Chapter 7
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-Eeek!
A Giant Forest Boar squirmed helplessly in the old man's vice-like grip. Despite being almost four times the old man's size, it was still lifted into the air with ease and choked to death. The old man skewered the Giant Forest Boar on his lance before carrying it over his shoulder like a bundle of clothes.
Draylen was now immune to the overwhelming strength of the old man and thus this feat didn't even influence his expression. The two trudged back along the way they came, along with the baby dragon Charcoal which jumped in and out of bushes with a silly grin on it's face. It had a slender body, with smooth smoky scales and a pair of small wings on it's back.
The walk back was quiet as Draylen had no questions which he really wanted to ask, he was mainly looking forward to learning how to inscribe spell circles the next day.
'My path as a summoner truly begins now!' He thought, taking a deep breath of fresh air.
"Charcoal!" He said loudly, beckoning to his little dragon.
Charcoal perked it's head up at it's master's call and loped towards him.
-Rarr
It brushed against Draylen's legs before skilfully climbing up to his shoulders and sitting like a scarf. The old man, Horatio, glanced at the two, amused by their interactions.
Soon, they returned to the cave and ate dinner. They had collected several Forest Wolves, for Charcoal, and one Giant Forest Boar for them selves. Considering the size and weight of the boar, it would be enough to sustain them for several days.
They roasted the monsters over magic induced flames before the old man summoned Karonar as a large great sword and used him like a butcher's knife, cleaving off entire chunks of Giant Forest Boar flesh and placing them onto platters.
Charcoal sat on Draylen's thigh, drooling at the sight of roasting Forest Wolf meat. It let out impatient growls every now and then as if it were telling the old man to hurry up. Upon seeing this, the old man would chuckle and deliberately slow down, as if taunting the little dragon.
Eventually, as soon as Charcoal received the 'go ahead' from Draylen, it dived headfirst into the pile of roasted wolf and gorged on it's first meal with it's new Master. Draylen sprinkled some salt and pepper onto his boar leg before munching down like a barbarian.
He was deliberately eating slowly and taking his time to enjoy it. The roasted boar alone had a fresh taste but this was the first time in his life (as far as he could remember) that he had eaten anything with pepper or salt. Both were commodities which were only available to the higher class.
The food which he was eating reminded Draylen that he was now a summoner. He couldn't help but shed a sentimental tear, he had a sense of purpose now. He had a new family now.
Soon, after they had finished eating, the old man froze the left-overs with magic before storing it away.
"It's getting late now, you should go to sleep." The old man said, wiping his fingers with a napkin.
"Okay then. Thanks for the food tonight." Draylen said gratefully.
"Hahaha! No worries, young Draylen but you might as well get used to it. I wont let you out onto the world until you become a full-fledged Dragon Summoner!" The old man slapped Draylen on the back fondly.
Draylen thanked the old man once more before making his way through the cave system. Charcoal lay on his shoulders, occasionally purring like a kitten.
"You know, Charcoal." Draylen said, gently patting the dragonling behind the ears.
The baby dragon nudged against it's owners face lovingly.
"Ever since I lost my memory, I feel like everything has become clearer now."
Charcoal nodded, as if it understood what Draylen meant.
"Haha, so cute. You're a blessing."
Draylen and Charcoal made their way to the hammock and jumped in. Somehow, the light stones in the ceiling magically dimmed, as if they sensed that it was time to sleep.
"Good night, Charcoal."
-Grar
Soon, the five year old and baby dragon fell asleep in the gently swaying hammock. Hours passed just like that. Charcoal, who had been sleeping in Draylen's arms woke up and slowly squirmed out of the hammock.
-Purrrr
Charcoal was excited to find itself in a strange dark environment. Dragons possessed night vision and thus Charcoal could see clearly. It sniffed around before locking on to a strange enticing smell which beckoned it to follow. Charcoal put it's nose to the ground like a hunting dog and began following the strange smell.
After what seemed like an eternity, Charcoal eventually bumped into a large gate which hindered it's path. It's stomach growled, reminding it that it must get to the source of the smell no matter what.
Wiggling it's rear end, Charcoal leapt upwards, even flapping it's wings in an attempt to rise higher.
-Clang
It's claws hooked onto the top of the gate and Charcoal quickly clambered over.
'It's close!'
