It was two weeks before Vulcanus returned to check up on Rowan’s progress. The dragon had returned, grumbling on how eels and turtles were slow as ever. It did not make any sense for Rowan , but from the looks of it, the dragon had not been successful with his inquiries about the black dragon.

  Now that Rowan thought about it, who did Vulcanus ask? Who in the world would a dragon turn to if they had questions? While Rowan was curious, he was sure the dragon would not have answered him if he asked.

  Seeing how Rowan was already shifting through the books, the dragon was quite satisfied with his progress.

  “It looks like we can now began the official teaching.” With that said, the dragon waved his claws and Red dissipated.

  “What are you doing!” Rowan suddenly screamed. While they had not been close, Red had been his teacher for the last two weeks. To see his teacher disappear with just a wave of his hand was shocking.

  “Why are you asking? I am merely dismissing the fire elemental?” Vulcanus asked while tilting his head in confusion.

  “Did you just kill Red?”

  “Is Red what you named the fire elemental? I see the problem. You see the fire elemental as a living being, when that was never the case.”

  Vulcanus snapped his fingers and a burst of fire flew out, forming a certain familiar fire humanoid.

  “Red, as you termed it, was never alive in the first place. Nor was it dead. I just returned it back to its home dimension.”

  “Where is its home dimension?”

  “Somewhere far away and that's all you need to know for now.Let us focus on you for now.”

  Rowan still had questions though.

  “Would I be able to summon a fire elemental too?” Having a fire elemental on hand seem really cool and useful.

  “A fire elemental? I doubt it. First you need to go through several years of training as a mage. Then you need to form a contract with one. Just from the looks of you, fire is the opposite of your natural affinity.”

  Every time the dragon opened its mouth, more questions appeared in Rowan’s mind. “ How do you know my natural affinity?” Even he himself did not know what his natural affinity was.

  Was it some dragon to be able to figure out a person’s specialty right away?

  “I know what you’re thinking, but you are wrong. It’s quite obvious what your natural affinity is. Ever since you were healed by the World Tree, your mana attribute was set, especially after all the times you trained with the plant. You have an affinity with life and nature mana.”

  Rowan took in the dragon’s explanation. Their words made sense and Rowan almost felt dumb that he needed someone to point it to him.

  Affinities were specialities for a person to develop their talent in. All species had their own inherent specialties. All, but the humans. A lot of it is based on racial characteristics. Elves' affinities tend to lean towards nature such as earth, water, or wind. Dwarfs mana affinities would lean towards fire or earth. While humans had no special affinities, they could develop their own talents. They were a blank canvas and had to rely on external factors like their environment to find and develop the most suitable attribute.

  This was both a blessing and a curse.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Unlike other species who knew whar their own characteristics were, humans had to discover their own talents. That meant more time and studying was needed for the human race to find their own special skills, but when they did find it, they would excel.

  Humans had the most freedom in their own development and also the most powerhouses. The human population outnumber all the other races and if the humans combined their forces, wiping out all the other races would not be impossible.

  Of course, that was if they could ever agree to work together.

  While all the other races were united, humans bickered and could never agree with each other. Kingdoms warred with one another for either political or economic reasons, or both.

  For humans to unite under one single banner was almost impossible.

  EversInce Rowan was healed by the Mother Tree and continuously exchanged mana, then his mana affinity had been already influenced and changed.

  Rowan wished he knew of his affinities sooner. That way he could have develop and train his own special techniques earlier.

  The dragon saw the understanding in Rowan's eyes. “ I can see I don't need to explain why your affinities are nature and life. Good. Now that you had time to read a few books, what are your thoughts? Why do you think I had you read them?”

  “The books were very interesting.” These words were not mere flattery. Never in Rowan's life had he been interested in reading before. The books that the dragon had him look into had somehow grabbed his curiosity and interest. As for the second question, Rowan answered in a hesitant manner. “...you had me read them because you wanted me to see what people who had similar blessings could do.”

  “Yes, one of the best ways to learn is by example.. Fortunately you did not waste your time as I was preoccupied with a certain matter. Now that you have a goal to strive towards for the future, let us test what you are currently capable of.”

  Rowan felt himself shiver and a sudden sense of dissonance.

  Before the human teenager could realize what was the sense of incongruity, he saw a large claw heading towards him.

  For Vulcanus, the attack may have been a simple poke. It was neither fast nor slow. However for Rowan, the incoming claw was like a ballista attack. Once he got hit by the dragon’s claw, there would be no recovery from it.

  Fortunately all the time Rowan spent in the Forest had not been for naught. Rowan immediately reinforced his body with mana and got out of the way of the claw. The strangest thing about the attack was that while he knew the claw was coming at him, he could barely dodge it.

  “Why are you attacking me? I thought you were supposed to train me?” Rowan shouted as he tried to create some distance from the dragon.

  “I was requested to make you stronger. However it is not my fault if you cannot survive the process. Now show me your best and survive or perish.”

  Rowan frowned. Luckily he had his bow with him. He had gotten use to carrying the weapon everywhere and he wasn't going to leave it anywhere else.

  What were his options?

  Beating Vulcanus was out of the question. His first encounter with the dragon showed how powerless he was. If the dragon wanted to, it could immediately immobilize him with just a thought.

  Rowan glanced at the doorway. Escape was also not possible since Vulcanus was right between him and the doorway.

  The only option left was to give Vulcanus what the dragon wanted and hopefully survive.

  Rowan's fingers were already beginning their transformations as he drew his bowstring.

  Twang!

  Twang!

  Twang!

  Rowan's hands were a flurry of motion as he launched a number of arrows at the large dragon. The arrows had been able to pierce through the red dragon scales, hopefully it could do the same here. He now knew the reason was because the arrows were made from the materials of the world tree which were embedded into his arms.

  Unfortunately Rowan's hopes were crushed as the arrows bounced harmlessly off Vulcanus scales.

  There was no time for Rowan to wallow in despair. Since the goal isn't to actually defeat Vulcanus, he had a chance.

  He just needed to survive.

  Unfortunately before Rowan could take any further actions, a sharp pain broke through his chest. He glanced downward and noticed something red and pointy sticking out.

  Rowan had been so caught up with Vulcanus' front that he hadn't even realized the tail striking him from behind, ripping through his chest.

  Rowan could feel himself rapidly losing strength. The last thing he heard was Vulcanus grumbling. “Tsk, what a disappointment.”