Chapter 258: Taming of the Dragonling

“You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Not again, Nyx.” I pulled her away with one hand as the other attempted to hide the temptation away in my spatial vault, only realising the cloth had slipped when the notification arrived.

. . .

Ding! Regeneration Trait Absorbed

. . .

My health was already full, but I would not be surprised if this helped regenerate my stamina as well. Trolls were notoriously difficult to kill and, despite their lack of speed, would have made amazing marathon runners at the Olympics with their unending endurance.  Though they would have needed fantasy distances to differentiate between them.

. . .

Ding! Stone Skin Skill Acquired

. . .

 
Now, that was a complication I would have to hide the use of. Startled, I checked the relevant sections of my status to see what I had just been notified of, and there they were. I worried the Stone Skin Skill could create racial slurs if used in polite society. My parents had never really discussed the discrimination against half-bloods, but I could imagine it would be ten times worse if it were assumed that you were a half-blood made up of base race blood.

. . .

I contemplated the culprit of the moment. It was beyond time to train the little dragonling. I could not expect to be able to take her anywhere civilised if this was how she was going to behave at the slightest provocation. Oblivious to the attention, she was still snacking on the troll’s core. The emerald gem crunched as she flexed her jaw crushing it into small enough pieces for her to swallow.

Damage already done, I picked up the remains of the core and pocketed it, much to Nyx’s disappointment, but I was unrelenting in the face of her keening sounds for more. I had been too lenient by far in her training.  However, I was not exactly sure how best to train a beast that was only, at best, half domesticated.

I stroked her warm skin to calm her at the removal of the remains of the troll’s core. What was I going to do with her, I looked a little deeper.

. . .

[Inspect]

Level 2

Dragonling

. . .

[Observe]

Nyx
Level 3
Dragonling 

. . .

[Analyse]

Nyx
Level 3
Dragonling

Health: 30/30 Stamina: 30/30 Mana: 50/100

Traits: Mana Fount, Regeneration

Skills: Flight (Lv5), ???, ???, ???, ???

. . .

My skills were a work in progress, but they revealed more and more of the world around me, and I could guess the skills that Nyx had acquired based on what she had demonstrated and eaten so far. It was beyond time to train her in earnest. But first, we had to return to our boat and ensure Njordson made it to the next town without any more interruptions to our journey. In quiet contemplation, I returned to the river holding Nyx as I pondered her growth and possible ways in which I might be able to train her.

. . .

“You’re really alright.” Exclaimed Njordson as we returned to the boat. I looked to Namir for an explanation.

“I did tell the young lord, but he did not quite believe me.” He explained as he finished cutting out the core of the last troll. “Time to go.” He directed me to the two trees blocking our passage and currently causing the river to flood its banks as it attempted to push past them.

“The boat?” I asked.

“I’ve already pulled it up.” Njordson outlined his small contribution to our departure pointing where the boat had been pulled up and tied to a rock to prevent it departing with the flood water when the blockage was cleared.

“Then, if you hold Nyx, I will see to the trees,” I said as I went over to clear the blockage. Judging by the footprints, it had taken two trolls to lever the tree trunks into place. We would not be able to pull them out without some pulley system, but there was no reason we could not break them down a little bit and send them down the river.

Crossing over the logs to the central rock where the crown of the trees were locked together. I thought through my options; I had a few.

My Tier 2 skills, [Spellcraft] and [Spellsong], both offered options, but it would take time to clear these tremendous trunks. As could my Tier 3 skill [Ignite], but again, it would be mana-intensive to ignite what was still living wood, seeing as the trees had only just been uprooted. I was leaning toward Tier 4 [Magic Carving] and or Tier 5 [Spatial Vault] as the swiftest skills to cut through the trees and clear our path forward.

Waste not, want not, I started clearing the branches using a combination of the skills; we would have a lot of extra wood curing beneath our feet the next time we stopped over anywhere. Each branch disappeared into a small opening for my spatial vault as I cleared them. The fact that we could fly past the obstruction if we had been on our own or lifted the boat past the blockage was not lost upon me. However, we were escorting the young lord and could hardly leave the job half completed seeing as he had requested we accompany him to Drangaskoll. He had already seen some spatial shenanigans with the production of our statues at the dinner table, so I was showing nothing new but kept the disappearance of the wood to smaller sections to downplay the ability of my supposed artefact.

“How much longer?” Namir queried my progress or the time it was taking.

Having cleared the interlocking branches the two denuded trunks just needed two cuts to turn them into logs floating down the river.

“Not much.” I made the cuts using my spatial vault to slice through the trunks on the central rock before leaping across the river with an air step or two to perform the same on either bank. “There, finished!” I shouted as the build-up of water launched the logs downriver with the built-up pressure now that they were no longer attached to the banks.

“About time.” Namir smiled at my success to alleviate the cutting nature of his comments. Humouring me as he knew we could have been far further ahead on our journey if I had not accommodated the young lord’s request.

“Drangaskoll, here we come,” Njordson shouted, excited to be off again after our clash of combat. We made the most of the water build-up, riding the wave and chasing after the logs launched down the river.

“Are Trolls common?” Namir questioned once we were on the move once more. Engaging Njordson in conversation as I concentrated on steering down the river.

“No, not all, or at least not this far north. I must report it to my father when we arrive at Drangaskoll. It is unlikely that they have made it over the mountains from Maestro, so it is possible an exit to the depths of the lodestone and its labyrinth has opened up. Just unlucky, I guess.”

“Unlucky, I guess,” Namir repeated, raising an eyebrow at my supposed lack of luck.

