated area. He knew he was not that great with conjuring swords. He had not have time to train himself properly yet. Every time he made the swords, they broke due to the lightning construct not strong enough against the white light construct. That, and because as the fight went on, the light dragonborn showed that he was not fighting with finesse, but fighting in a raw, brawling style with almost no techniques, with most of the attacks looking improvised. For Richie, it looked like he was breakdancing and kept a very low stance that could easily surprise him with a follow-up attack.

Richie could easily dodge the attack, but every time he did, white energy beams appeared cut through the air, as if ‘thrown’ by the dragonborn. One of them hit an unfortunate soldier who tried to help, with the beam blasting a hole through his armor and chest, killing him instantly. One beam shot to the sky, almost hitting a dragon that that managed to dodge when it realized its danger. Realizing he couldn’t dodge and cause collateral damage, Richie steeled himself and tried to stop the unpredictable dragonborn. He stopped the blade with his conjured sword and then grabbed the dragonborn’s arm. Richie, also discovering a surprising amount of strength, threw the light dragonborn over his shoulder and slammed him to the ground. He wasn’t fast enough for a follow-up, with the dragonborn enemy stopping Richie’s attack with his arms.

The dragonborn and Richie struggled to gain an advantage. Meanwhile, Ritik and Keeshar tried to help, with Ritik using his spell and Keeshar with his weapon. Keeshar’s attack connect, but unlike with Shawar, it did not cut through the dragonborn.

Keeshar also realized the dangerous and deathly situation and quickly withdraw just before an energy beam shot out of the ground. It chased the Raptor as he tried to dodge, twisting and turning before it vanished when Richie grabbed a nearby rock and hit the dragonborn’s head with it. The dragonborn became stunned and unable to maintain his beams.

“Ow,” said the dragonborn as he massaged his head. He then noticed Richie was going to hit his head again when he held his hands in front of his adversary. Richie sensed danger and dodged as a straight energy beam came out of the dragonborn’s hand and grazed Richie’s cheek. Richie rolled away and conjured another sword.

They resumed their conjured sword fight. Richie tried to keep him busy while Ritik and Keeshar focused on evacuating the citizens. The dragonborn started to understand how to fight and slowly adapted himself to the dragonborn’s attacks. The repeated conjuring of lightning swords also made it more and more solid after each conjuration. They both became bloodied and bruised by the brutal fight that had more collateral damage around them, with Richie resorting to use a raw and brutal street fighting technique he learned from observing the light dragonborn. He crashed the dragonborn through a wall, kicking his downed head, and even grabbing a conductive metal and electrocuting the dragonborn, all with no hesitation whatsoever. If the light dragon wanted to fight brutally, then he would get what he wanted.

Unfortunately, even with all the brutality and the injuries the light dragonborn suffered, he was still standing. In fact, after several more beatings and superficial injuries, he looked up and let out an ominous grin.

“Heh,” he said as he let out a sinister laugh. “Now, I get it.”

“What?” asked Richie.

“You’re the survivor of that world; an aberrant,” said the light dragonborn, further confusing Richie. “If that’s the case, then playtime’s over. Let’s get serious.”

Richie always expected this, but even he was unprepared for the light dragonborn’s sudden change. The dragonborn did not even try and shoot energy beams towards him. This time, he ran and grabbed Richie before throwing the Eastern dragonborn to a wall. He then proceeded to grab his head so tightly Richie was unable to break free. Realizing he was going to shoot an energy beam point blank, he became desperate. He grabbed the dragonborn and let out a roar as he released a strong, unfiltered electricity through the dragonborn’s body. The dragonborn was visibly electrocuted as Richie threw him, even to the point of being singed and puffing out smoke. He was stunned, but he quickly recovered and grabbed Richie by the neck.

Ritik and Keeshar saw what happened next as they saw a light crashing through tall buildings and dragons in the air. Keeshar’s keen eyes could see Richie’s red scales as it went past them. He realized that Richie was being overwhelmed by a monster, especially one that could move so fast it left nothing but blur in his wake.

Richie could feel his body wracked with intense pain as he crashed through buildings. He wasn’t sure if he would stay intact by the end of it. Realizing that he could potentially be killed, and to prevent more casualties, Richie did what he had to do with his new body.

