“When I first met Farron? Ahh, those were good times. Like a dashing knight, he swooped in with his griffon Tempestclaw to save me from an ambush against a black merc company. Youth creates confidence and confidence produces arrogance. Back then, I thought too little of humans and other beastmen, so I thought I could handle things by myself,” Yorshka reminisced of her first years as an adventurer. “You see, I was one of the best dragoon trainees in my youth. The kinkyuro, the dragonewt clans born from the most renowned ancient dragons in history, all believed I was a genius and that my future was pretty much set. Mhmm, the elder scales really pampered me, you know. Yup, that genius was nearly caught and enslaved by a bunch of ‘inferior’ humans and beastmen.”
Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer, yikes.
It was the third day of SpringSun, four days after Grimnir began working on his hammer and Yorshka had left for Firwood to send a message to my dragonewt family of my existence. Both of them returned today at dawn, announcing their individual results. Grimnir had finished two hammers and was ready to go craft equipment, while Yorshka announced that The Magical Biscuits could stay in Cedaraille for a bit longer.
Saori and her students decided to continue what they’d been doing the last four days—catching up and doing some training. On the other hand, Yorshka, I, and the rest of Aurora decided to follow her to floor 15. She was planning to perform some “elder scale duty” with me, which meant training, while Grimnir took this chance to start working on Ellaine’s armor by finding ore with his specific requirements.
Cedaraille’s dungeon was currently in reconstruction, but people could still visit it. The Duke explained to me two days ago, when I went to him to collect our part of the bounty from slaying the rachonoid queen, that the dungeon master contracted to the dungeon was currently hard at work in the dungeon’s core room. The amount of mana needed to fix everything the rachonoid caused was immense.
That was why the dungeon was kept open for adventurers, especially for mages. The field before the dungeon was currently being drained of mana with macula plants while any monsters spawned there were being slain and, subsequently, their corpses thrown into the dungeon for mana.
The dungeon itself was in an okay-ish state. On the first nine floors, the burned and destroyed trees had been replaced, the cracked ground was fixed, and the monster populations were being “rebuilt” through monster spawning. The dungeon break areas, however, had been left open for some reason. Good for us though, since we reached floor ten in no time. Using wind spells, we jumped down into the ravine and safely made it to floor 15 in under a day.
During our trip, Ellaine and I got curious about Yorshka’s and Farron’s past. You know, girl talk. We were interested in how Farron and Yorshka got together, and how Farron took on the Nordor name.
Apparently, Farron was once a knight in his youth! Born in the Republic of Estralia, a country bordering the Kingdom of Artorias in the east, he immigrated into Artorias as an adventurer, making a name for himself in the Greenveil Duchy before being inducted into the Order of the Lionhearts with the recommendation of the current Marquess of Firwood and Duke of Cedaraille. In other words, he was a griffon knight.
A griffon, that was the reason why Farron had tamer-related skills in his profile. As a knight, he made it quite far into the ranks of the knighthood as merits were the only important factor in your advancement, not your social status. During a mission to track down and take down a criminal organization, Farron and Yorshka met.
Yorshka, being called a genius trainee of the dragoon order of Loatryx, was extremely pompous in her youth, well, youth in dragonewt terms. Although the adulthood pilgrimage wasn’t a thing for dragonewts, Yorshka still decided to travel the world to broaden her horizons in a similar fashion. Therefore, she traveled south to the dwarves’ Ankor-Nazta and then entered Artorias.
The name “White-Winged Dragoon” spread throughout the kingdom; the up-and-coming solo adventurer was making her name heard. Her arrogance kept growing, until she was cornered by the aforementioned criminal syndicate in a less-than-ideal situation. A dragoon could only show their true power if they could jump and move around freely, so if they were to be kept down through magic, it could become dicey for them.
Farron and Yorshka had already gotten acquainted when she went to the knight order for more information, having accepted a Quest the Order of the Lionheart couldn’t handle. According to Yorshka, “I had the fattest smirk when I first spoke with him. Solving an issue the royal knight’s order couldn’t solve was my way to make it clear how dragonewts are the superior race. Yes, and I told him that straight to his face. By the holy Light, was I a bitch.”
It didn’t go well, as Yorshka admitted. Farron and Gael, who’d recently defected from the Yanderu Elusuess, the criminal syndicate-slash-black merc company in question, swooped in to Yorshka’s rescue just in time. Yet, the company’s leaders escaped before they could reach them.
Embarrassed by her failure, Yorshka accepted Farron’s request to team up to hunt down the group, in addition to saving Gael’s girlfriend, who’d been kidnapped by the black company, prompting his defection.
“Gael’s girlfriend? Did you three manage to save her?” I asked Yorshka, finding it odd that Gael was so much of a wreck when Saori first met him.
Unfortunately, Yorshka shook her head. “We managed to hunt them down to the Kingdom of Rakatheen, which is located southeast from Artorias, and we brought the leaders to justice, but by the time we found Gael’s companion … Well, there is a reason why he turned from a jokester and general nuisance into an alcoholic. Have you met a man named Bo, Hestia? He was the poor girl’s brother. Gael took him in because he had nowhere else to go.”
Gael was born an orphan and became a criminal just to survive. Nowadays, he controlled a spy network made out of street urchins he was taking care of. While you might call it child labor by Earth’s standards, it wasn’t like the kids really had any choice in the matter in Artorias. It was either work for Gael while receiving a wage, housing, and warm food, or join the local temple and become a grey-robed priest and lose most of your freedom in the process. There were no child services or protection laws currently.
After finally landing on floor 15, I had to ask Yorshka about something important, “What happened to Farron’s griffon?”
