Chapter 5: Unwavering Loyalty (3)

"Mrr..."

Hiccup was at the Dragon Island once more. He was sitting on his hindlegs with his eyes closed. The Night Fury had been meditating at Furious' lair for quite some time. The giant, snake-like yellow eye was staring at him, watching him meditate.

"Concentrate." Furious demanded.

"I am concentrating." Hiccup answered, not opening his eyes.

"You are not. I can feel it."

"Harr..." The Night Fury exhaled his breath. He opened his eyes and stared at the giant eye. "I have a lot of things in mind."

"What is it in your mind?"

Hiccup paused for a moment. He pondered how to explain what he felt. "There was this... Night Fury I met."

"Oh?"

"I found her in a restricted airspace, wandering all by herself." The Night Fury continued speaking. "I couldn't stop thinking about her."

The ground rumbled a bit. Furious was humming with curiosity. "What is her name?"

"Her name is Toothless."

The giant dragon pondered. He never heard of that name before. The black pupil dilated. "What do you feel when you saw her?"

Hiccup paused at that question. He was not sure how to describe the feeling. "I don't know. It just feels nice." The Night Fury admitted. "I hope I can see her again."

"Perhaps." Furious responded knowingly. "But it means your attention is elsewhere. It is a distraction for your meditation."

The Night Fury was crestfallen. "Sorry dad."

"However!"

Hiccup looked up. The giant eye looked mischievous. Furious continued speaking. "I believe you have progressed enough to learn one ability."

That excited the Night Fury. "Really?"

"Yes." The alpha dragon responded. After some time, the eyes disappeared, leaving a pitch-black cave entrance to enter. There were sounds of something squishy moving from within. "Come."

Hiccup was excited. Furious was going to teach him more about his ability. He was also excited to see more of his father, given that he had never really see all his father since he returned. "Does that mean I don't have any schedule today?"

There was no response. Entering the cave entrance, Hiccup stopped in front of a cliff. Looking down, the pit looked rather endless, which was surprising since he could see relatively well in the dark. "Dad?"

"Yes."

Hiccup quickly looked at the side. There was a rather large Night Fury standing there, illuminated by large, blue glowing crystal. The older black dragon was roughly four times bigger than Hiccup. Given the appearance - tattered fins and wing edge, longer and numerous appendages, and more specifically, familiar yellow eyes - it was obvious.

That was Furious.

"I have emptied your schedule for this week." The large Night Fury - known as Furious - responded. There was nonchalant look on his face. "The war is slowing down. I think you deserve a break."

Hiccup stared at him with wide-eyed look. That was his father, which looked older than last time he saw him. "Oh." The younger Night Fury whispered. "You're not a giant dragon."

"Of course, I am." Furious scoffed at him. There was mirth in his eyes. "What gave you that idea?"

"You're just twice as big as me." Hiccup pointed out.

"Hrr..." The older Night Fury seemed faux ponder. "Am I?"

"You are."

"Am I?"

"Dad, I'm not blind."

"Maybe you're the one that haven't seen what I can do." Furious shrugged his wings. He was rather smug. "Maybe I shrunk my size so I can see my son. Maybe-"

"Hrrk!" Furious grunted as Hiccup suddenly leaped to his chest. The younger dragon latched himself onto his scales, wrapping his wings around him, hugging him with his whole body. "Hiccup? What are you doing?"

Hiccup buried his head onto his scales. "Hugging you."

"... why?"

The young Night Fury looked up to his father. "Is it wrong for me to hug my appropriately sized father?" He seemed to falter a bit. "It just... reminded me of the time before..."

Hiccup trailed off, but it did not take Furious long to realise what he meant. It reminded him of the time before his mother died - before Furious lost his mate. He had no intention to be reminded of that; the change of form was meant for practical demonstration.

"Alright. Let go off me." Furious grunted as he pushed him away. Hiccup let go and stood in front of him. The father dragon continued speaking. "Don't think of this as a leeway for your cheek. Do not behave like this in public. Do you understand?"

"Yes, dad."

"Good." The alpha dragon nodded as he softened his expression. "Now, I will explain more about mana. Listen carefully."

It made Hiccup excited. "Okay dad!"

Furious took a deep breath, before starting his lecture.

"Mana is the energy that exists within everything, including bugs, plants, animals, humans and dragons. It came in many forms, including rocks and crystals. It was said to be everything that exists in the universe."

Charcoal sat on the ground. He paid close attention to the lecture. The father dragon continued speaking. "Everything that exists, including rocks and airs, have mana." He explained. "What makes them different is their mana structure."

The young dragon tilted his head. "If everyone has them, how can they not use them?"

"What allowed us to harness this power this power is Mana Circuit." Furious emphasized.

"Mana Circuit?"

"Yes. They are inside your body; connected to every scale, limbs and organs. They let you harness mana inside your body - your reserve." The father dragon explained. "Every mana flow through them."

There was a brief pause. Furious pondered a better explanation. "They also filter any mana coming in and out of your body." The father dragon added. "For example, if another dragon ever pushes mana into your body, they must go through your circuits, before flowing that mana into your reserve. The circuits would reject them, unless you consented."

"Hraa..." Charcoal understood the concept. "So, it's like a nervous system?"

Furious was caught off guard. He blinked at that concept, before nodding. "... y- es. They are your second nervous system." The father dragon confirmed. "When you harness the power of mana, it was your circuits that made them happen. They allow you to cast your power."

They fell silent for a moment. The young dragon pondered what he just learned. It was interesting that dragons had something to harness their energy- mana, they call them. He could not wait to cast his first power!

The father dragon exhaled his breath. "Usually, dragons are supposed to learn the basics of mana at fledgling age." Furious shrugged his wings. "But since I don't have much free time, I will teach you about telepathy and Psychic-Force. You can learn the rest by asking someone else."

Hiccup was excited. "Are those what you and mum invented?"

"Yes and no. Telepathy is known by dragons. It is a communication of mind." Furious was amused. "Psychic-Force is a study focusing on power of mind. You can lift and throw things with the power of mind."

"Really?!"

"We call it: telekinesis. It is part of Psychic-Force. Your mother was the one who named and invented them." The father dragon smiled at his excitement. "But! You will start with something simpler. Watch."

Hiccup took extra attention. Furious showed his left paw. The father dragon took a deep breath, before moving to swipe the glowing crystal with it. Faster than they could blink, the claws on his left paw suddenly glowed purple, before slammed onto the crystal.

