Three options. Each with predictable outcomes.
Ether Breathing: Passive accumulation. Slow exponential growth. Useless against immediate threats. Wait time: 3 months.
Ether Prodigy: Instant perfection. Observable improvement. Moderate combat advantage. Wait time: 7 months.
Genius Mind: Cognitive enhancement. Compounds all future growth. Creates information asymmetry. Wait time: 1 year.
The decision was elementary.
"I'm barely a week old," Null said aloud, testing the logic. "Dragons live for millennia. A year is 0.1% of a thousand-year lifespan. Negligible."
Every skill learned would be optimized. Every technique observed would be understood completely. Every enemy analyzed would become predictable. The tactical advantage would only grow with time.
Decision made.
[Creating Skill: Genius Mind]
[Description: Enhanced learning speed and comprehension. Master any subject, technique, or skill far faster than normal.]
[Confirm?]
"Confirm."
The change was instant—not painful—just restructuring—his thoughts, previously linear, split into parallel processes. The dragon language he'd been understanding through instinct suddenly revealed its grammatical structure, its etymological roots, and its seventeen tonal variations that changed meaning. The ambient ether in the air showed patterns—currents, densities, and flows he hadn't noticed before.
Interesting.
[Skill Created: Genius Mind]
[Next Skill Available In: 365 Days]
The countdown embedded itself in his consciousness. Background process. Non-intrusive.
His mind immediately began calculating skill combinations. After Genius Mind: Ether Breathing for resource accumulation, Perfect Memory for data retention, and Parallel Thinking for simultaneous strategy processing. Each path had probabilities, advantages, and optimal timing.
But that was future planning—current objective: morning training.
Aurora waited at the training grounds—humanoid form. Hair tied back. Stance indicated she'd been waiting approximately three minutes based on the frost patterns where her ether had cooled the morning dew.
"We begin with ether circulation," she announced. "Yesterday, you learned to channel for flight. Today, for combat."
She demonstrated. Ether flowed through her body in precise patterns. Null's enhanced cognition didn't just observe—it analyzed. Eight primary channels create the main circuit, and sixteen secondary channels prevent overflow and maintain balance. Energy efficiency: 97.3%. Pattern: replicable with modifications for his smaller frame.
"I can see the pattern," Null stated.
Aurora's pupils dilated slightly. Surprise. "Explain."
"Eight primary channels. Sixteen secondary. The primaries handle reinforcement while secondaries maintain equilibrium. The pattern spirals clockwise from the core, probably because you're right-dominant."
Silence. Aurora's heart rate elevated by approximately 4 BPM. Confusion mixed with curiosity.
"That's… precisely correct. Show me."
Null replicated the technique. His body wasn't developed enough—muscles strained, channels too narrow—efficiency: 61%. But the pattern was correct.
"Again," Aurora commanded.
He adjusted. 63% efficiency. Again. 65%. His Genius Mind catalogued each micro-adjustment, building a database of what worked. By the tenth attempt: 71% efficiency.
"Your learning speed is anomalous," Aurora observed. Not suspicious. Curious.
"It just makes logical sense," Null replied. Truth within deception. It did make logical sense—now.
Aurora attacked without warning, striking with a palm strike at 30% speed. Null's mind calculated trajectory, force, and optimal response. His body moved too slowly. The strike connected, sending him sliding back. Ether circulation is shattered.
"Maintain circulation during combat," she instructed.
They drilled for two hours. Attack patterns. Defense matrices. Counter-sequences. Null's mind absorbed everything. Aurora favored right-side attacks 62% of the time. She shifted weight to her back leg 0.3 seconds before tail strikes. When frustrated, her ether flared in her shoulders first.
Data. Patterns. Predictability.
"You're analyzing me," Aurora said during a break. Not accusatory. Amused.
"You're my only reference point for proper technique," Null responded.
She actually smiled. "Then let me give you more data."
The next three hours were brutal. Aurora demonstrated forty-seven distinct combat techniques. Null's body could barely execute twelve of them, but his mind understood all forty-seven perfectly. He knew the mechanics, the applications, the counters. Physical limitations were temporary. Knowledge was permanent.
Aerial combat came next. Three-dimensional movement while maintaining combat readiness. His mind tracked position, velocity, angle of attack, wind resistance, and ether distribution. There were too many variables for normal processing, but the Genius Mind handled it, creating predictive models and calculating optimal flight paths.
Aurora darted around him. To observers, she'd be a golden blur. To Null, she was data being collected in real-time. First pass: approach from above, angle 47 degrees, strike with right claw. Second pass: feint left, actual attack from below. Third pass: spiral pattern, attempting to disorient.
His mind catalogued each approach. After twenty exchanges, patterns emerged. Aurora had seven preferred attack angles. Each angle had subtle variations—speed, timing, and follow-up strikes. Based on execution, he designated Patterns 1 through 7, with variants A through D.
She came at him again. Upper approach, slight leftward spiral, acceleration at the last second. Pattern 7, variant B.
His tail swept where she would be, not where she was.
It connected. Barely a graze, but contact nonetheless.
Aurora stopped mid-flight. "How?"
"You repeat patterns," Null said. "Seven distinct attack approaches. You just used the second variation of your seventh pattern."
Her expression was unreadable. Then she laughed—genuine, warm. "My son, the analyst. You truly are something unique."
Null filed that information away. Aurora's pride in his abilities. Emotional significance: high.
Training continued until late afternoon, for a total of seven hours. Null's body was exhausted and bruised, pushed beyond its limits. But his mind had catalogued 341 distinct combat observations, built 23 theoretical counterstrategies, and identified 18 weaknesses in his own form to correct tomorrow.
"Same time tomorrow," Aurora said, returning to her humanoid form.
"Mother," Null asked, timing the question for when her emotional state was most receptive. "My ether has no color. When will my element manifest?"
Aurora's hand touched his head gently.
"When it's ready. Some dragons manifest immediately. Others take years. You're unique, my little star. Your element will be too."
"When will I get my humanoid form?"
"When you turn five years old. It's the same for all dragons - our bodies need that time to develop the ability to shift between forms." She smiled. "Patience, little one. Time moves quickly when you're learning."