Froja found his sense of time distorted, but he could sense that several hours had already gone by.
He had received a ton of information from the mighty dragon. He slowly summarized it in his head to ensure he was catching up.
First, the name of the dragon. It was "Tonitrum, The Thunder Bringer." Froja wasn't sure why a title was considered a name, but at this point, he accepted everything without questioning too deeply to preserve his sanity.
Second, the dungeon. According to Tonitrum, thousands of dungeons spread across the world. The unique aspect of this specific dungeon was that it was unconquerable. Only Tonitrum knew that it couldn't be cleared.
He wanted to learn more and dive deep into that information, but Tonitrum warned him that it would take over 100 years to explain dungeons in great detail, so Froja moved on to the next topic.
Thirdly, the Gods. In the brief moment Tonitrum glimpsed Froja's memories, he saw his encounter with a God and the flying gremlin.
On Earth, Gods were symbols of worship, deities to whom people offered prayers. In this world, Gods were living beings who could physically manifest to deliver divine retribution. This revelation was massive for Froja, so much so that he needed to sit down and process it.
Fourth, the world he was in was called Sepra.
As he tried to digest this new information, Froja's thoughts wandered to his family and the life he left behind. He wondered how Rhian was coping without him and whether the Sanctuary was being cared for in his absence. The memories of his parents and the weight of their legacy pressed heavily on his mind.
The thought of never seeing his sister again, never fulfilling the promises he made to protect her and the Sanctuary, filled him with a deep sadness. He felt an intense longing to return to his world, to right the wrongs and complete the tasks left unfinished. But here he was, in a place that defied all logic and understanding, forced to confront realities that seemed straight out of a nightmare.
At this point, Froja had to call a timeout. His brain was overloaded with so much information that he didn't know if this was real or a crazy dream. So much had happened in one day, and his head was hurting like hell.
He decided to call it a day and get some rest, hoping that when he woke up, he would still be as sane as any average person, whatever that meant in this world.
He absentmindedly walked over to Tonitrum's cheek area and lay down. The great dragon's cheek was warm, reminding him of a kotatsu in a strange way. "It's all crazy, just mind-boggling crazy," were his last words before surrendering to sleep.
____________
A loud grumbling sound echoed in the dark space.
Froja slowly woke up, holding his stomach. He hadn't realized it, but two days had already passed. He had slept for two entire days, which didn't matter since he had no concept of time in this place.
Food mattered now; he felt ravenous.
*sniff sniff* For some reason, he could smell something being cooked. He followed the scent to a massive pile of roasted meat.
He looked up at the golden eyes above the pile of meat. "That looks really good. Can I have some?"
He waited for an answer, but the only response was the sound of metal dropping beside him.
He looked over to where the 'clang' sound came from and saw a dagger with intricate writings on it. He picked it up and looked at the dragon again.
"You want me to slice it up? That's the reason, right?" Froja slowly walked toward the meat, but an invisible force stopped him. He hit his head on it and fell on his bottom.
"The two of you aren't going near this meat; only one can," Tonitrum's voice sounded in his head.
At first, Froja was confused. What had he hit? And second, what did Tonitrum mean by "two of us"?
The answer came swiftly.
He heard snarling behind him and turned to see an ominous-looking creature. It was about three feet tall, much taller than him, and had the stature of a kid with pointy ears. Anyone else would recognize it as a goblin, but Froja didn't.
"This is crazy," he muttered, holding the dagger close to his chest. The moment their eyes met, the goblin charged at full speed, clearly intending to slice this pathetic human apart.