Throughout his long life as a mage, he had handled countless materials and substances, but manipulating a Dragon Heart was a first.
More accurately, engraving a circle into the Dragon Heart was something he had never tried before.
Why had he turned into a dragon?
In Luke’s opinion, it could only be attributed to the imbalance caused by leaving only enough mana in the first and second circles to maintain them, while concentrating all of the accumulated mana into completing the third circle.
Because, there had truly been no other mistakes.
Luke was not inexperienced to the point where he would make errors in the manipulation of magic or engraving circles.
The first and second circles were the very foundation, the bedrock.
And the third circle symbolized a new realm built upon this foundation.
The third circle: the domain of “material.”
From here on, one could say it was the beginning of a true mage.
As Luke felt the presence of the third loop quietly spinning within his heart, he took a deep breath and opened his eyes.
“Hmm…Luke…”
At the sound of his deep breath, Yerna’s murmurs during her sleep came from beside him.
Glancing sideways, he saw Yerna hugging her pillow and tossing and turning.
Thinking about why she was acting this way, Luke remembered that last night he had given her the pillow to keep her from continuously embracing him in her sleep.
‘So, she was that restless.’
Indeed, even he hadn’t anticipated turning into a dragon. What must Yerna have thought?
Still, the foreign sensation lingering between his legs persisted.
Looking down, he saw himself wearing Yerna’s borrowed short-sleeve top, which he had worn like a dress after his pajamas had been shredded during his transformation—a necessity under the circumstances.
Through slightly parted legs, a furred and plump tail had emerged—a remnant of the dragon form and the medium for “sorcerer transformation.”
Perhaps, the principle of transformation wasn’t much different from that of sorcerer transformation.
Concentrating his will, the tail obediently swayed as desired.
Though it was a new sensation, it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
He could understand why Mary had thought it odd that tails were considered inconvenient.
‘It’s not very inconvenient.’
People don’t find their arms or legs inconvenient; similarly, the tail also carried its own natural sensation.
Recalling the feeling of having used the tail to regulate his body temperature, Luke remembered how unbearable the heat became under the blankets, prompting him to remove them all.
‘The tail must play quite a role. The tail of a sorcerer, indeed.’
Surely, no organ in this world is truly unnecessary.
As Luke continued to move his tail, getting used to the sensation, he recalled the instance of his transformation into a dragon.
Though fuzzy and dreamlike in his memory, the emotions lingered even as his body returned to its normal form.
Perhaps it was due to the newly realized ancient elven language.
He had felt parental emotions toward Yerna and a troubling uneasiness with the word “mage.”
It seemed as though these were the feelings possessed by the true owner of this heart.
Eyes closed, Luke focused on the heartbeat, reflecting.
The ferocious dragon, Sigarmata.
The calamity that burned dozens of cities and drove a nation to the brink of collapse.
And yet she was also a sorrowful mother.
At the time Luke had found something unexpected after slaying the dragon.
It wasn’t a hatchling.
Only parts of the dragon’s body remained, including the Dragon Heart, sustained under a form of magic alchemy so subtle it bordered on the creation of a lich’s life essence.
Though different…
No, the truth was simple.
It was the corpse of a young dragon.
The hatchling was already dead. The Dragon Heart alone had been preserved through an anti-decay process.
‘This was tragic.’
Even with over 80% of the land burned and turned uninhabitable, her fury and madness never waned.
Sigarmata.
Even among the strongest dragons, she stood out. Her descent into the role of a ferocious dragon to destroy the world went uncontested, leaving only Luke Ilushi to confront her after decades of rampage.
After subduing the exhausted Sigarmata, Luke uncovered the whole story.
A nation seeking its rival’s destruction had masqueraded as enemy soldiers, slaying the young dragon. Misjudging her target, Sigarmata willingly fell into madness, bringing destruction to the nation.
‘The malice of humankind often proves the most fearsome.’
The mastermind behind this met an ignoble end, serving as a public slave until death from overwork.
Still, the countless lives lost needlessly amidst the chaos wouldn’t have accepted such a resolution.
“Ah…”
A long-buried memory, or rather one consciously avoided, surfaced, as this remembrance was neither desirable nor comfortable.
With a tightening in his chest, Luke took a deep breath and rose from bed.
‘The circle feels a bit stiff.’
Luke steadied his emotions once more, a practice he’d honed through over a century of living.
When Luke fully rose from the bed, his heartbeat and circles had returned to the familiar.
Clutching the window, Luke glanced outside.
As always, the birds chirped, the sunlight basked warmly, and the wind brushed through his hair.
‘A bit too bright.’
Luke slightly squinted at the sun’s brightness, intending to wake early for meditation, but it was already mid-morning.
There was no helping it; today’s meditation would have to proceed without the morning mana.
Humming while gazing out the window, Luke thought,
“Py, why didn’t you wake me up at dawn?”
