The Dracomancer

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: THE LESSER DRAGON

    The next day in strategy, Serena taught Lana that a wise leader was a leader who was able to keep his or her people satisfied to be part of the nation the leader ruled. Usually, this was done by making sure the people had everything they needed and some of the things they wanted. She asked her if she knew the difference, and when Lana gave her a positive response, she seemed happy to know that she wouldn’t have to waste time explaining. She stated that a wise leader would have to listen to his or her people in order to do so, but Lana had already deduced that.
    Before starting the lesson in attack spells, Alex told her that she was a dormant Goddess of Magic. This worried her at first, but when he told her that it wasn’t powerful enough to corrupt her, she was both relieved and excited. However, she would still save her hidden power as a last resort. Alex had probably done the same with the Dragon God. She still didn’t know what it was, but she had an idea. She asked him if the Dragon God had been powerful enough to corrupt him, and when he said yes, she was amazed that he hadn’t been corrupted. He then told her that he was the most powerful of the gods, but she was the least powerful. That explained why he could have been corrupted, but her inner goddess wouldn’t do that to her. She asked him what would have happened if he had been corrupted by the Dragon God and was surprised, grateful and amazed when he said that it would have used him to destroy every world in existence. She gained the highest level of respect for him that she had had with anyone.
    Alex taught her an ice spell, which froze the practice dummy solid. Alex seemed surprised that her ice spell was so powerful, but he quickly recovered and thawed the practice dummy with a controlled fire spell. Perhaps his ice spell wasn’t nearly this powerful. That would explain his surprise.
    In defensive spells, Alex taught her an evasion spell, then went into Monarch Dragon form while Lana used the evasion spell in human form. Alex then spat three fire blasts at her, which she dodged easily. He seemed unsurprised, but glad that it had worked out that way.
    Afterwards, Alex taught her the invisibility and enemy detection spells that he had learned from Serena, then gave her a break before shape shifting. In shape shifting, Alex taught her the Lesser Dragon form and when she mastered it, he told her that she was done with her shape shifting lessons as well. She heard him mutter something about telling Serena and some sort of further training that Lana didn’t quite catch. Lana couldn’t help but laugh internally. For some reason, he didn’t seem impressed by it.
    In healing and resurrection, Alex took Lana to see Felicia again and taught her how to revive using compassion. She realized that he would be bringing her to Felicia for assignments, but he would teach her the spells. This meant that unofficially, she had two teachers in this. For now, at least. Felicia assigned her to revive a fawn, which Alex seemed to almost recognize. He looked at Felicia in askance and she whispered something in his ear that sounded suspiciously like offspring. Alex looked like he found out that Felicia had been pregnant only after she gave birth, which led Lana to believe that they knew one of the parents of this fawn. It took a little more effort to revive the fawn than it had to heal the boar, but it was still fairly simple.
    After Lana's lesson in healing and resurrection, she was approached by Jaden. She wondered why he had come to see her. She soon found out.
    "So I hear you're even more like your cousin than we thought. Not only is there a prophecy about you, you are also a dormant goddess," Jaden started.
    "Yes, but from what Alex told me, the Goddess of Magic is far less powerful than the Dragon God. He told me that the Dragon God could have easily used him to destroy every world in existence, so the fact that it didn’t amazes me. He mentioned the Dragon God once before, but I had no idea that he was in control of an entity that could have used him to destroy everything. It really makes me wonder how he’s able to control it," Lana said.
    "I wonder at that myself, sometimes, but I know what triggered him to wake it. The second time Felicia was killed really angered him. I’m sure that if you were to ask him how he gained control over it, he would tell you. I was wanting to ask, but I just can’t seem to make the time. Despite being the King of the dragons and the most powerful god, he’s still one of the least corrupt and most down-to-earth persons I know. I see a lot of that in you, as well," Jaden told her.
    "How about I ask him now, and I’ll tell you," Lana offered.
    "That sounds alright. I wish you luck, though I doubt you’ll need it."
    "Thanks."
    Lana approached Alex when he was finished speaking with Felicia and she could tell that he had been making wedding plans with her. She would have to congratulate him on that, but she would wait until they actually announced it. For now, she would discuss something else with him.
    "Hey, Alex. Just out of curiosity, how did you gain control over the Dragon God?" She started.
