Part 65

After Vindalhall told me he would teach me and the others how to speak, I began to look at him in a new light. I grew excited, like a child on Christmas morning. I quickly nodded, approving of Vindalhall's request to teach me how to speak.

"Good," Vindalhall said with a smile, "However, it's a rather complicated process. First, I'll have to explain why dragons can't speak normally. It has to do with the way their mouths are formed. You simply don't have vocal cords advanced enough to speak, nor do you have the jaw shape required to manipulate sound as it comes out of your mouth. Sure, you can roar, but so can every other predator on Woroch."

I nodded and sat down as I began to listen to Vindalhall's explanation.

"To fix this problem, you'll have to manipulate your mana within your body, similar to how you manipulate your mana when you're flying. However, instead of spreading your mana through your wings and main body, you'll have to concentrate as much as you can on your throat while still keeping the rest of your mana as spread out as possible," Vindalhall continued. Hazel and Icarus had begun to pay attention now as well, though Icarus was hardly able to follow along. Vindalhall smiled as he looked at the three dragons in front of him acting like hard-working students, "When you concentrate enough mana on your voice-box, your mana will physically change it and make it advanced. If you evolve your voice box enough times you'll eventually be able to speak."

I nodded, then closed my eyes and immediately set out to work on my mana. Thanks to my skill『 Mana Control 』, I had a bit of an advantage when it came to manipulating the mana in my body. The skill's main function was to passively keep the mana in my body even enough to fly, but it also made it so I was able to instinctively move my mana easier than most other creatures.

When I felt the mana in my body, I first checked that it was still spread out through my body in an even and balanced manner. I was going for a glass of water that was completely full to the top. The top of the water would have to have no ripples and would not be tilted to the point where it could overflow. Thanks to my dragon body, the amount of mana I had in my body was monstrous.

If I had to compare my mana's density to a physical object, magma wouldn't be far off. I could only be thankful that my mana wasn't actually physical but ethereal. Even if the consistency turned dense enough to be similar to most solids, I wouldn't feel any physical change. Instead, the only result would be a drastic power boost to my magic. Although, even if my mana had a power boost, I wouldn't manage to get an MP pool boost, as the glass cup would always stay the same size. To increase the cup's size, I could only level up or use artifacts.

So, once I took control of my mana, I instantly felt similar to an amateur puppeteer. The movements that I made with my puppets weren't perfect, but there was no resistance whatsoever. I continued to concentrate on my mana for what felt like several hours as I slowly got used to controlling the mana within my body.

I had a similar experience when I first attempted to control it, so I wasn't surprised by my lack of process. It seemed that, even with my superior control of mana, having mana gather in my throat while keeping an even balance throughout the rest of my body was near impossible. Even a tiny fraction of extra or not enough mana would upset the balance, causing me to start over.

However, after about six hours of attempting it, I finally managed to figure it out. The balance between the mana in my throat and the mana in my body was fragile, to say the least. It was like glass with the characteristics of a feather. Even a simple breath out of place was able to set it off and shatter it into a million pieces.

Regardless of the risk, though, I persevered and eventually managed to successfully evolve my voice box. The process to get the mana into where it needed to be was difficult and took up all of my attention. Because of this, the pain was unexpected.

As the last of the mana went into my voice box, completing the procedure, my entire throat began to burn. For a creature with fire resistance, this feeling was unnatural. I quickly opened my eyes, wondering what I did wrong. I quickly attempted to pull as much mana as I could from my throat, but my mana wasn't listening.

My throat was acting as a magnet as it attracted as much mana as it could. Then, once it had enough, the pain stopped. I fell to the floor, unaware that I had been shaking in pain and startling the others. Hazel had no idea what to do, but she was still trying regardless. Icarus had long since given up and had taken to zooming through the open room while Vindalhall watched in amusement.

When I went down, they all ceased their activities and turned their attention to me.

"Wow, he's finished early," Vindalhall gasped as he looked at me. Hazel walked up to my side, panicking before she quickly used morph to change her form back into that of a human. When Vindalhall saw this, he immediately took a step back and gasped, "How? How did you do that?"

I opened my eyes, glad the pain was gone, then sighed. I looked to the side and saw Hazel's human form, so I decided to morph into my own as well. When my body shrunk, Hazel instantly took me in her arms and began to support me so I didn't land against the stone floor in a painful way.

"What? Both of you?" Vindalhall yelled out. I groaned and looked up as I held my throat in my hand.

"That hurt. Why didn't you warn me about that?" I asked. I quickly took off my helm and gasped as I got a fresh breath of fresh air. I looked back to Vindalhall, angry, and quickly stood up. Vindalhall met my gaze, but his eyes were full of fear.

"Only ancient dragons can use morph. How can you two, who aren't even adults, use it? That should be impossible!" Vindalhall asked as he took another step back. I looked at him, still as angry as before, and quickly appraised him.

