Soul of Burning Steel

Theodore, a human being, a mage from the Twilight Plains, aged forty-seven, with an ordinary appearance and a dull personality, is currently working as a teacher at the College of Winterhold in the Northland.

The Twilight Plain is located in the southeast of the empire, bordering the central Black Forest. There are many rivers and swamps, filled with thick water mist all the year round, sometimes even light cannot penetrate, so it is named Twilight. Legend has it that there is a The ancient dragon lived, and it was precisely because of the power of the ancient dragon that the Twilight Plain was covered in moist darkness all day long.

As a normal person living in such a difficult environment, Theodore has always dreamed of leaving this ghost place since he was a child, to see a wider and freer world outside.

Perhaps because of the pity of his ancestors, his dream soon came true—because he was detected to have the talent to become a mage, this dull brown-haired boy was selected as a disciple by an imperial mage who traveled around the world, and then he was blessed by his relatives and friends. Leaving that oppressive land, I came to the center of the empire, the imperial capital, the Holy City of Three Mountains.

During that time, perhaps he was the happiest time, not only because he was able to learn magical spells, but also because he was able to see this clear world without fog.

But the good times didn't last long, because of the war with the orcs, he was drafted into the army with his mentor, and then the mentor died on the battlefield.

This was so sudden, but it was nothing more than a normal thing... War always kills people. Theodore thought he had already prepared for it, but when it really happened, he still felt that A little dazed, such a weak self was extinguished as if lingering, but the gentle and powerful mentor died in a surprise battle.

The war is over, but the mage apprentice without a mentor, relying on self-study, is at most a wild mage in his life, and Theodore, who originally just wanted to leave his depressing hometown, has now truly fallen in love with magic. Bear with the fact that you can only be a layman.

So, he used the decisive power that he only had once in his life, and resolutely went to his mentor's former comrade-in-arms, the leader of the imperial mage brigade at that time, Nostradamus, and expressed his desire to continue learning magic. .

It was a gamble, but he won the gamble. For the sake of his comrades who had left, the old mage accepted Theodore as a registered disciple, and taught him spells like a real mentor.

In order to repay this kindness, no matter what Nostradamus wants to do, Theodore will unconditionally support him. Even this time, the old mage asked him to give up his work in the association, leave the comfortable imperial capital, and come to the cold and wild north. He also agreed without hesitation to become a college teacher on the border of the land.

But now, he regretted it a little.

"This damn place, the weather is as bad as my hometown!"

Standing at the gate of Winterhold College, looking at the foot of the mountain from a distance, Theodore rubbed his hands, his face became more dull: "No, it's worse!"

The extreme northern ice field at the border has a harsh environment, which is even worse than that of the Twilight Plain. Theodore was shocked to find that even in summer, there would be occasional snowfall here, and the temperature was always kept below zero. Winterhold College is located on the mountainside of Nissier Snow Mountain, and the temperature is colder than that on the surface. Unless he goes out with a [Environment Adaptation] spell, he still has to wear a three-layer cotton jacket.

Many people from the Twilight Plains call the gloomy coldness of their hometown in winter as magical damage, and Theodore has always believed in this. In his opinion, the temperature of the imperial capital in the central part is not It's nothing serious, and no matter how cold the Northland is, it's still the same—but now, he understands that the biting cold on the snow-capped mountains is a real injury, and no matter how many clothes he wears, he can't resist it.

Not far away, there was a sound of playfulness. The brown-haired mage turned his head and saw many teenage children playing in the grove near the college.

These children were only wearing thin apprentice robes, rolling and crawling in the ice and snow, and there was no sign of feeling cold at all. They are all middle school students of Winter Castle College, and now is the time to rest and relax. Come out and get some air.

"Are all the children in the Northland monsters..."

Theodore subconsciously tightened the robe on his body, then shook his head and muttered something.

"Mr. Theodore!"

Suddenly, a youthful voice full of vigor came from behind the brown-haired mage, and he immediately turned his head to look, and then saw a pair of young girls with platinum-blond hair and gray pupils walking quickly from the entrance of the academy .

The leader is a boy. He is holding a huge iron box in his hand. Its appearance is silver-gray, and it is engraved with magic lines flowing with light. It looks very heavy. He lifted it up with great effort, and behind him, a girl with a ponytail was also holding the same box in her hand, which seemed effortless at all.

"Thank you, Ivan, Amira."

