Chapter 11
I was practicing magic, focusing on improving my storm magic. By now, I had mastered the low tiers of air, lightning, and water. Nimbra, who had also been training with me since she awoke as a young dragon, had become quite adept with air and water. She stood at 415 cm, and we often spent time together practicing on the beach.
“To progress with water, you need to feel its flow,” I explained, shaping a sphere of water between my claws. “Let the calm coldness wash over you, always changing yet remaining fluid.”
"Okay," Nimbra responded, trying to manipulate the water. I watched her attempt, while I continued summoning storm clouds. Only a few dark, silky clouds formed overhead, with a faint drizzle of rain.
“Well, at least that’s some progress,” I thought, preparing to continue my efforts. Suddenly, I was interrupted by my brother Vaelrath running towards us, shouting excitedly.
“Brother Azuron, the eggs have hatched!” he yelled, skidding to a stop in the sand.
Nimbra and I both turned to him. “How many true dragons are there in the clutch?” Nimbra asked curiously.
“Three true dragons—two males and one female,” Vaelrath responded with a smile.
“Oh, that’s good,” I said. “Can you take us to see them?”
“No,” Nimbra cut in before Vaelrath could respond. “Your mother wouldn’t allow us. She likes for the hatchlings to remain undisturbed unless it’s by their caretakers.”
I nodded. “That makes sense.”
With the green dragons hatched, another six months passed. My training had progressed significantly—I had mastered tiers 1 through 5 in lightning magic and was nearing mastery of tier 6. I also mastered tiers 1 through 3 in-ground magic, tiers 1 and 2 in water and air, and I managed to grasp some basic storm magic. Nimbra had made similar progress: she mastered tiers 1 through 4 in lightning, tiers 1 and 2 in-ground, and the first tier in both water and air. She wanted to learn storm magic, too, after I explained its potential, but she often had duties caring for the hatchlings, a responsibility given to younglings like her.
Xytherion occasionally joined us, eager to learn air magic, which he believed would complement his quick combat style. He was close to his young dragon sleep, and while he wasn’t as focused on magic as I was, he made steady progress.
Today was an important day—the green dragons had awoken from their dragon sleep and were finally exploring the outside world. Many younger dragons had gathered near their cave, including my siblings. It was exciting, none of us had seen another type of dragon before.
“What do you think they’ll look like?” Vaelrath asked excitedly. “What will their personalities be? What do they eat?”
“They’ll be green, obviously,” Zatherion replied dryly. “They’re probably smart and laid back, and they’ll like Forest Game for food. Why are you so excited anyway?”
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“Because we finally get to interact with different dragons!” Vaelrath exclaimed.
“Who cares?” our sister Zalyndre scoffed. “They’re going to be the weakest in the clan.”
Vaelrath was about to respond when an adolescent dragon led the green wyrmlings out of their cave. They were small, about 175 cm, though one of the males might have been a bit larger.
“Move along, don’t bother them,” the adolescent male growled. “You can pester them after I finish supervising their first hunt.”
With that, we stepped aside and let them head into the forest. “Let’s go back to practicing magic, Nimbra,” I said.
“Yes, let’s. I was on the verge of a breakthrough when your brother interrupted me for something pointless,” she muttered, shooting Vaelrath a glare. He gulped nervously, and we went back to our training.
After a few hours, Vaelrath returned, this time with the three green dragons in tow. I couldn’t help but smile—my brother was always so chatty. "Maybe he's secretly a brass dragon," I mused.
“Brother Azuron, Nimbra, these are Jorveth, Grenthy, and Emerith,” Vaelrath said, introducing them one by one.
I took a good look at the greens. Jorveth, the slightly larger male, was a typical green dragon—confident and observant, with a sharp intelligence that was characteristic of his kind. Grenthy, the smaller male, seemed nervous, sticking close to his brother. I could sense a stronger magical aura around him, suggesting he had significant magical potential. Emerith, the female, appeared proud and was basking in the attention, a slight smirk on her face.
“Hello,” I greeted them in basic Draconic. Dragons inherit the knowledge of various languages, including common ones like Draconic, Elvish, and Dwarvish. But each type of dragon has its specific dialect, like red Draconic or blue Draconic, passed down through dragon memory. Most people spoke common even the monster races such as orcs gnolls and trolls had one member of their tribe who knew it usually the shamans.
“So, you’re Vaelrath’s brother?” Jorveth said, glancing at me. “He hasn’t stopped talking about you.”
Grenthy chimed in, “You’re a variant dragon, right? That’s rare—only one in a million dragons have positive variants that don’t cripple them.”
He was right. Dragon variants weren’t that uncommon, but most dragons with a variant were crippled by it. Only a select few were blessed with positive traits, like me. I nodded thoughtfully.
After a brief conversation, the greens wandered off. This routine continued for a while—me practicing magic with Nimbra, sometimes Xytherion joining in, and Vaelrath constantly chatting with the greens. My siblings were all striving to improve their magic as well. Vaelrath had progressed to tier 5 in lightning and tier 2 in the ground, far beyond the average for his age. and would show up constantly asking him to teach him. He wanted to surpass me even tho Zarothan kept saying he never would because I was a Variant and it was simply natural but he never gave up. Zalyndre, ever competitive, would sometimes challenge me, both in magic and physical prowess. I found myself becoming somewhat of a mentor to the younger dragons in our clan, teaching them about magic. Even my oh-so-pessimistic Brother Zarothan eventually showed up to my lessons.
Three years passed in this cycle of training, learning, and teaching. My bond with Nimbra and the other dragons of the clan grew stronger, and my mastery over magic deepened. I had fallen in love with the art of magic—its ability to create, destroy, and transform the world around us fascinated me. I wanted to master all the elements, even the most challenging ones like time, space, light, and darkness. Plus I also learned I loved teaching it. Showing what magic could do and the awes I would get when I did it I wanted to show everyone what magic truly was capable of even other races such as humans.
Finally, the time came for my dragon sleep. As I prepared for this next stage of my life, I felt ready to emerge stronger and more knowledgeable, ready to explore even deeper into the mysteries of magic and the vast world around me.