Dragonlord

Ep 39. Do You Know My Name? (5)

“This way.”

Light led the group of three, navigating her way through the dark sewers with ease as the two dragons trailed behind her. Ilias was practically attached to the half girl’s back, rapidly glancing around to spot any incoming dangers.

Serenis was following from a little further behind, studying the sewer’s structure. This place was practically a maze as far as she could tell, but Light seemed to have no trouble finding her way deeper inwards.

“Light. You seem accustomed to this structure.”

“I…used to live here when I was a stray.”

“A stray?”

“…I’m a first gen half. I used to be a stray cat before.”

Serenis frowned at the answer as she recalled their earlier conversations. Light had described living with both her parents at home, and being the only daughter that they had. If she’d been born between a couple, it made no sense for her to ever have been a simple ‘cat’, much less a stray cat.

‘Was she not born a half? But then, her current mother and father are…’

Ilias spared a momentary glance towards Serenis, holding her index finger over her lips. The dragonlord nodded back, maintaining silence as she subdued her curiosity from being spoken out loud.

Fortunately, the situation at hand soon pressed for attention, drowning out the dragonlord’s curiosity about her peer. A low growling noise rumbled from ahead with trudging footsteps, soon revealing one of the wolf-like beasts they’d encountered earlier during the day.

As soon as foreigners were in sight, the beast threw itself towards Ilias and Light, twisted jaws wide open in anticipation.

“Yep, very unfriendly.”

Just as the beast’s fangs were about to crunch down on the dragon’s head, Ilias took a small step forward. She cupped her hand below and swung it upwards, clutching the creature’s lower jaw and closing its mouth as she held it midair by the chin. The dragon tightened her grip on the struggling beast as she turned to the two behind her.

“What now? Do I just knock him out until we find this doctor person?”

“Um…”

“Hold still for a moment.”

Serenis approached the suppressed beast and brushed her hand across the beast’s white scales, spotting a red encircled star mark on its neck.

‘…Low.’

A white light glowed at Serenis’ fingertips as she overwhelmed the engraved spell with her own mana, shattering it apart like thin glass. It was an amateur curse spell – one that even regular institute students could break. It was a spell that would only work against animals who had no resistance against magic.

Soon after, the beast’s struggling died down, as did its growling. It remained perfectly docile despite the rather rough handling it was receiving from the red dragon.

Once the curse was broken, Light cautiously approached Ilias, tugging on her jacket.

“Il…Ilias, I think you can put him down now.”

“Huh? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. He’s calmed down.”

Light turned to face the creature being held midair. Their eyes met, and she could see its tail wagging left and right in response.

“You’re not going to attack again, right?”

A whimpering noise could be heard from inside the beast’s closed mouth. Ilias slowly put the creature back down to the floor, letting go of its jaws.

“Careful, he’s still…”

As soon as the dragon let go of their mouth, the beast stuck out its tongue and began to pant in excitement of the unexpected reunion. He walked over to Light in slow steps, rubbing its deformed head against her.

“Rrghf.”

“I know, I know…I missed you too.”

Both dragons watched the two in confusion. Ilias soon leaned over to whisper into the dragonlord’s ear.

“Lord Serenis…do they teach you how to talk to animals at the institute?”

“No. But perhaps Light understands in a different manner.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“…How do you discern when your mother is angry?”

“Mom? I just look at her and I can tell…ohh ok, I get it.”

Serenis stepped forth, crouching down slightly as she examined the docile beast. Not a hint of malice could be felt anymore. It really was acting no different than a regular animal.

“Light, I recall you describing these beasts as simple animals. I can see why you would say that regarding its behavior, but I still find it hard to believe with their appearance.”

“That’s…”

Light choked on her words as she faced the dragonlord. Fear and doubt welled up in her throat as she struggled to find the words.

She couldn’t keep everything a secret forever – especially after bringing the two dragons so deep into the canals. Sooner or later they’d find out where the half girl was going, and it was probably better to say things earlier than late. But despite her level head’s advice, her lips refused to listen.

Then, Light felt a warm hand lightly tapping her back. Ilias was right behind her, grinning down at her little sister.

“It’s okay.”

“…”

Light’s eyes fell down to the beast beside her. Its slithering tongue was licking the half girl’s hand, trying to cheer up their old friend.

“That’s because they’re…experiments. The doctor had always tried to turn us into monsters.”

‘Us?’

Serenis studied the half girl’s anxious expression from the corner of her eyes. Judging from the last response, Light had been a part of these ‘experiments’ – just with a much different end result than her malformed friends.

‘But if she’s referring to these beasts as equals, then they too, are…’

The dragonlord placed her hand on the beast’s back. There was no need to hear the answer from Light; she’d find out what this beast really was anyways. Faint hints of magic spread from her hand and into the beast’s figure, shrouding it in a phantom-like glow.

‘Return. That body is not where you belong.’

Serenis’ heart thumped momentarily. The mana ailing the beast began to retreat through the dragonlord’s hand, coursing into her heart.

“Zion? What’re you…”

The light surrounding the creature slowly began to grow dimmer and dimmer. Its scales lost their hue, growing dry and brittle before eventually breaking into dust. Its numerous fangs retreated, and their bodies shrunk back to their original sizes. The wing-like flesh jutting from its back retreated into the body, disappearing without a trace.

The sight seemed nothing short of a miracle to the oblivious half girl; even Ilias couldn’t hide her surprise when the beast literally seemed to devolve before their eyes. The beast’s silhouette shrunk in the dimming light, eventually revealing a simple grey wolf.

“Wha…how did you do that?!”

Serenis retreated her hand from the wolf’s back, examining herself momentarily. It was a tiny speck, but the mana she’d collected was her own nonetheless – otherwise, it wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.

“This beast…no, this wolf was carrying my mana. I simply retrieved it.”

“Your mana? But…”

As Light trailed off her words once more in confused thoughts, Serenis scanned the half girl from head to toe.

Light was a half. According to what she’d said earlier, she’d been a regular animal before – a stray cat. This beast also turned out to be a regular animal, which Light had somehow been aware of all along.

- ‘Mana evolution requires three distinct conditions to be met by the mana in question. First, the consumed mana must reach the animal’s heart; second, it must be extremely concentrated; and finally, it must match the animal’s affinities and wavelength.’

Serenis began to recall the details of mana evolution from their previous lectures: of how an animal could evolve into a half under the right conditions. The instructor had made it sound like a natural phenomenon, but nowhere did she say it couldn’t be facilitated by human will.

‘…Affinities and wavelength must match.’

The dragonlord’s attention remained fixated on the half girl who was staring back with a mix of fear and embarrassment. If these beasts were indeed her equals, and they’d gone through similar procedures under this doctor figure, there was only one reasonable conclusion to draw.

“Light. Are these beasts…halves?”

“…”

No verbal response came from Light. Instead, the half girl slowly sunk her head in a nodding gesture , her gaze anxiously dropping to the floor.

“But how? As far as I can tell, you yourself are a perfectly proper half. This wolf was nothing of the sort.”

“I’m…an accident. From years ago.”

“…”

A countless trial-and-error approach that sought replications of initial success. Many experiments took this course, and sought incremental progress as better assets and methods would become available; initial successes were often celebrated, then carefully studied for replication and improvement. Of course, prototypes were never celebrated forever.

Eventually, even a roaring success becomes obsolete in time.