Secondary Magic Training: Wildfire [Blood Plus & DragonPantsu].

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That fated day accompanied by a four month wait; the young dragon didn't expect to be travelling down the path which he currently resided in. A rocky crevice swarmed to his left while his feet remained perch on the most miniscule rockface that the world had ever known. Ibara had decided, despite being in the face of almost certain death, that he would take the annoyingly powerful Haretsa up on her offer. To receive training from what she referred to as a real dragon. He clearly didn't believe a word she had said at the time but she had certainly succeeded in piquing his interest to the extent where the fiery dragon slayer was prepared to go to great lengths in order to discover what lied in store.

Rocks scattered as the young dragon took another step, decreasing the rockface in size significantly making the climb even more dangerous than it already was. He growled and hit the mountainous surface gently so as to not to recreate a similar situation but to vent his frustration successfully regardless. He spoke aloud as he often would when reaching a state of bewildered anger.

"What the hell does she expect me to do anyway? Jump into the friggin' volcano? How am I meant to reach the top anyways and where the hell is she?! You'd think if she were actually here then she'd have spotted me scaling this bloody rockface for almost three hours now..."

The young dragon closed his eyes and huffed once more before continuing to slide across the mountainous ledge with the utmost care and precision. His eyes darted from one foot to the other, carefully placing each one in a different position and formation so as to inhibit even the slightest chance of him toppling off the edge and descending to a singular location; certain doom. However, his movements to proceeded to halt once more, something blocked the sun perhaps? A silhouette that had momentarily distorted the harsh rays that had adorned his face throughout the monumental climb. Could it be Haretsa, or was the heat finally getting to him?

 Two figures sat upon a flat rock formation deep within the belly of what had come to be known as Fiore’s Raging Volcano. While the volcano had gotten it’s name for the nearly constant eruptions it produced, everything had been much calmer as of late. Despite this, one would still call the two beings within the volcano insane if they didn’t know who these two were. The smaller one was a girl roughly fourteen years of age with dark pink hair and scarlet red eyes. This girl was adorned in a rather simple grey, sleeveless dress with bandages wrapped around the entirety of her legs except for her bare feet. Aside from her dress and bandages, the only other thing the girl wore were silver arm guards adorned around her wrists; each bearing a rather strange and ornate symbol. The older woman next to her bore the same cream white hair as usual, only worn much longer than she had ever had it in memory to her fallen sisters. Aside from her hair and her eyes now being constantly a blazing, fiery red, the woman’s attire was pretty much the same as what she always wore in hopes that the person she was supposed to meet here would recognize her to some degree.

  ”This is getting ridiculous… he’s been climbing the damn mountainside for three hours. He could have just propelled himself up to the top with his magic by now…” Haretsa sighed, being all too aware of the presence of her future pupil. She couldn’t exactly blame him for lacking that ability as it took her quite a few months to perfect being able to have sustained flight with flames and it hadn’t been nearly as long for Ibara as it had been for her. While four months had passed for the outside world, thanks to a trick she picked up on from the man who had taught her to control her Shadow Dragon Lacrima, it had actually been roughly seven years worth of training both for Haretsa and her daughter Lillith. Pushing herself up off the craggy ground, Haretsa turned towards Lillith before she chose to speak again. ”I’ll be right back kiddo. I guess Red’s hellbent on just climbing up this damn thing. she spoke, her daughter responding with a simple smile and nod. With that, Haretsa vanished into the shadows in the blink of an eye before practically instantaneously re emerging at the volcano’s peak.

  Once there, Haretsa gazed over the edge to see Ibara still struggling to climb the outside face of the fiery mountain. ”Ya know, you wouldn’t have been any less of a man if you had just blasted your way up here with your magic! I’ve been waiting for three damn hours!!” Haretsa called out rather teasingly to the red headed Dragon Slayer below. Knowing of Ibara’s hot headed nature, she knew this would serve to most likely motivate him to charge up the cliff face headstrong. ”Now get your ass up here and into the volcano! I’ve got a lot of cool thing’s to show you! Unless, ya know, you’re scared of a little lava…” Haretsa said just as a decent sized plume of the molten liquid shot out of the volcano’s mouth behind her and began to rain down upon Ibara’s location. ”Ya might wanna actually dodge that!~” Haretsa laughed, assuming Ibara would jump up and try to punch the lava as it seemed like something he would do. With that said, the woman blasted her way through the shadows once more back down to one of the many rock formations adorning the inside of the volcano where her daughter was; gazing up at the mouth of the mountain and awaiting Ibara’s entrance.

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A singular recognizable voice compelled the young dragon from his monk-like concentration to look up only to couple the familiar voice with even more familiarity. Haretsa. The women whom had single-handedly schooled him four months back and the arbiter of why he was here in the first place. Her voice was faint but barely audible for the fiery dragon slayer to get a grasp of what she was saying. His brows furrowed while fists curled and reared with an orange, intangible smoke.

