When Cenric regains consciousness, he finds himself enveloped in darkness. No matter where he looks - front, back, right, left, up, or down - all he sees is black. He stands still, feeling as if he is suspended without any ground beneath him. However, he is sure he is not flying as he can feel his steps.

“Kid.”

A familiar unknown voice echoes. It is the exact same voice as the one speaking – if echoes can be considered as speaking – to Itri back in the garden. 

“Oi, Kid.”

Cenric assumes the voice is not calling him, so after the second time Cenric replies, “Who?”

His surroundings remain unchanged, all black. He can not find whoever is behind the voice. Who he is, where he is, how he looks – all unknown to Cenric. 

“Finally, after twenty years,” the voice replies.

“Who are you?!” shouts Cenric in fear, starting to ask himself whether he might be hallucinating.

“It’s me. Come forward, so you can see me.”

Cenric takes a step forward, yet nothing changes. 

“Closer, my kid who has grown up into a fine adult.”

Cenric takes another step, slowly, full of doubt. What if there is a hole he might fall into? Or a wall his head might bump to? Is he currently moving in the real world? Because if he is, he would definitely hit something within ten steps.

“Step forward again. You have to be sure of yourself.”

‘In such darkness?’ Cenric wonders silently, to which the voice unexpectedly responds, “Yes, in such darkness.”

Cenric sighs, cursing inwardly, then says, “You…”

“Time waits for no one. Therefore, you have to move as well.”

Cenric takes another two steps, just to hit his head against something hard. Cenric curses as the pain throbs in his head, while the voice laughs and says, “I thought you’re only moving a step. My bad, kid.”

Cenric reaches out to touch whatever is in front of him, unable to see anything. He feels something big, convex, and hard. 

“Want to know who I am?”

Cenric’s hands remain on whatever in front of him, trying to guess what he is touching. In the end, he still has no idea. Is it glass? Or is it something else? Despite the surrounding darkness, he closes his eyes, mustering courage before replying, “Yeah.”

He understands that resisting would likely prolong his stay in the darkness with some strange voices echoing in his head. 

“Then, open your eyes.”

Cenric opens his eyes and discovers that he has been touching something shiny, off-white in color, resembling a huge nail. The nail extends from the tip of a finger covered in white scales. The nail itself is almost as big as him. As Cenric turns to check his surroundings, he finds himself stepping on a vast expanse of white scales. However, he soon realizes that he is not stepping on  solid ground, but rather on the body of an enormous animal.

“Hello, friend.”

Cenric tilts his head upward and sees the head of a white dragon, its blue shining eyes actually blinking. He takes three steps backward to get a clearer view of the dragon’s head, which leaves him in awe. At that size, if such an animal had truly existed in the real world, it would have been visible from any angle in Valria. At the very least, it could have been spotted from the top of the castle.

“Surprised?”

“...How can I not be?” answers Cenric.

A few moments have passed as Cenric is still trying to make sense of what he is seeing. He tries to recall whether he, at one or some points in his life, has encountered a large white dragon with blue shining eyes, all the while hearing its loud breathing as the dragon waits. Only one figure fits the description.

‘It can’t be…’ thinks Cenric to himself, and somehow the dragon replies to him again, “It can be.”

As Cenric realizes who is in front of him, or maybe who is providing him a ground to step on, he quickly kneels and bows down until his head accidentally hits the ground. How dare he act so ill-mannered in front of the one and only, the Land Lord of Valria, Vrakh? Even though he has been thinking that Vrakh is kind of useless, the sheer enormity of his size is intimidating. With that size, Vrakh can end his life in reality with one simple move. It’s just that he is in awe and surprised that Vrakh's existence slipped his mind.

The dragon laughs as Cenric keeps his head lowered. Instead of feeling insulted, the dragon seems happy. 

"Stand up. Congrats, kid. You have successfully opened your seal, so officially you're the messenger now."

"...Thank you?" Cenric responds as he stares at Vrakh's eyes, which keep blinking for a reason he never knows. He still doubts that he is able to meet the Land Lord of Valria, especially given his current condition. It is not appropriate for a top-tier fugitive to meet a deity or entity - or whatever the dragon is - who is worshipped throughout the country.

"Decide whether you wanna thank me or doubt me."

The nail in front of Cenric suddenly lifts up, surprising him. Just as Cenric thought Vrakh would slash him, Vrakh strokes Cenric's head very gently, as if handling something so fragile that might break with the slightest mistake.

"Your job in the tower is done well. You have to meet with me."

"Aren’t we meeting right now?"

"No, kid. Currently, we're in your dream. I mean meeting in real life."

"Where?"

Vrakh gives Cenric one final stroke before their connection gets cut off.

"Tell Benette, you have to go to the East, along with the girl. You have to meet her mother."