He bit the dragonborn’s neck while trying not to be disgusted by the taste of the light dragonborn’s blood. He knew the dragonborn could feel pain, and he knew he drew blood. He did not like to do it, but if he needed to bite his flesh off, he must.

Fortunately, the dragonborn was distracted by the pain to stop his assault, crashing in the courtyard of some building as Richie tried to rip his enemy’s neck off. Richie couldn’t and was forced to break off when the dragonborn retaliated by forcing his jaws open, threatening to break it. Both tried to get on their feet, but Richie couldn’t, while his adversary stood up while rubbing his injured neck.

“Just as I expected from the aberrant,” said the dragonborn as he approached Richie. “You shouldn’t be alive after all that, but you happened to have quite an imagination and at the right place and time. Don’t you, Richie Long?”

“H-how do you know my name?” asked Richie weakly. “Who are you?”

“I know who my target is. I just didn’t expect him to change his appearance,” said the dragonborn. “As for your second question, I’m Ashaire. You got that?”

“W-what do you want from me?”

“From you? How about a decent fight? Should’ve just finished the job, but what’s fun in that? They got worried after two got killed. That’s what you get for underestimating a reality, I suppose.”

Two? Richie thought. Did she kill a light dragon before Shawar?

“But, eh, can’t be disappointed. Might as well tell you. Maybe you’ll be motivated.”

Ashaire then made a contained space where everything was white. Richie noticed that it was a different place compared to the courtyard.

“Altered reality state,” explained Ashaire. “In your terms, it’s VR without goggles. Space without interruptions. Easy to grasp, right? Now, do you recognize this place?

Richie struggled to lift his body as he saw a very familiar place, and a very familiar person. It was his bedroom, and himself as a human. The human Richie took a shower, got dressed, and slung over a satchel bag full of documents. He opened it and check its content, making sure he got everything. Richie could see what’s inside: a copy of his resume, some documents of certifications, a drink, and a book. Richie could see the cover: ‘Dune’. He remembered he was reading that novel in preparation for the new movie that got delayed due to a pandemic. He did not remember the contents of his bag that day, but he remembered preparing for another job interview.

Memories started flowing into his mind as he saw his human self telling himself to be alright. It was his first face-to-face interview ever since his world was stricken with pandemic. All of his job interviews ever since he graduated were conducted through video calls. While it helped reduce commute, it did not seem to give him much luck. Richie hoped that the in-person interview would change his luck somewhat. There was always a virtue in being there instead of sitting comfortably in his room, talking to whoever’s on his computer screen.

He remembered that the year he graduated was the year when the pandemic started. It started slowly, but by the time May came, it got worse. People were not prepared, many were confused, and worse of it all, many underestimated the danger the virus possessed. It also impacted everyone, with many losing jobs and others unable to find jobs. Companies stopped hiring in accordance with social distancing and to reduce expenses. The pandemic slowed down the next summer, at least in the US. For the rest of the world, it was just getting started.

Richie was one of them. He was recently graduated and was getting ready to find a job, but found that, despite the job openings, he couldn’t get one, let alone be accepted. He never liked phone interview and much prefer a face-to-face interview. Again, still no luck, despite of it all.

He did not count how many jobs he applied for, but he knew there were hundreds and hundreds of them, many of which were repeat applications to the same position and the same company. He even applied to his college, wondering if they had any engineering projects. Turned out his college was also closed due to the pandemic, and they were not hiring.

He started to feel depressed as one year passed, unable to even enjoy Christmas and New Year with the news of increasing death tolls, fears of waves of increasing infections, and uncertain news of vaccines and the complications that were all political in nature. People blaming each other, and he also felt like he was losing his mind being cooped inside his house for so long, unable to go out with friends or even enjoy a time watching movies in the cinema, his favorite pastime. After one year, all of them felt like a distant memory.

But there was a virtue in waiting. Life started to return to normal the next year, with vaccines being administered with great results. He did work as a part-timer in some jobs, but he knew it wasn’t going to help him utilize his skills or be successful in the long run. Then, one day, there was an in-person job interview. He did not have high hopes with this one after countless failures, but at least it would be different.