"SCARED OF LAVA? I'M IGNEEL'S SON AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT..-"

His voice was drowned out by an intensifying heat and a mighty roar that emanated from the depths of the volcano that he now resided on. An electrifying eruption burst from the mountainous peak causing a fiery, liquidated substance to throw itself into the air, solidifying due to the dramatic change of temperature. Some lava retained it's form however so Ibara found himself faced with a rushing lava pool that scaled down the rocks towards him while hardened forms of the same substance rained down on him from above. If it weren't for Haretsa's words earlier; maybe he would have thought more rashly. However, now wasn't the time for rationality. The colors of his eyes intensified and his fists clenched harder causing minor indents on the rocks he once held.

"I'll show you.."

He muttered to himself in a rather child-like manner while steam curled and whipped from the surface of his skin. Fire began to blaze at his feet and he took a rather crouched position irrespective of the fact that he still couldn't control his aerial abilities. With knees bent, flames erupted from the soles of his feet while the once curling fists of his burst into red-hot flames and drove forwards; shattering rock after heated rock as they dared to stand in the young dragon's wake. The flames on his feet wouldn't last forever though and soon it began to sputter and die out; the volcano was a gigantic climb and no amount of magic could single-handedly land him at the top. Unluckily for Ibara, this partial impairment caused him to drop from the air and plummet knee-deep in lava.

Even for the fiery dragon slayer, the liquidated flames were quite intolerable and he would make it his mission to get out of this damned situation as fast as possible. With no other means to launch himself away once more, Ibara would have to turn rather innovative. With innovation came risk and the risks that the young dragon usually decided to undertake were, for no small part, tinged with stupidity.

The young dragon craned his neck towards the ground and opened his mouth wide while forming a cylindrical cone with both his hands around the opening orifice. Red flames began to dance on the tip of his tongue before finally exploding while Ibara enunciated the words to the spell.

"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"

In a similar fashion to how the flames from his feet propelled him off the ground, the inferno that raged from his mouth would do the same; only in a far more impaired manner. Ibara lacked control; forced to direct himself using simple sways of his head which was extremely ineffective in actually getting him in any direction other than up. After a few moments of propulsion, Ibara reached a point in the sky where using the flames from his mouth were no longer necessary and so he released them; shattering another rock unintentionally using his back while ascending.

He could see the mouth now, a figure.. no. Two figures. They stood side-by-side on a ledge that overlooked into the fiery depths of the raging volcano below. The eruptions had seemingly come to a halt which led Ibara to questioning whether they really happened in the first place. Was this yet another of Haretsa's tricks? He supposed all would be revealed in due time. For now, another more evident problem lay on his mind. How he would go about landing.

His fall was slow at first, the transition of pace from going up-to-down in an instant allowed him ample time to figure out how he'd slow his pace enough so that he'd be able to grab onto the ledge on which they stood without shattering his fingers/arm. His fists remained alight while the ledge loomed closer and grew larger with each passing second. Without a moment to spare, despite how retarded the notion seemed, Ibara began punching the air infront of him with a monumental amount of force. So much so that air-pockets could be seen being created infront of his flaming fists. Each punch threw him into the air a little bit, such was the force of his arms, so his descent was much more like a continuous jump; slowing with each punch, rather than an actual fall to his death. The ledge was in sight and Ibara raised his hand to grab it. Only a few seconds away now.

3..

2..

1..

Ibara thought he'd missed at first, wincing as he closed his eyes but that feeling in his gut, the falling sensation of vertigo had been prohibited by a rockface that occupied his hand. He glanced up of him, a mop of red-hair clouding his two-toned eyes. This didn't stop his scowl from being evidential though. He spoke viciously as was his way.

"Don't underestimate me.."

While Ibara took time to process Haretsa's features and check whether or not his shoulder was dislocated, he couldn't help but notice the far-younger girl whom stood at her side. They dressed in a similar fashion and the unmistakable red-eyes showed some kind've heritage between them.

"...and who's this?"

 Haretsa was far from being disappointed as she watched her redheaded pupil fall into the mouth of the volcano. While Ibara may not have been able to sustain flight with his flames yet, his approach to stopping his fall was rather impressive to say the least. Lighting his fists on fire, Ibara punched the air in front of him repeatedly as hard as he could, using the flames and the force of his punches to slow his rapid descent to a controllable manner. Thanks to this, Ibara was able to grab hold of the ledge of the surface Haretsa and Lillith were standing on instead of plummeting headfirst into the lava below. ”He’s grown quite a bit. Judging by his magic power, he seem’s to be around the same strength I was when we fought.” the cream haired woman thought to herself as Ibara pulled himself up from the cliff.