Slash!

The younger dragon watched with awe as the glowing crystal was cut in three. There was purple afterglow trail from the glowing claw. The crystals clattered onto the ground, as the afterglow faded away.

"Hraa..." Hiccup whispered, awed by the demonstration. Looking down at the crystals, he noticed that they were still glowing. The cut was rather clean - there was no curve or bump where it had been sliced. It meant that the attack was incredibly strong.

"Psionic Claw." Furious revealed. "I enhanced my claws and extended them."

Hiccup stared at the glowing crystals once more. The length of Furious' claws and the crystal size were inconsistent, meaning that it was cut with that ability. "And I'm going to learn that?"

"Yes. This will be your first ability." The alpha dragon was amused by his enthusiasm. "The task is simple; I will teach you, and you will use them on this crystal. If you failed, and you must meditate again."

The younger Night Fury was hesitant. He did not feel like meditating again. "Okay."

Furious was further amused by his hesitation. "Good." He decided. "To start, you need to empty your mind. Then focus your mind to your claws."

Hiccup followed the instruction. He rested himself on the ground and closed his eyes. Thoughts cleared from his mind, before concentrating on what his claws felt like. He thought something felt flowing from within, condensing itself around his claws. That was a strange feeling.

Furious smiled. "Now open your eyes."

The younger dragon did so. He looked down at his claws and realised that it was shimmering bright purple. Hiccup was excited. "I did it!"

However, the excitement broke his concentration, and the glow disappeared. Realising how it worked, Hiccup focused on his claws once more; he kept his eyes open. He felt something flowing as he concentrated. After that, his claws began to shimmer bright purple once more.

Furious was impressed by his effort - it took him weeks to learn how to concentrate, and Hiccup did it in less than an hour. He felt nostalgic as it reminded him of someone he lost. It was not the time for remembrance, however. The alpha dragon had duties to work.

"Good." Furious complimented, getting his attention, before pushing a piece of glowing crystal. "Now cut this piece with your claws."

Hiccup looked down at the blue glowing crystal. He raised his claws, before striking them down. With a loud clang, the crystal shattered into pieces. Their blue glow died down, as if the energy within was gone. Regardless, Hiccup felt proud of himself.

When the young dragon looked up to Furious, the father dragon's expression faltered. Hiccup was confused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You failed. You did not make a clean cut." Furious answered. "The crystal shattered and lost its glow."

"Oh." Hiccup stared at the shattered crystal on his paws. It was then he realised that the technique might be more complicated than he thought.

"However." The father dragon continued speaking, getting his attention. "You did well for your first attempt. I do not expect you to succeed in your first try. You may take one crystal for practice. Return them to me after you succeed."

The young dragon was determined. "Yes, father!" He exclaimed. "I will not disappoint."

"Before you leave, I have a warning before you start." Furious slowly spoke, emphasizing the importance. "Mana inside your body is not infinite. But they slowly regenerate overtime."

Hiccup paid attention. The father dragon continued speaking. "We Night Furies have large mana reserve. If it ever ran out, your circuits would pull energy from your body to fuel itself." Furious gave his warning. "If you ever feel tired, stop immediately and take some rest. Mana exhaustion can result in death."

The young dragon straightened himself. It was critical for him to pay attention to his health. "I will."

"Good. You may leave."

Furious watched as Hiccup grabbed one crystal, before taking off from the cave clearing. Once he was gone, the alpha dragon stared at the shattered crystal. There was that familiar, proudful feeling when parents saw their child did something that took them months to achieve. It meant that their child would grow much higher than them in the future.

'I truly made him like my son from before.' Furious realised. He took a deep breath, before mentally crushed any feeling of guilt. 'I wish my brother was here to see this. He would be proud of him.'

With that in mind, he pushed away those thoughts and went back to his duties. There were more things needed his attention; more dragon raids to plan and laid out.

However, something made him pause. 'I wonder how long until Hiccup returned.' Furious wondered. 'It took me months to learn how to cut them clean.'

Toothless was flying at the night sky. The place was cloudy, covering the night stars above. It was a good time for her to fly, as it was her nature to fly at night. The dragon was flying fast, since she was venting her pent-up emotion. She had been going on for hours already.

In short, Toothless was angry.

"How dare that human..." She angrily mumbled, glaring at the empty space in front of her. "Trying to kill MY Precious Thing?!"

Toothless was not stupid. Mildew was trying to have Hiccup the human killed. Before arriving to Hiccup the human, she had noticed that there were a whole lot more wolves than usual.

Humans were not stupid, either. They most likely knew about it as well. This human called Mildew told Hiccup to go to the forest to gather wild berries, and thus, putting him in danger.

She had been stalking this Mildew human for a while. She knew what he looked like. She knew where he lived. She was tempted to blow his house to smithereens.

However, she could not simply do that, as what she did might reflect onto her Precious Thing. She had to play it safe, but she did not know what to do to retaliate against them.

'If Amber was here.' Toothless bitterly thought. 'She would tease me for calling Hiccup the human my Precious Thing.'

It was something that she finally admitted. Hiccup the human was her Precious Thing. That human was not like any others; he was so soft and fragile, she wondered how he managed to survive that long. When he released her from that captive, for some reason, she found him enthralling. It was a mystery to her.

'Then again.' The dragon thought. 'Everything about this is a mystery.'

Suddenly, Toothless caught a glimpse of something. It was a familiar Night Fury that she remembered; Hiccup the dragon. What gave him away was the blue glowing crystal he was carrying. The dragoness smirked. She slowed down a bit and reached for him. She wondered why he did not notice him yet.

Deciding for the best way to get his attention, Toothless dashed forward and bit his tail.

Hiccup was a bit distracted when someone bit his tail. "KRAAA!"

The dragon almost dropped the crystal. He quickly turned around, ready to blast the offender to oblivion. Upon seeing Toothless, however, all those intents disappeared in a flash. He was happy to see her. "Oh, hey!"

Toothless was smiling at him. "Hey!"

Hiccup went back to his flight path; he slowed himself down. The two Night Furies began flying alongside each other. "What do you need?"

"Can't I check out the only Night Fury in the sky?"

"Technically, you are here." Hiccup pointed out.

Toothless faltered a bit. "Well, it's just boring to fly alone." She admitted, before changing the subject. "So, you're transporting a warming stone?"

That confused the male dragon. "Warming stone?"

"We call that Warming Stone back in Caldera." Toothless further explained. "They grow around volcanic part of Hidden World."

