-Next morning. Alphonse POV-
"SIR! Wake up, we have a situation." A person shakes me to consciousness.
Ugh, what is it with people waking me up so early! I sat on my bed and noticed the flickering blue-ish light rays entering horizontally through gaps of the closed window facing the courtyard next to my bed. Mhn? At this hour the sun rises from the opposite side, and I don't remember we hired light magician clowns. I stopped staring at the window and turned to face the guard to my left.
"Report, you fool!" I snappily demanded at the guard fully armed and ready for combat.
"Sir, we have another situation with the dragon." He reported pointing to his left.
"Is the Miss safe?" I questioned on the priority and reached for my clothes next to the window after his nod. "Did he ate any of the guards last night?" I inquire while speedily dressing up.
"...It was a quiet and 'safe' night sir." He answers while following me to the door of the dormitory. "The nobles haven't woken up, but there are two horses down and we can't approach." He reported when we stopped at the door to look outside.
Oh...that does not look good. I commented then started walking across the courtyard to get a closer look.
The dragon's hairs are standing up with undulating shades of purple, blue and white going from the roots to the tips while lightning bolts of different sizes wildly jump around making shrieking sounds.
Judging by this Magic density, he must have focused really hard on training to Rank 3 levels before discovering the elementals that he's supposed to find at Rank 1, and lost control of the lightning. Stopping at a distance of ten steps from the alleyway next to the stable, I watch the shimmering scales in the same three colors while bigger lightning bolts are forming and increasing their range to hit the walls before dispersing, then a protective water bubble is erected around his body to contain them.
That is not a good idea Dragon-- My thoughts were interrupted by a new sound, besides the lightning bolts dancing around and the dozen guards standing in the courtyard look at each other.
*Wuon~Ghuooon~!* The water bubble expands and contracts rapidly making sound waves that keep getting louder while he struggles to hold it in place.
...Because a thin water bubble can't hold the energy of that out-of-control Lightning for too long and it's gonna blow up before running out of magic, but he's too concentrated with the rampaging elementals to instruct him otherwise. I admire the entertaining yet dangerous spectacle trying to remember similar experiences.
Lightning is a rare and hard to master affinity, but this is on another whole new level of abnormal... I recall how people reach Rank 1 densities before working on gathering elementals. Did he just ignore them until he had Rank 3 spirit density? I observe the two predominant affinities of water and lightning while the white color indicates a minor light talent.
How ridiculous!! For someone to advance so much in one night... if he ranks up with water then becoming a Divine in a few years would be possible, but lighting requires to experience the effects of thunderstorms or lightning attacks from other users to gain insights. I realize that such talented individual in magic manipulation will slow down his progress training in two high affinities unless he trains in with water because Lightning is more difficult. And speaking of thunderstorms, it seems one will be unleashed soon, and I better do something fast, or people might get hurt, though the horses are already done for.
"Everybody strip, and drop your weapons!" I commanded the guards wearing heavy armors and metal weapons causing them to stare back at me with confused looks.
High ranking lightning creatures are extremely rare on land, even among humans due to the difficulty of the magic after light or darkness, and is the reason why not many know the dangers they pose beyond a little shocking for pleasure during fun times.
Light, lightning, and darkness require great talents to advance fast, but since people tend to get careless and overestimate their abilities sooner or later, not many are careful enough to reach high ranks steadily. I overlook all the guards quickly then determined they are waiting for an explanation since losing their protection goes against their common sense. These guys are standing around like idiots waiting to get carbonized, and they are looking at me like I'm the weird one?
Ugh, this dragon is gonna cost, my boss, a raise even if I'm an old friend of their father since I'm not getting paid enough to contain threats beyond the capacity of my guards when they are just Rank 2 to 4 auramancers.
"Wake up everyone still sleeping just in case and stay away from anything metallic then prepare to put out any fires after the explosion," I instructed then clapped my hands to disperse the fools frozen on the spot.
