Enigma of Sin

The group of three soon arrived at a small cottage that was hidden deep inside of the forest, and its small size compared to the massive trees only helped to hide it inside the dense forest.

Walking inside of the small cottage, Kayn was greatly astonished. The inside was several times larger than how it appeared from the outside. Honestly, the inside resembled the mansion he used to live in with his family as there was a main reception area that branched off into several different hallways, rooms, and even a large staircase.

Seeing the bewilderment on Kayn's face, Yvaris couldn't help but chuckle a little. "The inside of this home was created with a special spatial expansion magic. I can even make this home the size of a small rock and stash it inside of my dimensional ring. It's honestly quite the marvel."

"It is quite an eye opener that something like this is a possibility." Kayn agreed without much thought while still looking around here and there.

From what Kayn could see, the decorations were simple, but each room they passed through or by had a purpose. He was even able to see inside of a massive library that must have contained thousands upon thousands of books.

After arriving at an intricately carved wooden table, Yvaris asked Kayn to wait a bit and proceeded to enter into the kitchen in order to prepare some food. Lara was fast asleep in his embrace so he too closed his eyes in order to rest a little bit after the short but intense fight he just had.

Before Kayn knew it, several plates of food were placed on the table with an empty one in front of him. Yvaris also sat down across the table and placed down his own empty plate before gesturing at the food and serving himself some.

Kayn was honestly a bit surprised at the amount of food that Yvaris had prepared, but thinking about it, wasn't he a massive dragon? It only made sense that he ate a lot too, not to mention how hungry Kayn himself felt.

"I have many questions to ask you young Kayn, but first eat up. We can settle our other matters after you have filled your stomach and are feeling a bit more comfortable." Yvaris stated without much encore and started to eat as well.

Kayn nodded his head and didn't turn down the meal that was placed before him, and not long after all of the dishes on the table were swept clean of food. Kayn helped Yvaris take the dishes to the kitchen before also helping to clean.

The two dragons then sat down on soft couches and Kayn laid his sister down next to him. She was still fast asleep. This worried Kayn a little bit, but she looked incredibly peaceful in her sleep, so he let her be.

"So, tell me everything. From beginning to end about what happened the Obsidian Void Dragon clan and your own circumstances, leave nothing out please." Yvaris Earthborn started the conversation out with his request.

And so, Kayn proceeded to tell his story. He started with what he knew about the demise of the Obsidian Void Dragon clan before talking about his mother and the information she had passed on to him.

Kayn then told Yvaris about how he ended up in the Great Forest and where he was heading. He didn't mention anything about his elements or talents though as he didn't want to reveal too much about himself if he didn't have to.

Yvaris was honestly astonished that Kayn was able to live through all of that, especially the escape to the Great Forest. Not to mention the fact that an infant was able to live through that too. He could imagine the struggles this young dragon had gone through in the last half a year.

After making a pondering face and sitting in silence for a while, Yvaris asked something he found odd about Kayn's travels, "If you left almost a month ago from the east, how are you not out of the forest yet? Have you not been traveling by forest lizard or flying?"

Kayn's head drooped as this question made it seem like even a massive dragon like Yvaris could ride a mount if he wanted. "I'm afraid that my weight when I'm on a living being would crush it or slow it down too much. I don't even understand how the whole thing works. I can lay in a wooden bed just fine, but if I try and get on a horse, I feel like I'm going to crush it."

"Hahaha! So that was it huh? In truth, I've been alive for over a million and a half years but I still don't understand how it works. It's just a universal law I guess, but large mythical beasts who can shapeshift into a humanoid form retain their weight.

"Somehow, we can walk around and interact with normal objects without affecting them, but as soon as we try and sit on another living creature, all of our weight bears down upon them. Truly a fascinating mystery."

Yvaris Earthborn continued to chuckle jovially at Kayn's predicament. "Generally, at least those born of a dragon clan, will receive an accessory when they form their core. This accessory is enchanted with a specific gravity array that has been used for generations amongst mythical beasts. Surely your mother gave you something seeing as she was a princess of the Obsidian Void clan."

Kayn thought to himself for a few minutes before remembering the ring that he always wore on his right index finger. Lifting his hand to show Yvaris the ring, he spoke "She gave me this ring around that time, but she said it was to conceal my aura as an Obsidian Void Dragon. It also expands as I grow, so it's very convenient."

"Hmmmm, may I see that ring for a moment? You don't need to worry about your aura being discovered, this cottage is enchanted to conceal everything happening inside of it."

Knowing that his aura wouldn't be found out by anyone since he still wasn't aware of how that specific part of his aura could be controlled, he took the ring off and handed it over to Yvaris.

Yvaris stared at the ring for a bit before turning it this way and that. His eyes turned into thin slits and glowed slightly as he looked intensely at the plain black ring for a few minutes. As his eyes reverted back to normal, a confused expression formed on his face.

"Indeed, this ring is quite complex. It has been enchanted to conceal the specific aura that Obsidian Void Dragons have as well as the accommodation feature to adjust size. The odd thing is, it definitely also has the gravity array enchanted on it, so by all means it should work for you.

