Chapter 199: The way

"Before we begin, I have a question I forgot to ask."

"Yes, what is it, my lord?" Lana tilted her head and asked.

"What happens to a Dragon born if the contract between him or her patron Dragon was broken?"

"That, I'm sure they die, my lord."

"They die, you say?" A frown made its way to my face as I thought about that.

'Does that mean if I break my contract with Ayona, she'd die as well?"

Lana nodded and continued, "There had been a few recorded cases of Dragon born that fell out of grace with their patron Dragons. The sudden disappearance of the contract causes the mana inside their bodies to run rampant before they died." Lana visibly shuddered as if she recalled an unpleasant memory before she continued; "Some of the recorded deaths were— gruesome, to say the least."

"Interesting, and is there any recorded explanation? Because from my understanding, they don't use Dragon's mana directly, the contract simply helps them sense the mana of their patron and boosts their control over it, no?"

"That is correct, my lord, but it also carries with it a tiny whisp of a dragon's true mana. Some speculate that that is the true reason why without the contract to protect them the Dragon born end up losing control." Lana explained.

"I see, that makes some sense, I suppose. But I'm not very convinced."

"My lord you mean?"

"I'd like to meet one of these Dragon born myself," I said to which Lana fell silent for a few seconds before she answered:

"That might be a little bit hard, my lord." She said with a complicated expression.

"Hmm?"

"Most of the identities of the Dragon born are unknown. They blend in with the common people, and each one is assigned a mission by their respective patron dragon. So it's a bit hard to find them."

"Doesn't the church have a few?" I asked as I recalled what my grandmother had said. According to her, they had a hand in pushing the church into power, which undoubtedly involved the Dragon born.

Lana shook her head and added; "It does, but they never stay here. They usually come and go as they please."

"I see, then tell the priests to share the news of my arrival at the mortal realm. I'm sure some of them would come back." I said.

"Oh, so it's okay to let everyone know you descended, my lord?"

"Yes, like I said I'm here to teach and... Learn."

"Learn?" Puzzled Lana asked again to which I simply nodded and shooed her away to inform the head of the church.

"Then I'll be right back, my lord."

With her gone, I was left with my own thoughts as I began to think back to what she said. 'Could the contract be different than the one, I have with Ayona?' I inwardly wondered.

"But what would be different between them? And why do they have to die?" I sighed before I laid down on the smooth comfortable platform.

'My first guess is that it's a condition added by the Dragons. Or perhaps, the recorded cases were simply ones where the patron Dragon or Dragoness had a fallout with their subordinates and decided to off them.'

"It's plausible, though I doubt a Dragon would choose a random person to become a Dragon born." Another sigh escaped my mouth as I raised my head to glance at the blue sky. The weather was perfect today, with the sun's rays gently warming my scales.

'What's different between us and the humans? We can see the mana, but they can't, we can directly control the elements, but they can barely wield them not to mention they can't differentiate between them. But why, is it simply because of our different builds? Or perhaps something else? And what about the Elves, the Demons?'

"Do they have anything similar to a soul space?... Soul space... Soul space!" I quickly stood up as a sudden idea flashed through my mind.

'They shouldn't have a soul space! Lana said that a whisp of a Dragon's mana is sent to the Dragon born through the contract, then where is that whisp of mana stored?' The more I thought about it the more it made sense.

The human mages used the mana without drawing It inside their bodies, for they had nowhere to store it. I could use it the same way as them, but I also have a Soul space where I can draw my own mana from.

'Does that mean the contract acts as a buffer of sorts, it protects the Dragon born from their patron's mana, but with it gone that whisp of mana has nowhere to go and so it rampages inside their bodies causing them to die!'

It's nothing but a random guess, but I had a strong feeling it was the right one.

'Then does that mean the secret to all of this is in the soul space?'

"But a Soul space is a Dragon's greatest weapon and greatest weakness as well. I doubt they could have one as well. But maybe, just maybe we can replicate something similar to it." I mumbled as I felt myself growing excited about the idea.

It was at this point that Lana came out of the church with a wide smile, along side her was the bald priest. They quickly walked up the platform and gave me a deep bow.

"The news of your descent will spread throughout the whole continent, my lord. Please don't worry!" The priest was the first to speak.

"En, good," I nodded before turning to Lana, "I have an idea concerning the experiment that I'd like to try, but I'll warn you, I have absolutely no confidence in it working and there's a high chance it'll put you in danger."

"I don't min-" Before she could continue, the priest hurriedly interrupted her and spoke;

"My lord, this child is still young and doesn't know what she's talking about. I heard about your goal from her, and we'd be more than happy to lay down our lives for the sake of it. The church has a lot of devoted members that would jump at the chance of being of assistance to your noble goal. Please let me bring them instead." He said and gave me a deep bow.

"Old man, what are you talking about?! I said I'll do it-"

"Alright, so be it. I do not want to force anyone to do this, so do not bring back any that are unwilling."

His face lit up as he quickly thanked me before he ran back to the church with surprising grace.

"What-" Lana was left dumbfounded by what had just happened. She turned to glance at me with a pitiful gaze.

"My lord..."

"That old man cares about you a lot. I can sense it." I chuckled.

"Yes but-"

"And he's right, this way it'll be better. I doubt we would succeed from the first try." I added with a sigh.

'Looks like some people might die... Is it okay to do this?' I wondered.