Gift (Part 1)

It was a star filled night.

Draco and Zara walked out of the house, their strides slow and casual as they looked up at the sky and smiled at the drifting clouds. The bright purple-colored moon that hung high in the sky gave the night a bluish purple hue, and it reflected on their faces.

This was not a strange sight for either of them, so they enjoyed the serene atmosphere of night and walked side by side.

Until, they finally got to the edge of a cliff, where they both sat in silence.

Zara's family lived among a few others on one of the many cliffs in Argo, a place where one could see the first sunrise faster than the other members of the city. The sunset was also a wonderful sight to behold.

Draco couldn't count the times he and Zara had sat here… watching all of this together.

At the moment, there was neither sunrise or sunset. 

The star-filled sky caused countless dancing lights to glitter in the darkness above, like sequins on an elegant dress. They magically dazzled, adding more beauty to the serene atmosphere of the silent night.

But, it didn't stay silent for very long.

"I want to show you something." Zara smiled, looking at Draco as she slowly brought something seemingly out of nowhere. She had hidden pockets all over her dress, so it always seemed mysterious whenever she brought out an item that wasn't apparent from the start.

Draco was used to this, so he wasn't particularly surprised by her actions. The item she brought out, however, caught his interest. 

"Oh? What's that?" His eyes widened, and then narrowed at the mechanical construct in her grasp. Draco felt he recognized it, but that familiarity didn't come from him, but Luke's memories.

The construct was round, like a circle, with a gleaming metallic sheen. It seemed to have a lid that covered it—almost like a clam—as well as a chain that wrapped itself around it, giving it the form of a necklace.

"It's my latest invention." Zara beamed, slowly opening the lid to reveal a bright surface underneath it, with large coordinates at the four cardinal points, as well as four smaller coordinates between them.

It bore an uncanny resemblance with a compass.

'So that's why I felt some form of recognition.' Draco pondered silently, his shock still apparent. 'Zara… built a compass that people in Luke's world have had for centuries now…' 

"Crafted it with Divining Metal and Luminous Stones, alongside some magnets, of course. It took me a while to get the proportions correctly, and the design was also a headache… but I finally arrived at this masterpiece!" 

"Wow…"

Draco wasn't particularly stunned by the compass, since he had seen far greater technological advancements from Luke's memories. However, he was amazed that Zara could pull something like this off without any prior knowledge of Earth and its achievements.

No, perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised.

After all, Zara had been a genius since birth—surpassing all of her peers, and even studying advanced subjects that made her father resemble a layman.

In terms of potential, she was one of the greatest humans in all of the Southern Territory.

"You're not gonna ask me what it does?" Zara raised her brow and glared at Draco. 

"Ah, sorry… I was carried away by its design. It looks stunning." He admitted, honestly enamored by the pristine display of the compass before him.

Unlike Earth's rather bland and modern design, this one had a feel of mysticism to it.

It was definitely special.

"What can it do?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked!" Zara smirked, going full nerd mode. Draco braced himself for impact, but also loosened his ears so he could absorb as much information as he could.

"Its function is pretty simple: it points in the direction of a Dragon… any Dragon. The lights shine brighter and also change colors depending on how strong the Dragon is. If there are more than one Dragons in , the three other arrows that are underneath this larger one will point in those other directions. They can only point in four directions at once, and will take the most dangerous Dragons as their highest priority." Her explanation was rapid and filled with excitement, but she wasn't nearly done yet. "There are five colors: white, yellow, blue, red, and purple. White is the standard color, as you can see… which means it is relatively safe… so no matter which direction the arrow points at, there really shouldn't be any harm. It probably senses some Essence that's in the air, since the device is rather sensitive. Once it turns yellow, though, it shows that a Dragon has been detected. Blue means the Dragon is very dangerous—at least Rank 2. Red shows that the Dragon is immensely dangerous, and even you should flee from it. It could be Rank 3… maybe Rank 4. Purple was the highest I could set it as, and that shows that the Dragon is at least Rank 5. It means instant death."

As Draco was listening to this, his expression kept changing.

From curiosity, to amazement, to wonder, to dread—eventually causing his bright expression to darken.

He slowly nodded while listening to Zara's further explanations.

"The brighter it shines, the higher the likelihood that there are more than one Dragon in that direction. If it gets so bright that it starts blinking, that means there are too many Dragons there."

Draco nodded.

"The range is about 200 to 300 meters. Anything beyond that would be too vague to be properly estimated," She concluded with a sigh, closing the lid with a snap. "Any questions?"

"None at all…" He shook his head and stared at her with dumbfoundedness.

'So it wasn't actually a compass, but something far more impressive—a precious invention never before seen in the Southern Territory.' 

To say he was stunned would be an understatement.

Once again, Zara had outdone herself.

"This is an amazing item. Imagine mass-producing it! It could save so many Dragon Hunters a lot of trouble, and it would bring a lot of yield in expeditions!" Draco beamed with immeasurable delight. "Zara, this could save so many lives…"

"Really?"

"Yes! It's amazing! You're amazing!" 

Zara giggled as she heard this, slowly nodding at his words. She remembered Draco saying a similar thing when she showed him her invention of the Divining Spears just a few years ago. Before then, no one thought of using Divining Metal for detecting Dragons and only used it for deciphering omens and divining.

The greatest practical innovation for Diving Metal arose when it was used as an ingredient in generating fuel for torches and lanterns, allowing the flames to turn bright purple when Dragons were nearby.

Dragon Hunters and even Civilians used these for their activities, especially at night.

It served as an early warning system for the Spawns of Evil.

But… It was Zara who displayed an impressive use of the metal, offering a simple yet functional use for it by introducing the Divining Spears. Not only could it be used to attack, it also glowed bright and pointed out the directions of the Dragons.

This contribution earned her family great honor, which was also why the Norrins were living in relative luxury. 

If Zara publicized her recent findings to the higher-ups, not only would she possess even greater honor, but she would also be swimming in a lot of money. That was, of course, not the reason Zara did any of these things.

However, merely thinking about how much money she could make would cause any ordinary man to faint.

After all… this Dragon Detection Compass was a far greater invention than Divining Spears.