I woke up before dawn.
The silence of the village still dominated everything around the mansion on the hill. Mist covered part of the fields, and the cold morning wind moved slowly through the trees near the main road. From where I stood, I could see a few small lights still on in the houses farther away. Some villagers had already started working early, even before the sun had fully appeared.
I got up slowly so I wouldn't wake the girls, but clearly that didn't work.
"You always wake up way too early."
Scarlet's voice came from behind me while she was still rubbing her eyes.
I looked at her and let out a small laugh.
"You woke up too."
"Because I felt your mana moving."
She walked over while fixing her simply tied red hair. Even though she had just woken up, she still seemed extremely alert.
A few seconds later, I heard footsteps coming from the hallway.
Liriel appeared first.
Then Elara.
Soon after, Vespera, Lyannis, and Rai'kanna also showed up.
It seemed none of them could really keep sleeping whenever I got up early.
"Going to train again?" Rai'kanna asked.
I nodded.
"I need to keep trying to control the Dragon's Breath."
Lyannis crossed her arms.
"You've improved a lot since the dragon kingdom... but you're still forcing too much mana when you activate the flames."
"I know."
"Then stop trying to release raw power."
She said that while walking toward the balcony.
"The problem isn't strength. The problem is control."
I took a deep breath.
That made sense.
Ever since I received the Dragon King's blessing, I had been trying to master the power through intensity. But every time I did that, my mana became unstable.
Rai'kanna stepped closer.
"Draconic flames don't work like human magic."
She raised one hand.
Small red sparks slowly began appearing between her fingers.
"You don't force the flames. You allow them to come out."
I watched silently.
The sparks gradually grew until they became pure fire.
There was no explosion.
No violence.
It seemed natural.
Scarlet looked at me.
"Are you going to stand there thinking, or are you going to train?"
I smiled slightly.
"You really don't go easy on me."
We went together to the open area behind the mansion.
The place was wide and empty, perfect for training. There were a few scattered rocks and a small area surrounded by trees farther away.
The sky was slowly beginning to brighten.
I took a deep breath.
Then I closed my eyes.
I concentrated my mana.
The sensation of draconic power appeared almost immediately.
Heat.
Pressure.
It was as if something incredibly heavy awakened inside my body every time I tried to use that blessing.
I opened my eyes.
Red mana slowly began circulating through my arms.
"Slower," Lyannis said.
I reduced the flow.
The mana stabilized a little.
I tried to concentrate the heat in the palm of my hand.
For a few seconds, nothing happened.
Then a small flame appeared.
Unstable.
Weak.
But it appeared.
Scarlet gave a small smile.
"Better than yesterday."
I kept focusing.
The flame grew a little more.
Then it suddenly exploded.
The fire surged forward violently before disappearing.
I sighed in frustration.
"It's still bad."
"It's not," Liriel replied calmly. "You kept the flame stable longer this time."
I looked at my hand.
It was slightly red from the heat.
Rai'kanna walked over to me.
"The problem is that you still think like a human when using the power."
"What do you mean?"
"You try to control everything with absolute precision."
She pointed to her chest.
"Dragons feel the flow first. Then they shape it."
I remained silent for a few seconds, trying to understand.
Lyannis then continued the explanation.
"Think of mana as running water. The more you try to hold it by force, the more it slips away."
That finally started to make sense.
I took another deep breath.
I closed my eyes again.
This time, I didn't try to force the power.
I simply felt the mana circulating.
The heat slowly increased.
Flames gradually began to appear around my hand.
This time they didn't explode.
They stayed there.
Small.
But stable.
Scarlet's eyes widened slightly.
"Now that's it."
I looked at the flame.
It burned silently.
Without losing control.
Without consuming too much mana.
For the first time since receiving that blessing, I felt like I was truly beginning to understand the power.
I smiled slightly.
Then I increased the flow a little more.
The flames quickly grew.
Intense heat began covering my entire arm.
For a moment, I felt like I could control it.
But in the very next second, the mana became unstable again.
The fire exploded around me.
A wave of heat swept across the field.
Vespera appeared in front of me immediately.
With a quick movement, she cast shadow magic to contain the flames before they could reach the nearby trees.
The fire disappeared shortly afterward.
I stood there looking at the ground.
"Close."
Rai'kanna let out a small laugh.
"But this time you lost control after increasing the flow."
Lyannis nodded.
"Which means the foundation is already working."
Scarlet crossed her arms.
"You're improving way too fast."
I looked at my hand again.
I could still feel the heat running through my arm.
It was strange.
The power felt alive.
As if it reacted to my emotions.
Liriel then approached calmly.
"Don't try to master everything at once, Takumi."
She placed a hand on my shoulder.
"You just received this power. It's natural to have difficulties."
I sighed.
"Even so... I still feel like I'm far from the Dragon King's level."
Rai'kanna smiled slightly.
"And you probably are."
Scarlet let out a small laugh.
"She really doesn't know how to go easy."
"I'm telling the truth."
Despite the blunt response, even I ended up laughing a little.
The atmosphere became lighter after that.
We spent part of the morning training.
Scarlet wanted to spar with me directly to test my reflexes.
Vespera trained movement using shadows among the trees.
Elara practiced wind magic, creating small currents of air around the field.
Liriel continued refining her holy magic.
Lyannis analyzed everything while taking notes in a small magical notebook.
Rai'kanna specifically helped me with draconic mana control.
As time passed, I began to realize something important.
The less I tried to force the power, the easier it flowed.
Near midday, I finally managed to create fire in both hands at the same time.
The flames were still small.
But completely stable.
I looked at them in amazement.
The heat didn't hurt my body.
In fact, it felt natural.
As if my hands had simply been made to withstand it.
Lyannis watched me closely.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"Your body's adaptation is accelerating."
She closed the book she was carrying.
"The Dragon King's blessing is merging with your mana faster than I expected."
Rai'kanna nodded.
"That explains why he can evolve so quickly."
Scarlet looked at me with a small smile.
"So you're saying you're going to become even more ridiculous?"
"I hope so."
Elara then stepped closer.
"As long as you don't destroy half the village while training."
"That only happened once."
"Today."
I ended up laughing again.
After training, we returned to the mansion.
The servants had already prepared lunch.
While eating, we talked about the lands, the villagers, and the reports the minister had shown us the previous day.
Things were gradually improving.
The crops were responding better after Liriel's purification.
The fields looked healthier.
The region's dense mana was also becoming more stable.
Everything was starting to move in the right direction.
After the meal, I spent part of the afternoon helping the minister with some financial records.
Elara helped a lot as well.
She had an incredible talent for organizing numbers and contracts.
At the end of the day, I went out again to train alone.
The sky was already beginning to darken.
I stopped at the top of the hill behind the mansion.
The wind blew gently.
I closed my eyes.
I concentrated my mana once more.
The flames slowly appeared around my hand.
This time without an explosion.
Without instability.
I observed the fire in silence.
Small.
But extremely hot.
For the first time, I clearly felt that this power was different from any magic I had ever used before.
It wasn't just fire.
It was something much greater.
Something heavy.
Ancient.
Dangerous.
I slowly opened my hand.
The flames gradually disappeared.
I looked toward the distant horizon as the sun finished disappearing behind the mountains of the cyclops kingdom.
Then I took a deep breath.
"This power…"
I looked at my own hand once more.
"…is far greater than I imagined."