Under Alia's bright, eager stare, Gauss decided not to keep her in suspense any longer.
"Relax. Don't resist."
"Okay."
As he spoke, he let out a short, powerful syllable in an unfamiliar, meaningless tongue. A surge of potent magic rippled out from around him.
"Wmm…"
Gauss cast Comprehend Language—but this time, through Draconic.
The magic slowly spread over Alia in front of him.
She'd been full of anticipation and had already braced herself mentally, but she hadn't expected the "support spell" from Gauss to hit this fast and this hard.
It was like a sudden summer gale ripping through a sweltering afternoon—she felt instantly clear-headed and refreshed.
"Huh?!!"
Her mind went icy cool, as if soaking in some crisp, cooling liquid. Her whole body felt light, her thoughts flooding forth like a spring.
"Take a look at the skillbook you're learning."
Gauss spoke calmly to the side.
Hearing that, Alia lowered her head.
She'd already flipped through Moonlight Glow when she first got it.
At the time, she'd thought: it wasn't impossibly dense, but it definitely wasn't simple either.
After all, it was a Level 2 spell, not a cantrip or a Level 1 spell.
The higher the level, the harder it was to learn—especially in the beginning, where you had to pour tons of time into parsing the annotations and internalizing the model.
But now, in this peculiar mental state, she suddenly felt the knowledge before her become much simpler.
It was like waking up one morning to find that the difficulty of all magic in the world had dropped a hundredfold overnight—and only her own talent had stayed the same.
Watching the changing expression on her face, Gauss knew his spell had landed.
As he'd suspected, Draconic-boosted Comprehend Language had grown far beyond its original "let you read strange texts" effect.
There was a new, special layer—a magical insight-buff that temporarily improved and "unlocked" the target's capacity to think.
In Gauss' mind, the spell had become more of a catalyst.
It wouldn't let someone do things outside their true capabilities—like learning high level spells above their level. A Level 1 caster wasn't suddenly going to pick up 3rd, 5th, or Level 9 magic.
What it could do was shorten the process when the person already had the potential to learn a given spell. Something that should've taken one or two weeks could now be compressed into a few days… maybe even one or two.
Seeing Alia completely absorbed in Moonlight Glow, Gauss didn't interrupt her.
He quietly stepped away from her side.
He didn't play favorites. One after another, he put the same "Gauss Enlightenment Technique" buff on each of his teammates.
Finally, Gauss led Hephaestus to an open patch of ground a little ways away from the others.
Hephaestus had probably guessed what Gauss wanted to do with him in this secluded spot—his dragon face was utterly miserable.
A dragon's life is suffering.
He really wasn't a studious dragon.
Or more accurately: whether it was true dragons, drake, or lesser dragonkin, there were very few diligent, bookish dragons. Most were lazy.
True dragons didn't need to work hard. Living was enough to grow stronger. Drake and dragonkin, no matter how they tried, would never catch up to a true dragon that had already won on spawn day. And even if they slacked off, they were still far beyond ordinary monsters.
So that laziness was etched into their blood, as deep as their overwhelming physical power.
"Class resumes."
Gauss had noticed his reluctance, but their relationship was still very much defined by him.
Hephaestus was just a juvenile dragon and truly had no idea about anything. He was greedy, playful, and loved to sleep—none of which was wrong by itself. But now that he was under Gauss' wing, as long as he was willing to try, he could become something greater. Gauss couldn't just leave his growth to chance.
He wasn't just any wild drake—he was the most likely drake in this world to become a true dragon… or even surpass one.
And his growth was not just about him. The stronger Hephaestus became, the more beneficial it would be for Gauss as well.
Gauss pressed his palm against Hephaestus' head.
Despite the sullen look, Hephaestus obediently lay down in front of Gauss, eyes half-lidded.
Soon, that strange hum began to ring in its ears again.
Gauss started by teaching the most basic elemental sound-roots.
He could sense that there was free-floating magic inside Hephaestus.
Normally, that magic only reacted during his breath weapon—naturally melding with the flames mid-exhale, turning regular fire into a magic-tinged dragonflame.
And ever since joining Gauss' party, even though Hephaestus' brute strength had been suppressed by the golden chains, Gauss could feel his mana steadily increasing.
His physical talent had been temporarily shackled, yes—but his magical potential had only grown.
Gauss didn't know whether this was by the white egg's design or a happy accident, but this "limiter" was actually very good for teaching magic.
Like how one sense sharpening when another is lost.
For Hephaestus, relying solely on brute force had been both a gift and a cage.
With a dim brain and overwhelming physical power, he'd never had a reason to seek out any other possibilities.
But now, that invisible shackle had loosened.
The golden chains, the quietly growing mana, his still-developing body, Gauss' mid-tier Draconic, and the subtle mental link between them…
Right now was the best possible time to guide him onto the true path of the dragons.
"Hmmm…"
After layering a Draconic "inspiration buff" on Hephaestus, Gauss began speaking in Draconic.
He didn't use anything complex, just a simple, fundamental syllable that, in Draconic, carried the meaning of "fire," "heat," and "gather."
He picked it precisely to lower the learning difficulty for Hephaestus.
Their thoughts resonated together along that powerful Draconic sound.
Hephaestus' body gave a tiny shudder.
It kind of understood, and also kind of didn't.
But it did feel the air around it change, and its blood run a bit hotter.
"Rrroar~"
It tried imitating the sound, but the pronunciation was off by a galaxy and a half.
Gauss saw it fail, but didn't look disappointed in the slightest—even though that sound was as basic as it got for him.
