-Malverick's POV-
A few moments ago, the dragon brought in by the 8th ranked Mr. Lucious woke up in the middle of the taming process, and raised the neck to roar which caused the collar to slide down the long neck and away from the head, but it didn't rampage further. Without paying any mind the first time, he was moving around while ignoring simple orders which indicated unsuppressed thoughts despite looking obedient, or that the collar wasn't working. After using the remaining of my Magic to increase the signal output to test if the collar was defective, the dragon started bashing it with his neck as if aware what it did while confirming the device was working properly.
"GHURUUAAA!" An insane dragon roar comes from inside the pen where it's bashing his head around disregarding the pain or injuries causing blood to gush out.
The vice-president of the guild and my employer, Tamara looks at the rampaging dragon inside his pen and turns to me with an angry expression before grabbing my shirt.
"Malverick! You are killing it!" Tamara yells close to my face while rocking my body back and forth.
"Calm down! I'm turning down the signal before it harms the brain further." I informed trying to get her arms off.
She's been in a bad mood ever since her subjugation team failed to get to the Dragon in time. But at this rate he will die when his gray body already has broken scales into a dark-red mess... is it really trying to kill himself? I know dragons are proud when older, but this is just a whelp! I asserted recalling the standard procedure.
I just made the collar scan the brain before suppressing his most active thoughts from emerging, then implanted simple ideas with the premade commands in the manual until better calibration allows for more complex commands. Although for now, the listed behaviors such as following the master is like tricking him into thinking it, longer expousure, and favorable conditions will make him accept the enviroment. But the priority is keeping him alive, then I will leave the signal at comfortable levels...before the whelp went crazy. I affirm the process to make the beast obey.
"There, it's off. But it doesn't look like it will live long..." I tell her pointing at the beast inside already struggling to stand.
After trashing under the highest settings which was supposed to suppress the brain activity, and make it submit, pools of blood become bigger on the stone floor by the time I turned off the collar, then everything turned quiet. I turned around to see the Dragon whelp staring back at me through the steel bars while bleeding from every orifice in his head.
"GHURuLRYuGUU..." The Dragon spoke with hatred directed my way through Magic while blood spurts to the ground from his moving jaw then slumped down and stopped moving.
While still holding my shirt, we blankly stare with our heads turned at the fallen dragon silently bleeding out on the floor next to the right-side wall of the pen.
Hiiii! This is--his Magic energy? I restrain my surprised voice from coming out while taking half a step back. T-that murderous gaze felt like it would freeze my soul... I try to calm myself thinking what went wrong. It's obvious the collar isn't having any effect other than aggravating the beast, but it doesn't make sense... his Spirit was weak earlier.
"...T-that was creepy." She said frowning then let go of my shirt before turning left to face the rails. "Did you make a mistake?" She demands accusingly staring at the blood slowly flowing on the stone floor.
"Y-you were witness to the whole procedure! You said he wasn't supposed to wake up until tomorrow with those drugs." I meekly point out the unreliable drugs used to aid the process.
A properly sedated beast is more suceptible to the mana waves sent by the collar which affects a predetermined brain activity that induces certain thoughts before gradually decreasing the intensity until the creature submits. However, Dragons have high resistance and gain tolerance for new drugs quickly which makes them harder to tame than other beasts.
"How could I let this happen..." Tamara mutters holding the cell bars with her hands. "Did we lose him?" She asks staring at the unmoving scaly beast inside.
I approached the bars of the enclosure to her right and looked at the collapsed dragon, inspecting his body for signs of life, then noticed the slight inflation of its belly that indicates breathing. Gazing upon the collar on the neck of the dragon, I realized he lost hold of it during the rampage and was just smacking his own head around while losing sanity.
I don't have magic to start over. I confirmed in the afternoon that the dragon barely had enough magic to make a collar of this size work, and his Spirit was too weak to manipulate magic outside the body, so how did it suddenly increased? The plan was to use my magic to fuel the collar and do stronger suppression before nightfall then it would drain the magic from the beast to work during the night since mine would dissipate when outside the range of my control. Well, I don't know why it rose, but it will be used against him since his magic is needed to fuel the collar, and with the current reserves we could even install a bigger device, but I'm not going in there again...
