Rephya had a very long dream.

In the dream, there was an endless barren land.

In those distant ages, many races were not visible, only ancient giants roamed the desolate land.

At that time, the Titans were a people nurtured from the roots of the earth.

Their mighty bodies bestowed upon them the power to move mountains and fill seas.

And it made them realize that perhaps they had the responsibility to protect the tiny creatures living on this land.

Those creatures were truly too tiny.

Many times, she needed to bow her head and open her eyes wide to see their features clearly.

Sometimes, she would just blink, and those creatures would have already propagated four or five generations.

The earliest creatures she was familiar with had long since died of old age.

Every time this happened, a kind of fear would arise in her heart.

As if... just a sleep took away the things she loved.

One day, she met a young dragon.

It was a female Jade Dragon.

She blinked once.

The young dragon grew from the size of a knuckle to the size of a whole finger.

She would happily play with the young dragon.

The Jade Dragon accompanied her over the hills to watch the brief sunset at the end of the continent.

Rephya said to the Jade Dragon:

"Look, spending a little time to see the sunset at the world's end, isn't it beautiful?"

The Jade Dragon retorted:

"It is beautiful, but since when does 10 years count as a little time?"

Rephya couldn't understand.

Has a long time passed?

The Jade Dragon seemed to be annoyed by her expression, unhappily flapping its wings against her head.

It was then she realized that, at some point, the Jade Dragon had grown to the size of her palm.

She carefully held the Jade Dragon in her palm and said apologetically:

"Isn't this place nice to look at? I can take you to see many things, in the center of the world, there is a tree that has lived a long time.

My father says that since the Titans opened their eyes, that big tree has stood in the center of the world.

We can go see it together."

She seemed worried that the Jade Dragon wouldn't want to go, so she gave many other choices.

To the north of the continent, there is the Fallen Star Lake, very large, even a Titan would be submerged.

To the east of the continent, there is a strait, on the other side of which there is an island, said to be covered with iris flowers.

To the south of the continent, there are many strange fish, the largest of which are even half her size, and according to the elders of the race, they are called Krakens.

"Accompany me for a stroll, let's travel together."

The Jade Dragon lifted its head and said:

"In what capacity are you inviting me? As a Titan?"

Rephya was puzzled and cautiously said to her:

"Can't it be as friends?"

The Jade Dragon flapped its wings, letting out a joyful laugh:

"Then let's go, my friend."

They went to the center of the world and saw the towering tree piercing the heavens and earth.

The Jade Dragon curiously looked at the tree and said:

"The roots of this tree reach deep into the world, Spiritual nurtures, and soon new life will be born."

Rephya was delighted.

"Will it be as long as you?"

"I don't know, it depends on the circumstances. Do you want new friends?"

But for some reason, she felt her friend seemed a bit unhappy.

So she clumsily took her friend on a wild dash across the land.

They got tired halfway, so they stopped to rest.

In the place where they were about to rest, Rephya saw her fellow kin.

It was an elder she had met not long ago.

He was sitting on a stone, lost in thought.

Her friend went to sleep first.

According to her, she was about to enter the transformation period of the Dragon Race.

But she wouldn't sleep for too long and would soon wake up.

Rephya hadn't planned to sleep, so she went over and greeted the elder happily.

The elder responded somewhat slowly, lifting his head to look at her, then at her friend, and said:

"Little one, try to only befriend Titans."

Rephya was puzzled and said strangely:

"Why? Isn't it better to have more friends?"

"I just... don't want your first lesson in life to be parting."

Rephya couldn't quite understand.

The elder didn't say much more, just gave a bitter smile:

"If you truly want to spend more time with her, then learn this first."

"What?"

"Titan Divine Body."

"Will I become bigger?"

For some reason, Rephya felt somewhat scared.

But the elder said: "No, you will become smaller."

"Will becoming smaller make time last longer?"

"No, but you will find it easier to feel her presence."

"Then I want to learn."

She was very smart, and after just a glance, she almost correctly learned the Titan Divine Body.

Having nothing else to do, she chose to continue sleeping.

When she awoke, she found that her friend had grown larger again.

It was actually as big as her head now.

She curiously asked about it.

Her friend proudly told her:

"Because I'm about to advance to an Ancient Dragon."

"Ancient Dragon?"

"Yes, over 800 years old, it's an Ancient Dragon."

"How long is 800 years?"

"The sun rises and sets 292,000 times."

"Can't calculate it," Rephya said somewhat sadly, "Isn't the sunrise and sunset irregular?"