  Haretsa was about to congratulate Ibara for not taking a lava bath when he decided to ask who it was that stood beside her. Without a moment's hesitation, Lillith spoke up to introduce herself. ”I’m Lillith, Haretsa’s daughter. Nice to meet you, Mr. Red!” she said politely, prompting Haretsa to clarify a little bit. ”Adopted, for the record. She was seven when I rescued her from a demon in what used to be known as Yelval, but people started calling it the Haunted Village after that demon took over. That was well over seven years ago now though. Anyway, before we get started with training, there’s a few things I wanna show you; starting with my new home.” Haretsa stated before stomping her foot down hard on the cracked rocks that the three stood on.  As she did, she uttered aloud the words ”BEX NU FAH HEIN JUD.”; her voice echoing throughout the volcano with an immense amount of power and authority behind them. At the command of these words, strange runes began to form in a circle of white light beneath where the three stood, showing unto them all a completely different world on the other side of the jagged ground like a portal. Through this portal Ibara would be able to see countless dragons of all different shapes and sizes flying carefree around a rather impressive looking yet highly ancient city with an immense castle on the north end. Haretsa shoved her hands nonchalantly into her pocked and looked at the hotheaded young Dragon Slayer with a smile. ”That there is Dulsos, the capital city of the kingdom known as Junaar. This city is my new home, and it's also where your training will be taking place. So, you ready to take a trip to the land where dragon’s rule, Red?” she asked, knowing all too well that the boy’s answer would most likely be yes.

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Ibara struggled to think. He wasn't at a loss for words nor was his shock at Haretsa having any form of close-family relationship leaving him speechless. The answer to his vocal impairment was rather simple actually. His legs remained dangling over a 200ft drop into a lava pit below and albeit it wouldn't be the flames that killed him but the impact itself. His muscles yearned for relaxation as the young dragon managed to find the physical aptitude to finally pull himself onto the ledge and land on his stomach, his hair slicked back, utilising the monumental amount of sweat as a medium to do so. His voice stammered for a moment but finally the fiery dragon slayer managed to project a few words that rung true.

"You're Lillith. The name rings a bell, your origin too, it's familiar. Though you most definitely do not resemble the same little girl that will taint my mind for a long time to come."

Ibara did his best to laugh awkwardly at the coincidence but there was something about the girl that resembled Haretsa. Something odd; eery even. The resemblance was too uncanny; not in a physical manner but her demeanour, the way she held herself, her attitude even. Nightmarish thoughts crept into the archaic map that was the young dragon's deluded mind and he did his best to banish them by continuing to speak.

"That doesn't matter though. I hope Haretsa treats you a lot better than she treats me otherwise you're in for a pretty rough childhood, kid."

Speaking with empathy, compassion, sympathy even wasn't Ibara's forté and the extremely forced smile that was meant to represent his joking demeanour remained completely ineffective; awkward even. Luckily, the young dragon still had the willpower to wipe his face, dismissing the socially inept glare to move onto other topics, more pressing matters. For example, the opening crevice that Haretsa seemed to command within a tongue that remained indiscernible to the inexperienced mind of the fiery dragon slayer.

Ibara tried to speak, his limbs filled with energy and his eyes literally set on fire at the scene that presented itself infront of him after Haretsa's small display of power. With a re-energised body, mostly pumped with adrenaline at the time, the young dragon launched to his feet and rushed forwards; dismissing the words of his mentor only to revel in what he would think to be a simple dream had the reality of falling into a volcano not dismissed that thought completely earlier. It couldn't be.. it shouldn't be.. Weren't they all gone? The winged, reptilian-beasts that once graced the sky and ruled over humans. Presumed to be extinct yet flocking to the whim of a simplistic utopia. Dragons.

"I.. no.. uh.. guh.."

The fiery dragon slayer's attempt at words again were shot down for a second time. The scenario that presented itself before him was simply too much and the figment of fatigue that had presented itself to him earlier when he struggled to climb onto the ledge flooded back into his bones as the realisation of everything that was going on dawned on him like a tsunami.

"..Haretsa.. I.. OH YEAH.."

The real reason to why he had turned up in the first place finally rung out in his mind and forced him to turn away from what he considered to be the heaven upon heavens for a moment. A black rucksack that seemed to glow with a slightly golden tint must have caught Haretsa's eye by now, especially in that brief moment when the young dragon had his back turned to her while admiring the utopian view that she had put into place. His arm extended so as to throw the bag infront of her and there, it's contents were revealed. A glowing, yellow lacrima that seemed to spark with a reptilian energy akin to lightning itself.

"This was why I came.. I thought you could help me.."