    "To be honest, when it woke, it was just as angry as I was. It cried out to wreak vengeance and havoc upon the demons for killing Felicia. I reached an agreement with it that I would let it do that as long as it didn’t use me to kill my friends. I didn’t want them dying by my hand and somehow, it understood and accepted that," he answered.
    "Wow. That pleasantly surprises me. It could have easily refused that and used you to destroy everything anyways."
    "Yeah, but I don’t think it’s completely evil. If the host has good cause for waking it, it will work with the host to achieve the host’s goal."
    "That is something else, cousin. I hope that when my inner goddess awakens, it will not be from anger."
    "Anger might be what you need to wake her. It was what I needed to wake the Dragon God. Either way, you’ll be able to control her. I’m looking forward to it, myself," Alex stated.
    "We’ll see what comes of it. Until then, all we can do is wait," Lana said truthfully.
    "Indeed," Alex affirmed.
    Lana went back to Jaden and relayed what Alex had told her. The look on his face was one of complete amazement, and his reply and tone of voice echoed it. He obviously hadn’t considered the possibility that the Dragon God wasn’t completely evil.
    "On a different note, I’ve noticed that Alex has also changed me for the better. I was totally paranoid until he showed up and promised to help me avenge my brother, who was murdered by a human whom I had thought could be trusted. My brother was just an infant, and Alex dealt a suitable punishment to my former friend for it. He burned his soul," Jaden continued.
    "Alex told me about that. I didn’t know that it was your little brother that he avenged, though," Lana replied.
    "Oh, yes. I’m glad that he did it. My former friend deserved a death as painful as the soul-burning was for what he did. Anyone who murders a child or infant does."
    "How painful was it?"
    "Judging by the fact that he screamed in agony and all that was left of him afterwards was a dead husk, I’d say it transforms the person’s guilt into physical pain multiplied to the thousandth exponent while burning their soul. You could probably ask Alex, though."
    "I trust you on your theory, with how powerful the Dragon God seems to be. However, that certainly seems more than a little harsh, though I guess that someone who murders an innocent deserves something that harsh."
    "He definitely deserved it. I would have been happy with any punishment that was excruciatingly painful, but when I found out that Alex would be able to control the Dragon God, I researched all of the Dragon God’s abilities, and when I read about the soul-burning, I began to hope that Alex would use that on the traitor. However, I seem to have forgot most of its abilities. The only other ability I know it has is the ability to fly between worlds in less time than normal. I don’t know exactly how fast it can fly, but I watched Alex take off in that form and he broke the sound barrier, then seemed to vanish from sight before he was outside the atmosphere. I still don’t know how that’s possible, with how big the Dragon God is, but you might want to ask him about that," Jaden said.
    "Based on what you just described, it sounds to me like Alex can fly faster than the speed of light in that form. I know a bit about faster-than-light travel, but I didn’t think it was possible until now. The Dragon God seems almost too powerful, but if Alex is in control of it, it’s in the right hands," Lana replied.
    "I didn’t think faster-than-light travel was possible either, but if your theory is correct, angering Alex would be a terrible mistake. The demons were very unwise for doing so; both times," Jaden said with a mixture of fear and justification.
    "What makes you think that?" Lana asked.
    "The book that listed all of the Dragon God’s abilities was over five hundred pages long, with two to three abilities listed on each page. That’s why I forgot most of them," was Jaden’s answer.
    "Whoa! I’m beginning to understand why it’s the most powerful god. It is too powerful, but I guess Alex probably won’t use all of the Dragon God’s abilities. Nevertheless, he’ll probably want to know some of those abilities and how to use them," Lana responded.
    "Are you suggesting that I introduce him to the book? If so, I have it with me, which is rather convenient," Jaden said.
    "That would certainly be a good idea. If I know him, he’ll want to know as many of those abilities as he can learn. On a different note, will I have a longer life span now that I know the Lesser Dragon form?"
    "With the Drake form, you would have a slightly longer lifespan than the average human, or so I’ve heard. However, with the Lesser Dragon form and all of the higher level forms, you would be immortal, meaning that you would live forever."
    "Good to know. I take it Alex knows this as well?"
    "If he does, it wasn’t me who told him. However, he definitely knows that he’s immortal now, with being the Dragon God."
    "True. The Dragon God is probably the hardest being to kill, too."
