Chapter 58: Draconic lightning magic
Felix Sythias’ POV:
I looked up as Alex came in wearing a huge smile, which only widened further and further when he saw me. I gestured for the plate opposite of me and put some of my food on it—I hadn’t planned on him eating with me, but I had made some extra just in case. He sat down and quickly took a bite.
“This is really good,” he said. “Hi, by the way. How was your afternoon?”
We talked about our afternoons while we ate. He told me about the interview and Viggi’s ‘stepmother’, and I told him about how I told Tiki about my lack of a System. I also showed him the mana-reader.
“Wow, that’s pretty. It looks good on you. The color of the crystals reminds me of the forest.”
I shot him a grin. “Thanks. I like it, too.”
After showing it off, I explained to him how it worked so he knew what the lights meant. Who knew, maybe it would prove useful in a fight some time. Which, now that I thought of it, this armband might not be the best for fighting with sapients. It would just be a giveaway that I was low on mana. Then again, I doubted I’d be in a serious fight with a person any time soon.
All throughout dinner, Alex had trouble sitting still. He kept shifting around and looking to the side. Every time he did so, his eyes would glaze over as if reading something. And I thought I knew what—his new Skill. The one that, according to him, had something to do with me. How a Skill could have something to do with me—especially since I didn’t have a System of my own—was beyond me, though.
I was kind of the same while we ate. I couldn’t wait for Alex to finally explain what it was all about. I wasn’t going to ask, however. He had promised to tell me, sure, but I didn’t want to come across as rude and impatient. He’d tell me when he’d want to.
It was damned difficult not to ask him about it, though.
I was about to take the dirty plates to the kitchen when he finally brought the topic up.
“Is now a good time to tell you about my new Skill?” he asked. “I can wait until after you’ve cleaned the plates if you want.”
“No!” I yelled, then instantly regretted yelling. I shook my head. “Sorry, I mean now is as good a time as any. And just so you know, this room is entirely sound proof to voices. It’s why you only hear the wind and the trees, but not any of the hundred other people nearby. So no one will be able to overhear you.”
“Oh, that’s both comforting to know and disturbing. What if I injure myself? Would no one hear my cries for help?”
“An automated alert goes out to the healers whenever the enchantments detect a major injury or disease, so you don’t need to worry about that. But, uh, we can talk about this later. If you want.”
He nodded. “That sounds good.”
“So,” I said, really drawing out the ‘o’, “you unlocked a new Skill, and said it had something to do with me. What makes you think that?”
“I think that it’s easiest to explain with the Skill’s name,” he said. “The Skill is called [Draconic lightning magic].”
I blinked, a little confused. “I see. I definitely understand what you mean, now. But why did you get a Skill with my species name as a prefix?”
“Because you helped me get it. At least, that’s what the System says.” He took out a notebook from his bag. “Here, read this. I drew the description down.”
I took the notebook from him and looked down at the open page. On it was a simple copy of the System window with the description of the Skill.
> [Skill Description Beginning]
>
> Name: Draconic lightning magic
>
> Type: Magic
>
> Subtype: Combat/Utility
>
> Affinity: Lightning
>
> Cost: Variable
>
> Description:
>
> Lightning magic is a simple and mighty form of magic. It is great for both combat and utility, but difficult to control. Most people learn it from their parents or perhaps even a master, but you went above and beyond and learned this Skill from Felix Sythias, the last living Dragon. As such, this Skill is greatly enhanced!
>
> This Skill helps you to create, control, and use mana with a lightning Affinity. Control, strength, and efficiency will increase with every Skill level and the effect scales with the Spiritual Attribute. Also, while this Skill is used, there’s a slight bonus to the effect of the Spiritual Attribute.
>
> As you were significantly and willingly helped with unlocking this Skill by an adult dragon that you are physically and emotionally close to—and thus qualifying as a companion—this Skill receives the prefix of ‘draconic’. This massively boosts the Skill’s power, control, and efficiency, as well as boosting the effect gained by leveling. Also, while the Skill is used, there is a slight boost to the effect of the Physical Attribute. This prefix and accompanying effects are permanent until the Skill is removed.
