Ascent of a Dragon

Violet eyes pry open, black slits narrowing and dilating as they adjust to the dimly lit cavern. No new dreams today. There's so much that I need to remember. That I want to remember. What is my mission? What have I forgotten? Who have I forgotten? But I'll have to just be patient. Aleph turns her eyes to her still resting companions. Lyly rests atop her perch where she should be, indicating the universe is indeed still in a state of balance. Goldy lays snuggled atop Aleph with her tail wrapped around, as enforced by the dragon since trying to sleep alone atop a rock like some cool guy is simply not an adequate state of affairs.

The movement of her head stirs Lyly, who rises with a shake, and Goldy stands with a stretch as if never having fallen asleep in the first place. Aleph follows suit, almost knocking Goldy over as she flares her wings, and nearly flinging Lyly off as she finishes with a shake. "Morning!" "It's too early for this..." "Hun'haa!" "Great! Let's set off then!" Ignoring the groggy squeals atop her head and irritated thuds in her side Aleph continues their descent, following the winding path down.

As they descend, they find a series of holes bored into the walls like a hive. "Will these take us to the next layer?" Aleph asks, peering down one of the tunnels. "Eh, probably. Far as I remember, this layer should be kinda dim, with mostly just grass and a few trees. Nothing like the past few, but it's twice as tall as the last, and the next one is even taller." "Huh. Worth visiting?" "Not really. May as well just see how far this hole takes us. It's really far though. I don't suppose you can just fly us down..." "Want me to try?"

Aleph stands over the edge, peering into the abyss below. "What?! No! Baby steps! We're not jumping down the death hole!" "But-" "No buts!" "B-" "No!" "... Fiiiiine." With a pout, Aleph steps away from the pit of doom, resuming her descent the boring way. "We would've been fine though..." "I said no. If I let a winged dragon die from fall damage I'll be the laughing stock of... everyone!" "This is a pretty long walk though... Wanna play charades?" "Actually, I was thinking we could try teaching the monkey to speak." "Ooh! Even better!"

Through the eyes of an impromptu student

"Aleph!" "Hoh?" "Lyla!" "Huu..." The warrior watches his companions, pondering the meaning behind their words and strange pointing. Do they teach me their tongue? But what is an Ayy Leff? A Lie Lar? They point to themselves, is it a description? As I was once a king, they are a Lie Lar and an Ayy Leff? But what is the meaning behind these words? What role do they describe?

Through the eyes of a frustrated teacher

Does he not understand? He just keeps going 'hoo' and 'haa' at us! Has the tried and true 'point at self and say name' technique failed us? Lyla peers down the endless abyss below. This is going to be a long walk...

"It's official. The monkey is a bad student." "Don't say that. It's a hard language. What was it called again?" "Englin? But you learned it so quick!" "I know dozens of languages already. This is probably just his second." Holy shit! I thought I was cool for just knowing five! Even Alulen only knows twelve! And he's fucking ancient! "So what languages do you know then?" "Hmm, let's see..."

"Sluess," Sounds weird.

"Yus" Short and sweet I guess.

"Krikhvon," Sounds... like a language?

"Eoxhtiknorif" What sound even is that?

"Nneunnnninnonni," Who the fuck calls a language that?!

"Ahvi'sal," I fucking felt that one! Why does it feel like I'm being watched?

"Okay yea, that's enough. Even the monkey was spooked by that last one." The monkey in question walks a stride further from the dragon, evidently contemplating the nature of language itself. "Aww. But Ahvi'sal is actually kinda cute. It's made up of a bunch of names." "Stop saying that! Names of what exactly?" "I forgot!" This surely can't be a good thing...

The bottom of the abyss begins to give way to a bright white stone surface, shining juxtaposed to the obsidian walls leading to it. Perfect! A distraction! Let's change the conversation topic with this! "Hey look, the ground! We're getting close now." "Oh cool! Maybe I can try flying when we get there." Better than leaping into the abyss I suppose. "Sure. But we have to get there first." The dragon picks up the pace, almost sprinting down as the monkey ambles behind.

Swiftly, the trio reach the end of the tunnel, cutting off abruptly to a small gap between the ceiling and the peak of a white mountain. All three are taken in by the enormity of this layer, with mountain sized pillars of grey and black stone, as well as a couple normal shaped mountains adorning the floor and ceiling like enormous stalagmites and stalactites. The mountain they stand upon sticks out from the rest with its jagged white surface, curved spikes, and the seemingly unnatural cutoff to grey stone at the base.

