The Lone Dragon 8 Ugly Duckling

Eluraa was barely awake through her baby years. She seemed to sleep all the time. Her parents were very worried. It has been years since Eluraa was imprisoned. The axon era came to an end and with it the blessings from the elemental energies. Greed of mankind destroyed the harmonious relationships and magical creatures were hunted down for their cores so that more people could attempt at being cultivators. Elemental energies were exploited for territory battles and conquests. Magical creatures were hunted to near extinction and common people were treated terribly. With the increased numbers of cultivators, the elemental energies were completely exhausted and at the end, all spiritual connections with the elementals were lost. Humans again became weak and civilization returned to its original track of technology development and scientific inventions. Developing intellectual abilities came to the forefront and soul and spiritual strengths were slowly forgotten. But unfortunately for mankind, the magical creatures which survived the inhuman hunt, still thrived. Only the strongest of the creatures survived and they all still had the innate abilities to connect with the elementals. They slowly grew in numbers and took back their forests and territories. Diverse magical clans emerged and they had distinct features and abilities. For instance, the dwarfen clan were short and stocky but were always armed with the strongest weapons. The elven clan had longer ears and were more proficient in using magic. The mountain orcs were strong and st.u.r.dy but they relied mainly on their raw animal instincts for survival. And to make matters worse, these magical clans were very wary of the humans and they were constant struggles all around for territory control. Weak were preyed on and there were no peaceful solutions in sight.

In order to maintain their stand and to prevent their race from complete extinction, humans had to heavily rely on technology, martial training and scavenging for rare magical treasures. This was why Eluraa's present dad was slightly disgruntled. Every family wanted sons and they wanted to groom them as top combat experts. These combat experts protected their colonies of small villages and cities. The really good ones were even recruited by the different combat organizations called guilds and the top-level experts were invited for the king's exploratory squad. Very few had the affinity for using magic spells or controlling demons based on the rare magical treasures obtained. So, people were mostly training to use strong weapons and guns. Men had natural talent and that raw strength for direct combat. That is why most household expectantly looked forward to their grandsons and sons. However, no matter how hard he tried Eluraa's dad couldn't be disappointed with her in the slightest. She looked like an angel with her deep blue eyes and her magical smile. They were still worried about baby Eluraa though. They haven't come across any baby who slept for such long hours.

Eluraa finally woke up from her long relaxing sleep after 4 years. She noticed that she had already grown so much and hoped she wouldn't have any sleeping spells like this again. But she felt completely relaxed and could feel her soul and spirit slowly healing themselves. She still had a long way to go if she needed to reach her former strength but she had time. After all, she was still a toddler. Eluraa parents were overjoyed that she was finally normal like every other child and that nothing was wrong with her. That night they had invited their family relatives and friends and held a feast to celebrate their beautiful daughter. Eluraa looked really cute in her matching blue toddler outfits and smiled brightly at all the guests playing with her. Everyone was so happy to meet her and praised their parents for having such a pretty baby. Mom and dad were so happy and that night Eluraa's mom sang her good night lullaby and put her to sleep. Before leaving, she told kissed Eluraa on her cheek and whispered that her baby would grow up to the most beautiful woman on the planet. Eluraa suddenly jolted up and realised something. "Oh no! I am not going through this again"

She silently tried her best to collect all her newly healed soul and spiritual strength and reached out to the elemental energies. She could barely feel them and was slightly disappointed. They were the only connections she had for over a million years. Suddenly she felt alone without her elemental connections. But still she could muster enough energy to cast a small disfigurement spell on herself. She no longer looked beautiful or cute. She rather looked not so pleasing even for a baby. Her eyes were now dull grey in colour and she lacked the bright shine and l.u.s.ter of her smile. Satisfied with the changes, Eluraa slept peacefully that night. Surprisingly, her mom and dad didn't really notice much difference. Of course, parental love is unbiased. However, the neighbours did notice but kept quiet about it. And thus, the ugly duckling was left alone to grow in peace.