Subaru sat on the crystals for over half an hour doing nothing. Except thinking about the reason why his magic was awful. ''Why I can't use magic? Aren't I inside a fantasy world? There is literally a dragon god sleeping in front of me.'' Subaru started asking questions to himself, surprisingly not shouting this time while gazing at the beautiful crystal ceiling.
Lights on the crystal ceiling were flickering, reminding him of the stars back at his home.
''Hey, Dracul.'' Subaru called the Black Dragon. The Dragon slowly lifted his eyelids and raised his head at the boy that called him.
''What is it, Subaru?'' Dracul said towards Subaru with a surprisingly gentle tone. Usually, his voice held a smug and prideful tone, but this time it was soft. Softer than usual at least.
''What's with that gentle tone in your voice? Did you start liking me or something?'' Subaru jokingly asked the second part.
''Subaru, I never held a dislike for any person unless they did something to hurt my followers or hurt me. I wouldn't say I started liking you, but we have a deal. That's why I am acting like this.'' Dracul explained himself with a soft voice.
''Is there a way for me to learn magic without exploding myself like a c-4?''
Dracul ignored the strange remark boy used in the last part. ''Actually, there is, but I don't know if you have enough affinity to use it.'' This news brought joy to Subaru once again. He jumped on his feet. He looked full of energy.
''Is there a way for you to measure my affinity with something or something?'' Light in Subaru's eyes turned brighter.
''Murak.'' Was the only thing he said before lifting Subaru with his magic.
''Woah, what are you doing?'' Subaru felt almost weightless. It felt like he was in space, and a vacuum was pulling him to itself.
When Subaru got closer to the Dracul, he broke the spell, and Subaru fell onto his butt.
''Oww, couldn't you be more gentle with me, you overgrown lizard.'' Subaru rubbed his hand to his butt.
Dracul ignored his insult and lowered his head until it was at Subaru's level. ''Put your hand on my head.'' Dracul instructed.
''Oh, you want a head pat?'' Subaru teased the Ancient Dragon.
''No,'' Dracul rejected Baru's statement almost instantly. ''Just put your hand on my head so I can measure your spirit affinity.'' Dracul added.
''Okay okay, I'll stop teasing you. For now.'' Subaru said with a smirk on his face.
After that little exchange, a black-haired boy touched the hard black scales. For some weird reason, Subaru wanted to rub Dracul's flakes. They were hard, but it gave Subaru's hand a pleasant feeling.
''Hmmm. Be happy boy, you have the highest spirit affinity I ever saw in my life. And I am like the third, or second-oldest living being in this world.'' Subaru stood there for a few seconds before crossing his arms on his chest.
''Hell yeah! I had some op power after all!'' Subaru's voice echoed within the cavern. As for Dracul, he just looked at the excited boy.
Subaru noticed his gaze, and his cheeks went a little red after that. ''What? Can't I express my joy?'' Subaru asked with a sprinkle of embarrassment in his voice.
''I don't remember saying anything about your cry of joy.'' Black Dragon stated with an uninterested tone in his voice.
''So how do I put this thing in use?'' Subaru sat on the ground and crossed his legs.
''Spirit affinity allows you to create bonds with spirits more easily, and spirits trust you more easily. If you and the spirit comply, you two can form a contract, where you use the spirit as a magic gate, and spirit uses you as a mana source.'' Dracul explained the mechanics of the contract with a spirit, while Subaru listened with maximum attention.
''How do I contract with spirits sensei?'' Subaru raised one of his arms to air.
''You can't do it within this cave.''
''Can I leave this cave so you can teach me about that?'' Subaru suggested.
''Even if you leave this cavern, you will die on the outside without putting that affinity into use.'' Dracul shut that suggestion down.
''Eh!? Why am I dying on the outside!? Don't tell me you are gonna eat me when we leave this place.''
''You fool, spirits don't need to eat food in order to survive. All we need enough mana to keep our lives going.'' Subaru let out a relaxed sigh.
''Then what's gonna kill me when I leave?'' Subaru asked another question.
''I created a ''mana storm,'' as I would call it. You are either going to be crushed to death, get crystalized, get stuck inside an unending cavern.'' As Dracul explained further, Subaru muttered something along the lines of ''I am so lucky.''
They fell into a small timed silence after that exchange. Until Subaru decided to break the silence among them.
''Can you teach me how to control my gate. Properly.'' Subaru emphasized the last word.
''It will be hard to do. Do you still want to do it?''
''Yes.'' Subaru gave a determined nod.
''Okay, now Subaru, do you know what have you done wrong while casting shamak?'' Dracul asked. Subaru put a hand on his chin and hummed. After a little while, he shook his head from side to side.
''The thing you did wrong is you overloaded your gate, more than it could maintain. That's why mana rejected your will and went berserk.'' Dracul explained further with a sage-like tone.