Charcoal began to run, the source of the smell was getting closer and closer, the enticement got stronger as the baby dragon got closer. The dark cave that it had entered was illuminated by a strange blue liquid lake. The mysterious liquid beckoned to Charcoal, as if it were telling the dragonling to take a dip.
Charcoal gave in to it's inner desires and leapt head first into the lake, before slowly doggy-paddling it's way through the strange liquid. An energy not too different from mana soaked in through Charcoal's scales, seeping into it's flesh and bones.
After several hours had passed, Charcoal left the cave with the blue lake, it's scales had a strange glisten and no longer looked as cloudy as they were before. The baby dragon then slunk back into it's owner's embrace, as if it had been there the whole time.
Day soon came and after a filling breakfast of porridge the old man took Draylen and the keen little baby dragon into a random cave room to teach weapon and armament spell circle tattooing. He quickly took out several different tools, including brushes, ink pots and also a stack of low quality goatskin parchments.
Draylen's eyes let out an involuntary twitch upon seeing the old man taking out the parchment. The table shook when the old man placed the stack down, indicating just how much there were.
"Old man, do you think that I'd mess up that many times?" He asked indignantly.
He heard a chuckle in response but nothing else. Draylen sat with his arms crossed, wondering what the old man planned to make him do that would take up so much parchment. After waiting for a while, the old man finally took a seat opposite him.
"You must be wondering why I've placed such a large amount of parchment here. It's not that I think you'll take so many just to learn how to draw spell circles, in fact, I'm more than confident that you'll be able to learn that much very quickly!"
"Then what are they for?" Draylen asked disbelievingly.
"What would happen if a Dragon Summoner were to lose his main hand?"
"Well, obviously, he would be crippled for life and be unable to draw spell circles- Ohh."
"Exactly. In the past, that was the main method of defeating a Dragon Summoner, using underhanded methods to strike at the weak spots. This is why each Dragon Summoner apprentice is required to be able to write with both hands before they are allowed by their masters to enter the empire." The old man explained.
"Well, I can't write at all," Draylen said bitterly.
"And that's why I'll teach you." The old man replied casually.
A burst of complex emotions ran amok in Draylen's immature 5 year old mind, but the most prevalent one was immense gratitude.
"Right then, this is the most common alphabet on this continent." The old man began writing the main language's alphabet, Aurelian, before writing a few of other languages too.
He then began writing a few basic words in each language.
"When you become proficient in each alphabet's pronunciation and the basic words, I'll give you a few more before I teach you how to draw spell circles." The old man said strictly.
Draylen sunk back against his stone chair's cold surface, feeling the pressure of having to learn several languages without being able to even write a single word in Aurelian, the language of his country. However, he quickly cleared his mind and put on a determined face, beginning to write whilst earning an impressed nod from the old man.
Even though the pronunciations of the basic characters were written above some of the languages (think pinyin), Draylen still had a bit of trouble memorising the pronunciations. Hours ticked by and when he finished learning it all, it was already lunch.
"That's very good, young boy. Let's finish last night's left overs before I teach you to inscribe spells."
However, to the old man's surprise Draylen not only refused to eat but also demanded that the old man teach him even more words! Faced with the little boy who was barely 5 years old and his earnest expression, the kind-hearted old man could do nothing but give in, writing some more words and even sneaking in a couple of advanced ones every now and then.
The old man was in for a shock as the young boy soaked the knowledge in like a sponge before asking for even more. Eventually, the old man became impatient.
"We came here just to get you started with writing, not spend the entire day about it! If you're really that keen, go look at one of the language books in my collection. Let's hurry up and get on with the spell circles, okay?" Horatio said, blue veins lining his forehead as he explained, trying to keep calm.
'Honestly, he came here to learn summoning, why does he care more about words than the most important part of being a summoner- the spell circle inscribing?!' He screamed internally.
"Okay then." Draylen replied obediently, calmly putting the brush down after dipping it in ink cleanser and drying it off.
A quiet sigh of relief escaped the corner of the old man's mouth before he quickly regained his composure.
"Right."
The old man put away the entire tonne of goatskin parchment.
"Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?" The old man asked, knowing that he would get no answer.
"I'm not sure." Draylen answered instantly, knowing that thinking about it would get him nowhere.