﹃

Vindalhall

Race: Elder Stone Golem

HP: 160

MP: 115

AC: 150

DMG: 50

Rank: C

﹄

As I looked at his stats, I smiled. This was certainly beatable, even if it would be difficult in my human form. However, as I thought about fighting him, I began to calm down. Vindalhall had gone out of his way to teach me how to speak in my dragon form. Even if it was painful, it was worth it.

I sighed, then looked back to Vindalhall.

"Sorry," I muttered as I put my helm back on. Vindalhall nodded but kept me in his sights. He took another step back and began to move toward the chest he had been sitting in when we first saw him. I instantly became curious, so I walked forward, "What's in there?"

"This?" Vindalhall nervously chuckled. He turned away from me and looked back to the chest. As he laid eyes on it, Vindalhall suddenly calmed down. He looked back at me, then said, "This is the heirloom of Doragem himself. It's his most prized possession."

"Why is it here?" I asked as I looked at the chest. For such a valuable item, it was certainly not being kept very safe. Who knew how much it had degraded while in such a vulnerable box?

"I'm guarding it," Vindalhall explained, "I have been for three and a half thousand years, ever since Doragem perished."

"You're not expecting him to come back, are you?" I asked. Vindalhall may have been carved to look like a child, but he was still stone. It wasn't too surprising that he was several thousand years old. It was impressive, but it sounded lonely.

"No, it's just how I was created," Vindalhall explained, "While I'm alive, nobody is allowed to take it. Even if Doragem himself came into the dungeon to reclaim it, I would have to keep it from him. I have no capability to prove it would actually be him, after all."

"What is it?" I asked. Vindalhall shrugged.

"No idea. I've never looked at it," Vindalhall replied, "All I know is that it's powerful, though some historical records suggest that nobody had ever learned how to use it. It was just a simple crystal ball for them."

"Crystal ball?" I asked, my mind hooked on Vindalhall's words. I instantly looked to the box as I snapped my neck away from Vindalhall. I sighed, then turned my gaze back to Vindalhall, "Is there any chance you'd give it to us?"

"Give it to you?" Vindalhall muttered, more confused than offended. He sighed, then shook his head, "Trust me, I've wanted to leave this place for ages. I simply can't, it's against my programming."

"Programming? That's a strange word," I muttered.

"I can't really describe what it means," Vindalhall replied, "All I can tell you is that I'm bound by something similar to a slave crest."

"I see. What was the favor you wanted? You mentioned something about it before I began training," I asked. Vindalhall looked at me, his face full of sadness.

"I want you to kill me," He said, bringing surprise to my face. Hazel gasped for a moment before she reattained her composure.

"You want me to kill you?" I asked. Vindalhall nodded.

Vindalhall nodded, "my programming dictates that I cannot allow any enemy or ally to lay hands on the weapon, but that's only true for when I'm alive. If I'm dead, that programming can't be enforced."

"Wouldn't you have to fight me to obey your- what, programming?" I asked. Vindalhall looked at me, his eyes saddened, as he shook his head.

"I'm allowed to give up and let you kill me," Vindalhall said, "It's a loophole that I found a few centuries ago. I'm not required to defend myself. So long as you don't lay your eyes on the weapon or touch the weapon, I have no obligation to fight. You can kill me and take the weapon. At the same time, I will finally be free of this prison."

"I see. If you wish to see what death is like, allow me to show you," I said with a solemn voice as I tightened my fist. Vindalhall nodded and began to relax his body.

"It's finally time," he whispered as I charged forward. Then, once I managed to reach a foot away from him, I slammed my right heel into the ground and slammed my fist against his chest. At the same time my strongest spell,『 Fire Cyclone』activated and began to deal damage to Vindalhall every second.

Ordinarily, my attack wouldn't have managed to get passed Vindalhall's AC. As a result, I would've done half damage because I was using magic. However, because Vindalhall was voluntarily giving himself up, my attack was a critical hit.

All of my damage managed to pass through his AC as my spell brought his HP down by 100 HP every second. He was dead within two seconds, his body replaced by nothing but charred stone. Even though my attack only lasted for two seconds, almost half of my MP was gone. That was how strong『 Fire Cyclone』was.

『 +1500 XP』

"No time to mourn," I mumbled as I turned away from Vindalhall's corpse. I felt no remorse for his death, nor did I feel any guilt for killing him. If anything, I felt happy that he was willing to give up a treasure to me. As I walked over to the box, I began to feel excited. Based on my conversation with Vindalhall, something important was behind this box.

When my hands touched the wood of the chest, goosebumps passed through my body. I instantly began to feel the mana of the item inside, almost like it was calling me. Then I opened the chest and looked inside.

『 Congratulations on finding your second Dungeon Core! 』