Chapter 264: Chapter 263 – Scales and Claws

Yuki stood outside on the grassy field of her mana dimension and looked around. Sophie told her that they would need a large open area for what she was going to try and teach. 

“So you’re going to teach me how to be a dragon?” Yuki asked, turning to face Sophie. She nodded.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve done this a few times, so you can trust me.”

“You’ve taught new dragons how to become dragons?” 

“Well, no. Because when they hatch, they’re already a dragon,” Sophie said. “I teach them how to go back to being a dragon after changing forms.”

“That’s basically my situation, isn’t it?” Yuki said. “If I hatched as a dragon, then I should have came out of that egg with scales and all that.”

“Yes, so I think for whatever reason, you were forced into an elven form right after you hatched. So now I’ll try to teach you how to go back to your cute little scaly self.”

“Alright. What do I do first?” Yuki asked, stretching her arms.

“Normally, I would say picture yourself and will yourself back. Most already have been acquainted with their dragon-selves long enough to feel a pull from their body wanting to go back to normal. You’re almost the complete opposite.”

“Are you saying that I won’t feel that pull?” 

“No,” Sophie said with a shake of her head. “You were hatched a dragon, and you will always be a dragon. That pull will always be there. But, I do think that it will be fainter, much fainter.”

“I see. So do I just close my eyes and try?” Yuki asked. She didn’t know how well she could do without some sort of reference. 

“Yes, but before that, I’m going to show you myself doing it,” she said. “It won’t be as easy when you try it, but you’ll know what to look for.”

“Oh. That’s perfect.”

“Here,” Sophie said. She put a hand out. “Let me show you.”

Yuki took her hand. The moment their palms pressed against each other, she felt a rush of sensations flood her from Sophie. They overwhelmed her momentarily, but soon the flood subsided as Sophie filtered out what Yuki didn’t need to feel.

“Pay good attention,” Sophie said. Yuki nodded. “I’m going to do this as slow as I can.”

She shut her eyes, and Yuki did that same. Sophie filled her body with mana, spreading it to every inch of herself. Then she pictured her dragon form. The image of a massive brown, muscular dragon appeared in Yuki’s head. 

With that image, Yuki felt a soft tug at the bottom of her stomach, mirroring the one that Sophie was feeling. Sophie grabbed a hold of the feeling, letting it pull her away. 

Then the hand Yuki was holding no longer felt like a hand. It was scaly and rough to the touch. She felt something dig gently into her wrist.

When she opened her eyes, she found her hand a top of a single claw from a giant talon. Her eyes went up and met a pair of mud brown eyes staring back at her, a smile spread across the dragon’s mouth.

“And there you go,” Sophie said, a soft rumble in the back of her voice. “It wasn’t too difficult, right?”

“No,” Yuki replied, “but I noticed that you imagined yourself in a dragon form in order to feel that tug. I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Sophie asked.

“Well, I’ve never seen my dragon form before,” she said.

“That’s not a problem. My recollection of my form was perfect. There were some problems with the proportions and things like that, but it still worked. The image part is just a tool for you to focus on that pull.”

“Would it work even if the image in my head looks nothing like how I actually look?” Yuki asked.

“It wouldn’t hurt to try,” Sophie said. 

“Alright. Let me see if I can get this to work.”

Yuki closed her eyes and rubbed her face as she took in a few deep breaths. She let her mana run free within her body, feeling it rush to every part of her. Then she began constructing an image of a dragon within her mind.

‘What would I look like?’ she thought. 

She had seen exactly two dragons in her entire life. There were also drawings of dragons that she had seen, but the accuracy of them was unknown, so she had to rely on her personal experience.

Sophie was an earth dragon, and the color of her scales seemed to match that. She was a more muscular dragon than the other one Yuki had seen, but was still a bit away before someone could describe her as bulky. Her head was broader than the golden dragon’s yet still retained an elegant quality.

The golden dragon she had seen through Sophie’s memories was a lightning dragon based on the bolts of electricity that crackled around it. It had electric blue eyes and golden scales. It’s body was sleek, more suited for battles of speed rather than strength.

