The symbols around the iron weight fade into a steady golden glow. The path behind Elion remains quiet, and no new trial opens; only Kheros stays beside the central slab.
Kheros
It is done, Eliq. The tests are finished. You carried the weight, mastered its burden, and reached the limit your strength can presently sustain.
Kheros rests his hand against the ancient stone. The golden pulse travels beneath his palm, then settles, as though the Heartgarden itself has accepted the result.
Kheros
The stones awakened control before greater force. Your enhanced strength can rise further, but only through measured burdens. If you chase power without control, your body will fail before the gift does.
Kheros
Beyond Heartgarden, the path returns you to the living world. The waystation should be reachable once you leave, though I cannot promise what condition you will find it in. Your companions remain beyond this training ground, waiting for your return.
Kheros
I can teach you discipline, strength, and the first responses of your draconic power. I cannot choose your road, Eliq. What do you need to know before you leave?
“I thank Kheros deeply by bowing to show my thankfulness. I then ask if he could show me my first draconic attack i could use. Kheros explains to me that i have yet to find my draconic power, but i can use my current magic power in a draconic way. Then he asks me what is my magic. I tell him that i use fire magic. He then nods. He tells me to focus my mana and guide it through my throat. Form that mana into fire in your throat, Condense it to the point my throat is gonna explode, but instead of keeping it there, i send another wave of mana in my body, make it travel through my throat to make push the condense. This other wave must not become fire but remain in its energy form. It will push the fire out of your throat to create a fireball. if you wanna create a fire breath, you must continue send so much mana inside your throat, the same way as the fireball, but you continue to send mana, but at the same time you send non transformed mana to push the mana-fire in the throat out.”
FAILURE (Great Arcana, rolled -2)
Elion bows deeply before Kheros, his gratitude conveyed without embellishment. The ancient stones answer with a quiet golden pulse beneath the central slab.
Elion Draemnor
Thank you, Kheros. Could you show me the first draconic attack I can use?
Kheros
You have not yet found your true draconic power. But you can shape the magic you possess in a draconic way. What magic do you use?
Elion Draemnor
I use fire magic.
Kheros
Then focus your mana and guide it through your throat. Form fire there, condense it until the pressure threatens to burst, then send a second wave through it. Keep that wave as pure energy. It will drive the fire outward as a fireball.
Elion follows the instruction. Fire gathers in his throat, but the second current tangles with it before he can separate energy from flame. The pressure breaks apart in a harsh cough, scattering sparks across the stone.
Kheros
Near enough to reveal the method. Your fire answers, but your pushing current is becoming flame too soon. The usable path is open: shape the second wave first, then let it drive the fire. Once that separation holds, the same principle can become a breath.
✓ Quest Accepted
Master a draconic fire attack
“I try the fireball once more, keeping the driving current separate.”
SUCCESS (Great Arcana, rolled +0)
Elion steadies his breathing and gathers fire in his throat again. This time, he forms the second current as clear, compressed mana, keeping it separate from the flame.
The pressure builds sharply. His throat burns beneath the spell, but the two currents remain distinct as the driving force coils behind the condensed fire.
Elion releases the second wave. It strikes the fire cleanly, launching a bright fireball across the Heartgarden toward the empty stone beyond the training space.
The fireball bursts against the stone in a controlled bloom, scattering sparks across the ancient markings. The spell succeeds, though the effort leaves Elion coughing through the mana-burn in his throat.
Kheros
There. You separated the driving current from the flame and gave it purpose. That is your first draconic-shaped attack: a fireball born from discipline, not instinct.
Kheros
The cost is clear. Your throat carries the strain because the currents passed through it under pressure. Use the spell sparingly until your control grows stronger.
The last flames fade from the stone. Elion’s throat remains raw, but the method is now his, and the Heartgarden holds the scorch-marked proof of his first successful fireball.
Quest Complete
Master a draconic fire attack