Nihility [ Isekai • Dragon Evolution ]

I was invited by Henry to go to his tent, as the medical tent was "not appropriate for two future great beings". If I had any doubts he was trying to gain political favors with me before, then now I was 100% sure, and unfortunately for him it would be all for naught when this loop ends and the next start. Speaking of the ending and start of the loops, I had to wonder why it was so sudden and the feeling I always feel when the loop is going to end didn't happen last loop. Was it something inside the medical tent? Or was it because my soul is wounded? I couldn't know for sure and doubt I would for a while.

We made our way to Henry's tent, the biggest and most luxurious of all of them. I didn't fail to notice that there were two tired looking knights leaving the tent as we entered and I soon found out why. There was a couple of heavy and luxurious looking furniture that weren't here on past loops and a few others were missing, and I was sure the young noble would tell me what the new ones were and where the other ones went in a moment.

"I know this humble tent is not what you're accustomed to" He said. And honestly? This was the most expensive tent I had ever seen in both of my lives, but who was I to correct him? "But unfortunately we couldn't bring the appropriate supplies for a being of your status" He then showed me a black wooden bookshelf filled with leather covered books. "These are the books we brought during our small expedition into the forest and I'm sure you will find their contents very helpful to your learning journey"

Honestly I was impressed at how "selfless" he was, considering I saw how bratty he was on the previous loops… But I think it makes sense, considering he is currently trying to get a favour out of me, and he is a noble. I think that's one of the first things they teach their young "How to exploit the working class 101" I snicker at my lame joke about how the nobles I was taught in school behaved.

He looked at me curiously as he heard my laugh and I masked it with a cough. I didn't even know if dragons could cough or not, but I just did.

"I see. I must thank you for your hospitality. May I look through your collection?" I started speaking, not giving him time to think too much about my laugh and cough. And fortunately he ignored them and started answering me.

"Of course. You said you were looking about how humans make magic, right? Then this one might help clarify things for you" He said as he pointed to a book and then snapped his fingers. The butler walked over and grabbed the book Henry was pointing to and brought it to him, then he picked up the book and presented it to me… Yep… Entitled.

I looked at the book, it had a somewhat simple brown cover, with a few runes here and there and the words "Foundations of Magic" written in gold on it. It was basic to someone who came from Earth, like me, but if I were to guess this book was very impressive in their standards.

"It might not be much, but it's only the start of our collection" Henry said as he observed my non-impressed reaction. He snapped his fingers once more and the butler picked up the next book and brought it to him, to which he placed the first one in one of the tables next to him and showed me the new one.

This one was slightly more impressive. It was filled with golden lines and runes in intricate patterns around the book, the cover was a deep blue and had the words "The principles of magical circuits" written in silver. Henry seemed to notice I was more impressed with this one than the last one, as he placed it closer to me and said that I could take it and read it in his tent, as a courtesy. I of course accepted it. I'm not stupid to not take advantage of this situation. They completely mistook me for someone coming from this "Myriad Palace" they're talking about, and I'm more than happy to capitalize on top of it. If they find out? I just need to wait for the loop to end and the next to start.

I picked the book from Henry's hand, he smiled as I did it, but tried to hide it and failed, and opened it up on the first page. There was nothing on the first page and only had anything written on the third page. This felt familiar, did Earth's authors do the same thing? I couldn't remember.

"You can use these chairs if you'd like" Henry said as he looked at me, opening the book and starting to read it while I sat on the ground. I took one look at the chair and knew I wouldn't be able to sit properly on it. It was too small for me to reach the table without having to stand up on my hind legs. The butler seemed to notice it as well as he placed his hand on Henry's right shoulder and started addressing him.

"Master Henry. Perhaps you should show him the accommodations for him to spend the night as well?" The butler said, which Henry looked annoyed for a second before putting on the fakest smile I ever saw and started walking towards one corner of the tent.

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"Mister dragon. I took the opportunity to show you how grateful our House Darnas is towards the Myriad Palace by preparing this tent for your stay. This bed can be used by you for as long as you wish to stay here" He said. I could see the small tinge of anger he had on his face while saying it. He probably was told to show utmost respect towards people from this Myriad Palace, but on a level he can't comprehend it's not below him. It was probably the work of the butler, but I didn't mind as it meant I would sleep on a comfortable bed for the first time since being reborn and coming to this world.