Hiccup was confused; the blue glowing crystal was not emitting heat at all. However, it did explain Toothless' social behaviour. She came from Hidden World. "The stone is not warm. Why did they call it that?"

"It only makes heat when you put them underwater." The female dragon answered the question. There was some excitement in her voice. "It's like a reverse ice block! The stone melts in water and released its heat. It can turn cold water pond into hot spring, depending how big the stone is."

"Hraa..." Hiccup adjusted his flight path. "Well, I need a place to store this stone."

That surprised Toothless. "You don't have a nest?"

"No. Not a private one." The male dragon admitted. "I usually sleep in Dragon Island. It's a public nest, so I can't put anything personal there."

The dragoness saw her chance. She could spend her time with him. "You can put them in my cave, if you want." Toothless offered. "I don't really stay there often, so it can be your nest."

"Uh..." Hiccup pondered a bit. "I'm not sure. It's your nest..."

Toothless came closer to him. "Don't you want a nest?"

The male dragon became uncomfortable. "It's yours. I don't want to breach your privacy."

"I only use that nest whenever I come to visit this place." Toothless chirped, explaining her offer. "It can be yours, as long I can stay there whenever I want. That'll make us nest-mates."

Hiccup pondered for some time. Nest-mate meant that they lived in the same private nest. It was a rather tempting offer, considering he had been searching for quite some time. He had other tasks he needed to do and searching for his own nest had taken too much time.

'And besides, she felt very familiar. In a good way.' The male dragon thought, staring at the night sky. 'I feel safe. Maybe this is a Night Fury thing.'

Toothless noticed that Hiccup had been silent for some time. "What do you think?"

"... Sure, why not." Hiccup decided. "Let's check your nest."

Hiccup and Toothless reached her nest. It was a cliff island, which was unreachable by ships. The male dragon thought that it was a nice hidden place from humans. Considering how far it was from other islands, it was a good nest spot for long-range dragons, like Night Furies.

There was a large cave entrance at the top. It was hidden from anyone below, meaning they had to fly all the way to the top. Landing at the front, they both entered the cave. Inside was a large clearing. Hiccup smelled Toothless' scent inside, which was expected. It was her nest. "It's a nice place."

"Thank you." Toothless thanked him. She moved to stand in front of him. "What do you think?"

Hiccup placed the glowing rock at the corner. "There's no Viking settlement anywhere; it's not habitable for them." He looked around the cave clearing. "Fish swims much faster here. This makes the place harder to hunt."

"Which makes it perfect for Night Fury nest." Toothless explained. "We can fly faster than most dragons, so we can chase them. The benefits worth more because of that."

The male dragon was impressed. "Not bad." He complimented. "Most dragons usually live around places with easy access to fish. Dragon Island became greater alpha nest because of that."

"Well! I do need my privacy." The female dragon puffed her chest. "When you have dragons constantly harassing you; you'll learn how to live the safest way possible."

Hiccup was amused. "Like how you watch random dragons fly around."

Toothless was slightly abashed. "W- Well, I've never seen another Night Fury before." She admitted. "Other than my dad."

The male dragon thought that was fair. "This place is far from any alpha nests." He explained. "But it is inside greater alpha's territory. I can mark them for protection, if you want."

Toothless became uncomfortable with that subject. "I think I can handle my own safety." She responded, before changing the topic. "Anyway, there's a space here if you want to make a hot spring. You do need to visit Hidden World from time to time to grab more stone."

"That's not..." Hiccup paused for a moment. "I didn't use the stone to make a hot spring."

That confused her. "What did you use them for?"

The male dragon was hesitant. It should be fine to share what it is. "My father has been teaching me my family study. Psychic-Force." The male dragon explained the situation. "I'm trying to cut this crystal without shattering them. I've been practicing on trees and rocks, but my cut was never deep enough."

Toothless blinked at that. It must be a study that was not publicly known. She could guess that it was power of mind. The best she knew was telepathy, which was dragon way to share memory and thought.

Regardless, she never thought that power of mind was possible. That sparked her curiosity. Given that she never heard or seen them until now, it was either relatively new, or never really publicly known.

"Can you show me?" The female dragon requested.

"Sure." Charcoal nodded, before focusing on his claws. Just like before, it began to shimmer bright purple. He scratched the stone floor underneath, creating flame spark and scratch mark.

Toothless watched with amazement. Her eyes were focused on the claws - it was interesting how it worked! It was not often that something defied her expectations. She thought that was the most interesting thing; something she also wanted to know.

"I've never seen anyone use psionic that way before." Toothless admitted, getting his attention. "What makes it different than Life-Force?"

Charcoal blinked at that. "I don't know. I'm just following what my father told me." Hiccup confessed. There were many things that he did not understand. "He never taught me that. Do you have an example?"

"I can show you." Toothless raised her left paw, and the claws immediately glow blue. "This one should look familiar."

Hiccup took a step back - reminding himself that she swiped a tree in half with it. However, he was curious. "Is that Life-Force?"

"Yes. Life-Force the easiest and most publicly known study for dragons to learn." The female dragon explained, dismissing the glow. Her claws returned to normal. "The most common use is recharging your shots, at the expense of your mana."

"Hrr..." The male dragon slowly nodded. "What about the claw from before? You managed to cut a tree with it."

"That's part of Life-Force study. What I did is manifesting my mana to make an extension of myself." Toothless sat on her hindlegs. She focused back to him. "I made a longer, tougher and sharper claws on top of my existing one."

The female dragon demonstrated by showing her left paw. The claws began to shimmer, before solid blue claws sprung up from them. They were much larger and sharper than her existing ones, which was barely visible through the blue, glowing semi-transparent claws.

"Hraa..." Hiccup was amazed. "I've never seen anything like that."

Toothless waved her paws, dismissing the blue claws. "Most dragons would know what they are just by their looks." She remarked. "I'm surprised you don't know, considering you're experimenting with power of mind."

"W- Well, I am still learning." Hiccup defended himself. "I don't even have adult name yet. I just got the time to learn something new."

The female dragon was outraged. "What have you been doing in your life, dragon?!" Toothless demanded. "These are essential things about our ourselves, especially Night Furies."

Hiccup widened his eyes as he stared at the angry female dragon. He softened his expression as he realised something about himself. "I've been fighting for all my life."

Toothless did not budge. Hiccup continued speaking. "I never have anyone teaching them to me." He admitted, saddened by himself. "I never knew anything about it because everyone assumed I knew about it. Nobody really asked me how I made it this far."

