---POV: Arin---

It is morning already, with me stretching my stiff limbs from the long sleep.

I didn't understand what happened exactly and the influence it has on me, but I know that something is going on within me, and somehow, it scares me. I don't like having to fear this something within me, yet luckily, having Uncle Black, Mama Lumi, Luna and the others around reassures me.

And with that being said, this morning we all lead the royal family back to the flying ship, which I found out was called the 'Crystalliz'.

I am unsure what I should think of the name, but I will leave it as it is. Anyway, after we all made one last greeting, and yes, I hid my tails in front of the royal family, they all board the ship, with Cyan in the lead.

For whatever reason, Cyan appears to have a stronger aura, while his tattoos appear even more mysterious and meticulous than before. There are certain patters even I can't recognize. Though they look awesome, my dragon tattoo is still cooler.

On that point, Luna also changed, with her scales remaining golden, yet glittering like a rainbow, while she became stronger. She said that she is going through a transformation currently, so she sealed herself into the tattoo, disabling my ability to communicate with her.

Well, I wouldn't want to be annoyed when I am working on something important, so I will leave her alone for now.

That aside, the moment the royal family boards the ship, the prince still frantically tries to convince Alice to return with them, causing Alice to frown, while I nearly burst laughing at his awful gestures and antics.

After a few moment though, even me and Anna have enough, stepping in front of him while letting some pressure go.

Though, the prince at first looks mockingly at us, he shortly afterwards tucks his tail and runs towards the ship, surprising both me and Anna. On the other hand, I would only learn later that our pressure on the prince wasn't enough, so Uncle Black 'helped out' by releasing some of his own in the background.

With that done, while they kept ascending, everyone of us kept waving our hands in goodbye until they vanished behind the mountains.

Afterwards, everyone returned to the mansion while I and Sumi leave for school. Well, Anna and Alice also want to join, but due to the problem of them being recognized as high-human by others, they are forbidden from coming with us.

Luckily, when they learned that I am only in school in the morning, they dropped the matter to a certain degree, letting me finally go in peace. Especially Anna who kept holding me in her arms like a stuffed toy.

Well, school wasn't all that different from the other times, as today and this week the theme appears to be alchemy and use of mana in everyday live. The topics are actually interesting, with me filling my small book with a lot of notes.

On the other hand, the class itself seems to have calmed down after everything that happened, with Rune being fully accepted again. Meanwhile in break time, me and the other boys played football / soccer on the field in the back. To my surprise, soccer already existed here, though more like a steal the ball from others than shooting them into goals, but with some explaining, football also became quite popular with the dragons and foxes.

Well, some dragons cheated at first by using their wings to cover most of the goal, making it near impossible to pass through. Due to that, there is by now an unwritten rule on the field that dragons are permitted to be defense, but not in the goal.

And after the break and the second part of the lessons were over, me and Sumi returned to the mansion, where Sarek spoiled us a bit with delicious food made out of the phyria-fruit, a fruit reminding me of a mango, but with a purplish green color. Uncle Black also told me that the phyria-fruit actually helps in calming ones mana-flow, as he is worried about my well-being after the incident yesterday.

Well, it feels nice knowing that others are worried about me. So with a smile, I continue enjoying the fruit-cake made by Sarek, while the others appear to be enjoying it as well.

Well, I did learn something the painful way though. When all my ten tails are out, they easily begin twitching around when I am happy and / or exited, which can cause all kinds of problems. And no, I am not talking about Anna who then desperately tries to pet them, but the fact that they have high potential of throwing off stuff from the table. So, after a short reprimand from Saria, I fuse them into one, as I don't really want to go though this again.

Well, the rest of the lunchtime was great, and the others weren't mad about what happened, and were actually more amused and taken in than anything else. Well, Saria even suddenly ran towards me, removing the remaining cake around my mouth using a napkin, causing some of the girls to squeal for some reason.

Well anyway, Illois who also joined us on the table wore an amused smile the whole time while watching us, which actually made me curious, as until now, he mostly appeared sad or depressed if he wasn't thinking.

So, not able to hold back, I just call out to him.