“He died protecting Farron when we fought against a crystal basilisk.” Yorshka sighed deeply. “Gael decided to leave our party after what happened. Farron was promoted but decided to continue traveling with me. We visited Loatryx, where I taught him dragoon spearmanship. Farron and I became rank As during our time there, hunting down Loatryx’s big monsters for training. Unfortunately, on a quest to hunt down that rank A crystal basilisk, he not only damaged his lungs but also lost Tempestclaw, who was crystallized by the monster’s venomous breath.”
“And you two fell in love, afterward, correct?” Ellaine asked.
“Pretty much. I tried to cheer him up, we spent a lot more time together inside a room than on the battlefield, and it all just happened. We married, he took on my clan’s name as he was a commoner, Priscilla was born, and we settled in Firwood. He became a guild master while I helped hunt down monsters coming out from the Belzac forest. I eventually got recruited by the Knights of Aurena to help out a friend.”
“So, you’re actually not a real part of the Church of Aurena? It’s just a job for you?” I asked, finally understanding the situation with Yorshka.
“Yup, the money was good. To be honest, I hadn’t read the holy book even once before joining. My friend told me he was dissatisfied with something in the church, but never elaborated further on it. He promoted me into a Knight-Captain and I was supposed to oversee the training of all new recruits and anybody below my rank. Aside from standard knight duties, that was the deal … until the Pope suddenly told me to guard the kids. My friend couldn’t even dispute it.”
Who is this friend of hers? Has to be in a high position to do any of this.
She then shrugged. “My true allegiance is towards my family. I’ve overcome the zealous fervor dragonewts have for dragons and God Kargryxmor long ago, and I mostly just care about my clan, Farron, and Priscilla nowadays. Hestia, I really want you to trust me, not ‘cause of any schemes or something, but purely because you’re family to me now. After all, I heard how you befriended my precious Priscilla and how much you helped my husband. That alone makes you adorable, Hestia.”
Yorshka then began ruffling my hair as if I was a pet. She seemed to be enjoying it.
If what Yorshka said really was genuine, then maybe it was fine to trust Yorshka more? The students seemed to like her, and she couldn’t be a bad person if she was Farron’s and Priscilla’s family, right? Honestly, the whole thought of her being my “niece” was just weird. Not ’cause she was almost old enough to be my grandma, but just in general.
I still couldn’t accept my new “family.” I just couldn’t. It felt weird to me to call somebody else “mother,” instead of my Mama. I could trust Yorshka as a friend, but my mind rejected casually calling her “niece.”
After we all descended to the fields of floor 15 to 19, Grimnir went towards a magma stream and told me to unload his equipment here. Tasianna decided to harvest a few of the mushrooms and plants in the nearby mushroom forest, believing they might become useful as either cooking or alchemy ingredients. Ellaine and I, on the other hand, began some light weapon training with Yorshka.
“Well, as agreed, I’ll help you two a bit with your physical training. Hestia, I heard from Farron that he taught you a bit on how to wield a spear, correct? Ellaine, you should have more formal training from your house, so these training exercises shouldn’t be too hard for you, especially with your higher stats. Okay, let’s begin.”
Although I mentioned light training, Yorshka’s understanding of “light” was nowhere close to what you would expect. Ellaine complained it was similar to mine, which was a total lie. When I trained Ellaine, I actually treated it like a warm-up.
“Move!” Yorshka ordered.
Her spear pierced the air forward, forcing me to swerve my head to the side. Nonstop, Ellaine and I had to dodge Yorshka’s attack, unable to attack back as this spar was limited to physical attacks only. Ellaine had to use her sword or kicks to strike Yorshka, while I was restricted to my spear, claws, and tail.
Unfortunately, Yorshka was just too fast. Her spear moved in a way that I thought I was seeing clones of it, causing my senses to mistake feints for attacks. However, as this was a spar, none of the attacks actually carried any killing intent. Yorshka moved her spear masterfully to a degree where if we didn’t dodge them at the very last second, she would simply pull back and land a follow-up attack.
Either we got hit or this would just drain our stamina further as our dodging rhythm was completely out of order. Even if we tried to hit back, she would have this trick or two for a counterattack. It felt like we were trapped in her web the moment we began.
Annoyed by this, I took a deep breath, steadying my footwork and defensive until I saw an opening. I rotated my body around to dodge Yorshka’s next attack to land a roundhouse tail slash, but my attack was quickly blocked.
She smiled. “Good. When it comes to weapon duels, you can’t force your body to move at 100% every single second. That would just tire you out and weaken your arms and legs and, consequently, also your attack power. Dodge the attacks with an explosion of power with the least amount of movements, then turn that momentum into a counter.”
Of course, she anticipated this!
Well, that was how it should go with me being a beginner and her a master. I was attempting to learn the spear to diversify my fighting style, to give me more tricks up my sleeves against a more diverse range of enemies. This was a good experience.
Using [Air Walk], I kicked the air to somersault over Yorshka, stabbing at her as I did so. Yorshka smirked, returning my attacks, and blocking everything while I walked in the air. With Yorshka’s focus on me, that left her back open for Ellaine’s attack. Not wasting a single second, Ellaine lunged forward with her sword …
… and it was parried by Yorshka’s tail!
“Hestia, your scale-dust is one of the gifts you inherited from your mother. While Lady Melloxtstressa’s scale-dust cannot explode like yours, the original function of a silver dragon’s silver powder is to reinforce and strengthen your scales, turning every single one of them into a cutting edge. Yours is naturally like a blade, but your scale-dust lost its sharpening function in exchange to becoming like bombs.” Yorshka then shoved each of us away with incredible strength as she continued her explanation. “Metallic-scaled dragons like your mother and uncle are the rarest of all dragons and there is a chance a silver dragon’s hatchlings won’t inherit their scales if the partner isn’t one of the clan themselves. That is why I am a white dragonewt, similar to our relatives, the white dragons. However, as my bloodline belongs to Nordoramsul, my scales can still harden and become sharper any time I wish.”
