Chapter 110 - The Might of an Elder Astlan Dragon

Discourse #15

There are many quirks in our racial abilities, such as the ability to sense our progenitor and the ability to communicate and understand languages. The former ability—the ability to sense our progeny—is an interesting one. Navra had explained to me that he had created a false bond between my fake mother and I for the sake of his secret amusement, and then he cut off the bond when he became my broodkeeper. As for the others of my dragon race, their bonds with their parents are cut off after they become full dragons at the age of two and a half, or after their second tribulations.

Another intriguing aspect of our racial abilities, some dragons also call it racial magic, though that is not necessarily correct, is that we can comprehend the Ancient dragon language. We cannot, however, speak at will the words of the Ancient language. To communicate the words of the Ancient dragon language, which dates far back to the Ages of the Warring Gods, a dragon would have to search deeply in his soul and feel the draconic blood circulating his body. He would have to go into Animus, the depths of your mind which is directly connected to your soul.

And although I do not have a dragon soul, I am a special exception in being able to utilize the Ancient dragon language. Navra had told me that it was perhaps due to the potency of my blood or due to my lineage, and partly due to the influences of the two ancient souls inside me. Demons, after all, are one of the Greater races and could use their own form of Ancient demon magic.

Thus, to learn and speak the Ancient dragon language, an Astlan dragon would have to look deeply inside his soul and learn from his very own draconic blood. Of course, the older dragons can also teach you the words of the Ancient language, but that is only to stimulate the Ancient capacity and racial memories of your soul. To fully utilize the Ancient dragon language and its magic, you would need to truly learn it from the core of your blood and soul.

There are basically two types of magic a dragon can use; Ancient dragon magic and normal magic, which is similar to what humans can use. Ancient dragon magic requires the words of the Ancient dragon language. This, in turn, strengthens and transmute the normal magic, and can even allow you to fly from the imposition of your magic alone—even if you do not have an affinity with the Air element.

For example, normal fire magic cannot even hold a candle to the Ancient fire magic, which has transmuted and strengthened fire magic. This Ancient dragon magic also allows us to create Dragon Armors made solely out of that respective element. There are also, of course, many other various ways of manipulation through Ancient magic, and Virdus (Dragon Armor) is just one of the very basics.

I stopped my words there, facing Marius Whitewill, the halfblood vmapyre, in my naked human form, my pair of green eyes meeting his own pair of lighter green eyes. Usually, I would have been fully naked, but out of courtesy and the obvious discomfort of the vampyre, I was wearing a fur hide around my waist and legs.

“The day grows late Marius, so let us continue after having some food,” I spoke in a clear voice.

There was a curious look on his face.

“So what happened in the parts of the story you did not fully revealed, Lord Verath? And thank you for telling me your name.”

I nodded at him. The halfblood vampyre knowing my name was not truly a problem since I was growing tired of him calling me “my host,” and “lord,” all the time.

“Some things,” I began to slowly answer his question, “are best left untold. There are secrets in this world that are not meant to be known.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Marius affirmed with a contemplative voice. “Even I have some secrets of mine that I would tell no one. Still, what happened to all of your companions and what are you doing here.”

I fell silent and contemplative at his words, thinking of the many things that had occurred.

“That, you will just have to find out.”

A look of contemplation started on his face. “Lord Verath,” he finally began after a few seconds. “You may have killed a small host of vampyres, including my former lord, but you have not even scratched the surface of the true forces of the Scarlet Brotherhood, the multifaceted coven I belong to. Due to my lowly position and rank inside the Scarlet Brotherhood, I do not know much about their true forces, but rumors say there are far stronger forces inside the brotherhood. They are much more powerful than my former lord.”

“It matters not, Marius. I am quite sure we still have many days before these stronger forces come to investigate. You have only been here for three days.”

“True, I suppose,” Marius admitted. “Vampyres are strong, but they act very slowly, especially the inner hierarchy of the Scarlet Brotherhood.”

Our conversation ended, Marius and I hunted an animal from the nearby forests. The halfblood vampyre drank some of the blood of the boar and the deer, while I ate their meat.

