A few days later:
POV Ariane:
Brass torches hung from the glossy and polished black walls, their flickery light reflecting in the room made of polished basalt. Tall pillars stood around the walls, supporting the also black ceiling.𝒪𝔳xt.𝐜𝓞𝕞
Ariane sat in a chair chiselled out of a plain volcanic stone, it’s surface also black, glossy and hard. She squirmed slightly, surprised that she felt no discomfort sitting in such a chair.
‘I am so sturdy now.’ she unconsciously moved he hand, touching the horns growing out of her soft white hair.
They were smooth to the touch, their temperature constantly changing between freezing cold and burning hot.
“Uhhh”
She stopped putting her hand down as she noticed that the small elven girl sitting behind a large stone desk was looking straight at her with her glowing heterochromatic eyes.
Ariane slightly shivered, feeling the tense and quiet atmosphere in the room.
Even though the elf before her looked just like an innocent child, she wasn’t stupid to believe that.
She shuddered again under the fierce gaze, ‘Why do I feel like there is some grudge between us?’
“Is there a way I can serve his Majesty?” she finally cleared her throat, interrupting the tense silence.
The elf turned towards a sheet of paper in her hand, “Yes, you can. As you have surely noticed, there is a huge lack of trained war mages in our lines. We have access to innate attack spells, but the inherited memories of kobold do not mention spells used in the large-scale conflicts.”
Ariane silently nodded as she had already heard something similar from the reports while still in the kingdom, ‘Each individual kobold is much stronger than human soldiers. They excel in single combat. However, they lack in large-scale conflicts in an open field.’
She knew they lacked even absolute basics like knowledge of group-casted large-scale attack spells or even the massive dome-like defensive barriers used to protect armies from bombardment.
‘Currently, it is under control as the master destroyed any large enemy military group, but it is bad for the future. What if his majesty goes to hibernation, and in the meantime, his kingdom gets bullied?’ she clenched her fists, a layer of frost spreading through her black chair.
She burst, her shout resonating between the black walls, “That is unacceptable! We are supposed to serve his majesty, not to burden him.”
She immediately shut her mouth close, surprised by such a violent reaction, feeling like it wasn’t like her just to shout when facing someone important.
However, the elf finally smiled as she also nodded her head, her two blonde ponytails bobbing up and down, “You understand that is good. So from now on, you are in charge of it. You will gain resources and space to train war mages.”
Ariane froze, her body in shock as she couldn’t believe how impossible a task she got. She was in a panic, feeling like she wasn’t adequate.
‘How?’
Her complexion turned even paler than usual as the fear of failing her master filled her mind, causing her hands to shake.
She finally managed to push out a few shaky words, her eyes nervously darting around the room, avoiding the gaze of the mean elf, “W-why me? I am sure there are more adequate people out there, people that are veterans and are much more experienced than me.”
The elf just chuckled, making her feel like she enjoyed her suffering, “As you said, they are old and experienced. On the other hand, you are well educated as a high noble, but your mindset is still fresh. You can still learn.
“Your family was using their diluted draconic bloodline for generations. You are what we need. We do not want to just blindly copy what humans do. We want to modify it and improve it for us.”
Ariane pondered for a while, absently looking towards the ceiling before she suddenly beamed, ‘She is right; I may lack experience, but I have theoretical knowledge and a fresh mind! I can do it, I will help his majesty, and maybe I will have more chances with her!’
“Here are the details!” the elf threw the paper she held, a gash of wind carrying it towards Ariane, who was almost glowing.
POV Vesuvius:
The valley with the dragon’s nest rumbled. The earth shook with massive fissures opening in the ground, and a loud bang resounded between the mountains.
The soil launched into the air, followed by an explosion of ash, magma and smoke.
The valley exploded, the sky above it darkening with black clouds. Geysers of magma gushed out of the ground, flooding the valley in the blazing hot liquid.
Finally, a massive fiery explosion rose all the way towards the clouds, the sky turning orange and black. Powerful tremors were constantly rumbling under the ground.
A giant black, mountain-like silhouette of the dragon glowing with purple magma stood in the exploding inferno, the magma splashing and burning around him.
He didn’t even flinch, his golden eyes locked on multiple purple glowing spheres of magma levitating in the air around him. They were quickly compressing in size, growing smaller and smaller with their bright glow painting the whole burning valley in purple.
‘Finally, it happened!’
The dragon raised his hand, the explosion stopping and calming down. The magma in the air froze before raining back down. The whole volcanic eruption was retracting back into the valley as if someone had reversed the time.
Vesuvius relaxed, feeling the energy and heat flow around him, making him feel like he had entered a hot tub. His muscles immediately relaxed, the mana flowing in his veins calming down.
He felt it. The magma was flowing under the thin crust of stone, breaking to the surface, creating channels in its path and transforming the whole valley into a massive volcano.
It was the power of his domain. The power to shape his territory to his comfort, ‘I am a dragon. I rule over nature. I don’t have to bend my knees to it. Instead, nature will bend its knees.’
The dragon slumped down, his body sprawling into the magma lake with an earth-shattering bang, splashing the burning liquid all over his body.
The purple orbs of magma burst open, the purple magma loudly hissing as it mixed with the orange-red magma from the ground. Only small black coal-like objects remained suspended in the air.
‘Nah, I need bigger diamonds and much more of them.’
Ding!
//
You are now level 70
All stats increased!
+5 stat points
+1 ability point
Double evolution is now available!
//
The dragon’s eyes dangerously glinted, flashing with mana flowing through them, ‘It was about time. This war was dragging on for too long. With this power, I will squash that mosquito like the bug that he is.’
Vesuvius closed his eyes, folded his wings in his newly made volcano, and used the command to start his evolution. His heart was pounding in excitement, not wanting to wait any longer to see the available options.