After Training with Dux

Following that jaw-dropping counterattack, Dux simply sighs like he just finished doing daily chores. Meanwhile, little Oria is still stunned, unable to process how crazy the effects of such art.

"Phew... that sure takes the toll on my strength. Nah, maybe I'm just lacking training my body. Nyuhuhuhuhu..."

The debaucherous wizard turns around finding Oria in her current state.

"Eh, Oria?"

"Master Dux... w-what... what kind of thing did I just... see?" she asked with a held back voice.

"Ahhh. That's one of my attack arts. One slash is enough to purge that kitty out of existence~!" he replied in an offhanded voice.

"I-It's not just... the monster that got destroyed, though..."

Dux turns back to the opposite direction where he landed his fatal blow. Seeing the crater, he soon realizes that he actually gotten carried away. Almost immediately, a flooding sweat covers his face.

"Ah... Ahahaha... Well, how am I supposed to say it, uhh... (Shit. I shouldn't really use that art, should I? Dammit. Oria will be afraid of me now! AH! Faruk will endlessly nag at me for showing that attack I did.)"

Screeching silently from the inside, Dux struggles to reason his way out. Soon, he finds himself a fine idea.

"A-Ah! If you ever overdid yourself during your training or so... like damaging the environment nearby, or perhaps in my case, turned it into a crater... then you should be responsible for it and reconstruct the area you damaged!" Dux explained in a slightly rushed tone.

Oria, being a curious child, asks him with one and only one word.

"Why?"

"Grk! U-Umm... (Darn it, what am I supposed to say to her? At this rate she'll be scared of me for sure! That just came out of nowhere... well... I do usually replant trees and grasses that fell victim after testing my magic, though.)"

Dux stresses. He rapidly searches for an answer but somewhat ignoring the fact that Oria did NOT show signs of being afraid at all. He eventually finds himself in a disadvantage, having no choice but to go with the answer he already has in mind.

"A-Ahem..." he cleared his throat, gathering calmness in the air.

With his shrilly voice but refined, he explains to her:

"Oria, as I told you, if you accidentally destroyed plants around you during your training, it is best we held responsible and restore them. That way, it shows that you care about the environment around you."

"Ohh... I see. But why should we care?" Oria asked again. Her curiosity is bombarding the magician.

But at this point, Dux already set everything in line in his neural cells to explain in complete order. With a casual, yet relaxed voice, he answers her.

"Trees and plants are blessings of the Goddess Altria, Oria. We should and ALWAYS take care of the nature She gave to us. If we 'accidentally' destroyed them, we must do our best to restore them, as long as it is possible. Not only that, remember a few days ago where you eat those fruits I brought?"

"Oh, right. They're delicious!" she remarked happily, remembering the good taste.

"Yeah. They didn't fall out of the sky, you see. They come from plants, trees, and more. And they don't instantly appear like 'POOF!' and then you go eat them all. It takes a considerable amount of time to grow them. Trees provide the 'fresh air' we breathe every day. In addition to that, they serve as a source of food, too.

That's why, if you don't restore them after you accidentally destroyed them, you're just incredibly disrespectful to the nature and Goddess Herself."

Dux ends his speech there with a confident look in his face.

Oria is fascinated again by his explanations.

"I see. We should respect what Goddess gave us, trees, and nature alike." she pointed out, which Dux nodded gleefully, happy that she understands quick.

"Though, I'm sorry, Master Dux... but, how are you going to restore that huge hole back to how it was?" Oria asked again, pointing her index finger at the blackening crater, cooling down after the fiery swing Dux did.

"Urk. Well... ah, darn it." Dux eventually succumbed to her 'question cannon'. Rubbing the back of his head, he decides to just go honest with her, "Actually, I got a bit overboard there. I'm pretty sure that's scary for you to look at, so I'll just head over there and fix it in a moment."

Just when Dux about to stride off, Oria surprisingly says to him, "I'm not scared."