Yorshka then took her gauntlets off, showing how her scales were morphing, becoming sharp as blades. She then pointed at the small openings on the back of her armor, where her wings were coming out from. “This armor was made using my scales, allowing me to pour mana into them to open slots for my wings and tail to come out from when I transform back into my original form. It’s almost like a kind of manatech. If your new blacksmith is worth anything, he should be able to do a mechanical weapon or armor too.”
Grimnir snorted when he heard this, dropping a voldunna bucket full of magma on the ground. “Shut up, woman! I ain’t gonna let it rest when you belittle me in front of my client and benefactor! Lass, mechanical armor and weapons are the minimum a master blacksmith should be able to do. The armor will be hard, but trust me, I can make you an heirloom-worthy weapon!”
By mechanical weapon, Yorshka and Grimnir probably meant something like Farron’s swordspear. During our spars, he was always able to drag the weapon’s handle up and down, switching it from sword to spear form whenever he wanted. As the System registered them as viable weapons, Farron’s weapon was an example of a successful mecha weapon.
“Good to hear, Master Dwarf,” Yorshka gave Grimnir a thumbs up before returning her attention to me. “Remember the volchark heart Saori and Tasianna gave you? That is a great item to be turned into a catalyst. As much as you want to train with the spear, and I salute you for striving to improve yourself, I would still suggest you not to let your potential as a master mage go to waste. Kargryxmors have extremely potent magic, and the amount you can already do as a year-old hatchling is already amazing.”
Saori said something similar when she presented to me a volchark heart as a birthday present. Imagine getting a literal heart for your birthday, and not just emoticons. Considering what Master Kush could do with his catalyst, I was still itching to turn this into something amazing.
Yorshka continued. “If you want to continue down the path of the spear, make sure it’s a mechanical weapon that can hold your catalyst. Turn it into a pseudo-staff. Also, make sure you use hard materials for the catalyst to make it sturdier. It might sound weird to put your catalyst into a melee weapon, but it can amplify your weapon’s power, too.”
I nodded, but hearing all of this only got me curious about another subject. “Speaking of improving, would you know how to make this Territory thing? That giant spider; I want something similar.”
Yorshka’s eyes widened. “Well … that is something impossible for me to train you in, since making your aura establish a Territory not only requires an advanced aura skill, which I still haven’t gotten, and also a skill that isn’t easy to teach—[Territory Release].”
I checked my SP but to my surprise my parallel minds couldn’t find it. In fact, nothing with “Territory” or “Territorial was available to buy.”
“Possessing a Territory is a difficult task, hence why it’s rare. Not only do you have to have enough mana to release and maintain it, you also have to be wary of other users since a Territory Dispute can do you more harm than good. Not to mention, it isn’t always a sure-fire way to end a fight compared to using your strongest Ability or spell.” Yorshka then crossed her arm, pondering on something. “Yet, if all those requirements are positive, then it would be devastating for your enemy. I know people who know how to use Territories, but I would only recommend two of them.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Your mother and father.” I winced at her answer. “It should be their privilege. Kargryxmor dragons usually have a ‘Tyrant’ moniker known amongst us dragonkin. Like the Black Tyrant of the Skies—your grandfather. What tyrant wouldn’t have a domain to rule over?”
It was at this point that I wished I had never asked her about it and that Master Kush had explained it to me beforehand. Noticing me lowering my head, Yorshka quickly changed the subject and pointed her spear at me, telling me to continue sparring. I complied.
Time passed as the three of us trained. Tasianna made it back with baskets full of seeds, mushrooms, roots, and other plants you could find around here. Any monster who was idiotic enough to approach us was either scared away or killed by a spell I randomly shot at them. With how Yorshka wouldn’t let us breathe or rest for a second, both of us cheered when the training stopped.
‘Light training,’ yeah, sure …
“A powerful warrior not only has a trained body but also a strong mind. This should be basic, but being able to analyze your opponent’s fighting style and tactics is one of the most important steps to winning,” Yorshka stated while drinking some cold water from Tasianna. “You two are lucky, having access to [Identify] through the skill shop gives you an immense advantage over somebody like me, who only has [Identify Lv. 4]. You can level it up faster through skill points. I guess you’ve been using the skill to look into your opponent’s profile, right, Hestia?”
I nodded. “Anybody I consider an enemy. [Identify], or [Mana Eyes] for me, is something I consider intrusive. Earth has something called private information, so I would like to avoid using the skill to spy on every single person.”
Ellaine pretty much had the same response, as she grew up learning it was bad etiquette to use [Identify] on others without their permission. Nobles would have ways to detect the skill, and if they did, it could cause some major drama. Ellaine herself had a [Ring of Identification] to counter [Identify] in her possession.
Yorshka then noticed a slazzanbal, and decided to use it as a training dummy. She jumped up into the air with [Dragoon Jump] and then crashed onto it with extreme speed. When she used this as a segue to ask us why she was moving that fast, Ellaine couldn’t understand how she was supposed to answer that, citing we had no information. I, on the other hand, had an idea since I’d seen it multiple times already.
“It’s [Dragoon Jump] again, right? You jump up first with that ability, then use [Air Walk] to stand up in the air. There was a short delay when you attacked, meaning either you needed to aim your attack or you were casting a spell under your breath,” I responded.
“A spell? Wait, but I didn’t see a magic circle,” Ellaine looked at me, baffled.
“They were hidden behind her wings. Not too large, but enough to push her forward. She then used [Dragoon Jump] again while standing on air, giving her an extreme boost in speed. Shouldn’t that be pretty tiring, though?” I asked Yorshka after my explanation.