The Jade Dragon replied, "How could it be irregular? It's you Titans who have slept too long."

They went to see the strait.

As expected, she was scolded by her friend again:

"That's not a strait, that's the ocean, and what you see isn't an island; it's another continent."

Whenever that happened, she would giggle foolishly.

In the time that followed, they almost traversed every corner of the continent.

Passing by a sea of flowers, they saw a group of little winged creatures flying over the flowers.

Her friend said thoughtfully:

"That tree has finally given birth to spirits."

"They look so small, much smaller than you."

"They say they are called Little Elves, come, let's pick flowers from their garden," her friend suddenly said, "Which flower do you want? I'll pick it for you."

Rephya thought for a while and said:

"This kind of flower is fine, it looks pretty."

"Iris," her friend said, her eyes a bit lost, pondering something unknown.

They fell into a deep sleep under the large tree.

Waking up again.

Her friend was gone.

The Little Elves told her that her friend had to go do something and would come back for her once it was done.

For some reason, Rephya suddenly felt uncomfortable.

Like she was suffocating.

A Little Elf pointed at her nose, hands on hips, and said:

"Don't cry, big one, maybe she's just really busy."

"But, I'm alone again."

"Don't you have your tribe?"

"Tribe... right, I should go see my tribe."

Rephya's eyes lit up, and she turned to leave.

She took some time to find her tribe.

When she returned to where her tribe gathered, she found the number of kinsmen seemed to have decreased.

She went to ask her father, and her father told her:

"More and more kinsmen are going to the Titan Ancestral Land to sleep, and I can't accompany you for long either, but, child, I might need you to do something."

"Do something?"

"Yes."

"What is it, will it take long? I still have to wait for my friend."

"Child!" Her father's voice grew louder: "Over 1200 years, in the Dragon Race you're already an Ancient Dragon, you've been out with her for almost 2000 years, you should have known long ago..."

"Known what."

"Even a dragon will grow old and die."

"Impossible!" Rephya shouted, "We promised!"

A moment later, she burst into loud tears.

"You're lying, she told me dragons can live a long time!"

Her father was silent for a long time, stroking her head, he said:

"Child, your wear and tear has already begun."

"..."

Seeing her father's sad eyes, she finally understood something.

As wear and tear begins, it means the Titan's time awake will become shorter and shorter.

"The earth is evolving, we are almost unable to withstand the force of the earth veins anymore, but child, we still have many missions unfinished.

Would you consider consolidating the Titan Divine Body in advance, and entering a deep sleep?"

In a daze, Rephya said:

"Falling into a deep sleep, that would just be falling into the Lonely Hell again, wouldn't it?"

But her father said:

"Minimizing size would also make you feel the passage of time, waking up again, a new world, might be a better choice for someone afraid of loneliness like you."

Rephya was silent for a long time and said:

"Can we really escape the Lonely Hell?"

"I don't know, but child, we need someone to support the future."

"Support the future?"

"Yes, the Era of Dragons has begun, and in the era following its end, there is a great disaster.

If we fail to overcome it, everything in our memories will end."

"Then I'll go,"

Rephya said softly.

Waking up again.

She found no kinsmen remained near the ancestral land.

Only her father quietly guarded by her side.

She looked up at her towering father and asked:

"Father, how did you become so gigantic?"

Yet her father said nothing, only sat there quietly like a mountain.

A deep sorrow began to spread.

Rephya suddenly realized her father had fallen into eternal sleep.

"Don't cry," a frail old voice resonated.

Rephya looked up, saw an old dragon with almost all its scales fallen off, and it lowered its head to nuzzle her, saying:

"Long time no see, friend."

Rephya looked up at the great dragon, and after a moment she understood:

"You didn't leave?"

"Without seeing you one more time, I couldn't be reconciled to leaving," the Jade Dragon laughed softly, "Friend, a new body, a new scale of time, you can soon meet new friends."

"New friends?" Rephya murmured, "Also friends that will die soon like you? Even if their lifespan is not even a thousandth of mine."

The old dragon said gently:

"But, friend, that thousandth is what changed you."

Her voice grew softer, and at last, she said:

"Go, friend, to that tree, where there is a group of children as innocent as you.

My only friend, I hope you will have a joyful journey in the life to come."

The Ancient Dragon slowly closed her eyes.

She had held on to find the way to extend life and tried her best until now.

After organizing her friend's remains, she went to where that great tree stood.

This time, the journey felt extraordinarily long.

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