"It's because each and every authentic spell circle is aligned with nature. Each brush stroke must become one with the universe. Think of it as a bar of bronze and an iron ingot. The universe being the former and the brush stroke being the latter. The universe is a metal and our brushstrokes, if done incorrectly will not be a metal like iron but instead a liquid or gas. Now, the liquid and gas can not become one with the bronze bar as they are different states of matter, but if the strokes are correct, they will become metal. Now, although the correct strokes are metal, just like the universe, they still cannot merge. In order for metal to combine with another metal, it must be turned into a liquid- molten metal, through heat. Now tell me young Draylen, what do you think the heat in my analogy is?"
Draylen was obviously struggling to understand, but seeing as how the old man had asked him gave him the confidence that he would be able to answer it this time.
'Why would he make such a grand analogy if I wouldn't understand it in the end?'
'He mentioned brushstrokes, the universe, oh right, the strokes being aligned with nature. Hmmn. Wait no, the last part can be omitted.'
Draylen tried to remember what the old man had told him at the beginning.
'Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?'
"Of course! It's mana! The heat in your analogy is mana!" He shouted out with a grin.
"Well done! When a spell circle is activated through mana, it allows the user to temporarily defy the laws of the universe, or in other words, temporarily rewrite them. The marks of the circle define what the spell does and if done correctly, mana allows this circle to temporarily rewrite the laws of nature and our universe to fulfil the function that the spell circle was originally meant to, be it summoning lightning or creating a tsunami."
Draylen nodded, visibly excited.
"Now I'll tell you about the key parts to a Dragon Summoner's spell circles and how to draw armament and weapon spell circles."
-----
Ran out of space for the author's notes.
What did you think of that analogy?
Would you guys rather I write and release on the weekend, or stockpile and release daily?
Write in the comments below!
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
-Eeek!
A Giant Forest Boar squirmed helplessly in the old man's vice-like grip. Despite being almost four times the old man's size, it was still lifted into the air with ease and choked to death. The old man skewered the Giant Forest Boar on his lance before carrying it over his shoulder like a bundle of clothes.
Draylen was now immune to the overwhelming strength of the old man and thus this feat didn't even influence his expression. The two trudged back along the way they came, along with the baby dragon Charcoal which jumped in and out of bushes with a silly grin on it's face. It had a slender body, with smooth smoky scales and a pair of small wings on it's back.
The walk back was quiet as Draylen had no questions which he really wanted to ask, he was mainly looking forward to learning how to inscribe spell circles the next day.
'My path as a summoner truly begins now!' He thought, taking a deep breath of fresh air.
"Charcoal!" He said loudly, beckoning to his little dragon.
Charcoal perked it's head up at it's master's call and loped towards him.
-Rarr
It brushed against Draylen's legs before skilfully climbing up to his shoulders and sitting like a scarf. The old man, Horatio, glanced at the two, amused by their interactions.
Soon, they returned to the cave and ate dinner. They had collected several Forest Wolves, for Charcoal, and one Giant Forest Boar for them selves. Considering the size and weight of the boar, it would be enough to sustain them for several days.
They roasted the monsters over magic induced flames before the old man summoned Karonar as a large great sword and used him like a butcher's knife, cleaving off entire chunks of Giant Forest Boar flesh and placing them onto platters.
Charcoal sat on Draylen's thigh, drooling at the sight of roasting Forest Wolf meat. It let out impatient growls every now and then as if it were telling the old man to hurry up. Upon seeing this, the old man would chuckle and deliberately slow down, as if taunting the little dragon.
Eventually, as soon as Charcoal received the 'go ahead' from Draylen, it dived headfirst into the pile of roasted wolf and gorged on it's first meal with it's new Master. Draylen sprinkled some salt and pepper onto his boar leg before munching down like a barbarian.
He was deliberately eating slowly and taking his time to enjoy it. The roasted boar alone had a fresh taste but this was the first time in his life (as far as he could remember) that he had eaten anything with pepper or salt. Both were commodities which were only available to the higher class.
The food which he was eating reminded Draylen that he was now a summoner. He couldn't help but shed a sentimental tear, he had a sense of purpose now. He had a new family now.
Soon, after they had finished eating, the old man froze the left-overs with magic before storing it away.
"It's getting late now, you should go to sleep." The old man said, wiping his fingers with a napkin.
"Okay then. Thanks for the food tonight." Draylen said gratefully.
"Hahaha! No worries, young Draylen but you might as well get used to it. I wont let you out onto the world until you become a full-fledged Dragon Summoner!" The old man slapped Draylen on the back fondly.
