Chapter 606: Mom’s Curated Training Plan Begins. |
If I remembered correctly, back on Earth, whenever a hail- or snowstorm happened, I would just stay cooped up in my room, enjoying hot cacao while playing some games or watching videos. Music would play in the background on a separate browser tab, while our apartment’s temperature control kept everybody inside warm.
Our electric fireplace would flare up during those winters. Even if it wasn’t real, the hearth felt just as genuine as real chimney fireplaces in those Christmas movies, as our family huddled up to watch the snowstorm raging outside our windows. During the night, the snow and hail all looked like bright stars, falling like a meteor shower.
During my first winter as a fire dragon, that lifestyle certainly didn’t change. Sure, I didn’t have any electronics to entertain myself, but spending my first year with Saori and Tasianna inside a village cabin we built ourselves was quite fun. Pretty relaxing since there wasn’t anything I had to intervene with.
My second winter was a bit more hectic since I was in Aureolis at that time, preparing for my battle against the Prince of Envy. Circumstances could change quite a lot in just a single year… and it wasn’t any different this time. The winter season was next month, and this time I was preparing for a… war. A war between dragonkin.
“Stop losing focus!”
Shit! I snapped my head to the side as a giant ice spike nearly separated my head from my body. Hikari, currently in control of our body, stomped the ground and flew out of the way before a [Dragoon Dive] could finish us off. Seriously, we were currently in our dragon form, but that silhouette of that dragonewt woman was scaring the heck out of me.
Why? ‘Cause that dragonewt woman was Mom trying to beat my ass!
“If you lose focus, then I will add another bell to our training! That was the deal, Hikari! Hestia!” Mom shouted as the ice dust settled around where she landed, pulling out a manatech pocket watch she commissioned from Jadhund. Honestly, she could have just downloaded the clock function for her party bracelet, but it seemed she enjoyed the pocket watch more. “Don’t forget to use your solar gas to slide along the ground. You don’t need to use your wings. When you need to fight inside a cave or underground, where flying is too cumbersome, freezing the ground can be both an offensive and defensive boon. It works with [Gale Steps].”
Although Mom didn’t have the Ability, she imitated the movements as she slid across the frozen ground. Cooling the air around her hands, she transformed the ice into a halberd, similar to how Tasianna would do it to form her rapier. In response, Hikari covered our body in silver powder, hardening our silver scales to the point they started to sparkle like gems.
Although not as fast as Quasdrakeen’s surprise attack or Nong’s jump scare, Mom was still too much for my body to perfectly react to. She was holding back just enough for my eyes and mind to see her attack, so I could analyze how to dodge whenever she landed a hit on me.
Two days had passed since we met in Coral Beard, but today was the first day of our training session after she was allowed to return home. Yesterday was a break day, since she had to chauffeur Grimnir over to Frozen Nest while I had to inform my retainer uncles about my plan with Wendriosa and Taim. They were probably still talking it through with the Senate, but Mom assured me they would answer soon. I just had to focus on training.
“You will train to become an ice dragon while I am here! I will break down your Profiles and fighting style, and integrate a new one into your mind. You will not appear as a crimson dragon when you train, meaning that Hikari will always be around. I will teach you how to become an ice dragon, Tasianna will teach you how to use ice magic, the dragoons will teach you how to move in your ice dragonewt form, and you will finish it off with your holy dragon training. During your free time, you must focus on leveling your various skills. That is homework, so prepare. This is the schedule for the weeks to come!” Mom shouted as we sparred. “You will eat what my chef will make for you. You will not hunt any monster while you train, for any experience you gain will go to waste. Your retainers will be the ones to hunt to allow them to level up. Once you defeat Tasianna and prove yourself before me, I shall allow you to meet your Father and train inside the dungeon. There, you will finish your [Battle Frenzy] training and finally start leveling your Jobs, again. Until then, focus on becoming an ice dragon!”
Mom being strict with my training wasn’t anything new. After all, these were the type of bonding that Mom liked the most, as it was already obvious enough that she wasn’t the most outgoing person out there. She did enjoy shopping and watching my concert, but I couldn’t forget that her mentality was still that of a dragon. Spending time teaching me was incredibly important to her.
This was more than just a normal mother-daughter bonding session. This was her being a mother. She finally had a chance to pass down her skills and experience as an ice dragon to her own child, after all, so I could understand why she was being so invested in it. Furthermore, the masochistic side of me was fine with the pain, as long as I saw improvements in my skills!
“Winter will come soon, and that means we ice dragons will have a natural advantage due to the weather. The winter season just ended when you woke up from your coma, so you will soon learn what happens to our island as the ice-aligned mana becomes more ‘rebellious.’ Until winter ends, I do not believe Quasdrakeen will be able to send her army at us. The leviathans below her would disagree with any attempts for war when we have the advantage,” Mom lectured, showing no signs of exhaustion despite talking up a storm. “Unless Wendriosa or Gyadiosa says otherwise, set the end of the year as your deadline to finish my trial. If you cannot finish it in two months, then I will probably support Nongramos and Taimatrak’s decision. The faster you finish your trial, the earlier you may receive your reward and the more time you will have inside our national dungeon.”
