"I think this is you getting your revenge. I don't have a problem with the second or third conditions, just the first one. You want me to stay out of the battlefield after telling me about it? That is just mean! You know how bad my curiosity is!"

  Dragon says "Yes, I do. Which is why I know that you won't just take a quick peek at the battlefield. Your curiosity will drive you to explore it and get you killed."

  "Oh, come on, I am not that bad!"

  Dragon says "Yes, you are! Now, do you agree or not? If you do not, then you can forget about learning our language from me."

  "Ugh! Fine, fine, I agree."

  Dragon says "I want your promise!"

  "Alright, fine! I promise that I will not enter the battlefield until I have learned Draconic!"

  Dragon says "Good!"

  "I still say that you are being really mean!"

  Dragon says "Whatever! It will at least keep you alive, for now."

  "Anyway, are there any other secrets about the hallway that I should know?"

  Dragon says "No, no secrets, but there are some tricks you probably haven't figured out yet. For instance, did you figure out that you can mark the doors that you have entered?"

  "No, I didn't know that. All I have figured out is that I can see a map of what I have explored and move where the gate drops me."

  Dragon says "When you interact with a door, you can mark it, you can even add text to it. That way you can remind yourself what is behind the door. Otherwise, it is quite hard to remember where each door leads. Especially once you have explored hundreds of doors."

  "No doubt about that. I have so many other things going on that I already can't remember what was inside each door."

  Dragon says "Aside from marking the doors, you can also set one as your starting location. That way you don't have to start from the beginning of the hallway every time you enter."

  "That's really useful to know!"

  Dragon says "Before you ask, yes it works on the white door."

  "Oh, good. Do the worlds behind the doors get stronger as you move down the hallway, or is it just random?"

  Dragon says "It is completely random. You never know what you are walking into when you go through a door for the first time. That is one of the reasons that collecting soul armor is so important."

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  "Are all races limited in the same way in the hallway? What I mean is, if I was at max soul level, would I be the same as you?"

  Dragon says "We would have the same starting point, but that is all. I have accumulated much more armor than you and I also have soul weapons. Not to mention that I have a lot more experience in fighting while I am a soul. However, keep in mind that beings like angels that don't have souls that are separate from their body don't follow the same rules as the rest of us."

  "Meaning that an angel I can beat easily with my physical body can probably kill me easily in soul form?"

  Dragon says "Possibly. Soul combat comes down to imagination most of the time and you have a disgusting advantage in that area. Even I would have to worry about some of the things that might come out of that insane mind of yours."

  "I am not insane! I was just exposed to too much TV as a child. Most of my so-called crazy ideas are not actually mine. They are things I have seen or read in my old life. The only thing I really do is choose the idea that fits the situation I am in."

  Dragon says "I am not going to argue with you. Whatever the source of the insanity is, it will be your most effective weapon in the soul battles."

  "Alright. I will do my best to keep that in mind. Any other tricks that you want to teach me?"

  Dragon says "No, that is all the tricks that I know. There may be others that I don't know, but you will have to discover them for yourself. Do you have anything else that you want to ask me?"

  "I am pretty sure that I had other things that I wanted to ask you, but I can't remember them right now."

  Dragon says "Then you will just have to ask them on your next visit."

  "Wait, I just remembered! I wanted to ask you about the elemental planes and the spirit plane. Before that though, I recently learned about the coordinates of planes, do the worlds behind the doors follow the same rules? If I learn the coordinates in the hallway can I gate to those worlds physically?"

  Dragon says "Some of them, you can. Others do not exist physically."

  "What?!? That doesn't make sense? They only exist in the hallway? How is that possible?"

  Dragon says "This might be a little advanced for you, but some of the worlds in the hallway are like the soul palace. Just, they are the palaces of beings from a higher realm than ours. Take Soul City for example, it does not exist anywhere else other than the hallway. The gods you are familiar with would call the being who made Soul City a god."

  "That's not the full explanation, is it?"

  Dragon says "No, it's not. It is what I think you are ready to understand at this point in time."

  "Is there a path for dragons to ascend and become one of these higher beings?"

  Dragon says "Yes, there is, but it is extremely difficult and takes thousands of years. This path is also open to the gods you know of, but most of them don't know about it."

  "When I am a full dragon, will you tell me more?"

  Dragon says "Yes, I will. I will even explain the path ahead at that point."

  "Is the fact that I want to become a dragon why you have spent so much time on me?"

  Dragon says "That is a part of it, but it is mostly because you amuse me."

  "Even when I am annoying you?"

  Dragon says "Yes, even then. Now, what did you want to ask me about the planes?"

  "Well, actually, I more wanted you to verify some of the things I have learned and confirm some of my guesses."

  Dragon says "Very well, tell me what you think you know and I will correct you where needed."

  I spend a bit of time explaining how the planes are layered and the pattern they form. When the dragon doesn't interrupt, I move on to the connections between the planes. Finally, I go on to my guesses and then my insane idea about the reason.

  "The way the planes are arranged, is it so that they can filter energy of some kind?"

  Dragon says "I can't believe you got that from such little information! I can't actually answer you because even I am not sure. However, that is a very popular theory among people who study our reality. One thing I didn't mention about Soul City, there are bars in the city. It is a place where people share ideas and discuss theories like this one."