She nodded. Ellaine then let out an awed voice, impressed that I was able to see everything. She then activated her party bracelet and its notes function, scribbling the information she’d learned on the blue screen. Looking at what else she had written, I noticed most of that information was about how to use the skill shop and which skills to combine to increase their effectiveness.
When I asked why she did that, she answered that she got the idea from the students. All of them made a lot of notes when they trained under Yorshka, figuring it would be best to write down important information like survival tips and such.
“I’ve checked out my skill shop, and I couldn’t find anything special like you, Saori, or Tasianna did. Everything was basic, easily gotten through a Job. I didn’t want to burden Aurora with this, so I wrote down certain skills that I believed would work best in a combo. Just like [Air Walk] with [Dragoon Jump]. I want to make myself useful, Hestia, and I think this is how I should do it.”
Ellaine reasoned that being average was keeping her back in Aurora, similar to how she was keeping House Helvas behind due to her weakness. However, my words seemed to have created a spark in her where she decided she needed to overcome this hurdle through training, just like how she was able to catch up with her brother through my training.
She then continued, “I’ve decided, I want to become a knight like my brother. I want to embody everything a knight should be—strength, chivalry, diligence. I told you I wanted to become your knight, right? Well, this should be the first step! I would have to become a squire first, and the qualification exams would require some preparations, but … I will try.”
Ellaine was glowing with anticipation and ambition, looking almost the same when she first asked me to join Aurora. I couldn’t help but smile for her, congratulating her for finding her drive. Her self-confidence issues seem like they were in the past now.
Yorshka suggested helping Ellaine get prepared for the exam with training, mentioning it wouldn’t hurt to learn some dragoon moves. Ellaine agreed and then went over to Grimnir, who was calling her and Tasianna over. They were taking Ellaine’s measurements for her armor and Grimnir also needed some input from her on how her armor should fit her fighting style.
That meant Yorshka and I finally had some time alone.
She looked over at me and frowned. “What’s with that pout? Something happened?” She was earnestly confused.
“Nothing, really. Ahem.” I shrugged off her question and stood back up, spear in my hand. “Well, uhm, about before, training with the spear, it does sound enticing. I know we need to speak, so how about—”
“Cool with me,” Yorshka immediately agreed. “It makes me smile to hear that I can teach an imperial dragon princess my dragoon techniques. To say the least, I’ve altered it with Farron’s help, so it’s not the standard stuff. This one will actually be light training, all right? You need to be able to speak with me, after all.”
I nodded, falling into a fighting position.
Yorshka smiled once again, like an aunt happy to see her niece being energetic. “You remind me a bit of Priscilla when she first asked me to teach her magic and the spear. Hestia, dear, we’ll begin with the Nordor clan, after all, so you should know about Loatryx. Then … we’ll speak about your mother, Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor. The second SS rank dragon of the current age, rivaling even the Dragon Emperor himself.”
SpoilerName: Grimnir Luedbrumdar Level: 65 Race: Taz Dwarf
Age: 71 Years Job: Master Blacksmith Level: 21/35
Status: Health: 6136/6136 Mana: 1240/1240
Strength: 2190 Intelligence: 567
Vitality: 2671 Wisdom: 3571
Agility: 1532 Stamina: 5902/5902
Effects: None
Skill Points: 0
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 9] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 8] [Mental Stability Lv. 5]
[Body of Earth]
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 6] [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 5]
[Axe Technique Lv. 4] [Axe Mastery Lv. 3] [Hammer Technique Lv. 9]
[Hammer Mastery Lv. 7] [Polearm Technique Lv. 8] [Polearm Mastery Lv. 6]
[Mana Strike Lv. 10] [Stamina Strike Lv. 9]
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 6] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 5]
[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 10]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 5] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 8]
[Concentration Lv. 9] [Prediction Lv. 5]
[Danger Perception Lv. 5] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 5]
[Probability Correction Lv. 8]
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 5] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 3] [Tracking Lv. 5] [Night Vision Lv. 10]
[Presence Killer Lv. 3] [Evasion Lv. 4] [Acrobatic Lv. 1]
[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 6]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 1] [Pain Resistance Lv. 9]
[Poison Resistance Lv. 6] [Paralyze Resistance Lv. 4]
[Torpor Resistance Lv. 8] [Fear Resistance Lv. 8] [Terror Resistance Lv. 7]
[Mental Corruption Resistance Lv. 2] [Mind Protection Lv. 1]
[Lava Resistance Lv. 4] [Holy Resistance Lv. 3]
[Inferno Resistance Lv. 3] [Water Resistance Lv. 2]
[Terra Resistance Lv. 2] [Wind Resistance Lv. 6]
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 8] [Dwarven Magic Resistance]
Stat growth and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 7] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 5]
Others:
[Merchant Lv. 3] [Dextrous Hands Lv. 3] [Artificer Lv. 4]
[Woodworking Lv. 8] [Stonecrafting Lv. 9] [Master of Metal Lv. 2]
[Master Blacksmith Lv. 4] [Master Runesmith Lv. 1] [Trap Creation Lv. 4]
[Instruction Lv. 4]
[Identity Blocker Lv. 8] [Terror Aura Lv. 6] [Battle Mind Lv. 4]
[Miner Lv. 8] [Cooking Lv. 1] [Dismantle Lv. 7]
Job:
[Master Blacksmith Lv. 1] [Heat Resistance Lv. 8] [Strong Lung]
Ability List: Unarmed:
[Stoneskin] [Ram-Horn] [Boulder Smash] [Boulder Throw]
Hammer:
[Smash] [Heavy Slam] [Forge Hammer]
Title: [Hestia’s Retainer]
[collapse]AbyssRaven Family talk time
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“When I first met Farron? Ahh, those were good times. Like a dashing knight, he swooped in with his griffon Tempestclaw to save me from an ambush against a black merc company. Youth creates confidence and confidence produces arrogance. Back then, I thought too little of humans and other beastmen, so I thought I could handle things by myself,” Yorshka reminisced of her first years as an adventurer. “You see, I was one of the best dragoon trainees in my youth. The kinkyuro, the dragonewt clans born from the most renowned ancient dragons in history, all believed I was a genius and that my future was pretty much set. Mhmm, the elder scales really pampered me, you know. Yup, that genius was nearly caught and enslaved by a bunch of ‘inferior’ humans and beastmen.”
Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer, yikes.
It was the third day of SpringSun, four days after Grimnir began working on his hammer and Yorshka had left for Firwood to send a message to my dragonewt family of my existence. Both of them returned today at dawn, announcing their individual results. Grimnir had finished two hammers and was ready to go craft equipment, while Yorshka announced that The Magical Biscuits could stay in Cedaraille for a bit longer.
Saori and her students decided to continue what they’d been doing the last four days—catching up and doing some training. On the other hand, Yorshka, I, and the rest of Aurora decided to follow her to floor 15. She was planning to perform some “elder scale duty” with me, which meant training, while Grimnir took this chance to start working on Ellaine’s armor by finding ore with his specific requirements.
Cedaraille’s dungeon was currently in reconstruction, but people could still visit it. The Duke explained to me two days ago, when I went to him to collect our part of the bounty from slaying the rachonoid queen, that the dungeon master contracted to the dungeon was currently hard at work in the dungeon’s core room. The amount of mana needed to fix everything the rachonoid caused was immense.
That was why the dungeon was kept open for adventurers, especially for mages. The field before the dungeon was currently being drained of mana with macula plants while any monsters spawned there were being slain and, subsequently, their corpses thrown into the dungeon for mana.
The dungeon itself was in an okay-ish state. On the first nine floors, the burned and destroyed trees had been replaced, the cracked ground was fixed, and the monster populations were being “rebuilt” through monster spawning. The dungeon break areas, however, had been left open for some reason. Good for us though, since we reached floor ten in no time. Using wind spells, we jumped down into the ravine and safely made it to floor 15 in under a day.
During our trip, Ellaine and I got curious about Yorshka’s and Farron’s past. You know, girl talk. We were interested in how Farron and Yorshka got together, and how Farron took on the Nordor name.
Apparently, Farron was once a knight in his youth! Born in the Republic of Estralia, a country bordering the Kingdom of Artorias in the east, he immigrated into Artorias as an adventurer, making a name for himself in the Greenveil Duchy before being inducted into the Order of the Lionhearts with the recommendation of the current Marquess of Firwood and Duke of Cedaraille. In other words, he was a griffon knight.
A griffon, that was the reason why Farron had tamer-related skills in his profile. As a knight, he made it quite far into the ranks of the knighthood as merits were the only important factor in your advancement, not your social status. During a mission to track down and take down a criminal organization, Farron and Yorshka met.
Yorshka, being called a genius trainee of the dragoon order of Loatryx, was extremely pompous in her youth, well, youth in dragonewt terms. Although the adulthood pilgrimage wasn’t a thing for dragonewts, Yorshka still decided to travel the world to broaden her horizons in a similar fashion. Therefore, she traveled south to the dwarves’ Ankor-Nazta and then entered Artorias.
The name “White-Winged Dragoon” spread throughout the kingdom; the up-and-coming solo adventurer was making her name heard. Her arrogance kept growing, until she was cornered by the aforementioned criminal syndicate in a less-than-ideal situation. A dragoon could only show their true power if they could jump and move around freely, so if they were to be kept down through magic, it could become dicey for them.
Farron and Yorshka had already gotten acquainted when she went to the knight order for more information, having accepted a Quest the Order of the Lionheart couldn’t handle. According to Yorshka, “I had the fattest smirk when I first spoke with him. Solving an issue the royal knight’s order couldn’t solve was my way to make it clear how dragonewts are the superior race. Yes, and I told him that straight to his face. By the holy Light, was I a bitch.”
It didn’t go well, as Yorshka admitted. Farron and Gael, who’d recently defected from the Yanderu Elusuess, the criminal syndicate-slash-black merc company in question, swooped in to Yorshka’s rescue just in time. Yet, the company’s leaders escaped before they could reach them.
Embarrassed by her failure, Yorshka accepted Farron’s request to team up to hunt down the group, in addition to saving Gael’s girlfriend, who’d been kidnapped by the black company, prompting his defection.
“Gael’s girlfriend? Did you three manage to save her?” I asked Yorshka, finding it odd that Gael was so much of a wreck when Saori first met him.
Unfortunately, Yorshka shook her head. “We managed to hunt them down to the Kingdom of Rakatheen, which is located southeast from Artorias, and we brought the leaders to justice, but by the time we found Gael’s companion … Well, there is a reason why he turned from a jokester and general nuisance into an alcoholic. Have you met a man named Bo, Hestia? He was the poor girl’s brother. Gael took him in because he had nowhere else to go.”
Gael was born an orphan and became a criminal just to survive. Nowadays, he controlled a spy network made out of street urchins he was taking care of. While you might call it child labor by Earth’s standards, it wasn’t like the kids really had any choice in the matter in Artorias. It was either work for Gael while receiving a wage, housing, and warm food, or join the local temple and become a grey-robed priest and lose most of your freedom in the process. There were no child services or protection laws currently.
After finally landing on floor 15, I had to ask Yorshka about something important, “What happened to Farron’s griffon?”
“He died protecting Farron when we fought against a crystal basilisk.” Yorshka sighed deeply. “Gael decided to leave our party after what happened. Farron was promoted but decided to continue traveling with me. We visited Loatryx, where I taught him dragoon spearmanship. Farron and I became rank As during our time there, hunting down Loatryx’s big monsters for training. Unfortunately, on a quest to hunt down that rank A crystal basilisk, he not only damaged his lungs but also lost Tempestclaw, who was crystallized by the monster’s venomous breath.”
