Dissecting an Infinite Dragon

As his mentor, Solarian asked him which school of magic he wanted to choose as his major.

Orendo chose, "Only children make choices. Adults take them all!"

Most of that confidence naturally came from the Eye of Truth.

After all, even the Eye of Truth said that his energy affinity was suitable for nearly every school.

Since that was the case, what else was there to say?

He would learn them all. Whether he could master them was another matter, but if he could, wouldn't that be incredible?

It was really that simple.

But in Solarian's eyes, even Prince Kael'thas only majored in enhancement and evocation, while minoring in illusion, protection, and conjuration. Orendo's choice made his ambitions seem enormous.

Yet Solarian did not know that only a small part of her judgment came from reason. Most of it came from the fact that after choosing his path as a mage, Orendo's arcane scent had somehow become more pleasing.

Orendo left his great-aunt's mage tower amid her reluctant farewell. She had even hoped he would stay in her mage tower, but he refused.

He wanted to return to the dormitory.

The reason was simple—there was a big shot in the dormitory who had told him to return every day.

So Orendo spent half the afternoon in the library, reading until the sky began to darken, then immediately hurried back to the apprentice dormitory.

He returned to the apprentice dormitory that belonged to only him and her, then found the spot from last night.

He knocked on the door.

The next second—

With a creak, the door opened by itself.

The operating table and surgical instruments were all there.

She was inside as well.

"Good evening, ma'am." Orendo did not know how he should address her, so he could only greet her with the best smile he could manage.

"This is tonight's dissection subject." She did not respond to his greeting. With a light wave of her hand, a monster wreathed in gray-black mist fell onto the operating table.

It was a calf-sized monster covered in scales, with teeth and claws. Its head was nearly as large as its body, and a pair of disproportionately tiny wings grew from its back.

The moment Orendo saw it, his pupils contracted.

"Looks like you recognize it." There was a teasing look on the proud-faced female mage's face. "How interesting. An apprentice actually recognizes such a strange monster."

Of course he recognized it. Wasn't it an Infinite Dragon hatchling?

Naturally, he would not admit that before her. Otherwise, it would be strange for a mage apprentice who had never left the Hillsbrad Foothills to recognize a dragon breed that even archmages might not know about.

He hurriedly explained, "I have read books related to dragons in the Dalaran library. They included illustrations of dragons at every stage of growth. It looks almost identical to a dragon hatchling, except its color is somewhat strange... May I ask whether this is some variant of dragon?"

The female mage seemed neither to confirm nor deny his explanation. "This is an Infinite Dragon hatchling. Infinite Dragons are a variant of Bronze Dragons."

"You want me to dissect it?"

"You don't dare?"

"What is there to fear? To mages, every part of a dragon is a treasure. To mages, every part of a dragon is a secret. If they did not fear drawing the punishment of dragonkind, I think every mage would want the chance to study dragons."

The female mage nodded and continued, "Then what are you waiting for? Come. Let us see what secrets a dragon holds."

What else could Orendo say? Even if he regretted anything, he only regretted why he had fired that Fireball in the backyard in the first place!

She was a big shot capable of capturing even a mysterious, elusive creature like an Infinite Dragon hatchling with such urgency.

Fortunately, she did not seem hostile toward him. Otherwise, Orendo felt that he would not last even a second.

[Host, you are far too confident. She only needs a single thought to destroy you as you are now...]

"Shut up!"

Orendo flew into a rage from embarrassment and told the Eye of Truth to stop babbling.

But honestly, he did not feel much psychological pressure about dissecting an Infinite Dragon hatchling.

Picking up the surgical instruments specially prepared by the female mage, Orendo stepped before the operating table—the lighting over it seemed to have been improved by her, because it was much brighter than yesterday. He no longer needed to use Light Spell.

As he examined the hatchling, which was clearly restrained by magic, Orendo said, "I have not read any books about dissecting dragons. My knowledge of dragons is limited to a few superficial details."

She still had that noncommittal expression.

For some reason, Orendo liked being like this. As long as he picked up a scalpel, he became very calm.

Who knew why? He had not been a surgeon in his previous life.

In a strangely detached state of mind, Orendo began working on the unfortunate Infinite Dragon hatchling.

He planned to kill it with one stroke. Dissecting a dead creature was always easier than dissecting a live one. Unfortunately, he had never read any books on dissecting dragons, so the Eye of Truth's assistance did not take effect.

As a result, Orendo stabbed the Infinite Dragon hatchling three or four times near its head before finally killing it—in a dissection, mages would never casually strike at a dissected creature, because for creatures worthy of a mage's dissection, their hearts were often the most important organs of study.

It would be bad if he damaged it.

The specially made scalpel easily sliced through scales that blades could hardly harm. Under the suppressive effects of magic, the Infinite Dragon hatchling's corpse did not spray blood everywhere.

This was unlike last night's dissection of the imp. When dissecting the imp, he had already seen anatomical diagrams of fel imps, whose physiological characteristics were identical to those of imps.

Last night's dissection had been more like turning textbook knowledge into real practice.

Tonight's dissection, however, was a genuine exploration. There was little knowledge to draw upon, no textbook, only an entirely new investigation.

Orendo first examined the Infinite Dragon hatchling's claws and teeth.

His conclusion was that they were very similar to a crocodile's! The muscles this young dragon used to close its mouth were stronger than those used to open it. Its teeth also resembled a crocodile's: canines for tearing and piercing, incisors for cutting flesh, and a set of molars for clamping and grinding.

The only difference from a crocodile was that this Infinite Dragon hatchling's mouth could stretch open like a snake's, widening to an extreme degree.

He had originally wanted to study its spines, claws, and horns, but it was only a hatchling. Some of its claws, spines, and horns had not even begun to grow.

As the dissection progressed, Orendo began extending his bloody hands toward the hatchling's major internal organs.

It took him quite a while to open the hatchling's skull and begin studying its brain.

After observing it, he discovered that a dragon's brain was very large, both in absolute size and relative to its body.

Judging by the locations corresponding to the human and lizard brain, the parts of the dragon's brain responsible for memory and reasoning were particularly pronounced. That was why dragons were so intelligent. There were also certain regions that might control functions unique to dragons, but Orendo was completely at a loss when it came to those.

Fortunately, the female mage's voice cut in at just the right time. "That is a dragon's microcerebellar lobe. It possesses synapses directly connected to the optic nerves. It is generally believed that this microcerebellar lobe creates a dragon's fierce aura—the source of what is known as dragon might."

A master!

Since she had spoken up, Orendo, his hands covered in blood, began asking questions.

This was the first time he had discussed things with this mysterious female mage in such a manner, and also the first time he had spoken so much to her.

If the scene had not been quite so bloody, it might even have looked rather harmonious...