"Sir!" Marlo, the second-in-command, stops me in a hurry. "What about the horses?" He inquires pointing at the animals spasming on the ground over their own piss while hearing the twenty plus guards dumping their armors before running off.
"They are already dead..." I affirm looking at the suffering animals then started running towards the house.
I rush into the house then notified the kitchen on the right about any possible effect that might reach before stopping by the study to the left of the entrance to inform my boss what's transpiring outside. There was no response after knocking, then open the door to find Lester eating breakfast on the table to the right and next to the desk at the back of the room.
"Alright." He finished swallowing the bread then dusted his hands and raised his head frowning. "What did he did this time?" He demanded while his face contorts and eyes narrowed.
"The dragon lost control of lightning elementals and it's going to explode at any time," I report him in a hurry.
"Wait, what? Lightning?" Sir Lester puzzled then got up his chair and ran to the stairs outside after processing the meaning. "SHAILA!" He yells up the circular staircases to catch the attention of the two girls in Liana's room up there. "Your troublesome dragon is at it again!" At his yell, the two girls rush down then we head for the front door.
The four of us head outside to the middle of the courtyard where we can see into the alleyway at the dragon struggling to control the chromatic ball of water expanding and contracting while generating a sound steadily louder. There shouldn't be a need to alert Faust with the magic resistance of his rank.
"Pretty~" Miss Shaila dressed in blue pants and pink shirt admired the light show.
"Deadly." Sir Lester's expression hardened looking at the ten dead horses lying in their own piss and feces.
"He's gonna eat those horses!" Remarked Miss Liana dressed in white with hands on her waist switching her gaze between the horses and the dragon.
*GHUOON~!* The sound kept getting louder and dust flying around illuminated by the morning sun. *KAAAAANNNG!* The bubble of water unable to contain the accumulated lighting vaporized outwards in an instant sending shockwaves and accompanied by a field of charged lightning.
With my ears covered already, the shockwaves sent in every direction reached us in the middle of the courtyard while raising a cloud of dust and an echo was heard soon after.
""Kyaaa..."" Not being used to the loud noise, the girls screamed covering their ears.
And noisy. I add in my mind the follow up to their examination. Oops? Forgot to tell them it could get loud, though it wasn't enough to make us deaf, we felt it in our bodies and that lightning wave was tingling.
"My ears!" Sir Lester protests massaging his affected ears.
"Pfff. Your hairs, your hairs!" I laughed at their standing hairs pointing with a hand while funny looking guards are coming out of the barracks to our left.
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"""...""" The three stare at my own poofed black hair.
The long hairs of the girls are standing up into hook shapes or sticking to their clothes while the rest of us have poofy hardened hair. Well, that's a strange coincidence for the miss and Lester to wear blue clothes today when the dragon just turned purple-blue, but in her case, those are sturdy garments for riding.
"Alphonse..." Sir Lester call out to me then we started walking towards the unconscious dragon. "I know Dragons have a high magic capacity, but he was under Rank 1 yesterday, so how did this happen?" He demanded while the little miss runs ahead to the blue dragon.
"Nefi! Can you hear me?" Miss Shaila reached his head on the ground and asked the dragon then turned to us with a worried face. "Is he gonna be alright?" She asked with her hands on the dragon's head.
"He's breathing and unconscious after the shockwave causing some kind of feedback on his body or exhausted the Magic," I explained to the little girl trying to pry open the dragon's eyes then I turn to Sir Lester to my right. "It wasn't an average affinity awakening since it happened with a Rank 3 Magic density, dual affinities and he also lost control of lightning," I report my conjecture to him watching the little miss trying to wake the dragon.
"Son of a Mogo! What's wrong with this dragon!?" He scowled pointing at the dragon with both hands.
