"And how did you plan to defeat him with a simple spoon?" Katrina looked at me with undisguised doubt.
"Not with a spoon, but with what made it move," I replied.
"Well, sometimes metallic objects stick to me, but it won't help us anyway."
"But in a fit of rage, you managed to throw it with astonishing force."
"I doubt that would be enough to kill Dagon."
"Of course, a spoon won't defeat him, but if you could throw something bigger, like a massive spear or harpoon, we would have a chance."
"But what's the point if he heals any wounds?"
"Not all wounds!" I smirked and held a theatrical pause. "No matter how much power he absorbs, there must still be a vulnerable spot, and most likely, it's his heart."
"But," Alira joined the discussion, "what we saw above the water is not his whole body. Only Lord Sephris saw him in full, but they say that below hides an even more powerful crab-like torso, and his heart might be hidden there."
"That's possible, but no," I countered.
"Where does this certainty come from?"
"I noticed that the Dagon depicted on the bas-relief in the cave was slightly different from what we saw on the cliff. You said it yourself that he develops his body, covering weaknesses and increasing his combat power."
"Well, yes... that's what our legends say."
"Kat, do you remember why your lightning didn't even scratch him?"
"Mmm, I don't know. It seemed like he healed all the damage instantly."
"No, he healed the damage caused by Seleria's flames, but your lightning bounced off without even scratching him because he had a thick armor that repelled the spell."
"Hmm? I didn't notice that."
"You should be more observant. His torso had a slightly different color from his arms and head. Most likely, he used the volcanic lava he was in to build that covering, but he didn't cover his entire body to maintain mobility. The question then is, why would he only protect the human-like half of his chest?"
"Because that's where he's most vulnerable?"
"Exactly. Perhaps, in the battle with Sephris, he realized that he couldn't regenerate all parts of his body with the same ease. So he decided to protect the most vulnerable part."
"Well, that only adds more problems for us," Seleria sighed, raising her hands in despair. "If his armor is made of solidified lava, it won't be easy to burn it even with divine flames, and lightning will be utterly useless."
"Perhaps, but then all we need to do is pierce through it and preferably hit his heart at the same time."
"Hmm. Are you suggesting we deal with him like we did with Ultras?"
"No, that won't work. Ragni won't have enough of Seleria's power to create sufficiently powerful black flames, and Rizel's decaying force won't work on rocky formations."
"And we're back to a dead end."
"No, that's where this little spoon will help us," I smugly waved the spoon in front of Seleria's face.
"And you hope to pierce the armor with that?"
"No, first, I'd like to hear Aileen's explanation of the phenomenon we just witnessed."
"Huh?" The engineer raised an eyebrow. "Why do you assume I know anything about it?"
"Don't be modest. You're involved in various sciences in the empire. Haven't you ever been curious about this?"
"Well, not that I haven't been curious, but we couldn't create decent lightning. You see, we don't have lightning magicians roaming the streets, so we had to generate discharges using makeshift methods."
The girl took out her blade and rubbed it against her sleeve. Then she carefully brought the bone blade close to my hand, and a slight spark jumped between me and the blade.
"Ouch."
"That's the most we've worked on," she said. "Although Trin is currently trying to develop something more powerful."
"But I'm sure you've studied even this little thing."
"Well, we have the general theory. We've come to the conclusion that all bodies possess positive and negative energy, and they are in equilibrium in their normal state. But if you disrupt the balance, for example, by vigorously rubbing two objects of different materials against each other, they can exchange energy, and one of the energies will accumulate in them. And when two bodies are saturated with different types of energy, they attract each other or create a discharge that equalizes them."
"And how did Kat transfer her energy to the spoon?"
"As you can see, metals conduct electricity much better, so they exchange energy more actively. I believe that lightning mages are constantly saturated with both types of energy, allowing them to emit discharges. In their normal state, they keep the more active negative energy inside themselves, presumably in their hearts, while the positive energy is distributed over the surface of their bodies, thus neutralizing the negative. But when experiencing strong emotions, they can unconsciously release their internal energy. Positive energy itself doesn't transfer to other bodies but is capable of actively attracting the negative. And that's the whole principle."
"Hmm, but in one of the battles, Kat used lightning of different energies simultaneously and magnetized several monsters, making them collide with each other."
"Well, mages with good control can, for example, separate the energies on different hands. Then the negative energy from one hand is released into the enemy, while the positive one, on the contrary, draws energy from the enemy. Master said that this way you can multiply the power of your lightning, as you use the enemy's energy against them. However, I still don't fully understand how it works."
"By simply passing the discharge through the enemy, you immediately take it back. The damage to the enemy is simply from the electricity passing through their body. This way, you spend less of your own power, and you can sustain the spell longer. Although I've heard that controlling lightning so easily can be done by very rare mages among you."
"Yes, most people need complex spells and magic amplifiers. Only those who have an innate affinity with the element can control it so effortlessly."
"Or acquired affinity," Leira involuntarily reached for her eye, which had changed its color to gold. "I could never do this before, until..."
The girl timidly looked up at the princess.
"Until I shared my power with you," she said.
"Yes."
"That's great," I rubbed my hands together satisfactorily. "We have two powerful mages who can charge a couple of items with different energies, and we can use it as a weapon."
"Useless," Aileen grinned maliciously. "Just now, in a fit of rage, Katrina released such a charge that she could throw a spoon into the wall, but it was because of its small size. She probably won't be able to throw anything larger than a cup."
