In the empire, Ouro came in four flavors.
Fire, water, earth, and wind.
The application of Ouro could be done in two ways. Close application and far application.
Close application allows you to enhance and improve your body. Such as coating your skin with a water film or healing.
Far application was more technical. Like creating elemental clones or blades. For earth users, this also meant controlling the terrain. For wind users, they could use a flight without a dragon.
Anyway, outside of that there were things known as bloodline abilities. Like element eyes, which essentially allow a user finer control of their Ouro or in special cases control over someone else's.
There were also dragon aspects. Which allowed a user to create claws or breathe fire.
And finally, there were dragon summonings. This was what separated the Dragoons from the fodder. Having pure Ouro and a refined control allowed the user to summon a beast.
An elemental dragon.
But all of this was far beyond me. Right now I'm only focused on learning one thing.
The clone technique.
And the reason was simple. The more clones I had, the less work I had to do personally! I could get them to carry my books or do my homework. All while I sit pretty like a king.
"Hm, this clone technique is certainly a useful tool. It'll allow us to train twice as hard." The dragon spoke in approval of my choice. "We can use them as decoys should the worst come to pass."
I chuckled nervously. Well until we learn how to summon any kind of water we'll be stuck with the basics.
Speaking of the basics, it's time to learn how to summon the humble water ball.
According to the book, there were three hand signs required to summon a water ball. There was the sign to conjure energy, the sign of placement, and the sign of creation.
Now thanks to the dragon I already know how to interact with Ouro without hand gestures. However, the hand gestures were easier than getting trapped in that mental prison again.
Anyway, the first-hand gesture to conjure the energy required me to put my middle and pointer fingers against my palm.
I could feel the rush of energy up my wrist. It felt warm and familiar. Like a fuzzy blanket.
The second hand gesture required me to replace my middle and pointer fingers with my pinky and ring finger.
This locked the placement of the water pall at the tips of my middle and pointer fingers. Which were now pointed outwards.
Now finally the sign of creation. It required me to put my thumb over my ring and pinky finger.
The moment I did a water ball formed with a swirl at the tip of my fingers. It was perfectly smooth and about the size of my fist.
The dragon hummed. "This is quite the development. I wonder, can you fire it?"
I glanced at the book. Well, all I have to do is flick my pinky and ring finger forward. Wanna try it out? I asked.
"What else would you do with it, Boy?" The dragon grumbled.
I looked around the library. My gaze passed over the shelves stacked with books and the chandelier that hung from above.
The place was quiet.
My eyes turned towards the glass doors that led to the balcony. Just beyond it were waves crashing against the jagged cliff. The sun had touched the horizon and was falling low.
I jogged forward and squeezed through the small gap I created between the doors. All while being careful not to dispel my waterball.
Outside the wind brushed against my skin and wafted around my nose with the faint smell of sea salt.
I aimed my waterball over the rail and towards the vast ocean before me. I flicked my fingers forward and the water ball kicked off before dropping into the ocean.
It was only one but I felt a hint of excitement kicking in. I went through the finger motions and fired another one. Then another one immediately after.
"Ha! Look at that!" I beamed, ready to fire another one when a sharp pain pierced my chest. My hand snapped over my heart and gripped my tunic. "Ugh…"
The dragon hummed. "It's no surprise that happened. Those hand signs seem to draw more Ouro than not. Convenience always has its price."
I massaged the area over my chest. "Yeah, I noticed it was drawing more energy than usual. I just figured I had an infinite amount you know?"
A chuckle escaped the dragon.
"Boy, you only have the reserves of an adult commoner at most. And even at my peak I was never stronger than others by a significant margin."
I ran a hand down my face. Guess I gotta cheese this too, huh? Oh well…
My head shook as I stepped back inside.
— — —
A month has passed and my research into hand gestures has yielded some promising results.
First was the existence of gestureless casting. I know that seems obvious given that I used it as an infant.
But what I really mean is that dragoons at the highest levels cast gestureless casting. Which means I can do it without looking weird.
But secondly, I've found out why gesture casting takes so much out of me.
It's incredibly inefficient.
Each hand gesture pulls a predetermined amount of energy regardless of how much is actually needed. It's also why higher-tier applications actually require gestureless casting.
Otherwise summoning a dragon could just kill you from the overwhelming amount drawn. But that's beside the point.
My goal now is to cast a waterball without the gestures.
And to do that, I planned on using the gesture method to learn the feel for each step. Then I'd replicate the feeling while throttling back the amount of Ouro used.
Easy as pie.
— — —
For about another month I stood on the balcony and cast water balls into the sea.
It was a boring process. One of the dragons mostly slept through. Not that I was complaining, but I could see why he wasn't interested.
He only cared that I was training. If I had been sitting on my ass all day he'd have probably been up and barking nonstop.
Boy! He'd shout, stop daydreaming about waifus and train!!!!!
Hehehehe.
Anyway, I think I've finally figured out the process of casting a water ball. The first step was pulling the energy from your core and into the affected limb.
This was the easy part considering the dragon forced me to learn this technique as an infant.
I closed my eyes and mentally touched the ring of self. Ouro raced up my arm.
The second step required the placement of the energy. This was a little more difficult. But the feeling could be replicated.
I focused on depositing the drawn Ouro at the tip of my fingers. A slight numbness took hold of my fingertips. But it wasn't anything I couldn't handle.
Finally, it was the placement. Imagine a ball of water.
Water, aqua purificata, moist, drenched… Flood!
A massive water ball the size of my being began forming at the tips of my fingers. It swirled violently, hints of orange and white streaks orbiting the water ball.
Ouro drained from me at a rapid rate. My hand gripped the rail as I mentally shouted for the dragon to wake up.
"Release it, now!" His voice boomed in the back of my skull like a grenade. "Break the connection and throw it before eyes turn to us!"
My vision swam. My Ouro drained continuously as the water ball violently deformed and inflated with chaotic energy.
It was like holding a wrecking ball at the tips of my fingers. My jaw clenched as my tiny muscles ached. Break the connection?
How do I… wait! I closed my eyes and re-entered my mental space. And sure enough, I was still drawing Ouro.
That's why it had gotten out of control, I was still feeding it! I broke the connection. When I opened my eyes, the water ball launched itself from my fingertips.
It arched into the sky as I collapsed onto the stone tiles. My chest heaved as I watched the water ball smash into the ocean.
FUOOM!
It was like a bomb went off under the water. A hot spray shot forty feet into the air, followed by a shockwave that rocked the glass.
The silence that followed was deafening. It was late in the afternoon too, so no doubt everyone woke up from that.
What are the chances they think that was an earthquake or something? I asked the dragon.
"Boy, you'd have a better chance with women than anyone believing that."
Footsteps.
The doors to the library flew open with force. My mother and two guards stood in the doorway with heavy breaths and weapons drawn.
My mother looked out at the ocean where the water still rippled. Her gaze then slowly lowered onto me.
I sat up with a guilty expression and forced smile. "Uh… Hi, mother."
She slowly lowered her sword and approached me. Her attention was momentarily stolen by my open book.
Her bare feet slapped ominously against the hardwood floor of the library. She stopped at the doors leading to the balcony.
"Lafayette," she said, her voice dangerously calm. "Did you do that?"
I swallowed hard. There was no escaping this one. She saw the book, the ripple of the water, the residual Ouro in the air.
Well, my luck was bound to run out eventually I suppose.
"I… I was just practicing," I squeaked.
The dragon in my hand spoke. "Boy, perhaps we can cause a distraction and flee. It's our only hope at survival."
I don't think that'll work. I replied. She's too fast.