In truth, Ibara had no idea what the device thrown before him was capable of but he knew it was special. Something about it called out to him, heralding roots that fundamentalised the ancient magic passed onto him by his father. Dragon Slayer Magic. That's all the young dragon knew on the contents of this lacrima he placed infront of him. The two were somehow intertwined but the fiery dragon slayer wanted to find out why and Haretsa was his best bet.

 Ibara was awe struck at the sight he was witnessing and Haretsa couldn’t blame him. She and Lillith both had similar reactions when they first discovered this magical place where dragon’s roamed the sky as carefree as could be seven years ago for the two of them. It was quite a bit to take in and Ibara seemed to have trouble processing it all. That was until he reached for a black rucksack and tossed it onto the ground before Haretsa who had been wondering what exactly was glowing in that thing. When the red haired mage tossed it before her, she was given her answer. A glowing yellow gem fell out of the bag with an all too familiar scent to it.

Listening to Ibara explain that he wanted her help with the device, Haretsa knelt down and picked up the gem. She turned it about in her hands curiously, examining every inch of the shining jewel before sniffing it. ”Reik Dovah, huh? Interesting… you wanna use this lacrima to become a Hybrid Dragon Slayer like me, right?” Haretsa asked, looking into Ibara’s eyes as she casually licked the lacrima as if it were an ice cream cone. ”Huh.. Lightning tastes weird…but if you really wanna make flaming lightning I guess I could help.” she chuckled. ”Honestly though, I have no idea how the hell to make these things work. I mean, I do when they’re inside of ya, but the problem is getting the damn thing in your system.” Haretsa sighed, motioning her head over towards Lillith. ”See, Lilly’s was easy because it was the same element, so she just ate the damn thing. With a different element though, I haven’t got the slightest damn of a clue, and I sure as hell ain’t putting anyone through the hell I went through getting a lacrima inside of me…” she said ruefully, biting down on her lip as she remembered those bastards who had killed her mother and took her to that damnable lab for three long years.

Shaking her head free of such thoughts, Haretsa looked Ibara dead in the eye’s once again. ”Lucky for us, we won’t have to resort to that. I know someone in Dulsos that can probably help you out with getting it into ya!” the woman exclaimed, snapping her fingers as a ray of bright light shot up from the strange looking portal that displayed the draconic city and enveloped the three. When Ibara could see again, he would be greeted by the sight of dragon’s every which way he looked. Some flew through the skies with pride while many others walked the streets in more humanoid forms. Aside from that, Dulsos was just about what one would expect from the capital city of an entire country; just with a more draconic twist on things. Ibara was most likely in heaven right now, but if he were paying attention, he’d notice that everyone around the three mages greeted Haretsa and Lillith with joy and a respect of the highest order; almost as if Haretsa were royalty. Once she had gotten her initial greetings out of the way, Haretsa pointed to the castle on the northern edge of the city. ”That’s where we’ll find Lahba. If you wanna go sight seeing, I sure as hell ain’t gonna blame ya, or we can head straight for the castle. Your call, Red.”

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A young dragon with not even the slightest of seconds to respond to Haretsa's tense apprehension at the sight of the powerful crystal that Ibara had presented before her. She seemed to treat it with caution, as if her experience in the past with such things were filled with trauma. He could see it in her eyes, he was good at reading people, years of experience had cultivated that skill of his. Something that remained unknown to him was the terms that she used to describe indulging himself with such an ability. A Hybrid Dragon Slayer. Unbeknownst to him, the dragon slayer could only regard the item that he once had strapped to his back with caution. What was he getting himself into? With only a passing second to think though, a wave of green energy passed over him, traversing him into lands which only indulged his confusion. Before he knew it, Ibara sat on his rump in the middle of a street filled with draconic-humanoids while dragons of real forms garnered the skies just like before. He did his very best to stop his jaw from dropping though the task remained impossible and fiery drool almost hit the ground before him.

"HARETSA.. STOP WITH THE DAMN PORTALS!"

Ibara was tempted to let-loose on his malicious rant but was briefly cut short because the sight of a grounded, drooling dragon-slayer clearly didn't detract from the immense popularity that swarmed both Haretsa and Lillith respectively. They seemed to have a celebrity-like status in this town for reasons continually unbeknownst to the young dragon. These journeys only continued to intensify his confusion and he didn't like it one bit. It wasn't long before the fiery dragon slayer had recovered from his disorientation and once more; shot to his feet and spun on his heel to confront Haretsa finally.

"Haretsa, look. I came here hoping you could help me. This is amazing and under different circumstances, shamefully enough, I may even have kissed your feet right now. These aren't those circumstances though! I don't even know what this damned crystal is, nor any idea what it has to do with being a Hybrid Dragon Slayer — WHATEVER THAT MEANS. HELP ME. PLEASE."