“Hey Illois, your smile looks great.” (Arin)

I didn't think much while saying this, yet as I am honest with my opinion, I show him a smile on my own. Though to my surprise, the moment Illois hears my words, he directs a shocked expression at me, and then a questioning gaze at Uncle Black.

Uncle Black only nods towards him, before returning towards his food. I don't know what is happening, or why Illois is this shocked, yet seeing that somehow even tears start gathering within his eyes, I slowly look towards Uncle Black, seeking answers from him.

Though before I could receive an answer, I heard the aged but clear voice coming from Illois.

“Arin, thank you.” (Illois)

There are simple words, but the feeling they convey is amazing.

Well, happy that I could help, I return a smile to him, before once more enjoying the great cake laughing at me on my plate. Well, I am going to eat him soon, so I don't know if he really is laughing.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Meanwhile, would I have paid attention, I would have noticed that Illois returned to his usual stoic expression, while from time to time showing a slight grin, before looking up to the ceiling and muttering a few words under his breath. Well, he also returned to eating his cake shortly afterwards.

And so, with everyone having finishing their meal, we take a brake in the living-room, sitting on the couches while talking about what everyone planned to do in the afternoon.

Well, at least me, Sumi, Alice and Uncle Black were talking, as Anna kept hugging a few of my tails, holding them while nearly falling asleep on the couch next to me. Uncle Black and Alice laughed while Sumi appeared worried, though after a a bit of moving them, I escaped Anna's grasp, causing her to shoot up strait, searching my tails.

For fun, I even hit her on the head with one of them, making her frustrated as my tails are too fast for her to catch. Yet after several minutes, I got bored and asked Uncle Black if I am allowed to go into the mansion's workshop, working on some of the magic-circles and formations Lindo gave me on my birthday, as well as their connections and uses when working with golems.

Additionally, after I got permission from Uncle Black, Illois and Alice joined me as well, mostly as they are curious about the principal behind them.

When I ask Illois why he is interested, he told me that most golem-techniques are impossible to use for High-Humans, as one requires mana to inject into the circles and connect them with oneself.

Based on this, he wants to see if there is a special reaction when I use such magic, as I can use both mana and Magic-Power as a source.

With that being said, the three of us make our way into the workshop installed externally next to the main wing, leaving it hidden from the front but easily accessible.

Once arriving there, I first remove the wooden covers from the windows so that light can enter, while I remove the thin sheet of dust by carefully using wind-magic. Afterwards, I make my way towards the workbench that was installed for my size, as I can barely work on the normal ones. Well, I could stand on top of a chair, yet when working with magic and dangerous materials, this might no be the best idea, at least not since Uncle Black caught me doing so and reprimanded me for it.

As a precaution, I first check the the tools for damages, especially the ones connected to the magic-liquids, as using damaged tools can be dangerous to oneself and the surroundings. Meanwhile, while checking them using the method taught to me by Lindo, Alice and Illois take a look around, inspecting the various tools and materials strewn along the different shelves. It is then that Alice finds the small golem Lindo gave me when I first met him, making her curious.

“Arin, this small puppet with the stone, is this a golem?” (Alice)

I already explained to her what golems are on the way here, but seeing one for the first time is probably still weird to her. To her question, I only nod, which in turn leads to her starting to inject her Magic-Power into it.

Though unlike with mana, the stone can't hold the Magic-Power and starts glowing for a moment before dimming again after she quits adding more.

She seems downhearted, but still asks me to show her what it would normally do. So following her request, I begin injecting my own mana into it, yet unlike normally, I barely started injecting any before the crystal already glowed brightly and the eye-sockets lit up, meaning he is charged.

Could it be because of yesterday my mana has increased? No, quantity I can't tell due to my original massive amount, but maybe the strength of my mana?

I am unsure what to think of this, so I make a quick note in my mind to ask Uncle Black later for a mana-check. I believe he will use a mana stone again, just like the one that exploded the other day back in the depth of the Abryssal Canyon.

Though I am unsure if that stone is resilient enough when he already exploded last time, so is there maybe a stronger version?

With questions swirling within my mind, I already begin moving the golem, letting it do some basic movements to confirm that it works.

Due to the first sluggish movements, Alice starts to giggle, before watching the golem full of interest. Meanwhile, after Illois satisfied his own curiosity, he begun doing something on his own, so I quickly ask him if there is something like a superior Mana-stone. Luckily, after he thinks about it for a few moments, he gives me a positive answer.

