The Long Journey After Becoming an Ancient Dragon

Aino walked for an unknown length of time before finally spotting something other than sand ahead.

A small, simple wooden hut stood there, yet it was firmly anchored in the desert sand by some peculiar magic.
Curious, Aino approached. She first used her magic to scan the interior and, upon confirming that there were no living beings inside, pushed the door open and stepped in.
Inside, the place could only be described as completely empty—just a bare wooden shell, clearly not intended as a permanent residence.

No bed, no table, no chairs. Was one supposed to sit directly on the floor? But that was understandable. In a place like this, simply having a shelter that blocked out the wind and protected against the freezing temperatures of the night was already a luxury.
For any survivor lost in the desert, this was a beacon of hope in the darkness.
After circling the room twice, Aino noticed some writing on one of the walls, written in two or three different languages:

"Rescue Shelter—Head southwest for the settlement."
A settlement. So there really were intelligent beings living in this harsh environment.
Outside, the weather was still relatively calm—no sandstorms in sight. The desert stretched out like golden waves beneath the sun, vast and breathtakingly beautiful.

At least, it would be, if she hadn’t been staring at the same endless scenery since stepping foot in the desert.
She was starting to develop a kind of aesthetic fatigue—a creeping sense of walking in circles, unable to escape an endless loop.
Following the directions on the wall, Aino continued southwest. She walked from the blistering midday sun into the arrival of night, eventually coming across another hut.

It was identical to the first.
That meant the settlement was still some distance away.
However, just as she approached, she sensed movement.

Someone had already entered this rescue shelter.
Since someone else had gotten here first, she decided not to intrude. It didn’t matter to her—walking through the desert at night was nothing unusual. Most others, however, wouldn’t be able to move freely in the cold and dangerous conditions after dark.
At night, temperatures plummeted, and sandstorms became a regular occurrence. Even the monsters that lived beneath the sand would desperately burrow deeper, afraid of being swept away.

But Aino had no intention of stopping. She would continue moving through the night.
To her, the freezing air and swirling sand were nothing more than a refreshing evening breeze.
The only thing she had to do was use magic to keep the sand from hitting her face.
Unexpectedly, just as she was about to walk past the hut, the door creaked open.

A woman with deep brown hair and sun-kissed skin peeked out cautiously, scanning the surroundings in a sharp, practiced motion before locking onto Aino’s figure.
A skilled hunter.
That was Aino’s first impression of her.

The woman radiated a wild, untamed energy—the kind only possessed by creatures that had spent their entire lives hunting in the wilderness.
They stared at each other for a moment before the woman slowly stepped out of the hut.
It was then that Aino saw her lower half was a thick, muscular serpent’s tail.

A lamia.
A race often found in desert regions. Highly social, lamias typically worked in coordinated groups to hunt large desert monsters.
Aino had some knowledge of their language. Since the woman was simply watching her without speaking, she decided to take the initiative.

"Hello?"
The lamia’s expression flickered with surprise. She hadn’t expected Aino to speak her language.
Her forked tongue flicked out instinctively, a reflexive motion common to her kind.

“Hello,” she responded. “Come inside and rest for the night.”
Spending the night with a stranger she had just met?
No, thanks.

Besides, Aino didn’t need sleep. Sitting idly in a room all night sounded like an absolute bore.
So she refused.
“No need. I’ll keep going.”

With that, Aino turned and walked off into the desert night, vanishing in mere moments, leaving the lamia frozen in place.
“Wait—you—” The lamia, Solsti, reached out instinctively, wanting to stop her. But before she could even react properly, Aino was already gone.
What…?

Solsti frowned, perplexed.
She had lived in this region for years, but this was the first time she had ever seen anyone dare to walk through the Outer Zone at night.
Back in the settlement, there were always people boasting, saying things like: "I could survive a whole night out there!"

But the moment someone encouraged them to try, they would suddenly find all kinds of excuses.
Solsti was used to this kind of nonsense. She had nothing but contempt for such braggarts.
As one of her tribe’s most skilled hunters, she knew exactly how dangerous the Outer Zone was.

Hunting parties always set out just before dawn, when the sun had yet to rise.
Even if they found no prey, they would never push deeper into the desert unless absolutely necessary.
The reason was simple:

With every step forward, the time required to return doubled.
And if something went wrong—if they failed to return before nightfall—survival was nearly impossible.
Every so often, a hunter would venture into the Outer Zone for a hunt… and never return.

In response, the entire settlement pooled their resources and painstakingly established three rescue shelters deep in the desert.
These shelters were spaced out at increasing distances from the settlement—each one farther than the last.
A common saying among the hunters was:

“The ideal hunt is one where you never even see a rescue shelter.”
If you spotted the first yellow rescue shelter, it was a warning—you had strayed too far. At that point, it was best to turn back rather than risk continuing the hunt.
If you reached the second black rescue shelter, you were in grave danger. It was strongly advised to retreat immediately—no prey was worth more than your life.

If you ever laid eyes on the third red rescue shelter… well, then it was up to fate.
The deepest reaches of the Outer Zone were infested with powerful monsters lurking beneath every patch of sand, where storms raged with terrifying intensity.
Some bold hunters once suggested a different strategy:

"No matter what, don’t return empty-handed. If time runs out, stay the night in a rescue shelter and return at sunrise."
At first, this seemed like a reasonable plan, and many hunters adopted it. But they soon learned that even with the shelters, it was far too dangerous to stay overnight in such deep regions.
So over time, the hunting culture of the settlement changed.

Leave at dawn. Return before nightfall.
The rescue shelters? Avoid them if possible. Never rely on them unless absolutely necessary.
 

Solsti was at the second black rescue shelter because she had encountered an accident.
She had only just stepped into the Outer Zone when she spotted a sand lizard—a familiar prey, large and full of edible meat.
Thinking herself lucky to have found a good hunt so early, Solsti moved in for the kill…

But before she could strike, a Hellworm—a nightmarish predator that should have been deep in the Outer Zone—ambushed her.
No one knew why such a terrifying creature had appeared so close to the settlement.
Solsti had no choice but to run for her life.

She barely avoided being splattered by the toxic mucus the worm spewed at her. The moment even a drop of that poison touched something, the creature that was hit would inevitably become its next meal.
But the worst part?
This monster wasn’t just powerful—it was smart.

It seemed to understand that Solsti wanted to flee toward the settlement.
So instead of chasing mindlessly, it deliberately cut off her escape route, forcing her deeper into the Outer Zone.
By the time she finally lost the worm, she had no idea where she was.

Luckily, fate wasn’t entirely cruel—just as night was falling, she stumbled upon a rescue shelter.
A black one.
"At least it’s not red..."

Solsti let out a bitter chuckle, trying to comfort herself.
Summoning the last of her energy, she steeled herself to spend the night in the hut and leave at dawn.
But just as she was about to settle in, she noticed something strange outside.

With her natural curiosity, she opened the door and scanned the surroundings.
That was when she saw it—a girl.
A human girl?

In the second rescue shelter’s vicinity?
Her expression was unreadable, but Solsti’s tail-tip was trembling with tension.
Because there, in the dead of night, in one of the most dangerous parts of the Outer Zone—

This girl was just casually walking around.
It was so bizarre, so completely unnatural, that even Solsti—who had been hunting since childhood—felt a chill run down her spine.