Observing an ancient monster as it were, is an experience with many things to observe, and many to wonder about.

  For one thing, comprehension.

  Does he understand me?

  The answer was surprisingly yes.

  At some point, while Richard was reading one of his earned novels, the hatchling came over and started munching on the book.

  No hesitation, just started taking a bite out of the book, reminding him of a goat that had managed to sneak close enough in one instance to start munching on the churches book.

  Both it and the hatchling had the exact same indifferent look on their face.

  And just like with the goat, Richard equally scolded the dragon.

  "Stop it! You don't eat books! Bad hatchling!" Richard scolded the hatchling.

  The lumbering thing stopped chewing, before walking out of the cave to get back to eating.

  This left Richard with a question.

  'Does it understand me, or can it tell I'm indicating it to stop eating what is mine? '

  It shouldn't understand the current nguage. Richard hadn't quite taught it the nguage yet, nor had he formed a familiar bond with it like he did Krackle or Ats, so there is no basis by which the hatchling should understand.

  Apparently, other hatchlings learn nguages from birth through inherited bloodlines.

  And the drakkonius(?) clearly had a bloodline, but the nguage inherited from that bloodline, if it is ancient, would likely not be the romanan nguage.

  The creature wasn't dumb from what he could tell, just aloof, feeling no actual sense of threat.

  Perhaps it figured out the nguage on its own? It's possible. The system gives no indication of intelligence, so perhaps it is smarter than he expected.

  [I taught him the current nguage]

  Ah. That made sense.

  Richard could see how that would make sense. The system seemed capable of doing many things, akin to a god, and there were multiple pyers.

  Perhaps it had installed itself into the mind of the hatchling, working as its system as well, and providing it guidance.

  If that was the case, could the system transte other nguages for him? That would be an exceptionally useful ability.

  [The system has not registered the gigantes drakkonius as a pyer, merely teaching him the nguage you speak for greater convenience of nguage.]

  [In regards to your speech, yes, the system does automatically transte all things you hear into your frame of reference in regards to nguage as best as it can.]

  Wow, that really would be useful.

  That alone extended Richard's scope of exploration when he eventually chose to explore the Romana empire, a hindrance that would've likely limited him to certain regions than others.

  Though, considering that this confirmed the hatchling understood the nguage, that raised the question of why the hatchling hadn't spoken up until this point.

  It seemed to understand them, and yet did not speak.

  Perhaps it was the silent type, with few words it needed to speak.

  Or perhaps it was arrogance, but Richard didn't believe that. The hatchling had more of a quiet and withdrawn aura, not ignoring them per say, but focused on its own interests instead.

  It was a seemingly quiet and withdrawn character, a nice contrast from Panda, with one constantly going off, and the other, never.

  "Hey, we didn't give the hatchling a name yet."

  That was a realization, days in after the hatchling being born.

  At some point after calling the hatchling, "the hatchling" Richard quickly recognized that maybe he should find the kid a new name.

  Or sister Alexandria should, as she was a true dragonic being, while Richard was more of a fake all things considered.

  He might just end up calling it David or something.

  Sister Alexandria gave him a surprised look. "I thought you were going to give him a name. You hatched him after all."

  "Well yes, but I'm not really suited for naming hatchlings. I mean, he's a natural born dragon, what if my naming sense doesn't align with his."

  He understood them after all. What if the hatchling disliked the names he suggested?

  "Yes, but it doesn't align with mine either. Who knows how old that egg was. It could be from thousands of years ago!"

  "But still, it feels like you'd be more well suited, no?"

  Sister Alexandria sighed, as she used her tail to rub her brow.

  "Usually, hatchlings are named in order to reflect what their parents hope for their children, like humans.Hellfme, Ironjaw, toothless, razorgrip, etc. , etc. I was named Alexandria after some famous conqueror from eons ago. My father had some... ambitions for me." She gave a dry ugh, with a tint of resentment bubbling to the surface of that statement.

  "Problem is, dragons don't really adopt. We usually either kill, drive away, or ensve hatchlings on our territory." Richard winced at that, realizing had he fallen into a less friendly being, he might've fell under one of the 3.

  "And I didn't really need a name."

  "Plus I have no hopes for this kid, so."

  "So."

  "So." Agreed sister Alexandria.

  Yeah, neither of them felt right.

  "We should still name him though."

  "Ridgetop." SIster Alexandria started.

  "Stonepte"

  "Great Wall"

  ...

  "Gigant"

  "Humongosaur"

  "Stoneking"

  "Mountainback"

  "Obsidian"

  "Ironskin"

  "Achil

  A voice interrupted. Slow, yet melodious in its low, gravelly voice.

  "I like Achil." commented the newly named Achil

  "They found him." These were all the words his master had to say for Galileo to understand what he was saying.

  It was a day of heated training, with Galileo sparring with his fellow padin trainee's when his mentor Copernicus had arrived, pulling him aside to tell him this.

  Three words, and yet he knew without hesitation who they referred to.

  His dear friend.

  Wiping himself off, he asked excitedly. "When?"

  Copernicus smiled, seeing his protege being so eager to move out.

  He had to admit, he was also quite eager to move out as well, though for different reasons.

  The fact that some of the goddess' loyal less fortunate followers would be reborn as monsters was a surprising announcement by the goddess, something that had many implications for how their church, as well as countless others would function from now on, and how they would interact with monsters.

  Of course, Copernicus knew that his student didn't care about that though, clearly focused on the possible and very likely discovery of his friend.

  "We'll depart in a few days under the pretense of cleaning out the Ymir ranges again. I'll have to gather a few padins from the other orders before we can go, but it should only take us a month and a half to head out. In the meantime, how about you bulk out so you have something to show your old friend?"

  Galileo eagerly nodded before heading back to training, determined to show his old friend how far he'd come.

  'Richard, I'll be seeing you soon!'

  He thought excitedly, with the only regret persisting being that Lyssandra couldn't come along with them.

  'Ah, I'll have to tell Richard about that too...'

  A priest or any user of divine power is dependent on the strength of their own faith.

  The deeper their faith, the stronger their holy magic is

  Holy magic users still need to increase the number of magic circles, however, in order to store more holy magic and to strengthen their bodies to avoid being burned out to death by using holy magic.

  Magic circles as a side effect tend to not only increase capacity, but also increase one's strength and durability, a necessity when bringing the full might of holy magic into py.

  One does have to wonder when holy magic crosses into divine might.

  The unified response of the churches is that only saints and saintesses truly use divine magic. Their official response.

  Of course, that also leads many schors to specute on what counts as a saintess, but that truth is heavily guarded by the churches.

  There are many who are seemingly blessed by the gods, and yet they are not cssified as saints.

  Even the first emperor, who is cimed to have been blessed by one such Jorvus Mars is not beled as a saint by the church, merely a "favored one"

  Confused?

  So are the rest of us.

  - Schor Brendall