SSS Rank Sword Mage: Awakening Starts with Weakest Mana Affinity Chapter 52 52: The Bond of Brothers

My head throbbed, my limbs were heavy as if I had swum for hours against a raging current. For a mont, I couldn't rember where I was.

Ah, crap, this is the second ti I've blacked out in this cave. I'll make it a must not to experience it again, tch.

Plash, plash, plash.

"What? I feel water all over my face, so even getting into my ears. Whoever is doing this, cut it out!"

Plash, plash.

"I said, cut it out!"

Wait, before I passed out… Morad! He definitely survived…

Plash, plash, SPLASH!

"Wait, it's working! I'm waking up…"

----

My eyelids dragged open. Then the mories struck all at once.

The fry convulsing in my hands. Morad's frantic cries. My desperate attempt to force my mana into his tiny body. My vision blurring, my strength draining, and then blinding light.

Splash, SPLASH!

"Cut it out, dumbass! I'm awake, you know!"

"ASTRAGA! BROTHER!"

A floating adult koi fish nuzzled my face like a pet dog. If he had a long tongue, I'd bet he would have used it, too.

"Morad…" My voice cracked as I pushed myself upright.

My body swayed; the world around was a bit shaky.

But in front of ... how did he...? No, in fact, why is he this big? Growing from a koi fry to an adult size instantly was crazy. His scales shimred with streaks of radiant gold and deep orange, each pattern flowing across its body. The fragile fry that had once fit in my palm was gone. In its place was a creature far too magnificent, floating in the air as if the air was its pond now.

Morad, sounding more excited than ever, zipped back towards .

"Brother! You're awake! I thought I had lost you."

I rubbed my eyes over and over, as if that would help what I was seeing. "Morad… are you sure we both aren't dead?"

"What? No, brother! The vessel transfer was complete! This is a perfect host." Morad moved around , floating around the cave with ease.

I had to rub my eyes again. "Please, Morad, tell I'm not crazy, but the last ti I checked, fish don't fly…"

"No, Astraga, this is one of my many abilities! And again, I'm not a fish, I'm a draaaagon!"

"Yeah, dragon, sure, but my eyes see fish. Let's just agree to disagree."

Now standing upright, I glanced at the pond, confirming everything was fine, but I still had an overly excited fish in front of .

"Wheeeeeeeeee! Look how fast I can go, Astraga!" He moved at a swimmably fast rate around , ending with a loud "Yahoo!" at the end.

"Wow, you really are loving this."

"Of course, I am! Been trapped in a pendant for years. Now I'm freeee!"

For a mont, I couldn't hide my smile. Relief crashed into so suddenly it almost hurt. A strangled laugh tore out of , halfway to tears. "Idiot… you scared half to death!"

Morad chuckled, his body swirling playfully in the air. "Scared myself too. Honestly, I thought that was it. But… sothing happened, Brother."

"Really? Like what?" I asked.

"Yes, yes. Just at the mont when you poured your mana into , it didn't kill . It in a way kinda completed the process. It… woke sothing inside."

I sagged a bit as Morad tried to help stand. I was still shaken by the mana I lost; this must be what it felt like to be completely drained of mana not an experience I'd want again.

Now staring at Morad, my breath caught. "...What?"

"What the hell is that behind you?"

Morad turned around, looking just as shocked and scared as a fish would be in water, but this ti, he was in the air. "Where, brother, what is it?"

"Why the heck is your tail glowing?" His tail now glead with a white or silver aura. This was never ntioned in Father's books on Mana Beasts.

"Oh, that?" Morad didn't seem surprised. "That is my ability called Iron Tail."

Morad explained as he said When Iron Tail lands, the strike is shown to be incredibly powerful, often breaking rock, shattering precious stones like diamonds, or knocking back much larger opponents." He added that this was one of the many reasons his master, Gilgash, had so much interest in him, as he said when it ca to base form, nobody could match him.

"Iron Tail, huh? So how exactly did you and Gilgash use it?"

Morad replied, suddenly shy as he revealed the whole truth. "Well, the issue with Iron Tail is it needs quick attacks. As you can tell, I'm not very fast in the air."

"So Iron Tail works best in water?"

"Well, no, also slow there, too, hahaha."

Shaking my head, I conceded it was still a dangerous ability, but without speed it lacked true lethality. Hmm… how do we fix that?

"Morad, what other abilities do you have?"

Morad spun back toward , scales flashing in the light. "Oh, well, if I rember correctly, I've got Piercing Shot and Water Volley."

From what I gathered, Piercing Water Shot concentrated water into a needle-thin jet and fired it at blinding speed. The sheer force was enough to pierce through armor, scales, wood even bone. Water Bullet Volley, on the other hand, unleashed a rain of rapid-fire projectiles. Each shot lacked the destructive power of the spear, but in overwhelming numbers, they beca just as deadly.

Morad then replied, "As I'm sure you realize by now, I'm a Water-type Dragon Seed. My attacks work best with water, but from the looks of it, I'm still low on mana."

This was actually great. Now that I had Morad on my side, I was sure we could grow stronger together. But if Morad could rember all these details about his master and abilities, why couldn't he rember what happened in Derrick's domain against the demon? That was still a mystery to .

Snapping out of my thoughts, Morad, now more energetic than ever, finally said what had been on his mind since the rging was complete:

"Astraga, brother, are you ready to link our cores?"

This was it the mont we would bond our cores together as we headed on the journey to dragonhood.

"Even if you're young now, that doesn't change the fact that there will be nobody else I would prefer. I only hope for one thing, Astraga: to beco a dragon..."

Smirking, I replied, "Look at you, Morad, talking all tough now. I will want no other dragon seed—I an, brother—and I will help you with that dream."

"Well, what are you waiting for? How do we bond?" I asked.