"The ghost looked the same as you can see there. Just a little more though."

Saying that, the other party then pointed upwards. Which Alec followed suit, looking directly overhead. There, he saw a large, reptilian creature hurtling towards them, its form shifting between being transparent and opaque.

As it got closer he was able to see it's form was less stable beyond it's face and neck, resembling flickering flames in the shape of wings on its back.

Blankly staring at it, Alec did not hesitate for a moment before creating a hole beneath his feet. By parting the ground with the help of Invocation, he had become much more adept at using it through simple, direct physical contact. Having used this power through his feet countless times to control the sail boat.

Right as he was about to fall into the ground and getaway, he got stopped due to being held by his collar. The person right next to him who just foiled his escape then spoke.

"Don't worry. It just wants to play."

Saying that, he set Alec on the ground, who quickly stood on his feet. Then, watching the millennia-old individual take flight, quickly heading towards what he had been told was Alec knew might literally be the ghost of a Dead dragon. Despite being so distant, their collision created a weak shockwave, blowing a lot of ash and dust away.

Some of it flew near his eyes, making him close them momentarily. During which the Dragon skull wearing person had long pierced through the ghostly figure. Claiming both the spear that was in the centre of it's chest, and his Dragon slayer title in front of Alec.

The ghostly figure then lost it's solid shape and disappeared into the gem like blade of the spear. With that the Dragon skull wearing individual landed back on the ground and continued speaking from where he left off.

"Back then, I lacked both the strength to resist its pull and the calm to ease my nerves in order to stop clutching at that bone. This led to me being swung around like a broken puppet while the Dragon's ghost carved open its own chest with the tail bone, doing so until it revealed the heart in the center of its torso. Upon sinking its ghostly teeth into the heart, it pulled it out and then disappeared inside it, which compressed into the gem like you have seen-oh look, it's about to be afternoon already."

Looking up, he could see the sun having climbed directly overhead, as the statement concluded. Then, Alec's new teacher spoke once more before turning away and walking ahead.

"You should wash up now, I'll clean this up meanwhile. Next we would head to the city, you would need a better change of clothes. We have some royalty to meet after all."

Wiping his face, Alec noticed a layer of ash and dust on his fingertips. Following the advice, he went to the riverside to clean himself up. As he cleared all the grime from his face and some on his clothes, he heard the noise of strong winds followed by a few other, louder sounds.

This did not make him hurry the process, as he cleaned until it was to his satisfaction. Upon returning to the ground around the sparring area, he found it fixed and looking much the same as before, except for the empty space where trees were uprooted. The very same ones that Alec had launched earlier.

Approaching the first Dragon slayer, Alec noticed a large quantity of green-brown seeds in his hands. He then divided the seeds in half, giving one portion to Alec before proceeding to plant each seed in the hollowed ground and filling the holes.

Following his lead Alec did the same, and by the twenty-minute mark they were finished planting them. Right as they were done the Dragon slayer held his spear and got up before saying.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"This mountain used to be quite barren before I planted all these trees here. It shows how much little habits can accumulate over a significant period of time. Let's move on."

Having said that, he then began to walk at an accelerating rapid pace. Which Alec followed as it slowly transitiond from walking, to jogging, and finally a full-pace run. Struggling to keep up at a certain point, Alec then loosened the rope tied to his waist.

Making a loop, he threw it at a tree branch and pulled his weight onto it, allowing him to swing on the rope while using the power of Invocation. Using it to swing from one tree to another, he was able to keep pace with the millennia-old individual until they reached the descent. There, he surpassed the older being in distance, and just as he was about to look back to check on him, he heard.

"Your control over rope is great. What plans do you have for improving it?"

The Dragon slayer said while flying right next to him. This made Alec momentarily flinch as he had to actively control the rope and not make himself fall.

"Well, I was thinking of either learning to use it on a bow to launch arrows or turn into a staff. The former is easy, but the latter I only have the basics in."

