“I can still remember my firstborn.” Valtak said with a sad laughter. “When he understood what Origin Flames could do, he used them for everything. From making his tea to cleaning his room.
“Useless to say, my lair endured more fires than a forest during a dry summer. I had to spend almost ten gold coins to replace everything he destroyed before I knocked some sense into him.”
“Ten gold coins?” Tista furrowed her brow in shock.
It was a measly sum for a medium noble, let alone a Dragon with a hoard that was likely bigger than the entire Verhen Mansion. Yet the Father of Fire spoke of it with great pain and regret.
“Ten gold coins?” Lith gaped in horror. “I would have either spanked his ass into oblivion or made him work to pay me back. Youngsters must learn that actions have consequences and money don’t grow on trees.”
“That’s why I did both.” Valtak nodded. “Luckily, I kept the good stuff locked behind arrays so nothing of value was lost.”
‘My Dragon side is definitely recessive.’ Tista thought once she was certain they weren’t joking. ‘Either that or they are just crazy.’
“Now, before we wrap things up for today, we’ll start with what will be your main exercise for a while. I want you to produce a sphere of Immortal Flame and have them run into each other.” The Fire Dragon said.
“That’s it?” Tista asked.
“No. They must not merge, turn into Primordial Flames, or clash. If any of that happens, the exercise will be considered a failure. To succeed, the two spheres must come out of contact unscathed and with no energy loss.
“To achieve perfect phasing, you must have absolute control over the Flames even from a distance. You have to be able to sense each other’s energy flow before you deal damage and alter the path of the Flames at a moment’s notice.
“If you can do it once it means you have grasped the basics. When you can do it ten times out of ten, you’ll have mastered Origin Flames.”
“Don’t you mean Immortal Flames?” Lith asked.
“Hatchling, Immortal Flames are what Spirit Magic is to regular magic. Everything you learn about them applies to all kinds of Flames you possess. Otherwise training them would be a waste of time and energy since you won’t have many opportunities to use them in your life.” Valtak replied.
“I see.” Lith whistled in appreciation. “Are you going to keep aiding us with Primal Spark?”
“For today, yes.” The Father of Fire stood up and placed his fingers on the forehead of his apprentices. “Tomorrow, I’ll teach you how to produce Primordial and Immortal Flames on your own and once you succeed, I’ll keep teaching you but I won’t help use Primal Spark on you anymore.
“Learning how to manage your reserves of life force is the most important lesson I can teach you. Now begin and please, make the sphere clash at a safe distance. There’s no point sending our butts flying every time.”
Lith understood what Valtak meant at their first attempt which ended in utter failure.
As the spheres merged, the smallest distraction caused the two Flames to clash. Each sphere was comprised of countless fire currents that had to be successfully harmonized with the other’s as they moved forward.
A single fire stream out of synch was enough to cause an uncontrollable chain reaction that spread through both spheres, triggering an explosion so powerful that it could blow away even a Divine Beast.
“What the fuck?” Tista asked while digging her talons through the ground and lowering her center of gravity to resist the shockwave.
“Immortal Flames are entirely comprised of life force and yours are quite deadly.” Valtak explained. “Also, since they don’t feed off world energy, their power never gets diluted as they move. They only grow weaker when they burn something.”
By lunchtime, Lith and Tista had to use Invigoration several times and were completely exhausted. Even with the Father of Fire’s help conjuring Immortal Flames was vexing.
During each attempt, they reached their utmost focus and then needed to put up barriers when they failed. They were still searching for the perfect distance to make their Flames collide.
Too close and resisting the explosion would consume more energy than producing the Immortal Flames. Too far and distance would mess up their still amateurish perceptual abilities.
“I feel like I learned a lot today and lost at least five years of my life.” Lith wheezed with his hands and knees on the ground, his voice hoarse and his throat parched from the overuse of mystical flames.
“Let’s make twenty.” Tista lay on her back with her limbs splayed like a fur carpet.
“You are fine.” Valtak chuckled. “I made sure of it.”
“I have two requests for you.” Lith said the moment he could speak normally again. “The first is to make Origin Flames lessons every other day. I have still many things to practice on my own and only so much time during the day.
“My daughter has a memory almost as good as a Wyrmling and for all I know, I could drop dead tomorrow. There is no point in learning all this stuff if the only thing Elysia will remember of me is my absence.
“She is my first daughter and I don’t want to miss any of her first times. I want to be there for her when she learns how to crawl, walk, or forms a new word.”
“I’m a bit offended, but sure.” Valtak nodded. “I don’t see how any of what you do on your own can compare with the teachings of the Father of Fire yet I understand your feelings. When I had my firstborn, I didn’t leave his side for almost a decade.”
“A decade?” Tista blurted out in surprise.
‘The Prime Engine, Void Magic, and all the other things I can’t share with him are well worth my time.’ Lith thought.
“Hey, it was my first time as a parent. I made a lot of mistakes and I was a bit overbearing but I regret nothing.” Valtak snorted. “My son is still alive and knows I love him. It’s all that matters. What’s the second request?”
“Do you do this for everyone or are we a special case?” Lith pointed at himself and the Hekate.
“I do it for every first member of a new Dragon bloodline. I give them the knowledge Leegaain bestowed unto the first Fire Dragon so that they can in turn teach it on their descendants.” The Father of Fire replied.
“Then I’d like you to teach Zoreth as well.” Lith said.
“Zoreth?” Valtak arched his long serpentine neck, baring his fangs in anger.
“She’s Leegaain’s firstborn and the only Shadow Dragon on Mogar.” Lith nodded. “I know that you don’t like Abominations, but she’s my big sister. She’s closer to me than any Dragon will ever be and she has helped me and my family ever since I met her.
“I know that she did terrible things in the past, but if in the future she merges her life forces like I did and bears children, do they deserve your wrath as well?”