"Then we need to create conditions for her to be able to do it."
"Pointless. The charge won't stay in one object for long, and it will still dissipate upon contact."
"What if we place the object in an isolated space? For example, in that fabric from which you made gloves for Vivien. It doesn't allow the discharge to pass through, right?"
"Well, suppose... but still, not every metal can retain magnetism for a long time; usually, it disappears as soon as you remove the charging source. Only certain metals, like iron, can retain the charge for a longer time."
"So why not use it?"
"It will melt before you manage to charge it with the necessary strength."
"And if we use a magical iron alloy?" Alira smirked cunningly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Adamantinum also has iron at its core, but reinforced with other metals and magic, so it can have the required properties."
"And where will you get it from?"
The dragoness patted her injured ankle.
"From the same place it was three hundred years ago."
"The harpoon in the tavern? Then one problem is solved. Now we just need to create a powerful enough bow to accelerate our projectile."
"But you're still faced with the problem of its durability. The ballista on my ship won't withstand prolonged exposure to lightning."
"That's why we'll improve it a bit," I took Miriam's bow. "Mithril is also a very high-melting material, so it will withstand a powerful charge. You said that the magnetic field in ordinary metals disappears as long as there is a moving charge."
"Yes, that's correct."
"Then, for example, we'll charge the bow and make an arrow with an insulated tip and feathers, charging them with different energies so that the tip tries to repel from the bow, and the feathers, on the contrary, attract. And at the moment of the shot, while the arrow accelerates, we'll remove the charge from the bow. The arrow will accelerate but won't be attracted back to the bow and will fly to the target with high speed and enough charge to hit Dagon."
"Hmm, in theory, it might work, but it requires an enormous amount of energy."
"That's why Katrina and Leira will work on it together, and you will calculate how much the arrow can withstand before it starts to melt. All we'll have to do is buy time for them to prepare the shot. We won't get a second chance."
"But you still won't be able to shoot him underwater; the charge will dissipate immediately, and you'll just pierce him with an arrow."
"Don't worry, I'll come up with something for that too."
By evening, we stayed at Alira's house. Aileen was curious about her magical ore research, and the dragoness herself was not averse to chatting. At some point, Ragni slipped out of the house unnoticed, and I decided to follow her.
The girl was peacefully lying on the meadow behind the house.
"I see you had urgent matters if you left us so discreetly," I lay down next to her.
"Well, we don't really like the company of blue dragons," Ragni said with a sad chuckle. "In fact, my mom and I heard about a dragoness living here who can host strangers, but we deliberately avoided her."
"How rude."
"No, you see, they love to chat, and if you don't stop her, she can talk all night long. That's why the red and black dragons can't get along with them."
"And other races? Do they react differently?"
"And you thought we were distinguished only by the color of our scales?" Ragni smirked mischievously. "There are certain differences in our characters. For example, black dragons behave confidently and proudly but not arrogantly. And, of course, we prefer action over words."
"I fully agree with the last point."
"Hmph, do you know how many people died because of the indecisiveness of their rulers? We prefer not to dwell on problems but to solve them. And perhaps, this can also be considered our distinctive trait. However, we are loners and prefer to live the lives of hermits. Most of the time, we live alone, at most in pairs, and even that for a short period. It's probably because we are already used to living in dark caves."
"That's why you didn't want to socialize with us?"
"Maybe, but enduring your company for a hundred years is well within my capabilities. And then... Then, I'll deal with it, like all my kin who have connected their lives with humans."
"And that's why you don't want to be in this confined space with everyone else?"
"Not exactly, but I will return to that too. Take, for example, the red dragons. You've met them too. They are proud, arrogant, self-assured, and sometimes cruel. When the dragon army was created, they always took the forefront because they were confident in their invincibility. That's why many of them perished on the battlefield. They are even more reckless than our tribe. But unlike us, they are social creatures; they love to build developed societies with traditions and laws. Although most likely, they do it to show off their greatness, even if it's just in front of their own descendants."
"Mm, no wonder the ancient dragon killed a god from that tribe."
"Yes, most likely, his pride led to that outcome. However, they might be the only ones with whom our tribe can maintain a somewhat constructive dialogue. With other species, it's much worse."
"Why don't they please you?"
"Well, for example, the white dragons. Their human and dragon bodies are too enormous, so it's hard for them to stay in one place. If they sit without moving for too long, they fall asleep on their own. If you don't believe me, you can look inside the house; the little ones have probably fallen asleep already. Besides, they are silent, calm, and dreadfully slow."
"So, you can't have a dialogue with them either?"
"Well, it's just hard to talk to someone when you don't know if they are listening to you or not, or maybe they fell asleep and don't care about your arguments. And sometimes, you know, you just want to teach them a lesson, like painting their face, for example."
"Just don't tell me that your mother did that during negotiations with the white clan."
"Mmm... of course not, how could you think that of her?"
"However, you seem to be lost in thought," I teased with a sly grin.
"Well, maybe there were a few times. But still, they are better than, for example, the golden dragons. Those are walking examples of arrogance and an inflated sense of self-importance!! Although, honestly, they are the smallest among dragons, but since they are the children of the eldest brother, they consider themselves the center of the universe!!!"
"Come on, you're not the most humble either."
"Heh, that's because you've never encountered the golden ones. They have a unique talent for annoying their interlocutors with every single phrase they utter. Building a dialogue with them is indeed challenging, although, surprisingly, the blue dragons manage quite well."