“Y-yeah, I under—kriiiaaa!” Hikari yelped as Mom threw a javelin at us, ripping through one of our horns before we could even dodge. T-that just broke through our [True Draconic Barrier] completely.
“A perfect time to start leveling up your [Ruby Star] and [Sacred Magic], don’t you think? As I said, I disallow you from hunting, which means you won’t be able to get much real combat experience. So what? You have your healing, and we have Uriahn above, just in case,” Mom explained with a sinister smile.
Why was she enjoying this so much? We just started!
She continued as she materialized another polearm. “So let us take advantage of this fact, and have you experienced the constant threat of going unconscious? How long will you remain asleep? How many days will you waste before your precious deadline arrives? If you cannot fight, probably, then as your mother, I would rather have you stay inside your subspace than experience a war, dear. I became a rank SS to protect you. Not to have you experience such hardship… but we have fought together in a siege already. For working so hard during the Elyonda siege, I will allow you to prove to me that you have the strength to continue your journey!”
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! Hikari yelped as Mom burst into laughter as she began throwing a barrage of javelins at us. None of them were made using true ice mana, to give me a chance, but the sheer force of every throw felt like her arm was a warhammer cannon. She probably didn’t even need to reinforce her arm with mana with how high her base strength was.
“Keep dodging! Train up [Foresight]. No need to waste your skill points when you still have time, right? If you can predict an attack before it happens, you can react to it early enough for your body to move in time! You cannot bridge the gap between a rank B’s agility and that of a rank S in the little time you have. You have to rely on your skills and experience! You do not have the innate affinity for sensory skills like Saori, so don’t believe that you can get a unique skill like hers without the help of your unique Jobs!”
Never too bad to repeat the basics, I guess? I shrugged as Mom told me the obvious. In any case, I healed our horn. Hikari, I got an idea. Remember how Tasianna parried our attacks with her ice, or how we let her ice blades slide across our scales? Let’s do that. We can technically emulate it against water attacks as well.
‘Got it. Adjust my movements if you think I’m misstepping. I’ll give you priority over [Foresight], while I’ll handle [Scale Manipulation],’ she agreed before raising her feet as if she was wearing heels, using the elevated stance to glide along the ground to minimize our movements. Having to focus less on her movements, she sent out our powder-hardened scales to parry each incoming projectile.
Yet, the moment we got a small success, Mom liked to throw a wrench into the entire plan. This time, she only needed to use her main aura attack to freeze Hikari for a moment, forcing me to use our solar gas to dodge two incoming javelins.
As our body slid away, ice caught our legs, pinning us down for a moment until Hikari could break free. Sadly, that was enough for Mom to land a javelin on my left front leg. The ice started to spread now that it broke through my [True Draconic Barrier], but the ice-form of [White Flames] froze right over my wound, neutralizing the ice’s spread since it wasn’t true ice.
“Good! Good! You’re starting to get it. Okay, enough of that. We took… ah, a bell worth of time. Good work, dear,” Mom stated as Hikari collapsed onto the ground. She looked at our Profile, noticing that half of our stamina had vanished from a single hour of training.
Too much dodging. Too much draconic energy needed to block everything. Haaaa, she’s draining our resources faster than our core could regenerate, I complained.
If the stat difference wasn’t so high, [True Draconic Barrier] wouldn’t be used this often. Draconic energy, after all, needed both mana and stamina to be created, and I needed this energy to fuel all my draconic-related skills. I had no mana issues since my capacity was humongous for my age, while my stamina couldn’t be compared to it. A mismatch like that was never as problematic in my previous battles.
“This is the gap, dear. I don’t need to do anything fancy to overpower you, and you can spam as many spells as you want, but I will overpower all of them. I am, though, very proud that you understood the intent behind this training: it is to train your body, your control over your draconic abilities, and also to master ice. As I said, I will train you to become a powerful ice dragon,” Mom praised, caressing my injured leg before she pulled the javelin out.
[“Figured… that’s what limit testing is supposed to do, but it still feels annoying to lose like this. I could have continued if I started using my spells,”] I said in Hikari’s stead.
“It is fine, Hestia. You aren’t supposed to last longer or win against me. I need you to learn, analyze, and improve. You must try to last longer with only your body and draconic abilities. Right now, I am training you as a dragon, not as a mage or dragoon. Understood?” I nodded to Mom’s lecture, prompting her to smile. “True dragonkin with a strong bloodline will always be stronger than those of the same rank. A noble and a commoner do not start on the same foot. You might be able to beat the ‘commoner’ rank, like those ice worms or that ape monster, but Quasdrakeen is the daughter of Karhalantheel. There are many other ancients and prodigal younger scalekin who will fight. You do not have the advantage in mana, any longer. As such, your battle style must change.”