Ibara understood that his heightened voice towards the end of his finalised rant had attracted some unwanted attention. Clearly the people here weren't used to their attraction being addressed so unthoughtfully but for the time being, the fiery dragon slayer would have to let it pass. He needed answers, it was the sole reason why he came to Haretsa in the first place and so far he had received none — none that had made sense anyway. As always though, the female dragon slayer had remained one stop ahead of him, fully prepared for her retort in response to Ibara's somewhat aggrieved rant that had been justified at the time. The young dragon was forced to pause as a look of confusion passed over his face, while his two-toned eyes scanned the vicinity in search for the castle that was, in fact, exactly where Haretsa had said it was.

"We can sightsee later. This is an experience of a lifetime that I want to enjoy when my mind isn't focused on other things, y'know.. Let's see this Labba dude!"

Ibara grinned from ear-to-ear before shooting off in some random direction without a clue on how to navigate these streets. He could only assume Haretsa and Lillith would be quick on his trail towards the castle. Meanwhile though, the fiery dragon slayer took his time in observing those whom he passed. Their draconic features which seemed to mesh in with their humanoid figures. It was a sight to behold and it almost took Ibara's feet from underneath him. He stumbled a few times before regaining his footing and shaking a mop of red-hair that adorned his features. He had only one goal and it was staring him right in the face. The castle was close.

 ”I’ll catch up with you. You enjoy yourself, Red.” Haretsa laughed to herself after Ibara had run off on his own in the general direction of the castle. It was apparent that the red headed young Dragon Slayer was both impatient when it came to wanting to train and yet overly excited by the fact that he was in a land ruled by Dragon’s. Haretsa could have easily taken them to the castle in the blink of an eye due to her control over the shadow’s of the Void, but she knew it was probably better for Ibara to make his way there on foot. It’d allow him to take in the sights around him whilst he charged headfirst unto his goal. Turning to Lillith, Haretsa stretched out her hand for the young girl to take before the two dissolved themselves into the shadows and rocketed towards Dulsos Castle.

   Easily making their way there, the two would emerge from the shadows to be greeted by the castle guard. "Welcome back, Milady! Pardon me for asking, but weren't you returning here with another individual from Ishgard?" the guard asked curiously. "Yup, he's making his way here on foot. He's a bit overwhelmed by the whole "land of dragon's" thing so it's better for him to just take a moment to soak it all in. Red headed human male, kinda hard to miss around here." she mentioned, still turning the lacrima about in her hands before leaning up against the castle gate. As she did this, Lillith set about on her own roaming the castle in search of the other guest that Haretsa had brought to Dulsos about a week ago. "Lightning... I wonder how well he'll take to using it... Shit, I can't believe I completely forgot about Igneel. I should have told him earlier that no one here has heard or seen Igneel in ages... I hope he doesn't expect to find him here..." she thought to herself. The fact that no one around here had heard that name in ages surprised even Haretsa. When she had become Queen, she got the chance to meet several of the King's and Queens of their respective elements, yet none of these Grand Dragon's had heard the name Igneel in countless years. Why was that? Even Lahba was curious as to why the King of Fire Dragon's had made such a disappearance and even HE hadn't figured it out yet.

Regardless, once Ibara had shown up, Haretsa shoved the lacrima into one of her pockets and began leading him through the dragon crafted castle of Dulsos. The castle was far different from the elaborate constructions that people made back home on Ishgar. It was much more rustic and simplistic, yet grand in its own right and Haretsa loved that. As they walked through the hallowed halls, Haretsa decided to speak up and mention something before they got to their destination. "Listen, I know I should have brought this up earlier, but I wanted you to know that Igneel... isn't here. No one here that I've met, not even some of the Grand Dragon's, have heard the name Igneel in several hundred years. I've got Lahba looking into what exactly happened to him though, so I'm sure that he'll turn up eventually. I still want to fight him, after all." she said with a smirk, looking forward to the day she could duel with the King of Fire Dragons. The two had other matters at hand though, as they approached an ornate door which Haretsa didn't hesitate to push open. "Oi, Lahba! I got something interesting for ya!!" Haretsa called out as the two entered a rather large room full of books, scrolls, and various instruments strewn about in a rather chaotic fashion. She was surprised only to see Lillith searching the room curiously. "Lahba's not here for some reason... and neither is big sis Rava." Lillith explained, turning to meet Ibara and her mother. Haretsa let out a sigh with a smile on her face. "That girl... where did she end up taking my mindokah this time, I wonder? I'm glad he at least took a liking to her fascination with this place, but damn that makes those two hard to find now a days..." Haretsa sighed. Lahba was the eldest and most informed dragon in the entire country, so this naturally made him the center of many question; no doubt coming in droves from the visitor from Infinity Hydra that Haretsa had brought here not too long ago.