It was then the female dragon was reminded that Hiccup was a war dragon. She softened her expression. "How long have you been a soldier?" Toothless questioned. "You can't possibly be one without learning a thing or two."

"I've been one since I was 3. My first serve was under Merciless."

Toothless was taken aback. "And how old are you?"

"I'm 11-year-old." Hiccup answered.

Hearing that, Toothless took a deep breath, tempering her anger. Night Furies typically learn how to fight right after they hatched. It was done so they could defend themselves. They were known rare dragon; they needed to defend against other predators - humans included. Their survival depended on it.

Toothless thought that Hiccup was most likely hatched as a war dragon. Even worse, he was an underprepared war dragon. Dragons typically grow fast; Night Furies grew into adulthood 3 years after they hatched. It seemed whoever raised Hiccup was neglectful. They sent an unprepared dragon to participate in Dragon Rebellion.

"... okay." Toothless finally spoke up. "From one Night Fury to another, I will admit; that's fucked up."

"It was my own decision." Hiccup admitted.

"And what made you take that decision?"

Hiccup hardened his expression. "Humans killed my mother."

"And you didn't think of learning how to dragon first before going off?" Toothless pressed the matter. "Because that's how dragons die."

The male dragon felt struck. "It was my own decision." Hiccup responded. His voice sounded a bit shaky.

Toothless was about to retort but held herself back. Staring at the teary-eyed male dragon, she felt terrible for pressuring him.

She mentally scolded herself for being insensitive. The situation was much more complex than that. The female dragon was not used to this kind of interaction. Most importantly, she was rather against Dragon Rebellion.

The two dragons remained silent. Toothless slowly relaxed as Hiccup composed himself. The male dragon shuddered; he did not like where the conversation was going. "Can we talk about something else? I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh, I uh..." Toothless felt like going elsewhere. "I have to go. I need to get my lunch for the night."

That was sudden and awkward for Hiccup. "Okay. Thank you for the place."

The female dragon did not respond. She turned around and hastily walked out from the cavern, before flying away into the night, leaving Hiccup alone there.

"Stupid, stupid dragon."

Toothless was flying up high in the night. She was rather upset with herself, which was expected, considering what happened before. The female dragon thought her lack of social tack had killed that potential relationship. She felt guilt for pushing a dragon that had lost his mother.

There was that tiny part of her pointing out that Hiccup was a war dragon. He was not really behaving as one; given that he looked like he almost cried. Toothless almost smacked herself for that thought. 'Male dragons can cry. Why did I think otherwise?'

She had experienced prideful male Furies so much; she forgot what genuine ones look like. Toothless thought Hiccup was considered one, yet her behaviour did not reflect that. She had let her own pride reveal itself, while Hiccup remained as is.

'It happened. No point denying it.' Toothless thought as she adjusted her flight path. The black dragon was flying around the nest. 'I need to fix this.'

The female dragon thought about solution. She had made amends before - her friendship with Amber was not always perfect. What mended their friendship were patience and understanding of each other, as well as honest apology and aid to solve the mistake she did.

Perhaps it was best to take similar approach. Toothless did not know Hiccup for long - it was technically the second time she met him. She needed to be more understanding, as well as help the male dragon to solve his problems.

'Be the solution, not the problem.' Toothless thought about her father's phrase. 'Thanks dad, even if I hate you sometimes.'

"Mrr..."

Hiccup the dragon was rubbing his chest against the ground. The male Night Fury was scratching his scales against the rough surface. "Come on, get off my scales." He grunted. "I can't go around smelling like charcoal."

"Hiccup, what are you doing?"

"Hrrk!" The male dragon quickly leaped off the ground. Standing guard, he realised Toothless had just returned. "Nothing!" He exclaimed defensively. "Welcome back, Toothless."

The female dragon looked apologetic. "Thanks. I uh..." Toothless paused, carefully choosing her words. "I want to apologise for earlier. I didn't realise I was being insensitive."

Hiccup relaxed upon hearing that. "Okay. Apology accepted."

That made the female Night Fury blink. "... just like that."

"Just like that." The male dragon nodded. He sat on his hindlegs. "I understand where you're coming from. You were born and raised in Hidden World; you probably never experienced anything like this. We joined Dragon Rebellion for a reason, even if we don't like them."

Toothless took a deep breath, stopping herself from retorting. "We lived different lives." She carefully chose her words. "But that does not mean you can't try something different."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to become part of your solution." The female dragon decided. There was determination in her eyes. "I know how to Night Fury. You don't. I want to teach you that."

Hiccup raised his brows. "What do you mean by that?"

Toothless did not respond. She simply demonstrated and revealed her claws, which was shimmering blue. There was a lot more power behind that. The male Night Fury could feel them. It did not take long for Hiccup to know what she meant.

Seeing his reaction, Toothless waved her claws, cancelling that ability. "Life-Force spells are the easiest to cast, most accessible and most useful to learn. That's why dragons learn them." She explained. "It explains the basics of mana, because you are directly harnessing them."

Hiccup thought that was interesting. Furious had explained them before, but he understood them as just a power source. It was most likely that they were more than just that. However, something caught his attention. "Spells?"

"That's what we call them." The dragoness nodded. "A technique or ability using mana is called a spell. The study of making spell is called spellcraft."

"Spellcraft?" The male dragon reared back. "Is it magic?"

Toothless opened her mouth to speak, before realising something. She took her time to answer. "No." The dragoness decided. "It's not magic."

"But spells are magic."

"Yes, but magic implies we don't know how it actually works." The dragoness pointed out. "Dragons have extensively studied mana. It's not unknown to us."

"But it's still magic." Hiccup questioned.

"That's... what we used to call them. Yes." Toothless admitted. She did not look comfortable. "We changed them long time ago to remove that misconception."

"Harr..." The male dragon slowly nodded. Considering her reaction, something must have happened that led to its change.

He did remember his lessons with Furious. The greater alpha dragon avoided using the term 'magic' when teaching him Psychic-Force. He called them 'ability' instead of 'spell' when referring to them. It must have been something historically sensitive.

"Alright." Hiccup decided. "Can you tell me more about Life-Force?"

"Of course." The dragoness smiled at that. "There are other fields of study, but Life-Force has so many spells that most dragons don't need to learn anything else. We Night Furies have potential to learn all of them. We even have large mana pool to compensate."

