Leaving behind the futuristic Colosseum Tia took both of them back and threw them in their room and started to walk towards her own.
"Suicidal maniac." Words left her mouth which will remain unheard for much time to come. She did not know that he would find such an agonising method to form a core, there are many different ways to form one but of course they won't be this effective.
An important thing to be noticed was the condition of his core, they had cracks, indicating that it was ready for a breakthrough.
The night was really uneventful and bland because the couple was knocked out and they did not wake up until the next day.
In a hall room Tia was sipping on a cup of tea while reading a book, which was weirdly titled 'Learn to not kill anything unintentionally?'. Looks like someone is really trying to be gentle with her methods but she was interrupted by the tapping sounds of people coming down the stairs.
"Woah, would you look at that, some people finally decided to wake up." She said while nudging her big round reading glasses as she wore a smirk on her face.
Ryan entered the hall with a beet red Selene, Only she knows why she is so embarrassed that she didn't even reply to Tia's provoking remark.
"This is new. Ryan, are you sure you didn't do something, you know, something weird with my friend." Her smirk now turned to a full blown smug expression.
"Hmm, not really, she was acting like this from the moment she woke up. I tried to ask her but she didn't say anything." He was scratching his head in confusion.
Tia looked at her friend whose face said that she didn't want anything to be revealed. What a perfect chance to mess with her.
"Oh I know, bec-" Before she could say anything, Selene's figure disappeared from her original location with a loud bang. It was so fast that Tia didn't even get to finish her words.
"Let's talk about it later." She said while stuffing Tia's mouth with a handkerchief. She was still blushing for god knows what reason.
But how can that poor piece of cloth stand in the way of a dragon, so it was burned until nothing was left of it. Tia said with her still smug face "If you want to stuff my mouth then do it with chocolates. A tasteless piece of cloth cannot keep me quiet."
"Chocolate?You guys have chocolate in your world?" Ryan didn't expect her to know about chocolates which were his world's second luxury after liquor.
"Duh! Of course we have chocolate. My brother took a few cocoa seeds from your planet a thousand years ago and planted it in his personal garden and later produced the widely known delicacy. He earned a lot of money from his unique formula." She sighed while remembering the era when most dragon kings descended on Planet of Gaia to rule. Some were successful at it but later her father called them back saying 'Playtime is over.'
"I am not surprised because we had several myths of dragons in multiple widely known religions." Ryan said with a sigh of his own.
"Well enough talks for now. Shall we go?" She said while standing up from her seat as her round shaped glasses turned into fragments of light and disappeared. She might have asked a question but her expression said he had no control over what they are going to do now.
"Ok" As he finished his words Tia's body disappeared from her original position and less than a second later Ryan was flying towards the training hall while coughing blood.
"Was this necessary?" Selene asked with a deep frown on her face. Tia now standing where Ryan stood a moment before.
"No, I was just venting my pent up anger on him." She started laughing hysterically while she motioned for her friend to follow her.
When they reached the training hall they saw Ryan sitting at the same place he sat yesterday. He was looking around the entire place with fascination. He noticed two women walking towards him and nonchalantly said "Your tendencies don't surprise me anymore."
"So you knew that you would be punched like a ragdoll again?" Tia had a sadistic grin on her face.
"No, I just know that you don't like doing things the normal way." Ryan still maintains his calm tone while also using a more acceptable remark.
"Says the man who went on a suicidal path to create a mere peak stage red core." She tapped on his forehead with her finger. Upon this act she felt a piercing gaze on her back but ignored it like a pro.
"Was there a normal way to do it?" Ryan was confused because he thought that what he did was the norm of forming cores.
"Yes and it's not painful at all." She started laughing when she finished her words. She wiped a small teardrop forming at the corner of her eye and said "When I asked you to form a core it meant that you just need to direct the mana in the atmosphere to your chest and fill the empty gap with it. As simple as that."
"You went on your own and collected mana without any restraint by forcefully widening the pores in your body, but you didn't stop there and collided the mana already flowing inside you, with the newly entering mana which caused a painful reaction and turned you into a living volcano. So yes, you are a fool." She said with a calm face but her words oozed with Sarcasm.
"Hmm.... it worked just fine and I am still alive to tell my tale." He sighed while thinking if there was an easy way to do it then why didn't she tell him about it.
