Once Sapphire left him and went to her room, he waited half an hour then went to the library.

2 hours later

After working feverishly while his obedient pen was burning through lots of blank pages with its writing, he got the shortcut: yet another formula. But it was shorter and was meant to replace all other formulas. And instead of creating the words for the formula and the spells, he incorporated them all into a simple gesture: the flick of his thumb, right for offensives and left for defensives. One quick flick would do it, allowing him to activate the generic formula and generate a specific combination spell instantly when he thought of a specific spell.

Before he could get back to dragons, he passed out.

~~~

Elly slowly opened his eyes and raised his head from the book he had been reading. The page was wet. He wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand. It seemed he had drooled on it.

He got up, stretched, and went off to his room to wash himself with a few water and soap spells.

After that, he went to the kitchen to eat and report his progress to Sapphire.

She was sitting in her usual spot, sipping from her usual mug. Another usual morning.

He sat opposite to her. “Morning, Saph!”

“What’s gotten you so happy?”

“I figured out the formula. Well, it’s more like I invented it. Using the formula, we can tailor it to any combination spell.”

“Any?”

“Any.”

“There’s no way!”

“It’s possible.”

~~~

They went back to the clearing.

Elly flicked his thumb, just a sharp sideways movement, while he visualized his spell.

Four portals opened in the bright sky after the scarce clouds parted. Fire poured out of one, a stream of water from the second, a line of rocks from the third, and a strong gust of wind from the fourth. All four elements met in the center and formed a rapidly spinning, multi-layered ring. It took up a large part of the sky—so large that standing under it would provide a good shade from the burning sun. The size could be compared to the whole forest.

“It’s nothing special. Just the 4 basic elements.” He hadn’t named this spell, which he had just made up. Maybe it didn’t need a name, since it was just for show. Chances were, he would never need to use it again.

That was what he thought anyways, but Sapphire was engrossed with it. It looked as if she could stand there all day, being hypnotized by the ring’s movements.

“Saph?”

She didn’t reply.

“Saaaaaph?”

Still no reply.

Alright. This looked like the perfect time to sneak off and go hunt some dragons.

He quietly moved past her, heading back to the manor, but within a few steps, he heard her.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Where are you going?”

He froze and turned around to her, feeling like he was caught in the middle of a crime. “To… do more research by…”

“By?” She raised an eyebrow.

“...Hunting dragons…”

“You’re only 5.” She eyed him skeptically.

“I know, but…”

“You can’t be serious. Maybe when you're older.”

“Please?”

“Lord ViQoné wouldn’t like that.” Her expression was firm.

She meant Dad. That was their family name. She was right. And Mom wouldn’t be any less worried if he were to go off on his own.

But he couldn’t wait long, so he made a plan.

~~~

In the middle of the night, he got up as usual, but to his great shock, Sapphire was sleeping on the other side of his bed, probably to make sure he wouldn’t do anything.

You’ll have to try harder than that. He got up and tip-toed out of the room and carefully closed the door behind him.

He had gone through a few books on portal creation the other day, so he understood which portals were best.

With a quick swipe of his hand, he opened a portal and stepped in. It automatically closed.

The space he entered had many stars above and below him. It was hard to tell which direction was up until he saw a massive creature towering over him. Bigger than any house he had ever seen. He was about the size of one of its yellow eyes.

Its shiny, sky blue skin was exquisite. I wish I had a camera.

“A… human boy?” Its voice was girl-like.

“Yep, that’s me.” Sounds like a girl dragon.

“You dare to trespass in our domain?!”

“Oh, so you live here?”

“YES, WE RESIDE HERE! NOW, BEGONE!”

“In a while.” He wasn’t about to let all his preparations go to waste.

“UNFORGIVABLE INSOLENCE!” She opened her mouth and blew out a powerful beam of fire onto him.

Her fiery attack covered him entirely, erasing him from her sight.

When she shut her mouth and the flames died, he was drawing in his notebook with a pencil.

“Can you hold still?” He glanced up at her then back down to his notebook.

“You survived my celestial fire?!”

“Oh, is that what it’s called?” Interesting.

“YES, CELESTIAL FIRE OF ARGON! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?”

“Hmmm…” He thought for a bit. The fire she had blown had been purple, so he needed purple crayons. He groaned.

“What?!”

“I forgot to make crayons.” He frowned.

“HOW ARE THOSE ARTISTIC IMPLEMENTS RELEVANT TO YOUR CURRENT SITUATION?!”

“I’m trying to draw you.” He needed a workbench for his crafting. Maybe I could…

Their environment warped, and now they stood in a vast space, encircled by 12 more dragons. The space very much resembled outer space in his old world. There were infinite, distant stars everywhere. Up, down, left, and right.

“We have viewed the event that has just transpired and wish to be enlightened on the outcome,” the white dragon said from his left. Her voice was smooth.

By now, Elly had his workbench, sitting comfortably around it on a cushiony chair. Comfy chair, time to work!

“Indeed, we are puzzled,” the green dragon agreed from his left.

Crayons, crayons, crayons, crayons, crayons… He was playing with glowing pieces of pencil-shaped wood…

“Are you listening, boy?” the black dragon asked before him. His voice was ragged and deep.

He nodded, his eyes focused on his work.

“GIVE US YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION, HUMAN!” the black one stomped his foot and hissed.

“I’m busy here. You’ll have to wait.” He had a lot to draw—13 dragons and lots of stars around them. Though, he wasn’t sure he could manage all the stars. The pencil crayons were done. But he still had to complete their outlines with his pencil first, so he continued making his smooth contours for them.

“He is quite a presumptuous one.” The green dragon swayed his tail.

“Right! He has absolutely no respect for us guardians!” the white dragon said.

“Agreed,” the blue one replied.

“Agreed,” the black repeated. “WE SHOULD ANNIHILATE HIM!”

All 13 dragons opened their mouths. Inside their mouths glowed as they prepared their assault.

I really should get earplugs. Elly might make them later.