The male dragon tilted his head. "So, all dragons know about this."

"Well, not really. Most dragons usually know three or five Life-Force spells." Toothless lamely shrugged her wings. "That's why dragons have a lot of respect for mana casters - that's what we call someone that knows a lot of spells. Night Furies tend to be one."

Hiccup thought that explained why dragons behave around him. Dragon soldiers tend to respect him more than their superior. They looked up to him as if he knew what he was doing. He wondered if they heard of Night Furies and their capabilities before.

'That means dragons respected me because of what I am.' Hiccup realised.

Toothless was observing Hiccup, who looked deep in thought. "So, what do you think?" She spoke up, getting his attention. "I'll teach you how to Night Fury, and all the basics you need to know. In exchange, I want us to try something."

The male dragon was interested. "Okay. What do you want to try?"

Toothless did not respond. She came next to him and began rubbing her body against his. "Hrr..." She purred as she touched him. The dragoness had her sides pressed against his, inviting him to play with her.

Hiccup was not sure of what to do. He recognised the gesture. The dragoness was seducing him. That implied what she wanted. The male dragon responded with the only thing he knew. He pounced onto her and pinned her to the ground.

"Hrrk!" Toothless yelped as she was suddenly pushed down.

The dragoness noticed the position she was in. She was laying on her back, with Hiccup on top of her. The two dragons stared at each other, enhanced by the beauty of their eyes. After some time, Toothless spoke. "Do you get what I mean?"

"You want us to become mates." Hiccup accused her.

"Well, you're the only Fury that won't jump me the first time you saw me." Toothless responded, staring at the forest green eyed dragon. "That makes you special to me. I want to give this a try."

"Hrr..." The male dragon hummed. "... you do know we just met few days ago, right?"

"We can start with courtship to get to know each other."

"Yes! I mean... I like you." Hiccup was nervous. "I don't really know why I want you the moment I see you."

"But I don't like forcing dragons into relationship." The male dragon hastily retreated his stance. "I want to make sure that you're really, really sure with this decision."

Toothless simply stared at him. She suddenly drew parallel between dragon Hiccup and human Hiccup. They were so similar; it was eerie for her to think about.

They both had self-esteem issue. In case of dragon Hiccup, it was underneath all those strict behaviour and formal expression. She could see human Hiccup hiding those insecurities behind his sarcasm.

It was the first time she ever met a dragon that did not try to force himself to her. It was also very lucky for her to meet one that she liked.

Regardless, Toothless was happy that he agreed for courtship first. Courtship was important. It meant they get to know each other first before becoming mates together.

"I am sure." Toothless insisted. "I want to know more about you."

"Okay." Hiccup responded, feeling relieved. "I guess we're officially in courtship."

"Yes..." The female dragon felt relief as well.

Hiccup lay down right on top of her. He buried his head onto her neck, inhaling her scent. She smelt of fish and smoke, but also something else. It was intoxicating for him, as something in him wanted her to become his.

"Hrr..." Toothless purred as she leaned her head down. She inhaled his scent. He smelt like sulphur and charcoal.

It was a strange combination, as if he was struck by a lightning and survived to tell the tale. The charcoal smell was strange, however. It was unusual. Timberjacks were the only ones that smell like that.

"... so." Hiccup whispered, getting her attention. "When do we start?"

"Can a woman not enjoy her moment?" Toothless quietly retorted.

"Sorry."

"Hrr..." The dragoness exhaled her breath. "We can start now."

"Right." The male dragon moved away from her. "So how can I be a 'real Night Fury'?"

Toothless was amused. She stood from the ground. "We can start with your name." The dragoness answered. "You need an adult name."

"What's wrong with Hiccup?"

"You are 7 years late to get a new name." Toothless answered. Her mind screamed for her hypocrisy, considering she did not have adult name until last year. "Today is better than never."

"Harr..." Hiccup exhaled his breath. He sat on his hindlegs. "Okay, what do you have in mind?"

"Hrr..." The dragoness hummed. She inspected him. There was nothing that looked out of ordinary, except for the smell of charcoal. She could not give him pretentious name, since that seemed against who he was. "... Charcoal. How about that?"

"What? That scent is going away next shedding season!" Hiccup protested. "I can't have that! Besides, that's a terrible name for terrible reason."

"Terrible- wait." Toothless blinked at that. "How did you get that smell?"

"Hrr..." The male dragon looked embarrassed. "It's just something from few days ago. That smell should go away next shedding season."

"Oh?" The dragoness sounded teasing. "You jumped into a pile of charcoal dust?"

Hiccup stayed quiet for some time. "... I wasn't paying attention when flying." He admitted.

"Hrr, krr..." Toothless snickered.

The dragon stared at her with deadpan expression. "Now you're laughing at my misery."

"No, no, no!" The dragoness stifled her laughter. "It's just that- I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but imagine you flying into one."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Toothless continued speaking. "There's nothing wrong with having a name after an event." The dragoness assured. "And besides, it's better than Hiccup."

The male dragon thought about it, before replying. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Better than Toothless, too."

"I'll have you know this name was given to me by someone I truly care about." Toothless retaliated.

Hiccup - now known as Charcoal as a dragon - seemed to pout. "There's that, at least."

"Hey, don't be like that." Toothless sat in front of him. She was smiling at the male dragon in front of her. "They say that terrible names could ward off trolls and other mystical critters - at least, that's what my friend told me..."

Charcoal simply stared at her. That statement reminded him of something. He remembered telling Toothless that as a human when he named her. That was too specific. He could not bring himself to care much, however. It was simply a dream, after all. Those typically comes from his memories.

"... alright."

"Alright?" Toothless tilted her head. "That's it?"

"Well." Charcoal paused. "I could always do this!"

The male dragon suddenly pounced onto her. "Hrrk!" Toothless grunted as she suddenly got herself a face full of his scales.

Charcoal held her down and flipped over, putting her on top of him. He tightly hugged her, while expressing his gratitude for his new, adult name. "Thank you so much for my new name! It's PERFECT!"

"Get off!" Toothless shouted as she struggled under his grasp.

Charcoal did not let her go. Instead, he wrapped his wings around her body, enveloping them into cocoon. "I am now Charcoal. Charcoal the Night Fury! Soldier of the Red Rage!"

Toothless paused, before replying. "Now you're being dramatic."

Charcoal poked his head down into his wings. He pressed his snout onto hers. "You asked for it."

Toothless huffed. Charcoal simply smiled. The dragoness decided to change the subject. "Now comes the next part."

