Volume 7 Chapter 33 Ancient Dragon Style Spartan Training
According to Echidna, the strength of an ancient dragon lies in its "robust physical body" and the "ancient dragon's mark".
"To be precise, as the king of spirits, we can also use advanced spirit magic. However, unfortunately, the power of the gods is too strong in this area. Rather than learning spirit magic from now on, I'll prioritize the ancient dragon's mark."
"I don't really get it, but got it!"
Moruru's enthusiasm is sufficient. With a snort, she's listening to Echidna's explanation, her breathing rough.
After leaving Birk territory and walking for a while, they arrived at a vast, open plain.
There are only 2 ancient dragons here. The wind blows, and the grass that reaches their knees sways with a "swoosh" sound. There's no sign of human presence, just a vast, open plain.
"From today, we'll conduct practical training for 3 days to counter Wade. Until now, our training has only covered the simple usage of the ancient dragon's mark, but for the next 3 days, it'll be much more intense."
Echidna asks in a low voice.
"Are you prepared?"
"Yeah, I'm doing it to help Ridge."
"...Then that's good. You're doing it to help your friend, and that's admirable. You're young, and that's good too."
Echidna smiles, looking at Moruru's eyes. Then, she says "alright" and raises her finger.
"As an ancient dragon, I'll use the ancient dragon's mark to transform and see if Moruru can do the same."
"Try to imitate me," Echidna says, spitting out the ancient dragon's mark from her mouth. She rotates her hand, making the mark larger, and then covers her entire body with it, starting from her head.
Immediately after, a loud "whosh" sound echoes, and massive wings spread out.
―――The ancient dragon's mark has the power to freely transform the object it covers. If it covers one's own body, it can freely change its shape, resulting in the growth of wings or even transforming into a dragon itself.
Echidna says.
"Wade has that huge sword, so it's not a good idea to transform into a dragon right away. We should keep our human form and use our wings to control the skies."
"Yeah, got it."
"Also, don't forget to change your horns? A dragon's horns are organs that absorb magical power from the air and make it their own. With horns, you can use magic without limits."
"I've heard that so many times it's getting annoying!"
"You're getting tired of hearing it, huh? Or should I say, you're getting fed up with my lines?"
Moruru stuck out her tongue and showed her defiance to the nagging Echidna, while secretly moving her tongue to the back of her throat.
The back of her throat. There, she felt a slightly rough sensation. That was the mark of the ancient dragon she was born with. She poured magic into it.
Then, a strange sensation appeared, as if she was touching something without actually touching it. She guided it with her tongue and spat it out. The mark of the ancient dragon appeared on her lips.
Next, she simply rotated her hands to enlarge or shrink herself. She grew bigger with a right spin and smaller with a left spin. Once she reached a certain size, she could move her fingers to control it.
She moved her body upwards, and her giant wings grew from her back, along with 2 sharp horns from the back of her head.
"Hmm, you've mastered the transformation technique. Moruru, you're a quick learner. And as an ancient dragon, you're naturally talented. You can learn things quickly."
"I've mastered the transformation technique!"
"You're still far from mastering it, but you're good enough to fight. For now, let's focus on training your physical strength."
"Training my physical strength?"
"Yeah."
Echidna nodded in response to Moruru's tilted head.
"I've heard about Wade. They said that he is on par with a platinum-ranked adventurer. If that's the case, you can't just fight like a human. Ancient dragons are superior to humans, but..."
Echidna looked straight at Moruru and said,
"There are rare cases where someone becomes a monster that can reach the gods. Your father might be one of them."
"...to God."
"Ah, well, even if God existed, it wouldn't be interesting anyway. That kind of thing is just annoying."
"?"
"No, it's nothing. When Moruru gains the power to become a god, we'll talk about it then. Ancient dragons can do that kind of thing, after all."
Anyway, Echidna took a stance, saying so.
"You'll learn to use your strong physical body to dodge, Moruru. Your father Wade was asking if you could 'endure it or not.' He didn't say you had to win. So, the key is to dodge."
"...what are you going to do?"
"It's simple, really."
Echidna laughed, saying so.
"Just dodge, evade, and run away. Since humans can only use their full strength to punch, it shouldn't hurt that much. As you get faster, you'll be able to do it with ease―――."
Echidna's figure vanished.
Moruru gasped and quickly retreated. Then, Echidna's fist struck the spot where Moruru had been standing just a moment before.
"Good job. Hmm, it's only natural that you'd dodge the first attack."
"Your speed is about the same as Papa's from a few months ago."
"Really? How fast is he now?"
"I can't even keep up with his speed anymore..."
"He's not human... Well, he's a guy who said he could 'kill me easily' when we first met, after all."
Echidna nodded, saying so.
"Then, I'll gradually increase my speed. If you can't dodge, we'll keep fighting at that speed. You can try to counterattack or run away, Moruru."
"Y-yes!"
"Today, we'll do it in this flow for a whole day, so get ready. Tomorrow, I'll teach you some powerful moves using the ancient dragon's seal. You can use them to take down enemies or make a quick escape."
"I-I see..."
It seemed like it was going to be a tough training session, and just as Moruru thought that, Echidna suddenly closed in and attacked again. Moruru dodged to the side just in time. She dodged the next attack, and the next, avoiding dozens of punches―――
Around the fiftieth punch, she was caught and sent flying about ten meters away, accompanied by a loud cracking sound.
"Uh, are you okay, Moruru? I thought you were doing pretty well at dodging, but in the end, you didn't even defend yourself."
"Zeeeee! M-my tummy... Cough."
"Whoa, this looks like internal injuries. Let's use the ancient dragon's seal to heal you. Come on, spit it out."
"Ugh...!"
As Moruru vomited blood and collapsed, Echidna didn't seem to care at all. Moruru, with tears in her eyes, spat out the ancient dragon's seal and began to heal herself using shapeshifting magic, following Echidna's instructions.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)