[Kliss Eliza Cessna]

Strange though it was, Dante’s gift of a Phylactery book filled with esoteric Earth knowledge of radiation… made me feel warm inside. Not simply warm, as in appreciating a gift from a friend, but warm on a physical level. The longer I held onto the magic book, the more it felt like it was something that I craved.

I refused to let go of the book, even as Delta pushed me into the shower. The artefact felt like a little warm kitten in my hands, a spark around which my life-current flowed, encircling it like a river.

I felt that I was somehow warming from within due to the book in my hands, as if it was an ever-burning ember. It was the strangest sensation ever, one that I didn’t previously possess as a human.

My ruby claws dug into the Phylactery on their own accord as I closed my eyes, experiencing a strange flood of positive, if somewhat alien emotions. Was I falling in love… with a book?

“Ey! Are you licking the book?” Delta asked, interrupting my thought skyship.

“No… pffrrth…” I blushed furiously as I noticed that I was gnawing on the edge of the book. “Fine. I am. I think that I need to though? Sorry, I can’t seem to stop. It feels… right.”

“Carry on then,” she commented. “Be glad that Slava made that book waterproof.”

As I proceeded to nibble on the book, I felt greater and greater connection to it… until I bit its corner with my sharp chompers. With a twang-like snap of invisible something my mana suddenly rushed into the artefact and out of it through my mouth.

It felt sublime, like an entirely new flavour that wasn’t sweet or sour.

[+1 Hoard Item: Phylactery book of a transient Virologist.]

The Soul-Song resonated across my body with flashing blue sparks that manifested into a framed manuscript floating in front of me.

“Whoa,” I breathed out.

“What?” Delta asked.

“I… have a hoard!” I replied. “The Soul-Song says that I’ve made the book my first hoard item!”

“Eek!” I heard Delta yelp. I turned my head and saw her jump sideways away from me.

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“You’re drooling sparks!” Slava’s sister declared, silver-blue eyes wide.

“I am?” I blinked. I turned to the mirror. There were indeed brilliant, orange sparks falling from my mouth.

“Oi, close your mouth, don’t burn our tower plz,” Delta waved a towel at me.

I did. The sparks ceased.

There was a definite, solid connection between myself and the book in my claws now. I stared in mild bewilderment at my companion.

The sparks that landed on the floor slowly dimmed.

“Hrmm, thankfully you’re still too low level as a dragon to do permanent damage to our bathroom,” Delta commented.

“I… can make dragonfire,” I said.

“Yep, yep, congrats and all that,” Delta nodded. “Please point it away from us if you figure out how to properly breathe fire from your mouth.”

“Wait, what? I don’t want to breathe dragonfire from my mouth!” I blanched. “That sounds awful!”

“Dragons breathe fire,” Delta shrugged as she pulled a white top and dress on. “That’s just life. Accept your dragon self.”

I huffed angrily, pulling on my corset. When I was done with the dress, I shoved the book into a leather purse on my side. At least I didn’t have to brush my hair anymore, having crystal-braids made that action unnecessary.

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[Dante Alan Skyisle / Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski]

I watched as Kliss spun in her dress, ruby hair sparkling in the sunlight. She seemed a lot more content and energetic this morning. A big smile was sitting on her face when we reached the edge of town, emerging from the spring-fern covered forest.

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“So?” I asked.

“Thank you for the book,” she said.

“Did it help with the hoarding urge?”

“It did,” Kliss nodded. A soft smile crossed her face. “Having it feels like… I’m whole again, like an empty, chafing hole in my chest is finally filled!”

“Great,” I said. “That’s what I thought. There’s clearly a connection between the claimed hoard artifacts and the dragon’s power.”

“She made dragonfire sparks,” Delta revealed. “Also she gnawed on your science journal with pointy canines. There’s probably a hole in it now.”

The smile slid off the dragon-girl’s face as she sent my sister a glare.

“That’s fine,” I said. “I expected something like this to happen. I’ve made the book as an experiment to test magic on in the future. The single soul shard in it isn’t very big.”

“Is my mouth making cursed flames now?” Kliss asked me with a look of concern. “Is that how dragons work? Am I going to spit fire now when I get angry or something?”

“Mmmm… no,” I said, smiling softly.

“What?” Delta looked at me. “But I saw her spit sparks. She has dragon glands or whatever now, right?”

“No she does not,” I shook my head. “Kliss isn’t a dragon, she’s half-human.”

“Explain,” Delta demanded.

“Yeah, explain please,” Kliss said.

“Dragonfire is a specific type of magic manifested through hoarding,” I said. “Since the Phylactery I gave you has a piece of my soul in it, I can track the exact flow of magic involved. By biting the book, you’ve created an anchor in it.”