After disposing of the animal corpses, I continued on with my story, leaving some of the more secretive details and my deepest thoughts out.

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A handicap.

Elder Kronos was giving the three of us an advantage, merely standing about fifteen feet away from the three of us. With a calm look, he stood in a relaxed and easy stance, the grass-covered ground of the valley almost as calm as he was. Surrounded by mountains, the wind did not reach this valley.

In his human form with not even a shred of magic emitted, Elder Kronos did not look threatening—not one bit. I knew, however, with my whole body and my whole mind, that this was just a facade. Likewise, my two teammates also knew of his might.

'Sangius,' I chanted softly inside my mind, not bothering to form an image since the Ancient dragon word was enough of a focus and activation.

At my word, a scarlet blade made entirely out of crystallized blood and magic materialized in front of me, starting from its center and traveling outward in both directions, before ending at the tip of the point and the end of the hilt. Once Sangius was materialized, I felt slightly weakened since the blade glowing with a dull red light consumed some of my dragon blood—or to be precise, my mixed dragon blood—in its creation.

Three and a half feet long, perfectly balanced, and with an improved guard hilt and pommel that could cover my part-dragon transformation, Sangius was much more effective now than it was ever before.

Step by step, inch by inch, the three of us slowly surrounded Elder Kronos from three sides, ever so slowly closing in. The handicap was crystal-clear—Elder Kronos would allow us the first blow of the fight.

Each step Eden took, the grassy area around her burst into flames just from being nearby. As for Kiara, the grass, soil, and stones froze as if a permafrost had taken over.

As for me, the ground around me stayed unharmed. The only damage I did was that my armored feet crushed the grass underfoot. It wasn't as if my Dragon Living Blood Armor leaked blood each step I took. Granted, that would have been an amusing sight.

Calm, calculating brown eyes stared at me as I shuffled forth closer and closer.

Then I moved.

Faster than what the blink of a human eye could capture, faster than what a human could react to, I closed the six feet distance between us, my sword already out in an downward arc, which would change into a slash sideways during mid-flight.

I executed the sword form Trailing Embers from the Wandering Flame style. It was a two-strike combo, a good initiator to a fight. But before my sword form could even progress into its second stage, or even progress halfway through its first stage, a hand met the strike, grasping the edge of the blade, and halting its descent entirely.

Utterly insane.

I did not even see Elder Kronos move his hand to block Sangius, even with the reaction speed of my dragon eyes, and even though I had been fully expecting a block.

My first attack as the vanguard of our one-man-two-women team had failed, but I instantly moved into another attack. And as soon as my mind formed the thought, blood magic exploded outward from my whole armor. Soon, a liquid field of blood surrounded the both us from front to back, quickly closing into a sphere around us.

Sangius Novara—Blood Field.

Elder Kronos instantly recognized the danger he would be in if he was caught in the enclosing blood field. With the barest of a squeeze, he shattered the blood longsword he was still gripping in his left hand, then flew upward into the air with one powerful jump that left deep imprints on the grass.

Both of my attacks had failed, but the objective had been achieved. We had him right where we wanted.

I backed away with one powerful backstep that took me more than seven feet away, while at the same time reabsorbing the remnants of Sangius back into my body. Looking above, I saw Elder Kronos about six feet above the ground. No more, no less. He was a calculative and efficient dragon, saving strength and magic whenever he could.

Elder Kronos could have jumped higher, easily more than twenty feet, but he had chosen to only jump about six feet due to his extremely practical nature. Utilizing this information, we had formed a plan to defeat Elder Kronos in the past few days in preparation for this end of the month battle.

The final result of our plan was this:

Two enormous whirlwinds and blizzards of opposite Ancient magic, ice and fire, surrounded Elder Kronos up in the air. There was no way to escape; the two area magic encompassed more than a thirty feet distance, burning and freezing the very air itself.

Currents of cold air and hot air, explosions, and steam formed as the two magic collided against each other with Elder Kronos in the middle of it all. That was just the very beginning though. The very air around us exploded outward, creating a temporary hurricane as the hot air and cold air attempted to displace each other.

