"So... you're the one."
Shivers ran through Deja's spine. As he slowly turned around, he felt warm air hitting his back. A low growl rang out, freezing Deja in his tracks. He took in a deep breath.
'[System], prepare to use {Blip}'
[Underst-]
The voice ringing in his head seemed to suddenly cut out.
'[System]?'
A gruff voice rang out behind him.
"Your 'System' wont help you here."
Deja's heart stopped. Cold beads of sweat permeated his skin as he slowly turned, finally noticing just how close the dragons snout was. He stumbled backwards, and fell down onto his rear. Just then, the cavern reverberated the dragons roar of a laugh.
"Pffft, Heheh. My gods, you humans are just to funny. You honestly thought I'd even be able to put a scratch on you? With your abilities?"
This question confused Deja. This dragons aura radiated death, making him seem like a god in his own right. However, this very same being, that seemed all powerful was talking about how powerful HE was?
"Ex-excuse me sir, but I think you're talking to the wrong guy. Based on your aura alone-"
The dragons roar like laughter doubled in volume.
"HA, the wrong person? The orb chose you, did it not? That means you're at least twice my strength, young one."
Twice?!? He knew the orb meant something, but he had thought his power was only slightly greater, not enough for him to win against this ancient beast. Pondering this, he thought of the orb, then what he was there to do-
"Oh! Sir, about the orb..."
"Yes, young one?"
"What is it?"
The dragon went quiet for a while, seemingly pondering what he should and shouldn't say. The orb was a powerful item, in the hands of someone knowledgeable, but its power was lacking when used by the unexperienced. Seemingly coming to a conclusion, the dragons maw opened wide, and its deep voice spilled out through the cave.
"I will tell you what the orb does, and how the orb works."
Deja's eyes widened. "Really?!" His hopes soared high into the sky, until plummeting back down when the dragon spoke again.
"But, I will need you to do something for me first."
----------
Within what seemed like a couple of minutes to Deja, had already been days to the students at Sonus Enclave. Both Eshanya and Engrin* had grown greatly in strength. With Eshanya hoping to be on equal ground with the man who had saved her, Engrin wanted to be as strong as possible to, in his own words, 'Beat that bloody toddler into pulp'. Eshanya had become a Martial level Support mage, while Engrin was at the peak of the Basic level, as a combat mage and due to all of his training. Even though his abilities were far outshined by Eshanya, his aptitude in combat gave him the advantage.
On this day, however, The school was hosting a tournament between the first and second year classes. Eshanya and Engrin were on opposite sides of the roster, so Eshanya tried to win every single one of her fights with the least effort possible, casting 'Rêverie' to KO her opponents. Engrin, on the other hand, was sparing no mercy to those who were unlucky enough to pit aginst him. Using a signature spell he created, 'Éclat de Putréfaction', which instantly decomposed any body part the shard hit. Now, in the final round, Eshanya wanted to win against Engrin as payback for when he had kidnapped her. Roling up her sleeves, she began to chant:
"⍑||!¡リ𝙹, ⊣𝙹↸ 𝙹⎓ ᓭꖎᒷᒷ!¡..."
Noticing this, Engrin launched three shards at her. However, due to her advanced stage, she released a wave of her mana, and dismantled the spell. Confused, Engrin shot another round.
"⊣∷ᔑリℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ꖎ𝙹||ᔑꖎ ∴╎⨅ᔑ∷↸ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑʖ╎ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ ||..."
Releasing her mana once again, this verse seemed to flow thicker, coursing with mana. Enraged that his attack had been nuetralised again, Engrin shouted across the arena to Eshanya:
"You're going to regret that, little girl!"
Feeling the disdain in his voice, Eshanya snorted. How could someone weaker than her deal damage to her. However, it was just this mentality that allowed Engrin to gather all the neccessary energy for his quote on quote, "Final Attack". His next verse seemed to flow with the purest mana anyone had ever felt.
"⊣𝙹↸ 𝙹⎓ ᔑリ⊣ᒷ∷, ↸ᒷᔑℸ ̣ ⍑, ᔑリ↸ ↸ᒷᓭℸ ̣ ∷⚍ᓵℸ ̣ ╎𝙹リ. ⊣∷ᔑリℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ ⍑╎ᓭ ⎓𝙹ꖎꖎ𝙹∴ᒷ∷ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑʖ╎ꖎ╎ℸ ̣ || ℸ ̣ 𝙹ᓵ𝙹リᓭ⚍ᒲ ᔑꖎꖎ ╎リ ╎ℸ ̣ ᓭ !¡ᔑℸ ̣ ⍑."
The spectators gasped. A small voice from the back screamed.
"That's an Elemental tier spell! How the hell is he casting it?"
As this voice screamed, and Eshanya realized her mistake, Engrin unleashed the spell.
"Eruption of Decimation!"
A visible wave of mana flew towards Eshanya at blinding speeds. Canceling her spell, she reached deep into her mana pool and gathered her mana into the shape of a small blade, only useful for cutting mana. To others, it looked like she had summoned a blade out of thin air.
"A sword?! That girl must be crazy! What can that do against the Third tier spell 'Eruption of Decimation'?"
Proving them wrong, Eshanya swung upwards, splitting the spell in half, causing the two halves to veer in opposite dimensions, gouging slits into the ground around her. Jaws across the stadium dropped, and the silence was deafening. Her opponent stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape, until finally the act of draining his mana reservoirs registered. This sent the school into a frenzy, with the sheer power the girl had shown to be that of a great mage.
----------
The dragon lay there as Deja meditated. His eyes seemingly seeing directly into Deja's soul. Occasionally, he offered words of encouragement, such as; "Keep it up!" or "You're getting close!", or even "Young one, The speed at which you surpassed my limits is monstrous.". Hearing the words of encouragement from the old dragon, he thought back to what the dragon had first asked of him.
----------
"You want to do what to me?"
"Teach you."
The dragon lay there, conversing with the human in front of him.
"You want to teach me."
"Yes"
"What do you want to teach me?"
The dragon sighed and slithered towards Deja.
"How to use your skills without your 'System'."
Deja was dumbfounded. The [System] had told him he was the first new being in decades who was able to talk to her, yet here this dragon was, spouting as if he knew the system personally.
"Is that even possible?"
The dragon promptly replied with a concise answer.
"Quite."
----------
And so, Deja found himself in his current situation. He turned to the dragon.
"How much longer?"
"Just a couple more minutes, young one."