It had been a week since her coming to Dulsos. In that time she had come to learn a great deal about her ancestors and origin; about the dragons that lived beyond the war, and about the magic they passed to the humans. She had taken a particular fondness to the ancient being known as Lahba, a particular scholar amongst his kin, and she had directly bothered him with her dastardly amount of questions since Haretsa had vanished. Not only that, but the dragon had taken a liken to her own tale. He found the customs of her clan to be quite informative and intriguing as a form of paganistic ritual among humans.

Currently she accompanied the large being in only what could be seen as an astronomy tower where they gazed above at what would seem as the stars and their constellations. But they appeared different compared to those of earth.
Her crimson eyes followed the connections and with a raised brow she glanced at Lahba in search of answers.
All in due time he would explain how the universes that surrounded them were all connected by the celestial planes and each possessed a set of different stars which when lined up directly formed the true spirit constellations. With this connection, there was alot more potential amongst the spirits than their summons on earth.

This was just one of many wonders that the being had shown Ravana, and upon agreement they descended back to the main hall which connected to Lahba's personal study. Of course everything in the castle had to be big to accommodate for the rather large tenants, so it took them a bit just to walk down the spiral ramp that was provided as a stair case.

With a smile on her face she found Haretsa to be standing within the doorway, accompanied by Lillith and another gentlemen. The young woman greeted the child with a swift hug and a smile before looking up at her teacher. "Welcome back, it's great to see your return." She said before eyeing the younger gentlemen that stood nearby. She was not so rude as to blatantly ask why he was here, cause knowing Haretsa, it was for good reason. "Sorry if you were searching for us, we were up in the observatory, Lahba here was teaching me a great deal."

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A ragged breath accompanied by pounding footsteps against a cobbled ground. This was the young dragon's reality as he bustled his way through a plethora of draconic men whom seemed more shocked to see him than he did they. This whole ordeal was overwhelming to a tee. For a moment, he even questioned the fact on why he was here? What was Haretsa thinking? How was a doctor in the middle of a dragon-infested Kingdom going to help him with an unknown crystal that hadn't even been heard of in Earthland — let alone an unbeknownst vicinity where this object hadn't even originated from. Ibara huffed in frustration as he neared his destination but that ragged breath of exasperation soon turned into one of awe as his footsteps were halted in an instant — a castle mounted on the highest mountain that the young dragon had ever layed eyes on. Dragons of all kinds swarmed it's peaks while the monument itself adorned powerful, grey rock that looked like it could withstand a hundred-year siege.

"Have.. to focus.."

Ibara removed himself from this moment of awe in order to continue striding up the mountain. While he moved though; other thoughts plagued his mind, thoughts of what this land might entail, what it might mean for his ultimate goal — finding his father. After all, this country, continent, or whatever inhabited thousands of dragons that were thought to be an extremely endangered species back on Earthland. Here, these creatures ruled the skies, land and sea. There couldn't have been a place more significant to house his father. Was he here?!

The young dragon grinned with delight as his destination grew closer. A massive door fell before him and upon pushing it open, he noticed Haretsa and Lillith already there and, without a word, they dragged him inside. Ibara barely had time to inquire about Igneel, besides, now wasn't the time for it. His single-track mind refused to deviate from the fact that he wanted to figure out what was inside this crystal.

Their footsteps pounded against an eerie silence that seemed to infest the castle like an epidemic. It was cold inside, not something he expected considering it was a habitat of dragons that lived and breathed heat. Haretsa paused for a moment as if she were picking up on the situation herself but the words that flowed from her mouth seemed to divert from what the young dragon thought she might say.

"..he's not here?"

Ibara's two-toned eyes that seemed to illuminate the darkness of the castle fell towards the ground — his hopes dashed immediately. However, he wouldn't let Haretsa see weakness on his features, he certainly wouldn't let her, of all people, witness his emotional distress. She was his teacher and for that fact to remain, Ibara would have to remain stoic if he were to push through this ordeal alive.

The news from earlier aided in nullifying the young dragon's enthusiasm as he entered a massive room clearly to accommodate a draconic creature rather than someone of humanitarian nature.

"Well.. this was a waste of time.."

Ibara spoke rather sullenly as he glanced around the room filled with books, scrolls and other machines that didn't seem to take his interest at all. He was never one for research which was probably the sole arbiter as to why he didn't know what the crystal nor it's powers entailed in the first place.

Footsteps disturbed his brief thought, small ones accompanied by tremulous booms that reverberated off the once-silent walls. A dark booming voice accompanied by a much lighter one — clearly a woman, Ibara mused to himself.

When he decided to turn around, his eyes met a red-haired maiden, similar to himself in terms of hair colour although their similarities seemed to deviate at that point. The young dragon could only marvel at both her and the dragon that now stood by her side whom humbled himself at an extremely impressive stature. Purple eyes and blue scales, almost the polar-opposite of the only other dragon that he knew on a personal level.