He'd already mentally prepared himself.
Drake was bad at Draconic and couldn't cast magic for a reason. Even given their lack of inherited knowledge and teachers, there were clearly objective difficulties too.
No talent? Then repeat.
Gauss also used this as extra Draconic practice for himself.
Time slid by unnoticed.
Gauss swallowed, his mouth dry and tongue faintly numb, like he really was on the verge of breathing fire.
"Whooo—"
He exhaled a long breath and rubbed his cheeks.
He wasn't sure how much Hephaestus had improved, but his gains were obvious.
Summoning raw elemental fire felt much easier now—almost at the "comes when called" level.
Even if he lost all his mana, he could still use Draconic alone to wield a bit of supernatural power.
He could sense that using Draconic to summon flame was also subtly deepening his connection to fire element magic overall.
Good news for all his fire-based spells and cantrips.
So… if the teacher had gained this much, what about the student?
He looked toward a very wilted Hephaestus.
The dragon had failed time and again—always just a hair short.
Gauss smiled faintly.
The journey from 0 to 1 was always longer than it looked.
He'd drilled Hephaestus over and over while the sun slowly set.
Just as he was thinking of taking the last sip from his waterskin and calling it a day, the air in front of him suddenly flared hot.
A ball of fire coalesced in front of Hephaestus and surged toward him.
"…?"
He did it?
Gauss blinked in surprise.
His hands moved reflexively, conjuring a defensive field and sweeping it aside.
"Hephaestus, is this a coup?" he laughed, shaking his hand.
Hephaestus coughed a couple of times, turning his head away.
Gauss strongly suspected the dragon had done it on purpose just to see him flustered, but he had no proof.
"I'll let it slide this time."
He rapped his knuckles lightly against Hephaestus' skull.
Still—this counted as Hephaestus successfully producing true, self-generated flame via Draconic, as rough as it was. A qualitative leap.
Since it was a good thing, he decided not to dwell on the fact that the fireball had come flying at him.
"See? You can do it."
He gave the dragon's head a firm pat, laughing.
He'd been prepared to grind at this for days or even weeks, and Hephaestus had actually managed it on day one.
Maybe this guy really was a genius among drakes?
"Hephaestus, that's amazing! You're even smarter than I thought! You might be the smartest drake in the world!"
It might not be true magic yet, but the first step had been taken. And that first step was always the hardest. He believed that now Hephaestus could do it once, soon it would be able to do more.
He'd be the teacher who raised the first dragon-beast in history to truly cast spells!
Hephaestus tilted his head away, refusing to look at him—but the dragon kept sneaking side glances his way. It was obvious that, for all its pretending, it was pretty pleased with finally getting a Draconic syllable right.
In the corner of its vision, it saw Gauss laughing brightly, and through their mental link, it felt Gauss' genuine happiness.
This man really was proud of him.
He'd given it a name, scolded and encouraged it, and now patiently taught it Draconic…
For a moment, the young dragon dipped its head and fell into a strange, muddled emotion.
Maybe… maybe this wasn't such a bad life.
True despair was having no direction… or realizing that no matter how you tried, nothing ever changed. But if you could see yourself growing stronger—even a lazy dragon might start wanting to change.
The old "eat, sleep, eat, sleep" lay-flat life had been comfortable, but deep down, he'd always felt uneasy.
True dragons ruled the world only once they were grown. He, on the other hand, was just a juvenile drake exiled to a mine—he had no such confidence.
After Gauss' one-sided beatdown and the seal on his strength, he'd sunk into depression. For days he'd just lay in the spatial bag, too humiliated to move, hardly even wanting to eat.
He was a dragon—this proud.
Thankfully, when that human who'd defeated him came back into his life, he hadn't humiliated him further.
Overbearing, sure—but everything he'd done since had been for Hephaestus' benefit.
Drakes weren't smart, but even Hephaestus could tell friend from foe.
That was why, when Gauss asked him to do things he didn't like, he still obeyed.
Now, in the sunset glow, he watched Gauss' bright laugh blur at the edges. Through the hazy light and that faint mental resonance, he saw the man more like a gentle dragon, resting a claw on his head.
Something tight in Hephaestus' chest quietly loosened.
The knot that had been stuck there finally uncoiled.
He truly was the most special dragon-beast in the world.
"Again, let's try it one more time," Gauss said, riding the moment. He wanted Hephaestus to capitalize on this breakthrough and fix the sound firmly in memory.
Hephaestus tried a few more times.
Under Gauss' gaze, his throat finally vibrated with that strange resonance once again.
"Fire!"
In Gauss' ears, it was a still-clumsy, childlike Draconic syllable—like a toddler babbling its first word.
As the sound squeezed out…
A small, more stable, orange-red flame bloomed in front of Gauss, hanging in midair for a moment before plopping down onto the ground.
He did it. Again.
Hephaestus repeated it several more times, excited now.
Some attempts failed, some succeeded—but his success rate was clearly climbing.
Once Gauss was sure the dragon had it, he waved him off.
"That's enough."
He scrubbed his knuckles through Hephaestus' head-spikes again.
Not far away, the others had paused their own drills at some point and were watching. Their faces were filled with surprise and joy.
It really was a big deal.
They knew just how meaningful it was for Hephaestus to grasp his first Draconic word.
And yet, for some reason, even though this was something that could shake the world if anyone else found out, they didn't feel as shocked as they should've been.
Thinking it over, maybe this was just the natural effect of Gauss' presence.
Miracles always seemed to happen around him.