Two options!
Two paths!
As with every path, these two are also filled with their own troubles and their own advantages.
Being a Master of Mystical dragon would give me unlimited energy of different types if I can get these Overwatcher's permission.
maybe I might stumble into a dimension without an Overwatcher.
I don't know, what I know is that there are countless dimensions out there, so the chances are not null, although it is pretty low
And I have to go with the demands of Overwatcher if they have any, and I am sure they will certainly try to make use of a Guardian candidate to their advantage.
Second is Drawing Essence and becoming an Elemental dragon if I do that I can only choose one Element and the Essence I can use would be limited to how much I can draw from The One which according to Trevor is not that much. And I don't know how to use it.
But I am free to use it however I want. There is no reason to get permission from a third party because I can get Essence directly from The One.
I need to calm down and think from a different perspective
Hmmm… being a Master of Mystical Art is literally the same as importing industrial products from a foreign nation.
As a dragon and a Guardian, I can offer many things so I can consider myself a country with a great economy, and as an importer, I can give a good deal to the exporter, in this case, The Overwatcher. I can purchase from a wide variety of sellers and there might be people out there who are willing to guide me.
But I can never achieve self-sustainability, and that is something I sorely needed
If we take the second option, The beginning will be very harsh, especially without any prior experience and no one to guide you.
You have to experiment one by one, walk through many ways and knock on different doors to get results.
But doesn't every successful story of people back on earth is filled with failures before achieving miracles, and it is men and women like them that build nations.
It took them time and persistence to achieve what they are now. And I can say with confidence that I do not lack both of them.
As a human I was persistent!
I never gave up on getting the attention of my family!
I never gave up on my art college degree!
Even though there existed a time I wanted to end my life. I never gave up on my life!
I am persistent
As a dragon, I am sure I can live for a long time, so I do not lack anything I need!
The only thing I need to do is choose.
The First option we offer many things and sure I can survive but it will constrain me in the long run. So the best choice for me is to work on self-sustainability
"I want to be an Elemental Dragon," I said, voice filled with anticipation
There is a chance what I am doing right now might be a mistake. But I would not regret it, I want to be confident in my choices, so I can be confident in myself, only if I can stand strong in my beliefs and decisions can I really be truly free.
Yes! Trust in yourself Ryan so what if you choose wrong? you just have to work hard to make it right. I mentally cheered for myself
[Acknowledged] Trevor's voice echoed, [close your eyes, we should not wait any further, just follow my instructions]
"Shouldn't we do it somewhere else?" I was now at the top of a tall tree, and although I was safe here until now, I don't know how secure this place was.
[No need to worry, you are safe here. The creatures that inhabit the floor are called dire wolves, they are creatures that are unable to climb trees and they live far end of this floor]
Huh? Does he know what lives here?
Does that mean he really does know everything about this dungeon?
[Close your eyes] Trevor repeated
I did what he said, closing my eyes tightly. I braced for whatever was coming, but the pain I expected never came. I felt nothing for some moments.
Then it came,
At first, I felt a ticklish feeling in my nose like someone was pushing a thin thread inside my nose, it was really sensitive so the itching feeling caused by the thread was kind of annoying
I really want to open my eyes and see what Trevor is doing with my nose.
[Don't open your eyes, just take deep breaths]
Trevor warned, although his voice was emotionless as always, I felt like his tone was quite stern
Startled by the sudden warning, I clenched my eyes shut tightly as Trevor instructed, I took a deep breath in, and one more in a Rhythm
After taking a few breaths I felt a cold sensation in my throat, like, it spread through my throat to my esophagus then to my stomach. But moist feeling suddenly disappeared
"Kuiii!" a sharp pain erupted all around my body, like hot lava flowing through my veins and the chilling sensation in my throat increased,
[Don't stop breathing]
I heard Trevor's voice, I tried to take a deep breath again but realized that I couldn't, there was a lump in my throat, which made it very difficult to inhale, which in return made me panic, one led to another and I accidentally opened my eyes....
And boy was it a mistake?
The moment I opened my eyes, I was able to catch a glimpse….. Of an enchanting blue mist, then without a warning, it started to hurt….. Really hurt.
"KUIIIIIIII KUIIIIIII" I let out a wail of agony
My face felt like it was melting, and my eyes started to burn. The harsh pain I am feeling right now made the earlier pain laughable
[Ryan close your eyes! ] Trevor again warned [close your eyes!!]
I heard his voice but I could not follow it, the pain was too much, it clouded my mind making my thoughts fuzzy. To make it worse I saw nothing but darkness and I could feel something dripping from my face which made me think that my face might really be dissolving.
In the end it was too much, the pain and dread was too much for me to bear, my brain went overdrive making me promptly pass out….
After few hours
********
When I woke up I was in pretty bad shape, all my muscles were aching, my face was burning and I felt so tired and famished, I slowly stood up and gave my body a good shake,
[Good morning] Trevor said, appearing before me out of nowhere as usual, I was too tired to be startled so my response was just a huff.
I looked around and found out that I was on ground not on the tree, I looked at Trevor in confusion.
[You slipped from the tree during the ritual] he explained
Ahh, I gave him nod of acknowledgement,"so what now," I asked
[The Ritual is complete and successful, all you need to do is learn how to use it]
I wanted to ask 'how am I supposed to do that? ' Then I realized the fact that Trevor had warned me about not being able to help me with Elemental Dragon, so I swallowed my question.
'maybe concentration is the key'
An idea inspired by too many novels came to my mind, and I felt like it was worth a shot. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate, or more like mentally pray for something to appear.
And unexpectedly I felt a draining feeling in my heart, a second later an orange aura shot out from all-around my body, coating me like a protective barrier.
My heart started to beat wildly with excitement, 'that was... easy!'
I raised my hand to touch it but as if it had a mind and knew what I wanted, the aura around my body flowed into my hand, concentrating into a dense ball.
I was taken back 'Wait, does it understand what I am thinking' I tried to test my theory, I mentally ordered it to move to my other hand and to my delight the ball of aura flew into my right from left…..
'It does listen to me!' I mentally rejoiced
I turned my head to Trevor, who was just watching me play with my new found power, like an adult watching a child play with his toy. Although Trevor did not say anything, I felt like he was encouraging me to keep experimenting.
For the next few hours I experimented on it, and I was able to figure out many things. First and foremost is that it did not have a mind of its own, just that it is very easy to control, just a thought from me is enough to control it.
I don't know whether it is because it's just straightforward or I am just that too good.
Second thing is the Reserve of Essence I have is pretty low, maybe jthe size baseball, I found it after a few probing, everytime I use essence I could feel something draining from my heart and when I use all up I could feel it is empty.
There is no side-effect or drawback like physical exhaustion or something if I drain my reserve as shown in novels, I just won't be able to use it until it is refilled. As if now the only use I found of Essence is coating my body with Aura, which gives me an extra layer of protection and gives me a small boost in my strength and speed.
And there is one more thing I found out... using half of my Reserve I conjured a aura ball in my arms, then I give out a mental command 'shoot'.
Like a bullet it shot out, it was very fast and the moment, it touched one the trees it exploded, spitting flames all around the surrounding.
'yup my element is fire'