"Eh?" the wizard turned his head around.

"Well, I admit... it's a bit scary. But mostly, I'm amazed by it!" she said excitedly.

"Eh?! S-So you're not scared by me?" the wizard responded in shock.

"Mm?" she tilted her head a bit, confused. "Why should I be scared of you?" she asked in a childishly adorable tone.

"O-Oh... is that so... (Then WHAT the hell am I explaining that habit of mine for?!)" Dux screamed inside his mind.

"Can I see, please? I wanna see!" Oria asked cutely as she walked closer. "I wanna see how you restore the nature!"

"...*sigh*... (Seriously, what a strange child. She's not scared of me, after all. Heh, my concern is all for naught once again, eh?)"

Finally, Dux decides to release one lock within him, letting himself to be more open towards the little girl.

"Heheh... So! Is that what you want~!?" Dux asked, almost challenging. "Nyuhuhuhuhuuu! I'll show you how the Great Master Sqidral Dux do it!"

Dux sprints to the middle of the crater with his staff in hand. He plants it to the scorched ground and casts out a magical spell. A gigantic magic circle appears with the staff at the center, releasing a faint light that enlarges to a widespread radiance covering the entire area that became victim of Dux's Sol Zanber.

Much to her fascination, the scorched area regains its original color. Dirt emerges as the blackness fade, and soon grass appears from the renewed ground. The trees that were disintegrated now regrow with the exact same type as the former. Though, the greenery is restored, but the land does not. The crater itself wasn't returned to its original flat ground. It stays cratered, but grass and some plants have grown over it.

"Whoaaaaa...!" Oria is mesmerized by the regrowing nature. Her eyes are blaring, starry-like. She didn't even realize her mouth was left agape.

"Nyuh-huh-huh. It's amazing, isn't it?" Dux bragged as he climbed up the elevation.

"It is! It's really awesome!" Oria said happily, clenching her hands.

"Heh. Well, that's that for now. We should return to Faruk now. It's getting late." Dux gestured her to follow him.

"Ah... you're right. I'm coming!"

On the way, Oria converses with the squid wizard, recapping of what she learned for the day. Dux happily explains to her about magics, skills, and arts in a simpler fashion and asks her if there's anything she's having a hard time understanding.

During their conversation, Dux thinks to himself.

"(I swear. Faruk, you've fetched yourself an interesting human. I envy you. If only I found her first, I'd make her my pupil. She's polite, obedient, and full of curiosity. She'll be a great apprentice. In addition, with that grandiose amount of mana, she might even surpass me.

But... her mysterious origins and her extreme traits are something that only Faruk can deal with. After all, he's a former Guardia. She's his responsibility, concreted by the fact she formed a [Soul Contract] with him. It also befalls to HIM too of what she'll become in the future.

For now... as her tutor, I'm quite satisfied to see her able to use magic and arts.)"

...

..

.

An hour later, they arrive at the Silver Dragon's cave.

"Wee-woo! Faruk, we're baaack~!" Dux carefreely strides into the cave with Oria following him from behind.

The Silver Dragon rests on the ground with his head hung up near the cave entrance with his eyes closed. He didn't respond to the wizard's frivolous voice for a few minutes. He's deeply focused on meditating.

Faruk eventually opens his eyes. His glowing eyes caught sight of the two small creatures by the entrance.

"Dux, is it? Oria, too. Welcome back, you two," he greeted in a refined voice.

Before even asking anything, Oria has approached him first, looking at his large eyes from below. She then excitedly tells him about what happened today.

"Faruk, Faruk! I've learned how to use magic! O-Oh, not only magic, though... I also learn about skills and uhh... it was called arts, I think? Yeah, I guess it's that," she said all that and ended with a big smile on her face.

Faruk notices a major change in her personality. She's far more cheerful than before, already like a literal eight-year-old who's in their phase of curiosity. Delighted, Faruk praises her.

