Chapter 33: Chapter 32 – Norberta Elstart
Norberta Elstart, a Non-Ingenious in Dragon society, is considered below average in terms of Aura talent. However, she became a perfect example of a Non-Ingenious individual.
When she completed 374 years, she fulfilled all the prerequisites to begin the ascension process to become a Dragon Lady. By the time she turned 403, she had completed and passed all the required tests to move on to the final examination.
The final test for ascension is both simple and complicated. Every candidate must reach a minimum level of Aura Tuning and combat ability. They must demonstrate their capability to fight.
There's no middle ground; either you pass or fail, and if you fail, you must wait another 5 years to retake the final test. Norberta retook the test more than 10 times, failing miserably in both mana synchronization and combat skills.
Ridiculed each time she failed, she decided to stop trying when she turned 454. However, she did not give up on her ascension; she merely postponed it until she was fully prepared to pass.
So, at the age of 517, she attempted the ascension test again and succeeded on her 11th attempt. This was a historic achievement in recent Dragon society, making her likely the oldest aspirant to earn the title in the last 2000 years.
Dragons generally evolve passively throughout their lives. Even without training, their bodies are designed to absorb and release aura constantly and passively. Due to their enormous aura storage capacity, dragons are born with incredible strength, which only grows with time.
There are specific ages that mark crucial stages in a dragon's life: 50, 150, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 years.
At 50 years, a dragon is no longer a hatchling but considered a Young Dragon. After all training, they learn two ancestral magics: Universal Speech and Transfiguration.
At 150 years, the Young Dragon undergoes its first aura evolution, becoming an Aspiring Dragon between 145 and 155 years on average.
At 500 years, the second evolution occurs, increasing aura synchronization. It's common for Aspiring Dragons to become Dragon Ladies between 370 and 480 years. It's rare, but there are cases where aspirants ascend to Dragon Ladies before 360 or even before 350 years.
At 1000 years, the third evolution takes place, and at this age, any Dragon Lady will experience her final evolution. After this age, only natural ability and talent determine personal growth.
The average age to become a Great Dragon Lady has a broader range, varying between 830 and 1200 years. Many Dragon Ladies do not surpass this position even with the third evolution and need more training to ascend to Great Dragon Ladies.
At 2000 years, there's the rebirth, A unique and memorable type of event in a Dragon's life, something that challenges them. Around 50% of Dragon Ladies become Great Dragon Ladies, but only 30% of Great Dragon Ladies can undergo the rebirth.
Rebirth is a trial… Every Great Dragon Lady who wishes to undergo rebirth is put to the test in a Forbidden Zone. Forbidden Aura Zones are the most dangerous and chaotic places in the entire world.
Only Supreme Dragon Ladies or above can enter and remain for any length of time without suffering consequences. Or in a Rebirth test, when the candidate is directly exposed to the chaotic aura of the Forbidden Zone without a Statera.
If the candidate loses control in less than 1 minute, she fails and can retake the test only 50 years later. If she doesn't lose control, she gains controlled access to the Forbidden Zone and can train there with a Statera.
Only when the candidate withstands 5 hours inside a Forbidden Zone without a Statera can she ascend to Supreme Dragon Lady, typically happening between 3500 and 4000 years.
Finally, at 5000 years, every Supreme Dragon Lady begins to weaken. The only way for them to continue strengthening is by ascending to Ancient Dragon Lady, the last and most challenging rank.
There are only three Ancient Dragon Ladies in the entire Sihir. How one ascends to this level is unknown, as there are no attempts or tests; candidates are chosen by the Ancient Dragon Ladies when deemed ready.
After going through the second evolution, Norberta trained until she was confident to pass the ascension test. Upon obtaining the title of Dragon Lady, Norberta gained a territory near the coast of Bordium.
She couldn't choose her territory precisely because of being considered a Non-Ingenious due to her extremely late ascension. It was a nearly barren area, challenging to access and with few resources.
Despite these adversities, Norberta managed to make the territory prosper through motivation, persistence, creativity, and charisma.
She formed partnerships, proposed commercial agreements, sold favors, bought ideas, attracted investors, and sifted through countless ideas.
Today, her territory is known for intercontinental trade, gigantic ports, fishing, tourism, foreign education, among many other activities.
Norberta Elstart became known and respected for several award-worthy achievements personally awarded by the Supreme Council of Bordium.
Some of her achievements include founding the first university to accept foreign students, establishing secure maritime routes between Bordium and the other four continents, constructing the world's largest seaport and shipyard, and designing and financing the highway connecting the capital of Bordium, Vetus Draco, to the metropolis Alpheratz Mira.
Respected and admired—these were the two main words to describe her. At 951 years, she has almost fulfilled all the requirements to begin her ascension process.
The only thing left is to reach the required aura synchronization level, but once she completes 1000 years, her third evolution will help improve her synchronization, which should be enough to pass the ascension test.
However, seemingly unforeseen events can happen to anyone, and Norberta is no exception.
About 30 years ago, she lost her Statera and companion of 700 years. They were also linked by Nexum and were about to reach the maximum level of bonding when everything happened.
Dragon Lord Leontius Maximus was in Svalbard on a diplomatic mission on behalf of Norberta, but they lost contact at some point. Upon investigating the disappearance, his dismembered body was found in a Level 3 AZL.
Upon learning the news, Norberta headed directly to Svalbard, conducted the funeral for her Nexum, returned to her territory, and immediately initiated a personal investigation.
This was strictly prohibited by the Supreme Council, but she disregarded their warnings.
Despite receiving three warnings to immediately cease her investigation and let official teams take over the case, Norberta ignored them.
After years of investigation, Norberta did not report or disclose any of her findings to the council. Only after ten years did she decide to stop the investigations, not sharing any information or clues she had discovered.
Now, almost 20 years after halting her investigations, Norberta has hired the services of Norume Himekata, a Great Dragon Lady with 1703 years of age, General Executor, and Chief of the Search and Destroy Team of the Supreme Council.
Norume reported that she owed Norberta a personal favor and, with the promise of two favors from Norberta, she was sent as Norberta's representative to some parties. This was all that Norberta reported.
The connection between them is unknown, but two Great Dragon Ladies and three Dragon Ladies residing in Wallbur and Thanax were killed in their homes at the same time this agreement was made between Norume and Norberta.
Investigations have progressed, but the connection between Norberta, Norume, and the deaths on other continents is still unclear. Neither is the link between these deaths and the case of Lord Leontius Maximus known.
Some speculations point to all being connected due to the mysterious death of Lord Leontius Maximus.
In any case, the Supreme Council was alerted due to the brutality of the deaths and Norume and Norberta being directly involved in the case. Therefore, an investigation team under the command of Nala was sent directly to Alpheratz Mira, the territory of Norberta Elstart.
Both the massacre at the research camp and the mysterious murders are being investigated by Nala. Nala was tasked with managing both cases simultaneously with the help of a task force. The priority is to capture and deport fugitive criminals.
The Council has not yet made a decision on Norberta's case, but she is being investigated even though nothing linking her to the murders has been discovered. The same can be said for Norume, nothing links her to the murders, and they both have great alibis.
But the Supreme Council still considered it dangerous for the investigations for the two to remain free. That's why a preventive arrest warrant was issued for both of them.
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I hope you can help me correct any spelling errors in the chapters.
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