Charcoal opened his wings and let go of her. Toothless jumped away from him. Charcoal stood from the ground. He stretched his wings, before looking back at Toothless. "What's the next part?"

"How far did your father teach you about mana?"

"I know it's everywhere. We have mana reserve in our body, and everything goes through mana circuits." Charcoal gave his answer. He remembered what his father told him. "He told me not to exhaust my reserve; wait for them to regenerate or it will use body energy as fuel."

Toothless brightened at that. "That sounds like basic theory of mana."

"But I don't understand." The male dragon expressed his confusion. "How does our reserve regenerate? How do I measure my reserve? How do I know how much mana a spell would use?"

That was plenty of question. The dragoness pondered her answer. "Our circuits generate mana by taking in and filtering nature mana from all around us. It can take a few days to top off. The fastest for most dragon is overnight." She answered. "You can speed up the process by keeping yourself fed and well rested. Any excess energy from body gets turned into mana."

Charcoal tilted his head. "Why do we have to filter them?"

"Think of mana as water." Toothless patiently explained. "There are different kinds of water. There's salt water, swamp water, and so on. Our body is a clean, freshwater pond with a fish in it. If we put salt water in it, the pond would be diluted with salt water."

The male dragon widened his eyes. "That's poisonous to the fish."

"Exactly!" The dragoness was happy that he understood. "We are the fish inside the pond. Every pond has different water, and every fish had adapted to it. That's why our circuits filter them. It prevents poisoning."

Charcoal thought it made sense. "What about mana measurement?"

"There is no exact measurement. You could tell how much mana a spell uses when you cast them." Toothless explained. She was hesitant. "Which is... dangerous, because it will let you cast mana intensive spells, even if you don't have enough mana or energy. If you don't stop, it will kill you."

That concerned the male dragon. "So, we measure them by practicing."

"Basically." Toothless nodded. "The most important thing is knowing what affects the cost of mana. The longer or further the target, the more mana it costs. It's the same for everything, including telepathy."

"Hrr..." Charcoal was deep in thought. It made sense that it costed more - energy was finite, after all. "And every dragon has different size of mana reserve..."

"Yes." Toothless exhaled his breath. Then, she continued her lecture. "Now, since you're a dragon soldier, I will warn you that different dragons from different region have different studies relating to mana."

Charcoal tilted his head. "Do they have different names for them?"

"Yes. For example, serpent dragons have magic culture. To them, Mana is called Magical Energy. They kept their old terminologies." The dragoness explained. "Arabian dragons have similar theory as Scandinavian dragons - that's us. The different is not apparent, unless you speak Arabic."

That made sense. Each region most likely developed their own ways to harness that power. It was just like culture - everyone was different. Understanding them was important for them, in case they need to make certain accommodations.

Toothless took a deep breath. "Now, we're going to start with something simple." She began. "The Identify spell."

"The Identify spell." Charcoal repeated. "What does it identify?"

"Inanimate objects, usually. It lets you know what they are, or what they're made of, based on what you already know." The dragoness gave her answer. "It's the first spell parents teach their hatchlings. It's simple and useful. If you know this spell, it's easy for you to learn the rest."

The male dragon sat on his hindlegs. "Okay. How do I start?"

"Assuming Psychic-Force relies on focusing your mind, Life-Force relies on focusing your will." Toothless lectured. "Casting Life-Force spell requires the three Ds: Direction, Definition, and Determination."

"Direction, Definition and Determination." Charcoal repeated once more. It was incredibly different when compared to Psychic-Force. "And that's for all Life-Force spells?"

"For majority of spells. Some very complex ones need to be channelled from specific objects." The dragoness paused. She had accidentally complicated her basic explanation. "But that's for another time. Don't worry about that for now."

"Okay."

"Now, to cast the identify spell, you need to set the direction." The dragoness explained. "That's the target."

"Target." The male dragon looked around, before looking down at the Warming Stone in front of them. He put one of his paws on them. "The Warming Stone?"

"That can work. Keep your paw there." Toothless continued her lecture. "Because the next is definition. You define what you want to do with the stone. In this case, you want to know what your paw is holding."

"Okay." Charcoal raised his brows. "I just... think about it?"

"Think about it, and then, will them to happen." The dragoness nodded. "Determination. You are determined to make it happen."

The male dragon did as he was told. He thought about identifying what the stone on his paws truly was. Remembering his lessons from Furious, he cleared his mind, before willing them to happen.

He felt something flowing from within, before pulsing itself outward from his paw. Charcoal felt something- mana leaving his body, enveloping the stone, before moving back into him.

The moment it did, he knew what it was and its function. It brought forth information he never thought as relevant in his mind.

Warming Stone.

"Hraa..." Charcoal pulled back after the spell was cast. He became quite sure as to what it was. "Warming Stone."

"There you go!" Toothless was enthusiastic. "You casted your first spell! On first try, too!"

"That was... surprisingly easy." The male dragon admitted. He was staring at the Warming Stone. "Are all Life-Force spells like that?"

"Depends on what you're casting. The learning curve is sigmoid." The dragoness remarked. Seeing his confused look, she clarified. "It's easy to learn, but hard to master. They said there are billions of spells out there, most of which was never documented."

"And those that mastered them were called mana caster."

Toothless snorted at that. "No. You don't really master a field of study." She corrected. "You can try, but it'll take your whole life to learn them. You're looking to become proficient in spellcasting to become a mana caster."

"Oh." Charcoal felt awkward. That made sense to him. "I guess you're a mana caster?"

"Yup! Born and proud to be one." The dragoness smirked at that. "Now, that's all I can do for today. We'll start on basics that every dragon knows tomorrow."

"Alright." The male dragon nodded. He softened his expression. "And... thank you for teaching me."

That was genuine. He was happy that someone was willing to help him. Charcoal wondered how he managed to survive that long without such knowledge. It must have been his luck. Regardless, he must become proficient in spellcasting - preferably before his luck ran out.

The dragoness lightly punched his shoulder with her claw. "Don't say thank you yet." She scolded a bit. "If you want me teach you the rest, I need you to do a favour."

"Harr..." The male dragon should have known that it was not free. "What do you need?"

Toothless took a deep breath. "I need you to blow up something."

Charcoal became serious. "If you want me to kill a dragon-"

"No." Toothless hastily interrupted. "Not a dragon. It doesn't involve dragons. I need you to do it because I can't let them know that it was me."

