Chapter 17: A History Lesson
Late Afternoon - Mid Spring : Year 10 : Above The Nest | Home
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*WOOSH—fwip-TH-TH-THUMP* Tripping over my claw, Ilios went flying—flipping across the field before catching himself and springing back up.
However, while he was ready to dart off again.. to keep playing.. when he lifted his head, he found pause.
The air.. was different… And he understood it…
Stepping out of the Nest, Mother's expression was heavy.. burdened and dark. Her wings were firm against her side, her tail still above the ground, and her head not as high as I always knew it to be.
-She.. had the talk…- While she was almost always a source of light and warmth, behind the veil she too had her burdens.. and without Krystallo or me being there, the dam had broken. -Was she.. crying..?-
With Father, she had reopened her wounds—memories—to try and treat them, but pain was the price.
And not seeing Father anywhere behind her, it seemed like he was paying it too…
Immediately reading the room, Krystallo set down everything to run over and wrap herself around Mother's leg, but it only seemed to send a reminder.
"R..Right…" Rapidly correcting herself with a muffled mutter, her head raised, wings lifted, and tail began moving with a stiff, forced sway. "Sorry sweetie, I…" Pausing to think, she lifted her eyes toward me and Ilios, both watching beneath a blanket of worry before sitting and leaning down to her. "Your Father is still inside and.. having a hard time…"
Feeling a faint shudder in the ground, I tried to look into the nest only to find my gaze consumed by an artificial darkness.
"Could you go in and help him?" Speaking so softly it sounded like the faintest gust could blow her away, Mother's voice moved with care, "He could use a hug like this…"
Pausing to look into the nest, Krystallo immediately paused before, while clearly not wanting to leave Mother, nodding with a mumble, "Mh-hm…" And letting go after one more squeeze of Mother's leg.
Meanwhile, Mother looked like she was about to break into tears again, watching Krystallo return to the nest on her own.
But I couldn't let the silence last. "You.. told Father about Fengari..?"
"Hoooh…" She immediately nodded with a sigh that rippled the air with heat. "I'm sorry you two have to see this side of me, but.. Osto wanted to be a Father as much as I wanted to be a Mother… For me, I had days.. weeks to come to terms with it, but he…" Pausing again, she moved her eyes off the nest. "He didn't have the ability to ease into it…"
Feeling my chest tighten, my wings—slightly raised off my side—settled into me.
He.. wasn't taking the news well… "I really hope you can forgive him, Vasilias… His mistake was a grave one, but it only happened because of extreme circumstances." Passing another burdened sigh, she finally turned to me. "He loves you more than you can imagine, he's just.. overwhelmed, right now…"
Continuing forward, she gently lowered her head to mine, shifting and rubbing her snout against my cheek like she was seeking a comfort of her own.
But I had no objection.
Letting her do as she pleased, I merely bathed in the warmth beneath the layer of frost she laid across my scales until she pulled herself away, this time with a gaze less burdened. "I know you may not understand, but.. thank you, Vasilias…"
Moving forward without another thought, I pressed my head into her chest before feeling like I was melting in the best way possible.
Until she pulled herself away. "If you'd like to go in and help comfort your father, you're more than welcome to, but…" Looking back, seemingly hearing something I couldn't, she smiled contently. "I'm sure you're ready for your first class session, right?"
Like a dormant part of my mind suddenly fired up, my eyes shot open, and my snout snapped up to her.
At long last… -Its time?!- The methodical sway in my tail growing increasingly uncontrolled with every passing second. "Magic?!"
She nodded with a warming smile. "History too, don't get too excited."
But her advice didn't get heeded. *tap-tap-tap-tap* Happily hopping from paw to paw I couldn't contain myself.
"Haha," It was only really then that Mother realized the monster she was waking, "W..well, let's head up the mountain to not make a ruckus down here."
Nodding fervently, I spread my wings with an eager flutter.
With Mother following suit. "Bring Ilios with you. He might pick up a trick or two." And lifting off right after. *WOOSH*
Not wanting to waste a single second, I coiled my head back, landing my slitted pupils on Ilios like some monster out of a horror movie before darting over and wrapping my claws around his chest.
"A..rf..?" He didn't have any idea what was happening.
All he knew is he was about to go somewhere…
Really fast… *FWOOOSH*
Bolting up the mountain after Mother, the wind ripped past us with a heated scorch—leading us to land with a subtle sizzle filling the humid air before I eagerly ran toward Mother and sat down like a most obedient student.
"Hah," Mother could only scoff at it, thinking I was just being hyper. "You really do have some energy to burn. Are you thinking I'm going to take you hunting after just one class?"
My tail, rhythmically thumping the ground, stuttered instantly. "B-But soon, right?"
"Haah…" Letting out a helpless sigh, she nodded. "How long depends on how well you listen."
With my attention almost mechanically steadying, my posture sharpened. -Got it!-
After that breath, there was nothing that could distract me.
"Geez, you're crazier than I was as a kid." Mother, while laughing about it, seemed to enjoy how eager I was though.
Eventually moving on to explain some simple rules, foundational refreshers I knew from my knowledge inheritance, and some reminders that these lessons would take longer if I didn't ask questions, I reigned my excitement into control, and the true lessons started.
Though, the information was so much I couldn't let my excitement loose even if I wanted to.
"Now, moving on." Even before the main lesson came. "This world, as you know is named Delphi, is divided into three tiers of life—animals, monsters, and intelligent species. Animals are those you see everywhere in nature—they are beings born by nature, and are incapable of forming mana cores, or gaining what we consider intelligence."
