Instructor?

  What did the dragon mean by that? And did it just call itself Vulcanus?

  Only the strongest of monsters have names. They were either named by humans who couldn’t defeat the monster or the monster named itself. Either method was not a good sign for humanity.

  Named dragons especially were known as natural disasters. Calamities that were to be avoided at all cost.

  Rowan felt like he had just escaped a tornado and entered a hurricane. Everything happening was just too much and too fast for him to process.

  “What did you mean by instructor?”

  “It seems that the human is duller than I thought,” the dragon, Vulcanus, said. “I meant exactly what I said. Instructor is one who teaches and I shall be teaching you.”

  “What did you mean ‘as requested by the tree’?”

  “Must I repeat myself? All my words are quite self explanatory. The World Tree has requested me to teach you ways to improve your weak human self.”

  “World Tree? Do you mean the Mother Tree?”

  “Mother Tree? Only the long ears use that term to describe the tree. There is an actual and proper name for the plant. That is the World Tree. Enough about the tree though, I shall explain later on if you wish to hear more. Follow me for now.” The dragon began walking deeper into the cavern and Rowan had no choice but to follow.

  Now that Rowan had a chance to examine the cave, he noticed how large it was. The cavern ceiling was so big that the dragon had no problem walking through.

  Not to mention the crystals.

  Every step Vulcanus took, crystals that seem to have grown out of the cavern walls would light up. For Vulcanus, each step was a simple walk, but Rowan had to run to keep up.

  “Human child, you have no idea how fortunate you are. To be taught by a dragon like me, few have had such honor. Kings and Emperors would bow and plead for my tutelage. One king in particular laid his entire kingdom for my teachings.”

  As the dragon talked, Rowan couldn't help but look around while letting the dragons bragging go in one ear and out the other. They had passed through a few other caverns while ignoring a few side passages. Rowan wondered where they led to. What did a dragon need so much space for?

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Was it for treasure?

  Treasure often accompanied dragons in fairy tales. While the thought was silly, it would explain the large amount of space.

  It almost made Rowan want to run in search of gold.

  Almost.

  Running off would be extremely foolish and he was sure that the dragon only had to release its breath to stop him.

  Finally they stopped where they were blocked by two massive doors.

  “Word of warning, tread carefully. One misstep and you shall find yourself burned beyond recognition.”

  Rowan shuddered at those words. What kind of place was he entering that the dragon had to warn him against? He had already entered the dragon’s lair, what could be more dangerous than that.”

  The double doors opened up revealing what was inside. As Rowan peered inside, what saw was…

  Books.

  Not just one or two books. No, they numbered in the thousands and were lined up on numerous bookshelves. The amount of books outnumbered the total amount of books Rowan had seen in his life. If anything there were more books here than he saw in the royal library in the capital. This room was larger than the cavern they had passed through and was illuminated by a large crystal in the ceiling.

  “Did you expect to learn in a dusty old cave? Education begins with location. What better place to learn in a library. However, heed my warning. Mishandle any books and world tree or not, you shall be burned so thoroughly that not even your soul remains. There are books here more valuable than anything you can imagine. Books so rare that they can no longer found. Do I make myself clear?”

  Rowan gulped and nodded.

  “Let us begin the lesson. Do you know why the tree requested me to teach you?”

  “...yes? Because I'm not being the best that I can?”

  “A reasonable answer and an understatement. The World Tree requested me to teach you to become stronger. While no fault of your own, you were left to discover your abilities by yourself. Tell me what your goal is?”

  “...to leave the Forest of Death.”

  “That is no easy feat. The Forest of Death as you humans call it, is filled with thousands of dangerous plants and animals. Do you know the reason why the species that dwell in the forest have become so?”

  Rowan shook his head.

  “The reason being why all the organisms in the forest have evolved to such dangerous levels is due to the World Tree. Specifically the World's Tree mana.”

  The dragon's revelation shocked Rowan. He didn't know how to feel about the information. The vision he saw today did show that the trees in the vision did release mana that could alter the environment in a dangerous way. Rowan had yet to connect the dots of what he saw in the vision to the Forest of Death. He felt like he should feel betrayed, but he didn’t. Maybe deep down he already knew this fact. After all he saw how the World Tree mana did connect and spread throughout the whole forest.

  “Have you ever wondered why the World Tree’s mana had such abilities?”

  “I always thought the World Tree was different, but I never thought too much about it,” Rowan replied after giving it some thought.

  “You should have. To be able to transform a forest of that magnitude is no ordinary feat. Few beings can copy such a feat and all must be at the Grandmaster level at the least. The World Tree isn't just any other tree. The World Tree is a God and now part of that God resides in you.”