Hearing that, Charcoal became interested. "Okay." He responded. "What do you want me to blow up?"

The dragoness felt somewhat relieved. Charcoal did not question much about why, which was good. Regardless of context, she still needed her revenge against Mildew for putting her human on danger. "I need you to blow up a house. A human house."

"A human house." Charcoal repeated. He wondered why she wanted it destroyed. "That's doable."

"I need you to blow it up in a very specific way." Toothless further explained the request. "I need to teach you the Life-Force spell. It could take a few hours or days to learn, depending how well you did it."

"Oh?" Charcoal responded. There was a glint of excitement in his eyes. It was his opportunity to learn something new along the way. "I'll do it. Where is this house?"

Toothless was happy to hear that. It might take a moment, but her revenge would be served. She was patient, after all. The female dragon simply needed to watch in case Mildew became active threat to her Precious Thing.

Berk was very quiet at night. That was expected. Everyone was resting from the wolf culling that day. Despite how sudden the decision was, everyone felt relieved. It meant that they were safer to live in the village. Wolves should not pose any risk to them anymore.

However, given the night was too quiet, there was a chance of dragon attack. Stoick the Vast decided to stay later that night to help with village patrol. The large man was walking down the village plaza, making sure that it was clear of dragons, or worse.

Stoick was walking past the forge when he noticed the lights being on. It was unusual, considering the window shutters were closed. The Viking chief moved to open the shutter, revealing Gobber the Belch busy reading something on the table. "Gobber?"

The blacksmith looked up. "Stoick." Gobber tilted his head. "Stayin' up late?"

"The night's too quiet." Stoick responded. His voice was low. "There could be dragon attack."

"Aye." Gobber agreed, before continued reading the large paper on the table. "Somethin' spooked the birds, or the wolves killed 'em before culling."

"We are lucky none of our sheep are harmed." The chief grumbled, glancing up to the night sky. The stars looked beautiful that night. "... at least we are safe."

"That we are." Gobber shrugged his shoulder. The blacksmith was still focused on the paper. Suddenly, he remembered something. "Come to think of it. What were Hiccup doin' at the forest?"

Stoick let out a scowl. "Mildew happened."

"Ah." Gobber nodded in understanding. He did not look happy either. "I wonder when he'll move out of the village. 'heard mainland got a good place to retire."

The chief was exasperated. "That's not-"

There was a pause. The blacksmith noticed this and looked up from his paper. Stoick was focused on the night sky, as if he had seen a flying dragon. "Seen anythin'?"

"Hmm..." Stoick was frowning. His eyes were focused on the sky. The two Vikings fell silent as the chief searched around the stars in night sky. "... just a passing black dragon."

Gobber knew what he was talking about. "Where was she headed?"

"The mountain. She disappeared to the clouds." Stoick answered, somewhat confused. There was no reason for Toothless to be there. He wondered what attracted her presence, before realising something. "Hiccup told her about Mildew."

Before anyone could respond, they suddenly heard something rumbling in the sky. The cloud began sparking blue lightning. The air was filled with deep, ominous screeches coming from above. Vikings quickly went out from the house. Weapons drawn, they searched for possible attack or invasion.

"Chief!"

The chief noticed his second-in-command, who was running to him. "Spitelout!" Stoick shouted back. After he arrived, the chief continued speaking. "Any dragons around?"

"There's no dragon in the sky." Spitelout gave his report. His voice was rather shaky. "What could that be?!"

"A Skrill?" Gobber suggested, getting their attention. "But the sound's all wrong."

It was then Stoick came to a horrifying realisation. "That's not a Skrill." He whispered, witnessing the event that was about to unfold - massive pillar of blue translucent fire beamed down from the clouds, as if heaven itself about to erupt. Just under it was a familiar house: Mildew's house. "That's a-"

Suddenly, there was a flash-

"KRAAAAAA!!!"

BOOOOM!!!

The shockwave knocked everyone off their feet. The explosion was so massive, it created a large mushroom-like plume of smoke. Arcs of lightning sparked everywhere, before striking the grounds below.

The house was completely obliterated, and lightning arcs electrocuted anything within hundreds of meters away. Because there was only forest surrounding the house, it instantly lit up the vegetation into fiery fire.

It took a few moments for everyone to gather their thoughts. After some time, Vikings began standing up one by one. They were terrified and awed by what they had witnessed. The roar made it clear as to who blew up the place. It was the certain Night Fury.

They had heard of that dragon from passing traders, talking about how every raid with its presence would always be devastating. It seemed that they were very dangerous, and far, far more lethal than typical Night Fury that they faced roughly a year ago.

Now that they had witnessed what it could do, they were terrified.

"MY HOUSE!!!"

Everyone turned their attention to the screaming Viking. Mildew was utterly shocked to see a large crater at where his house was meant to be. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?!!"

"Ah." Gobber looked somewhat disappointed. "Mildew wasn't there."

Stoick snapped out from his shock. He quickly turned to face his Vikings. "Vikings, get moving!" He barked his orders. "The forest is on fire! Man the wells! Get those buckets and shovels!"

Everyone quickly scrambled for buckets and shovels, while others ran to the village wells for water. Stoick turned to face his second-in-command. "Spitelout, take some Vikings and make sure dragons don't sneak up on us."

"Yes, chief!" Spitelout nodded. He took off running to the other side, shouting at the other Vikings.

"So, she did somethin' after all." Gobber shrugged, before moving to change his prosthetic arm.

"That was not her." Stoick corrected, watching the forest fire.

"Who was it then?"

"The Night Fury from rumours we heard." The chief answered the question. "Blue flame, deeper roar - that's him."

"Ah! That's why he's here." Gobber realised. "He's tryin' to impress her."

Stoick was exasperated. "What do you mean, Gobber?"

"Mildew put Hiccup in danger. He stroked her ire." The blacksmith pointed out. Having finished changing his prosthetic, he leaped out through the window. "The dragon could be courtin' her."

Stoick thought for some time. He stroked his beard as he stared to the smoked crater up on the mountain. Surprisingly, the fire had died down on its own - most likely because of cold and wet climate. That should make the clean-up easier. "He wanted to please her."

"Aye." Gobber nodded, showing his hook arm prosthetic. He was moving shovels out from the forge. "Ye don't tickle sleepin' dragon and not get burned. Especially their partner."

The chief thought that made sense. It explained the presence of the unknown male Night Fury. Toothless was a female Night Fury, and given how rare they were, it made sense why the dragon showed his presence there. The male dragon was courting Toothless.

