@Blitz Boom
"I dare to claim that, if one lives as long as I have, there is no excuse for ignorance." Vaz stated regarding the comment on his familiarity of things, his tone, while still friendly, being slightly more direct on the statement.
"Cooperation is something I too suggest, for I have nothing to gain here." "My investigation is a case of mere curiosity, and the knowledge I may gain is more use to you than it would ever be to me." "But admittedly, I will provide not much help in search, as what I felt was but an instant, giving me a direction, nothing more."
"For titles, as I expressed, I'm merely a lone wanderer." "I have been called many titles, the mage, the wanderer, the lone one; various names in various languages, meaning many things." "A scholar seeks knowledge to document it, to share it." "My kind does do that, we send a pair or a party to seek knowledge, but I am not such." "I am a lone mage, the last of my family, and while I share what I gather, that is not the purpose of my travel." "My quest for knowledge is personal, to seek knowledge yet created, to undo actions long past." as the first break from his seemingly unchanging emotions, Vaz put his hand on the symbol on his armor, his movement being oddly tender, with hint of pain flashing in his green eyes "My existence as I am, is due to a failure of colossal scale." "Mistake unforgivable."
"I am not one worthy of a title of honor, I am simply a fool, who, as some on the surface say, flew too close to the sun; but instead of burning myself, I burned the world, and now I walk in the ashes, seeking to atone."
Solar had several questions at this point, but he let Magma do the speaking because he figured she was lot more...sensitive about it, and thus had a lover risk to accidentally start conflict. He would have been lot more direct if they weren't in a populated train.
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"And I'm not particularly interested in babysitting a death-bringer forever either." Voltaick said quite bluntly "But no matter how much you may know of Equestrian weather magic, it does not fully translate, not only is the magic of my kin and death-bringers different, it is likely that we are also talking about some biological factors, as our aptitude with electricity is part biological." "Charir being a hybrid complicates things further, as we rarely get a chance to study them, as not only are they rare, they don't always come here; if they even survive long enough to learn their nature as a hybrid in the first place."
Leviathan was right to wonder about Charir's capability to understand, not because the magic allowing them to understand each other didn't work, but due to Charir's objectively awful upbringing; he barely spoke his own language, his vocabulary being considerably lesser to Ruby's, especially when it came to words relating to more positive concepts, and while impressive magic, it couldn't translate something that somebody didn't know a word for in any language.
This however wasn't a problem in what Leviathan said, as Charir understood it perfectly, what caused issues was responding, because what he wanted to say was a simple thank you, but he didn't really have any words for it, the only form of being 'thankful' he knew, was in insulting, sarcastic way, and that wasn't what he wanted to say. He didn't ask about the hug, at least not yet, as while it still was bit weird to him, he had kinda figured out the messaging behind it. Besides, it wasn't entirely foreign concept, after all, even their kind had the instinct to get close to their mothers for protection when they hatched, it was just that it was quickly beaten out of them, sometimes literally. He also didn't know what a hug was called, so he needed to think a way to word it.
It did also make it bit harder to respond that he simply wasn't used to hearing so many compliments in the same statement, he didn't know how to process it, because while of course there was pride, lot of negativity also came and tired to stifle it.
He did get out a some kind of response though, be it a quiet one, signaling his uncertainty in his words "I appreciate you greatly, Leviathan." as he said the name, the familiar accent made an appearance, since it was a honest attempt to say it in the proper way, rather than the magics doing "I have a lot to say to you, when I can" he then attempted a smile after Leviathan pulled from the hug.
"You are welcome, though, I am just the messenger." Voltaick responded in friendly manner, it seemed that he felt the need to specify that he was doing this because he was supposed to, rather than because he decided so. Maybe it was to distance himself for reason or another, or maybe he just didn't want to claim the credit, who knew? Ruby did notice that it was bit hard to tell if Voltaick wanted to be helping them, it was clear that he didn't like her, feeling was mutual, but at the same time, Ruby couldn't see any signs that his friendliness would have been anything but genuine.