“And you two fell in love, afterward, correct?” Ellaine asked.
“Pretty much. I tried to cheer him up, we spent a lot more time together inside a room than on the battlefield, and it all just happened. We married, he took on my clan’s name as he was a commoner, Priscilla was born, and we settled in Firwood. He became a guild master while I helped hunt down monsters coming out from the Belzac forest. I eventually got recruited by the Knights of Aurena to help out a friend.”
“So, you’re actually not a real part of the Church of Aurena? It’s just a job for you?” I asked, finally understanding the situation with Yorshka.
“Yup, the money was good. To be honest, I hadn’t read the holy book even once before joining. My friend told me he was dissatisfied with something in the church, but never elaborated further on it. He promoted me into a Knight-Captain and I was supposed to oversee the training of all new recruits and anybody below my rank. Aside from standard knight duties, that was the deal … until the Pope suddenly told me to guard the kids. My friend couldn’t even dispute it.”
Who is this friend of hers? Has to be in a high position to do any of this.
She then shrugged. “My true allegiance is towards my family. I’ve overcome the zealous fervor dragonewts have for dragons and God Kargryxmor long ago, and I mostly just care about my clan, Farron, and Priscilla nowadays. Hestia, I really want you to trust me, not ‘cause of any schemes or something, but purely because you’re family to me now. After all, I heard how you befriended my precious Priscilla and how much you helped my husband. That alone makes you adorable, Hestia.”
Yorshka then began ruffling my hair as if I was a pet. She seemed to be enjoying it.
If what Yorshka said really was genuine, then maybe it was fine to trust Yorshka more? The students seemed to like her, and she couldn’t be a bad person if she was Farron’s and Priscilla’s family, right? Honestly, the whole thought of her being my “niece” was just weird. Not ’cause she was almost old enough to be my grandma, but just in general.
I still couldn’t accept my new “family.” I just couldn’t. It felt weird to me to call somebody else “mother,” instead of my Mama. I could trust Yorshka as a friend, but my mind rejected casually calling her “niece.”
After we all descended to the fields of floor 15 to 19, Grimnir went towards a magma stream and told me to unload his equipment here. Tasianna decided to harvest a few of the mushrooms and plants in the nearby mushroom forest, believing they might become useful as either cooking or alchemy ingredients. Ellaine and I, on the other hand, began some light weapon training with Yorshka.
“Well, as agreed, I’ll help you two a bit with your physical training. Hestia, I heard from Farron that he taught you a bit on how to wield a spear, correct? Ellaine, you should have more formal training from your house, so these training exercises shouldn’t be too hard for you, especially with your higher stats. Okay, let’s begin.”
Although I mentioned light training, Yorshka’s understanding of “light” was nowhere close to what you would expect. Ellaine complained it was similar to mine, which was a total lie. When I trained Ellaine, I actually treated it like a warm-up.
“Move!” Yorshka ordered.
Her spear pierced the air forward, forcing me to swerve my head to the side. Nonstop, Ellaine and I had to dodge Yorshka’s attack, unable to attack back as this spar was limited to physical attacks only. Ellaine had to use her sword or kicks to strike Yorshka, while I was restricted to my spear, claws, and tail.
Unfortunately, Yorshka was just too fast. Her spear moved in a way that I thought I was seeing clones of it, causing my senses to mistake feints for attacks. However, as this was a spar, none of the attacks actually carried any killing intent. Yorshka moved her spear masterfully to a degree where if we didn’t dodge them at the very last second, she would simply pull back and land a follow-up attack.
Either we got hit or this would just drain our stamina further as our dodging rhythm was completely out of order. Even if we tried to hit back, she would have this trick or two for a counterattack. It felt like we were trapped in her web the moment we began.
Annoyed by this, I took a deep breath, steadying my footwork and defensive until I saw an opening. I rotated my body around to dodge Yorshka’s next attack to land a roundhouse tail slash, but my attack was quickly blocked.
She smiled. “Good. When it comes to weapon duels, you can’t force your body to move at 100% every single second. That would just tire you out and weaken your arms and legs and, consequently, also your attack power. Dodge the attacks with an explosion of power with the least amount of movements, then turn that momentum into a counter.”
Of course, she anticipated this!
Well, that was how it should go with me being a beginner and her a master. I was attempting to learn the spear to diversify my fighting style, to give me more tricks up my sleeves against a more diverse range of enemies. This was a good experience.
Using [Air Walk], I kicked the air to somersault over Yorshka, stabbing at her as I did so. Yorshka smirked, returning my attacks, and blocking everything while I walked in the air. With Yorshka’s focus on me, that left her back open for Ellaine’s attack. Not wasting a single second, Ellaine lunged forward with her sword …
… and it was parried by Yorshka’s tail!
“Hestia, your scale-dust is one of the gifts you inherited from your mother. While Lady Melloxtstressa’s scale-dust cannot explode like yours, the original function of a silver dragon’s silver powder is to reinforce and strengthen your scales, turning every single one of them into a cutting edge. Yours is naturally like a blade, but your scale-dust lost its sharpening function in exchange to becoming like bombs.” Yorshka then shoved each of us away with incredible strength as she continued her explanation. “Metallic-scaled dragons like your mother and uncle are the rarest of all dragons and there is a chance a silver dragon’s hatchlings won’t inherit their scales if the partner isn’t one of the clan themselves. That is why I am a white dragonewt, similar to our relatives, the white dragons. However, as my bloodline belongs to Nordoramsul, my scales can still harden and become sharper any time I wish.”