>
> This Skill has an increased effect on your Path choices.
>
> [Skill Description End]
I read through it, then again, and again. It mentioned me by name in the flavor text. Skills rarely mentioned people! But that wasn’t important. That next bit… the last living dragon…
I guess I always knew I was alone. The last one left. But there had been the slight hope in the back of my soul that it wasn’t true, that there were others out there. But the System didn’t lie. It couldn’t lie.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. It didn’t really change anything, so I might as well not think about it. Though it did bring back unwanted questions. Like, if I was truly the last one, then where had my egg come from? It was a question I’d had before and had never been able to give a satisfying answer, and probably never would be able to. I took the question and put it back behind the wall where it belonged, with the rest of the unpleasant questions surrounding my hatching.
With effort, I tore my eyes away from my name and back up to the Skill’s name. Draconic lightning magic. Alex’s Skill had a prefix. That was rare. Skills didn’t usually gain a prefix right after unlocking it. That happened after years of use in specific ways.
For example, if someone set fire to a building using a fireball, that would almost certainly show up in the flavor text of the related Skill. But if they set enough buildings on fire, their Skill might get the ‘arsonist’ prefix. Or a hunter that mostly set traps might get the ‘trapper’ prefix after a few years.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
But to have one right after unlocking the skill…
I looked back up at Alex. He was looking at me with anticipation. “This is a really good Skill, Alex.”
He rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously. But what do you think of it?”
“I think that I’m confused. Why did you gain this prefix? Sure, I helped you unlock the Skill, but professor Hobold did most of the teaching.”
Alex scratched the back of his neck. “That’s, uh, not entirely true. Yes, he taught me the basics and the theory, but I learned how to do it from you. From the way you described how things felt, what you did and tried and what didn’t work. I paid attention to everything you told me. It helped me a lot more than listening to professor Hobold did.”
“Oh. If I’d known you were paying attention so closely, I would’ve explained more.”
He shook his head. “No, it was good this way. Enough for me to grasp what I had to do while still allowing me to figure it out by myself.”
“It also explains why none of your other Skills… actually, none of your other Skills have this prefix, right?” He shook his head. “Anyway, I didn’t help you all that much with the other Skills you have, so it makes sense that this is the only one you have the prefix for.”
“You helped with [Mana manipulation], though.”
I shrugged. “Maybe not enough?”
We sat in silence for a while, thinking. Would we be able to replicate this effect? I doubted I could get it to work with anyone else, because ‘physically and emotionally close’ only described two people, dad and Alex. And aside from the fact that dad was a super high level, he already had all his Skills.
So that left the question, could I help Alex get this prefix onto any of his other Skills?
“I know this is a bit of a rude question, but what other Skills do you have?” I asked him. “If I know anything about them, I might be able to help you get the prefix for them, too.”
He waved his hand. “It’s fine. I think we’re close enough for me to share my status.”
He waited for a moment, just looking at me, then facepalmed. “Right,” he said, “you have no System so I can’t share it. Give me a moment, I’ll draw it out.”
He grabbed his notebook back and drew his System status out. He very specifically didn’t write it, but he drew it. Odd. A few moments later, he handed it back to me. I didn’t look down at it yet.
“Are you sure? I won’t be mad or otherwise upset if you change your mind, you know.”
He rolled his eyes again. “Yes, I’m sure. I trust you.”
I averted my eyes and smiled, a warm feeling spreading through my chest. “I trust you, too,” I said.
“Come on, then. Read the thing.”
I looked down at the page and read the System Status.
