The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] - Chapter 265

Chapter 265: The Basics
The disparity was clear.

Especially when the sage golden dragonling decided to stand on the table on his stubby little legs, chest puffed out, tail stiff with importance, and asked a question that instantly shifted the entire atmosphere of the room.

Despite the fact that he barely reached up to anyone’s waist, Orien Vathros looked every bit like a teacher taking command of his class.

“So,” the baby dragon said seriously, golden eyes sharp as he looked down at them, “what does mana feel like to you?”

The room froze.

Riley blinked.

Once.

Then again.

Well, he had prepared to hear a different take. Maybe a little trial and error here and there.

He just didn’t think he’d be hit with a question like that off the bat.

Even Thyrran reacted to that. The guardian snake lifted his head and slowly slithered closer, eyes narrowing with interest as if that single question had piqued his interest.

Riley opened his mouth, then closed it, trying to figure out the answer to a supposedly simple question.

Liam, sitting beside him, hesitated only for a second before raising his hand like he always did, earnest and polite even in the face of destiny.

“Lord Orien,” Liam asked carefully, “what do you mean by what does it feel like?”

Orien huffed, crossing his tiny arms.

“Clearly nothing is working for both of you,” he said flatly, “because you’re not tapping into mana at all.”

“Huh?” Riley said.

“What do you mean?” Liam echoed.

The dragonling looked at them like they had just admitted to trying to read with their eyes closed.

“The fact that you can’t tell me what mana feels like means you don’t actually know what mana is like,” Orien said. “And if you don’t know that, then you probably haven’t been tapping into it since you started learning.”

“But Auntie,” the dragonling continued, lifting one tiny claw in emphasis, “you have definitely used mana before. Even if it was Uncle’s mana, you still used it to make fire.”

“The only difference,” Orien went on, pacing once on his stubby legs, “is that Uncle has so much mana, and you have that sigil acting as an anchor, that you didn’t need to trace it. You already knew exactly where it was coming from.”

The words landed with precision.

“However,” Orien added, fixing Riley with an unwavering stare, “you’ve turned into a dragon before, too. Even if you were so small I could barely see you.”

Riley winced internally.

“And clearly,” the dragonling concluded, nodding to himself, “you had to rely on the mana in your own body to do that.”

Riley sat there in stunned silence.

He felt mildly attacked.

Okay.

Definitely attacked.

The baby dragon who was on a roll turned his head toward Liam next.

“But in the little sprite’s case,” he continued, nodding sagely, “Mrs. Hale has been teaching you how to try to detect mana, right?”

Liam nodded eagerly.

Then his expression wobbled.

His shoulders drooped just a little as he admitted, very softly, that he had not really succeeded.

Orien tilted his head, studying him.

“You’re probably failing because you’re looking for something without knowing what you’re looking for,” he said matter-of-factly.

Liam blinked.

The dragonling continued, completely unaware of how adorable he looked standing there like a tiny professor.

“Like when they first told you that you were a drake,” Orien said. “You didn’t know what a drake really was, so you couldn’t imagine what you could be like. Mana is probably the same. You can’t find something if you don’t even know what it feels like.”

Safe to say, the golden dragonling had understood that because he too had no idea what a drake even was but he wasn’t about to admit to that right away.

At least he had an idea of the issue.

The room went quiet.

Riley felt something shift or maybe it was how he was starting to see why such a problem would be relevant.

Orien straightened again, clearly satisfied that everyone was listening properly now.

“When I started out,” the dragonling said, voice steady, “mana felt hot.”

Everyone leaned in.

“A specific kind of heat would move through my body,” Orien continued. “So when I try to use mana, I gather that heat in one place until there’s enough of it to do whatever I want to do.”

Liam’s eyes widened as he listened with rapt attention.

Riley on the other hand, had to straighten his back because if it were just heat, then he should really have experience.

“When it’s foreign mana,” Orien added, lifting one claw as if listing facts, “it feels like an electric shock. And when it’s mana from the environment, it feels cold to me.”

There was a strangled gasp.

“!!!”

Riley stared at the baby dragon.

Thyrran slowly lowered his head in something that looked suspiciously like approval.

Liam raised his hand again, sitting up straighter on his seat, eyes bright with determination.

“Lord Orien,” he asked carefully, “how do we know what mana should feel like for us?”

The baby dragonling stopped pacing.

He turned toward them with an air of languid ease, tail flicking once as if the answer were obvious.

“Easy,” Orien said. “You just have to be exposed to it first.”

“?”

Riley and Liam both stared at him.

“As humans, you didn’t subconsciously learn how to weave around mana,” Orien continued. “Magical beings do. And as you know, magical beings don’t really like being around each other that much precisely because of that.”

He crossed his stubby arms, face scrunching in clear irritation.

“Because those who can’t control their mana just spread it around annoyingly.”

He huffed.

“So there’s always that element of being sensitive to mana when you’re out and about,” Orien said. “You’re constantly aware of it.”

“But I don’t think humans have that issue,” he added after a moment. “Because even if you wanted to, you can’t really feel the difference.”

Liam frowned.

“But that doesn’t mean you don’t watch out for it,” Orien went on. “Like how Auntie knew when those wrinkly fish were going to attack.”

“Because there were signs,” he said matter-of-factly. “He was probably watching out for them.”

“Mana is basically like that,” Orien explained. “There’s a feel. Or a signature. Something that lingers. It’s easier to notice when it’s alone, and harder when there are a lot of different kinds hovering all over the place.”

“Ah. It’s like that sacred place that had a lot of different scents mixing all together. But once you know what a snack smells like then you’d be able to find it again!”

“!!!”

Something clicked.

Riley’s eyes widened slightly as a memory surfaced.

There had been one time when detecting mana hadn’t been difficult at all. At that moment, he hadn’t thought much of it. It had felt natural. Instinctive. And only now did he realize that he had never been able to replicate it since.

He slowly raised a hand.

“Lord Orien,” Riley said, voice steady but intent, “give me a moment. I think I have something that might help with this.”

Then he was gone.

Riley bolted out of the room, already searching for his clan’s gift.

If he just needed to be exposed, then what better way to do it?