Py tilted his head in confusion.
-Dawn?
“Haa…”
Did spirits lack the concept of “time”? True, the language of emotion may not require such temporal distinctions.
Or maybe the message was misunderstood.
‘Should I have said to wake me when the sun begins to rise?’
-Need mana/energy/body? Shall I fetch/move it? Just say!
‘No, it’s unnecessary. I don’t wish to rush the seasons.’
Luke hummed while watching a butterfly flutter by.
‘Were I to suddenly drain the entire forest’s mana and alter the weather, it would kill the butterflies.’
As Py and Luke conversed—what an outsider unaware of the elven language might perceive only as pleasant humming—Yerna stirred.
Her eyes first met Luke, who stood by the window, humming anew to the morning light.
Relieved to find him back to his usual self, Yerna smiled.
‘Maybe the tail suits him.’
It wagged unstoppably like a joyful puppy rather than a cat.
His mood seemed genuinely uplifted.
Watching Luke hum while observing the butterfly, his joy was apparent.
Today’s Luke seemed especially bright.
Yerna, relieved, greeted him,
“Luke, good morning.”
“Ah, you’ve woken up. Indeed, it’s a fine morning, Yerna.”
An ordinary greeting. Nothing had changed, after all.
—
Following Luke’s return to human form, they asked him many questions.
Why had he become this way? What exactly had happened? And how much did he remember?
Without hesitation, Luke replied,
“What secrets could I possibly hide? My memory remains incomplete, so I can’t tell you the full extent. What I do know is that my heart is made from a dragon’s.”
Dayton expressed surprise, “Dragon? A real dragon?”
Sorbi nudged Kirke in the ribs,
“See? I told you it was a dragon.”
“Definitely monstrous magic, didn’t think dragons had fur, though.”
Luke addressed Kirke,
“Ah, yes. Most likely some monstrous magic elements were involved as well.”
“Huh? Also monstrous magic?”
“Of course, they certainly were.”
Daphne adjusted her glasses, eyes widening,
“So that’s why…now I understand why three different and unusual mana patterns were detected, not only from humans but other creatures too.”
“You were a chimera then, Luke.”
“Chimera…”
Dayton quietly muttered.
It was indeed distinctive. Such a form suggested someone ‘created,’ rather than ‘born.’
“That’s why the magical senses differ from ordinary people, not because of the circles.”
Luke calmly nodded,
“Perhaps so.”
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Knowing that would have prevented so much misunderstanding.”
“Dayton, at the time, my memory was incomplete as well.”
At that moment, Yerna was deeply shocked by the confirmation of what she had been speculating.
‘Human experiments…’
It made far too much sense.
“Luke, so your memories have returned fully?”
“Though there are things I don’t recall, for the most part, yes.”
Yerna’s expression turned serious as she locked eyes with Luke,
“Do you remember who made you?”
“Of course.”
“…Will you tell us? Of course, no pressure.”
“That’s rather straightforward. ‘Me’.”
“…What? Huh? What exactly…?”
They were all dumbfounded.
“In other words, ‘Luke Ilushi’ made me. I created myself toward the end of my life, researching immortality… and woke up 5000 years later…”
As Luke continued his explanation, Yerna’s gaze grew skeptical, eventually wiping her eyes as she patted Luke’s shoulder.
While the idea of a fairy tale hero was alluring, 5000 years is not an easily conceivable span of time.
‘Immortality’ for dragons equated to a thousand years, making 5000 years the span of five dragon lifetimes, an unbridgeable gap.
Moreover, considering Luke’s past actions, none present could conjure an image of the ‘Luke Ilushi’ from those tales.
“Th, that’s enough, Luke. You don’t need to strain to remember. If it doesn’t come to you, that’s fine. There are enough clues already. Right now, it’s all too confusing.”
Just recall how they first met Luke.
Stripped bare, shackled with collars and restraints, transferred like cargo—a moment vivid in Yerna’s memory.
Could the ‘mortal god of the material plane’ known five thousand years ago have enjoyed such treatment?
If so, Luke wouldn’t express gratitude as he does now.
“And if that statement is true, that’s saying the ancient sage Luke Ilushi was a perverted old man hiding in a girl’s body.”
“That’s…”
At the hit to the core, Luke shrank, his tail perking up sharply, appearing shaken.
“Hey, Dayton!… To completely negate it like that, what if he transforms completely into a dragon?”
After all, regardless of whether it was a delusion, this was Luke’s current sense of identity.
Denying it outright!
Yerna whispered sharply,
“If he fully transforms into a dragon, what’ll you do?”
“Ah, yea…? Sorry! Luke! Oh! It really was Luke Ilushi! Of course, it fits! I totally believed it!”
“…”
Luke closed his mouth.
‘To say more would result in either ridicule or being deemed a pervert.’
‘Right. Ultimately, there’s only one path for me to prove this.’
He must become a grand mage.
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