When the disastrous scene became clearer, Elder Kronos stood hovering above the ground with his usually calm and unperturbed expression. He had not even move one inch away from the original position he had jumped upward to.

The scene below him, however, was a disastrous mess, patches of ground ripped out by the tempestuous, opposite forces. It was especially noticeable toward the center, or where he was hovering directly above. At the center was a small crater that had went past Elder Kronos.

“An improvement,” Elder Kronos calmly said. It was a simple statement, but compliments from him were rarer than a rainstorm or a flood in a desert. “And it seems the three of you have begun to familiarize yourself and your magic with each other. That combination just now wasn't half bad, though I could sense the formation of your magic from miles away. In that regard, the three of you are mere wyrms still learning how to fly, or even eat.”

An extremely small carrot in one hand, and a spear in the other. That was Elder Kronos' regard to teaching us.

“Let us move on from this small exercise, since I have somewhat measured the growth of your magic, and the familiarization you have with each other,” Elder Kronos said. “I will now personally spar with each of you. Eden, Kiara, and Verath, in this order.”

Hearing his words, the three of us stopped the usage of our magic and our armor disappeared, leaving us in our white, training robes.

I nodded a good luck toward Eden before moving toward a nearby, flat rock. Aqua, who had been watching from a very long distance away, soon followed. Arriving with a cheerful smile, she instantly sat down on my head. It was a somewhat strange feeling having a two feet tall Asrai fairy, whose clothes were weaved using water magic, sit on your head. She wasn't heavy or anything, but it was a strange feeling, nonetheless.

During this time, Kiara spoke a few words with Eden before coming here and sitting down beside me. The flat rock, being somewhat small, brought us closer together than I would have liked. Kiara was also purposely leaning toward my side more, bringing her not inconsiderable twin peaks closer toward my arm.

“Wae! Get away from Verath, dragon. Your seduction techniques will not work here,” Aqua said in a slightly upbeat tone. She had even used “wae,” a word in her Asrai language that conveyed seriousness, a prelude to a declaration, or a plea to listen carefully.

Kiara showed a slight frown, looking a little in confusion at me. She did not understand the first part of what Aqua had said to her. It was only natural, since I myself, despite our racial gift for language and communication, had not understood it the first time I heard Aqua use the word.

It was just one of the quirks in our racial abilities, such as the ability to sense our progenitor and the ability to communicate and understand languages. Even stared at by Kiara's beautiful face which was not marred the slightest bit by her frown, I did not bother to explain to her what the word meant. I had a slight feeling that it would have spelled trouble for me.

In the months since I had known Kiara, I was still somewhat unsure of her personality, and her ability as a white dragon. I only knew of Eden's Draconic Shielding, which was a first-tier natural ability that belonged to green dragons, and other first-tier abilities of common colored dragons.

As dragons grew older and as their souls and bodies become more powerful, they would gain more natural abilities. The first natural ability dragons come into was when we pass our second tribulation or become an adult dragon at the age of two and a half years old.

As for me, I was not sure of my natural dragon-form ability, since I had not transformed into my full dragon self for somewhat over a year. That, combined with the fact that I was a half-blood dragon and the first black colored dragon, only made me more unsure of my abilities.

I turned my face a little toward Kiara, our faces becoming even closer with my new position. Then I said in a stoic voice, which did not tell of my true thoughts, “Aqua is merely conveying to you that she greatly treasures and deeply loves you.”

“As much as I trust you, I find that hard to believe, dear Verath,” said Kiara, dyeing her tone with a slight coyness, which was unsuitable for a dragon. For a fiery, supposedly warlike creature that was more than seventy feet tall—a dragon not yet five years old—coyness was a hard trait to imagine.

Almost as if she had guessed my thoughts, Kiara drew loser, her left arm linking my right arm, placing it directly between her definitely-not-inconsiderable feminine proportions.

I remained unaffected by her sudden movement and the position with which she had placed my arm. But to be honest, it wasn't as if I was entirely unaffected by such things. That would have meant I felt nothing for the fairer sex. I grew just slightly intrigued and perhaps even impassioned, though it did not truly show on my face or mind.