"No, Dragons are resilient since they can heal quickly as long as there's food around, and that's why they make good trump cards in wars, but this one is pretty hurt so you might want to call a healer to keep it alive then bring a mountain of meat." I calmly instruct the upset pink-haired woman to my left then start to ponder how to keep it from rampaging at now that the procedure failed and my Magic is drained.
There was no reason to go berzerk when I raised the signal back then since that would only make a beast calmer and I thought the way it was smashing the collar was a coincidence, but after how it snarled at me with hatred before collapsing...doesn't look like accidents anymore... it knew what was happening. The only ones capable of resisting the collar are those with powerful minds that would require high-ranking dark magicians with a lot of expensive drugs to tame, but this here is a baby dragon from this mating season, and yet, it showed signs of high intelligence. A dragon this young should still be in the nest since parents usually kick them out after winter and some purer bloodlines even raise them for years but...what was a whelp doing, just wondering around?
"Can a low-ranking healer even do anything about it?" Tamara turns left while muttering with a skeptic tone and rushed inside the guild building through the back door...leaving me to ponder alone with the sleeping beast.
The presence of awareness from anything with a Soul is called Spirit which mostly resides in the vessel, but a strong mind is capable of exerting this influence outside the body to a certain range and produce magic phenomena. Spirit only interferes with Mana or another being's awareness, creating a clash of Wills while Mana interacts mostly with Spirit, but the combination of them forms Magic which can interact with matter depending on control and is used to fuel Magic Arts where only the mana is consumed.
Wait, even as a coincidence, using crude Magic outside his body while thinking of killing me so intently is not normal for a dragon whelp who's not even half a year old.... Impossible! Was the collar not having any effect and he was just evaluating the cage when it woke up? That's absurd since it would mean he's at least as intelligent as a human child, and perhaps only a descendant of an Ancient Bloodline could be that smart, but the only dragons nearby are the young green or Big Red which neither of them possess. However, Big Red offsprings aren't that bright when they keep dying despite him being a high-Rank parent, and if this were his child, he would be up there instead of down here, so where does this dragon come from?
Before the fall of Dragon society almost a thousand years ago, Ancient Divines and DemiGods capable of imparting knowledge onto their offsprings maintained their Bloodlines in Clans that ruled over some great Mana veins throughout the world. The information hidden in the Bloodlines have degraded over generations, but some descendants manage to unlock a portion of Magic knowledge or dragon language without needing to learn it and even with little talent, have less trouble ranking up compared to regular dragons. But without access to mana veins, and taking longer than other beasts to rank up, no new Divine Dragon have been known to emerge all this time besides the survivors from the war that caused their ruin.
I remember Teacher saying a rumor about the surviving Divine Dragons from that time not raising their young and just impart whatever knowledge they can before slipping them into regular dragon's nests or throw them out to survive on their own while they hide from the rest of the world. How strange... it feels as if the only species that's not allowed to have Divines, and nothing have been heard from those Divine Dragons or their offsprings for hundreds of years so this little one shouldn't be related, but how else could I explain his intelligence? The last thing that comes to mind is unlocking knowledge from his bloodline during the taming process, but that just ridiculous and either way he might not rampage again if the collar doesn't bother him too much.
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"Please don't cause any trouble and quietly get sold!" I spoke towards the insides of the pen while holding the bars." I just... want to go back home, to my village, and I'm glad you appeared because making a living as Tamer is hard when there aren't many people who can afford beasts besides the scorn we receive. I will keep quiet and get out of town with the money from this job before you kill your owner or captors to escape. Don't hate me too much since dark magician profession is too ridiculous where you can only be a tamer and deal with beasts or an assassin to deal with corpses." I plead my selfish wishes to the unconscious creature that probably wouldn't even understand me if it were awake.