"Ho... I see you've been working hard, Oria. Well, let's see how well you did..."

"Heehee. Please do!" Oria stated smilingly, allowing the dragon to perform appraisal on her.

The Silver Dragon realizes that this is the first time he will use [Appraisal] skill on her. Though, he has seen her basic stats with his own eyes, but he didn't thoroughly see everything due to his and Dux's surprise about Oria's massive mana. This time, he intends to check her stats overall, including magic and skills.

Thus, he begins appraising. Like Dux, Faruk doesn't say anything and suddenly the status screen belonging to Oria appears before his intimidating dragon eyes.

"Hmm... it seems you've done well in learning things. I congratulate you, too, for achieving your first set of magics," said the dragon while rolling his eyes, focused entirely on the status screen.

But when he reaches the skill section, he stops scrolling down. His body froze, not moving a bit at all. He's surprised by what he saw in the screen.

"What is this...? [E-404 Lv.??] ...? I've never heard of it before."

"Uhh... I'm so sorry, Faruk. I don't know anything about that," Oria apologized immediately.

"Hmm..." Faruk's attention turns to the wizard, who gives a shrug the moment their eyes met each other, telling him that even he doesn't know.

"(As far as I lived as a Guardia, I've never seen or heard anything like a skill that looked like encrypted letters. Not to mention the level doesn't even show anything...)"

"Is something wrong, Faruk...?" Oria asked. She's a bit scared by the damning silence.

"Not in particular," Faruk assured. "It's just that one skill of yours. I was a Guardia, yet I never seen that skill before."

"I-Is it that bad?" Oria asked again.

"Hmm... I cannot say for sure. There are thousands of skills in the world. And none of them went unrecorded in my memory. It is an absolute trait of a Guardia. Though, I'm no longer one, but I still retain them."

"..." Oria looked down, concerned.

Seeing her reaction, the dragon simply tells her to lay down her fears.

"You need not fear, Oria. As long as that mysterious skill of yours doesn't affect your daily life, it won't matter at all. Let us keep this at the back of our minds for the time being, shall we?" Faruk suggested.

"But... I'm worried..." the silver-haired child replied.

Dux hovers to her side, already transformed his looks with his human form. His arms are still tentacle, though.

"Nyuhuhuhuhu! I agree with Faruk here. There's nothing much we can do for that one skill of yours. Phooh... I know it's worrisome, but if we worry over something that doesn't even causing anything bad, then why should we?" he said with his usual grin.

Oria is surprised to see that expressive human face of his again.

"What...? Is there something on my face?" Dux inspects his face with his wriggling tentacle arm.

"N-No... it's just that... haha... hahahaha... I guess... I guess you're right. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it."

"Ha-HAA! Good girl!" Dux spins around, then stopping to point his staff to her. His motions screams nothing but exaggerations. "Glad to hear THAT!"

"Mm," Faruk nodded. "I apologize for not being helpful, Oria."

"O-Oh, no, it's not your fault at all! Please!" she pleaded. "If anyone should know about the skill, it's supposed to be me! And... I know nothing about it. I don't remember it being there, either... I'm so sorry for making so much trouble for you..."

Seeing the little girl bow before him, the dragon sighingly orders her, "Lift your head, Oria."

"H-Huh...?"

"Remember this. You're not at fault if you don't know anything about it. You don't need to carry the burden of being at fault for being oblivious. Leave it to me. To Dux, too."

"—GEHH! Why am I dragged into this?" the wizard retorted. But the dragon didn't care what he says.

"In the coming time, we might find out more about that mysterious skill of yours. No need to overthink yourself or feeling like you're a burden to us because of it. Are we clear?" he asked deeply.

"...Mm." Oria nodded and stands back up.

"Very well, then. With that out of the way, let us discuss about the plans for your next training. I will be guiding you personally in survival training."

Somehow, the word survival clicks something in her head.