Considering that he had not had proper contact outside his parents, he knew it could be very overwhelming. But he took a couple of deep breaths and some training with his parents while reassuring himself that it would be alright. So, with renewed hope, he walked down and meet his parents. They wished him luck and told him that they would always be there to support him, no matter the results. He felt fortunate to have such supporting parents.

Then the sky turned red, and then Richie was no longer in his home. His human self was still inside with his parents, while his present self was outside with several people watching the red sky.

“You think they would try and run, but instead they point at the sky while taking pictures of it,” said Ashaire with a sigh. Richie almost forgot that the light dragonborn was there with him. “You humans underestimated an invisible enemy, while also confused by the red, crimson sky heralding the world’s end. Oh well. All living beings need a kill switch, anyway. Otherwise, you’ll be like cancer.”

“Did you really compare us to cancer?” said Richie, offended.

“Yeah. Except you’re one smart cancer who adapt a little too well. But maybe comparing it to cancer is not right. You, or at least your reality, was ready for harvest.”

Then, all of the sudden, a pillar of light like the one plaguing the Main Continent appeared over Richie’s house and obliterated it, horrifying Richie as he saw the house he had been living for 25 years was vaporized in an instant. But then, this caused him to realize the discrepancy. He was still in the house when the pillar destroyed it. So, how did he survive?

He did not have the time to think when Ashaire showed him the horrifying aftermath of the attack. Light dragons of pure energy descended from the sky with a colorful and prismatic light show that mesmerized the panicked people. They stayed mesmerized as they became mutated by the light before they exploded from the inside out, still mesmerized. The military tried to fight the light dragons, but it was no use. No weapons could hit them. All living beings, whether it was the humans, the animals, or the plants, were not spared. Chaos descended onto Earth. The humans were unprepared. Richie was horrified as he saw how every living being was dead in just a day. There were no survivors, only those crazed by the light and died after exhaustion and exposure. Ashaire even showed that no one could survive, not even the so-called doomsday preppers; the light penetrated their bunkers and they lost their minds too.

Finally, Ashaire showed the planet being destroyed from the inside out by the light dragons, before zooming out to the galaxy and finally the universe where the light dragons were systematically destroying that reality.

“It will take time, considering that there are beings out there that are much stronger and more advanced than you are,” said Ashaire. “But it doesn’t change the fact that humanity of your reality is extinct.”

“Extinct…. You mean, I’m—”

“You survived because of your abnormality. Unbelievable as it sounds, the reason you have that body of yours is because your mind is somewhere else. You weren’t even thinking about the interview and what to expect, but instead you imagined a narrative about a reality where humans were draconians. Normally, strong imaginations would not end up with you surviving, but you were just at the right time and the right moment to use your strong imagination to stay alive and end up in this world. Quite a story, huh?”

“But I can’t be the only one, right? There are seven billion people on Earth, and I happen to be the lucky one? There is always more than one winner in lottery!”

“Nope. It’s supposed to even be impossible. You’re not just lucky, but you’re impossible. Unfortunately for you, your meddling with altered reality state also put you on my radar. I know you survived, but I did not expect you to turn into a dragonborn. Coincidentally, I took this form to infiltrate this world better. Coincidences upon coincidences. How the hell does that even work, anyway? You either have stupidly good luck or this world runs with irony.”

“And all that? Why show me my family…gone. My world….”

“You want answers, don’t you? Well, that’s your answer.”

The simple answer caused Richie to realize his situation. He screamed in despair, knowing that he was the only one left and he was being specifically hunted by a light dragonborn with a very callous personality.

“If you didn’t kill Shawar, or stay away from Zenithia, I might not even know where you end up,” said Ashaire. “But you used up all your luck to alter your reality, so this time—"

“Shut the hell up!” screamed Richie as he stood up, his eyes full of anger. “You think this is funny?! Huh?!”

“Funny?” Ashaire chuckled dryly. “Is this the laugh of someone who thinks it’s funny?”