"Typically, the parents will infuse the arrays with their own elements to ensure that the ring will match the wearer since children will often follow in their parents' footsteps elemental aptitude wise. This ring specifically used dark and fire elements to activate the arrays.

"Usually only one element of the wearer is required work successfully. As an example, if you have dark and fire elements as your aptitude, only the dark element or the fire element would have needed to be used. The only time at least two are required is when the child bears three affinities.

"By chance, do you have three affinities that do not align with either fire or dark?" Yvaris Earthborn was truly inquisitive about this as the array enchantment was perfect. Kayn should weigh as a normal human would for his size while wearing the ring.

Yvaris had already noticed Kayn's dark element, and he most likely had a fire aptitude since he used lightning, even if the lightning was a little odd. But even then that shouldn't make a difference since the ring was both fire and dark enchanted.

Yvaris Earthborn watched Kayn carefully as the young dragon suddenly sighed and lifted his hand, palm up. The next moment, Yvaris's jaw almost hit the floor as above Kayn's hand, six elements were floating in small balls, one above each finger with the last above the center of the palm.

"H-How?" was all Yvaris could mutter out while his eyes remained fixed on Kayn's hand in fascination.

"Didn't I already tell you that I'm a bit special? I can use all of the base elements and I'm proficient in a few deviation elements, but I'm still working on and discovering more of them as I go.

"I still don't have control over the void element, but I have figured out how to successfully fuse it with both fire and lightning. The bolt that strayed and hit you was one of those."

Yvaris suddenly brought his hand to his chin and tilted his head down in contemplation. "No wonder, no wonder. There's no way a 3rd stage lightning bolt could so much poke me normally, but if it was a fusion of lightning and void…it also makes sense why the gravity array enchantment doesn't work."

After another few moments with the old dragon mumbling to himself and Kayn sitting in silence, an offer was made.

"I'll rewrite the array within your ring and have you imbue your mana into it, that should solve your weight problem and make traveling easier. However, you must provide me with something equal to my services or let me study your mana and body, I promise I won't do anything intrusive."

Kayn thought about it for a bit, but he honestly really didn't want the old dragon studying his body. With his creation of the Demonic Dragon Heart, he thought he would definitely be turned into an experiment even with how kind and honest Yvaris Earthborn came off as.

"May I ask a question before I agree or reject your offer?" Kayn asked and he received a nod in affirmation.

"Why have you not ascended yet? I don't mean to be rude, but you mentioned you're over one and a half million years old, surely you could have ascended long ago. The only reason Obsidian Void dragons got to that age in this realm is because they refused to ascend. Did you receive an injury that stunted your growth?"

Kayn knew it might be a sensitive topic, but he wanted to ask. Maybe if he exchanged services, he would be able to be able to get what he needed without his body being examined. And as expected, Yvaris Earthborn's face became stiff and had a slight frown.

"When I was in my first quarter of life, I made a mistake during battle and almost had my core shattered. Since then, it has been extremely difficult to progress through the stages regardless of what I do. I've been examined and had several spells cast in order to alleviate this by healers at or near the 6th stage multiple times, but they always end in failure. Does that answer your question?"

Kayn nodded and remained silent for a few moments, pondering on how he should approach this subject before deciding to be straightforward.

"Elder Earthborn, how about we trade like this; I will do my best to heal your old injury and you will fix my ring. How about it?"

"Don't joke around with me child. As I said, not even the 6th stage experts who have been alive for millions of years were able to heal me. Do you expect me to believe a child who is barely wet behind the ears can do what they couldn't? Not to mention, even if you can use all six elements as a base, it seems fairly obvious that you've honed dark and fire for battle rather than any of the others."

Yvaris Earthborn's face was not happy. His old injury was his sore spot and anyone who gave him false hope wouldn't be treated kindly.

"It may not seem like it, but my main profession is actually as a healer. I've been learning the arts of healing since I was very young and I can even regenerate limbs at my current stage, albeit not instantly or very quickly. But I assure you I can try my best to figure out your situation. I won't attempt anything without thorough investigation and running multiple simulations."

"A healer huh? What do you mean by simulations? It's not possible to attempt healing me without actually trying."

"Well, as I said, I've honed my craft quite a bit in my short life. I will use my diagnostic spell to intricately map every part of your body and mana system before using a self-made spell to visualize and tweak the process of healing in front of my eyes before I attempt anything with your actual body. I expect I would be able to tell you if it is possible within a few days if you'd allow for me to examine you."

Kayn's confidence began to flow out of control as he always became passionate when it came to anything dealing with healing and exploring new cases. He was like a child being presented a new toy.

"Ha, I like your confidence kid. Fine, I'll give you a week to examine me and see if you can come up with a solution. Hell, if you can heal my injury that even the top healers in this world couldn't cure, I will pass the ownership of this cottage to you.

"I'll even include the library and part of what is stored in the treasury! However, I will watch the entire process while you examine me and create your simulations as I always welcome new knowledge."

Yvaris Earthborn was laughing inside. There was no way this child could actually heal him, which was why he was daring enough to offer up the cottage he had been using for half of his life now.

Also, he didn't mind letting the naïve kid try as he would be able to witness something new and see how someone with an aptitude for all six elements utilized them.