Draylen thanked the old man once more before making his way through the cave system. Charcoal lay on his shoulders, occasionally purring like a kitten.
"You know, Charcoal." Draylen said, gently patting the dragonling behind the ears.
The baby dragon nudged against it's owners face lovingly.
"Ever since I lost my memory, I feel like everything has become clearer now."
Charcoal nodded, as if it understood what Draylen meant.
"Haha, so cute. You're a blessing."
Draylen and Charcoal made their way to the hammock and jumped in. Somehow, the light stones in the ceiling magically dimmed, as if they sensed that it was time to sleep.
"Good night, Charcoal."
-Grar
Soon, the five year old and baby dragon fell asleep in the gently swaying hammock. Hours passed just like that. Charcoal, who had been sleeping in Draylen's arms woke up and slowly squirmed out of the hammock.
-Purrrr
Charcoal was excited to find itself in a strange dark environment. Dragons possessed night vision and thus Charcoal could see clearly. It sniffed around before locking on to a strange enticing smell which beckoned it to follow. Charcoal put it's nose to the ground like a hunting dog and began following the strange smell.
After what seemed like an eternity, Charcoal eventually bumped into a large gate which hindered it's path. It's stomach growled, reminding it that it must get to the source of the smell no matter what.
Wiggling it's rear end, Charcoal leapt upwards, even flapping it's wings in an attempt to rise higher.
-Clang
It's claws hooked onto the top of the gate and Charcoal quickly clambered over.
'It's close!'
Charcoal began to run, the source of the smell was getting closer and closer, the enticement got stronger as the baby dragon got closer. The dark cave that it had entered was illuminated by a strange blue liquid lake. The mysterious liquid beckoned to Charcoal, as if it were telling the dragonling to take a dip.
Charcoal gave in to it's inner desires and leapt head first into the lake, before slowly doggy-paddling it's way through the strange liquid. An energy not too different from mana soaked in through Charcoal's scales, seeping into it's flesh and bones.
After several hours had passed, Charcoal left the cave with the blue lake, it's scales had a strange glisten and no longer looked as cloudy as they were before. The baby dragon then slunk back into it's owner's embrace, as if it had been there the whole time.
Day soon came and after a filling breakfast of porridge the old man took Draylen and the keen little baby dragon into a random cave room to teach weapon and armament spell circle tattooing. He quickly took out several different tools, including brushes, ink pots and also a stack of low quality goatskin parchments.
Draylen's eyes let out an involuntary twitch upon seeing the old man taking out the parchment. The table shook when the old man placed the stack down, indicating just how much there were.
"Old man, do you think that I'd mess up that many times?" He asked indignantly.
He heard a chuckle in response but nothing else. Draylen sat with his arms crossed, wondering what the old man planned to make him do that would take up so much parchment. After waiting for a while, the old man finally took a seat opposite him.
"You must be wondering why I've placed such a large amount of parchment here. It's not that I think you'll take so many just to learn how to draw spell circles, in fact, I'm more than confident that you'll be able to learn that much very quickly!"
"Then what are they for?" Draylen asked disbelievingly.
"What would happen if a Dragon Summoner were to lose his main hand?"
"Well, obviously, he would be crippled for life and be unable to draw spell circles- Ohh."
"Exactly. In the past, that was the main method of defeating a Dragon Summoner, using underhanded methods to strike at the weak spots. This is why each Dragon Summoner apprentice is required to be able to write with both hands before they are allowed by their masters to enter the empire." The old man explained.
"Well, I can't write at all," Draylen said bitterly.
"And that's why I'll teach you." The old man replied casually.
A burst of complex emotions ran amok in Draylen's immature 5 year old mind, but the most prevalent one was immense gratitude.
"Right then, this is the most common alphabet on this continent." The old man began writing the main language's alphabet, Aurelian, before writing a few of other languages too.
He then began writing a few basic words in each language.
"When you become proficient in each alphabet's pronunciation and the basic words, I'll give you a few more before I teach you how to draw spell circles." The old man said strictly.
Draylen sunk back against his stone chair's cold surface, feeling the pressure of having to learn several languages without being able to even write a single word in Aurelian, the language of his country. However, he quickly cleared his mind and put on a determined face, beginning to write whilst earning an impressed nod from the old man.
Even though the pronunciations of the basic characters were written above some of the languages (think pinyin), Draylen still had a bit of trouble memorising the pronunciations. Hours ticked by and when he finished learning it all, it was already lunch.
