As Damien flew through a cloud he saw that Neel was looking at the sky, not moving at all. "Have you given up already?" asked Damien to no reply. Neel simply turned to look at him before continuing to look at the sky, it seemed as if he was deciding on something.
"Did you know that of all the variable elements none can be used without the mage first having an affinity towards it? Even though it is said lightning magic was created by Algard, no other dragonborn has shown an affinity to it for centuries. It is said that if a dragonborn is able to wield lightning it will be a power like no other. But alas it was just a false prophecy told by the old who regretted their past losses. If a true Elder dragon with a 6 star core was slain even with tier 10 lightning in his arsenal what could the rest of us hope to do?" said Neel in a pondering tone.
"At least that's what I always thought whenever my father would tell me that story. When the age came that I could use magic I desperately hoped that I had an affinity to lightning but it was not meant to be. I was a genius even among dragons with three affinities but lightning wasn't among them. So I drowned in my innate longing for revenge I sought a way to use lightning magic even without an affinity. Those were the days I was truly known as 'The Dragon Prince'." continued Neel as he stared at the setting sun intently.
"I don't know what's gotten into you but I've had enough of your ta-" Damien tried saying when suddenly the wind began roaring as if it had come to life. "What's going on?" Damien said as he tried activating Ascalon's nullifying abilities yet the wind continued to roar.
"I scourged the land pillaging from humans what I could, stealing different techniques to strengthen my mana core and continue my research on magic. When I finally reached 5 stars I hit a bottle neck and that's when I found my answer. It was a woman named Lilly. She was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen yet what caught my attention was the fact that she was from a family of ice-mages, something that seems impossible because although genes are passed on magical affinities aren't. So I tried kidnapping her. I thought that if I could study this strange woman I could get the answers I needed. How young and naïve I was." said Neel as a smile swept through his face.
At this point the wind was raging like an angry monster ready to attack at any moment. Damien wanted to get out of there but he couldn't. Although the wind seemed angry he was drawn to it, like something deep within his soul always knew the raging beast. So he kept still and listened.
"What I didn't know was that she was a thorned trophy. When I tried to kidnap her she unleashed a force upon me like I had never felt before. It felt as if her ice magic didn't come from her alone. It felt as if the land itself was helping, as if the snow that perpetually fell in her homeland was helping the daughter of their soil. And that's when I realised, it was helping her. With every spell she cast the land would get even colder and her spells increasingly stronger. I, the Prince of Dragons almost lost that day but before she could land a finishing blow she collapsed due to frostbite." continued Neel.
"The very source of her power ate away at her like a hungry beast. I couldn't leave her there to die, after all I wasn't through with my research so I took her to a place I was staying at. When she first woke up she tried to kill me but she couldn't use magic. It seemed her mana core was weakened, but I told her she needn't worry. That I no longer meant her harm. She didn't trust me at first and asked me to take her home, but I couldn't do that. I lied to her that I would take her back once she recovered and not a second sooner. She was sceptical about this but she couldn't leave anyways. The place where I took her was a mountain peak high in the clouds, she couldn't escape even if she tried." .
"Over the days we became more friendly towards each other and we eventually opened up. Both of us were bound by the expectations of our families. With a common suffering our friendship became a budding romance and that's when we had the twins. She tried asking for her family's blessing for our marriage but they refused to let her betroth a dragonborn so we fled." said Neel as a single tear rolled down his face.
"Have you gone senile? Why are you telling me this?" said Damien looking now more annoyed than awed.
"Because that day I found both my answer and my new purpose. A way to use variable magic without an affinity so long as you have its base properties." said Neel wiping the tears of his face as the sun completely set.
"Pfft. Your desperate 'prince'." said Damien in a mocking tone. Although Damien tried acting like a virtuous man at all times he had had enough of Neel's blubbering. That's when Neel's eyes crackled with lightning and the wind stopped. There was an eerie silence made worse by the lack of stars in the night sky and the many clouds gathering around them.
The silence was quickly filled by the sound of the clouds rumbling. *Crackle* a split second later lightning shot out of a cloud striking Neel, Neel pointed out a finger and the lighting bolt came out of it hitting Damien square in the chest. Another lightning bolt struck at Neel and the same thing happened. Although Damien's equipment was the best the Church had to offer it still couldn't completely stop nature's wrath.
Damien felt like his lungs would explode. He looked up to see if Neel was preparing another lightning bolt but as he looked at Neel he could see that the lightning was taking a toll on him as well. With Ascalon's nullifying ability activated Neel was robbed of his regenerative powers which was made apparent by the trail of blood coming out of nose.