[Rawr! Rawr!]
"Wait! You're not supposed to take off so soon!"
[Rawr? Rawr!]
I quickly catch the baby dragon before he hits the ground. I look at him and let out a sigh upon seeing no signs of bruises around his body. I know the [Hidden Quest] said it will fail if his [HP] goes down below 50%. But seeing him almost crash onto the ground gave me a heart attack. Is this how Wind felt when he was looking out for me as my [Guardian Player]? Now I feel bad about letting them run around fighting because of me.
Still, I can't blame everything on the dragon. Looking closely at him, he kind of reminds me of me. He's very eager to see the world around him and he's not afraid to take risks to learn something new. If Wind were here right now, he might get freaked out that there's a dragon version of me. But that's another thing I like about this dragon. We discover a lot and we learn a lot.
However, the real issue right now is how this dragon can fly. I've tried teaching him to flap his wings properly, and teaching him how to glide. There must be something missing from our flying lesson. I wish I could read more about [Sapphire Dragons] at the library. But I can't leave this forest unless I want to let Bai-Hu down.
[Rawr?]
I look at the dragon again, looking at me with his puppy dog eyes. I'm also sad that I failed to teach him to fly. But what can I do? I'm also new at teaching. Maybe I'm overthinking like Wind now because I want to see him fly.
GRUMBLE... GRUMBLE...
That was not me. I already ate Wind's cooked rabbit earlier.
[Rawr...]
I look down and see the dragon while rubbing his tummy.
"Are you hungry? I have some rabbit meat and [Mana Potions] if you like." I took out the said items from my inventory and offered them to the dragon. "The meat is supposed to be for my brother to cook. But he wouldn't mind a lump of missing meat."
Honestly, I don't know what [Sapphire Dragons] eat since Bai Hu didn't tell me anything about his species. But I know from my fantasy novel knowledge that dragons eat meat or stones made of mana. Although I don't know if he likes...
[Rawr! Rawr! Rawr!]
Before I knew it, the baby dragon started munching on the raw meat and drinking the [Mana Potion] from the bowl. He looks happy when he enjoys both of them, so I guess I'm worried for nothing.
[Grrr...]
I narrow my eyes as soon as I hear that growl. I know that's not the dragon this time. I pick up my staff and step forward in front of the dragon.
"Stay here, little guy. If you go off on your own, I might not be able to protect you."
To my relief, the dragon obeys as he continues eating the rabbit meat. I turn my eyes at the rustling bushes next and narrow them as I see some monsters emerging from them.
Two [Dire Wolves] slowly approach us with their eyes aiming at the dragon. Looks like they were attracted by the scent of the meat and by the looks in their eyes, they're not the type to share. Too bad they're about to mess with the wrong mage!
"Aura of arcana, hear my call. Aid me to create a barrier to protect my allies from harm! [Mana Shield]!"
I swing my staff to throw a small shield before the wolves try to pounce on us. It's not much, but I'm not letting them lay their dirty claws on the dragon!
"Spirit of Sylph, I call the gale to my growing aura and allow me to manipulate the air all around me! [Wind Sickle]!"
With another swing, I throw the spell at one of the [Dire Wolves].
[CRITICAL!]
To my shock, the sickle cuts through its neck. I can't see it clearly due to the settings Wind added after we logged in after the expansion release, but I'm shocked to see my [Wind Sickle] managed to cut its head off, unlike the other few times I've used it. Honestly, I'm glad he kept it in because I don't want to see a headless wolf with blood especially when it's not described in text like in some novels in the Seraph series.
[GRAAAAAWR!!!]
Right, the other wolf. I should take care of it before it breaks through the shield.
"Spirits that dwell the earth, heed my call! Lend me your power to manipulate the stones around me! [Stone Barrage]!"
I throw the stones from my spell at the remaining [Dire Wolf] just as it could break the [Mana Shield]. Unlike my [Wind Sickle], it's not enough to kill it immediately. But that's not the only trick I can do!
"Energy waving around the elements around me. Gather to me and create the force against my enemies! [Mana Blast]!"
I fire the spell at the wolf and quickly step back as I wait for the cooldown between spells to end. It only takes five seconds before I can cast another spell other than [Mana Blast], so this gives me enough time to assume my position and the chance for the wolf to charge right straight to me.
"Mana that aids me, create a blade that is sharp enough to defeat my enemies!" I raise my staff and let an energy blade emerge from the tip of it. "[Arcana Blade]!"
With the blade now resembling a bit of a spear, I thrust the energy blade from my staff and stabbed its chest once it got closer. I haven't seen the critical hit notification again, but I see the wolf flailing around until it howled and went limp as soon as its [HP] went down to 0.
[You have defeated the [Dire Wolves].]
I quickly collapse once that window is up. The battle was short, but I almost panicked when I saw those wolves appear out of nowhere. I turn around and see the dragon almost finished with the meat. At least he's safe for now. Still, will more monsters appear just like those wolves? And how long until Bai Hu gets back from his negotiations? I'm okay with the sudden encounters for extra items and [Lapi]. But it's not like my [Masteries] will level up just by battling them and it would be boring if I keep using [Wind], [Arcana], and [Earth] if I want to avoid another forest fire.