"Yeah, we were searchin' for ya!"

Ibara's voice boomed in a similar manner though in a much more adolescent form as he shook his head vigorously.

"Haretsa, you didn't mention there'd be someone else here.."

His voice was hushed because he knew social mannerisms such as these were important on first meetings. He continued though and turned towards the dragon and her female accomplice whom had only entered the room a moment ago to receive Ibara's bombardment of questions.

"So, you know about this crystal? What does it do? What does it mean? Is it special?!"

Ibara's feet were quick, and with each question, he took one step closer towards the two, his eyes widened with awe. Clearly the fact that he was within this world hadn't quite faded and his excitement was clear to see, as was his exasperation at how deep he was in this pool of the unknown. He needed answers.

 Ibara seemed rather disappointed in the fact that Igneel wasn’t in this country nor was Lahba currently here in the castle. However, the sound of booming footsteps echoing throughout the enormous halls quickly turned that frown into a giddy smile. Haretsa looked to see Lillith be swept up in a hug by the red headed woman that had accompanied her return to Dulsos a week ago; followed by none other than the local historian himself, Lahba. His ocean blue scales lightly glistened in the dim light of his laboratory and his bright purple eyes that could pierce through any darkness were glaring straight at Ibara whilst Ravana explained where the two had been. Before Haretsa even had a chance to respond, Ibara was already bombarding the elder dragon with a series of questions and drawing closer to him with each one. While he had experienced this a week ago when Ravana had been brought to Dulsos, it was the manner in which Ibara addressed Haretsa that annoyed Lahba.

"You dare to address her Majesty so casually?!" Lahba's voice boomed, reverberating throughout the entire laboratory to the point of being nearly deafening. The dragon raised his claw ready to strike Ibara before Haretsa ran in front of the poor boy to defuse the situation. "LAHBA, RELAX! I haven't told him about any of that yet, this whole place is a lot for him to take in at the moment! It's fine if he calls me by my first name right now, alright?" Haretsa explained, seeming to calm Lahba's anger for the time being. "As you wish, your Majesty..." Lahba replied with disdain, keeping his glare upon Ibara's person as Haretsa turned to the red headed young boy. "Sorry, he's a biiiiiiiiit obsessed with tradition and stuff, so just use my name as little as possible to avoid having your head taken off, ok?" Haretsa advised, prompting the large dragon to clear his throat. "I presume the "crystal" the boy was referring to is the Dragon Slayer Lacrima you're holding, your Majesty?" he asked. Haretsa turned her attention once more towards the elder dragon with a nod, walking forward and placing the lacrima within the behemoth's claw. "Yeah and it's from one of the Lightning Dragon's too. He brought it to me having no clue what the damn thing was. I'm... assuming he wants to use it in order to be a Hybrid Dragon Slayer like I am, but when I mentioned that to him he seemed clueless as to what that meant. Regardless, if he does want to become a Hybrid, do you have any idea how we can get it in him without resorting to the same methods I got mine?"

Lahba stared at the lacrima, turning it about and sniffing it the same as Haretsa did while she explained the situation to him. The dragon was infinitely intrigued by this lacrima, staring at it for a few moments before responding. Yes, I know of a variety of different ways. The easiest being a harmless surgery to implant the lacrima into his mana directly. It would take a while, but its the least lethal of ways... what I want to know is how the human's of Earthland keep getting all of these lacrima's... very strange..." Lahba mumbled, turning his attention once more towards Ibara. "You want to know exactly what this lacrima is capable of, correct? Very well. Ravana." Lahba called her name, turning his head towards the red headed girl standing near Lillith. "I'd like for you to explain to this imbecile about Dragon Slayer Lacrima's. I do hope you were paying close attention when I was explaining those to you as well as how her Majesty came to be a Dragon Slayer in the first place." he chuckled, putting his assistant on the spot to see just how much she had retained from his lessons.

The young man's abrupt nature had stirred Ravana, causing her to stare openly and wide eyed in a rather dumbfounded way. His tone made it seem like she was some form of hindrance to him and she furrowed her brows as he then bombarded Lahba with his array of questions. Sure it was a similar fashion to how she approached the large and ancient dragon, but Ravana was much more polite about it, being sure to take the situation as calmly as she could. This young man was just flying off the handle!

She was only somewhat surprised when Lahba seemed ready to take off the human's head. But of course Haretsa would not allow something like that to happen. At least she had hoped. She had not known the woman for very long, but she had a sense about her that dd not label her as a corrupt or cruel individual.

