Hoggdin was glaring at me. Big baby, that’s barely a scratch. That fact did not make me any less dead if he lost it. Laying on the ground next to the castle was one of the spires, or more accurately, the rubble that was one. I cut one spire off when I was a baby, and they didn’t get too mad. Krahinn surveyed the mess as he began laughing uncontrollably. Lux and Luna were both looking at me disapprovingly; I definitely messed up in the duel. The idea worked, but I couldn’t dissipate the force of his attack. I would’ve been gone for nearly a minute in a team fight without even guaranteeing one of the opposing side being defeated. As I stood there, Hoggdin looked utterly incensed as his gaze was focused solely on me. He began radiating waves of as his control was slipping. Hoggdin began growing in size as his anger made his control lessen. Why was he so mad? The scratch on his arm was barely more than a line in his scales. Krahinn only began laughing harder; his mood seemed to improve drastically now that I was thinking about it. What should be my biggest concern currently? Hoggdin was starting to be the same height as the castle; probably the angry dragon. Definitely the infuriated dragon.

I think you angered him, Nil. Luna pointed out sarcastically.

The idea definitely did not translate well into reality. I’m sorry. I apologized as Luna and Lux were chuckling.

I could feel Hoggdin’s sole focus on me as his wrath permeated from every pore. At this point, my family had arrived and saw an increasingly furious Hoggdin, Krahinn laughing, Ipnerslei trying to calm Hoggdin, and the spire on the ground. My head was pounding from forcefully refilling my which was not surprising; it was a lot of exertion for one attack. A simple dodge into redirecting the force and I was barely able to do it. And they said Hoggdin is in no shape to rematch the Void King. Just how powerful was the Void King? I felt like I was making progress, but it felt so insignificant in regard to how far I had to go. I took a deep breath; one step at a time. Focus on the short term, not the near endless mountain I still had to climb. My reward for that attack was only getting greater as Hoggdin seemed to glare harder and harder. His terrifying presence lasted a solid fifty-two seconds so far.

“What happened? Why did you cut off a spire?” Mom hissed at Krahinn.

“It was all Nil!” Krahinn answered as he kept laughing.

“Why is Hoggdin so mad?” Papa checked, clearly not a fan of seeing Hoggdin’s barely controlled temper.

“Nil scratched him! Nil actually scratched Hoggdin!” Krahinn laughed, sounding like he was struggling to breathe. His laughter was likely only fuel on the fire.

“Can you stop laughing Krahinn?” Ipnerslei requested as she was looking nervously at Hoggdin.

“Can you imagine, the ruler of Phestia, the Scourge of Night, and the Epitome of Might Hoggdin was scratched by a seven-year-old?! He’s going to have to live with that shame for the rest of his life!” Krahinn retorted, laughing even harder. What were the chances I was about to get flattened by a massive dragon? The scratch was already healed. Why did it matter that I barely scratched him?

It was nice knowing you. Lux told me mentally, giving me a minor salute.

Hoggdin made the world jump as he let out a massive roar that shook my soul. His roar lasted an entire twelve seconds. My family was looking less than thrilled as he began inhaling, causing gusts of wind to tear through the area with trees were billowing from the sheer force of his breath. Hoggdin took a massive, nineteen second breath. I am so doomed if he attacks. Krahinn might save me, if he stopped laughing in time. Hoggdin faced the sky, letting out a jet of blueish flames in a massive exhale as he began shrinking again. He took a few more composing breaths as I was wiping sweat off my brow. I let out a massive sigh of relief once he was back to his starting size, as did my family. My informed me I needed to brace for impact. In a flash, Hoggdin was in front of me and launched me into the sky with a punch. Now that’s just petty. I’d take it though, as he clearly controlled his strength to not turn me into a fine mist. About eighty-five seconds later, I was back on the ground, seeing my family relaxed. is cool, I can get launched as high as a mountain top and fall back unscathed. My head was still killing me from the exertion but I felt a lot better now that Hoggdin wasn't looking murderous. Krahinn had stopped laughing and was standing there with a massive shiza eating grin on his face.

