One undeniable part of Elkif's charm was the creativity in minimalism. At least as far as the Unode district went. Almost all buildings looked about the same at first glance. But the moment one would enter inside, they would discover a simple, yet unique interior. Surdi had found himself standing in a prime example of one such place. On the outside, it looked just like all the other structures, albeit a little bit bigger. The inside; however, was unlike anything he would expect. The entire house was a single large room. The floor around the walls was made out of the smooth, artificial rock of Glint's making. The entire middle section then consisted of a lowered floor covered with sand. The biggest attention-grabber; however, was the many wooden weapons hanging all over the room. Their types varied from daggers all the way to replicas of halberts. The only exception to their material was a single black blade at the far end of the building. There was doubt that it was a real and most likely very expensive weapon. "What is this place?" Surdi muttered, having looked around the whole place at least five times. "This is where the militia train. Since this district doesn't have its own army, we have to prepare our own protectors," Glint explained. "So, we're here to train?" "We? Heh, I'm afraid not. I'm not someone who could be doing any fighting. Let alone with magic." "Then... why are were here?" "For you to train. I will give you some instructions and you are going to try to follow them. They might be a bit... scary though, so feel free to just dismiss it as a babbling of an old elf and leave." "Speak then. What is it?" There was something in Surdi's eyes that Glint found almost frightening. The last time he saw so much determination was shortly before his son left their home without even letting his family know if he'd ever come back. "Heh, eager, are you? Okay, then I will get straight to the point." Glint grabbed one of the training spears off the wall and began drawing crude symbols into the sand. "So, your magic is related to chemicals, right?" "Yeah." "So, what many people think about magic is that what you're born with is what you are doomed to have. They say 'Oh, you have stone magic in your body.' And so for the rest of your life, you think that stones are something you control. But magic is not about a single aspect." Glint pointed to the circle he drew and at the small dot at its circumference. "The big circle is all the known magic. Every element that one can be born with. And this dot is you right now. What you were born with." He grabbed the spear and crossed out the small dot. "But this is wrong. In reality, you are this." He proceeded to draw a cut-out section of the circle as if he had sliced a cake. "Magic is a spectrum. You control chemicals. And that means all chemicals. Not just some flammable gas. Every. Single. Chemical." "But... isn't everything technically a chemical?" "Bingo!" Glint yelled out and spread his arms far and wide, a long smile decorating his face. "What many people don't understand is that nature is all interconnected. Fire wizard doesn't control flames. They control heat. Heat is just one of many types of energy. Thus, a truly skilled wizard could theoretically transmute that heat into something else. Something that is completely different from fire, like kinetic energy. Do you understand what I'm getting to?" "Yeah, to the point of insanity." Glint rolled his eyes. "Look, all this is just a theory. Actually learning to do something like this would take years, maybe even decades of practice. But, based on this theory, we will start with something simple." He returned the spear to its rightful place and then walked over to the far end of the room, where he took the only sharp weapon the place seemed to be hiding. "Do you know what this is?" He asked and showed the sword to Surdi. Its blade was wider than that of a regular shortsword, and a strange, purple liquid was slowly dripping down from it. "Isn't that what Glavas uses?" "Yes! You got it! The swords were originally supposed to be dual-wielded, but Glavie was all like 'I'm not gonna carry around two swords if they do the exact same thing', and so the second one stayed here." "And you want me to learn to use it?" "No. I want you to lick it." Surdi frowned. "I'm sorry, what do you want me to do?" "Lick it." "Lick it? As in, use my tongue to lick it?" The boy asked and flicked his tongue, unsure if he was perhaps reading the words wrong. "Yes! Lick it with your tongue." Surdi looked at the viscous purple ooze dropping down from the dark blade. "Are you fucking serious?! That's poison!" "A weak paralytic. Not a poison." "That's still bad!" "It's not. It's a shortcut." "A what?!" "A shortcut. You know, when I was studying rocks in my younger days, developing the artificial kind used for building, I would often even grind all sorts of minerals up and put them in my mouth to truly feel their essence, their shape, and their true nature." "I can definitely see where Glavas inherited his insanity." "No no, it makes sense! If you want to learn how to use your chemical-based magic, there are two ways. Either you need to learn the alchemical composition of something and then find a way to replicate it, or..." "Or experience it and feel it?" "Yes! Man, you are smart!" Glint smiled and his hand reached out toward the dragon's head. "Touch my horns and I'll bite it off." "Oh-kay, noted." The elf quickly retracted his arm and instead scratched his head. "So, would you like to try it? I won't force you, but it is one quick way to do it. With your innate magic, you should be at least partially resistant to the effects. That, combined with just a tiny dosage, will have only a very brief duration. But if you learn how to replicate the substance, you could make it more potent and efficient at