"That's very good, young boy. Let's finish last night's left overs before I teach you to inscribe spells."
However, to the old man's surprise Draylen not only refused to eat but also demanded that the old man teach him even more words! Faced with the little boy who was barely 5 years old and his earnest expression, the kind-hearted old man could do nothing but give in, writing some more words and even sneaking in a couple of advanced ones every now and then.
The old man was in for a shock as the young boy soaked the knowledge in like a sponge before asking for even more. Eventually, the old man became impatient.
"We came here just to get you started with writing, not spend the entire day about it! If you're really that keen, go look at one of the language books in my collection. Let's hurry up and get on with the spell circles, okay?" Horatio said, blue veins lining his forehead as he explained, trying to keep calm.
'Honestly, he came here to learn summoning, why does he care more about words than the most important part of being a summoner- the spell circle inscribing?!' He screamed internally.
"Okay then." Draylen replied obediently, calmly putting the brush down after dipping it in ink cleanser and drying it off.
A quiet sigh of relief escaped the corner of the old man's mouth before he quickly regained his composure.
"Right."
The old man put away the entire tonne of goatskin parchment.
"Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?" The old man asked, knowing that he would get no answer.
"I'm not sure." Draylen answered instantly, knowing that thinking about it would get him nowhere.
"It's because each and every authentic spell circle is aligned with nature. Each brush stroke must become one with the universe. Think of it as a bar of bronze and an iron ingot. The universe being the former and the brush stroke being the latter. The universe is a metal and our brushstrokes, if done incorrectly will not be a metal like iron but instead a liquid or gas. Now, the liquid and gas can not become one with the bronze bar as they are different states of matter, but if the strokes are correct, they will become metal. Now, although the correct strokes are metal, just like the universe, they still cannot merge. In order for metal to combine with another metal, it must be turned into a liquid- molten metal, through heat. Now tell me young Draylen, what do you think the heat in my analogy is?"
Draylen was obviously struggling to understand, but seeing as how the old man had asked him gave him the confidence that he would be able to answer it this time.
'Why would he make such a grand analogy if I wouldn't understand it in the end?'
'He mentioned brushstrokes, the universe, oh right, the strokes being aligned with nature. Hmmn. Wait no, the last part can be omitted.'
Draylen tried to remember what the old man had told him at the beginning.
'Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?'
"Of course! It's mana! The heat in your analogy is mana!" He shouted out with a grin.
"Well done! When a spell circle is activated through mana, it allows the user to temporarily defy the laws of the universe, or in other words, temporarily rewrite them. The marks of the circle define what the spell does and if done correctly, mana allows this circle to temporarily rewrite the laws of nature and our universe to fulfil the function that the spell circle was originally meant to, be it summoning lightning or creating a tsunami."
Draylen nodded, visibly excited.
"Now I'll tell you about the key parts to a Dragon Summoner's spell circles and how to draw armament and weapon spell circles."
-----
Ran out of space for the author's notes.
What did you think of that analogy?
Would you guys rather I write and release on the weekend, or stockpile and release daily?
Write in the comments below!
