Wow, I feel so much better! I was feeling really really tired, but now that I’m glowing inside, I don’t feel as bad anymore! Also, I can use my teluh… tell… uh, I can use my rock-throwy powers again.

*plink plink* *plink plink*

[Watch out ahead of you]

“Watch out? Oh. Oh! There’s another monster!” kill

[Alright, Chalia, time to learn to control your dragoness powers a bit]

“I’m gonna kill it! Watch!”

[DON’T YOU MOVE Dammit!]

“Oh… Uh, what just happened?”

It felt like something was taking me over! I just wanted to kill, without any thought! What’s wrong with me? If Gus hadn’t said anything, I would have done something dangerous!

[How to not turn into a crunchy crisp dragoness—lesson one: dragon realms.

“Dragon realms?”

[Yes, dragon realms. You are part dragon, and so you can use dragon realms. We’ll start with the first realm. Do you remember how you felt just a minute ago when you were about to attack that monster?]

“No…”

[Ok, then try this. Think about how you would kill that creature if it attacked you.]

“Uh, figure out how fast it is and then—“

[No, no, no. Think about killing it. Picture your self lunging towards it and pushing your sword into its heart. Kill. Feel the blood rolling down your arms. Kill]

“But I don’t like—“

[ssh, ssh. Feel it. Think about how it felt to-kill-slice the sword through those guys’ necks at the building you were locked up it. Kill.]

Kill

[There! There! Feel it! How does it feel? Think about it! Memorize this feeling!]

“I don’t know. It’s weird! I feel like I want to kill things, but I know I don’t, so what is going on?”

[I’ll tell you in a bit, but for now, just focus on how you feel different than normal]

“I don’t know how to explain it. It’s, uh…”

[No need. Just memorize the feeling]

“Ok, I think I got it.”

[Good. Now retract it?]

“Uh, like go back to normal?”

[Yes]

“I don’t know how… I mean, I think I'm going back to normal slowly…”

[Not good enough. Do you feel a strange sort of energy around you?]

“No, there’s nothing to pull into my mana core”

[Of course there isn’t! Let me make this easier for you. Does the air feel weird?]

“Yeah, it does! It feels thinner, but also thicker… I don’t know, it’s just different!”

[Ok, imagine pulling the weird part of the air to yourself.]

“Ok… Oh, oh! I did it! I feel normal again!”

[Ok, now think about feeling it again]

“But I don’t want to kill—”

[Are you retarded? You gotta get out of this place sooner or later. There are creatures keeping you in here, and they want to kill you. So, if you don’t want to get eaten, you gotta kill those things]

*Sigh* “Ok, I’ll try”

[Why are you the one sighing? Oh, well, whatever. Good! You activated it. Now you should be about ten percent stronger and faster than before. Let’s take care of that creature now.

“Ok. Let’s do this.”

I steel my nerves and get ready to go. “Ahh!” I charge towards the beast! Woah! It almost got me!

“What happened? Why does it feel like I am actually slower?”

I’m dancing around the beast right now, just trying to dodge its attacks.

[The one you fought last time was a mid-grad class-1 beast. This one is a high-grad class-1 beast. In fact its grade is so high that it is almost ready to be a class-2 beast. It would just need a little bit more time]

This guy is a bit much for you right now, so I’ll help you out. Just make sure you touch the creature with your sword. You don’t even need to cut it.]

“Ok, here goes!”

A perfect chance! A paw comes sweeping towards me, and I dodge out of the way, but I hold my sword out at the same time.

*ting* It hit my sword! *Whoosh* *Thud* The creature just slumped to the floor, dead.

[DAMMIT! Low class souls are absolutely disgusting! Oh, man. We need to level you up quickly! If I have to eat one more of those filthy things I might show myself to the Light goddess willingly!]

Um, I’m… Sorry?

[Damn, right you should be! Whatever. Just absorb that core already]

“Ok!”

[Remember to run the energy through your meridians afterward. It isn’t crucial to do it immediately, but we should start by setting good habits early]

“Ok.”

[Oh, Phallistus. How did I end up as a father?]

Mmm. The glowy stuff is so nice! I want so much more! I want to be super-duper-extra glowy inside!

This mana core had more inside it than the other one. My core feels like it is completely full! Well, let’s do the meridians thingy.

[Wait, stop.]

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

[I didn’t realize your core was so pitiful! We are going to fix this embarrassment.]

“Ok…”

[Concentrate on your mana core. Try to feel the very center of it]

“The very center of it… Um, I think I found it? Is it the part that seems harder than the others?”

[Not harder, but more concentrated. Nevertheless, yes, you found it. Now, concentrate on keeping that center part still and spin the rest of the energy around it]

Keep the middle still and spin the rest around it. Hmm. That’s really hard! It’s easy to spin everything, but to spin only part is so difficult! I’m trying, but I don’t think I can do it!

[Relax, stop for just a bit. Normally you’d have someone guide you for the first few times, but since you’d die if I actually entered your mana streams, we will have to make do like this. It will be hard, but you can do it]

Huh? Did Gus just say something nice, or encouraging? Wow! This is amazing!

[Don’t get too happy. You would have already died three times over if it weren’t for me. You are still pitiful, but I need you to get stronger and this part doesn’t work well in a stressful environment. This time try again, but go very slowly. Keep the middle still and coax the rest of the energy around it.]