"Well, he did say the collar broke him, then became smarter, and had headaches as a consequence, so maybe that explains why his awakening was abnormal too." I assumed then got close to his head and observed the color shades on the scales. "Hmm... looking at the color distribution, it's probably high-lighting, high-water, and low-light talents...very rare. Creatures like these are only seen in the depths of the oceans or Ancient wilderness." I appraise the scales half blue, half purple and white-tipped.
"This is my fault..." Miss Shaila confesses kneeling on the dirt next to the head. "I was sleepy last night when I told him about elementals and forgot to explain the delicate control over them not being safe like magic..." She recounts the events while using light magic on the head of the dragon with guilt on her face.
"You did what!?" Sir Lester immediately snapped. "You knew how dangerous it is to awaken alone, especially with two affinities that make it easier to mess up the control ratio." He firmly lectures her recalling the basic teachings at the school then sighs. "No, it's not your fault...he somehow awakened his affinities with Rank 3 density, and his Core was only rank 1 size." He pointed at the sleeping dragon then shook his head.
He should have sensed elementals after reaching rank 1 density but was probably cautious not knowing how they work and continued to progress on magic training until his curiosity won over, then crudely gathered both without knowing how they work. They don't work like Magic that becomes unstable when trying to gather too much Mana and simply disperses, but the abundance of Lightning Elementals might have made this worse than usually is. I recall that gathering more elementals that you can control will cause them to go on a rampage and forcibly feed on your magic to create phenomena that could destroy your own body from the inside.
Earth Magicians could turn to stone, Wind Magicians create deadly tornados and water Magicians freeze solid, but in the case of lightning, it just flowed through his body huh? It should have been painful, but the worse has not passed yet since these elemental rampages always have some negative effect on the body if they manage to survive and he could become insane or retarded if he wakes up at all. I remembered the negative effects these rampages bring.
We should tie him up while he's fainted, and hope he doesn't become a psychopathic monster after waking up. I wish for such terrible thing not to pass to the new pet of the little miss.
"This is the beast's fault since his own talent backfired, and we know how talent can affect you indirectly too." Miss Liana scoffed crossing her arms to scowl at my boss. "Beasts get carried away because they have a Core while we humans are guided to awaken safely at the Academy, though Shaila awakened at four, before going to school..." She mentioned then look back at the girl trying to heal the sleeping dragon.
"Light, lightning, and darkness are the hardest affinities, and she would have been much higher rank with that talent in Water..." Lester hypothesized and stopped when I placed my hand on his shoulder.
"Sir Lester, we should quietly tie up the beast as soon as possible..." I whispered in his ear so Miss Shaila doesn't hear me.
"Yes...she might wake him up treating his head with magic, but the dragon should be weakened right now, so don't overdo it or they might get angry." He quietly approved while nodding then pointed at the little miss.
"Sir!" Second-in-command approaches to report the damages. "The front iron gates are stuck, and won't open...the steel equipment are attracting each other and metal debris, but they are still usable. We lost some of our clothes, and somebody stole my money after I stripped." He twisted his face lamenting. "No further damages to report." He finished and waited for new instructions.
What kind of second in command are you? I retorted in my mind then instructed him to bind the creature's limbs with ropes, then took the little miss inside the house so she wouldn't see when the dragon wakes up.
-Midday. Nefiru's POV-
After letting go of my consciousness several times to indulge in the pleasant sleep much-needed from practicing magic manipulation all night then losing control in the morning, I opened my eyes then noticed my body feels bound and it's lunchtime, judging by the position of the sun.
I haven't felt this good in so long that can't even remember, and it's not from the bondage applied to my body...my head feels so clear, and my senses improved. I struggled a little having my head tied to my forelegs and hind legs together that make me look like some pig ready to be cooked on the stake then stared at the two people by the entrance of my enclosure.
Well, Alphonse is having a blast watching a dragon act this awkward, but it is surprisingly hard to break thin ropes with many loops around you even if you can punch a frigging concrete wall apart, though I can break them now unless they are made of some special materials... Hurray for magic! I noticed Lester saying something and power up my collar.
