Emery

Before Vale and the others gathered everyone in the largest of the side rooms, Emery and Avuri both made a detour back to the table that had been set up for lunch. While the meal had been simple, just some fried rice with veggies, pork, and chicken, the food was incredibly enticing now that their nerves had calmed significantly.

The two women had piled bowls high with the food at first, but quickly ate through the mound of food, leaving a more normal amount of food in the bowls in short order. By the time Vale was asking them to come into the other room again, they had respectable portions that were actually contained by their bowls.

Vale sighed in the way a parent does when their child does something mildly embarrassing upon seeing them enter the room with the food. He didn't actually say anything, but the raised eyebrow of judgment was enough for Emery to get the message.

She just shrugged though, and sat on one of the cushions that had been formed into a circle. Avuri sat beside her, with Kord on Avuri's far side. The dragons formed a semi-circle on the other. Everyone was seated comfortably, legs crossed in an easy meditation pose before their 'lesson' began.

Vale was seated in the middle and spoke first. "You all know the basics of how the Bond works, I assume. We've gone over the more mundane aspects of it often enough in training. But we've left most of the nuance out of the conversation because it would be difficult to grasp without being able to see it or feel it for yourselves. And Emery, before you say anything, I promise you - there are no tricks here, or drawbacks we hid from you."

Emery had been about to complain about exactly that, but sat back on her haunches for the moment, her objection quelled. She did trust her father, and even the potential complaint had been more of a reactive one. She was not a fan of bait and switch tactics.

"To begin, let's go over the basics one quick time. Kord, if you don't mind, can you explain what you know about the Bond so far?"

Kord blinked, surprised to be the one asked. But Emery saw the logic in it - asking the youngest one in the room would presumably give them the baseline to work from.

"Right," the boy began, "Well, on its most basic level, the Bond is basically a way for us, the human Cultivators, to borrow and use the strength of the dragon Bonded with us. That included access to the dragon's Qi in high quantities, but also a physical enhancement gifted through the Bond as well. Taking the dragon's aspect can also alter our bodies to match their newfound strength under various circumstances."

Vale nodded, then turned to Emery. "Care to add to that, Em?"

"The body strengthening works on the same premise as the Breakthroughs, in some ways. For example," she motioned to Kord, "when one breaks through to the Sky Realm, Qi suffuses the body, pushes out all sorts of impurities, and strengthens the body in the process. The Bond does a similar job utilizing the dragon's Qi."

"That's not quite right, Em. While it is functionally similar to that, the Dragon-Kin Bond doesn't utilize the dragon's Qi for that."

"It's whatever that last bit of power that was added at the end of the ceremony is." Avuri said, sounded quite sure. "Whatever that final piece was also gave my body the final bit of control over the Qi, too. Made it actually mine to control."

"Yes. You all have some knowledge of the way dragon scales work now, and the way they retain extra properties and strength when gifted freely. Similarly, the Dragon-Kin Bond uses a similar effect, but with a much more potent material - then adds an actual technique on top. I believe we mentioned it at least once -"

"It's blood." Emery said. "That's what that last bit of power was, wasn't it. Your blood."

Vale nodded. "Yes, the technique creates the Bond using some of our blood as a medium. Combined with the technique used during the ceremony and the way the gift is given, you are granted command over the well of Qi we give you, as well as the body-strengthening elixir of dragonblood."

Emery had heard it mentioned in technique manuals and legends alike that dragonblood was a material with uses that was borderline magic. Similarly to scales taken from a dragon's corpse, dragonblood from a dead dragon was useful in crafting elixirs, pills, and even in smithing work. But it was not unusually potent when compared to other beastly materials.

Living dragonblood was different. It was one of the things that made dragon-crafted items so sought after, as it was often used in their creation. The effects were far and away above what most beastly materials could produce. And while dragons would often use their own blood when creating things, dragon-made items were so rare that each one was basically a legend in its own right.

"So, we each have a bit of dragonblood in our cores now?" Kord asked.

"Yes. And using that dragonblood to further alter your bodies is the next step of using the Bond." Vale nodded.

"We warned you before this whole training started that you may see physical changes. And I imagine you have noticed that beyond the Mark, not one of you is exhibiting any meaningful change." Lyn added.

"So they could still happen." Emery said flatly.

"Oh, they certainly will happen, yes." Lyn answered.

"Sorry, but could you explain the Marks?" Avuri asked. "I don't know that we were ever told of their function beyond being a medium for the ceremony itself."

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"Of course." Ray said, taking the question. "There's a few components to the Mark as it included multiple techniques within it. As you know, it was used as the medium to transfer the dragonblood to you. That is the main and most important function, as it includes a technique that makes the dragonblood gifted to you a long-lasting elixir rather than a one-time consumable. Furthermore, we are able to interact with the Mark to gift you more dragonblood should we desire to do so."

"In addition, it acts as a link between us. It's nowhere near the same level of connection that you have with Emery, for example, but you should be able to 'tug' on the Mark with your Qi if you're in trouble. The dragon on the other end of your Bond can feel that tug and send you more Qi through the link. It's a useful technique, but not one you're likely to use much."

"It's also a clear signpost to other dragons that you're a Dragon-Kin. Those Marks carry some measure of our Qi in them as a signature as well, so it's unlikely most dragons would get involved with you unless they have a direct issue with us."

