"l can feel your excitement from here, whelp." a voice harshly sounded out in my mind.

"Apologie--"

"Just put your veil up so I can get this over with in peace," the oddly-translucent dragon before me growled, prompting me to utilize my newest technique and shroud my core in pure essence, reducing the effects my body and soul had on the environment, and apparently Elder River as well. This was my first lesson on soul magic, and I had no intention of pissing off, however unintentionally, any dragon elder knowledgeable in soul magic.

It had been a long time since my first lesson with the dragon kids, and my knowledge had improved by leaps and bounds thanks to the continuous lessons. While it might have been the teensiest bit annoying being with curious kids all day, every day, the amount of things I learned offset that by such a wide margin that it wasn't even fair comparing the two. Elder Dusk was knowledgeable about various topics beyond magic, even if that was what received most of my attention. Magic lessons were almost always lectures on theories with the occasional demonstration sprinkled in, but that took nothing away from their effectiveness. For some reason, I could recall the lessons' contents easier than I could in the Academies, even weeks or months later.

I had some background in identifying creatures thanks to my earlier studies in beast taming, but Elder Dusk found it more worthwhile to show the class certain species' patterns, habits, and vulnerabilities instead. While I couldn't argue that the information wasn't useful, I kept wondering why all the lessons had a tinge of being looked at through the lens of combat. Even when discussing the various biomes and environments of the world, he brought up methods for maintaining mobility, when to stay aloft (which I retained but couldn't utilize due to my lack of wings), and when to take advantage of the terrain. History seemed to be the one topic that wasn't geared towards combat, but that didn't mean it wasn't eye-opening.

I knew dragons were around for a while, but I never knew exactly how long that had been, until the Elder told the class that the earliest dragons evolved from some form of lizard and the first dragon retained memories of that time even after rising to sentience and then sapience, centuries later. So basically, since the beginning of the world. As if dragons weren't overpowered enough, they had practically photographic memories and could retain knowledge for decades or centuries.

When it came to the physical aspects of combat, the kids were allowed to simply play around, even if Elder Dusk interjected with a few helpful tips here and there, while I was mainly relegated to exercising and doing weapon drills. My indecision on a choice of weapon was met with a swift knock to the head and a glare of disapproval from the elder, along with a lecture that, at the end of the day, it didn't really matter. I would have pouted, even against my better judgement...but the bump on my head really hurt. I ended up choosing a sword, as it was the most versatile...and the most fantasy-esque. The Trove in my soulspace had a few foundational techniques related to swords as well, which helped cement my decision.

Regardless, I would still use magic as my main weapon, as Elder Dusk took charge of the magical aspect of learning combat, and emphasized the important of spells over physical might. Even when it was pointed out, it hit home much more clearly when a dragon, renowned as the apex of strength, told me that magic was superior to muscles. Even then, neglecting my body would lead to nothing good, as it was the base upon which my spells would be used. When the time came, I demonstrated my use of blood magic, and the Elder deemed it 'passable', moving on to other elements.

That's right, elements, plural.

After being plagued by indecision, hesitation, and endlessly spiraling thoughts of negative consequences, I finally decided to just throw caution to the wind and perform the mesmerism technique on myself in the midst of the dragon lands, knowing there was at least one person proficient in soul magic....and my attempt paid off. Massively.

Because not only did I gain a water affinity...I also gained affinities for the four component elements of the nature element: fire, earth, and air. To top it off, the affinities were at the same level as my blood affinity, meaning they were all high. Of course, while this was a grand achievement, there was the small problem of being unable to ask for help about developing them, as that would involve revealing what I had done to at least one elder, which was impossible if I wanted to stay alive and not be experimented on. Thankfully, the Trove came through when I needed it, displaying some preliminary spells of those elements, which I studied when I was alone.

After enough time had passed, I felt it was safe to reveal to Elder Dusk that I had other affinities as well, though when the time for awkward questioning came up, such as why I had never bothered developing them before, I spouted some nonsense about how I wanted to specialize in one element, as stretching myself too thin in multiple directions would leave me mediocre in many fields rather than exceptional in a single one. Thankfully, he bought my explanation, though not without chastising me for neglecting to mention it sooner, as he could have provided more relevant instructions rather than broad, sweeping generalizations.