It was true that fate seemed twisted in more elaborate knots where I was concerned, but the consequences could not always be called good luck. We were on a mission; we would not be searching for any exits to the depths of the Lodestone if we could help it.

Ignoring his comment, I applied my skills. [Sailing], [Cruising], [Perfect Timing], [Sonar] and [Racing] soon had us speeding down the river catching the felled trees as passing them by. We would be well provided they did not catch us up when we were not suspecting them. Cursing my internal thoughts for conjuring up doom, I kept them quiet. Two logs would not be the end of us in any shape or form; I just did not want to have to regrow, carve or build another boat anytime soon. It would be nice if one of mine lasted for longer than a season, seaworthy or not.

. . .

The afternoon passed pleasantly as we sped ever westward down the snow-covered valley. Njordson regaled us with commentary on his father’s fief, pointing out areas of note or places he had hunted before and the success of those hunts.

“I have my own Gryfalcon, and this spot here is always fantastic for flushing out Snow Hares or Snow rabbits.” He grinned, recalling earlier hunts as he pointed out wide open fields of snow where the valley opened up to the north for a time before we passed on by. “I’m sure that Nyx would enjoy a flight or two. It’s a fantastic spot to train.” He added.

To train . . . my mind spiralled at the thought. If there was anything Nyx needed, it was a certain level of training if we would go through increasingly populated areas on our journey south along the coast through Maestro and then Ponente. Letting my skills lapse, our boat slowed, and I considered Njordson’s suggestion. “I don’t suppose we have time for a flight or two?” I asked.

“Sure, we have made amazing time on this trip. A flight or two will not stop us from reaching Drangaskoll this evening.” Njordson happily answered pleased I was taking him up on one of his suggestions.

Namir shrugged in acceptance.

“Nyx?” I asked, waking her from her slumber. She always slept after gaining a core. She slowly blinked as she came round, noting the fact that we were stationary on the river’s bank.

“May I?” Njordson asked excitedly, reaching out with his gauntleted hand. “Though the body is a different shape, she seems to be a longwing like my own Gyrfalcon and not dissimilar in size.” He commented as, with my encouragement, Nyx disengaged from my shoulders and prowled down my arm to settle on his.

I carried her across my shoulders most of the time when she was not curled up at the bottom of the boat or perched on the prow, as it allowed both arms to steer the boat.

“So you see the hillock a mile north of here.” He pointed out a rise in the snowfield. “Just to the east of it is my favourite spot for hunting. As it is the afternoon, it will be better for her to strike further from the east to avoid her shadow giving the game away.” He chuckled at his own pun.

“Nyx.” He repeated his instructions, this time focusing on the dragonling rather than explaining himself to us.

“Snowhare.” He kept his instructions simple, pointing out where and how he expected her to come into attack before he launched the dragonling eastward to fly back along the river we had come along.

We watched as she flew gaining height before circling north to come in from the east to the hillock he had outlined.

“I’m impressed.” I honestly stated amazed Nyx was following his directions so accurately.

“I have several skills helping,” he admitted. [Taming], [Hunting], and [Command] overlap to help direct her. The trick is to keep the commands simple and consistent. Have expectations and enforce positive results with praise.” He explained as we watched Nyx fold her wings to dive. She hit her target at the base of the neck, killing it instantly. “Ah, Would your man mind fetching her and her kill?” he asked the pair of us.

“He would.” Namir’s low voice had an underlying growl to it that did not encourage a repeat question.

“Well, I can whistle to recall her.” He said, plucking a whistle out from within his clothing, “But it would be better to offer her a treat for a successful hunt. You should reward her for following your commands.” He suggested. It seemed he had not thought that far ahead or was used to a manservant fulfilling his unanticipated needs.

“It’s fine.” I waved both of them down. The distance Nyx had flown would be three times further than I would have to run to reach her.

“Don’t forget to praise her for a successful hunt.” He shouted as I leapt out of the boat onto the snow.

“I won’t,” I yelled back as I headed off, remembering the remains of the Troll cores I was carrying. I was not flying but did use a significant number of [Airstep] to stay run across the top of the snow rather than through it, and the occasional [Flash step] to speed my journey though my high level in [Iron Man] built out of all my athletic skills did the majority of the work. That and my rather high physical stats. I soon arrived at the hillock, Nyx and the dead snowhare.

She was happily munching on the fresh meat, and I knew from experience that she was not going to be keen to give it up. At least I had something better up my sleeve. Holding the remains of the core out for her, I slipped the snow hare out from under her as I lifted her up.

“Well done, Nyx.” I praised as we headed back to the boat. She was happily chomping away on the remains of the core.

We swiftly returned to the boat.

“Your turn now.” Njordson insisted.

“What already?” I asked, knowing that Nyx could hardly be hungry after her fill of troll and snow hare today.

“Strike while the iron is hot.” Njordson was encouraged and excited by the hunt. Or by hunting with Nyx. “Now, they will not return to the surface near the hillock anytime soon. But that is the great thing about this spot. There is another warren to the west of the first hillock; under that tree, he pointed out a lone coniferous tree in the snow plain.”

“My turn then,” I murmured. I had thought through Njordson’s use of skills and thought that I could similarly combine mine [Hunting], [Order], [Command], [Telepathy] to ensure Nyx both understood and followed my commands.

“Nyx, Snow hare.” I said out loud as I flared my skills. While I psychically repeated my commands and pointed where I wished her to hunt.

She took off toward the hillock before circling west to fall on the snow hares beneath the tree. Three, two, one. I counted in my head before she dove. Getting lucky she hit two as she landed. Though she was not the only one who had done well out of this.

Ding!

Taming (Lv1)