That was partly why she had stayed quiet the whole time, Leviathan was clearly fine with doing the talking, so Ruby could focus on observing; this was new area to her, for the first time in a long time, if not ever, she felt genuinely in disadvantage while at her full capability. Not only could these magical dragons just wipe her out of existence, but also, unlikely her own kin, these ones were also in more equal footing with her on intelligence, since they actually used their heads too. And lastly, unlike ponies, these dragons were fully prepared for those like Ruby, there would be no princesses of friendship trying to talk her down if she posed a threat.
"Our variety used to be far greater, and believe it or not, even death-bringers used to have lot more variation." "But after the great collapse, our numbers dwindled to such extend, that lot of variations either died off, or blended together, forming what you see now." "In essence, we are all hybrids." Voltaick explained nonchalantly "If you wish to speak with the aquatic ones, I suggest talking with the serpents, the ones with the long body, they are lot more talkative." "The salamanders, the ones that look more like us, can talk, but often just decide not to, they prefer communicating through flashing their scales, which nobody else can understand." "They are also just generally less friendly." "Though no feral ones here, that's what the barrier is for."
"Werodex may know, but those times do unfortunately have lot of mystery to them, as lot of knowledge was lost at the great collapse, that is why the library was build in the first place." "My personal guess is that if he did anything special, they were aware of him, but didn't know him personally. But if he was just another Equestrian dragon, they may have not, as it's enough work to try to keep up with our own." "I also personally believe that if you go back long enough, we all come from the same ancestors, though it is unlikely to be ever proven either way."
"Ah, a polite one." Werodex stated in...delighted tone? It was hard to say, as it was so hidden under the layer of authority and might, she then glanced towards Charir and Ruby; Charir was first, lowering his head and speaking without even trying to hide his fear "Charir, yo-your might." and lastly Ruby, who did not bow, instead meeting Werodex's eyes, though her voice too betrayed her a little, as it was missing a certain defiance "Ruby."
Werodex gave a curious smile "A name not in your language, Ruby, a red gemstone, how curious indeed." she then looked at them as a whole "You can relax young ones, I am no royalty, merely an Elder, in who's house you are visiting." "Respect these halls, and you have no problem with me." her voice told that the last sentence was a warning rather than assurance. "I am Elder Werodex, the keeper of this great library, the home of my kin, and the sanctuary of knowledge: past, present, and future." "Here you can find what has been known, is known, and sometimes, what could be known." "You seek it, we have it, but the question is, are you worth it?" "I am the oldest of the Darkscales, and thus their leader, Like my mother before me; do not let my current size fool you, it is merely more convenient to speak like this." she then addressed Voltaick "Thank you Voltaick, you may wait outside." Voltaick once more bowed, and left.
She then once again looked at the trio "It fascinates me so, how this has come to be." "The foretold mother of destruction, adopting the determined protector, with, excuse my language, awfully undergrown Equestrian." she gave an almost sympathetic look towards Leviathan, before looking at Ruby directly "You seem to possess an object that causes you grief." she then looked at Charir, who was still arching with electricity "Ah, and young ones curious about magic, always a delight." "Not something your mother ever realized." as she said it, she gave a knowing look to both siblings. "I assure you both, you'll learn more than you know to ask." she then finally faced Leviathan "But you, small Equestrian, I can see you are of curious mind, even in your age, so what is it that is in your mind?"
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"I understand your mother's perspective, not as a mother myself, yet, but as a healer." "I have, quite literally, dragged kobolds back to bed after they thought they were fine walking around." "Poor things were scared of me for next full cycle." Sheska said in joking manner, it was true, but the specific case had been quite harmless. "Oni, as far as I gathered, is malevolent kitsune ghost, in simple terms."
"As far as I know, it should be fine." Sheska responded as she brought her tail in the front to look at it "This is permanent, and nothing was said about the material that would say otherwise." "My brother, with his cybernetics, would need some extra maintenance, but the metal alloy doesn't rust, so it's fine." "In general, I'm yet to learn of kobolds who would be actively harmed by salt, though I imagine it would take some getting used to for us specifically, since we are more adapted to the freshwater moisture of forests and caves." "It would most likely dry us bit like the sun does, we haven't actually ever been to the ocean." "There also exists kobolds who have adapted to the life in the sea, haven't met one myself, but our friend who travels around has interacted with couple; they habit underground caves and hunt for food in the ocean."