Henry stayed the next few minutes showing around his tent and basically showing off to me while at the same time saying the things he was showing off were for me like I hadn't seen them a few loops earlier in the exact same place. Eventually he left to the tent right in front of this one, but not before saying they would be planning a small banquet for me in the morning. I'll be honest, it was hard to resist the temptation of just coming back here every loop and being treated like a royal. But I had a job to do, I needed to close the loop and find my friends.

I looked at the two books Henry first showed me and decided to pick the first one, the "Foundations of Magic". It wasn't as impressive as "The Principles of Magic Circuit", but I needed the basics of the basics to understand anything else. I knew I could use my skill to program magic, but I doubt it was the same for the people of this world. And who knows? Maybe there's a key to end the loops on these books.

I took the book and laid down on the bed offered to me and to say it was soft was an understatement. It was the softest bed I ever laid down, even in my previous life. If I could I would steal this bed for myself, but unfortunately I couldn't as it would just come back here when at the end of the loop. Fighting back the small sleepiness the bad brought, I opened the index of the book to read the title of the chapters.

"Sensing the Invisible: The Path to [Magicule Detection]" was the first chapter, which I guess made sense. The second one was called "Guiding the Flow: The First Lessons in [Magicule Manipulation]". After reading the names of those two chapters I noticed how lucky I was to be born already with both of those skills and not needing to learn them by hand, as I doubt I would be able to do it.

Just out of curiosity I opened the first page of the first chapter and started reading out loud.

"Magicules exist in every aspect of the world, be it in the air, the ground or the very book you are reading right now. The first path to become a mage is to be able to sense this hidden energy that is so abundant in our lives"

"For one to acquire the skill [Magicule Detection] one must close their eyes and look inwards. Feel the rhythm of your heart, the flow of your blood. If you have any skills you will need to use them and try to grasp the fleeting sensation of the flow of magicules around your body, forming a complex structure of blah blah blah blah" I could keep reading, it was too esoteric for me and the comfyness of the bed. It also reminded me of those cultivation novels where you need to feel the Qi inside of you and stuff… I didn't like those. I just skimmed through the first pages and was again glad I was born with the skill instead of having to learn it myself. I wouldn't be able to meditate and feel the flow of magicules. Even now with it at level 3 I could only feel it if I focused on the skill.

I skipped to the next chapter, the one focusing on [Magicule Manipulation]. Thankfully it wasn't as esoteric as the first one, considering you'd already have access to [Magicule Detection], but it still wanted you to meditate on your own flow of magicules. Though, it gave me an insight I didn't have.

Currently whenever I tried to move my own magicules I wrapped them in my mental energy and then shaped that mental wrap in the shape I wanted, or moved it however I wanted. But the book told me to infuse my mental energy within the magicules instead of around it.

I closed my eyes and focused on my hand, on the magicules flowing through it as it coursed through my body. I first wrapped my mental energy around it as I had done it many times before, but instead of just keeping it there and shaping the mental energy, I tried to slowly fuse them. I was almost surprised by how easily my mental energy fused with my magicules and became 100% under my control. It even used less mental energy overall than the method I was using before

Oh. Wow. It seemed this method was the way to go, then. If I leveled up my skill just by doing this small infusion.

For the next few hours I kept reading the book, but unfortunately the new method of controlling magicules was the most I could understand, the rest of the book was just full of, what was to me, nonsense. I knew it wasn't, as it was literally a book for nobles and stuff, but whenever I read "The elemental magicule answers the will of the caster" and the rest of the sentence is literally describing how to chant a spell is kinda of a bummer and a little funny when I could just pull my skill and create a small flame over my hand instead of saying a full five verses chant to create the same spell.

I wasn't sure when I fell asleep but the next thing I knew there was a finger poking my head and muzzle. When I opened my eyes I saw the face of the young elf girl looking at me.

"Oh hi! I didn't know humans had white dragons as pets!" She said.