After the war against the forces of heaven, things gradually returned to a state of normality with the exception of great strides towards coexistence between man and monster having been taken. Because of this most monsters were accepted into towns which made it easier for adventurers to actually go from place to place, this also meant that the monsters who actually were still roaming were either aggressive, too sadistic, or a mixture of both. This meant that the need for defenders of humans and monsters never diminished, but with monsters and humans living together, there was training for those who were willing that humans in the past would not have received. Unfortunately, finding a monsters that wasn’t training humans for the sake of figuring out which one would be the most suitable mate was an issue. There was a common exception to this, the proud race of dragons. The general idea was that you were mostly safe from being violated by your instructor as long as you didn’t defeat them, something that wasn’t an issue given that dragons were usually much stronger than the average human. Unfortunately, they often were very picky when it came to picking who they trained, either giving a near impossible test or having something inside of you that held great promise.

Being born in Gold Port, the closest place to the Hellgondo region and the monster lord’s castle, meant that the outside world was pretty much inaccessible due to the unnaturally aggressive and powerful monsters that still remained outside of the port town. Due to this, from a young age your actions were dictated based on what the people around you thought would be safest, you didn’t know why but this caused something inside of you to be irrationally angry, like something felt offended at being controlled. Fortunately, you had options, options in the form of a swordswoman who had traveled up from Grangold, the legendary swordswoman of the four heavenly knights, Granberia.

In the aftermath of the war, she had been hired by the Grangold king to train their soldiers. Knowing that monsters like her had a tendency to disappear to wherever they were needed you quickly took your chance and approached her, but something unexpected happened. She sensed your presence, not surprising given her abilities. What was surprising was that she knew what you wanted before you even asked it and before you knew it you were training under her.

Training under Granberia was nothing short of torture. If a single world could describe the dragonkin swordswoman it would be intense. Everything about her was just as overwhelming as her abilities in battle. Shouting, sparring, and generally just breaking you down to build you back up, it was all a flurry of fast, unstoppable hits, both physical and mental. But as you grew so did your skill, though you were never able to defeat your master, something that was of no surprise to you.

When you were ready you set out on a journey of your own you were stopped by Granberia. She said nothing but had an intense stare as if to say “Don’t disappoint me.” You knew what she wanted, it was something that all warriors like her wanted, a good fight. You knew from the beginning that you were being trained for that reason and this journey of yours was to make the fight more interesting for her.

The monsters roaming outside of Gold Port were strong, but after a little bit of work they were nothing more than opponents to be felled. You didn’t have many magical abilities, but what you did have was the ability to use Serene Mind, an ability normally gifted to humans by the spirit Undine, but one you yourself had learned through vigorous training. Your excitement at being able to use such skills in battle fueled the fire in your soul, and the things that you had been taught, elemental abilities honed from a warriors spirit, they began to come to you easier and easier. But as these abilities became easier and easier to hone, the battles that you fought became less and less satisfying. And to make matters worse, the monsters became weaker the farther south you traveled.

As your battles continued to bring you south, you stopped by Grand Noah, a city known for housing both humans and monsters even before coexistence between the peoples as a whole was thought possible. It was there that you learned that rumors had been spread about your skill. You didn’t know what to expect, many of the skills you used were adapted to your own abilities from Granberia’s personal arsenal of techniques. But these rumors were not about your master, not about your skills, they were about you. And when you heard that your scent, something picked up by strong monsters to give them a taste of the human they were fighting, was a scent that was abnormal. Your journey shifted from one of learning to one of finding the truth. You no longer fought strong opponents for the thrill of the fight but out of pure desperation to find out the truth of yourself.

Your decisions became more and more rash but no matter what you always won in the end and it pissed you off because you hardly broke a sweat. Anger began to rise, and you began to travel back towards the Hellgondo region. Your plan was to either ask the monster lord for the truth or find something that gave you the slightest hint of an answer. As you traveled north you thought that the fights would get more challenging, but if anything they were more disappointing and the realization dawned on you. By training under Granberia, undoubtedly the strongest swordswoman to exist, by facing such strong monsters as your first real foes, every fight was unsatisfying by design.