"Malverick!" Tamara calls out to me coming out of the building. "I got a healer, and the guards are coming some Kerbo's meat." She approaches the left side of the cell followed by a man in Clerical clothing with white and blue stripes matching his long hair which has a white patch on the left side of his head.
For your sake and mine, I hope they don't learn what you are because Magic knowledge is kept confidential...knowledge is power, so its best that magicians without loyalty stay ignorant. I was lucky to find an old teacher since magic schools are a joke where they only teach the basics for children, but unfortunately he passed away too soon before imparting enough knowledge. They might get rid of me to protect the precious source of information, but I can only imagine what would happen to you...drugged and tortured with stronger collars. I decided to keep quietand bet my safety on the intelligence of the beast.
Well, if I'm right then he'll pretend to behave until the opportunity present itself... no one will suspect that a creature that takes many years to mature is as intelligent as them despite being just a season old. That's practically like a day-old human baby outsmarting adults by acting how babies are supposed to act.... Meanwhile, he'll be treated better than me since even I can't eat Kerbo meat when I want, yet they are feeding that to a beast as if is nothing. So unfair, all he has to do is eat and sleep while someone pick up his poop then give him baths...no wonder there are people who become slaves willingly. Ah, but having a collar around your neck and taking a couple orders per day is too annoying...there are no vacations either! How uncomfortable would the collar be with scales though? I ponder how would the dragon fool his captors were it me in his place then began inspecting my magic reserves.
"Hi, I'm Numaki, Rank 3 Healer." The gaudy person Introduced himself raising the right hand with the long-sleeved clothes. "I was just having dinner before getting dragged here, and I can sell you some cheap clothes..." He said after gazing me from top to bottom while approaching the pen.
Tch, just because they got lucky with water and light affinity to become a healer, there's no reason to be so-self-important. You can make money with the common people because healers are hard to find, but your profession is useless beyond Rank 10 since Divines can heal themselves. I grumble at the intolerable person switching his gaze to the left.
"...And now I'm facing another bloody mess..." Numaki stopped his advance coming into view with the dragon and muttered. "Just what did you do to the poor animal!?" He asked aghast observing the bloody mess inside the cage.
"I'm Malverick, Rank 4 Tamer, and this is a first for me too..." I introduce myself not lying about failing to tame the possible Ancient's Child.
Ah, maybe the dragon won't seek revenge after growing up and luckily my village is quite far from here, but even if he remembers my scent, he might not even find me alive by then. I call to mind the reason I left my birthplace. The proximity to the borders of the Trouble-Country of Erydon makes it a hostile environment where you don't know when it's your last day, but I'm slowly dying in this town of despair, so might as well go back to what's left of my people.
As a Tamer without any noble family, I won't fit in the capital where mostly the assassins make a living and the other smaller towns don't require tamers when they got enough mouths to feed...not many options in this is a small kingdom for a low rank...sighs. I recall my hometown where life is more healthy and there's no need to go hungry for days because of the lack of money or work.
"This is why people dislike Tamers more than assassins." He uttered with a disgusted expression and shook his head while Tamara is looking at the guild door, probably waiting for the guards.
Sighs... then comes the usual scorn.... But I don't regret choosing the life over a Tamer over a short life of an assassin, and besides, they can cause a lot more suffering than us. I contemplate as four guards in full plate armor finally come out carrying the food then slide the heavy door to the left with the least noise and lock it in place, leaving an opening in front of the dragon that only a human could fit through, but won't budge further.
The whole front of each of the ten beast cages is a giant door taller than a person formed with steel bars close enough so that a creature can't drag someone inside, and requires a few Auramancers to move. As if waiting for his cue, the healer slips inside the pen skipping the pools of blood and evaluates the sleeping Dragon.
"I can't heal damage to this extent." He shook his head denying while looking at Tamara.
"Please treat the head first since most of the damage was done there, and I can activate the collar after recovering enough magic..." I instructed while stepping away from the group of people to recover faster.