Uh, can he read minds? Gus can you hear my thoughts?

[Yes, I can read your mind]

“What?! That’s really creepy! I’m so embarrassed!”

[Hahaha! Actually I can’t, but it’s child’s play for an existence like me to guess what you are thinking. Now get back to work]

“Oh, ok.” What a relief—it doesn’t feel right for someone else to be able to see what I am thinking! Well, let’s try this again.

Keep the center in place. Ok. And “coax” the rest around it, gently. Oh? OH? I’m doing it! It’s working! But, why is the energy shrinking?

[Good. Just like that. Now if you are worried about your core shrinking, don’t. What’s happening is that the energy is rubbing against the center part, sticking to it, and becoming just as hard as the center part. It isn’t going away.]

If he didn't say otherwise, I would have been sure he was reading my mind!

Ok, done!

[Alright, now run the energy through your meridians]

Woah, that’s weird! It seems more dense and heavy, but it’s actually a lot easier to move this energy than before I did the energy spinning exercise. Ahh, it feels so nice to move the energy through my body. It’s like taking a bath, but for my insides!

Once. Twice. Three times. Five. Ten. Twenty. Alright, we’ll stop with that.

“Gus, I’m hungry…”

[Then eat some meat…]

“But it’s not cooked…”

[You, a dragon, don’t want raw meat? I’m seriously going to lose my mind.]

“I’m not completely dragon, am I?”

[No, no, not completely. Get some sleep, I’ll teach you how to cook it tomorrow]

“Could you… Never mind, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean…”

[We gotta ditch this slave mindset sometime. Eh. That’ll come with time. Suffice it to say, If I taught you fire magic tonight, your cute little dragon body might end up going “boom” and splattering all over the hall way. Not good right?]

“Yeah, not good…”

[Alright, now get some sleep]

“Ok.”

My tummy still hurts, but that’s ok. I’m used to this. And I don’t want to go “boom” and stuff. Also, it’s true that I am really sleepy. Let’s lie down and sleep.

*** *** ***

Alternate Point of View

“Arrgh.” My head. Well, actually I am hurting just about everywhere. What happened? What was it…? It was something important!

“Are you ok?”

What/who is this? Their voice sounds kind of raspy, but also strangely beautiful… Either way, I should be cordial to them. After all, I’m sure they could kill me right now if the wanted to. I think it should be a nice person…

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m not dead yet, heh. But there is something else. Something went wrong. What was—Ahh!!”

Am I seeing straight? It is dark in here, with only a small torch, but what am I looking at? This creature has a stocky human-like shape, but there appear to be scales covering their body from head to toe.

“Never seen a dragon before?” The same unique voice flows out. “Or should I say dragoness?”

“I-I’ve seen dragons before, and even killed a couple” Oh, man, what am I saying? I’m so dead. “I mean, yeah, but not an, an—”

An awakened?

“Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say.”

“Haha, not many have met with us, and fewer still would mention it. Nevertheless, we are not merely legends. Tell me, what is your name?”

“Ger, Gerald Alsov”

“Gerald Alsov. Nice to meet you, my name is Vavnelayth. I was dispatched here on behalf of Mother Heltrina.”

“Heltrina. Heltrina. Dragons. Dragon—Chalia! The dragonkin! Where is she?”

It all came back in an instant: how I was taking Chalia to Kelten, but we were attacked. She actually didn’t run away, but was captured at the last moment. I tried to get to her, but then I lost consciousness.

Don’t cry, don’t cry! Tell me she is safe, please tell me!

She merely smiled at me for a moment.

*sigh* “I suppose I cannot hold you in suspense when She was the one who sent me to you.” The dragonkin is ‘safe’”

“I suppose I should feel relieved, but what was with the hesitation?”

“She has come in contact with the God Killer. He is a strange fellow—very temperamental. His name isn’t just for show. In a prior era he actually consumed the souls of no less than a few thousand gods. As a punishment for this act, he was bound to a sword by the remaining gods. There is a lot more to the story, but the short of it is that she has been chosen to wield his sword, and she is in absolutely zero physical danger. I just worry for what he will teach her.”

“Well, can we get her back?”

“Heh. Hahaha! You are funny, you know? We dragons are the race he favors the most. Nevertheless, we wouldn’t want to be caught in the same hex as him if we could at all help it! He is quite temperamental, and all you need to do is piss him off a teeny tiny bit, and you are done. Gonzoid. Well, actually, your body would still exist for a little while, but I think you get the gist. For anyone besides her, he is living breathing nightmare. But then, what do you expect from someone who chose to consume 80% of the gods in this galaxy?”

“Well, when you put it like that… I guess my hands are tied.”

I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile. She’ll have a unique future, but that being said, at least I know she won’t be turned into a science experiment or a slave again.

“Rest again. When your wounds have healed we’ll send you off. Also, because of your willingness to sacrifice for this this dragonkin, Mother has instructed me to give you a parting gift. Dragons don’t need light, so I only have so much oil in the lamp. You have nothing to fear here, so use it sparingly. I have brought food and water from your wagon, as you can see. When you are in better shape I will return for you. Rest and recover.”