Yorshka then took her gauntlets off, showing how her scales were morphing, becoming sharp as blades. She then pointed at the small openings on the back of her armor, where her wings were coming out from. “This armor was made using my scales, allowing me to pour mana into them to open slots for my wings and tail to come out from when I transform back into my original form. It’s almost like a kind of manatech. If your new blacksmith is worth anything, he should be able to do a mechanical weapon or armor too.”
Grimnir snorted when he heard this, dropping a voldunna bucket full of magma on the ground. “Shut up, woman! I ain’t gonna let it rest when you belittle me in front of my client and benefactor! Lass, mechanical armor and weapons are the minimum a master blacksmith should be able to do. The armor will be hard, but trust me, I can make you an heirloom-worthy weapon!”
By mechanical weapon, Yorshka and Grimnir probably meant something like Farron’s swordspear. During our spars, he was always able to drag the weapon’s handle up and down, switching it from sword to spear form whenever he wanted. As the System registered them as viable weapons, Farron’s weapon was an example of a successful mecha weapon.
“Good to hear, Master Dwarf,” Yorshka gave Grimnir a thumbs up before returning her attention to me. “Remember the volchark heart Saori and Tasianna gave you? That is a great item to be turned into a catalyst. As much as you want to train with the spear, and I salute you for striving to improve yourself, I would still suggest you not to let your potential as a master mage go to waste. Kargryxmors have extremely potent magic, and the amount you can already do as a year-old hatchling is already amazing.”
Saori said something similar when she presented to me a volchark heart as a birthday present. Imagine getting a literal heart for your birthday, and not just emoticons. Considering what Master Kush could do with his catalyst, I was still itching to turn this into something amazing.
Yorshka continued. “If you want to continue down the path of the spear, make sure it’s a mechanical weapon that can hold your catalyst. Turn it into a pseudo-staff. Also, make sure you use hard materials for the catalyst to make it sturdier. It might sound weird to put your catalyst into a melee weapon, but it can amplify your weapon’s power, too.”
I nodded, but hearing all of this only got me curious about another subject. “Speaking of improving, would you know how to make this Territory thing? That giant spider; I want something similar.”
Yorshka’s eyes widened. “Well … that is something impossible for me to train you in, since making your aura establish a Territory not only requires an advanced aura skill, which I still haven’t gotten, and also a skill that isn’t easy to teach—[Territory Release].”
I checked my SP but to my surprise my parallel minds couldn’t find it. In fact, nothing with “Territory” or “Territorial was available to buy.”
“Possessing a Territory is a difficult task, hence why it’s rare. Not only do you have to have enough mana to release and maintain it, you also have to be wary of other users since a Territory Dispute can do you more harm than good. Not to mention, it isn’t always a sure-fire way to end a fight compared to using your strongest Ability or spell.” Yorshka then crossed her arm, pondering on something. “Yet, if all those requirements are positive, then it would be devastating for your enemy. I know people who know how to use Territories, but I would only recommend two of them.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Your mother and father.” I winced at her answer. “It should be their privilege. Kargryxmor dragons usually have a ‘Tyrant’ moniker known amongst us dragonkin. Like the Black Tyrant of the Skies—your grandfather. What tyrant wouldn’t have a domain to rule over?”
It was at this point that I wished I had never asked her about it and that Master Kush had explained it to me beforehand. Noticing me lowering my head, Yorshka quickly changed the subject and pointed her spear at me, telling me to continue sparring. I complied.
Time passed as the three of us trained. Tasianna made it back with baskets full of seeds, mushrooms, roots, and other plants you could find around here. Any monster who was idiotic enough to approach us was either scared away or killed by a spell I randomly shot at them. With how Yorshka wouldn’t let us breathe or rest for a second, both of us cheered when the training stopped.
‘Light training,’ yeah, sure …
“A powerful warrior not only has a trained body but also a strong mind. This should be basic, but being able to analyze your opponent’s fighting style and tactics is one of the most important steps to winning,” Yorshka stated while drinking some cold water from Tasianna. “You two are lucky, having access to [Identify] through the skill shop gives you an immense advantage over somebody like me, who only has [Identify Lv. 4]. You can level it up faster through skill points. I guess you’ve been using the skill to look into your opponent’s profile, right, Hestia?”
I nodded. “Anybody I consider an enemy. [Identify], or [Mana Eyes] for me, is something I consider intrusive. Earth has something called private information, so I would like to avoid using the skill to spy on every single person.”
Ellaine pretty much had the same response, as she grew up learning it was bad etiquette to use [Identify] on others without their permission. Nobles would have ways to detect the skill, and if they did, it could cause some major drama. Ellaine herself had a [Ring of Identification] to counter [Identify] in her possession.
Yorshka then noticed a slazzanbal, and decided to use it as a training dummy. She jumped up into the air with [Dragoon Jump] and then crashed onto it with extreme speed. When she used this as a segue to ask us why she was moving that fast, Ellaine couldn’t understand how she was supposed to answer that, citing we had no information. I, on the other hand, had an idea since I’d seen it multiple times already.
“It’s [Dragoon Jump] again, right? You jump up first with that ability, then use [Air Walk] to stand up in the air. There was a short delay when you attacked, meaning either you needed to aim your attack or you were casting a spell under your breath,” I responded.
“A spell? Wait, but I didn’t see a magic circle,” Ellaine looked at me, baffled.
“They were hidden behind her wings. Not too large, but enough to push her forward. She then used [Dragoon Jump] again while standing on air, giving her an extreme boost in speed. Shouldn’t that be pretty tiring, though?” I asked Yorshka after my explanation.
She nodded. Ellaine then let out an awed voice, impressed that I was able to see everything. She then activated her party bracelet and its notes function, scribbling the information she’d learned on the blue screen. Looking at what else she had written, I noticed most of that information was about how to use the skill shop and which skills to combine to increase their effectiveness.