You then remembered the one thing that you should never had overlooked about Granberia, despite her young age, she was unmatched as a heavenly knight. Her actions, her deeds, and her desires, they all lined up with her urge to fight, to have a battle that wasn’t decided in a single swing. She wanted you to know what it felt like to be strong, so strong that the only satisfaction you got from a fight were the things that happened as a result. But still, you knew that this anger you felt was unnatural, you thought back to how she had chosen to take you under her wing, it was all related, she knew something you didn’t.

You stopped by Grangold but she wasn’t there, her trainees were either out of commission or went catatonic at the mere mention of her name forcing you elsewhere to search for her location. When you arrived in Gold Port you entered the old base of the Ilias Kreuz, a place she liked to stay as the ruins of the once feared terrorist group filled her with a sense of delight, if she even felt such things, but she wasn’t there either. You head to the shrine where the Garuda was awakened and she was there, you didn’t know how to get her to take you to the Hellgondo continent, after having been awoken by the monster lord herself you had heard that she didn’t take directions well. But to your surprise she welcomed you to climb on her back and you did.

It took her only an hour to reach the region and you were surprisingly left alone but this only served to make you angrier and angrier. These were supposed to be the strongest of all natural monsters and here they were wanting nothing to do with you. You walked to the monster lord’s castle, each step only serving to increase your rage. Inside the castle was the same, no monsters or at least no monsters that wished to fight you. A weaker man would’ve tried to fight the monsters who were here but didn’t choose to fight, but Granberia had taught you restraint, if this was her doing this might be another test.

Finally you enter a large chamber that lead to the throne room of the castle and in the center of the chamber stood Granberia, fully armored, sword already blazing. She wasted no time as she attacked you, but this was expected of another warrior like her. Greeting someone with your voice and a handshake was not for a warrior, to test ones skill after a long time separated was acknowledgment of each other enough.

As you fought you could feel that you had grown enough that her attacks caused less strain as you parried them, and when you dodged they were farther, but you knew that this wasn’t her best, she was holding back. If she used her abilities, those attacks would’ve hit and your sword arm would be throbbing from the wrist to the shoulder every time an attack connected. The legendary dragonkin swordswoman recognized your frustration and for the first time you see her smile. The next hit sent a jolt pain through your entire body and for the first time in years you finally felt alive.

The fight was intense, more intense than anything you thought possible. The heat of her sword nearly carved through you on multiple occasions, but you stood firm and continued fighting. More than once you broke the swordswoman’s stance and each time she would return the favor. You were equal and you didn’t want to be greater than her, if anything you wished the battle could last forever. But all things have to end.

Granberia swing her sword with all her might, and you lose your balance. Before you could recover you see her sword start to blaze and she raises her weapon. Serene Mind forces you to watch as the first slice of her ultimate attack connects with you. You lose your focus and time resumes as it should and her attack, Vaporizing Rebellion Sword, sends four more slashes your way each happening in the span of a second and each one strong enough to kill the average man fifty times over. You hit the ground hard and Granberia walked over to you, a look of disappointment on her face, and something inside of you awakens and you stand up once more despite your injuries. You put all of your remaining strength into one attack and the swordswoman counters nearly instantly, but your point had been made. The attack, Vaporizing Rebellion Sword, was her least used skill, nearly every fight she’s ever had ends before she can use it. For a normal human, surviving the attack would’ve been proof enough that they were strong, but Granberia held you to a higher standard, and by taking the full force of the attack and standing afterwards, you knew that this would be enough.

The next attack sent you to the ground in the blink of an eye and Granberia held the point of her sword at your throat. She was grinning, her chest moving with each heavy breath, and her eyes blazing.

“Impressive for a human… but for one with dragon’s blood… it is… acceptable.”

As you lose consciousness you can’t help but feel a weight being lifted from your shoulders. The blood of a dragon, no wonder she trained you. Only something relating to a dragon could understand her urge to fight.

You wake up in another room and Granberia watches you, her armor is off. You’re confused at first but then you realized what’s going on, by impressing Granberia you had proven yourself to be deserving of being the lover of a dragon. It was, after all, the one risk that came with being trained by a dragon.