Ravana happened to be watching them carefully, studying the shiny crystal like stone that was passed from the queen to Lahba. Its glimmering effect reminded her of Wolfe, and his magic. It even had a soft familiar scent, though her sense of smell was nothing compared to Haretsa.
Her ears twitched up at the sound of her name, causing her eyes to dash up to the awaiting Lahba. His questions surprised her and after a moment of collecting herself she smiled politely. "A Dragon Slayer Lacrima; Much like a Slayer in itself, it is a host of power. Able to conceal any type of element brandished by Dragon Slayers possible, they are an effective way to produce a 'Dragon Slayer' without the years of training to achieve mastery. "

She cleared her throat and continued, closing her eyes and cupping her hands in front of her dress. "There are some notable differences however, the magic provided by a lacrima is mediocre compared to the magic gained by training with a Dragon, therefore it requires alot of physical and mental concentration to gain mastery over the sudden appearance of magic within the host."

Gesturing to the Lacrima in Lahba's possession she nodded swiftly, "Which brings up the 'How?' portion of Lacrimas. As stated, Lacrima's, any and all kinda hold magic within them and produce that specified amount of magic for a certain period of time. Dragon Slayer Lacrima's are different however, the magic power stored in them is so great that it can consume lifetimes of generated magic. But! Because that power is so great, the host has to be compatible physically to undergo the process of infusion with the Lacrima."

Pulling on more than what Lahba had taught her alone she smiled softly while coming to her conclusion. "On another note! Dragon Slayer Lacrima's can be used for much more than just infusion with a possible slayer, they can be used to brandish new types of magic. One's like mine, where the power of a slayer is present in an elemental fashion, but the effect produced differs greatly. " after an elongated exhale she looked at the young man, " In short, that crystal there will give you the power of another respective element. One specified for a Slayer. "

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Made by Ravana

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For a moment, a very brief one, the young dragon didn't quite know how to react. To be confronted on his manners by a reptilian beast who easily dwarfed him in terms of size — what aggressive mannerism was left for him to fall back on?

Naturally though, Ibara exploded back with a fiery temper that almost equalled the booming reptile's rage at the mere thought of his queen being disrespected, even though it was in the least of severe of manners as far as this dragon slayer was concerned. Why shouldn't he be able to call Haretsa by her name? That's who she was. She should be proud of it. All this noise about her being in some position of royalty, Ibara wanted no business with it and this dragon, no matter how mighty and powerful, was not about to stand in the way of that. Curse this little dragon's blissful, yet life-threatening ignorance.

"COME AND TRY I—"

Before Ibara had sealed his fate with only a few words, Haretsa stepped infront of him, apologising on the young dragon's behalf which Ibara met with a snort — as if he should be the one apologising for a custom that he didn't understand. He'd only gotten here a few hours ago after all.

Lahba, or so he was called, had his anger dismissed rather easily by Haretsa. It was strange to see her command so much respect of a beast that looked so much mightier than she was. What exactly was she? What kind of power did she wield? What had she not shown the fiery dragon slayer all those months ago. This development of his thinking irked him to the point where he opened his mouth to question the very notion but he was swiftly interrupted by the quick change of conversation — conversation that interested him greatly.

"H-hey.. I don't care about no safe route! I want this done quickly. No pain, no gain. That's what Igneel always used to say and I stand by that too. If we're gonna get this done efficiently, then there must be another way, I don't have time for no surgery.."

Ibara's eyes flared with a determined vigour which Haretsa had probably characterised with his brash, and foolhardy personality by now. As for the red-headed girl who opened her mouth to interject him though, who knew what she thought of him... Ibara couldn't imagine these thoughts were good considering the way he had entered and bombarded with questions lacking even the most simple etiquette. That's who he was though, it's the way Igneel shaped him, he wouldn't change it for the world.

The young dragon blinked, closing his mouth in a surprisingly polite manner in order to allow the similarly-haired woman standing opposite him explain the nature behind the crystal that Ibara had presented before them many hours ago.

"H-hey.. what do you mean by inferior!—"

Ibara's voice was completely cut off as the woman standing opposite him annunciated her words perfectly, carrying with them an in-depth and vast knowledge of the crystal that she spoke of. Clearly her study was specialised or she had some significant experience with them herself in a much more personal manner. Regardless though, the young dragon allowed her to continue despite his anxious urge to question her every word growing thin.

"So.. basically.. this is going to give me control of another element, right? Well.. let's get this done. I don't need a surgery though; my body can handle it. Just let loose with everything you've got.."

Ibara's eyes seemed to hone in perfectly on Haretsa as his last word reverberated around the room with a perfect echo. It was clear who he was talking to — he knew by her cautious reaction from earlier that there was another way. Another way to undergo this process of embedding a dragon slayer lacrima within him. He could only hope he wouldn't die regretting his consequences later. The thought made him shiver.