Chapter 6
Areon tilted his head to the side out of confusion.
"Me? Use the elements? What do you mean?"
"It's exactly how it sounds. We can't have you running from low-tier orcs or being caught off guard by Sea Snakes anymore. It almost cost you your life. So I'm going to show you the basics of combat, part of that is fighting with the elements."
Areon couldn't believe what he was hearing. The thought that he could possibly create water tornados like that Sea Snake left him nothing short of fascinated.
"I can really do it?"
"Of course you can, I'll show you how. Now make sure you pay close attention. There are three types of elemental combat that you can use: there's emission, amplification and formulation."
"..."
"..."
"I don't get it."
"Don't worry I'll explain what they all mean in a second."
Krieus looked at a nearby sack of fish that was sitting next to their new cave. He used his tail to pull a singular fish out of the bag and placed it on a stone slab in front of Areon.
"Let's start with what's familiar. Emission is quite simple. This is when you emit an element from your body and cause it to shoot forth once you created it."
He then opened his mouth as black fire began to form around his maw. The fire then shot out at the fish as it began to cook the sizzling meat in the background.
"Oh, you do this all the time when we need to cook dinner!" Areon joyfully said.
Krieus then continued to explain as the fire engulfed the fish.
"Precisely, I'm glad you recognized it, and this is the technique that the Sea Snake character used on you a while back when you experienced that water tornado. Though as you're seeing now. Not all uses of the elements must be combative."
"I see."
"Good. Now, I'm going to show you amplification."
Krieus began to show Areon his tail before the end of it spontaneously lit on fire.
"This is more or less the same thing as emission. But the key difference is that this is close range. Most cases of amplification are direct manifestations of the elements condensed in order to be more potent and deal more damage. The tradeoff being that in exchange for range your damage can increase."
"That's awesome!"
"Indeed it is. You can also preform amplification on such a minute scale that it becomes almost invisible to the human eye. We're using fire right now as an example but you can perform amplification with other more complex elements as well such as a mix of minerals to amplify parts of one's body or certain things. I'm sure that you've realized by now that the scale I gave you was abnormally sharp and quite durable."
"Yeah, actually when I fought that snake guy, he was surprised that I could cut into him at all. Were you using an amplification technique?"
"Using isn't the right word, it's more like an amplification technique was used a while ago before my scale was handed to you. In some situations you may only have to use the skill once to have a lasting effect. But in short, yes. This is an more advanced example of a amplification technique."
"Wow…"
Areon stared at his blade with a newfound appreciation for the craftsmanship that the dark dragon had put into it.
"Last is formulation, the most unique of all of the abilities. This what happens when you create an construct from nothing and form together the elements, completely separate from your being. The downside to this ability is that it takes a tremendous amount of energy to pull maintain. However it's power and convenience easily compensates for that shortcoming.
"Can you show me what that's one's like too?"
"Most certainly."
Then the ground to tremble around Areon causing him to fall on his backside. The loose rocks and debris began to shake in the presence of Krieus' glowing eyes and overwhelming power. Then from the sky appeared a ring of swords, completely made of the same dark, purplish fire organized in a circle, all facing outward as they moved in a clockwise motion behind Krieus' already large frame. Each blade unique in their design and staggeringly gigantic, the entire ring was in fact larger than the dark dragon himself.
In a sense it was beautiful danger.
Areon's mouth was agape, shocked to be near a figure with such an overwhelming pressure for presence.
Mister Puff Puff began to hide behind Areon as the dragon took on an appearance that was more terrifying than usual.
"It feels like he could destroy this entire mountain if he really wanted to. No, I'm certain he could. Just what the hell is this… it's got me so excited!"
Areon sprung his feet back on the ground out of jubilant frenzy and wore an eager grin in his face.
"So does that mean that I'll be able to do all this stuff just like you, pops?"
The swords then disappeared, as their flames withered in the air and the ground slowly stopped shaking. Krieus then looked at Areon with a smile.
"No, not just like me. Since you're human it's a little different than the rest of us. Monsters are able to harness the elements in ways that are still somewhat of a mystery to even we, it's quite frustrating that we don't have the answer to that yet in all honesty. We're not sure why, but all that we know for sure is that humans can't wield the elements like we do."
"What? So then why did you go through all that cool stuff and show it to me for!?"
"Calm down, I'm not finished. Humans found a way through their engineering to be able to replicate and in some cases outdo us in wielding the elements. Through the use of what they called element stones they created a way for you to use the elements how I do."
