2

I was getting tired of being thrown out of the loop. I'd made sure I was one of his best students. That put me in his good graces. I dropped my hand away from my ear. If I kept scratching at it it would bleed eventually.

That wouldn't look good if Earl did decide to bring me back into his confidence. I didn't know when he would finally decide to bring us back in. I started playing with my flames. The wispy pathetic flames I was willing to show these students was more than a minor irritation. I had already fused with my fire element.

Just like I'd done with my dark element. I'd put in the work. I was getting tired of pretending to be weaker then I was. I couldn't reveal my full strength. I couldn't even think of revealing the fact that I could manipulate multiple elements.

Fire, darkness, and space. Although my control over space was weak at best. I didn't know what I was going to do if I didn't manage to get the information that my master wanted. I clenched my fist angrily. The fact that I couldn't even think his name without fearing repercussions was another thing that angered me.

I'd watched that video over, and over again. Trying to see what exactly made this dragon so fearsome that he ordered me to inform him immediately if I located it. All I'd seen on that video was a beast fighting off, and killing a beast much larger then himself. The amount of magic he could use was beyond impressive for a beast his size, but the nine tail foxes that elves often kept as pets could use massive amounts of mana for beasts their size as well. They were the size of a earthborn cat, and they could erase buildings from existence if their master requested it.

Pound for pound the dragon actually packed less of a punch. I was angry that I couldn't even think of his name without fearing repercussions. I waited for Earl to call me into his office. I was his strongest student. He would talk to me if there was some sort of plan.

I found another video of the dragon from a couple months ago. The amount he'd grown between the two videos was more then a little impressive. I could understand why a beast like that would be frightening to a single elf. Elves rarely fought alone. Just one of these creatures shouldn't warrant such fear.

Ten or fifteen elves would be more then enough to take care of such a creature. Then again I had never been face to face with such a creature. Maybe I'd change my mind once I was face to face with him. I looked up when I heard Magnus open his office door. He gestured for me to come over.

It took a considerable amount of brainpower for me to keep my lips from quirking upward. This was exactly the kind of thing I was waiting for. I needed the information he was going to give me. How much info he gave me determined how long my master would be placated. I refrained from speaking when I entered his office.

He seemed to prefer it when I kept quiet.

"They found the bastard," Magnus smiled.

"Found the bastard sir?" I asked.

"That scaley bastard," he tapped the table with his fingers impatiently on the desk, "We found him."

"The so called dragon sir?" I almost tilted my head in interest when he mentioned our mutual enemy.

"Yes," he tapped the corner of his desk twice.

Turning the screen on. Showing an image of the dragon laying prone from above. The screen zoomed in slowly until he was the only thing on the screen. He was completely still.

"Are you sure he's still alive?" I asked.

Magnus tapped the screen to change views. The screen lit up with a display of the heat in the area. He was the biggest heat signature in the area.

"So still alive?" I confirmed with a slight nod, "How did you find him?"

"A mana anomaly," Magnus frowned.

Changing the screens view again. The mana of the area was put on display. Calling it an anomaly was an understatement. He had become a geyser of barely contained mana. He was building mana, and then releasing it in a single massive pulse.

Over, and over again.

"Where is he?" I asked.

Keeping the fact that my heart was in my throat hidden wasn't exactly easy. I was starting to understand the fear my master felt at the mention of a living dragon. He hadn't told me that dragons are an origin species. The amount of power he was able to manipulate as a young dragon was frightening. Origin species were notoriously bad at controlling mana until they reached adulthood.

If that was what he could manipulate while he was young. Then I'd hate to know what he was capable of manipulating now. A full two years later. The amount of mana he was releasing now was terrifying.

"Greenland," that made his tone sour a little.

"The forbidden zone?" I felt my eyebrows go up.

I was good at controlling my facial expressions normally, but even I couldn't hide surprise.

"Right in the middle of it," Magnus practically snarled.

"Isn't the forbidden zone a wasteland of permafrost, and ice?" I clicked the screen back to the normal view, "He's clearly laying in two feet of grass."

I'd never seen the effect of an origin species on a mana starved planet before. The way that the earth drank in the mana. The power it was able to put out in response was what I was struggling with right now. Given enough time, and living members of it's origin species this planet would become mana dense. The origin species of this planet would have near limitless mana.

Making them damn near invincible. I could understand why the elves would want such a potent planet. I could understand why they would want to avoid the origin species of such a planet. Mana dense planets tended to have potent origin species. The part I found odd was the fact that this dragon was clearly, and obviously predatory.