Sitting in her room, the day had almost ended for Nisha. Aside from a few minor exercises and curious stares sent by her classmates, nothing out of the ordinary happened when she left the Craft District. Duelling Alexander three times and beating him on each of those occasions, their teacher, Miss Anet, only instructed them to practice their breathing and energy recovery as a precursor to learn meditation with a few and well placed words before going back to meditating herself and leaving the class to their own devices.

The dragon did attempt to follow her teachings, yet results had to show themselves so far.

Eating a quick dinner together with the returned pair of sisters as well as Henry and Luthais, the elf now returned to her room to inspect her [Inner World] and plan her next steps regarding the store while sitting in the [Crystal Cave]. The gracious and excellent environment helped to calm her thoughts and concentrate.

Currently, her most pressing concern was the lack of response from the [Thieves Guild], and she couldn’t help but wonder if her attempt to create a meeting had been too rushed.

The dragon’s generous terms towards Alestar should help by enticing their greed. However, the bait seemingly had gone to waste.

Resting on a stack of rocks mixed with occasional crystal, Nisha felt ready to call it a day and fall asleep, when a particular energy vibration caught her attention.

Originating in her treasure trove, the small creek, the dragon instantly thought of the elemental, who had yet to emerge from the energy cocoon, which it had spun after trying to steal her bloodline and subsequently got refined. During the previous days, the layers surrounding her little troublemaker got thinner and thinner, showing progress regarding its recovery.

Familiar with the mana radiating throughout her [Inner World], Nisha assumed it was time for the elemental to emerge yet again.

Preparing to open a door and teleport herself towards the far away valley, a sudden inspiration struck her.

Imagining the golden doorway, the thought soon turned into reality, as the glimmering crystal wall shifted to accommodate the new gateway. Reaching out and imposing her will on the door, reality bent to her desires, and a new scenery appeared as the gate opened. Filled with water from the exit point, which happened to end below the surface of the small stream, Nisha reached out and collected the small bundle which remained from the mana cocoon. Instead of being flooded and submerging the cave, the creek water all stopped at the invisible boundary maintained by the gate.

A small amount of extra wetness remained in her hands as the elf pulled them back. However she had the feeling even this minuscule remnants could be eliminated with repeated practice.

Smiling gently at the small bundle the dragon caressed the small cracks spreading throughout its surface. The cobweb-like structure surrounding the elemental slowly receded, turning more and more brittle. In the process the mana leaking through increased, giving Nisha high hopes for the emerging creature.

No matter whether it was weak or strong, she had forgiven it already for trying to steal her bloodline. In fact, she almost felt sorry for the little critter. Given the extreme toxicity and volatility contained in her veins, it bordered a miracle it hadn’t died from a shock already.

Going by the information she had obtained from Bael, the elemental had been refined instead and now permanently belonged to the dragon instead.

In the first place, she never put much importance on things like social standing, ancestry and nobility. Power can only form through effort, not given by others. At least Nisha honestly believed in this concept. Borrowed fame and relying on someone else’s influence were bound to end in disaster if the other party had a change of heart.

As long as the elemental stayed loyal to the elf, she didn’t even mind imparting some of her blood to it, in case it desired so. She had a little understanding regarding the needs of a spirit but was willing to accommodate its requirements.

Retreating to the improvised throne opposite to the entrance, Nisha rested her slender figure on the rocks, not minding the rough and hard surface at all. Contrary to the appearance of her smooth skin, no matter where she slept or rested, the elf’s complexion never deteriorated. And as a dragon, she had never cared about her resting place, in the first place their first cavern had a dirt floor.

Not to mention these little rocks already lost out in hardness compared to her skin. An average young lady most likely would incur bruises and cuts, however to Nisha this pile almost felt comfortable. It reminded her of the early stages the [Dragon’s Den] went through, giving her a nostalgic feeling.

Turning and twisting the little elemental egg, a hint of anticipation flashed on her face. The elf actually wondered in what way the spirit changed after being refined by her. In case something dangerous could happen, Gabriel and Bael would surely have warned her.

They really would have, wouldn’t they? Nothing dangerous can pop out here, can it?

Having doubts during the last moments, the heavens did not grant her a choice to reconsider, as the final shreds of mana fell away, revealing its contents.

The unusual energy waves radiated in full strength, bathing the dragon’s whole body in its splendour.

Inhaling deeply with her spirit form the dragon closed her eyes in bliss, letting the foreign energy circulate through her energy channels.

Akin to small snakes, the mana burrowed through her body, invigorating her flesh and bones. Originally the foreign energy ought to be rejected by her body and rather damage it instead of acting beneficially, but after the little spirit had been refined by her, even it’s vital mana started to resemble her dragon’s energy and swiftly stimulated her potential.

Feeling the shackles binding her breaking apart, the boundary separating her from the third rank shattered, which elevated her mana and aura at the same time.

