Jaden stood facing the creature before him.

 

*Is this what a real fight feels like?*

 

For the first time in his life, he felt exhilaration beyond belief.

 

As the world's most prodigious swordsman, he finally found a promising match: the Dragon at the Edge of the World.

 

"Human... No, Jaden. Why are you so eager to fight me?" the Dragon spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.

 

"At first, it was merely an order from my country. Apparently you've caused humans and demons a lot of pain in the past. However, now I see why you are hailed as the strongest creature in all of existence. You are fearsome, and my battle spirit has truly awakened for the first time!"

 

Jaden lunged towards the black, crystalline Dragon with lightning-quick speed. Even the most highly-trained warriors would find it difficult to keep him in their sights. However, the Dragon was able to parry the lunge with a claw, albeit with some difficulty.

 

"The strongest, huh..." the Dragon mused as he was forced to defend against Jaden's relentless onslaught.

 

In all of Jaden's life, he had never fought a truly difficult battle. He showed promise with the blade at the early age of two and a half, and though he was born to commoners in a remote village, the village chief did everything in his power to send him to a training facility for young soldiers in the city.

 

When Jaden arrived, it was natural for everyone to look down on him. After all, he was a commoner from somewhere the King's hand could hardly reach, and most academy students were nobles. However, that didn't last long as he quickly established himself as the number one swordsman in his class by a wide margin.

 

Of course, being number one in his class didn't feel particularly challenging for the young talent. So, he challenged everyone in the class above him.

 

There were times when he lost, but those losses were only due to Jaden's young body being unable to handle the raw forces of more developed physiques. Even though the result was a loss, Jaden felt like if he became only slightly physically stronger, he could sweep everyone away.

 

And become stronger he did.

 

Jaden grew quickly; his skill level exploded exponentially and he easily became the number one swordsman in the academy as a first-year student.

 

Naturally, this wasn't enough. Exceptional students of the Royal Swordsmanship Academy had the opportunity to join the Royal Guard: the King's personal fighting force. However, competition for this small, elite unit was extremely tough, and not all top students of the academy would qualify.

 

But Jaden, a rising second-year student, was the number one Academy student by far, and he knew it. When he got the chance, he challenged a Royal Guard member to a duel.

 

He won, and after dealing with red tape, he became the youngest Royal Guard member in the Kingdom's history.

 

Jaden was now a part of the military, which meant that he would be sent to war. Whatever mission he was sent on, he completed it flawlessly. With this, Jaden gained much of the King's favorability, and he was eventually sent on more and more highly tactical missions. However, no matter how difficult the king seemed to make the missions, Jaden would always return as if nothing happened.

 

At age 19, it was clear that Jaden was the most skilled swordsman in the history of the Kingdom, if not the world. And the scary thing was that he was still improving.

 

On his 21st birthday, Jaden challenged all swordsmen of the Royal Guard to face him at once. On this day, a significant change occurred within Jaden's heart.

 

Previously, even though Jaden found all of his battles easy, he was passionate about studying the ways of the sword.

 

However, today there were 49 swordsmen rolling on the ground, and one extremely bored man stared back at all of them.

 

"Pathetic. Is this all the strongest in the Kingdom amount to?"

 

He turned to the king, who witnessed this battle in shock, and gave him an ultimatum.

 

"Jazz, I'm getting bored. Give me something more difficult or I'll go become a farmer."

 

When he addressed the king informally, the Royal Guard stared daggers at him but couldn't do anything but feebly groan.

 

King Jazz knew he couldn't lose the Kingdom's most valued asset, so he frantically gave orders that he thought would be impossible to carry out.

 

"There might be assassins coming for me tonight. They're rumored to be the most skilled in the world and have taken out the Shogun in the east. Protect me tonight," Jazz ordered.

 

Assassins in the dark were a nightmare for swordsmen, especially when they were the most skilled ones in the world. This irritating group of freelance assassins were even known for taking out heavily-armored troops in one blow, something unthinkable for ordinary assassins.