''So, how do we fix that?''
''You have to use your gate more. Your fate is like a muscle. If you don't use it enough, it will become weaker and weaker.''
''Okay, got it. So you want me to cast shamak again until I learn how to control it.''
''No, just let your inner mana dance around your gate, without casting any spell.'' Black Dragon elaborated.
''How do I do that?'' Dracul gave out a sigh and replied.
''As I said, pull out your inner mana and made it obey you. Since you are not casting any spell, it can't go berserk.''
Subaru put his hands on his forehead ''Nyom, nyom, nyom, nyom...'' he again started making magic sound effects.
He pulled the mana from inside of himself and tried to control it.
As the Black Dragon expected, he failed, again and again.
After two hours or something close to that, he dropped himself to the crystal floor, panting.
''Owww, a reminder *pant* for yourself, never drop yourself on a crystal.'' Subaru said while heavily panting.
''How did it go?'' Subaru noticed his tone had a little bit of taunting tone inside it.
''Not one bit *pant* of progress. I am just *pant* useless with magic.'' Subaru whined.
''I thought so.'' A smug smile rose upon his face.
''Will you please *pant* cut it out Dracul, I am so depressed right now.'' Subaru said in an exaggerated sad tone.
''I think you should stop using your gate for the day. Otherwise, you might crack or break it.''
''How would a *pant* broken gate effect *pant* my health.'' Subaru asked, heavily panting while doing so.
''You should stop talking. You sound like you going to suffocate while trying to talk.'' Subaru didn't respond just gave him a nod.
Sleep slowly took over the young boy's mind, and darkness slowly overtook him.
''Ughh, another note to yourself Subaru, never sleep on crystals.'' Subaru groaned in discomfort. He got up from the purple floor and rubbed his back with his hand.
''How long I slept Dracul?'' Subaru looks at the Dracul, who seemed in deep thoughts.
Dracul didn't even notice the boy who was calling him. His eyes were unfocused, and his head was turned towards the flickering lights of the ceiling.
Subaru got closer to him and put his hand on one of his legs. This got Dracul out of his train of thoughts, and he lowered his head to see what was touching him. Subaru was stroking his flakes on his leg. On the boy's face, there was a dumb pleasant smile.
Dracul huffed and took Subaru's attention.
''What are you doing?'' Dracul asked even though he knew the answer.
''I called you, but you seemed deep in thought, so I decided to take your attention by petting you.'' Subaru's hands were still rubbing the Dragon.
''Okay, now get your hands off me.'' Dracul said in a commanding voice.
Subaru took his hand off his leg. ''Oh, before I forget, how long I have slept?'' Subaru repeated his previous question.
''Three hours straight. Do you have any other questions?''
''Do you have any idea why I can't use magic?'' Subaru asked in a bitter tone.
''As I said, your control over your gate is in a pitiful state. The reason for that is simple, lack of use. My guess is it's because you are from another dimension. As from what you told me, there was no mana in that place.
That's the reason.'' Great spirit shared his knowledge with the mean-eyed boy.
''But that does not mean you can't use magic. As I said before, you have absurdly high spirit affinity. You can contract with any spirit you want.'' Dracul added to his last statement.
''Sensei, you never specified how do I make a contract with one.'' Subaru raised one of his hands high in the air. Acting like he is in school, and Dracul is his teacher.
''Because the only spirit here is me. In my presence, the other spirits can't appear without my permission. Normally they wouldn't show themself at all, but being omnipotent comes with its perks.'' Dracul pridefully added the last part.
Subaru ignored the last part and continued. ''Can we get out of the cave so you can teach me about it?'' Subaru offered.
''Why not. Let's go.'' Dracul raised his body from the ground, letting Subaru see him in all might.
''Amazing.'' Was the only word left Subaru's mouth. ''Watch this Subaru, this is a mediocre level yin spell.'' Subaru looked at him, curious about what's he is going to do.
''El taru.'' When these left the Dragon's mouth, a crack appeared in the air, and it grew and grew. Revealing what's on the outside, the other side was covered in snow and a few trees. It was the definition of frozen wasteland.
''Jump in Subaru.'' Subaru walked thru the gate and, not surprisingly, got hit by the cold air.
After Subaru passed thru the gate, Dracul went after him.
''I-I-It's freezing. Don't you have any spell to keep me warm?'' Subaru requested desperately while shivering from the cold.
''You are a very needy and a rude child, Subaru. Goa.'' A small ball of fire appears in front of Subaru.
''Thank you. I will give your name to my firstborn child.'' Subaru got closer to the small fireball.
''Drop the jokes. We are here for training. Now let out a little bit of mana to your surroundings.'' Subaru did as he instructed. He slowly let out little bits of mana. He had some trouble here and there, but he managed to what he was guided to do.