Through practice, Nisha might have been able to break through one or the other at an earlier date, giving herself a more robust base to deal with the matters in the future.

Contrary to that, the dragon let the breakthrough occur naturally with the right opportunity, reaping even greater gains. The energy channels in her body greedily gulped down the foreign power entering them and incorporated them into Nisha’s strength. Soaring all the way from the starting point, the advancement only stopped after she settled in the middle of the third rank.

A comfortable glow settling all over her body, the changes happening inside Nisha’s [Inner World] had yet to stop. Following her elevation in cultivation, the seven elemental stars appeared again - they had hidden ever since Nisha sought them out after she discovered this place for the first time. Sweeping down from the horizon, the twinkling objects entered the [Crystal Cave] and split into three and four stars respectively. Fusing into the wall above and besides her makeshift throne, the three major elements - darkness, fire and the life and death element - formed a spring each, with pure elemental mana and aura pouring into a basin below it.

Following the example of their three senior luminaries, the four minor stars split into two and spawned another four pools, albeit smaller this time, at each side of the entrance. Together with the recent additions to the cave, the originally dark and lifeless crystals in the vicinity soaked in the energy flow similar to the dragon, acquiring their respective colours and power.

At first, the newly created pools threatened to overflow and spill the precious energy, thankfully the wash-basin sized ponds swallowed whatever amount of mana and aura was poured into them, concentrating their essence and radiating a strong vitality in the process.

Nisha basked in their radiance with her eyes closed, still immersed in her last breakthrough. While she could not see the brilliant covers, which transformed the initially gloomy cave into a wondrous environment, the elf still managed to feel every minute change, from the spawning pools to the changing crystals. Since the [Inner World] hid inside her body, Nisha knew she had the chance to take advantage of this event, syphoning off the excess energy right now to elevate her strength even further.

Pondering over this possibility for a moment, she ultimately decided to abstain from draining the stars, wondering what marvel they would create in the end.

Coincidentally the changes ended at the same time as the little bundle in Nisha’s hands shed the last strands confining it previously, allowing the dragon to get a good look at her new companion.

Clad in purple tear drop style armour, the skin of the little elemental copied the hue of her hair exactly. Although the spirit only had the size of her head, its shape closely resembled a royal knight, being armed with a sword and shield from the moment it was born.

Struggling in her hands to get on the ground and ultimately failing, the spirit cried in a mournful voice, even without a mouth, and bowed to its master. Due to her [Spirit Eyes] Nisha realised the elemental lacked any facial features or any indicators whether it was a male or female, the closed helmet and full body armour fit like a second skin.

While poking the little warrior, she wondered whether or not it could understand her.

“What’s wrong, partner? Why are you crying? Do you feel unwell?”

Nudging it a few times, poking it with her index finger, the elemental could not take it anymore and jumped into the air, hovering just out of reach. Bowing down, again and again, it puzzled Nisha why it felt so apologetic.

“Can you tell me why you keep bowing? I’m not angry with you, so don’t keep regretting your actions. Alright?”

Under her coaxing the purple spirit finally nodded its head and floated on her palm again, uttering several shouts to communicate with her.

Unfortunately, the dragon had no idea how to speak its language and tilted her head left and right, trying to make sense of it. As a matter of fact, the elemental did not even have a mouth to cry with; the sounds appeared by themselves. Unable to comprehend it, the elf finally brought it on eye level and poked it again.

“Can’t you speak in a way that I can understand? I know you want to tell me something, but I have no idea at all what you mean.”

Seeing its mistress distressed and at a loss regarding their conversation, the spirit’s cries turned mournful in nature, lamenting the language barrier between them. Compared to the first actions Accalia made just after coming out of her egg, the elemental acted much more mature. In the end, they made no progress to understand each other, Nisha also did not learn much more about the little spirit’s nature. Regarding food, she had brought quite a few delicacies into her [Inner World] that had yet to appeal to the picky eater’s palate. The elf even offered some of her own stocked monster meat to it, making a great sacrifice.

“Well, you need to make some noises then if you see something you like. Don’t hesitate to come out and point towards it if you find something you like.”

Giving up like this did not sit well with Nisha, but she did not have anything else to offer left.

Fortunately, the spirit did not seem hungry yet and simply played with her, pushing a ball of purple mana towards her, not intending to hurt her but rather to play a game of ball.

Extending her hand and firmly grasping the clump of mana, Nisha had to coat her hands with a layer of her energy before she could throw it back.

In that manner, the two of them played with each other, the elemental always complaining with a wail whenever the ball dissipated or fell to the ground.

Amused by the playful nature of a knight-look-alike, the dragon caught it every so often, poking at the spiritual armour and inspecting the shield and sword, wondering what use they might have.

In that manner the elf might have fallen asleep, her spirit playing with her new companion throughout the night instead of exploring her [Inner World] or practising her skills, when Galan, the butler,  opened the door and shook her awake.