The passive Magic recovery only takes place inside the body since that's where you Spirit is always contained until you extend it outside to capture ambient mana over a greater area, but doing so is perilous which is why manipulation is important, to spread it upwards if there are people around. However, that's where great beasts like dragons excel, having big bodies means more passive recovery and higher magic capacity on top of other advantages they have, but Magic density is the same for all which we use to tell Ranks. Gathering Magic the quick way sure is risky, but the damage from a clash of Spirits is not irreversible and at most will feel like getting punched in the head unless you get close to their Soul...then you got a problem.
"I'm only Rank 3 and Healing the head is difficult, it could damage the beast's soul if I make a mistake." Said the person from inside the cage on tip-toes avoiding getting his shoes too bloody.
The vessel is the domain of the Soul while Spirit is stronger closer to its location on the head, but foreign wills have the disadvantage and take most of the damage from the backlash of a collision. Healers have to train hard to avoid leaving the Spirit bare, and I can imagine how he feels about poking at another creature's head, but if I'm right about this dragon, then his worries are misplaced because even with a higher Rank than the creature, he will still take damage.
"He's kind of dying already..." Tamara nods at the healer, and he gets to work pinching his nose with one hand while extending the other over the Dragon's head. "I'll need to get someone to wash away the blood...just how much is this lizard gonna cost me? Hope he sells well, or the boss will get angrier than already is." She lowers her head saying then sighs. "By the way Malverick, what's the sex of the Dragon? The owners will want to know." Turns to me expecting an answer.
"Ah...!" I acted surprised opening my eyes wide while Tamara furrow hers scrutinizing me.
Let's pretend I forgot... it was smelly enough getting close to put the collar on, but checking his privates is not like a wolf where you just have to look below, and I can already tell what would happen if it wakes up while I'm doing that. Not wanting to be the beast's first meal after waking up, I started wracking my head for a solution.
"Don't ''Ah!'' me. That's part of your job!" She does a posture with her hands on the waist glaring knives at me.
"The healer is more qualified than me since it's dark in the room, and he can use light Arts to look since I'm gathering Magic to turn the collar on the settings from this afternoon, so it doesn't do that again." I continue trying to convince her while her face contorts in anger.
She told the healer inside the pen who refused while shaking his head as if he heard a joke. "I'll add a third more of gold coins." She raised her voice saying so I could hear it and Numaki stopped, looked at her then nodded before continue healing the head.
This woman....too bad you think I'm the one who made the dragon rampage haha, though technically I did... I stop gathering Magic then walk close to the bars and extend my left to hand Tamara, presenting the bracelet interface used to command the dragon by his future owners. If he's smart as I think...probably will pretend to be tamed but I don't want to be around either way...
A bracelet uses magic from a person to exchange signals with the collar and plays back simple communication thoughts from the beast with sound, but cooperation with the beast is necessary to synchronize once it can manipulate magic.
"Can I have my money now? I'm just waiting for the healer to step away from the head, so he doesn't receive the collar effects when it's on." With the desire to leave town tonight I demand my payment before activating the device.
"Don't overdo it like before..." She said knitting her brows in anger and disdainfully handed over nine gold coins in a hurry causing some to fall to the stone floor then roll away in different directions.
...Damn bunch of corrupts in a bad mood because their little illegal scheme failed now that a merchant will do the auction instead of them and dare take it out on a little Tamer while standing next to a row of Elite Auramancer guards. I pick up the coins while being stared by the smirking group and wait for the healer to move to the beast's back before activating the collar. Assuming the cause of the early rampage was the intense suppression waves from the collar, I decided to lower them to comfortable levels and increase the Magic interference function around his neck, so he can't manipulate mana freely or send it to the rest of his body.
"I think it's mal__" The blue haired person informs of his findings before I interrupted.
"It shouldn't turn violent and rampage anymore." I said and turned around to leave while the healer processes my words.
"Wait, what?" Said the healer perplexed, looking outside the pen with his hands still on the rear of the dragon.
"GHU!?" I hear from afar the Dragon wake up making a confused sound.