    "Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it, I remember reading that the Dragon God’s armor is completely invulnerable on worlds that don’t inhibit magic. On worlds where magic is inhibited or limited, he is still vulnerable to the weapons of those worlds."
    "That’s why Felicia didn’t heal his arm when we were on my home world! Magic is limited there."
    "I didn’t know that, but that would make sense. From what I understand, his magical energies didn’t fully manifest until Artemis taught him a fire spell. Has he taught you that spell yet?"
    "Yes, but the fire came out blue. From what I’ve deduced, that was one of the signs indicating that I am a dormant Goddess of Magic, but honestly, I don’t think it really matters what color my fire spell comes out with, as long as my dormant goddess won’t corrupt me."
    "I understand your reasoning, but that means that your fire spell is also extremely hot. Believe it or not, when it comes to fire and stars, the colder colors are actually hotter than the warm colors," Jaden stated.
    "I know that. I learned that in school. Schools are institutions for education on my home world, by the way," Lana replied.
    "I guessed that schools were institutions for education based on the context, but I didn’t know that you already learned what I told you. I guess I didn’t really have to explain it, then, but I can’t change that now. Going back to what we were talking about before, your fire spell is extremely hot, and that’s saying something. From what Artemis told me, Alex’s first use of the fire spell produced a fire so hot that she felt the heat, and her skin is largely heat-resistant. Apparently, he then told her that he felt like he could have done that several more times, but a spell that powerful would drain most people. As it turns out, he figured out that rage fuels attack spells all on his own," Jaden responded.
    "I wish I could say the same about myself. Thankfully, though, Artemis told me that bit about rage fueling attack spells. In total honesty, Jaden, I get the feeling that in spite of your specialty in defensive spells, you would still do rather well with attack spells," Lana told him.
    "Rage is completely different from stubbornness, and I tend to be more stubborn than angry. Anger is Artemis’ style. I respect her. She has an important role in battle, but my role in battle is equally important. She deals the damage, I protect others with shielding spells and the likes. Alex’s shields are stronger than mine, but my shields still have quite a bit of strength. I usually prefer shielding myself and others over evasion spells, but in a one-on-one sword fight, the evasion spell is extremely useful. Has Alex taught you the force field spell yet?" Jaden continued.
    "Not yet. So far, I’ve only learned the basic shield and the evasion spell,” Lana answered. “Are there any more he can teach me after the force field spell?" She then inquired.
    "No. He graduated after I taught him the force field spell. I only ever learned the basic shield, evasion spell, and force field myself. I figured that once I knew those three, I wouldn’t need to learn any more defensive spells, but I’ve heard that there is a blocking spell that is demon magic. I personally didn’t want to learn demon magic, which was also partially why I quit my lessons when I did. However, Queen Alexstrasza herself trained me in swordplay. She offered to train Felicia, but Felicia turned down the opportunity. As you know, Alex offered the same thing, but she turned it down again. He would have been a better teacher in swordplay than Alexstrasza because he bested the Demon King, who turned out to have been his father in a past life, whereas Alexstrasza failed to do the same. However, the Demon King somehow cheated in that duel and Alex ended up on a crucifix. He got out of it when he lost it and woke the Dragon God," Jaden said.
    "Alex’s father was my uncle, and he died in a war before Alex was born, which was before I was conceived. I find it a little difficult to believe that the Demon King was my uncle in a past life, but I guess anything is possible. The universe holds more secrets than a person can learn in one lifetime, and some of those secrets are best kept secret," Lana responded.
    "Indeed. It was the Demon King who told Alex how he could get back to your home world. He also told Alex to go back and deliver a message to Alex’s mother. Alex went back the next day after the coronation ceremony in which he was named High King and King of the dragons and the following celebratory feast."
    "Wow! Alex told me that he was a king, but he didn’t tell me that he was the High King. I wonder why…"
    "He’s modest. It’s only natural for him to leave that bit out. He doesn’t like bragging. However, telling you that he was the High King would have been acceptable, even for him."
    "Exactly! Sometimes he’s too modest."
    "My thoughts exactly. Anyhow, do you want to go to the lake for another date?" Jaden asked.
    "How about we go somewhere else this time? I like variety," Lana replied.
    "Okay. How about somewhere within Naldrsholl? I know a few secret rooms. A lot of them have beautiful paintings and other artwork," Jaden suggested.
    "That sounds good to me. Lead the way," Lana responded.