Hang on a second... [Wind] spells...
If I recall, we're not limited to casting spells in battle. That's what some of the forum posts said, right? So maybe I don't have to rely on old-fashioned methods to teach him to fly. If I do this right, then this is a chance for him to fly with his dragon friends!
"Hey!" I call out to the dragon. "I want to do something different. Can you wait for a while until I prepare some stuff?"
[Rawr?]
"Trust me. You will start getting the basics in no time."
First off, I need to set up the field. There's no way I can protect this place during the dragon's training, but I may be able to drive off some low-level monsters with the right combination of spells. I raise my staff and take a deep breath.
"Spirit of Sylph, hear our call. Trap our enemies into the gale of storms and imbue our weaponry with your blessings! [Tempest Blow]!"
I throw a large tornado around us. It's not enough to fly us away so easily, but in this situation, this is perfect for the dragon. He looks confused with his head tilt, but it will make sense to him soon.
"Do you remember our gliding lessons? How about you try it out in the tornado?" The baby [Sapphire Dragon] slowly skitters away. Honestly, I get his hesitation since he's going to be gliding through the tornado. But I make sure [Tempest Blow] is calm enough for him to try gliding without any issues. "Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, I will catch you. I promise."
I squat down to prepare myself to catch the dragon. Then, I notice him still hesitant to fly at first. But he looks at me again and narrows his eyes. To my surprise, he starts to run and when he jumps, he stretches out his wings and starts flapping them.
"Remember what I said. You don't need to flap your wings during take-off. Just stretch it out and let the breeze guide you."
The dragon seemed to follow my instructions as it stopped flapping his wings and kept them open for the breeze from the tornado to lift him. And to my shock, it seems to work as he not only keeps himself in the air a little longer than his previous attempts, but he manages to keep his balance without losing it. Honestly, I thought it might not work because I'd only learned it from cartoons and TV documentaries Dad watched. But I hadn't expected it to work.
[Rawr! Rawr!]
"Yeah! Keep it up, little guy! You can do it!"
I watch, hoping he can stay in the air for a bit longer. That is, until he starts losing his balance from his wings again. As soon as I see this, I charge in and catch him once more. Once again, he doesn't hit the ground before I catch him, so that's another close call.
[Rawr...] The dragon winced.
"Hey, don't be disappointed. You did great! I'm not sure you can glide through the [Tempest Blow] tornado. But you proved me wrong and stayed in the air for much longer than your previous attempts. If you keep this up, you will be able to fly with your dragon friends sooner than later."
[Rawr! Rawr!]
I'm glad that's enough to make him happy again. I stroke his back as a small reward for his efforts until I see a new window popping up.
[NOTICE]
[You have made significant progress in your [Hidden Quest].]
Awesome! It's not much, but I managed to turn things around. I'm excited about how will he grow up after he gets back to his family. Still, if he leaves, does he mean he won't come back to the <Tested Wilds>? It's frustrating to think about it and I'm starting to get attached to the little guy. On the other hand, it just meant that I had to throw away my hard work for my selfish desire. If Wind was here right now, he might tell me what to do in this situation.
[Rawr?]
Right. This tornado won't stay forever, so I should not waste time helping the dragon. Besides, I haven't heard from Wind in the DMs lately. Maybe he's busy training his [Familiar] on his end. I shouldn't disturb him, so I should focus on mine.
"Sorry about that. If you like, how about we'll try again?" I suggested. "Remember what I taught you and avoid flapping your wings for a while. Once you stay in the air for a while, then you're ready for the next part."
[Rawr!]
For the next hour, I continued his gliding lessons while casting more [Tempest Blow] spells once the current one expired. I don't know how much experience I will gain from repeating this spell outside of battle. But as Wind and Razul would say, "It's killing two birds with one stone," even if I don't like the saying itself. Besides, I'm only focused on helping the dragon to fly. It's a bit boring since I have to keep an eye on him while making sure he won't hurt himself. But it doesn't matter to me how boring it is. As long as the dragon is having fun, then I'm happy.
Heck, I've had so much fun teaching the dragon that I haven't realized how long Bai Hu was gone. I don't mind his long absence, but I am starting to wonder what's taking him so long.
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Current Quest: Guard the Young Sapphire Dragon! ***
Type: Urgent
Status: In Progress
Party Member(s):
[Kazu]
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Current Quest: [A Dragon Who Dreams of Flight] **
Type: Hidden
Status: In Progress
Progress: 75%
Party Member(s):
[Kazu]
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Kazu's Masteries
[Arcana] Level 21
[Thunder] Level 18
[Wind] Level 16
[Alchemy] Level 18
[Magecrafting] Level 17
[Magical Affinity] Level 20
[Scribe] Level 23
[Earth] Level 10
[Sign Creation] Level 1
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Thanks again to Christine Luu for supporting me on Patreon as a Sign Creator!