"Finally awake, you blue bastard!?" Lester angrily transmitted.
Oh, right! I'm blue now! I focus my vision on my eye sockets to my snout to make out the colors of my body that will accompany me for a long time. Well, purple-blue with some white outline on the scales, but my efforts paid off and finally got a paint job.
I should celebrate by eating something for lun-- oh, the horses are dead...laaaame! where's the fun in that? Whatever, food must not be wasted, so I'll eat them then go hunt in the forest...I'm pumped about trying out my new body!
"I thought your sister was the only one with the weird hobbies." I mocked Lester for tying me up while unconscious then heard Alphonse next to him, chuckle.
It feels natural and nostalgic for me to practice magic for some reason, even though it should be the first time. I travel with my awareness into the core then carried with Magic water elementals outside of my body through the gaps, and squeezed it out of my skin towards a portion of the ropes. I fuel the elementals with my magic and give them little instructions to soak the designated part of the bindings with liquid water, then commanded the elementals to slow down the newly created water molecules to form ice crystals. I drew thermal energy from the ropes with this method then shattered my bindings. *Pah! Pak! Trak!*
This is cool, too bad I won't need ice for my head anymore since it feels fantastic! I rejoice at the absence of headaches.
""Woah?"" The two of them got started after seeing me getting up suddenly to stand on my paws.
I stretch my limbs like some old dog after sleeping and twisting my neck around my body to check out my new colorful exterior while hearing the two converse in their language.
Hmm...purple at the base of the scales, turning dark blue hues, to light blue and finally white tips, though since my claws changed their dull colors, then my eyes should have changed too. I picture my outlook while wondering if there are mirrors in this place.
"You should have waited for me to explain since you almost died or became an insane monster." Lester nagged then sigh.
"What are you talking about? I've been broken for a while, and just got fixed...man it feels amazing." I puzzled in sarcasm then declared walking towards them.
Hmm, this pleasant feeling as if my brain is being massaged is also making my thoughts faster and this is probably the effect of lightning after that mishap...some kind of overclocking in my brain, but it looks delicate to interfere yet. Mapped my dragon brain last night with the new perception of my increased Magic density, and it proved to be even smaller than Shaila's, but now that it's working on overdrive, my migraines are gone, and my awareness increased yet again with the rest of my hidden memories.
I'm not sure how it is done in fiction but if the brain isn't fully formed, how do you remember past memories? It's like trying to load Windows on a broken Hard Drive, though Magic is proof that it does make things possible, and I would like to know how mine is working right now, but I'm scared to fry my own brain. I postpone further investigations on the brain until better control is achieved to avoid accidents.
"Fixed? How do you fix yourself!? You just awakened your Lightning and Water affinity this morning." Lester retorted then argues walking sideways as I turn right into the stables.
It makes me wonder what other affinities would I have gotten by choosing different paths since birth and then one that's not lightning go out of control...I doubt Fire would make my brain work overclock, though it is consuming my passive magic to work. I feel compatible with Earth and Fire right after Water, Lightning, then Light, and it might have been possible to get those too, but there seem to be restrictions on this process when my connection to Light is so tiny...
I wonder if I got these affinities because I needed them...I mean the lack of water since leaving the volcano bummed me out a lot and lightning is doing something in my brain without me being conscious about it...perhaps subconsciously I've wished for it since becoming a slave, and I remember reading something about it on the internet.
"Lightning in my head runs on my passive Magic recovery. Anyway, hungry, so I'm helping myself." I informed then lifted a horse by the neck to drag outside.
Heavy...I groaned in my mind dragging the horse into my enclosure and squeezed a little more water to clean the piss away then started ripping off a hind leg while the two converse far enough to not get blood splashes.
I can't eat all ten horses before they rot, so I'm gonna have to gather water elementals to freeze them, but those are a little difficult to collect compared to lightning's for some reason. I feel preservation of meat will not be a problem with my current affinities.