The entire time, I did my best to control my body's reactions to make it seem like I wasn't overly nervous, as I recalled Elder Dusk was proficient in soul magic and had somehow made use of it when I first arrived here during my interrogation. Luckily, he wasn't able to determine that I had gained new affinities, or he would have been far less accommodating. As it was, the time had come for magic lessons to be more specialized, and upon asking for a teacher in soul magic, Elder Dusk was willing to ask if any would take up the task of teaching me. Apparently, his expertise laid in death magic, which should have been obvious from his black scales.

And now I was before a true soul magic specialist, Elder River, as a result of Elder Dusk's efforts. Reela was undergoing some kind of leadership seminar, and while I was glad to be rid of her, I was equally apprehensive about being placed under her 'leadership' once more. All I could do was hope that she would be a better mentor in the future...and that I wouldn't have to mesmerize her again.

The veil technique that I was working on was a soul spell meant to reduce the impact of one's soul in the area by dampening the passive fluctuations and emotions that were naturally given off. In combat, it was used to prevent being tracked and located, but it was also used to prevent random thoughts from being heard while communicating soul-to-soul, as the dragons did. Elder River, being proficient in soul magic, was somehow able to detect my soul's fluctuations from a good distance away even without contact, something Elder Dusk required.

"Are you done dreaming yet, or would you like me to wait even longer for you to finish?" the voice dripping with sarcasm.

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"Sorry, Elder River," I quickly said.

"Hmph," he adjusted his gargantuan body, crossing his front feet over each other and laying his head atop them. "I don't care what little tricks you may have picked up, but if you're going to learn from me, that means you forget everything you think you know about soul magic. When it comes to the soul, you know nothing, understand?"

"Yes, Elder."

"In that case, we can start. First lesson, your soul and your body are dependent on each other. Actually...you haven't formed a core yet, have you?"

"No, Elder." A core? A core what?

He sighed. "Then it looks like forming a core is the real first lesson." He paused to look at me, scrutinizing something about me, or maybe everything. "How well do you know your body, human?"

"I'm familiar enough with it, Elder," I hesitantly said, unsure where this line of questioning was going.

"That's good enough for me. If anything goes wrong...well, let's just hope nothing goes wrong." I was immediately on edge and did my utmost prevent my unease from showing, visibly or otherwise. "The first step in making a core, is knowing what a core is, and what it does, or rather, what it's meant to do. It's been a while since I've seen humans, but you still use all those chanting and silly movements before casting spells, no?"

"Yes, Elder River. They said it is necessary in order to achieve the correct mindset for casting."

"Ha! Is that so? I see humans remain true to themselves even after centuries. Well, that may be the case for humans, but for dragons and you from now on, all that chanting and gesturing nonsense is just that. Nonsense. Once you have your core, you'll find that magic comes much easier to you." The elder paused for a moment and sniffed at me, giant bursts of air nearly pulling me to my feet. "You can use multiple affinities, boy?"

"Yes, Elder." I saw no point in hiding something like that from him, as he could, and likely just had, sense the particular inclinations in my soul that corresponded to affinities.

"Then doing it here is just fine. Ideally, you would create your core in an area rich with whichever element you align with, but you got lucky, as my abode is abundant with them. Now, get in whatever position if comfortable for you." I followed his instructions and assumed my meditation posture, legs crossed with hands on my knees, palms up. "Now, draw the essence into yourself, slowly but consistently." Thinking to myself that this would be easy, as I had done that exact thing thousands of times by now, I performed my breathing exercise, feeling the essence enter my body...and came across a new problem.

While it was true that essence could be elementally aligned, I only recently gained awareness of that fact, and so up until that point, I believed and felt that all essence was neutral, leading me to completely fill my reserves up roughly within a day. I only had blood and nature affinities for a long time, and so I only needed blood and nature essence. Now, though, I had unlocked four additional affinities, and drawing in all the separate types of essence meant that I would have less to use when the time came to cast spells. After all, I only had so much space available to use --

A tiny poke in my mind brought me out of my thoughts, though I continued to pull in essence. "Stop thinking, boy, and just act. Your body can't do its job properly if your mind is distracted. Just breathe, and focus on the essence around you, and within you. Oh, and you might as well drop your veil as well. No point in making things harder for yourself."