"Are those clouds?" "Oh, yea. This place is massive. When I first arrived I fell for a solid two minutes." "I assume a minute is sixty of these?" The dragon taps the ground a few times, roughly a second apart. "Uh, no... It's sixty-four. And an hour is sixty-four minutes." Do they use other measurements for time in the future or something? " How strange... Either way, that's far." "Yep. Oh, I should mention. We don't want to stay here long. There's a ton of really strong stuff everywhere on this layer." "I can imagine. Even the floor has a bunch of Aether. Not enough to be worth eating, but still."

This oothong stuff again... "I don't care what you say. We're not going on a hunting spree here." "Aww. But there's gotta be so much-" "I said no! Try flying or something instead!" "Okay!" The dragon flares her wings, preparing to leap as Lyla hops off, standing by the monkey. "Hushi?" He asks, peering down at Lyla and pointing to his head. "No." She bluntly responds, turning to watch the dragon take her first leap.

Crack! The dragon leaps high, legs coated in violet. Swoosh! The dragon glides, steadily arching downward. Flap! Smack! The dragon plummets, having gained no height from the motion, and having failed to re-flare her wings before introducing her face to the cold, hard floor. "Ow..." "Oh come on, I've seen you shrug off worse." "It's not my face that hurts..." Fair...

Crack! Swoosh! Flap! Smack! Another attempt, and another in-person meeting arranged with the floor. "You seem to be struggling a bit there..." "I've never flown before." Guess she wasn't a dragon in her previous timeline? "We usually get instincts for this stuff, like how I always knew how to make threads. Are you not just over-thinking things?" "What instincts?" "..." "..." The pair stare at each other for a moment, the silence only broken by the confused scritching of the monkey. "You do have Instinct right?" "Nope. None." "How are you breathing right now?" "Manually. You?" "Well now that I've brought it up... Okay, bad example. How is your heart beating right now?" "Manually. Had to use Aura at first, and sleeping was a bit awkward because of it, but now with Aether it's mostly just muscle memory." I almost forgot how much of a freak she is... Almost...

"Hu!" Lyla's concerns are interrupted by the monkey, who proceeds to seemingly grab hold of thin air and hold himself aloft for a moment. What? "Oh! Good idea!" It is? Oh right! This whole thing was about flying, wasn't it. Forgot about that, with the concern that my dragon is some kind of eldritch abomination and all.

Through the eyes of a possible eldritch abomination

Okay! I've got it this time! Violet bubbles swirl around Aleph, Aether surging into her muscles as she launches herself from the ground. at the apex of her ascent she flares her wings, catching herself in a stable glide. And now... Aether swirls around her wings, infusing with the air and coating herself in a cowl of violet. Flap! She soars. Smack! She soars too high. Smack! She stops soaring. "Owww..."

"Not to discourage you... But it looks like this'll take a while. Want to keep trying while we descend?" "Yea, sure. Makes sense." Aleph leaps, once again slamming into the ground as she steadily descends the mountain in what, for anyone else, must be the most painful manner possible. Lyly and Goldy follow shortly behind, the white fuzz-ball offering suggestions while the gold fuzz-bundle yells hoots of encouragement. Aleph flies. Too weak, too strong. Too high, too low. Managed to flap, forgot to glide. Each attempt accentuated by at least one smack, save for the one attempt where she managed to somersault back and land on both her companions.

Before long, the trio reach the foot of the mountain, white stone giving way to grey rocks interwoven with paths of obsidian. Smack! "Hey! I made it further this time!" "Hoo!" "Nice! Definitely keep up the practice though. We're going to need you to be able to fly, or at least glide really well when we get to one of the lower floors. Possibly with an extra passenger, if this guy sticks around." "Roger that!"

A few more failed attempts later and the trio reach a series of rock ponds and small rivers webbing between them. "Oh! One of these!" Lyly announces, skittering over to one of the higher ponds with steam emitting from it. Plunging into the water, she paddles her way to a spot roughly in the centre, her body buoyant enough to simply float. "Just wait for it..." And wait they do. For moments. For minutes. "I swear it's cool, just gimme a mi-" Fwoosh! A geyser erupts, rocketing the tiny spider into oblivion, high enough for her to go out of sight. "Fuehehe" Plonk! The giggling arachnid lands, bouncing a few times before coming to a stop.

