Chương 176: Chapter 175 [How To Train Your Dragon]

"Not somewhere with fire hazards everywhere, though," Sam said, glancing meaningfully at Phil.

"We could head toward water," Luka suggested, still sat at the table with the egg resting in front of him.

"Somewhere it doesn't matter much if things go a bit wrong." Torren shook his head slowly.

"I know somewhere. Not far south of here, off to the west a little. There's a clearing in the forest with a beautiful spring right in the middle of it. The whole thing is near enough a perfect circle—like something intentionally cleared all the trees around the water. Plenty of room, and quiet. Good for training. Good for sitting and doing nothing as well, if that's what anyone needs after the last few weeks."

"Sounds perfect," Leo said.

"What if Phil manages to accidentally set one of the trees on fire, though? I know you said there's plenty of space, but will it be enough?"

"Yes, I think so," Torren replied.

"It's fairly wide, plus the trees in that clearing are strange. They could probably take a hit from one of his fireballs and come away slightly singed at most."

"That sounds cool. A real magic forest vibe," Luka said. The egg wobbling put an immediate stop to the conversation. It wasn't much—just a small rock from side to side, there and gone in a second—but it was enough that everyone in the room caught it. Luka sat up straight.

"Woah. Holy crap." He stared down at it like it might do it again if he dared look away.

"The egg wobbled. You think the little guy's close to hatching?"

"Could be a little girl," Rika pointed out. Luka grinned, his eyes still glued to the golden shell.

"You think the little one's close, though?" Nods and "maybes" went around the room.

"Right," Luka said, standing up.

"If we're going out, I'm bringing it with me. I'm not leaving it here on its own if that's what's going on. Want to make sure I've got what I need first, though. I'll pop to the town center and grab some stuff just in case today's the day."

"We could do with grabbing food anyway," Parmo said.

"In case we're out longer than a few hours. We'll sort that while you're gone."

"Cool. Won't be long." The group set about grabbing food and bottles of water, along with anything else they thought might come in handy. Luka was back before everyone had even finished packing, bag in hand and what looked like a dog bed tucked under his arm.

"Really, dude? A dog bed?" Phil asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, they must have been all out of dragon beds at the pet store, you fucking idiot," Luka shot back.

"Of course I got a dog bed. My little dude isn't going to be sleeping on the floor."

"I'm only joking! Calm down, man," Phil said, hands raised in surrender.

"Are you nervous? It's unlike you to snap at a shite joke."

"Yeah, my bad, man," Luka sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's just totally different from expecting puppies or something. I don't know the first thing about raising a dragon." He paused, glaring at Parmo, whose mouth was mid-open.

"No, I don't need to consult the movie, and no, I'm not naming it Toothless." Parmo turned to Rika, stunned.

"Holy shit. How did he do that? That's exactly what I was going to say."

"Maybe he got a mind-reading spell?" Rika joked. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Nah, he's too stupid for that," Parmo grinned. Luka silently gave him the finger.

They were barely through the southern gate when Luka pulled open his bag to show the others what else he had inside. Resting at the bottom were a handful of plain gold watches—nothing fancy, just the kind you'd find on the cheaper end of a jeweller's display.

"Grabbed these before we left," he said.

"Marcus reckons gold might be what the little dude finds soothing, with his egg being gold and all. Figured it couldn't hurt to have some on hand. If that's true, this should keep him settled if he gets restless."

"Not the flashiest gift for a firstborn," Phil noted.

"Didn't want to hand him the good stuff only for him to decide it's a chew toy."

"Fair point," Sam agreed. The new wall ran along the edge of the farmland, freshly finished, and beyond it, the ground opened out into sweeping plains running south along the coastline. A few farmers were out checking on crops that were still growing at a record-breaking pace, and one of them lifted a hand as the group passed. Torren returned the wave without breaking stride.

"Right," Leo said, mostly to fill the quiet.

"I've been going back and forth on what to do next with my magic."

"I'm pretty set on mine. What are you thinking?" Sam asked without turning.

"Amp is already massively OP. Whatever's behind it once I push the mastery up is probably going to be even worse or highly specialized, but that's going to take a while to reach. I still have that Slowing Field spell left over from my earlier choices. I think that could fit in really well with what I have so far, plus it synergizes with the rest of your abilities. It's lower tier, but that means it'll start off cheaper on mana, and it'll be faster to level up." Leo glanced at Sam.

"Lock a group down, drop the fog over the top, hit Amp, and they won't even see me coming before it's over."

"They don't see you anyway, so that feels like total overkill," Sam said with a smirk.

"Not a bad thing, though. A slowing field is the sort of spell that's completely broken in certain games and useless in others. With the way our utility spells have felt way more powerful than straight-up damage spells so far, it sounds like a solid idea, man."

"Yeah, I think so too. I'll be focusing on grinding Amp's mastery up at the same time anyway. By the time I unlock the field spell, I'm hoping my next major ability will have revealed itself instead of those three question marks I'm getting right now."

"Smart," Torren agreed.

"There's no shame in taking the shorter road when it still gets you somewhere useful."

"I thought about that myself," Phil said.

"I could have picked something from my earlier spell choices, but I want to focus on mastering Fire Coat as fast as I can. I could go with Fire Lance or something, but I want to see how OP the three new ones are after Coat."

"Sounds about right," Luka said with a chuckle.

"Phil, always chasing the most absurdly OP stuff he can get his hands on as soon as possible."

"Well, I want to have something on the level of Leo's Amp spell! That shit is completely unfair," Phil complained.

"And Sam's Phantasm is just terrifying. I've got fireballs and fire swords. That should be cool enough, but somehow it feels like the classics are losing out to weird anime powers. It's bullshit." Leo and Sam burst out laughing.

"I'm the opposite," Parmo chimed in.

"I'm going to be grinding my ice wall spell up properly to see what falls out the other side. Thinking it's got to be something with more range. An AOE ice floor, maybe. Or a full-on blizzard, if I'm lucky."

"That'd be mental in a fight," Rika said.

"Imagine if we had something like that on hand the other day."

"Right?" Parmo nodded.

"Those monsters wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the town. They'd be freezing and lost before they even got in range of Leo and his whole 'Omae wa mou shindeiru' bullshit."

"Nani?!" the lads echoed as one. Even Phil couldn't resist joining the meme, the anime reference completely unlost on him.

"I already know what I want next," Sam said, bringing the focus back." Zone of Dominion. It's way bigger than the shroud, and it's not just concealment. Inside that zone, I'd know exactly who's there, what they're carrying, armor, weapons, anything hidden on them... poison, explosives, whatever."

"Yeah, that's going to be insane for the town—and if we ever end up traveling around," Phil said. Sam nodded.

"Exactly. Knowledge is power and all that."

"I've got mine sorted, too," Luka said." Gravity Well. From what I can tell, it isn't just a pull toward me—it's a pull toward wherever I drop it. Set it behind someone charging at one of you, and they'll feel like they're trying to walk through thick mud just to keep straight."

"So basically like cranking up the gravity in a specific spot?" Parmo asked.

"Yeah, exactly." Phil looked over at Leo.

"You think he's going to start wearing white and walking along the walls?" Leo grinned instantly.

"Claiming he's Truthless or some shit? Luka wore white on the day he was to kill a king."

"Man, I fucking love that series," Phil laughed.

"I just hope by the time we get back, Sanderson's actually finished it."

"Nah, man, it's going to take him years," Leo said.

"If it's finished by the time we get back, the kids are going to be older than I am now. Fuck that."

"Yeah... fair point."