Theodore took the two silver boxes from the opponent's hand. He mentally sensed the contents, then nodded, and said gently, "Please help me during the rest time. What reward do you want?"

"I think……"

The boy named Ivan seemed straight-minded. After hearing the words of the brown-haired mage, he immediately prepared to speak, but the girl behind him kicked him neatly, then grabbed the boy by the back of the collar and muttered softly. talk.

"Thank you, Mr. Theodore! It should be a little help for the teacher, but recently my sister and I have finished reading the books outside the book, so..."

"I want to go to the inner library of the big library to borrow books, right?"

Before Ivan stumbled and repeated what his sister asked him to say, Theodore smiled and shook his head, then took out a note and a pen from his robe: "How could I not Know what you want...take it."

Shua Shua signed a flying and phoenix signature on the note, followed by a line of small words 'permission', the brown-haired mage handed the small note to the joyful young girl, and then said softly: "Ivan, Ami La, you two brothers and sisters are the hardest among all the students, but you should pay attention to rest occasionally, and you can’t keep reading. The most important thing for a mage is to apply knowledge, not just learn it by death. You have to go outside more and apply it in practice .”

"The books in the inner library are relatively advanced and difficult. Although I study magical creatures, I have also dabbled in other subjects. If you have any questions that you don't understand, you can ask me."

"Well, I see, thank you Teacher Theodore!"

Since Amira doesn't seem to like to talk much, her brother Ivan, who is somewhat carefree, has been doing external communication for a long time. He got the coveted permission to borrow books from the inner library of the big library. Both brothers and sisters are very happy. It was a very ladylike smile.

There was not much time to rest, and the pair of brothers and sisters left quickly, while Theodore carried two huge metal boxes and looked at the backs of the two going away, with a smile in his eyes and a trace of thought.

Ivan and Amira, the hardest-working pair of brothers and sisters in the entire Wintercastle Academy, the younger sister Amira's talent is far superior to him, and given time, she will definitely be able to advance to the gold realm in the future, and even Extreme Intent is not unreasonable. possible.

Because of this, the mage teachers in the entire academy gave her preferential treatment, and she did not treat this preferential treatment badly. Whether it was academic performance or practical operation, she was the well-deserved number one in the entire academy.

And her brother, Ivan, although his talent is not as good as his younger sister, he can be regarded as excellent, and what is hidden under his carefree appearance is a firm heart.

When encountering problems that he doesn't understand, Ivan will not hesitate to ask his classmates and teachers. If he can't find them for a while, he will take the initiative to read the classics for research, and he has unexpected talents in magic machines and magic creatures , Theodore even has the thought of accepting him as a disciple.

If not, he would not be so tolerant towards these two children.

"I heard that their parents died in the wild dragon attack last year, and the whole village was burned to the ground by the dragon flames. That's why the dragon slaying lord was so angry that he slayed the dragon. But after all, what's gone is gone and won't come back. gone."

Softly talking to himself, Theodore thought thoughtfully: "Although he looks cheerful on the surface, he is actually full of hatred in his heart...Hate can be regarded as a major driving force, but let this emotion If it takes root and sprouts, there will definitely be hidden dangers in the future.”

The experienced brunette mage can certainly see the small thoughts hidden under the appearance of the boys and girls. Whether it is an elder brother or a younger sister, both of them have an extra interest in dragons. Theodore even suspects that the reason why the two brothers and sisters chose He came to please, probably not because he is a teacher who studies magical creatures, and recently he happened to be working on a topic about dragons.

But who cares, Theodore doesn't care about this kind of thing at all, he is even very happy, because it means that his ability has been affirmed, and he has been so smart since he was a child, knowing how to prepare for the future dragon slaying. A lot can be done.

But now, it's time to work.

Weighing the silver iron box in his hands, the brown-haired mage took a deep breath, and then, he held the two iron boxes that were full of magic runes, unable to use teleportation or other spells to help carry them, and moved towards Walk to the ice lake at the foot of the mountain.

As I said before, Theodore is a mage who studies magical creatures, commonly known as a biologist. In ancient times, his type of mage was called a contract mage. The ability of magic, but now, self-transformation is listed as a taboo technique by major countries, especially the Church of the Seven Gods, so contract mages gradually focus more on contracting and cultivating Warcraft, sharing power and life.