 

However, the next morning, Jaden nonchalantly presented 5 heads to his ruler.

 

"We're fighting a battle on all fronts. Defend the east side of the city by yourself."

 

Sending one person to defend against an oncoming army was seen as an insane order by many. King Jazz heard no end to the complaints that followed. No one in the military could stand for one side of the city to be so under defended, but orders were orders.

 

Lo and behold, by the time the sun was setting, a single man could be seen standing in a field that was littered with hundreds of corpses.

 

"Go kill the Demon King."

 

This was the most ludicrous order of all. Demons and humans were at odds with each other ever since they encountered one another hundreds of years ago. For these hundreds of years, the two races were in a deadlock that couldn't be broken no matter how hard they tried. Each side consisted of millions of denizens, so making any significant progress against them was exceedingly difficult.

 

However, within a year, Jaden coldly tossed the head of the Demon King at Jazz's feet. Within this year, something seemed to have changed within Jaden once again.

 

He grabbed Jazz by the collar. All of the soldiers in the throne room were on high alert, but there was nothing they could do against this man.

 

As Jazz nervously looked into Jaden's eyes, he was given another ultimatum.

 

"If you don't give me an interesting mission, I'll kill you."

 

Pin-drop silence resounded throughout the throne room. Jazz gulped.

 

"The... The Dragon at the Edge of the World."

 

When Jazz said this, commotion rose up.

 

"What? Is he talking about THE dragon?"

 

"The one that nearly wiped out both humans and demons almost 5000 years ago?"

 

"That has to be a myth, right? There's no way something that strong actually exists."

 

"If it does, it's easily the strongest being ever recorded... There's no way King Jazz is going to...?"

 

Fear. Doubt. Disbelief. These were the three main emotions that ran through the throne room when this name was mentioned.

 

Jazz cleared his throat and continued, "Of course you've heard of it, Jaden. It's a threat to all of humanity. It nearly wiped out the world's dominant species. You know how strong and dangerous it is. Go kill it."

 

Jaden slowly released Jazz from his grip.

 

"If this mission isn't interesting, you're dead."

 

With those words, Jaden was never seen in the Kingdom again.

 

"Please go far, far, away and never return," Jazz pleaded.

 

After journeying for a couple of years, Jaden encountered the mythical creature and engaged it in combat, bringing us back to the present moment.

 

*CLANG!*

 

Countless clashes of steel and claws rang in the air. If there were any unfortunate bystanders nearby, they would have been vaporized by the mere shockwaves of the impacts.

 

That's right - Jaden had gotten even stronger during his years of journeying. He could no longer be described as human.

 

"5000 years ago, I realized a truth about this world. I cannot let you proceed any further than this," the dragon said.

 

Of course, Jaden cared nothing about what the dragon just said; he was as high as a kite experiencing their current battle.

 

"Damn, what the hell is this guy?" the dragon wondered out loud.

 

In its past experience, the strength difference between itself and a human was far greater than that of a human infant and a top-class soldier. Yet in some twist of fate, the infant was pushing the soldier back. If the fight continued like this, the dragon knew it was going to lose eventually. However, it refused to back down.

 

The legendary clash between the two continued for several days and nights, and one day...

 

*A chance!*

 

One of the dragon's parries was far more sluggish than usual. Seeing this, Jaden thrust his sword towards the dragon's stomach as quickly as he could. But...

 

"Jaden. Here is why I am the strongest being in existence."

 

As Jaden was charging, the dragon opened its mouth and an ethereal circle with complex patterns formed in the air. It was nothing like Jaden had ever seen before, but his instinct screamed that it was dangerous. However, his momentum was too strong and he couldn't change direction in time.

 

*It baited me...*

 

The past couple of days of nonstop fighting were merely a ruse. The dragon wanted to drain Jaden's stamina and underestimate its offensive capabilities. The sluggish parry and false opening were only executed after Jaden had already been lured into a false sense of understanding.

 

*I guess long-lived beings are something else...*

 

This was the last thought that Jaden had before he was struck with a beam of black light that came directly from the dragon's mouth. It was the same attack that was dealt 5000 years ago.