"Hoh!" "That looks fun!" "I know, right?" "Imma try!" Aleph wades her way to the pond centre before eagerly awaiting her turn on the rocket geyser. A few impatient minutes later, and fwish! Aleph is lifted... a millimeter. As it turns out, dragons are somewhat heavier than spiders. My disappointment is immeasurable... "Huhuhu." Goldy steps up to the pond, planting his hands into the water and grasping, lifting it above his head like a cloth. Hmm? With a snap, he whips the water down, sending a wave of force rippling through the pond towards Aleph.

As the cascade of water reaches her, Aleph is ejected from the pond, soaring into the sky like a flying... well, dragon. As she reaches the peak of her ascent she turns her gaze to her surroundings, her eyes fixating on the pale mountain they just descended. Wow... I would not want to fight something like that... Lyly's right. We shouldn't stay long. From a distance, the once jagged and rocky mountain reveals itself to be the giant skeleton of an enormous snake, coiled into a tall cone with its skull laying shattered to the side.

Thonk! "Ow!" Aleph splatters onto the floor, apparently having forgotten she in fact can glide. "Told you it was fun!" "Yea! Guess it's Goldy's turn now." As she eyes the fluffy creature he takes a stance, clearly not on board with being catapulted to the clouds. Choosing to go forward anyway out of revenge for the sudden launch, or rather because it's funny, she steps forth and slips her tail behind. Goldy hops away, dodging her advance as she doubles down, chasing him while he dances around her. Not wanting to be left out of the action, Lyly sneaks in, wrapping a thread around his legs as Aleph comes in for the finishing blow. Catching him as he falls, she whips her tail, launching him with all the force her Aether infused appendage can muster.

"Haaaaa..." He soars, reaching the highest of the trio as he nearly touches the clouds. "He's been up there a while..." "Is he stuck? In the air?" As he comes back into view, the reason for his slow descent is answered by his grasping of the air, elegantly sliding down at a comfortable pace. "Boo! Fall like the rest of us!" The spider jeers as Goldy lands daintily, sporting a wide grin. "So what did you guys think of the giant skeleton behind us? Pretty cool huh?" "Hoo!" "The what?"

The pure energies are our lifeblood, the very core of modern society. Yet in recent years, people have begun to forget what makes the pure energies so special. They are the source of our strength, the fuel to our technology. The knowledge gleaned from those who hail from other worlds has shown us that, while they are not necessary for the creation of advanced technologies we enjoy today, the efficiency and level of control they grant us is unparalleled to un-attuned technologies.

There are three types of pure energy, those being Mana, Demonic Energy, and Angelic Energy. In harmony with these energies, is Aura. The very binding force which allows us to attune to a pure energy. When wielded by an expert, it can even be used to express will and intent without words. Granted, communication with Aura alone is seldom a feasible endeavour, considering you can only express simple concepts like hostility, serenity, and basic emotions. Those with heightened sensitivity to the Aura of others may be able to develop empathic abilities, though the utility of this varies by individual.

At its extreme, Aura can be used to press your intent on the world itself, much like the pure energies. The monks of the southern savannas boast the ability to lift themselves with Aura alone. However, it should not be mistaken that for such usage Aura is but a blunt instrument. Even the monks acknowledge this, using their great control over their Auras simply to better manipulate Mana. Attempting to use Aura on ones own body, even just to lift it, should not be attempted by any but the most experienced masters, lest you crush your own body with its unfiltered strength.

There are two major things we still don't know about Aura. The first, is how Aura interfaces with the world. Unlike Mana, which prefers to manipulate the underlying forces shaping the world, Aura appears as if it changes the very will of the environment. Making things move on their own instead of pushing them, so to speak. The second, is its link with life. In extremely rare cases, people have been known to somehow lose their Aura. In every case, this has lead to the individuals dissociating, and eventually losing all brain function entirely. There is however, one known case of an individual regaining his Aura. In this case, he recovered from a near-death state without any side-effects, though his memories of the incident had become garbled and confused.

In the next few chapters, we will discuss the individual case studies, as well as go further into detail about Aura and its utility.

- Excerpt from chapter 1 of Eyva Poe's 'Analysis of the Pure Energies'