“Alright, sounds like a plan. Maybe I can raise my soul level again while I am at it. I have unused skill points, do you think I should use them to increase my wisdom?”

  Everburn says “That’s up to you. More control would be useful, but you might need other stats more.”

  “Well, I haven’t needed them for anything else so far. I’ve been saving them up for a while, but haven’t been able to decide what to use them on. I may as well use them now.”

  Everburn says “As I said, it is your choice.”

  “It would help with my training, right?”

  Everburn says “Yes, it would.”

  “Then I will do it as soon as I wake up. If my soul power lasts longer, then I can train longer.

  Everburn says “That is true and you do need a lot of training.”

  “Thanks. So, while we wait for me to recover, how about telling me about the spell you used on the elven capital?”

  Everburn starts describing the spell, how he came up with it and how he cast it. He also explains all the theories behind what he did and what he expected the outcome to be. Or at least, what he hoped the outcome would be, but it is more so that I can understand the process that created Kechara.

  The more that I understand the spell and the process, the better my odds of helping Kechara. Of course, that won’t be until after I have dealt with the controller, but that gives me time to think. The better the plan I can come up with for the spell, the better the odds of it working.

  Honestly, it is going to take me a while just to figure out what Everburn even did. Not only that, but I am going to need to go back and study the spell itself thoroughly. Everburn has told me about things hidden within the spell that I had absolutely no clue about.

  In fact, Everburn has to teach me about an aspect of enchanting that I have never heard of. If you think of a single enchantment like a strand of string, then he is talking about weaving those strings together. Not to share parts like I learned previously, but to conserve space and allow more enchantments.

  If that wasn’t interesting enough, it also allows you to hide an enchantment underneath the others. That is what Everburn did, he hid the parts of the enchantment that affect Kechara. I never would have been able to free her properly without Everburn’s knowledge.

  “No wonder I could never make sense of the barrier!”

  Everburn says “I would be offended if you could. It is the most complex spell I have ever created.”

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  “If parts of it weren’t hidden I might have been able to figure it out eventually.”

  Everburn says “That is the whole point of hiding parts of it. To keep nosey troublemakers from messing with it!”

  “I’m not a…nevermind I can’t say it with a straight face.”

  Everburn chuckles for a bit, but then I start bombarding him with questions about magic and enchantments. He grudgingly answers my questions and his answers also help me process what I gained from learning draconic. Surprisingly, I also end up teaching him a couple of things I have learned about enchantments.

  It makes me feel good to know that as old as Everburn is, I have figured out things that he didn’t. Then again, I don’t imagine that he has spent all that much time working on enchantments. Not to mention that my knowledge has been gathered from numerous sources.

  “Everburn, can you shapeshift?”

  Everburn says “Of course I can. All it takes is a little imagination.”

  “No, I mean in the real world.”

  Everburn says “Oh. I suppose I could if I tried. I just never had a reason to. Why?”

  “I was wondering if shapeshifting would allow you to need less mana. If so, then you could be more active and not have to sleep as much.”

  Everburn says “That’s an interesting thought. What brought that on?”

  “I am a little worried that now that I have evolved into a dragonling I will start needing to sleep more.”

  Everburn says “I doubt that you will. Our young don’t need to sleep like an adult does and you aren’t as powerful as them yet.”

  “Seriously? A dragon is born more powerful than I am now?”

  Everburn says “Yes. You could probably defeat one in combat, but they would have more natural strength than you.”

  “Just how strong are you then?”

  Everburn says “It would take four or five gods working together to defeat me. Even then, they would suffer casualties.”

  “Isn’t that a little ridiculous? Where is the natural balance?”

  Everburn says “There is no such thing. Especially in this world as it is now. Keep in mind that this world is not how it is supposed to be. The lower mana affects everything, especially the beasts. If the world was not broken, there would be much stronger beasts. Maybe not as strong as me, but I am stronger than a normal adult dragon.”

  “Why is that?”

  Everburn says “Well, I am older for one thing. I was an adult before the demons arrived in this world. For another, unlike most dragons, I have a class and it is already maxed out.”

  “So are you the strongest dragon in this world? What is your class? How did you get the ability to gain levels?!”

  Everburn says “As far as I know I am. I am not telling you my class. I actually gained the ability from something I ate. That was more than one question!”

  Before I can apologize, Everburn launches a series of attacks against me that I barely manage to block. Since it is his soulscape, I can’t use anything besides my own power, but he can. He could easily obliterate me with a single attack if he really wanted to.

  Everburn is obviously training me, but I am betting that he just wants a break from my questions. Still, he has given me a lot to think about, but I don’t have time to think thanks to the constant attacks. I don’t even have a chance to try and counterattack, his attacks just keep coming.

  *DING*

  Congratulations! Skill Mental Defense has progressed to level 6!

  Mental Defense

  Level: 6

  Wis +18

  You are adept at defending your soul.

  Sadly, the skill improving doesn’t really help, as soon as my defenses improve Everburn’s attacks get stronger. He keeps pushing, constantly keeping me on the very edge of being defeated. Because we are in a soulscape, I am not actually using my soul power, just my mental strength.

  Due to that, I end up exhausted much faster than when we were training in the real world. I was still unsure about spending my extra points to increase my wisdom, but now I think I will. It should help with my mental strength as well as increasing my control of my soul power.