He's right, idiot. Control yourself. I chided myself mentally, before closing my eyes again and taking deep breaths, disassembling the essence construct that was the veil technique.

I wiped my mind clean of all thoughts save for drawing in essence with each breath, barely noticing movements as I gradually felt the tiniest slivers of sensations. Miniscule fireworks, microscopic puddles, an imperceptible shift in the ground, the hair on the back of my neck standing up. Recharging, as I called it, was a dull process...before today. Now, I could feel the essence in a way that was almost...intimate. Tiny swirling particles, each with their own unique spark, approached me like a moth drawn to flames, before entering my nose, and travelling through my body towards my lungs, before melding into my cells and becoming part of me. I could feel the urge to be distracted by unnecessary thoughts come and go, and continued the process, completely different than what it was in the past. I lost track of time as the elements converged within my body, spreading out ever so slowly beyond the confines of my lungs.

Once my lungs reached the point of saturation, I nudged the essence to a different target, the closest being my rib cage. The bones were more receptive to essence than my lungs, and soon enough, I had to nudge the essence once more, this time to my --

No. I had to save my heart for last.

I acknowledged the instinct for what it was and forged on. The intestines were next, followed by my stomach, kidneys, liver, and gallbladder. I included my appendix as well, even if it was vestigial, before carefully shifting my focus to my brain.

It would be nice if I had a lightning affinity too. The traitorous, impulsive thought made itself known before I could stop it, and sure enough, I began to feel miniaturized static shocks within my throat, prompting me to delicately saturate my brain stem and spine with essence before proceeding to the brain. Nothing immediately noticeable happened, so I disregarded my newly unlocked lightning affinity and continued with the process, taking more care to control my thoughts. My eyes showed no signs of change once I was done with them, so I moved onto the rest of the sensory organs in a steady pace, not wanting to rashly quicken my pace and waste everything I had done so far.

Once I felt all the major organs were completed, I moved on to the muscles, starting from the head and working my way down. Nerves, blood vessels, bones, and skin were done in order, before I reached the place most central which I instinctively knew would be my core. The heart, each of its beats promising life...would carry not only blood, but another substance as well.

If infusing my entire body took one hour, then the heart alone must have taken six. It was almost resistant to accepting the essence, yet I overcome its reluctance, subtly imbuing the disparate elements into each cell and tissue that made up my most pivotal organ.

Once the final particle of essence merged with my body, I felt exactly the same, if a bit more awake than I was at the start. Thankfully, Elder River chose that moment to provide me more instructions.

"So you're finally finished, huh? Then it's time to move onto the next step, making your core. Don't get distracted by my words, boy, keep accumulating! As I was saying, now that your body is rife with essence, you can create your core. Make it wherever you want, but it HAS to fit in your body, so don't go trying anything clever. Smarter dragons than you have tried and failed to make half-external cores, and it never worked." A poking sensation punctuated his words, starting out dull and noticeably becoming sharper with each moment. Still, it was nothing compared to soul pain...until the sensation became increasingly frequent. "Oh, you're already at that stage? That makes things easy. Choose an element, I don't care which, and lock it in the place where you want your core. Don't worry about multiple affinities or anything else, just keep your focus on one element and ignore the rest. You'll know when to stop. I'll see you once you're done, boy."

The poking had become full on stabbing by now, and was rapidly approaching the threshold for soul pain as I tried to calmly perform according to the elder's directions. My conscious and unconscious mind simultaneously chose to gather blood essence within my heart, making me nauseous on top of the rising level of pain. I added each new particle of blood essence to my heart, only stopping to acknowledge the pain every so often, as it delayed me every time I did so.

Once more, my instincts screamed at me, and I obeyed them without question.

I CAN'T FEEL PAIN NOW.

The stabbing, piercing, lancing pain wicked away to nothing, leaving me unbothered as I aggregated blood essence, slowly establishing a red sphere that swelled to encapsulate my heart. All at once, I was overwhelmed with a draining sensation that left me sick to my stomach as I violently threw up my breakfast and lunch all over the elder's floor.

"Hmm...not bad. Clean all that up and then you can play with your new core, whelp."