"So what are we doing today?" He asked while lying down on the cold floor of the training hall.
"Time for some theory I guess." She said with a grunt like she wasn't willing to explain anything and jump right into beating him up.
"One might think if a being can utilise mana without forming a core then why bother with it in the first place, right?" She said with a slight smile as a throne made of water appeared as she sat cross legged on it.
"No, because a mana core serves as a designated place for mana to reside in a highly condensed form, which in turn allows the user to have a more sorted out way of using mana, making it faster to cast spells and even utilising it to form a sort of elemental layering over their bodies and weapons, which results in them being faster and stronger. It also enhances their original 5 senses." She continued with a nonchalant voice.
"So, If two beings fight and only one of them has a core, who do you think will win?" She asked with a little smirk on her face.
"The one with the mana core maybe? I am not sure about it because when two people fight, it is never about a single advantage. Focus, experience and even physical strength plays an important part. If a guy who has been stuck in his room for his whole life and suddenly gets a mana core, will not be able to fight a person who has been trained mentally and physically for as long as he can recall." Ryan said with a confident look on his face.
"Bravo! at least you are not oblivious because if you were? you would be thinking that you are stronger than before, and let me tell that you might have a little gem in your chest but you are still a wyrmling." The smile never left her face.
She asked a question to which he already decided an answer to "This is the final time I am asking. Are you sure you want me to train you? because if I do, your life will be at risk each and every second until you leave this place."
"My dad didn't raise a coward." His eyes turned silver as he saw the woman adopting a crazy expression but like he said, he is really familiar with her now.
"You think I didn't see that? you might think you are sneaky but in reality you are far from it." She got up from her majestic looking throne and kicked Ryan with a force capable of breaking his ribs but before she could hit him, Ryan's signature black flames covered her entirely.
"Using tricks again huh." She said with a slight frown which was not noticeable.
Ryan didn't see what happened next but he was down on the ground with his limbs flying off in the air.
"Don't use tricks that make you vulnerable. You are not at that level that you can fool me twice." She stomped on his chest with a blade protruding from her heels. Ryan seeing this knew that he had very less time so he tried to use [Switch] again but to his dismay it didn't work and he was pierced by a blade laced in a venom which was especially harmful to dragons.
"Now, we can finally increase your proficiency in using mana. You can keep your cheats to yourself for now. Get up." She moved back to the opposite position where Ryan was lying face up.
"Ok." He said as he stood up. The wound in his chest already healed but the venom was still moving with his blood, reaching every corner of his body.
"Now conjure a simple fire ball." Her voice echoed in the entire hall as she turned to look at Selene who was sitting in a room which had a huge panel for spectating.
As if sensing Selene's nervousness she transmitted "Don't worry."
Selene facepalmed when she realised that Tia was not going to explain anything to him. She wanted to smack that woman to oblivion but refrained from such actions.
Tia turned towards Ryan and saw a fireball which was approximately 50 metres in size. She narrowed her gaze and asked "So how much mana did you pour in this disaster?." She asked with a bit of interest.
"I don't know, but I barely put anything in this." He said with a straight face as he threw that huge fireball. Tia smiled as she conjured a huge wave of water to extinguish the entire thing. Huge waves of vapour filled the surrounding but the dragons were using their ocular abilities to pierce through any blockages. Two pairs of shining eyes were staring at each other as both of them disappeared the next moment. Huge waves of water were forming as a golden spear shone with a bright golden red light. A storm was coming.
Ryan seeing this smiled and used wind element to conjure multiple arrows which were sharper than any weapon known to humans on Earth but it was still not enough so he formed a bow made of water and used it to fire his wind arrows at the woman who was floating nonchalantly like she was not even a tad bit worried about his attacks.
Ryan was a bit displeased but didn't lose his composure and used the other two remaining elements to form an attack ranging at 100 metres. It was a sharp spear made of earth, its spearhead covered by two different types of fire. Gusts of wind swirling around it and water forming ice shards which were flowing with the wind, adding more lethality to this elemental spear.
Ryan looked drained but didn't stop pushing mana out from his core which had wide cracks. The floating spear gained a more robust appearance as it shrunk in size. Different colours representing certain elements as he raised his voice in a low voice "Move!"
