I was acutely aware that Schnider was listening. Schnider was a tech head. A science nerd all the way so this information would have him practically frothing at the mouth by the time he got back to the human alliance. I ignored the fact that he was frozen as he started processing the information he was overhearing.
"You actually gave me the idea," Bryce rubbed the back of his head nervously, "I saw the way your electricity went through your body, and I wondered why the electric grids weren't compatible with mana. Mana, and electricity are both primal sources of energy so why doesn't it work. That got me thinking. Why doesn't it work? So then I talked to Schnider about what happens when mana is sent through something wired for electricity. Mana doesn't flow through the wires that control normal tech, and just fries everything in the path. So I thought about a way to move the mana artificially that would get it to do what we need. After that it was a lot of trial and error with Schniders help until I came up with a proper mixture that would guide the mana down the wire the same way it works for electricity. The dwarves have been helping to fine tune the process, and provided a good number of the control runes. We can't make anything too complex yet, but we're getting somewhere with it." Bryce realized I was giving Schnider some side eye so he smirked, "Schnider's the one that's been making the actual tech, and putting it all together. We just get him the parts he needs, and created the dragon scale wire alloy needed to make it work."
I smirked slightly, and handed the wire back. Bryce seemed to actually look at Aurora for the first time since we'd started this conversation.
"Did you change your look?" Bryce rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Don't worry about it," I shrugged it off.
A little surprised that I was more concerned about the child giving her attention then the human man, but copper was another male dragon, and Bryce was a human. I simply didn't consider him a threat to our relationship. Maybe that was why Letty wasn't all that worried about me attacking a human. Unless they decided to attack Aurora I would be fine. I spread my wings slowly.
Filling the space above me. I stood up, and then tucked my wings in.
"Looks like we'll have something decent to sell to the humans after all," I headed toward the large doorway that made up the entrance.
The hollow mountain had come alive. The space Aurora, and I had destroyed had long since been repaired. I looked up, and saw the blue sky above me. Striding along the large open pathways that made up the streets around the hollow mountain. Five dragons of my size could walk side by side on these large streets.
There were several landing pads built into the hollow mountain. Two per level except for the very top level which was completely open now. Letty had modified the throne room so that the roof would split, and the large room could open like a flower. Letty's thinking behind this modification was that I wouldn't fit between the pillars eventually. Letty was probably the only living mortal being that had ever seen how big an ancient dragon could get.
He obviously thought I would live a very long time. Either that or he just really liked showing off how big I might get eventually if I lived that long. Letty appeared before me.
"The delegation party is ready for travel," Letty announced.
"Did you manage to yank Schinder away from his studies?" I chuckled.
"Of coarse not," Letty's eyes lit up with a red glow.
Sending a creepy chill up my spine, "What did you do?"
"I simply rendered him unconscious," he answered casually, "Just a little gentle blood manipulation."
"What do you mean by gentle blood manipulation?" I snarled quietly.
Even if I was absolutely terrified of this monster in front of me I could not just ignore him. I was supposed to in charge of this monster. He wanted me to kill him. I had to act as if I wasn't afraid of him. Some part of me thought that eventually this bravery would lead to an actual lack of fear in the face of this terrifying monstrosity.
I didn't know if what was left of his sanity would last long enough for me to have the strength to kill him, and that terrified me. I couldn't stop. I had to continue growing in strength. I was sure that he was strong enough to destroy entire worlds if he wanted to. I needed to have that kind of strength to even attempt to kill this immortal monster.
"I just starved his body of air for a few seconds, and he was out like a light," Letty shrugged off my concern.
The way he'd adjusted his way of speaking to talk like a modern human was another thing that disturbed me. I understood to a certain degree that this was the result of his blood memory ability that allowed him to absorb the memories of anything he drank blood from. Add on the fact that he could literally turn his body to liquid to avoid most attacks with ease, and I was looking at one of the most terrifying creatures in all of earth's history. His thousands of years worth of experience meant he could predict your every movement based on the slightest twitch. It only took him a few moments to memorize your fighting style, and use it against you.
You didn't even need to complete the movement for him to observe that you were about to make the movement.
"Don't do it again," I snorted.
Letty shrugged noncommittally as if he was going to ignore what I'd just told him. He waved for me to follow, and I glanced at Aurora to see if she would come with as well. She had no intention of allowing me to go alone. She was my mate. She would be by my side anytime she desired, and I had no reason to deny her.