“It feels like it’s mine now,” Kliss nodded.

“Indeed,” I said. “The artefact now acts sort of like a magnet, gradually building up a cloud of positively-charged magic around it. Theoretically, the bigger your hoard gets, the more dragonfire you’ll be able to produce.”

“I see,” Kliss said.

“Furthermore,” I added. “While artefacts act as dragonfire-amplifiers, we still seem to be missing the crystalline dust that has the permanent [Death] spell hanging on it.”

“Do we really want that?” Delta asked. “What if she burns down our tower with fire that can’t be put out?”

I rolled my eyes at my twin.

“Do you feel like you require something else?” I asked Kliss.

“Something… shiny,” Kliss nodded. “I still want… gold!”

“Hang on,” I dug into my backpack. In another minute I handed Kliss a small sliver of gold. “Chew this!”

“Mmmm-kay,” the dragon-girl grabbed the gold sliver and slid it into her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. “Feels… weirdly…. Uhhhmmm… tasty? Yeah, I think that’s it. Now I’m definitely content.”

“Just as I thought,” I nodded. “Okay, stop chewing the gold and rub it between your fingers.

Kliss squinted at me. She pulled the piece of gold out of her mouth and rubbed it between her pointing finger and thumb. The gold hissed, crystallising into her orange skin.

“Here we go!” I said, observing the process through my array of Infoscopes pointed at Kliss. “The gold is converted into crystalline dust upon contact with your saliva and sweat. The dust is sticking to you, acting akin to… a protective layer!”

“Uh-huh,” Kliss eyed the crystalline, sparkling, yellow-orange layer of crystals fused to her fingers. “A protective layer for what?”

“To manifest magic,” I said. “It’s a natural magical amplifier, one connected directly to your dragonheart.”

“The key to dragon magic?” Delta interjected.

“Essentially,” I said, looking at Kliss. “If you cover your hands in more of this crystalline dust it will act as a focus tool.”

“Hrmmm,” Kliss pursed her lips looking at her sparkling fingers.

“Dragons don’t really use hands,” I said. “But people do. Dragonfire is made with pure positively-charged magic utilizing the same crystalline layer formed inside the dragon's mouth, not some kind of a combustible chemical. If there is enough of this crystalline material on your hands you should be able to push magic through your hands to set stuff on fire.”

“Hah, I can manifest dragonfire gloves?” Kliss blinked, slitted eyes looking from her fingers to my face.

“Not just dragonfire,” I said. “This is positively-charged, unaligned magic. You’re not a dragon, you’re a… chimera. As such you should be able to cast all sorts of spells through your fingers.”

“Damn,” Kliss exhaled. “Amplified magic without an armacus!”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Dragons don’t need armaci to cast weather manipulation spells. They’re simply coated in crystalline powder aligned to them. See, we’ve figured out how and why hoarding functions. Go team!”

“Well now I’m jelly,” Delta said as she high-fived me. “Hey Slava, can you make me into a chimera too?”

I squinted at my sister.

“Your soul is almost entirely aligned to negatively-charged Astral Phantom magic,” I said. “Even if I can find another dragon like Aradria and knock them out successfully… the chances of you being properly turned into a chimera like Kliss are very low.”

“Lame,” Delta huffed. “Here I thought that you could do anything! Guess I’ll never know the joy of having a dragonheart injected into my veins!”

“I can do lots of things,” I crossed my arms. “But I never claimed to be a god. And I’m not going to inject dragon parts into your veins, that’s far too dangerous. The magical incompatibility could tear apart your soul.”

“Fine fine,” Delta rolled her eyes. “Just make me a small glider as consolation.”

“That I can do,” I nodded. “I’ll make a glider for all three of us. Kliss will be our dragonheart engine.”

“How?” Kliss asked. “As far as I’m aware gliders require a dead dragon to work?”

“Yes. We’re not cutting you open for this,” I smirked. “Your positively-charged magic can help produce the necessary lift. We’ll just need lots more gold to convert into crystals. Lots and lots of gold. A small winged glider coated in crystalline dust should theoretically work if you push gravity magic through it. Anything coated in the crystalline materia you produce will act as a magical amplifier.”

“Theoretically?” Delta asked.

“Dragons can fly,” I said. “Kliss doesn’t have wings, but she should be able to channel gravity magic without issues as long as I teach her the necessary spell.”

“Okki,” my twin nodded. “So… how much gold are we talking about?”

“The more the better,” I said.

“We’re finally going fishing?” Delta grinned.

“Yep,” I smiled.