Stand against the Emerald Beast

I slipped through the ground-level exit gate and ventured into the wild outer perimeter. Perched upon a sun-warmed limestone boulder sat an emerald dragon—a sleek green creature three times my height, tracking me with unblinking golden eyes. Lesser explorers would have retreated, but I marched straight up the pitted rock, drew my cosmic blade, and locked my gaze onto the beast. It expanded its crimson throat fan in defiance, yet I held my ground without flinching. Sizing up my armor and unyielding stance, the reptilian leviathan flicked its tail and darted into the ferns. This prime ridge belongs to me.