Master Of None

"You three were late today. I thought at least Onyx would have come back first to rest and stay by the fire with Midnight." Gil had managed to shoot down some white sparrows and was currently roasting them on the fire. They were a common mountain bird that had pure white feathers to match the snow in the mountains. They were small and hard to hunt but had immense nutrition. The skills that the white sparrows had were all directed at camouflage and storing nutrients for the colder months on the mountain so even a small one could feed two people. 

"I was warm in the forge. Brother also made his first light rune and I wanted to have a snack." The smug tone in Onyx's voice as he spoke in to their heads was a little more so than usual. Walker could only gather that it was because he had the chance to absorb the light elemental mana from Walker's successful light rune and he thought everyone would be jealous.

"Leader, if you are making runes then you should be able to forge better items by yourself soon, correct?" Su wanted to hear what he was planning if he had a sudden new skill in rune carving. 

"Not at all. I spent hours just to be able to carve a single working light elemental rune. It's the most basic one and doesn't do anything other than slowly draw the light elemental mana toward the area it is in. To get the results we would need on items, I would need months of training. But it is exciting that I will know how to do these things." There was a small glimmer of excitement as Walker imagined that he would be making near invincible rune carved armors and flaming rune carved spears. 

"Well, while you were forging I decided to visit their alchemy lab and discover that they barely use alchemy up here. They are slow and don't have much need. They had stored potions that can last them years. The alchemists just preserve knowledge and lack refined skill. I brought it up with Illia and she agreed but they would not need to force their alchemists to work and learn. I really wanted to bring a dragonkin alchemist to the guild." It was safe to say that Remey was overall, miffed. She had wanted to expand the guild and more importantly, connect the village for it to trade more securely. 

"At least you have the deal with the snow bell flowers. You shouldn't try and force them in to things they don't want to do." Gil was still working on some of his arrow shafts while watching the white sparrows roast. But he had enough attention to pause and tell Remey that she had some good deals already. 

"Actually, when you open the alchemy guild you might attract some of their attention. They are alchemists that have not been able to fully study to their desired level. Maybe they are just waiting for the chance to let loose and try new things. Plus, there will be a lot of knowledge in one place. The dragons would be foolish to miss the developments in any field that they could use." The logic Walker had made a lot more sense and was exactly what Remey needed to cheer up. Her face became less scrunched and a lot happier even though she did not openly smile. 

"By the way, did you see what they are making for us? I thought we would stay for another day but it looks like they are preparing for us to leave already." This made them all a little sad. Gil had asked about the flying basket as well and was sad that he couldn't explore more of the small village longer. 

"I want to say that they are preparing it too early, but since we said we would leave in three days maybe they counted the day we got here. Or there's the possibility that tomorrow we will need to meet with Adair and say farewells. To be honest, there are a lot of royal traditions and this feels like one of them in the dragon culture." The party agreed and started to eat what Gil had caught. The wandering blacksmith managed to have a few bites before he had started to fall asleep. The mana that he had used to carve the intricate runes was already exhausting him. Working with a new material and creating the new tool set was the final nail in the coffin that sent him to dreamland. 

The rest of the party followed suit and stoked up the fire before they put their heads to their pillows. The only one that was still awake was Midnight who had taken it upon herself to gnaw on the bones and make them her dessert. She was spurred to get stronger and be able to fly sooner than later and this was one of her small actions to make it happen. 

When the morning came, Walker found himself having serious trouble waking up Midnight. She had been awake much longer than she should have to practicing some of her elemental breath attacks. She kept things close to her and breathed only small amounts. Her goal was switching between elements so that she could one day do it instantly. The downside was, that she had not slept normally and was not fighting Walker at every turn. 

"Midnight, you are going to miss breakfast if you don't get up!" Walker thought this would do the trick but instead, he found her burying her head deeper under her wing to avoid the light. "Fine, then I will just eat all of the food that Shay said they are preparing for us. It's a shame you will miss traditional dragon village dishes." Walker was nearly knocked to the ground when Midnight jumped up. Her enthusiasm had been completely renewed. 

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