-Intelligence..?- Wondering how she was classifying it, I got ready to ask.
But she didn't let me just yet. "The next tier is monsters. These are typically larger species, usually predators or others at the top of the food chain, with longer lifespans. They don't always have them, but are more than capable of forming mana cores, and if the conditions are right, can develop the ability to understand complex language, or what we consider 'intelligence'."
-Oh…- "Then," Looking at Ilios, I paused. "Would an animal trained to understand language be considered intelligent?"
She promptly shook her head. "Intelligence is defined by the ability to learn complex language on their own, as in they value rational thought and decision over instinct or 'value'. Instead of living to survive, they live to learn."
My eyes widened while my tail stilled, and my mind ran. -Woah…- "Then, for the intelligent species?"
"As I have briefly mentioned in the past, the dominant intelligent races are the Dragons, Avians, Merfolk, Elves, Dwarves, Demihumans, and Humans."
Noticing the steady descent in her tone, a puzzled squint found its way to my eyes.
"Each of these races have a different set of advantages and disadvantages. Humans have population, demihumans have physical capability trade-offs depending on their 'breed', dwarves have strength, elves have lifespan, merfolk dominate the shallows, avians have mental complexity, and we dragons are above all of them in every aspect except population."
-R..Right…- Though not something Mother had spoken on much, I knew from my knowledge inheritance that just maintaining the draconic population was most certainly a challenge. Only able to lay a single clutch of two to four eggs, even with an exceptionally low infant mortality rate, just sustaining the population would be a serious challenge.
"But generally, what defines this tier of life is that they are born intelligent, or gain it while extremely young. Long before they reach adulthood."
Seeing me following, she was quick to continue.
"For how they coexist, most species mix across both the Main, and Western continents in Kingdoms—conglomerations of cities, towns, and villages that live under a single governing body." Dragging her claw across the rock, she gently carved a drawing of small, walled castles that all surrounded a larger one. "There are exceptions though. Like the Holy Kingdom, one of the most powerful kingdoms on Delphi, some governments discriminate against certain species—them enslaving or shunning anything that isn't human, and an elven and demihuman nation, Siratha, being even more extreme against humans and dwarves."
-Interesting…- It was quite similar to Earth's structure, but on a far more diverse scale. "But didn't Father say he got that artifact from the Holy Kingdom? If they hate everything non-human, how did that work? Are dragons an exception?"
She immediately shook her head. "We dragons can't interact with the humanoid world looking like we do, so we disguise ourselves. As for how.. I'll explain later, just know that to explore and interact with the rest of the world, we take on a humanoid appearance."
-It must be some kind of magic…- Confusion toward something else blanketed me instantly though. "W..Why do we bend to their standard though..?" -Are humans.. not as human as I'm thinking?- "Is it because they're strong?"
"No." Mother seemed to dread the question though. "Haah…" Clearly not wanting to get onto the subject already, she let out a sigh before taking a moment to think.
Though, she did eventually choose to explain some.
"It's thanks to Bahamut's ruling, and pity."
-Huh?- It was the being we'd pray to. A god.
"It's a long story, but since the early days of draconic society, Bahamut had separated dragons and humans, and despite a war eventually breaking out between us and them and us promptly winning, Bahamut chose to continue to spare them—opting to push stricter regulations on how we could interact with them in order to preserve the world's diversity."
It made sense in theory… It was like humans on Earth choosing to conserve near extinct species for biodiversity and ecosystematic health. -But to spare humans feels.. odd…-
"Since then, we were banned from showing humans our draconic forms. It's led to most of the world forgetting we exist, but it does make the world more interesting. Even if the knowledgable humans are growing arrogant again…"
Mumbling under her breath, I caught her expression darkening with an almost bloodthirsty scoff.
But while I expected her to totally shrug it off, she didn't totally hide it. "Some humans see dragons as trophies. To them, our bones and scales could let them buy an entire kingdom. Even if you really trust someone, never show them your scales, got it? Show a neck, and they'll try and cut it."
Feeling a chill ripple down my spine as the darkness in her eyes dug into me, I nodded.
But.. I did wonder… "If humans aren't strong, how could they ever kill us?"
Quickly calming back down, she steadied herself. "Not all adventurers are weak, and our humanoid forms set a lot of limits on us. The classifications vary by nation, but some humans are as strong as Elder stage dragons.. some even stronger…" As if being reminded of something, she spit before shifting. "Regardless, you shouldn't ever hold back or lower yourself even when choosing to walk amongst them. Playing weak will make you weak."
Feeling the mountainous intent behind her words, I nodded with a bead of cold sweat beginning to form on my head.
Even though I had no desire to ever even 'act' human to begin with, I took her warning to heart. -If it does come to it, keep the human act to just outward appearance…- "Got it…"
And while Mother had every intention to drill that lesson into me a thousand more times, she knew it wasn't something that would take time.
"Hooh… In any case, we will continue more with things like that during future lessons. The world is a dangerous place, even for us at times. Just like you can't trust humans, you can't trust every dragon either. Get arrogant, and you'll lose your head."
Clearly understanding I was still so young I wouldn't fully understand, she couldn't carve it too deep into me just yet.
After all, as much as she dreaded thinking about it, some things could only truly be taught by Delphi herself.
Not that she had any plans to just throw me out into the world unarmed.
"Anyway, let's move on for now. We'll continue the history lesson later."
-H..Huh? T..That means..!-
"Let's do something more fun and learn about mana."
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