''Now imagine small ripples coming back at you, and these said ripples are hitting at your body.''
Subaru closed and started imagining and focusing. ''Okay, that should be easy Subaru. You shouldn't mess this up too.'' He felt the wind's slow movements on his skin, the soil beneath the snow, he felt the fire, and then the ice, along with rays of light. And the immense darkness behind him that overpowered every single one of them.
''Slowly open your eyes without losing your focus.'' Dracul gave another instruction.
Subaru did as he told. ''How many things you felt?'' Black Dragon asked.
''Around six, I felt the wind, ground, fire, and ice, and lastly light and darkness.'' Subaru answered honestly.
''Good job, now. Close your eyes once again, but this time imagine you are the one who is sending out those ripples, ripples that make those things you sensed come out.''
Subaru closed his eyes again and imagined himself like a big and bright lantern in a moth-filled forest. He felt the ''moths'' come out and gather around him. They felt like they were dancing around him. These moths didn't stop coming out until it felt like the whole forest came out to see the light.
But there was just one big one that did not even move. It just stood in its place.
Subaru imagined talking with these ''moths'' around him. And he heard the voice of many.
''Ohh, you are pretty cool, mister~. What's your name?''
''You were the one who requested me here? Why did you call me?''
''How are you onii-san~''
''O-Oh, a great spirit.'' The fourth spirit sounded scared from Dracul.
Well, it's not like it's a surprise. Dracul stated that other spirits tended to get scared in front of him.
They kept going and going. Subaru felt quite happy that he managed to do this on his first try.
''Hello spirits, my name is Subaru Natsuki.'' Subaru responded.
''Subaru.'' the first one echoed his name. ''That's a very nice name Subaru. This is the first I heard a name like yours. What does it mean? Mine is Kaze.'' Kaze replied with childlike enthusiasm.
''You haven't answered my question, but since you gave yours, I shall give you my name. My name is Kaen. Nice to meet you, Subaru.'' Kaen replied.
''Onii-san, don't ignore me.~'' The third one he heard pouted.
''...'' The fourth spirit that talked with Subaru grew quiet for some reason.
''Subaru.'' Dracul's voice overwhelmed all of them and made them sound like distant voices. ''Now open your eyes without losing focus.''
Subaru slowly lifted his eyelids, trying to keep his focus as best as he can.
While opening his eyes, the area he and Dracul on was illuminated. Lots and lots of little balls of light danced around him.
A smile rose upon his face as he watched the light balls dance and speak to him.
''You truly do have an enviable affinity, Subaru.'' For some reason, Dracul sounded like a proud teacher for a moment.
''But you shouldn't keep them that long without doing anything with them. Some might get angry at you for stealing their time.'' Dracul continued.
''Okay, I should continue talking with them then.'' Subaru went back to his practice with the spirits under Dracul's gaze.
After talking with spirits for half an hour, Subaru let them go.
''I think that went well. What do you think, sensei?'' Subaru turned towards the Black Dragon.
''Yeah, it went better good, just as I expected. Was there anyone you liked?''
''I think I liked all of them. Those guys were quite talkative, as an expert shut-in, that's was a tiring experience.''
''Okay, now where have been left off?'' Dracul started wagging his tail again.
''Huh? What are you talking about?'' Subaru tilted his head in a questioning manner.
''You remember our deal Subaru, now continue. Or I will leave you here.'' Subaru shivered at the thought of getting dropped in a frozen wasteland.
''Please don't do that. I'll continue where I left off.'' Mean eyed boy started explaining about the technology of his homeland, while the Black Dragon listened with full attention with a wagging tail.
He explained the electricity and how it worked, some basic tech like furnace, microwave, etc to the old spirit.
''Okay, I understand the electricity, but what is that thing? You didn't say how it looked.'' Dracul asked with a wagging tail.
The black-haired boy suppressed his giggle and answered his question.
''You can think it like a lightning bolt, but a controlled one.'' Subaru elaborated further with a sage-like tone in his voice.
''Okay, I get it and drop that sage-like tone of yours. You're making yourself more of a fool.'' Dracul mocked with a barely readable smirk on his face.
''You're way too harsh. Can't I just get my moments, where you boast me about my knowledge from an otherworld?'' Subaru shouted in fake outrage.
''No.'' His answer was a very simple one. ''Go back to explaining,''
Subaru grumbled to himself about getting something he did not deserve and continued to share his knowledge.
Hello guys, I hope you guys liked this chapter, I was running low on caffeine while writing this.
I need sleep, I didn't sleep for two days. Sorry if there are mistakes I made, I am way too sleepy to take care of them now.
Don't forget to leave a review they help a lot. Also, thank you for your advice Irvash.
Well, that's all, the next chapter may come out a little late, I have some IRL things to do.
See you guys later, and have a better day than me.