"Like Aysol."

"Unfortunately, yes." Ray nodded. "One of the reasons we didn't have an issue offering you the Bond under these circumstances is that your family is already somewhat associated with us and in danger. We believed that the extra power gifted through the Bond was worth it as you were already sort of 'marked' already."

"Right." Avuri muttered, clearly thinking about something. Being unable to tell what irked Emery a little, as she was still waiting for the goahead to reconnect with her wife.

"Ultimately, it's unlikely that it will ever come up with you living here in the Peaks." Ray said. "But, if you're concerned about it, the Mark is able to be hidden visually as well as have the Qi embedded in it suppressed. We'll teach you the techniques you need to hide it - but while it's suppressed like that, you won't be able to connect to us for anything beyond the Bond already in your body."

"That makes sense." Kord said. "It still seems safer, then, to have it hidden most of the time."

"Typically, in the past, most Dragon-Kin would hide their Mark outside of dangerous battles, yes." Lyn confirmed. "There's no reason to show it off to others in normal life. But it can make for a strong tool under the right circumstances."

"Then, putting aside the matter of the Mark for now, can we get back to discussing how the training progresses from here?" Emery asked.

Vale chuckled. "Of course. As we were saying, the dragonblood we gifted to each of you is similar to many Cultivation elixirs. Typically, if a Cultivator wants to use an elixir, they drink the liquid, then meditate to draw the liquid into their body, then direct it to their meridians, and then to their core. Once it settles there, it's then processed by drawing the elixir through the meridians along your normal Qi routes, which allows the elixir to slowly work its way into the meridians while it flows through them."

"In practice, using the dragonblood will be similar with a few key differences. To begin with, dragonblood isn't just an elixir, it's more like a living piece of Qi. It will replenish itself over time as you use it, so long as you give it some time to recover. As there's no way for you to use it as a power source for techniques or the like, there's no real reason why you should ever consume it entirely."

"The other major difference is that while you do need to have it flow through your meridians, you'll also be guiding it out into your body. Because dragonblood is more of a physical enhancement than a spiritual one, simply cycling it through your meridians won't have a strong effect. It's channeling it into your body where you'll see the greater effects."

"And pushing it through our bodies is also what will eventually cause the associated physical changes." Avuri said.

"Yes." Lyn answered. "There is some correlation between your Cultivation technique and the changes that occur, but it's not exact. For example," Lyn turned to Kord, "Kord, with your technique so focused on physical enhancement as well as hand and feet armaments, it's very likely that you'll manifest scales on your extremities, and probably sharp claws."

Kord blinked in shock and Lyn lightly chuckled at the response. "As we said before, we'll teach you simple techniques to retain your natural bodies when at rest, so you needn't worry about suddenly having claws or weirdly shaped feet or anything like that. You'll be able to control them. And trust me when I say you'll probably find whatever changes manifest to be incredibly useful."

Kord was staring down at his hands, looking as though he was torn between worry and excitement. He flexed his fingers into a clawed shape on one hand and muttered, "If I had dragon claws and scales, I wonder if I'd even need my gauntlet technique anymore…?"

Ray snorted. "You probably would want to take your current technique and alter it to enhance the claws instead. That'd be easiest."

Kord's head snapped up to look at his trainer, a grin slowly overtaking his face. "I could get behind that."

Emery fought back a laugh. She remembered a time when Kord was first starting to train, and rather than the gauntlets he had eventually settled on, he had been trying to make functional claws. His command over the metal Qi in his system wasn't good enough to make them sharp enough or stable enough to be usable weapons. Once he came to that realization on his own, his first real technique was to make large, spherical bludgeons on his hands, and use them accordingly.

She suspected he was secretly happy to be able to revisit his original idea now, with a good reason to adjust his fighting style to match.

"As for the two of you," Lyn said, calling Emery's attention back as she addressed her and Avuri, "I'm not sure what might manifest for you. Wings and tails are rare, but possible. Smaller features like slitted pupils and scales are the most common. Or sharp teeth."

Emery glanced over at Vale who grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth. She made a face at him, hoping that she didn't get the teeth. She thought they were very unattractive.

"In any case, we'll need you to continue to visit for the next few days while we teach you how to use the dragonblood correctly. As for the Qi you each have been granted, you can treat that as your own. Emery, you'll have the toughest time with that, as you'll likely need an entirely new Cultivation technique to best use your combined types of Qi."

Emery nodded, but Lyn continued. "In addition, the two of you can utilize your Bonded Domains again. You should be back in balance - but be sure that while you're Cultivating together you do not pull on the dragonblood at all until we've taught you how to use it correctly. That goes for you, too, Kord."

Without even waiting to hear the rest of the sentence, Emery reached out to Avuri, who quickly interlocked her Domain with Emery's. The immediate sense of wholeness and comfort was like a splash of cool water on a hot day.

"Hey."

"Hi." Emery returned, and smiled at Avuri warmly.

"You'll all have your work cut out for you from here. But at least once we teach you some of the techniques you'll need, you'll be able to live at home again." Lyn smiled.

"Good." Emery said. "I think the kids are about ready to throttle us for being gone so much. And Ieji is no doubt looking to move on again."

"That's unfortunate," Avuri said, "I think the kids really like Ieji as an instructor."

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