Richie had enough of Ashaire’s ridicule. In a rage, Richie did not even think of anything else but to kill the dragonborn as brutally as he could. He bit, clawed, and even tried to gouge Ashaire’s eyes out, but the light dragonborn could only laugh maniacally as he was maimed, only to heal his injuries the instant Richie stopped. Ashaire replied by attacking Richie, this time giving him permanent injuries that stopped the Eastern dragonborn and finally caused him to fall to his knees, overwhelmed with pain and despair.

“That all you got, Richie Long?!” taunted Ashaire.

“Shut the fuck up!” roared Richie as he tried to stand up. Blood started gushing out of his wounds. “I…cannot lose…against this crazy…”

“Yeah, I’m crazy, and I am standing right here! It’s so easy to just rip my head off!” taunted Ashaire. “Or is that reality altering imagination of yours is nothing but a fluke?”

Richie roared in anger, struggling as he tried to get to Ashaire. The rage, determination, and the acknowledgement that he had no other choice but to sacrifice himself to kill the light dragonborn kept him going.

Then, to his and Ashaire’s surprise, something happened. There was a strong gust of wind in the altered reality that Ashaire clearly did not do, and Richie also found that those wind seemed to be swirling all around him. He could determine air pressure by instinct alone, as if those wind were part of him, and he had always had them and had used them before.

Ashaire realized what Richie was doing and changed his stance. Light glowed out of his body as Richie contemplated on his newfound powers.

“Hey,” said Ashaire. “You done checking your powers? I ain’t gonna wait, you know.”

Richie was still consumed by rage, and he used the wind and concentrated them in his palm, intending to kill Ashaire in one strike. He chose to bear the attacks from the intense energy light ray Ashaire shot at him, which burned him like a heat ray. He managed to endure it long enough to reach Ashaire to hit his enemy with the concentrated wind.

It proved to be as powerful as it looked, for when it connected to Ashaire, the wind twisted the light dragonborn’s chest and Ashaire could feel his insides being ravaged by the physical contact. It all happened in a second before he was thrown several feet away. Richie felt satisfied that he could finally avenged his Earth. Or so he thought.

Instead, just as he kneeled and he saw Ashaire standing up without any apparent pain, his rage turned to despair and fear. His wounds healed almost as instantly and all he did was clean his scales. Even after pouring everything to that attack, it did not even faze Ashaire. He became terrified and unnerved when Ashaire slowly walked towards him with a smug, winning face.

Richie could only glare, but he knew his end was nigh. Fortunately for him, it was the last thing Ashaire could do to look ‘cool’ before his expression changed to pain and he grabbed his chest, kneeling in front of Richie.

“Damn,” said Ashaire as he coughed out blood and fell to his knees. His body was severely damaged by the attack. If he was anyone else, that attack would be fatal, especially since it destroyed his ‘heart’.

“Yet even after all that, I’m still alive,” continued Ashaire. “You still got a long way to go. Too bad you’re going to die.”

Richie closed his eyes, accepting his fate. Just as he thought Ashaire was going to kill him, the light dragonborn said, “Or so you thought. You got moves, Richie Long. Maybe I was wrong about you. You don’t just alter reality and permanently give you wind elemental. Maybe you can find a way to make it useful."

Richie opened his eyes to find Ashaire already walking away. He tried to follow the light dragonborn, but he couldn’t. Blood loss, pain, exhaustion, and fear all made him unable to move his lower body. He felt weak. All he could manage was a “Wait.”

“Try not to get killed before then, Richie Long.” Ashaire then sighed. “Can’t try and talk this one out. Oh, well. It won’t be fun otherwise. Ciao.”

With that, Ashaire disappeared, and the environment returned to the familiar, yet ruined, Dracokin. Ritik and Keeshar saw Richie’s bloodied body and rushed to him, just as Richie fell to the ground, barely conscious. He wanted to stay alive to get Ashaire next time.

But then, the last thought he had before he lost consciousness was a question. Was Ashaire really responsible for his Earth’s destruction?

He thought it was stupid. Light dragons were his enemies. He must assume Ashaire did so. There was no way that was a possibility, especially not after he showed the aftermath of their invasion.

But what if that was the reason Ashaire spared him? The Eastern dragonborn failed to ponder about it as he blacked out.