Theodore's mentor is a well-known magician. Hundreds of years ago, his department helped the Diamond royal family reach a contract with a Hell Dragon, which is now Israel Diamond. The ancestor of the giant dragon under De's seat, the most far-reaching goal of his lineage is to make a contract with a giant dragon and become a dragon contract mage.

But how proud is the dragon? How could they contract with an ordinary mage? An adult dragon, unless the most powerful human beings use force to subdue them, it is absolutely impossible to obey other people's orders.

Therefore, it is almost impossible to make a contract with an adult dragon. After several attempts and almost being beaten to death, Theodore gave up this idea. He turned to find an opportunity to cultivate a dragon by himself.

In fact, this should be more impossible than contracting with an adult dragon, because if you want to cultivate a dragon yourself, you must start with a dragon egg, and the dragon's attention to the egg has long been to the point of madness. You know, all dragons They are all solitary, they are extremely disgusted with sharing territory with their own kind, but in order to take care of dragon eggs more safely, many giant dragons will build dragon nests and take care of them collectively.

Dragon eggs are so powerful that they can make an unfettered giant dragon suppress its nature. After more than ten years of trying, Theodore found out in despair that he practiced magic to make himself an ultimate-level archmage, and then The possibility of forcibly forcing a giant dragon to make a contract will be higher than it is now. Years of hard work in order to get close to the dragon's nest has made him the pinnacle of transformation and elemental spells. On the contrary, the original contract of this system has never been available. progress.

Being invited to be a teacher at Cold Winter Castle is actually a sign of Theodore's frustration. He no longer has any hope for himself. Anyway, the strength of the gold rank is completely sufficient, and he is also a respected professor. Why bother? Going against dragons all the time?

But as if by luck, one day, the brown-haired mage was suddenly shocked to learn that Joshua van Radcliffe, the master of Moldavia and the glorious principal of this academy, was also The famous dragon slayer actually has a lot of dragon eggs in his hands! And he also sent the dragon eggs to the academy as experimental samples!

"What kind of luck is this on me!"

Years of struggle are not as good as a moment of dog luck. When Theodore saw the dragon egg he had dreamed of, he didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

Since Theodore is the only one who has deep research on dragons and can take care of dragon eggs, Nostradamus immediately appointed him to keep the eggs, and the brown-haired mage also knew that these dragon eggs were actually not They belonged to him, and they might not be able to hatch baby dragons, so he used the secret method that he learned from his mentor, but he basically didn't use it, and took care of these dragon eggs carefully all the time.

As if the truth protected its apostle, less than a month later, the dragon egg had a reaction that it was about to hatch.

Upon discovering this news, Theodore heaved a sigh of relief—the truth is, he did not learn this skill wrong, and it is really useful. You know, if something goes wrong with the dragon egg, Joshua and Nostradam would not be needed. Marth punished him, and the brown-haired mage would probably kill himself, ending his boring life simply and neatly.

The coldness of the snow-capped mountains came from all directions, but Theodore's consciousness became more clear because of it. He wrapped the leather robe around his body tightly, and blessed himself with an elemental protection. Immediately, a warm feeling enveloped the whole body, and the brown hair The mage also continued to walk towards the snow mountain lake.

In fact, the hatching of dragons, especially the hatching of dragons that can be used by humans, is a very delicate step.

It has many conditions, so that the newborn baby dragon can get close to humans, regards humans as the same kind, does not have a sense of identity with the identity of the giant dragon, and there are very few people who know how to hatch dragon eggs, and people who know how to make baby dragons get close to humans Fewer, but exactly, Theodore knew it all.

That's why he realized that the time has come now.

There are indeed many methods, but most of them cannot be completed immediately. Whether it is the subtle brainwashing circle or the Qilong Treaty, it cannot be made in a short while. It is too late for human beings to have a sense of identity, and it can only be cultivated.

The brown-haired mage currently has only one choice—that is to let a giant dragon that is close to humans take care of these young dragons. In this way, under the influence of the same kind, the young dragons will naturally imitate and be close to humans.

Thanks to the truth, the lord here, the owner of the dragon egg, Joshua van Radcliffe happens to be a dragon rider, and Nissie snow mountain lake happens to be the habitat of his dragon.

Hei, the name of that dragon, although it seems to be only a half-dragon, or a fire dragon, but this is enough, after all, why would a young dragon care about the attributes of its elders? Anyway, all Theodore wanted was leadership, and he knew how to raise a dragon.

