Karl was relaxing in his room, pondering the changes of the last few days, and how the progression of the beasts hadn’t been quite what he had expected them to be. Somehow, with her love of the dark, he had thought that Rae would naturally pick up another stealth skill, but from experience, it was the most deadly of attacking skills that she was most in tune with, and the stealth aspect of her evolution was only a secondary facet that allowed her to get close enough to her targets to attack.
Thor using his tail to create Earthquakes hadn’t been too far out of expectations, as it still activated with lightning energy. But Hawk learning fireballs just so that he could torture the water mages more effectively was completely on-brand, even if Karl had overlooked it until it happened.
The drake scale potion was the dark horse in this progression path. Hawk had reacted so strongly to it that it had to be something that was innately perfect for him. But either they hadn’t made quite what he needed, or he just needed a larger dose than he had gotten.
So, while Karl waited, he dug out the books that Rita had given him on resources, and started to sort through everything that contained fire energy or drake scales.
The first list was incredibly long, as fire mages were a well-studied topic, but there were only a few concoctions made with drake scales. The one that they had prepared for the beasts was one. A second one was designed to enhance mana capacity, with a particular benefit to clerics and other healing classes, but there was nothing that had been created with the drake scales that was intended to amplify fire magic.
They could try the second potion, to amplify his mana capacity, and make a second dose of the first potion, in case it was a quantity issue.
But as he was flipping through the book looking for anything that might have been improperly categorized, Karl noticed a bird picture that looked just like Hawk had for those moments before his feathers faded.
[Dragon Hawk] is a Commander Rank relative of the Common Windspeed Hawk species. While they are believed to be unrelated to any of the dragon species, they are known to have an aptitude for fire magic instead of the rend based claw attacks of their Windspeed kin. That aptitude for fire magic, combined with an immense level of territorial pride, has given them the name Dragon Hawk.
Karl read the blurb a handful of times as he memorized the picture. He was certain now that the textbook was wrong, there was some link between the Dragon Hawk and the actual dragons. Or at least between them and the drakes. He was definitely going to need more of the potion, in both variants, so he could see if Hawk could evolve though the use of magical resources.
The actual Dragon Hawk was the size of a normal Windspeed Hawk, so he would be much larger than the average, but if his potential grew to Commander Rank, then Hawk should see a rapid growth in power after the process completed.
It would be nice if he could contact Rita at night, but she was off-duty for the evening, and probably not as enthusiastic about being the one to arrange having potions made overnight as Karl was to ask her.
All he could do was wait and make detailed notes, including how Hawk had looked during the process, and the thesis that he really might stay as a Dragon Hawk, with increased growth potential, if he were granted more of the potion.
There were many more ingredients to the two concoctions, though the drake scales were the most expensive and rare among them. If he prepared some extras from the strongest of the drakes in Hawk’s space, it should be enough to cover for the credits he didn’t have to buy the items.
The Academy was usually pretty good that way, as long as the resource was useful to multiple elites. From what Karl could tell, the drake scales were good for both warriors and mages, and even if you were more powerful, it would still have a noticeable effect.
If it was proportionate to your current power, it might be better to wait, but Karl couldn’t find any notes on that topic in the textbook about resources.
Dana came by a few hours after dinner, with extra dessert and a bowl of sweetened blood for Rae.
The spider had already upgraded the hammock in behind the Gazebo when she was adapting the space for her growing body, and Dana sighed with relief as she saw the quiet spot.
“I know it’s a bit of an inconvenience for you, always having me here, but I want you to know that I appreciate it.” She informed Karl with a smile.
He shook his head. “It’s no trouble at all. In fact, I’m happy to have you over. I think that I might have a way to make a useful potion for you as well. There is a variant of the drake scale potion that is for mana growth.
The book says it’s more for healers and clerics, but it should still do you some good. I think that if I can get enough of it into Hawk, he might evolve into a Commander Rank variant of the Windspeed Hawk.”
Dana stopped what she was doing to stare at him after that announcement.
“You’re saying that Hawk could evolve? Like become a whole new species?” She asked.
“Well, an existing species. The Dragon Hawk is a subset of the Windspeed Hawk that is known for fire magic, and when Hawk drank the potion, he looked just like it for a moment before the effect faded. They also grow to Commander Rank, instead of capping out in low Awakened, which should help his growth rate continue as smoothly as it has been.” Karl explained.
Her smile slowly grew. “That would be outstanding. Not only for Hawk, but for the others as well. They would all have more growth potential, so they could keep working together instead of having someone stuck at their level.
But if the potion is meant for healers, why do you think that it’s going to be good for me or Hawk?”
Karl flipped pages until he got to the right one. He was extra aware of Dana pressed against his back as she came to read over his shoulder, but he managed to focus and point out the ingredients.
“They’re all similar to the one to strengthen scales, except for these two plants, which are also used in the regular mana growth potions that we’ve both taken. So, it’s more of an expanded version of the same thing than an entirely different concoction, I think.
The reason they give it to healers is that refined Drake parts contain traces of Dragon Magic. And Holy Magic is very compatible with Dragon Magic.” He offered.
“Alright, if you have enough scales. How many did you grab?” Dana asked.
“A whole drake.” Karl replied with a smirk.
“Oh my Goddess. How did you grab an entire drake without anyone noticing? There has to be thousands of usable scales on a body that size. I think that everyone in the group would love to have a little cut of that action. We might have been on defence, but we were all there for the fight.” Dana replied.
“Good point. I will give the Sergeant the resources in the morning, and ask her to make enough for everyone. I will have her make some for your pair from the Bureau as well, or they will nag at us until we cave.” He agreed.
Karl woke up the next morning to laughter and the sound of his name being called.
“Karl, come over here and wake up Rae.” Alice was calling from the balcony.
The Bloodbath Spider was sound asleep, but the approaching mage had triggered her defence response, and she had blocked off the gazebo with silk, trapping her and Dana on the other side, where the tutor couldn’t wake them up.
She had obviously tried to get in at least once before, as Karl could see the cut section, which had been patched with a messy weave of web, but she was still on the outside of the gazebo.
“Rae really isn’t a morning person.” Karl chuckled as he called the spider into her space, where she curled up in her nest and went back to sleep, allowing Alice access to Dana, who had been awakened by the commotion.
“Just give me a minute to get ready, and I will cut my way out.” Dana laughed as she realized what was going on.
“You will actually need help with that, unless you have a slicing type spell. It’s Awakened Rank durable silk. You’re not going to cut it without a magical tool.” Alice laughed.