Mom’s really enjoying this, just like when she trained me how to molt.
“Then do I have to rely on supportive skills?” Hikari asked, prompting Mom to nod.
“Obviously, but you also have to know how to escape rank As and Ss. You won’t be on the frontlines, but you need to know how to handle yourself if somebody manages to breach through Alextraxus’s preparations. I can participate in the fight, but I cannot kill Quasdrakeen for Wendriosa’s sake,” Mom said. “Though who knows if I can even help if Kiedaceus decided to attack the mainland. I gave up my role as Dragon Ruler of Ice to become an empress. Even if my flight and wake consider me the de facto ruler, I cannot damage Alextraxus’s pride as an ancient. I anointed him as my successor, and he must show me that my judgment was right.”
“I would like it, just so we can avoid casualties,” I said, prompting Mom to nod. “Speaking of which, what should I do when rank Bs and so on manage to get past? I don’t think any of our rank As or Ss will care about the dragonkin lower than A.”
“Why are you asking? Simply kill them,” Mom answered in such a nonchalant manner. “You are currently a noble amongst nobles for rank Bs. You showed it with how you defeated Rhekkraxus and how you managed to escape the clutches of Inferno Nest’s dragonkin. I am telling you not to underestimate your opponents by reminding you that you aren’t the strongest, but don’t go overestimating them. Why would you need my training to kill people below you? Besides, those types of scalekin would never be able to match your current retainers. Tasianna, Vifi, and Shayatierus alone would decimate them. Don’t you have multiple fledglings willing to go under your service, now?”
Willing to go under my service, yes, but I haven’t accepted any of them.
That moment two days ago when I saw far too many dragons and drakes kneeling before my bedroom probably would scare any normal person. Like, seriously, they even admitted that they had been waiting inside the mansion once they got news about my altercation with Quasdrakeen in Lecullius. Well, only Rhekk, Kylu, and Fehrkatruk did, but the fact that they coincidentally got enough people in front of my door was the concerning part!
… Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. It would have been bad if they were stalkers, but all of them really were there to become my retainers. Not for [Hestia’s Retainer]—only Rhekk knew about it since we did talk about it during our glacial expedition—but as real, genuine subordinates.
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Strength attracted those who sought it. Instead of an idol of music, it seemed the fledglings saw me more as the ideal dragon imperial. My decision to defy Maustoovaka despite my young age, the fact that I rallied Frozen Nest to fight the elemental emperor, and then my accident with Quasdrakeen roused many of the more belligerent dragonkin to my cause. It was mostly those under 100 years old, though, but the few rank A friends Rhekk had, and also Fehrkatruk were willing to give me their scales.
Honestly, I was most surprised Fehrkatruk was even there in the first place. He was part of Sieg’s generation. He was older than any of my siblings. To me, he was practically an ancient, yet he still decided to lower his tail to show his respect. Clan Kleodrastia willing to be loyal to me was a no-brainer, since I was the only fire dragon on Frozen Nest, but I had expected only their youngest son, Kyluvanus, to become my retainer. Not him and their heir apparent.
“Most of them are rank Cs and Bs. They are too weak for a massive full-scale war with the Caedhulens,” Hikari answered in exasperation, standing up after we healed our wounds. “I don’t know, Mom. Giving some of them [Hestia’s Retainer] probably would be great, especially for Fehrkatruk, but I still feel conflicted about it since this will be for the war effort. At least Rego and his fire wyverns joined up because they wanted to serve me. The ones now are only doing it because they see me as strong and they want to finally put their eggs in my basket.”
“That is just how dragonkin vassalship works. You should feel lucky that none of those brats decided to attack you for the sake of courtship! Huuu, when I saw them this morning, I could really tell that some of them are attracted to you,” Mom replied, causing Hikari and me to shiver in disgust. “Oh, don’t act like that! Beat them up if they try anything, but don’t make that reaction. The ones I noticed were below 100 years old. They’re still young and foolish.”
“I know, but the way you’re describing it is the problem. I already have to deal with the fact that Uriahn was ordered by his dad to court me, and now my own citizens are trying to beat me up? Hestia can deal with it, but I’ll tap out when that happens,” Hikari complained, causing Mom to burst into laughter.
“Fine, fine, I won’t speak about it again. It is your youth, dear. You have to deal with it yourself. In any case, have you rested enough?” I nodded to her question before she told me to transform into my [Humanize (Minor)] form. “Let us have a break hour. We’ll solely focus on practicing your ability to use your scales and mana barrier to block, parry, and deflect. In addition, I want you to use this chance to freeze my attacks to create openings, and also to create ice weapons to protect yourself. Essentially, I want you to train your [Scale Manipulation] and get used to [Cryokinesis]. Here’s a tip: your main ice ability is your solar gas, so [Aerokinesis] should work. You’re better with that skill.”
[Humanize (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