-Eeek!A Giant Forest Boar squirmed helplessly in the old man's vice-like grip. Despite being almost four times the old man's size, it was still lifted into the air with ease and choked to death. The old man skewered the Giant Forest Boar on his lance before carrying it over his shoulder like a bundle of clothes.Draylen was now immune to the overwhelming strength of the old man and thus this feat didn't even influence his expression. The two trudged back along the way they came, along with the baby dragon Charcoal which jumped in and out of bushes with a silly grin on it's face. It had a slender body, with smooth smoky scales and a pair of small wings on it's back.The walk back was quiet as Draylen had no questions which he really wanted to ask, he was mainly looking forward to learning how to inscribe spell circles the next day.'My path as a summoner truly begins now!' He thought, taking a deep breath of fresh air."Charcoal!" He said loudly, beckoning to his little dragon.Charcoal perked it's head up at it's master's call and loped towards him.-RarrIt brushed against Draylen's legs before skilfully climbing up to his shoulders and sitting like a scarf. The old man, Horatio, glanced at the two, amused by their interactions.Soon, they returned to the cave and ate dinner. They had collected several Forest Wolves, for Charcoal, and one Giant Forest Boar for them selves. Considering the size and weight of the boar, it would be enough to sustain them for several days.They roasted the monsters over magic induced flames before the old man summoned Karonar as a large great sword and used him like a butcher's knife, cleaving off entire chunks of Giant Forest Boar flesh and placing them onto platters.Charcoal sat on Draylen's thigh, drooling at the sight of roasting Forest Wolf meat. It let out impatient growls every now and then as if it were telling the old man to hurry up. Upon seeing this, the old man would chuckle and deliberately slow down, as if taunting the little dragon.Eventually, as soon as Charcoal received the 'go ahead' from Draylen, it dived headfirst into the pile of roasted wolf and gorged on it's first meal with it's new Master. Draylen sprinkled some salt and pepper onto his boar leg before munching down like a barbarian.He was deliberately eating slowly and taking his time to enjoy it. The roasted boar alone had a fresh taste but this was the first time in his life as far as he could remember that he had eaten anything with pepper or salt. Both were commodities which were only available to the higher class.The food which he was eating reminded Draylen that he was now a summoner. He couldn't help but shed a sentimental tear, he had a sense of purpose now. He had a new family now.Soon, after they had finished eating, the old man froze the left-overs with magic before storing it away."It's getting late now, you should go to sleep." The old man said, wiping his fingers with a napkin."Okay then. Thanks for the food tonight." Draylen said gratefully."Hahaha! No worries, young Draylen but you might as well get used to it. I wont let you out onto the world until you become a full-fledged Dragon Summoner!" The old man slapped Draylen on the back fondly.Draylen thanked the old man once more before making his way through the cave system. Charcoal lay on his shoulders, occasionally purring like a kitten."You know, Charcoal." Draylen said, gently patting the dragonling behind the ears.The baby dragon nudged against it's owners face lovingly."Ever since I lost my memory, I feel like everything has become clearer now."Charcoal nodded, as if it understood what Draylen meant."Haha, so cute. You're a blessing."Draylen and Charcoal made their way to the hammock and jumped in. Somehow, the light stones in the ceiling magically dimmed, as if they sensed that it was time to sleep."Good night, Charcoal."-GrarSoon, the five year old and baby dragon fell asleep in the gently swaying hammock. Hours passed just like that. Charcoal, who had been sleeping in Draylen's arms woke up and slowly squirmed out of the hammock.-PurrrrCharcoal was excited to find itself in a strange dark environment. Dragons possessed night vision and thus Charcoal could see clearly. It sniffed around before locking on to a strange enticing smell which beckoned it to follow. Charcoal put it's nose to the ground like a hunting dog and began following the strange smell.After what seemed like an eternity, Charcoal eventually bumped into a large gate which hindered it's path. It's stomach growled, reminding it that it must get to the source of the smell no matter what.Wiggling it's rear end, Charcoal leapt upwards, even flapping it's wings in an attempt to rise higher.-ClangIt's claws hooked onto the top of the gate and Charcoal quickly clambered over.'It's close!'Charcoal began to run, the source of the smell was getting closer and closer, the enticement got stronger as the baby dragon got closer. The dark cave that it had entered was illuminated by a strange blue liquid lake. The mysterious liquid beckoned to Charcoal, as if it were telling the dragonling to take a dip.Charcoal gave in to it's inner desires and leapt head first into the lake, before slowly doggy-paddling it's way through the strange liquid. An energy not too different from mana soaked in through Charcoal's scales, seeping into it's flesh and bones.After several hours had passed, Charcoal left the cave with the blue lake, it's scales had a strange glisten and no longer looked as cloudy as they were before. The baby dragon then slunk back into it's owner's embrace, as if it had been there the whole time.Day soon came and after a filling breakfast of porridge the old man took Draylen and the keen little baby dragon into a random cave room to teach weapon and armament spell circle tattooing. He quickly took out several different tools, including brushes, ink pots and also a stack of low quality goatskin parchments.Draylen's eyes let out an involuntary twitch upon seeing the old man taking out the parchment. The table shook when the old man placed the stack down, indicating just how much there were."Old man, do you think that