Derivan was surprised by the enormous blue dragon standing before him.
"What is it, did the sight of me leave you speechless? I shouldn't be surprised."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Ragon, and I am a legendary dragon."
"I'm Derivan, and I came here…"
"You don't have to say anything. I know why you came here. Ronibo probably brought you."
Derivan tilted his head to the side.
"You know him?"
"Of course. He was the last person who trained here."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
The dragon revealed an entrance, exposing a chamber filled with blue fire.
"Wow, blue fire. I've never seen anything like it before."
"If you want to begin your training, step into those flames."
Derivan looked at Ragon in disbelief.
"You can't be serious. You want me to burn to death!"
"If your heart is pure, the fire will do nothing to you."
For a moment, the teenager looked uncertainly at the dragon. In the end, he decided to try.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Yashimiro first placed one finger into the fire. To his surprise, it didn't burn him.
"Strange… it doesn't burn at all," he thought, pushing his hand deeper into the flames.
Finally, he decided to jump in completely. Derivan was astonished he was inside the blue flames and felt absolutely nothing.
"Amazing."
"To learn the Dragon Manifestation, you must absorb the energy of these flames."
"I understand."
Derivan sat down in a meditation position and tried to absorb the energy from the flames.
At the same time, in the Kingdom of Kasegi, Tomar was sitting on the king's throne.
"Everything is going according to my plan."
Suddenly, Karona entered his chamber.
"Honorable Borner, I've heard rumors that that boy Derivan is traveling with Ronibo. He is probably training him."
Tomar scratched his beard.
"If that's true, they could interfere with my plans in the future."
"What do you intend to do?"
"I have an idea. Try to find some traces of that brat's DNA in his old apartment and bring them to me."
"As you wish, Honorable Borner."
After Karona left, Tomar looked out the window, pondering the situation.
"Damn it… I should imprison that brat or kill him."
After about two hours, the team hired by Karona managed to find traces of Derivan's DNA. Tomar smiled and immediately went to the laboratory to conduct experiments.
Half a year had passed since Derivan entered the Dragon Temple. Ronibo was now standing in front of the doors, patiently waiting for his student, who was about to come out. Soon, the doors began to open, and Derivan stepped out.
"Judging by your condition, you managed to master the Dragon Manifestation?" Ronibo stated rather than asked.
"You bet."
Ronibo smiled, hearing Yashimiro's enthusiasm.
"Alright then. Let's have a short sparring match and see how well you've mastered it," he announced, activating his own Dragon Manifestation.
Derivan smiled and activated his as well. His body was surrounded by a blue aura, blue dragon scales appeared on his cheeks, and his pupils turned blue. His hair began to rise, then transformed into blue flames. Ronibo was deeply impressed by the progress Derivan had made.
"Unbelievable."
"What's wrong?"
"You've mastered the Dragon Manifestation to a higher degree than I have."
"So what do you say want to test it?"
"Sure."
Derivan and Ronibo vanished, leaving behind only blue flames. A second later, they collided with their fists, causing a powerful shockwave. They then began exchanging blows. When Ronibo tried to attack his student, Yashimiro dodged the strike and attempted a counterattack. The moment he hit Ronibo, the man dissolved into thin air.
"Afterimage."
Moments later, Ronibo appeared behind Derivan and struck him in the back, knocking him to the ground. The teenager then returned to his normal form.
"It seems that despite mastering the Dragon Manifestation to a level close to perfection, you still can't maintain that state for very long" Ronibo concluded.
"I know. I still have a lot of work ahead of me."
Tomar came to the laboratory to check on the progress of the experiment.
"Any problems?"
"None."
"When will he be ready?"
"At the earliest, in a year," Karona replied.
"That's too long. Isn't there any way to speed up the process?"
"There is, but it's highly likely the experiment will have side effects."
"I'll take the risk, he said, then returned to his royal hall."
"If that boy truly is Shonetsu, he could become a serious problem in the future. I must eliminate him as soon as possible."
Tomar's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. The King of Kasegi allowed the visitor to enter.
"What brings you to me, Namore?"
"I've heard rumors that in Dedho, Harry has taken the throne again, the man said, surprising the king."
"What? How is that possible? And what about Idejak?"
"He's probably dead."
Tomar clenched his fists upon hearing this.
"Who could have done this? Find out who killed Idejak."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The King of Kasegi looked out the window with a somber expression.
"Why, Idejak…"
It was late evening. Derivan was training intensely in some wasteland.
"Alright, once more," the teenager said, concentrating his choki in his hand.
Moments later, Derivan formed an energy sphere in his palm, intending to shape it further, but suddenly the sphere vanished.
"Damn it, another failure."
Suddenly, Ronibo approached him.
"You're still training? You should get some rest."
"No. I'll rest only when I lose consciousness or my body refuses to obey me."
"You've changed a bit since entering the temple. Tell me, what are you doing?"
"I want to create a new technique of my own, but I can't pull it off."
Ronibo scratched his beard, thinking about how he could help his student.
"Try doing what you did earlier."
Derivan raised an eyebrow but did as his master asked. This time, when he formed the energy sphere again, it exploded, throwing him several meters backward. Ronibo noticed burns on both of the teenager's hands and concluded that he had been attempting this for quite some time.
"You're trying to manipulate the shape of your choki, but that requires precise control. If you use too little, the technique will fail; if you use too much, it will explode," Ronibo explained.
"I've noticed, but controlling choki is incredibly difficult."
"Take it easy. It took me over half a year to learn how to control my choki."
"I'll do it sooner or later," Derivan said, returning to his training.