When I asked why she did that, she answered that she got the idea from the students. All of them made a lot of notes when they trained under Yorshka, figuring it would be best to write down important information like survival tips and such.
“I’ve checked out my skill shop, and I couldn’t find anything special like you, Saori, or Tasianna did. Everything was basic, easily gotten through a Job. I didn’t want to burden Aurora with this, so I wrote down certain skills that I believed would work best in a combo. Just like [Air Walk] with [Dragoon Jump]. I want to make myself useful, Hestia, and I think this is how I should do it.”
Ellaine reasoned that being average was keeping her back in Aurora, similar to how she was keeping House Helvas behind due to her weakness. However, my words seemed to have created a spark in her where she decided she needed to overcome this hurdle through training, just like how she was able to catch up with her brother through my training.
She then continued, “I’ve decided, I want to become a knight like my brother. I want to embody everything a knight should be—strength, chivalry, diligence. I told you I wanted to become your knight, right? Well, this should be the first step! I would have to become a squire first, and the qualification exams would require some preparations, but … I will try.”
Ellaine was glowing with anticipation and ambition, looking almost the same when she first asked me to join Aurora. I couldn’t help but smile for her, congratulating her for finding her drive. Her self-confidence issues seem like they were in the past now.
Yorshka suggested helping Ellaine get prepared for the exam with training, mentioning it wouldn’t hurt to learn some dragoon moves. Ellaine agreed and then went over to Grimnir, who was calling her and Tasianna over. They were taking Ellaine’s measurements for her armor and Grimnir also needed some input from her on how her armor should fit her fighting style.
That meant Yorshka and I finally had some time alone.
She looked over at me and frowned. “What’s with that pout? Something happened?” She was earnestly confused.
“Nothing, really. Ahem.” I shrugged off her question and stood back up, spear in my hand. “Well, uhm, about before, training with the spear, it does sound enticing. I know we need to speak, so how about—”
“Cool with me,” Yorshka immediately agreed. “It makes me smile to hear that I can teach an imperial dragon princess my dragoon techniques. To say the least, I’ve altered it with Farron’s help, so it’s not the standard stuff. This one will actually be light training, all right? You need to be able to speak with me, after all.”
I nodded, falling into a fighting position.
Yorshka smiled once again, like an aunt happy to see her niece being energetic. “You remind me a bit of Priscilla when she first asked me to teach her magic and the spear. Hestia, dear, we’ll begin with the Nordor clan, after all, so you should know about Loatryx. Then … we’ll speak about your mother, Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor. The second SS rank dragon of the current age, rivaling even the Dragon Emperor himself.”
SpoilerName: Grimnir Luedbrumdar Level: 65 Race: Taz Dwarf
Age: 71 Years Job: Master Blacksmith Level: 21/35
Status: Health: 6136/6136 Mana: 1240/1240
Strength: 2190 Intelligence: 567
Vitality: 2671 Wisdom: 3571
Agility: 1532 Stamina: 5902/5902
Effects: None
Skill Points: 0
Skill: Magic skills and related:
[Mana Control Lv. 9] [Mana Efficiency Lv. 8] [Mental Stability Lv. 5]
[Body of Earth]
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 6] [Unarmed Mastery Lv. 5]
[Axe Technique Lv. 4] [Axe Mastery Lv. 3] [Hammer Technique Lv. 9]
[Hammer Mastery Lv. 7] [Polearm Technique Lv. 8] [Polearm Mastery Lv. 6]
[Mana Strike Lv. 10] [Stamina Strike Lv. 9]
[Sundering Enhancement Lv. 6] [Piercing Enhancement Lv. 5]
[Crushing Enhancement Lv. 10]
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 5] [Accuracy Correction Lv. 8]
[Concentration Lv. 9] [Prediction Lv. 5]
[Danger Perception Lv. 5] [Enhanced Enemy Sense Lv. 5]
[Probability Correction Lv. 8]
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 5] [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 3] [Tracking Lv. 5] [Night Vision Lv. 10]
[Presence Killer Lv. 3] [Evasion Lv. 4] [Acrobatic Lv. 1]
[Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 6]
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 1] [Pain Resistance Lv. 9]
[Poison Resistance Lv. 6] [Paralyze Resistance Lv. 4]
[Torpor Resistance Lv. 8] [Fear Resistance Lv. 8] [Terror Resistance Lv. 7]
[Mental Corruption Resistance Lv. 2] [Mind Protection Lv. 1]
[Lava Resistance Lv. 4] [Holy Resistance Lv. 3]
[Inferno Resistance Lv. 3] [Water Resistance Lv. 2]
[Terra Resistance Lv. 2] [Wind Resistance Lv. 6]
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 8] [Dwarven Magic Resistance]
Stat growth and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 7] [Stamina Recovery Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Health Capacity Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 5]
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4]
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 7]
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 1]
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 6]
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 5]
Others:
[Merchant Lv. 3] [Dextrous Hands Lv. 3] [Artificer Lv. 4]
[Woodworking Lv. 8] [Stonecrafting Lv. 9] [Master of Metal Lv. 2]
[Master Blacksmith Lv. 4] [Master Runesmith Lv. 1] [Trap Creation Lv. 4]
[Instruction Lv. 4]
[Identity Blocker Lv. 8] [Terror Aura Lv. 6] [Battle Mind Lv. 4]
[Miner Lv. 8] [Cooking Lv. 1] [Dismantle Lv. 7]
Job:
[Master Blacksmith Lv. 1] [Heat Resistance Lv. 8] [Strong Lung]
Ability List: Unarmed:
[Stoneskin] [Ram-Horn] [Boulder Smash] [Boulder Throw]
Hammer:
[Smash] [Heavy Slam] [Forge Hammer]
Title: [Hestia’s Retainer]
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