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The next day went very much like yesterday. I kept myself busy with training, in my workshop, and playing with Spot and his siblings. But at night, I got a call from someone I hadn't heard from in weeks.

From the dragon scale I always keep on me, I felt its presence touch my mind. [Professor Sageira, I have not heard from you in quite some time. What can I do for you?]

[Not only did I want to check in, but I also have something I want to ask you about later. But for now, how are you doing?] She asked.

We talked for a while as I regaled her with my adventures in the harpy mountains and slaying intelligent undead. Like the intellectual she was, she was more interested in my undead removal than my harpy raiding mission, more specifically, the story the mural tells about the boy's life until his death.

[It happens sometimes. If death is caused by the death energy produced by necromancers, there is a chance the bodies can rise as undead, and your hypothesis has some truth to it. People who have enough life experience and willpower, or those who were mages before death, have a higher probability of rising as undead if their corpses are exposed to a necromancer’s death energies, so it makes sense that the Death Knight was intelligent. As for his ward, I suspect that he had the mana, but not the will or life experience to retain much of his ego.] she mused.

[A shame. On the bright side, the wall I made around the graveyard was not put to the test. It would have stopped the mindless shamblers, but the Death Knight would have blown through it without any problems… So, what was the other thing you wanted to talk to me about?] I asked.

[Ah, right, that… I would like to ask a favor of you. It is something of a family matter.] she said, which made me raise an eyebrow.

[When you say “family matter”, I take it that you are not talking about some adoptive human family that I do not know about?] I ask.

[No.]

[By process of elimination, that means that this request has to do with dragons?] I probed further.

[Yes.]

I take a deep breath to calm myself. She has done a lot for me throughout the years, so the least I could do is listen to the request. [Alright, let's hear it.]

[I need you to beat up a dragon.] she said without further context or elaboration.

[Is this some kind of powerplay thing? One of your relatives sends someone to mess up your stuff, and you are sending me to beat them up to prove a point?] I ask and receive a sigh from her side.

[No, how should I explain this?... basically, I have a great-great-grand nephew that needs a beating from friendly hands before he runs into something or someone that can really kill him. This is mainly to teach him not to underestimate the weaker races. I could hire a mercenary band or expert slayers to beat him within an inch of his life, but I do not trust them not to deliver the killing blow and turn him into weapons and armor.] she explained.

[Ok, fair enough, but as much as your trust in me fills me with joy, you do realise that I am only one man and you are asking me to face off against a dragon… hell, I may look like it, but technically not even old enough to be considered a man yet.] I protested.

[Oh, calm down, I would not ask this of you if I did not think you were capable of it. Besides, he is only fifty years old, barely out of the nest.] she said as she tried to assure me.

[That statement is not as reassuring as you think it is. What is that in terms of size?] I asked

[I would say twenty meters from snout to tail, give or take.] she answered.

[That is still massive. You can manhandle me when you shapeshift into a smaller dragon form, what chance do you think I have fighting a bigger dragon?]

[Relax, he is not as dangerous as you think he is. Compared to your spars with me, he would be moving as slow as flowing honey, and from what his parents told me, he has not learned any magic yet. All he knows is to thrash around with his mana-infused body and breath attacks. Our practice with your Primal Aura is a fiercer battle than anything he can handle at his level.] she assured me.

After giving it a few seconds of thought, I sighed and replied, [Fine. But I want something in exchange.]

[Name it, as long as it is not something too outrageous.] she said nonchalantly.

[I want to learn Dragon Tongue. I read from the legends that its very words can warp reality, and I can think of a few applications for it.]

There was a moment of silence before she said, [I could teach you Dragon Tongue, but honestly, you literally don't have the tongue or mouth for it. Others have tried learning it before, but could not replicate it because they just could not pronounce the words, and even if you were able to pronounce it, I don't know if you have the mana to pull it off. Are you sure you want to learn it?]

[Let me worry about that. If I succeed, it will be another useful skill set I can use. If I fail, at least I can understand what a dragon is saying if I ever meet another one.] I replied with a mental shrug.

[That… actually gives me an idea. Dragons around his age usually like to taunt their prey in Dragon Tongue because they think learning the common language is below them. I will teach you Dragon Tongue in advance. If you manage to speak it, help me beat the common language into his skull.] she offered.

[I am amenable to that, but aren't you busy? It is the middle of the school term, and studying a language is going to take a lot longer than kicking my ass in training when you previously flew over every night. Besides, from the way we are discussing things, it sounds like this matter with your great-great-grand nephew is not that time sensitive.]

[It's not. At the moment, he is satisfied with raiding northern barbarian tribes for the meager amount of gold and silver they have, and the frozen north is all he knows. When it is time to spring the trap for you to beat him, his parents will inform him that there are riches down south.]

It took a few seconds for her words to process before I formed a mental map of where I would engage this dragon. North of where I am is the Valorhelm Dominion. Further north of that is a place simply known as The Frozen North, where barbarians live. That means… [Am I going to be fighting your great-great-grand nephew at the border of the Valorhelm Dominion?] I asked.

[That's the plan.] she replied.