After hearing that, the other party then began to slow down and plummet before saying.

"Let's stop here for a moment. Show me how you intend to use it as those weapons."

To which Alec then made a swing back and forth, instead of switching between tree branches as he had previously done. Throughout this, he extended the rope even more, instead of shortening it and pulling himself up like he earlier did. This killed quite a lot of momentum, as well as shortened the height between him and the ground.

At a safe distance, he jumped down and landed. Then he recalled the rope back, but instead of tying it to his waist he bundled more than half of it into a C-shape and said.

"Rigid."

With the verbal Invocation it went stiff, next he pulled out a single string that connected both ends of the 'C'. Thus, successfully shaping it into a bow. Carefully examining it the Dragon slayer then put his hand forward, to which Alec carefully handed him the bow.

"You skipped a couple of steps here, and it's lacking in flexibility at many parts. Though it's only your first or second time making it, isn't it? Show me the staff."

Gesturing with his hand, Alec first made the rope lose it's shape, then withdraw it towards him. Though he was unsuccessful at it, since the Dragon skull-wearing individual in front of him did not let it go and spoke.

"Try to use the rope that you got from the Lantern for this instead."

The rope then no longer moved within the Dragon Slayer's grasp. With Alec changing focus to the intricate rope he had kept on his side, he straightened it out. First, he extended it from both sides, understanding the roughness and the elasticity which this rope possessed. For his power to work better, he had to keep an understanding of the medium he wished to influence.

Done with that, he finally exclaimed.

"Rigid!"

Through the aid of the Invocation, it became no different than a short polearm made out of rope in appearance. Observing this, the person in front of Alec said.

"Now as your teacher my first lesson to you is this, maintain that rope in this form throughout the whole day. Oh, also have this."

Returning Alec his rope and alongside it another item, that was his embroidered cape like shawl. After that the Dragon skull-wearing individual continued speaking.

"This will help you pass through the gate. Just act indifferent to the guards. But don't harm them too much. They are just people doing their jobs, after all. You can wear it."

Holding the cloth in front of himself, Alec took a careful look at the embroidery on it. It showed a mountain with smoke coming from the top. After looking at it for a moment, Alec wore it behind his back. As soon as he did that, he felt a push behind his back as all the trees in front of his peripheral vision quickly passed him by until he saw a giant wall which he rapidly got closer to.

Right then, as he felt the force pushing him slow down slightly, it changed the angle and made him fly through the air. Clenching his teeth, Alec maneuvered through the air, noticing the area he was about to land on. Unlike the many times he dived into the sea, the same could not be done here.

In order to solve this problem, he took help from the very object he held in hand. Positioning himself in a throwing stance, Alec carefully focused on the ground which was getting closer. As soon as he was about to slam into it, he threw the item in his hand.

Doing so slowed him down enough to not break his legs, as he had fed his momentum to the rope staff.

Which had crashed on the ground heavily, as Alec landed there right after thus picked it up. Amidst the the small cloud of dust that had been generated.

Hearing some noise coming from ahead, Alec saw two individuals in fully adorned armor coming his way. Taking vigilance, he prepared for the worst, but that turned out to be naught as both of them gave a bow while lowering their torse. Their armor, although heavy, seemed to put no issue for them, which made Alec curious. Before he could inquire, he heard one of them say.

"Greetings, lord. May we know which faction do you hail from?"

A difficult problem at first, Alec quickly realized the solution to it as he turned around and let them see the embroidery on the cape on his back. That both clearly recognized, as one of them even muttered under his breath.

"The Royal crest-"

The guard who had spoken first poked his colleague's arm with his elbow, as they moved to Alec's either side and walked behind him, maintaining a gap of two steps in between. Accompanying him in a manner similar to how knights would do their lord.

The purpose behind which Alec understood as he saw a long queue of people and various carts that were coming from either side of the road. All of which he was able to skip by as the guards led him directly to the big entrance gates. Where they first entered the observatory tower next to the well instead of heading inside.