Bestowal
It was nearing midnight and I was still awake, restless and indecisive.
The festival earlier today had been enjoyable, but not really what I had expected it to be.
I had underestimated how little freedom the royals had during such crowded endeavors, and they were unable to go around to various booths and such.
It made sense, of course. I mean, it seemed as if Helios was peaceful, but you never know when there may be an assassination attempt or terrorist attack.
Serenity and her family needed to stay near their guards, and only visited a few temples, and prearranged stalls.
I, of course, could have left any time. Not a soul would have told me otherwise, and Serenity even stated that I could go and have fun.
.. but that didn't feel right to me. This was Serenity's big day, and I was here as her guest. I didn't just want to leave and ignore her.
Besides, Leon would be sticking by her side, and exploring things on my own didn't seem half as fun.
So I stuck close to the royal family, pulling the attention of many, many people.
Some came up to greet me when they did the royals; all of them nobles.
I could see that Amanda was absolutely loving the fact that she and her daughter had their own personal dragon escort the whole time.
I made myself feel better my causing her to stumble over my tail once.
I passed it off as me being a big'ole dragon in these tiny human rooms.
It was all nonsense of course. These temples were made more than large enough to accommodate several dragons, and the Queen knew it too.
She tried to sound understanding, and to pass off her minimally embarrassing stumble as nothing, but I could tell she was fuming.
I had to admit that it put a metaphorical smile on my face for the rest of the day.
Once the long day was over, Leon and I went to bed immediately. Even though I was the one not used to all these royal to-dos, he seemed even more exhausted than I was. He barely changed out of his formal attire before collapsing in bed, not even combing out my scales first, which he usually did.
I didn't blame the kid. I was drained too, and I didn't have to deal with the barely hushed, snide remarks coming from the other guests on how Leon's Awakening had gone.
How he had been granted not a single skill, how his family must have been disappointed in their youngest son, and how it was good that he now curried the favor of a dragon at least.
I had to hold myself back many times, not wanting to cause a scene when the focus was meant to be on the princess. It didn't help that she had heard a few of those comments as well, causing her to grow sad. Leon and I had to cheer her up a few times.
But, it was Leon's predicament that was currently keeping me awake.
Since hearing the word 'bestow' back at the Asteria's temple, I haven't been able to get it off my mind.
I currently say, curled into my bed while Leon snored near by.
I was starring at my skill list once again, eyes locked on the name Bestowal>.
I had no way of know if it would do what I hoped- what I prayed- it would do.
I had even scanned my expansive skill list for a skill that might have looked as if it could provide skill descriptions for me.
There had been none that I could work out.
So it all hinged on whether or not I was willing to spend the whopping 500 points.
Even now it felt like an entirely stupid number to me, a dragon with over 9000 points.
My eyes drifted to the prince once again.
It may be a gamble, and it did consume an eighteenth of my points, but Leon was worth taking the risk.
He was my dearest friend, and gave much of himself for me everyday.
I liked to think that Mother would see it as a reasonable investment of her earned skill points.
Mouth feeling dry I looked at the prompts before my eyes. It was easier to see them with my eyes shut, but I kept them open tonight, careful of awakening Leon.
[Spend 500 points to learn the skill Bestowal>? Yes/No]
Yes, I selected, heart racing about a mile a minute.
Almost shaking with nerves, i watched the drastic dip in my accumulated points. I selected my newest skill and read the description now available to me. If I could, I would have crossed my fingers.
[Bestowal> Bloodline skill (Active)- Upon use, the wielder may sacrifice three times a skills acquisition price to give a skill to another being.
Only skills owned by the user may be bestowed.
Already acquired skills can not be bestowed.
Once a skill has been bestowed it will be permanently removed from the bestower's skill list. This can not be reversed. ]
I gazed, awe struck, at the description. Well, I had gotten what I had wanted at least. My tingling excitement even overrode the sting of knowing I would have to spend another astronomical amount of points to use this skill, but at least I could do it.
I could grant Leon a skill!
I didn't even need to think on it, even though it would cost me another arm and leg to accomplish the act, I was already 500 points deep.
.. what were a few more? I even knew, immediately, what skill it was that I would give to Leon.
Asteria's Divine Right> seemed to be tailor made for the prince, and giving him this branching skill would be cheaper in the end, then giving him several similar skills.
Looking through the list I eventually found it. It cost 30 points to activate; ten more than my own Humanoid Shape> skill. I would need to spend 90 to give it to Leon, but after sinking 500 into the process, it seemed inconsequential at this point. well, not really... it was still a lot.
I hoped that Leon had enough to activate the skill himself.
.. He did have eighteen years worth of points saved up, so he should be alright.
Still, even if he didn't then I would just have to take him out to clear out the country side of monsters to rack up more of them.
Heck, I could even fly him to the very forest I had been born in.
I had accumulated 20 points in a few short weeks there, so I was sure Leon could do the same.
[ Bestow the skill Asteria's Divine right> to the individual, Leon? Yes/No]
Yes!
Nothing happened. There were no flashing lights, magic circles, or jingling bells and whistles to tell me if I had been victorious.
I felt my heart sink and opened my skill menu once again, in a panic.
Scrolling down, and down, and down I couldn't find Asteria's Divine Right> anywhere.
Did that mean it had worked? It must have, right?
Still anxious, but not really sure what to do about it, I decided to try and get at least a little sleep. If needed, I could just ask Leon in the morning about it. But I really, really, really hoped it had worked.