 

---

 

"Hmmm... Jaden. I will always remember this name," the dragon said with reverence. After all, this human had changed its perspective on the world. "It's a shame someone as talented as you has to perish, but..."

 

The dragon looked back in the distance.

 

"That's something that no one should ever discover."

 

Sighing, the dragon collapsed on the stony ground.

 

It was exhausted after firing a magic attack that could only be executed very rarely. It was about to go into a long sleep when suddenly...

 

*Shik.*

 

It felt a sharp pain on its stomach.

 

"What the f*ck, you're not dead?" the dragon said in disbelief.

 

"You... bastard... You think... I'd die... from that?"

 

An extremely ragged voice could be heard from within the smoky remnants of the dragon's breath attack. Though the dragon was in pain, it shook its head.

 

"You have grit, but one stab with a sword won't be enough to kill me."

 

"Is... that so? Why... don't you... take a look?"

 

Confused, the dragon looked at the item that pierced his belly. When he confirmed its identity, his eyes widened.

 

"That's...!"

 

"Yup... A sword... Made from... one of your old claws!"

 

The dragon didn't know where Jaden learned this information or where he got the weapon, but it was true that its own claws were probably the most lethal material in the world. Even drawing a small amount of blood with it could instantly kill someone. With the sword deep inside its belly, it was only a matter of time before the dragon perished.

 

The dragon sighed.

 

"Jaden... Promise me one thing. Please don't let anyone go near the cave at the edge of the world."

 

"I... wasn't thinking about it. But now... I might go there myself."

 

The dragon laughed at this response.

 

"It's the wish of an honorable enemy... Can't you honor it?"

 

"... I'll think about it..."

 

"I see..."

 

With those final words, the Dragon at the Edge of the World slumped onto the ground and breathed its last.

 

---

 

Jaden's breath was still ragged, and it wasn't getting any better.

 

*Damn... What the hell was that?*

 

The dragon's strange breath attack was nothing like he'd ever seen before.

 

*That circle with the complex patterns... Could I learn that?*

 

For the first time ever, Jaden was fascinated with something other than the sword.

 

*Can it make me stronger?*

 

However, as he thought that, he collapsed on the ground. What was the point in becoming any stronger? He had just defeated the most powerful creature in existence. He would have just become a farmer if Jazz didn't decide to give him this last-minute mission.

 

*Well, whatever.*

 

Regardless of anything else, Jaden was finally overcome with the great satisfaction of experiencing a true battle. It was a fitting end for him.

 

Was this surprising? He was dying. At the end of the day, apparently even Jaden was unable to completely withstand an attack that wiped out most of humanity and demon-kind.

 

With the greatest satisfaction anyone could experience, Jaden closed his eyes for the last time.

 

Or so he thought.

 

When he woke up, everything around him was a strange color.

 

*What? Where am I? Didn't I just kill the Dragon at the Edge of the World? Is this the afterlife?*

 

His body felt strange, and his movement felt restricted. It didn't take him long to realize he was trapped inside something.

 

*What the f... Let me out of this damn place...*

 

Jaden quickly noticed that whatever enclosure he was in was more difficult to break out of than anything else he'd experienced before.

 

When he finally escaped, he couldn't help but note the strangeness of his surroundings.

 

*Where in this godd*mn world am I...*

 

He was in an underwater cave of some sort. Before he could explore further, though, he noticed something else.

 

*What?*

 

When he looked down, he noticed a large number of orange spheres laid out across the cave's floor.

 

*... What the f*ck?*

 

He was pretty sure he recognized what those spheres were, and it didn't make any sense.

 

*What the f*ck??*

 

When he looked at where he came from, he noticed that his strange-colored prison was in fact one of the countless orange spheres that was now busted open.

 

*What the f*ck???*

 

That's right - the legendary swordsman Jaden, who had just killed the legendary Dragon at the Edge of the World, was reborn as one of the weakest creatures in existence. A fish.

 

*WHAT THE F*CK??????????????????*