> [System Status Beginning]
>
> Name: Alex Sandclaw
>
> Species: Lizardkin
>
> Species subtype: Red-eyed Crocodile Skink
>
> Level: 7
>
> Mana pool: 110/110 (full)
>
> Attributes:
>
> Physical: 14
>
> Mental: 10
>
> Spiritual: 11
>
> Path one: Locked
>
> Path two: Locked
>
> Path three: Locked
>
> General Skills:
>
> [Temperature resistance]: 5
>
> [Blunt force resistance]: 9
>
> [Drawing]: 13
>
> [Mana manipulation]: 7
>
> [Draconic lightning magic]: 2
>
> [Empty]
>
> [System Status End]
“Oh! So that’s why you drew this instead of writing it. I’d forgotten you liked drawing.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said, “I haven’t had the time to do much of it lately, though. There was always another book to read, or some homework to do. I can show you some of my drawings later if you want?”
I nodded. “I’d love that.”
He smiled, and I knew I’d said the right thing. Then I looked back at the page and read through his Skills again.
“Didn’t you say you had [Internal heating]?” I asked. “What happened to it?”
He started grinning like a madman. “You remember when we went swimming last weekend, and I complained about how cold the water was? Well, enduring through that let me unlock [Cold resistance], which I could then combine with [Internal heating] to get [Temperature resistance]. It protects me from all kinds of temperatures while also keeping me nice and warm. I hope to combine it with [Blunt force resistance] at some point, though I’m not yet sure how I would do that.”
An idea started forming in my mind and it was now my turn to start grinning like a madman. “I think I do. And I think I can get you the ‘draconic’ prefix for it while we’re at it.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
“It’s quite simple, really. You just need an intermediary Skill. One I can help you with getting. Maybe some kind of magic resistance. We’ll need to think about it some more. Oh! We can probably ask for help during the excursion. If what I have in mind works, we might need a healer close-by.”
“That’s… ominous,” he said.
“It’ll be fine,” I said, though Alex looked unconvinced.
I looked back down at the page. “As for your other Skills, I’m not sure I can help. I know little to nothing about drawing, and if my help with [Mana manipulation] so far hasn’t been enough, I’m not sure I can help you more with that. We can try, though, if you want. I’m sure there’s still a trick or two I can teach you.”
He grinned. “That sounds like a great idea! Can we do it tomorrow, though? I’m exhausted. I kind of just want to…” He looked down and scratched the scales behind his ears. “Well, I kind of want to just snuggle up and draw for a while.”
I tilted my head ever so slightly and gave him my warmest smile. “I think that can be arranged. Let me just clean these plates real quick and make us some tea while you go grab your drawing supplies.”
I took the plates from the table and washed them in the kitchen before putting them away again. I made us some tea and grabbed us some jerky to snack on, then went back to our room. Alex was sitting at the table, flipping through a notebook I hadn’t seen before.
That reminded me of something I still had to do.
I walked over to the table and tore out the pages with the system messages drawn on them, and with a small surge of fire mana, let the pages burn to ash, then used some wind magic to scatter the ash all around the room and out one of the windows. No one was recreating that page, not even the strongest mage.
Alex just raised an eye-ridge at me. “Now this will stay private,” I said, and he nodded.
I put the tea down and we snuggled up. Alex showed me his drawings and I had to admit they were really good. He had tons of them, from breathtaking depictions of dunes, to beautiful flowers. He even had a few drawings of me. He was a little embarrassed about those, but also very proud. And he should be, considering how good they were. I made sure he understood that fact, which had him squirming in embarrassment. There was no hiding the smile on his face, though.
After that, he started doodling a new drawing. While he did that, I opened up a book and started reading. The book wasn’t very interesting, so my eyes kept wandering over to Alex’s drawings. At some point I just put the book down and watched him draw. The attention made him a little shy, but he kept going regardless.
The drawing was very sweet. He was drawing us two watching the clouds from the river. A scene from last Saturday. One of the clouds he drew had a heart shape to it. It was adorable, and I really wanted to hang it on the wall when it was done, so my heart could soar every time I walked past it.a
As I watched Alex fill in the shadows of the heart-shaped cloud, I wondered if he could feel my heart thumping against his spine the same way I could feel his. From the dopey smile on his face, I was pretty sure the answer was yes.