Stoick thought that Toothless was not stupid. She most likely knew that there was a wolf population problem. Hiccup had most likely told her about his life at the village, including the fact that Mildew sent him to the forest. Toothless saw Mildew as a danger to his safety.

Initially, that was not really a problem. Stoick was aware that Toothless was unwilling to attack the village, in fear of hurting Hiccup. However, that did not mean she would not do something. The recent explosion was an example - she could get someone else to do it for her.

Gobber had just finished moving out the shovels. "Comin' along, chief?"

"Aye." Stoick nodded, before rushing to help others put out fire.

The entirety of Dragon Island rumbled. Furious was displeased. Few days ago, Charcoal had disobeyed his order to stay out of dragon raid. He was unsure what overcame him to attack Berk of all places, or how he learned how to perform that attack. That light show could be seen all the way from Dragon Island!

'Is it possible that he was consumed by hatred?' Furious pondered. 'From the reports, my son is much more composed than that. It's possible that his new friend influenced him.'

In front of his lair, Charcoal arrived at the cave entrance. He looked rather happy - most likely because of something he was carrying with his claws. "Hey dad!"

The massive dragon revealed his yellow, slit-pupiled eyes through the cave entrance. "Hiccup." Furious began. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been learning and studying." Charcoal answered his question, before dropping three small pieces of warming stones on the ground. "I managed to make a clean cut for them."

The greater alpha dragon widened his eyes. There was a hint of pride and jealousy in his heart. He thought that was not possible to learn that in mere days. It took him weeks of practice just to show him that, and Charcoal learned that in mere days!

"And also." Charcoal continued speaking, getting his attention. "I got my adult name."

"Oh?" Furious paid attention. "What is your name?"

"My name is Charcoal." The younger dragon introduced himself. "Toothless gave me that name."

The giant eye pulled back into the darkness. Moments later, the large and familiar Night Fury walked out from the shadows. "Charcoal..." Furious drawled out his voice. "Have you been seeing your female friend?"

Charcoal shrunk under his stare. There was a glint of annoyance in those yellow eyes. "Y- Yes." The younger dragon hesitantly answered. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, I just want to make sure." Furious nonchalantly responded. He was inspecting the warming stones in front of him. The cut looked rather clean. "You wouldn't happen to know about the explosion at Isle of Berk, do you?"

The younger dragon took a deep breath. "Yes."

There was a long pause. Furious realised Charcoal did not elaborate. "Who did it?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"I can't say no to destroying human villages." Charcoal answered.

Furious began walking around him in circle. "You're not supposed to do that because you are on vacation." He remarked, before stopping in front of him. "You are meant to be training."

"I was training with my fire." The younger dragon justified. "It's just a practice to make very big explosion on a mountain near human village, in case I need to actually use it on human village."

The greater alpha dragon moved right in front of him, stopping mere inches from his snout. "Don't be sarcastic with me, Charcoal." Furious hissed. "You know the consequence if they knew who did it. We can't have that kind of attention."

Charcoal did not respond. He simply stared at his father. Furious was exasperated. He exhaled his breath, before continued speaking. "You will refrain from using that craft against humans or their village, unless absolutely necessary." He ordered. "This is an order from your greater alpha. Do you understand?"

The younger dragon straightened himself. "Yes, alpha."

"Good." Furious nodded, satisfied by that conclusion. "Now then. I assume Toothless made that request?"

Charcoal seemed to blush. "Yes."

"Hrr..." The greater alpha dragon simply hummed. He thought that was an interesting - Charcoal agreeing to do something outside of his duty. It did not take him long to come for a conclusion. "Are you in courtship with her?"

The younger dragon knew he could not lie out of that. "Yes."

"I see." Furious gave a curt nod. "Why?"

"I like her." Charcoal confessed. There was no hesitation in his voice. "She wanted a courtship and we agreed. We want to try."

Furious paused as he contemplated the situation. He thought that was an improvement. The greater alpha dragon did not have to look for a female Night Fury for him, since Charcoal had found one himself. That saved him time and embarrassment of asking other greater alpha dragons about it.

However, while he approved of Toothless, he did not know who she was. He did not know any Night Fury with that name. Given that Night Furies were incredibly rare, they could not really be picky on who to mate with, mostly because they would never find anyone else in their lifetime. Finding one was a feat in on itself.

'Night Furies usually stayed in Hidden World, unless we have something to do in the surface.' Furious pondered, staring at the small pool of lava. 'It's possible that she went out to find a mate. But given that they haven't returned to Hidden World, she could have been a runaway dragon.'

Charcoal had been watching Furious, who suddenly fell silent. "Dad?" He started. "Is there something wrong?"

"... no." The greater alpha dragon finally decided. "I approve your relationship with her."

The younger dragon felt incredibly relieved. He did not realise how tense he had been. "Thank you."

"But do not slack your training." Furious sharply responded. He looked rather stern. "You've made your first step, but there are still a million more. You must keep studying."

Charcoal slumped his wings. "When can I get back to my duties?"

"After I deem you finished learning the basics, with exceptions in case of emergencies." Furious answered. "There are many things that you need to learn. Remember, you just returned to me last year. You never learned how to be a Night Fury. You need to know them."

The younger dragon was utterly confused. "But... why now? Why not before when I arrived?"

"Because I realised that Merciless never taught you how to be one." The greater alpha dragon answered, before walking into the cave entrance. "Come. Take the crystals with you. We will continue your lessons."

"Can I study Life-Force first?" Charcoal requested as he followed him. "My partner's teaching me, and it gets confusing with you teaching me Psychic-Force."

"It is your responsibility to measure yourself. Regardless of your condition, my lesson is mandatory." Furious retorted. Internally, he was happy that his son was learning overtime. "Now come. The faster you learn, the better."

Charcoal dutifully obeyed. "Yes, dad." He responded, before remembering something. "Can I ask something first?"

"You may."

"Is it true that mana is magic?"

That made them stop. Furious slowly turned around to face his son. He looked concerned and hesitant. "Yes." The greater alpha dragon answered. "It was what we called them once."

The young dragon tilted his head. "Why the name change?"

"It was... part of the darkest moments in dragon history." The greater alpha dragon gave his response. "That's all I can say. After you learn the basics of mana, I will tell you. I promise."

Charcoal realised that it might be incredibly horrible. "Okay." He nodded. "I'll hold on that promise."