incapacitating any threat that might come your way. Surdi's eyes focused on the thin layer of purple liquid gathered on the blade. "Ugh... Okay, but something happens to me and Alma will extinguish you early." "Hehe, don't worry, I am one hundred percent certain it's safe." The young dragon took the sword and with doubts still heavily weighing on his heart, he looked at it for one last time. The memory of Ruun's recent visit flashed before his eyes. His heart rate accelerated. Before he could give in to the encroaching fear, he ran his tongue across the tip of the blade, careful to make sure he avoided getting cut. "Ohey, dow wof?" He said, but when the words didn't feel right even still in his mouth, he grew uncertain. "Wof's goin'on?" His tongue no longer felt like his own. In fact, it didn't feel like a tongue at all, but rather like a piece of a tasteless something attached to his throat. "Haha, relax, that's normal. Now, I don't want you to just let the potion work. I want you to try to feel it, to find it in your blood, and to fight it. You've got full control over it. It holds no power over you." Surdi took a moment to think. The only sensation he could feel was some residual bitterness in his mouth, but even that had his full attention. Magic was always about focus, that much he knew. He wanted to pay attention to everything that was happening. It wasn't long before a tingly wave washed over his body. His legs wiggled and his knees approached the floor faster than he anticipated. By the time Glint caught him, the dragon's arms twitched for one last time before his entire body succumbed to the potion's effects. His heart was racing. Despite knowing far too well that Glint would be the last person to try to harm him, the boy's entire mind still couldn't help but freak out. The sensation of helplessness reminded him of things he'd rather bury deep among the forgotten memories. "It's okay, it's okay. I've got you," Glint instinctively tried to assure him, feeling Surdi's heartbeat accelerate. He patted him on the back and waited a few seconds before the potion's effect would wear off. In the meantime, Surdi's mind converted those forty seconds of immobility into a whole hour of discomfort. "Somewhere else. I'm somewhere else!" he kept on repeating in his mind and tried to recall any happy memories he could think of. How he and Alma went swimming in the lake. How they enjoyed breaking into the library in Quule. How they met Glavas. How they met Glavas... That one particular remembrance was not one he would be too fond of. It was the second time they were once again targeted by Ruun and his followers. Surdi's memories told him about the explosion of the warehouse. About how he fought with the armed and trained bandits that abducted them. And about the time they were ambushed in the forest. Back then, the sensations weren't too different from what he was feeling now. The orange cloud used by Peldo's men hazed his senses and robbed him of control over his own body. The poison felt the same, with only weaker effects. Though that didn't mean it would be an enjoyable experience. Why did he agree to this anyway? What was he after? Questions upon questions plagued his mind. Before his brain could offer him answers, his whole body jerked as the potion finally wore off. Instinctively, he wiggled out of Glint's grasp and jumped back, putting some distance between them. "Hey hey! It's fine! See? You made it! Nothing scary, nothing dangerous." The elf smiled and went down on one knee, to bring himself closer to the dragon's height. "That was it?" Surdi asked, relieved that even his speech felt the same way as before. "Yup, that was it. Not even a minute. But even a few seconds can be very effective in a time of crisis. So, did you manage to learn anything?" Surdi looked down at his hand. The only thing he remembered from the experience were the memories his mind had shown him. He took a deep breath and exhaled his magic. It was still a murky green cloud with a powerful odor. "I... I don't think I can do it." "Well, don't worry about it. Not everyone manages to grasp things like this out of the blue. It's just one method of learning and it might not be suited for you. After all, we're all a bit different. Maybe you can try something easier first? Like practicing control over what you already know." "Control? I can control it just fine." "Really? Can you make the gas appear in any other form than your breath?" "How the hell would I do that?" Surdi frowned, slightly afraid of what Glint might be referring to. "Well, magic can take any shape and form. I saw a dragon snap their fingers and flames coated their arm. Can you do that? Can you summon your magic and let it do as you say?" "Umm... No, not really." "Well, then focus on that. Try making it appear without exhaling it. That is step number one. Then, maybe try turning it into various shapes or letting it move across the room. The more you learn to control it, the better. It should be natural, like moving an extra limb." Surdi turned around and looked at his tail, waving it from side to side. Magic was like an extra limb. Something he always had, just never moved before. It seemed to be worth trying at the very least. "Wait!" the young dragon asked when he saw Glint return the black sword to its rightful place. "I... I think it could still come in handy." "You want to try it again?" the elf raised his eyebrows. Surdi took a moment to think and reconsider his options. "Yeah. I don't think I can really understand what you meant by feeling the poison, but... I want to see if I can recall the same memories with its help." "Oh...kay? But let's not overdo it, alright?" he said and brought the sword over. "Don't worry, I know what to expect now," the dragon assured him. "I wonder if I could recreate that," he thought and grabbed the weapon.