Dracon is a young Dwarf growing up on the outskirts of a mining town. He lives with his father, a dwarven crafter of great renown, and his mother, a member of the Lizardman race. Contrary to most in the Lizardman race whose racial qualities lean towards water (webbed fingers and toes, strong swimmers, large lung capacity, or ability to breathe underwater) Dracon’s mother has an affinity for fire that she gets from an ancestor, a fire sprite. Dracon’s father has an affinity for the element of earth which greatly influences and increases his abilities as a crafter. Those with an affinity for earth manipulation have an easy time crafting and activating a stone’s (ie: gems, minerals, and metals) natural elemental traits. Activating/amplifying a stone’s natural elemental properties is referred to as Enchanting. Another form of enchanting is when a crafter infuses their own aura into the craft improving any number of stats or abilities.
From a very young age, Dracon showed an affinity for both of his parents' elements. When an individual first consciously activate their aura they receive a notification. A voice in their head accompanied by a visual pop-up only visible to the individual, notify the individual that in this case "You have realized the use of Aura. Congratulations you have achieved level 1! NOTIFICATION: You have an affinity for FIre and Earth. Aura type: Manipulation" His Aura manipulation of fire manifested first. One day, when he was just shy of 5, he was watching his father work when the forge randomly flared up in response to his father's Aura infusion into his project. The flare almost severely burned his father and himself however Dracons aura sprung forth and protected them both. His parents noticed that after that day Dracon started to play with fire and demonstrated adept control. Dracon's mother asked him "Have you heard any voices or seen anything pop-up in your vision?" Dracon nodded. His mother simply asked him to tell her what he had been notified of. He responded with everything since Realization. "Well first time was the other day, when the big fire sprang up from the forge and I blocked it from me and poppa. She told me I realized I can use Aura and that I am level 1. Also I have affinity for Fire and Earth and my Aura type is Manipulation. After that I thought about grabbing the fire with the energy felt and it sprung forth grabbing the fire. Then the lady told me congratulations for activating my first skill Fire Manipulation." Dracon's mother smiled and patted her son on the head. Dracon loved watching his father work and aspired to be like his father and become a great crafter. He realized if he had the skill fire manipulation and also had earth affinity he should be able to get that skill too. He started with the dirt in the yard. As soon as he thought about using his aura to dig up the earth it came forth and did his bidding. "Congratulation you have realized you can dig up dirt. You have achieved Earth Manipulation (Basic)" Dracon laughed to himself.
His 5th birthday was coming up soon. He thought his parents would be proud if he could show them something cool from the new abilities he seemed to aquire. He then tried to use his aura to grab the coal and embers in the base of the forge. At first the aura didn't seem to want to grab the coal. Dracon put his hands closer to the flames and concentrated. As he did he aura grew hotter with the flames his hands turning red hot. The aura surrounded the coal and scoop as Dracon scooped with his hands. He held it for a few seconds sweating from the heat and effort. As he dropped the burning embers he heard. "Congratulations! You are a curious creature and have unlocked a racial ability. Racial Ability: Lizard/Dwarf: As a rarity among the species of the world little is known of your evolution. Bonus: Lizardman Racial Bonuses. Bonus Dwarf Racial Bonuses. Bonus Skill: Metamorphosis: Your body has taken on traits of both your natural races. You can use the skills granted by physical change. Progress 5%. You have acquired FireRock Manipulator: Not only can you control rock but rock that is way too hot to touch. you have acquired Heat Resistance acquired 50%" Dracon whipped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and noticed his hand felt rough. He looked down at his hand to see the red pigment of scales on his hands and knuckles his tough dwarven skin still visible between the scales connecting them. Startled at first he laughed when he noticed his hand felt fine after moving it around. He pounded his knuckles together hearing the scales crunch like a set of his dad's gauntlets. He also noticed he didn't feel any pain from the crunching action. He excitedly ran to tell his parents.