“Hogg~din. Hogg~din.” Krahinn sang with devilish glee in his eyes.

“I forget you admitted I was right, and you forget what you just saw.” Hoggdin offered him, looking furious still.

“Hmmmmm. Admit I was right, and I’ll bump Nil’s age up a century.” Krahinn countered. Hoggdin was staring at him.

Ipnerslei, is scratching Hoggdin that impressive? I asked her as the two continued haggling.

I have absolutely no idea how you pulled that off; you have no idea what you just accomplished. To rub salt in the wound, you did it by accident. Granted, Hoggin fueled the attack against himself, but to keep it together and not shatter your bones is still quite impressive. Ipnerslei praised me.

“It was a nick, not a gaping flesh wound!” Hoggdin growled at Krahinn.

“Not when I tell this story if you don’t agree to my terms.” Krahinn shot back, smiling like he won the lottery.

How close was I to getting pancaked by Hoggdin? I inquired as the two kept bickering. My family was surveying the damage and now missing spire. Uncle Nox and Dad were chuckling.

He was more mad at himself for letting that happen. You caught him completely off guard when you pivoted his force back at him like that. You might have completely sucker punched him when he was holding back, but you still managed to scratch him. Ipnerslei clarified as she did a few calming gestures towards Hoggdin.

You make it sound like a bad thing. I grumbled. Ipnerslei chuckled.

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I want it to be clear the result was something quite impressive, but what led to it was being underestimated and catching him off guard. Ipnerslei comforted me.

“You are a jerk Krahinn.” Hoggdin growled as my family walked over to me.

“Would you please be so kind to explain what happened?” Mom requested with a forced smile that sent chills down my spine.

“We were doing the three versus two duel, and I redirected Hoggdin’s attack back at him. It launched me after as I couldn’t dissipate the force, and I didn’t want to keep spinning.” I informed her while Luna and Lux were chuckling.

“Fine, it was a training accident. If you keep getting pointers from Krahinn, the tests better be in secure training areas, not an open courtyard.” Dad lectured while jabbing his finger in the air at me. That's quite fair.

“Yes sir.” I agreed. My family seemed to stop caring. Thank the Lords. I was worried they were going to hit the roof when I chopped a spire off the castle. Thankfully, it was more sighs and shrugs than anything.

“You managed to scratch the dragon.” Papa cooed, patting me on my back.

“More of redirected his force back at him through my sword, which was coated with an that got projected from me exerting my to make sure it connected.” I explained. My lips were definitely twitching now that Hoggdin didn’t look ready to kill me. I sat down as my head was pulsing and my body was still not happy about the maneuver.

“Do we need to stay to make sure nothing happens?” Dad asked Ipnerslei. Orga was talking to Uncle Nez about something, looking a bit stunned.

“It’s fine if you want to leave. Hoggdin did agree to allow us to stay with him in Phestia.” Ipnerslei informed my family.

“We would still like to discuss the matter a little more. We do think the contract between Lux and Nil should be rewritten regardless.” Mom told Ipnerslei politely.

“I understand, I was just wanting to inform you the opportunity is lined up if you want to.” Ipnerslei replied with the light around her taking this oddly soft property. I do wonder if the light around her is how to tell her mood. I was pretty sure, but didn't want to ask.

“I would like to discuss the matter with Hoggdin directly if that is not too much of an ask. Hearing the insights of such an ancient and powerful I feel would be helpful information.” Mama stated.

“That is perfectly fine. We just need to wait for those two to stop being children.” Ipnerslei answered, sighing as she saw Krahinn and Hoggdin haggling still.

“Want to try and interfere again, Nil?” Luna teased me in a whisper. I gave her some side eye.

“I have learned my lesson.” I replied. I wanted to put my head in her lap again. My head is going to hurt for another thirty or so minutes. We all turned to see the two of them bickering. I leaned against Luna, who just smiled as she adjusted so it was more comfortable. Luna felt warm and nice.

“Krahinn, for the love of the Lords, can you please be reasonable?” Hoggdin sighed, with his growing frustration being apparent.

