A Perfect Practicing Partner

I woke with my normal redundant train of thought about how beautiful the scenery was, before deciding what to do today. Remembering the 'fight' yesterday and the hero's skill reminded me of something very important. I haven't explored anywhere near enough magic. If there was one to make a sword shiny and longer, surely there was magic to keep visitors out of my cave?

I came out of my cave and flew to the other side of the mountain it was in so I wouldn't destroy my bed, and wondered what I should start with. As a magical beast I should be able to use magic easily, but I haven't tried in so long that I don't really know what to start with. Well, I'll just try something simple with wind magic first, since I am a wind dragon. I visualized a blade made out of compressed air shooting towards a conveniently placed boulder and watched as a foot-wide white crescent appeared in the space before me, before cutting through the 2m thick boulder like there was nothing there. Pleased, I continued practicing my magic, and was very pleased by what I found. Judging from other's status screens, they could not use every element, while I could use them all. On top of that, I had a brilliant affinity for wind, much more than all the other elements, and I could create and control bigger, deadlier spells at much faster rates than my other affinities. After a few experiments, I had a few successes that would probably kill that hero instantly. On top of that, the skills appeared in my status in a fold-out window, allowing me to view names and descriptions given by whatever made the status screen and match them to what I had developed. 'Does this have a name for every skill possible already, or does it develop them on the spot?' I found myself wondering, before scrolling through the list once more.

Wind Blade

Shoot a wide blade of high pressure air (I could also shoot many smaller blades, like a barrage of daggers).

Wind Claws

Extends reach of claws by using Wind Blade.

(passive) Wind Armour

Pressurize are around you body to deflect attacks. Particularly effective against arrows and lower tier magic.

(passive) Aerodynamics

Manipulate the airflow around your body to move faster. Especially effective when flying.

After getting Aerodynamics, I tried to extend my control even further, and apparently obtained something I should have had long ago.

(species trait, King tier) Airflow Manipulation

The ability to almost completely control the general airflow within 20m from you. Density of mana and opposing mana affects how much control you have.

Maybe I really do deserve the "-of Sloth" suffix if I've never put in enough effort to even obtain this skill. After obtaining it, I 'saw' the area around me in an obscene amount of detail, even the backside of rocks I could see down to tiny grains of dust rolling along their surface. To a lesser mind it might have knocked somebody out, but it hardly made a difference to me. This was already powerful, but I understood that I could go further with my control over the air around me, and so I did.

After extensive testing, I understand that it truly is deserving of its title of 'King tier'. It allowed me to move air inside the stated range, from extremely high pressure to extremely low. I could also control the movement, creating a gently breeze or thundering gale. One time I tried to stop all movement inside my area, and found it quite easy, but also that I could go further. And so I did. I'm not sure what exactly was happening, but the air around me started to become strangely cool, and my mana was draining at a ridiculous rate. Even after giving up cooling the air down further, it still drained a surprising amount just maintaining its low temperature. Releasing my control, I felt as the air mixed naturally once more, spreading out my cold surroundings to the much warmer sky. As I looked at the sky, I realized how much time had passed. It was already noon! How could I ever stay awake this long! Sure, experimenting was fun, but it was nothing compared to the blissful abyss that is sleep. Rushing back down the mountain with my newly improved speed, I settled down in the back of my cave, closing my eyes to take my nap.

A few hours after I dutifully fell asleep, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of my cave. "Fiendish beast! How dare you trick me! I will show you what happens when a weakling like you doesn't accept death!" oh, the idiot has returned. Why did he even come back? Why does he think he is still alive after his attack failed last time? And what's this about me tricking him? "Last time I may have been tricked by your illusion, but I know that you could never withstand my blade! Now pitiful creature, die!" he thought I used an illusion? I don't even know how to do that, guess it will be another thing to test after this 'battle'. Waking up and putting on my best 'annoyed' face, I stared at his form, glowing with inefficiently used mana until I realized something and my expression softened. I had the BEST test subject right in front of me! I had noted that the spells I put effort into would probably cut the hero in twain, but I could always lower the power until the attack barely formed, then increase the power from there.

As always, Ray started his attack with a charge with his sword held high, so I shot a small Wind Blade at him. "Is that spell all you've got? To afraid to face me in close combat? As expected of a glorified lizard like you!" why is he even still talking? If I was just a glorified lizard, I wouldn't even understand his words. After finishing his smack talk, he used his holy blade to try and cut my magic. If I wanted to, I could've moved it out the way, but I wanted to see how strong my weakest attack was. After being hit, my Wind Blade was pushed off course, and flew between his legs before damaging the floor behind him. "Hahaha! That was pathetic!" he claimed, with a victorious expression. Sadly, I actually agreed with him. My control was so poor the weakest blade I could form was still strong enough for him to need to deflect it to protect himself. Another thing to improve, then. Disappointed in myself, I thought for a quick way to end the battle without repeating my previous performance, as that would be extremely dull for me, and came upon my answer. Although a Hero such as Ray was much beyond most humans, I would predict he still needed air around him to breathe, so I tried to drag the air away from his mouth, wondering how much of an impact any protective magic he had on him would have.

My Airflow Manipulation surpassed my expectations, taking no more mana or effort than normal to prevent the flow of air into Ray's lungs. At first there was no change, but after a few more steps and swings, which I had been blocking throughout this time, he finally realized something was wrong. He used the momentum from one of my blocks to get distance, but still not outside my 20m aura, so his breath still did not return to him. His face turned pale and his lips blue, before he tottered around drunkenly, vainly swinging his sword even though I was very far away. His chest rising and falling rapidly did nothing to aid him, and he soon collapsed to the ground, not drooling this time. An improvement to his hygiene! How gracious I am. It seems that Airflow Manipulation could be very powerful if used correctly. But now the question was: what do I do about the fainted idiot? From hearing what he said this time, it seems he will keep coming back as long as he doesn't see me as a threat, which will be extremely annoying, as I doubt he will respect me enough to only come when I'm not asleep. If he did come back, I could just use him to test more magic, but he was really getting on my nerves, so I cut a piece of his armour off his arm and cut a bit into his arm. It could heal completely, especially if he found a practitioner of healing magic, but should serve as a good enough warning.

Once again visiting the clearing near Malt, I deposited the luggage once again, then I returned to my cave with my first spoil of 'war'.