Something unique happened as the mana in the surrounding started combining with the attack as the threateningly glowing spear rushed towards its target. The attack itself was not that surprising to Tia but the utilisation of wild mana in the atmosphere raised a few different flags. Some of joy while others of utter confusion.
Remembering that she was being attacked by a spear which had all the mana present his body while also being assisted by the ownerless mana, she raised her hand and a swirling whirlpool formed as it stood between the target and the attack.
Unknown to her a black sword was moving sneakily through the gap in defence and waited for the right moment to execute something she was ordered to. The ginormous elemental spear broke past the whirlpool with a bang which caused an alarm as she didn't expect it to actually break past her first defence.
A menacing roar resounded as even Selene sitting in the VIP room felt an unknown fear from that voice. This was her first time hearing a dragon god's roar.
On the other side, Ryan's eyes were glowing dangerously as he received a message from the loud and arrogant roar, it was a message ordering to give up.
'She is asking me to bow?' He thought as unbidden rage started forming in his mind but he didn't lose his rationality and ushered the abundant mana particles to converge at one point. It was the tip of his spear glowing dangerously with who knows how much mana.
"Die." Calm words came out of his mouth, words he would have never said to people he knew were trying to help him. He felt immense anger bottling up inside him. He wanted to kill. He wanted to destroy it. He wanted to win.
The spear finally broke her last line of defence but she could barely hide her smile. The spear was nothing, even if she died in this room it will not be true death because this place does not allow any lethal attacks to hit anyone. Only exception to this is when people willfully try to die.
An aura was released as the attack started to disperse in a rapid progression. Ryan sensing this asked the sleepy Umbra to finally move as it was the perfect time to sneak attack.
The sword moved with a speed barely noticeable to a normal eye and did something even that glorious spear could not do.
It pierced through her chest as its edge finally allowed blood to flow from it. It was fast, controlled and finally the opponent had no idea about this attack. It was an attack from a guy who was so proficient in the art of hiding that even his father rarely sensed his presence when they trained.
Umbra just did what she was good at. She was not interested in fighting with this woman anyway but Ryan woke her up and ordered to perform a sneak attack.
As for why Tia couldn't sense Umbra? it was because this sword was drowsy and her body screamed vulnerability. A vulnerable person or thing raises the least suspicion.
Think of it like crushing a sleeping ant. Can that ant do anything to you? Of course not! then why should you pay attention to it? But one should not forget even that ant can give them a bit trouble if it was awake.
Tia really didn't expect such an attack as her focus was completely fixed on the flashy attack which demanded attention.
"You won today, good job." This worked like an indicator as Umbra flew back towards Ryan who had his hand raised, waiting for her arrival. Umbra for the first time didn't feel disgusted from the blood as the blade was completely covered by red blood which was glittering with a strange beauty.
Ryan grabbed his weapon as he noticed that her blood was different from his. He looked at Tia asking for an answer.
"I guess you deserve to know about this. My blood is slightly gold because my mother had primordial blood in her veins. That's all you need to know for now." She said while caressing her chest which was completely healed by now.
"Your blood colour is the least bothering thing to me. Tell me what you did to my body. I am currently seeing 10 of you here. You know how hard it was to aim? I almost tripped while unleashing the attack." A small blue flower appeared before him as it shone with brilliance. "Consume it." He heard her say and he didn't wait and started chewing on it. His vision started getting normal and the feeling of dizziness disappeared.
"Phew.... that was really weird. Thanks for giving me that flower. Can I get more of those because they tasted really good." He shamelessly asked for more which he obviously didn't get.
"No, they are something limited because I can only grow one of them every fifty years." She sighed after thinking that her trick didn't work that well on him as he was supposed to see at least 100 of her after being injected by it.
"Hmm....then I'll grow them too. Give me some seeds." His shamelessness broke every bound as he was showing more of his desires after realising his identity a bit.
"You can't, my blood is required for it." She was wondering why this guy gets excited about the most simple things but then she saw him doing something which turned her face red with embarrassment.
'Bood huh, I wonder if her blood tastes different from normal blood. Well, there is only one way to know.' He slightly licked the blood on the blade.
"Damn this is really delicious. Just some seasonings and this will work as a perfect syrup." Weird words left his mouth as he gazed at her and licked his lips.
"Fucking creep." For the first time she had an expression of fear on her face.
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Thanks for reading :)
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