“Get away from him,” Aqua declared from the top of my head, shooting a small bolt of water at Kiara.

The water bolt was quickly caught with a right hand from Kiara, and when she released her grip, a small frozen ball of ice dropped toward the ground. Letting go of my arm, Kiara stood up, moving a small distance away from the glaring Aqua. “Looks like Eden and Elder Kronos are done,” she said with a smile of amusement, which only further served to irritate Aqua.

At that, I could only think that Kiara had a penchant for teasing the small, Asrai fairy.

Toward the area where they had finished sparring, Eden was kneeling down on the ground, the frustration in her face evident for all to see. She was breathing heavily, and some parts of her white, training robe were torn.

“Looks like its my turn,” Kiara said, heading toward the area where Eden and Elder Kronos were at.

When Kiara arrived, Eden was already standing up with a calm look retained upon her face. The two female dragons exchanged glances with each other, before exchanging places. The next spar to be was Kiara against Elder Kronos.

While I watched Kiara and Elder Kronos each taking up their sparring positions, Eden walked over to the rock where I was sitting at. She sat down beside me, her face also turned similarly like mine to watch the spar between the two opponents.

For a while, there was only silence between Eden and I as we both watched the spar between Elder Kronos and Kiara.

“I envy you,” she said, finally breaking the awkward silence. Her voice was soft, and her eyes were still watching the spar as she said those three words. “You and Kiara are far more talented than me. Even you, who started training later than us, is now stronger than me. Even the order of sparring confirms this fact; the weakest first and the strongest last.” The slight bitterness in Eden's voice could not be suppressed.

“I should not have survived my first tribulation. My eight siblings were all stronger than me. I was the weakest, yet Kiara chose me. My own sister spared my life during the first tribulation, even putting forth her own life to protect me, the weakest of our brood. I am not worthy.” Eden let out a small sigh. “The lives of my other six siblings weigh heavily on my back, though I am sure Kiara has it harder.” Eden's voice broke, becoming disjointed. No doubt it was only through the hardest effort that she was maintaining her composure. “My sister, Kiara, took those six lives, after all.” Eden let out an awkward laugh. “I do not know why I am even telling you this...”

Silence once more reigned over the both of us, including Aqua who was nervously sitting on my head, shifting her body every few seconds or so.

I could not answer Eden's admittance—there were no words with which I could reply to her.

I could not say that she was, at the very least, stronger than the dragons of our generation who could not use magic, or that she was at least chosen to participate in the Inter-clan Tournament. Her being chosen made her one of the five strongest dragons in our age group—the dragons who were younger than five years of age.

I did not say these words of comfort. They were of little use, serving only as a pitiful consolation. Silence was the best. And perhaps it was cowardice of me to not reply, but I was not the best person, or rather, dragon, to turn to. Then again, it wasn't as if Eden had many others to turn to.

In our clan, I had been explained to that there were only a little over twenty dragons of our generation, due to the cruel purpose of the first tribulation and due to the birth cycle of dragons, which rarely occurs in irregular two decades. This was the main reason why the Inter-clan Tournament for dragons who had not passed their third tribulations were held every two decades.

The cruel purpose of the first tribulation was to weed out the weaker dragons. Generally, the stronger the wyrm is from the start, the greater his potential as a full grown dragon. This also gave a chance to the wyrms born without magic capacities or born with very little magic capacities. Mostly, the first tribulation had evolved from an ancient tradition after the Age of Divide.

Up ahead in the mock fight, Kiara was dressed in her Virdus Glacia, and was summoning ice spears from left to right, up to down. Not one second passed by without an ice spear flying toward Elder Kronos, who dodged the spears with cold efficiency. If a spear came directly toward his head, the Elder only moved his neck a little, dodging it by a hair's breadth.

Multiple ice spears were shot forth and a few of them exploded, throwing out a random storm of ice shards. None of them even touched Elder Kronos, who merely moved his arm to block the explosion of ice shards. He moved so quickly that his arm had turned into a blur for my dragon eyes.

Pure strength.