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Comparing the two, Yuki came to a few conclusions as to the general look of a dragon. A dragon’s color and physique was based on the attributes associated with their affinities. Sophie looked tougher and stronger than the more slim and speedy looking lightning dragon. However, no matter the number of differences between the two, they had many similarities. They both were slim, even Sophie, and to Yuki’s eyes, quite beautiful. Their scales shimmered under the light and their eyes almost glowed on their own. Their heads looked regal and refined, horns curving elegantly on top of their heads.

‘But how would someone with every element look.’

She thought about the color, but none of the ones she thought of felt good to her. Simply mixing all the colors would give a brown which wouldn’t make sense since that was earth. She settled on a dull looking grey. It wasn’t that she liked it, it was just the most representative she could think of. 

The next problem was the overall body. It would have to be somewhere in the middle as well if her thinking about body shape was correct. Though she would have preferred to have a slim body like that lightning dragon, she came up with an average body size. Boring, but completely in line with her thinking.

‘If my dragon form looks like that, I don’t know how I would feel about that,’ she thought. 

She sighed and decided to just accept whatever was given to her. At least she would be who she really was. That was better than anything she could want. 

‘Let’s try this.’

With the image of a dull gray dragon in her mind, she began to chant a small prayer in her head to try and work up the will power and the want to become what she was imagining. But thinking of that dull dragon didn’t help her as she wished for it to come true. There was no tug or pull. 

‘Dammit. How can I get my dragon urges out?’ she thought.

Dragon urges. That was what she must have been experiencing. Those guttural growls that seemed to come out of nowhere and those odd competitive urges that would flare up when met with an opponent she had never seen before. All that must have been because of her true nature.

‘If I focus on that, maybe I can change? But how to call those up?’

She racked her brain, recalling all the times where she grew angry or upset. The problem was though that simply recalling those memories brought up feelings that were much duller than the original. 

Then she landed on that dream she had. That dream that she couldn’t understand a thing that was happening in it. That was the first time the growls could be heard. 

She could remember the dream so vividly. Every thought that was made, every sensation she felt. The smells in the air, the shouts and scream around her. 

‘That was the war,’ she thought.

It must have been the time when her family was attacked and when Sophie lost contact with them. She was still an egg. 

‘Then those screams.’

Could that have been her parents? When she fell to the ground, was she dropped because something had happened to the ones who were carrying her? Loud bangs echoed in her mind as she remembered what happened after. Her chest tightened as she realised what that sounded like. Gunshots. 

‘Did someone kill them?’ 

She had lost two parents already. To lose two more without even knowing their faces. 

‘Why do these things happen.’

She covered her face and sucked in a few deep breaths again. 

Now she was trapped. Again. First was the egg and now it was this arena. This Coliseum. The situation was flipped, though. She wasn’t about to lose someone dear. The ones close to her would. If she couldn’t get out, then they would experience the same things she did.

‘I can’t do that to them. I need to try. I need strength.’

Would becoming a dragon give her that strength? Something told Yuki yes. It would finally free her. Let her become who she was meant to grow into. And with that, she had a chance, a chance against the rest.

‘I need to be able to change. But where is it?’ she thought. ‘I need it. For Akira. Erica. And for Yuna.’

She imagined what would happen if she disappeared. Akira would feel like a part of her soul was gone. Erica would lose the second person she swore to protect and without being able to do a thing. Yuna would lose her first love, the first time she had ever felt something like that. 

They had each other to comfort one another, but Yuki knew that it wasn’t that same. Maybe it was ego. Maybe it was narcissism. But she was the one that brought them together. 

‘I must. For them. Please,’ she pleaded. ‘Show me. Anything.” 

Then there it was. A pull at her stomach, faint, but there. She grasped at it like a drowning person reaching for a hand and let it pull her. A groan escaped her as she felt herself morph and shift, uncomfort filling her, but it soon went away and was replaced with euphoria and relief. Freedom.

Her eyelids fluttered open. Both pairs. She had two now, a normal set and one that was transparent. She looked straight and found herself eye level with Sophie who was smiling broadly.

“Did I do it?” Yuki asked, shutting her mouth in surprise as she felt her chest rumble. 

“You did,” Sophie replied. “You did. Your wings have sprouted, fledgling. And my are they beautiful wings.”