Chapter 5: First Scales

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“Quiet down child, and let me tell you a story about the White Death. You’ve heard about him, yes? You don’t think he exists? Ah, but he does, child. I’ve laid eyes on him myself.

What does he look like, you ask? He’s beautiful; his skin and hair are of the purest white. Indeed, like our goddess Mhi’ra. Yet, he is not kind like our goddess. If you are naughty, he will appear before you and lure you in with his beauty. Then, he will take you away, and you will never be seen again!

What will he do to you? Oh, all sorts of unspeakable things, like pulling your horns and tickling your tail for all eternity! He might even enjoy you as a light snack if he’s hungry. Now, don’t cry, child. Like I said, he will only appear to you if you’ve been naughty, and you’ve been a good kid, right?

Very good, child. Now be even better and close your eyes. It is time to sleep.”

- Gar’nashian folk tale to frighten children

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It had been five years since Draygor’s hatching.

He was currently lying on his stomach atop his bed, flipping through the book he’d gotten from his parents for his first birthday. It was a book about magick, titled Everything You Need To Know About Magick, by Lukas Mithras, his grandfather! Apparently, Lukas had been a really prominent mage in the Queen’s magicks division, though he was now retired at the age of 62.

When Draygor had first asked Lukas about magick, during the few days that they stayed over after his first birthday, Lukas had been surprised. He hadn’t expected the boy to be curious about it at such a tender age. He had been more than happy to tutor Draygor though, especially once he found out that his grandchild had been given a copy of his book as a present. His eagerness, as well as Lhi’ra’s and Garick’s amazement, had gone through the roof when he did a basic test for mana on Draygor, surprised that the little boy had a healthy amount of mana within him. It was a great opportunity to show off to his grandson, and he had settled into his new role with gusto, with the boy’s parents’ giving their full support.

Being a fire mage, he enthralled Draygor with floating wisps of flame, and when he was excited enough to forget that they were inside, with huge gouts of flame as well. He nearly burnt down the house once doing that, and earned himself a huge scolding from Draygor’s grandmother, his wife Dha’va. Lukas explained that those with the ability to manipulate mana had the choice to choose what field of magick they could specialise in. It usually took decades for a mage to fully master their chosen field of magick, so he advised Draygor to look through his book and choose what he thought would be most suited to him. He also taught Draygor a few mana manipulation exercises, so the boy could practise even when he was not around.

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Even with his grandparents extending their stay to two weeks, the lessons were over in the blink of an eye, before Lukas and Dha’va had to return to their countryside villa, with Lukas promising to tutor Draygor whenever he popped by. Nevertheless, those two weeks were enough for Draygor to learn everything he needed to know about magick in this world.

Since he had hatched, he hadn’t been sure whether magick and mana in this world worked the same way as his previous world, but after Lukas’ lessons, he was sure that the concepts were one and the same. Still, Draygor had been extremely attentive during his grandfather’s lessons, as he didn’t want to be rude, although he was already familiar with all of the material. He had been extremely impressed with the man’s control over fire magic. It was impeccable for someone merely six decades old – to put it in perspective, he had taken nearly a hundred and fifty years in his previous life before he had been able to do the same.

He had also been surprised at the results when Lukas tested him for mana. While the old man was ecstatic at the amount of mana Draygor possessed, – it was nearly two times that of a normal apprentice mage – he himself was sorely disappointed. His current mana reserves were simply a fraction of the quantity that his previous self had possessed. Thus, while he had retained all his magickal knowledge, he was unable to cast anything more than the simplest spells for now.

Of course, his innate mana reserves would increase as he grew. He’d be able to use most of his spells by the time he reached 20 years of age, and he could wait. There were certainly a few forbidden methods to forcefully increase ones mana reserves, but they didn’t always succeed, and usually came with huge drawbacks when they failed. As a result, Draygor decided to avoid using such methods unless he really needed to. For now, he practised the mana manipulation exercises diligently everyday, to allow his body to adapt to the frequent use of mana.

As he continued flipping through the book, Draygor smiled fondly as he remembered Lukas’ words to choose a field of magick wisely. He appreciated his grandfather’s advice, though he’d already had a favourite field of magic. During his time as the immortal protector of the Elyians, he had learnt and mastered nearly all forms of magick known to the world. It was easy since he’d had plenty of time. Elemental magicks, spatial magicks, and both black and white magicks were a few categories that he had been proficient in. There were some magicks, of course, that he had either been unable to grasp or simply didn’t have the drive to devote himself to learning, such as ritual, gravitational and time magicks.

“I’m not that perfect...” he thought jokingly.

However, Draygor’s favourite and most proficient field of magick had always been mind magicks. To be precise, his favourite way of using mind magick was through the medium of song. Of course, he was able to use them silently, or simply through word commands when the situation demanded it. He recalled the time when he had thwarted a beastmen raiding party, long before the tribes united against the humans, simply by singing a song which inspired terror in their hearts, and he began humming the tune aloud.

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With a small thud, Draygor closed his book. He had read it many times over, like many of the other books his parents had gotten him, and could probably recite it by heart if someone asked. Though, it had become a habit for him to flip through it absentmindedly whenever he recalled a memory, or when he was pondering the many unanswered questions about his reincarnation.