I'd mess up that many times?" He asked indignantly.He heard a chuckle in response but nothing else. Draylen sat with his arms crossed, wondering what the old man planned to make him do that would take up so much parchment. After waiting for a while, the old man finally took a seat opposite him."You must be wondering why I've placed such a large amount of parchment here. It's not that I think you'll take so many just to learn how to draw spell circles, in fact, I'm more than confident that you'll be able to learn that much very quickly!""Then what are they for?" Draylen asked disbelievingly."What would happen if a Dragon Summoner were to lose his main hand?""Well, obviously, he would be crippled for life and be unable to draw spell circles- Ohh.""Exactly. In the past, that was the main method of defeating a Dragon Summoner, using underhanded methods to strike at the weak spots. This is why each Dragon Summoner apprentice is required to be able to write with both hands before they are allowed by their masters to enter the empire." The old man explained."Well, I can't write at all," Draylen said bitterly."And that's why I'll teach you." The old man replied casually.A burst of complex emotions ran amok in Draylen's immature 5 year old mind, but the most prevalent one was immense gratitude."Right then, this is the most common alphabet on this continent." The old man began writing the main language's alphabet, Aurelian, before writing a few of other languages too.He then began writing a few basic words in each language."When you become proficient in each alphabet's pronunciation and the basic words, I'll give you a few more before I teach you how to draw spell circles." The old man said strictly.Draylen sunk back against his stone chair's cold surface, feeling the pressure of having to learn several languages without being able to even write a single word in Aurelian, the language of his country. However, he quickly cleared his mind and put on a determined face, beginning to write whilst earning an impressed nod from the old man.Even though the pronunciations of the basic characters were written above some of the languages think pinyin, Draylen still had a bit of trouble memorising the pronunciations. Hours ticked by and when he finished learning it all, it was already lunch."That's very good, young boy. Let's finish last night's left overs before I teach you to inscribe spells."However, to the old man's surprise Draylen not only refused to eat but also demanded that the old man teach him even more words! Faced with the little boy who was barely 5 years old and his earnest expression, the kind-hearted old man could do nothing but give in, writing some more words and even sneaking in a couple of advanced ones every now and then.The old man was in for a shock as the young boy soaked the knowledge in like a sponge before asking for even more. Eventually, the old man became impatient."We came here just to get you started with writing, not spend the entire day about it! If you're really that keen, go look at one of the language books in my collection. Let's hurry up and get on with the spell circles, okay?" Horatio said, blue veins lining his forehead as he explained, trying to keep calm.'Honestly, he came here to learn summoning, why does he care more about words than the most important part of being a summoner- the spell circle inscribing?!' He screamed internally."Okay then." Draylen replied obediently, calmly putting the brush down after dipping it in ink cleanser and drying it off.A quiet sigh of relief escaped the corner of the old man's mouth before he quickly regained his composure."Right."The old man put away the entire tonne of goatskin parchment."Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?" The old man asked, knowing that he would get no answer."I'm not sure." Draylen answered instantly, knowing that thinking about it would get him nowhere."It's because each and every authentic spell circle is aligned with nature. Each brush stroke must become one with the universe. Think of it as a bar of bronze and an iron ingot. The universe being the former and the brush stroke being the latter. The universe is a metal and our brushstrokes, if done incorrectly will not be a metal like iron but instead a liquid or gas. Now, the liquid and gas can not become one with the bronze bar as they are different states of matter, but if the strokes are correct, they will become metal. Now, although the correct strokes are metal, just like the universe, they still cannot merge. In order for metal to combine with another metal, it must be turned into a liquid- molten metal, through heat. Now tell me young Draylen, what do you think the heat in my analogy is?"Draylen was obviously struggling to understand, but seeing as how the old man had asked him gave him the confidence that he would be able to answer it this time.'Why would he make such a grand analogy if I wouldn't understand it in the end?''He mentioned brushstrokes, the universe, oh right, the strokes being aligned with nature. Hmmn. Wait no, the last part can be omitted.'Draylen tried to remember what the old man had told him at the beginning.'Why do you think that spells have such a powerful effect when activated with mana?'"Of course! It's mana! The heat in your analogy is mana!" He shouted out with a grin."Well done! When a spell circle is activated through mana, it allows the user to temporarily defy the laws of the universe, or in other words, temporarily rewrite them. The marks of the circle define what the spell does and if done correctly, mana allows this circle to temporarily rewrite the laws of nature and our universe to fulfil the function that the spell circle was originally meant to, be it summoning lightning or creating a tsunami."Draylen nodded, visibly excited."Now I'll tell you about the key parts to a Dragon Summoner's spell circles and how to draw armament and weapon spell circles."-----Ran out of space for the author's notes.What did you think of that analogy?Would you guys rather I write and release on the weekend, or stockpile and release daily?Write in the comments below!
