"Raise your Darkness Powers? Yes, it should be possible dear grandson." Said Svartalf with a calm and composed demeanor, and a polite voice that seemed slightly charming to me for some reason.
"Then can you do it?" I wondered. "And… is there a reason why I wasn't able to attain a high level of such element? I only had ice and wind for a long while."
"Everything has a reason, my grandson." She said with a graceful voice. "And yes, I can provide the power and the answers. But I require you to do something in exchange for the power, while I deliver the answers for free. Is that a good deal for you, my dear child?"
Svartalf looked at me with her big red eyes, as I nodded slowly. I guess I really didn't had any more options. Is she going to challenge me to a duel, perhaps? Maybe she wants me to defeat a strong divine creature dwelling here? Or maybe fight the souls of my siblings in a massive tournament!
"What is your request?" I wondered.
"I shall answer your questions before delivering the request… The reason behind your inability to develop Darkness Powers within you even though you were a half dark dragon child came from me. I had sealed that part of your power." She said, shocking everyone, me included!
"Eh?! Sister, you did this?!" Asked Nifl.
"Mother?! Why?" Asked Fafnir.
Svartalf calmly looked at everybody and sighed.
"Do you truly believe I would do such things out of naivety or evilness? I merely did this so the child wouldn't end up corrupting. You see, darkness element is strong, even stronger as you are a child, especially one cursed by the world and weakened. If I had let you awaken the dark powers since birth, the nature of dark magic would had eaten away your sanity, my son, and you would had become someone monstrous. Young dark dragons can cope with this as they possess divine power, but you lacked it due to the curse sealing your divine powers." She said.
"S-So the reason was behind that?!" I wondered, as Svartalf nodded in affirmation.
"Indeed, it was all my fault, and I am very sorry, but it was for your own good." She apologized. "Nonetheless, you've more than proven yourself to be capable of using this other half of your powers. And you've already developed and evolved in similar dark variants anyways, so you seem rather well suited for the Darkness Powers dwelling within the Draconic Records of our kin." Said Svartalf.
"I see… I guess that was that?" I said. "Well, it wasn't that complicated."
"I guess it is something we didn't amount to." Said Nifl.
"W-We never thought about that…" Sighed Fafnir.
"I know, I am quite disappointed in you, sister, you're someone wise and ancient yet you missed such a detail. If I hadn't intervened before the little Drake hatched, he would had grown corrupted by the dark magic ability to take away sanity from the minds of the weak. It is a strong element but one that naturally corrupts. Only those with wills of iron or that… had already become slightly twisted can properly use it for good." Said Svartalf. "As we are guardians of the world, falling into insanity and becoming destructive and chaotic is not something we seek. Therefore, as the dark dragons we are, our mission of stabilizing our own darkness comes before any other thing, as it is both the source of our power and also our greatest danger."
The other dark dragons nodded, as Fafnir felt very embarrassed, his mother was reprimanding quite badly and he couldn't take a break. Well, he kind of deserved it anyways, so I am glad for it.
"I-I apologize, I should had realized such an obvious thing earlier!" Sighed my mother.
"Don't worry now, things are done… Let's be thankful that Drake was able to survive and thrive, and reach this point where he can reunite with his family. We are all happy to see you, son." Said Svartalf with a gentle voice. This grandma was really amazing.
"I am also happy and grateful for what you did, grandmother." I said. "N-Nonetheless, what's the condition you want for me to awaken this dark side of my bloodline?"
"I require a special condition. Do not worry, it is not related with fighting, nor it is a necessary challenge." Said my grandmother. "But I desire something very specific. Do you think you're capable of delivering it?"
"But what is it?" I sighed. Svartalf slowly approached her enormous head to my own, whispering something to my ears.
"I want to learn the knowledge of the world where you come from, my dear grandson. Alongside anything related with entertainment, books, in specific." She said to me, whispering secretively. My grandmother seemed to be just like the other dark dragons deep down, weird. She was into books, and would probably become a NEET in Earth or something, I bet.
Luckily for me and her, I had amazing memory and I had read a ton of Light Novels, classic books, manga, comics, and the like, so I had a lot to retell to her. I had such a good memory now that everything I read in my previous life was perfectly stored like an ebook inside of my head, so I could even transfer this information directly to her through some sort of method. Perhaps creating small dream realms and giving them to her with these texts from within my memory.
"Okay, I get it." I said. "I can get it done through the week, is that alright for you?"
"Yes, it is alright. Mooch." Svartalf quickly kissed me all over the face and licked me with her big, purple-colored tongue. That was uncalled for, but I decided to just accept her draconic affection. "That was the other condition, I wanted to kiss my beloved little grandson."
"I-I see…"
I kind of get it, dragons are very social so they had formed such strong bonds by sharing love and comfort with one another but being licked all the time is not something I came here for!