Still humming the sombre tune, he set the book down and grabbed another from the small pile of books next to his bed. It was titled Gar’nashian History: Advanced Edition, and he began flipping through it as well. It had been extremely informative when he had perused it for the first few times, but now he simply skimmed through its contents, already familiar with them.

The Gar’nash lived in the country of Gar’nashia. Its founder admittedly hadn’t been very creative in naming it, though it did fit somewhat. Gar’nashia was situated at the south of the world’s only supercontinent, which they shared with three other major races – the Dryads, the Kobolds and the Feathered Ones. The Dryads and the Kobolds were situated to the north-west and north-east of Gar’nashia repectively, while the Feathered Ones had their territory further north.

The Dryads were beautiful nature spirits, naturally proficient in nature magic, which they put to good use in the fervent protection of their Sacred Forest. Entry was strictly prohibited by the other races unless one earned the utmost trust of its inhabitants, and the few who had been given the chance to see its interior had described it as breath-taking, and nothing they had ever seen could compare to its beauty.

On the other hand, the Kobolds could be described as ugly little lizard people. They were a primitive race, and they bred like rats. This meant that they had a huge population, and overcrowding was rampant in most of their settlements. As a result, they tried expanding into nearby Gar’nash and Dryad territory during their mating season each year, though they were usually repelled. Most of the Kobold population were unable to use magic, though those who could only practised voodoo magicks, and would inevitably rise up to become shamans of their tribes. Their modus operandi during yearly expansions was to try and overcome their opponents with sheer numbers, though such a strategy usually only resulted in a huge culling of their population, causing them to retreat back into their lands, only to repeat the same thing the next year.

Further up north in the cliffs and mountains lived the Feathered Ones. They usually kept to themselves, and were safe from pretty much all invasions due to the inaccessible terrain. The Feathered Ones were giant, intelligent birds. Naturally they could fly, though they rarely ever left the mountain range. They had no need to, as the mountains provided them with everything they needed. Nothing else of note was recorded in the book, as they had only been spotted a handful of times over the centuries, and there was only ever one recorded incident of a Gar’nash explorer who had interacted with one of the birdkin briefly.

For as long as it was recorded, the Gar’nash had been at war with the Kobolds, and it was only recently that the Dryads joined the war on the Gar’nashian side, when the Kobolds had encroached on their sacred land. The Kobolds had been particularly aggressive during the period of the Elyian invasion, which meant that most of the Gar’nashian military force had been situated at their north-western borders. It was the main reason why the Elyians had managed to cause such tremendous damage to Gar’nashia, even reaching their capitol city of Mhi’ra’s Light. The war didn’t show any signs of ending soon, though the Gar’nashian front had been severely weakened over the recent years as a result of manpower being recalled for rebuilding, and to the Rift for safety precautions.

Just as Draygor was about to finish skimming through the book, the door to his room slammed open, interrupting his thoughts.

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The one who had barged into his room was a familiar girl, with fiery red hair and black eyes.

“Draygor, I got my first scale,” she stated, turning her body around to show him a little dark blue scale on the tip of her tail.

The girl was Dhi’na, and she didn’t really seem too excited about it. Draygor had become really close friends with her over the past four years, and he knew she was just an unexcitable person, unlike his mother who seemed to get excited over every little detail. Dhi’na was also extremely smart, and her behaviour didn’t really suit the image he had of a small five year old girl sometimes. He found that endearing about her though, as he was able to have intelligent discussions with her, something that he could never have with other kids his age.

“Congratulations, Dhi’na! Can I touch it?” he asked, reaching forward to stroke the little scale before she could give her permission.

The unsolicited action earned him a light slap to the top of his head, and he cried out in mock pain, causing her to giggle at his exaggerated act. He was nearly a head taller than her now, though she was still stronger than him, a fact she was willing to prove anytime he had doubts. She had also formed a weird habit of clinging onto him whenever she fell asleep near him, and he would be unable to escape due to her superior strength. He didn’t complain though; he did like it when she did that.

“You should be getting yours soon, right?” Dhi’na asked, plopping down next to him on the bed. At the same time, she picked up his grandfather’s book on magick and began reading it.

“Mhm, soon. I’ll show it to you when I get it,” he nodded, having already picked up a third book to read.

“Okay.”

The both of them laid quietly next to each other for the next hour, reading their books, until Lhi’ra called them down for some snacks.

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Draygor jerked awake, panting slightly as the sunlight streamed through the blinds and onto his face.

“That was a weird dream…” he mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and face with the back his hands.

His mind had repeatedly played images from his memory throughout the night – his pale complexion and white hair as an Ely, his pure white soul, and the white scales of the goddess Mhi’ra.

What could they mean?

Soon, he became aware that his hands were rubbing something rough on his forehead. He sucked in a breath as he turned to look in the mirror, finally realising the significance of his dream.

Atop his forehead was a scale.

A pure white scale.

Heyo, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as usual!

@Slaggedfire: You guessed right! :3