“There is indeed, we call it the Divine-calculator. Don't ask me why it has that name, but it is said that if a dragon reaches divinity and becomes a divine dragon, they can use the Divine-calculator to analyze the extend of their power.” (Illois)

Hearing this, I have hope to learn about the truth, as I am honestly scared of what is to come, due to me being unable to grasp the full extend of my powers.

Anyway, after thanking Illois for the info and stopping the golem by disconnecting the mana-flow, I return to my workbench and finish my preparations. Though, the question is, what would be a good project? I really want to do something, and maybe even use some of the given new magic-circles, but I would have to read them through first.

Still, my last project, a small palm-sized flying bird-golem, which liked to crash by the way, was already finished last week, so I am currently thinking about what could be a good idea to make.

On this note, I suddenly remember that Alice and Illois can't use Golems due to missing Mana, so I think maybe I could try to create a golem system that works for High-Humans?

Well, Illois might have already tried, but I am still going to ask, as I want Alice and Anna also to be able to enjoy controlling Golems, because honestly, it is fun.

With that thought and a few ideas already forming within my mind, I approach Illois again to ask about my project idea.

To my surprise, Illois hadn't worked on something like that yet, as back in the days, High-Humans used Magic-Power only to power machines who already contained a program of sorts.

Maybe something like a robot, but with Magic-Power instead of electricity?

While holding some thoughts about the matter, Illois tells me about the things that were already tested in that direction, but nothing of the sort of golem-controlling had been done before. There were some experiments on creating mana-manifestations using Magic-Power instead, but it pretty much ended there, mostly due to the fact that only very few High-Humans still exist.

On the other hand, though the systems for the flying ships were made in cooperation with High-Humans and a lost dwarfen race, the High-Humans only took care of the Magic-Power converters for the powering mechanism, while also installing a system to control everything without requiring a mana-connection.

On that point, Illois and I already started to discuss the possibilities of this project, but it appears that the problem is the controlling part.

Theoretically, if a High-Human infused Magic-Power into a device which thickens it's constitution, mana would be made, as MP is something along the lines of the gas-form of mana. This way, it wouldn't be hard to charge a mana-crystal if the requirements are met.

Problem is, even if they could charge it, due to not having any mana within themselves, they would be unable to connect to the mana within the crystal.

And so, while still contemplating on my ideas and making one note or the other, Anna and Uncle Black enter the workshop, reminding us that two hours already passed and training is next on the plan.

Yet before we start anything, Saria brings out some snacks, which actually helps me as I am a bit exhausted from all the thinking. Well actually, the moment Illois left the workshop, he had a big grin on his face, with motivation practically oozing out of him. Uncle Black showed a short moment of surprise when he saw him like that, before returning a calm yet somehow interested smile at me.

Well, with that said, after the break, our daily training-regime started, with me practicing the use of the new sword I got from Scyrra for my birthday.

The practicing with the new sword is fun, while I also train my magic and Mana-control. Though due to the changes in my mana, it makes it hard to adjust to it, like when I tried making a handheld light, with the result being a light that tried to challenge the sun itself.

Well, all the accidents aside, like the flooded flower-garden, after training we all have a fulfilling and great dinner, allowing me to calm down again. And so, our group makes itself comfortable in the living-room after dinner, while Illois appears to have locked himself inside his room, with only the sound of paper shuffling around being heard.

Yet even in this relaxed atmosphere, due to my newfound strength, I feel a slight fear creep up within me, a fear of hurting those around me due to being unable to control my power. Maybe next time, I will damage more than just a few flowers...

While sinking into deep and negative thoughts, Uncle Black suddenly clasps me on my shoulder, returning me to reality.

“Don't worry little one, I will be here for you, no matter what happens, like anyone else here.” (Uncle Black)

He then directs a playful smile at me, while the others showed smiles of their own as well. Seeing that, I feel relieved and after a short sigh, I lean onto Uncle Black, who answers by beginning to pet my head.

And so, while feeling the gentle caress run through my hair, tickling me from time to time, I slowly close my tired eyes, falling asleep while enjoying the company of my important family.