“Someone wanted me to grovel to ask for a favor you would’ve readily said yes to!” Krahinn snapped. Note to self, if I ever wanted Krahinn to apologize, it had better be worth whatever it was.

“We’re even now, can you please just drop it?” Hoggdin roared. Ipnerslei’s head tilted as she clearly told him something mentally.

“Fine. I guess I can drop it for now.” Krahinn agreed. Krahinn didn’t seem irritated, so I wonder what Ipnerslei said or offered.

“Now, Hoggdin, Nil’s family would like your insight on Lux as well as discuss the matter with you.” Ipnerslei informed them. Luna reached and stroked one of my horns a bit.

“I just want to be perfectly clear, the two teaching her will be Ipnerslei and Orga. I will be providing a place to stay to sleep and minor, and I mean minor, insight on being a .” Hoggdin stated immediately. I was curious with his hatred of the Void King why he would limit his help like that. Or is he not allowed to for some reason connected to being the ruler of Phestia?

“We understand; your willingness to host and provide a better training environment is greatly appreciated. I was more curious as to how you would currently evaluate Lux, as well as how Lux’s training in Phestia would work.” Mama replied. Hoggdin paused as he formulated his response.

“Quite reasonable. Lux has a few issues that stand out immediately. The largest is she is not fighting enough for a . It is painfully obvious that she has spent most if not her entire life around non which has stunted her growth as far as some and traits associated with are concerned. That being said, her knowledge and base are quite advanced for her age. This issue also bleeds into the fact she lacks good experience, which while she is young, if you want her to reach somewhere like my level of strength, she needs to start building some immediately. The next issue is she is not as in shape as she should be; her overall muscle is not developed sufficiently. If I were to guess, she likes to nap and be a bit lazy when she’s not training and fighting. Given Lux is a , her natural athleticism and abilities have masked that fact so far. Regardless, she needs to stress her muscles and body more. The last point of note is her and body is quite developed for her age, but she has no idea how to properly use them. That last part I do not mind providing insight on as I do not see how Ipnerslei or Orga I believe would know that information. Any questions or points you want me to elaborate on?” Hoggdin explained. Lux looked irritated at what he was saying. It was hard to blame her as he was being quite blunt. I think it's for the best though.

“Have these issues caused any lasting harm?” Papa checked as my family looked a bit guilty.

“No. You more trained what most would ignore until they are much older. The only reason they are issues is you have a limited time frame and a truly monstrous opponent. The approaches going forward need to be as efficient as possible while not overworking her. With that, she needs to work out and fight much more to even her out. are not like other beings, we need to develop all the different facets more evenly.” Hoggdin answered. It was interesting hearing his explanations. I rubbed my head against Luna a little. It's not fair how good that feels.

“Thank you for your explanations on the subject. Could you please explain how the training would work?” Mama told Hoggdin. Hoggdin looked at Lux for a moment before facing my family again.

“I would recommend she works out a bit to start as she needs more muscle and endurance. Then she would start by fighting her age. Definitely not some of the more premier her age just so she can get used to it before fighting a fairer opponent. I’d let her stay at my cave for the duration of the stay, and I’d provide food and a place to sleep where the three would not need to worry about being attacked as they sleep. She should learn those eventually, but those skills are nowhere near as important as building up her strength given what the end goal is. She would have lessons mostly in the morning and evening and spend the time between fighting, most likely for the day to day. Also, I’d make sure nothing too far outside her abilities fights her or the victors don’t try anything funny. Extremely unlikely to happen, but some of the young ones get hot blooded and stupid so they might need a reminder.” Hoggdin lectured. It sounded simple, but I imagined it was a lot more than it sounded like. Luna reached up and caressed my face a bit.

“Thank you Hoggdin. We would like to discuss this a little more before giving our answer.” Papa said with a polite bow.

“No worries. I imagine whether she goes or not, her schedule is about to have a lot of exercise in it.” Hoggdin replied with a chuckle. I feel a lot of things are about to change. I leaned more on Luna. I know things need to change, but there are some things that I really don't want to.