Areon began to sit down and think to himself, his legs in a crossed formation with his chin resting on his palm.
"Okay I get it now, so what you're saying is that I need to find an element stone...where should I go to look for one?"
Krieus chuckled at Areon's mutterings to himself. Krieus reached into one of the many bags that they had brought up in the mountains with them and handed Areon a thick bracelet with a red gem embedded on its surface.
"You don't need to look for one."
Areon raised his eyes slightly before recoiling in shock at the jewel that was in front of him.
"Is that an element stone?"
"Indeed, I went looking in the old abandoned dungeon next to us and knew I would find something. Once I managed to get this, I had one of the orcs resize the bracelet so that it would fit your wrist. It's a fire stone so be careful. Go on, try it."
Krieus never participated in dungeons but he was well aware of what they were. The dungeon was a place where the biggest,most dangerous monster would usually dwell in, while the rest of the monsters cause mischief elsewhere. They were like a king of their region almost. Naturally, many humans would try to eliminate the beast as their territory infringed on theirs, and the monsters started causing conflict for the humans. So humans began raiding the dungeons.
However many humans died in the attempt to defeat whichever ruling monster was there and as a result, left their valuable goods along with their corpse.
The dark dragon was a little apprehensive about doing what was essentially grave robbing the heroes of humans, but considering the fact that he had nothing to do with their demise and it was to help another human live, he figured the situation was not all too bad. He would just save that bit of information for Areon when he got older.
The little boy giggled to himself.
'Thank you so much, pops!"
He then took the bracelet and placed it on his wrist.
"How does it fit?"
"Like a glove!"
Areon admired the glimmer in the stone before realizing he still had one glaring question.
"Wait, I get that I have the stone now and everything, but does this mean that I can do all the element combat stuff like you? Is it really that simple?"
Krieus let out a guffaw before answering.
"With the right amount of training Areon, I will make you stronger than even me!"
The boy's eyes widened.
"...What?"
"Stronger than...pops? Is that even possible?"
Areon laughed nervously before continuing.
"Well, if you say so. When do I start training?"
The corner of Krieus' lips turned upward.
"Can you think of a better time than now?"
"What-"
But before Areon could speak a large blast of dark fire hurtled towards him and sent him flying off the edge of the mountain.
"Ahhhh!"
The child screamed for dear life as mister Puff Puff sped to the edge of the mountain to watch Areon fall to what would surely be his certain doom.
"What's happening? What am I supposed to do? How do I survive this?"
Then he felt the familiar feel of Krieus' back catch him from below.
As they returned to the top of the mountain Krieus explained the exersise.
He let Areon roll down from his back who was still recovering from the sudden experience, panting for breath and grabbing the ground.
"That's enough theory, we're going to start learning practicals. Practical lesson number one: Never be in a defenseless position. I hit you with an especially weak blast so you could get the feel of battle, but the next opponent may not be so kind. You need to become more accustomed to the intensity of a fight. Got that Areon...Areon?"
Areon rolled over on the ground still breathing heavy as his heart would still not stop racing. Mister Puff Puff came to lick at his face, almost to check if he was still alive.
"I might have gone overboard and started treating him too much like a dragon again…"
Then Areon pumped his fist in the air and confidently replied with a grin, clearly trying to move the only body parts that would respond to him.
"Understood, pops! When I'm ready, let's try it again!"
And from that point onwards it became clear to Areon that the years ahead of him were going to be very different than how he was living now.
The type of life he had before this was officially over and this new adventure had only just begun.
The next couple of years were spent on the mountain and organized with a strict routine by the dragon. From here on out anything happening with the two was more dangerous than what the orcs had bargained for when the dark dragon had accompanied them in the quiet woodlands.
The routine included rough and exhausting training with Krieus as well as Areon trying to further his potency of using the fire stone on his own. Though like one would expect, Areon came to love this system, as it meant he spent more time with Krieus. He would still experience his fair deal of challenges though.
Areon was now twelve as he traveled down the mountain with mister Puff Puff he saw a wild mountain lion. The beast let out a nasty snarl before lunging at him, and using his honed reflexes through the dark dragon's training Areon ducked beneath the incoming lion, then his fist began to ignite with flames.
The embers sparked and quickly grew more fierce in numbers and vigor before punching the lion acutely in the jaw sending it flying across the ground, skidding like a skipping stone.
Though the results were not to Areon's liking.
"Damn it! I messed up the hit again!"