The Valley of the Dragons ystery and intrigue, surrounded by mist and seemingly inaccessible. To an outsider, it might look like one of those "locked zones" in a fantasy world, the kind you’d receive a message saying, "This area is not yet avaible for exploration. Please e back ter." However, onside, the fog revealed itself as a mere curtain, a barrier that blocked the prying eyes of the world. What y within was a valley of strange and wondrous ndscapes.

  A young girl made her way through the rocky mountain path, moving as gracefully as if she were on even ground. From high above, vines cascaded down, toug the ground below. Trees growing from the cliffside stretched like bridges to eountain wall to another. Amidst the lush green of the valley were spshes of color from different flowers and pnts. Pools of water at high altitudes poured out through gaps, f numerous waterfalls. Occasionally, the sun cast a rainbow over the se. It was a verdant paradise punctuated with bursts of color, a picturesque ndscape that captivated the eyes.

  Yet, there was something eerie about this pce.

  For such a thriving valley, one would expect it to be teeming with life. But as the girl walked along the path, she entered no magical creatures, not even ordinary animals or is. The silence was uling. The only sound came from the rustle of pnts swaying in the occasional breeze.

  “Puu…”

  Suddenly, a small creature poked its head out from the girl's satchel.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “Puu… puu!” the creature gestured frantically with its tiacles, trying to vey something. To anyone else, the creature's as would have seemed inprehensible, but the girl uood it perfectly.

  “You wao scout the area?” she responded.

  In this world, there existed spells that could be used to survey one's surroundings, some of which could detect the presence of living beings. For someone of her caliber, perf a prehensive search spell was a trivial task.

  As soon as she activated the spell, she sensed a dragon sleeping in a distant cave.

  “Rooaaar…”

  However, the girl had overlooked the nature of her scouting spell. Most of these spells worked by extending one's magical energy outward, and unless special dete spells were used or the caster precisely trolled their magic, even a sleeping dragon could easily sehe intrusion of magical energy.

  “Roooar!!”

  With a thunderous roar, the dragon’s cry shook loose small stones from the mouth of the cave. They fell to the ground and bounced about as if dang. In the moment, a gigantic dragon burst from the cave, the gust from its wings sending the stones bato the air.

  “Who dares disturb my slumber?” the green dragon bellowed, its massive wings beating as it hovered in the air above the valley. “Show yourself now, and I may grant you a swift end. But if you remain hidden…”

  “And if I don’t show myself?” a voiterrupted.

  “Wha—?”

  The green dragon quickly flew forward, putting distaween itself and the source of the voice. Turning back, it found the girl standing where it had just been.

  “What are you, exactly?” the dragon asked, bewildered.

  Initially, the green dragon had thought that a powerful intruder had mao sneak up on it, but looking closely, it saw that it was merely a small being. To the dragon, which measured nearly a hundred meters ih, the girl was insignifit.

  “You have one mio leave this pce. This is the st mercy I will offer you,” the dragon sneered, releasing a gust of air from its nostrils.

  However, the girl remained unmoved.

  ‘Are all dragons this arrogant?’ she thought to herself. It wasn’t so much arrogance as it was y. Even after realizing that she had approached ued, the green dragon showed no signs of caution and instead issued a warning.

  ‘Fine,’ she sighed inwardly.

  “Why are you still here? Don’t you know—”

  Before the dragon could finish, the girl leaped forward and delivered a swift kick to its abdomen. The force of the blow was so great that the dragon’s body dented inwards, and it recoiled as if it had just bitten into a lemon.

  Boom! Crash!

  The dragon was sent flying, crashing into the mountaih a resounding impact. Debris and loose stones fell from the mountain as the dragon struggled tain its posure.

  “Puuah! … So you’re looking for a fight, are you?” the dragon growled, exhaling sharply before ung itself bato the air. It charged at the girl with renewed vigor.

  “I’ll crush you into pieces!” the dragon roared, opening its massive jaws. Each tooth was as rge as the girl herself.

  ‘What… is that the sky?’ the dragon wondered, perplexed by the sight of the sky above. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through its jaw. Uo turn its head, the dragon gnced down to see the girl standing with her leg raised in a high kick, her legs f a straight line like the letter ‘I.’

  ‘Did she kick my jaw while I was charging at her?’

  Realizing the truth of the situation, the dragon’s fury intensified. It gathered its immense magical energy, trating it within its mouth. As a green dragon, it excelled in wood and poison magid its breath attack was ced with deadly poison. Just ing into tact with it could be lethal, and weaker beings would be instantly corroded.

  “Die!!”

  The dragon unleashed a torrent of dark greeh, scorg and corroding everything in its path.

  ‘!?’

  To the dragon’s astonishment, the girl did not dodge or attempt to block the attack. Instead, she extended her left hand. It was only then that the dragon noticed she cked a right arm.

  As the girl’s hahe poisonous breath, the most unbelievable thing happehe dragon’s breath split in two, as if cleaved by an invisible bde. The girl’s hand remained unscathed, unharmed by the deadly poison.

  “Who… what are you?” the dragon stammered, only to be interrupted by a sudden force that sent it crashing to the ground, creating a rge crater.

  ‘What just happened? How is this possible?’ the dragon thought, dazed.

  The girl slowly desded from the sky, walking towards the fallen dragon.

  “Wait… wait! Please, I’m sorry! Don’t hurt me!” the dragon pleaded, abandoning its pride.

  “I’m still young, just a foolish young dragon. Please, spare me!” It evehe sympathy card, its eyes welling up with tears.

  “I never inteo kill you,” the girl said softly.

  “Really? Thank you! You’re so kind!” the dragon excimed, its voice filled with relief. “ht!”

  The dragon’s body began to glow as it shrank in size.

  “Is this better?” it asked, looking up at the girl with wide, hopeful eyes.

  Even the girl, whose emotions had almost faded, was surprised by the sight of the now small and i-looking dragon.

  ShoujoDirector