Dracon’s father taught him everything he could about all the different stones and minerals in the world and how each of them relates to the natural order of the world. Coincidentally a stone’s color can influence which elements it resonates with. Not all stones of the same elemental affinity will have the same effect when enchanted. Also depending on the skill and knowledge of the crafter they may be able to add benefits that are hidden or do not naturally occur in the stone through their own aura. This skill is what made Dracon’s father so well known and sought after. Dracon's father was a Master Enchanter and Advanced Crafter. He could make items of High and Master Quality regularly. Dracon also quickly gained both Crafter and Enchanter Skills. By the age of 10 Dracon had achieved Intermediate in both Enchanter and Crafter skills. Dracon’s father and mother were both very aware of how talented their son was and worried that his skills would make him both famous and a target to nefarious people.
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Dracon’s mother, out of worry, began training Dracon in combat shortly after her son told her he had ascended. In her village hand to hand combat was a necessity for self defense as well as combat trials of adulthood. Dracon’s mother was the strongest female in her village and as such earned her right through combat to leave the village and pursue her own dreams. In her travels she learned and mastered many weapons and combat styles. It was on her travels that she met Dracon’s father and they eventually fell in love. When Dracon came to her showing the change in his hands, after acquiring his new racial skills, she immediately took him out to the yard and had him test them out. His fists were like hers and he learned, after trying to hastily punch his mother and missing terribly, after crashing into a rock his hand had crushed the rock and he felt fine. He heard his mom's voice from behind him. "Now look up to the top left. Do you see anything?" He looked up and saw something he had never really noticed before. Two faint bars one green one blue hovering in his vision. "Whoa when did those get there?!" "Calm down sweetie" His mother assured him. "Those are your health and aura bars. You can ask the deity leveling if they will remove it for you and she usually will. However I encourage you to leave it as you didn't even notice it until I said something. It is useful too." Dracon nodded and thought about the two bars as he looked at them and saw numbers pop up next to them 100% and 100%. "How cool" he thought to himself.
She knew that the strength and control of one's aura is ultimately limited by the physical strength of one's body. Trying to use too much aura when one's body isn’t ready can deplete their life energy to the point of death. With this in mind Dracon’s parents helped to round the boy’s growth between combat, aura training, and of course crafting. As Dracon got older he started keeping up and even on occasion besting his mother. Dracon’s mother (as much as she was skilled in the use) didn’t prefer using weapons. She had great pride in her strength of body and mastery of her aura. Because of this her sparring style rubbed off on Dracon and he also became both efficient and preferred to fight hand to hand using his aura. Dracon’s ability to manipulate the earth increased and allowed him to do many things from creating rock armor to turning the ground under his opponent into quicksand. His manipulation of fire allowed him to defend himself from his mother who could turn her aura into fire. Dracon idolized his mother for her strength and combat prowess. When in the heat of training Dracon always thought his mom looked like a dragon shrouded in her flaming aura.
It may seem obvious but the union of a Dwarf and a Lizardman was not common. Due to this Dracon developed traits that no one had ever really seen before. When Dracon was born he seemed like a normal little dwarf baby. This may seem strange since his mom was a lizardman but his parents weren’t phased. After the incident when Dracon protected himself and his father from the forge flare up Dracon’s mother began to notice a slight coloration change on his hands and arms. As he grew and played with fire more she noticed the skin on his hands started to scale and harden. Dracon’s half lizardman genes were starting to manifest, her son had even told her she had started Metamorphosis. His skin would eventually become so hard that not even blades could penetrate his natural armor but this wouldn’t be for several years. Dracon’s strong crafter hands eventually were completely scaled but this didn’t affect his ability to craft. If anything it enhanced it because he could leave his hands near or even in the forge much longer than even his father. As part of the nature of his lizardman genetics he developed claws that became very sharp as well as webbing from the lowest knuckle down to the base of his fingers. Dracon’s scales were the same fiery red as his mother’s which was fitting to match his fiery red hair and beard.
By the time Dracon was 13 his arms were scaled from about elbow down. His skin had become hard enough to smash rocks and dent armor even without the assistance of earth manipulation. He was also capable of crafting anything his father could in record time due to his exceptional control of Fire and Earth manipulation. However, the prodigy was never satisfied, always trying to make something better or differently to improve it. This drive for innovation is what really set Dracon apart from the other crafters.
Dracon’s wonderfully blessed life would eventually be rooted up from its core.