For this reason, he specifically asked the academy to send an urgent letter to Joshua. Since he was too excited when writing the letter, the handwriting was scribbled and the word order was chaotic, Theodore doubted whether the other party could understand it, but no matter what How to put it, the meaning must have been conveyed.

Can't wait for the other party's consent, the brown-haired mage is ready to take action. Some dragon eggs may hatch at any time, and every second of delay is a hidden danger. Even if he has to be punished for this unannounced action in the future, he is willing to do so.

After walking the winding ice road in the snow mountain and passing through the lush cold pine forest, Theodore finally came to the ice lake at the foot of Nissie Snow Mountain.

The cold magic power is continuously released from the ice lake. Even a gold-level mage can hardly notice this kind of subtle fluctuation, but Theodore can. Because of this, he can even use this keen perception to communicate with other creatures spiritually.

Putting down the two big boxes containing the dragon eggs in his hands, the brown-haired mage moved his hands and feet. Since he has been on the battlefield and walked through countless evil mountains in search of dragons and dragon eggs, Theodore's physical fitness is very good. Well, even this kind of metal box full of magic runes can be easily handled one by one. He rested for a while, and then got ready.

"black!"

He shouted at the frozen lake familiarly, the magic power controlled the sound, so that the sound wave did not spread out, but passed into the water: "It's me, Theodore who usually brings you food, I have something to do with you now! "

After finishing speaking, the brown-haired mage didn't make a second call. He knew that the other party must have heard his voice. According to past experience, the other party will appear soon.

as expected.

Not far away, above the icy lake, a large number of air bubbles suddenly began to appear. The trajectory of the air bubbles quickly moved towards the lake shore, and a huge black shadow gradually appeared under the water, revealing the huge body of its owner. stature.

As the black shadow approached, Theodore felt that the surrounding fire elements, which were stagnant due to the cold, began to cheer, and the result was a rapid rise in temperature, making people feel like they were in a furnace.

The black shadow came to the shore, and then rose slowly. Accompanied by the surging boiling water and violently rising white mist, an extremely huge dragon appeared from the water.

This is a slender, graceful and dangerous beast. Its body is covered with a thick black carapace. On both sides of its body, there are a pair of wings that seem to have not fully matured, covered with dangerous bone spines. Under the carapace, golden-red veins like the naked eye can be vaguely seen.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is the chest of this giant beast, which is inlaid with golden crystals as dazzling as the sun, releasing incredible heat.

"Roar!"

—What's the matter, Theodore, do you want to give me an extra meal?

Hei was swimming at the bottom of the lake before, and Hei, who absorbed the magic power, looked at the brown-haired mage with his dark golden eyes. He was very familiar with this human being. He made a joke.

——I ate ice shrimp last time, this time I want cod, don’t fool me with beef and mutton, I’m tired of eating it!

"No, Hei, you had breakfast not long ago, and it's not yet the cod fishing season, so where is the portion for you... This time, I have something to ask you."

Lifting the silver metal box in his hand, Theodore said excitedly: "Friend, I would like to ask you to help hatch these dragon eggs!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the brown-haired mage immediately felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere. Hei, who seemed to be in a good mood, suddenly fell silent, and he quickly noticed this.

Wait, what did I just say?

"Please stop, friend! I mean..."

Because he was too excited before, Theodore noticed that he seemed a little carried away - the brown-haired mage immediately opened his mouth in horror to explain, but it was obviously too late.

"Roar!!!!"

The dark golden dragon's eyes widened suddenly, and the earth-shattering roar shook the atmosphere. Fiery gusts roared out from the dragon's mouth, instantly submerging the body of the brown-haired mage.

—Theodore, I never knew, you are such a brazen person! ! !

As if to symbolize fury, the red lines began to spread on the black carapace. The light at the core of its chest became more and more dazzling, and finally became as invisible as the sun. It stepped heavily on the ground, shaking the entire cold pine forest Getting up, the half-dragon stretched its head in front of the brown-haired mage, then opened its mouth wide and roared angrily.

——I don't have a mate yet, and now you want me to hatch dragon eggs? ! Do you really know what you are talking about? Stupid mage!

This chapter is really too long, I really didn’t finish it yesterday, so I slept for a while and continued to write, and there will be an update today...Sometimes I really don’t want to split chapters.

Unmarried and pregnant black (poof)