You should be resting, Azura said as he approached. I can feel your exhaustion through our bond.
"I know. But we have two days before the operation, and I need to understand what I can actually do up there." Clive ran his hand along her scales. "That hailstorm earlier. I wasn't prepared for how much it amplified. If I'm going to use aerial illustration in combat, I need to know its limits."
A practical concern. She shifted her weight, extending one wing to stretch. Very well. But we start slowly.
"Slowly," Clive agreed, though his mind was already racing with possibilities.
Azura rose to her feet, shaking out her wings. The motion sent a gust of wind across the clearing, causing nearby soldiers to steady themselves. Then let us begin with something simple. Mounting practice. Every Dragon Knight has gone through something similar.
"I already know how to—"
You know how to sit on my back while I'm stationary. In combat, you may need to mount while I'm airborne, or dismount to attack ground targets, or shift positions during evasive maneuvers. Her tail swished. Again: we start slowly.
For the next twenty minutes, Clive practiced climbing onto Azura's back from different angles. On the ground it felt straightforward, but she made him do it while she walked, then while she trotted, then while she made sudden turns.
"This is ridiculous," Clive muttered, nearly sliding off as Azura pivoted sharply to the left. He caught himself on a spine ridge.
This is survival, Azura corrected. You did well navigating air currents, but you were gripping with your thighs so tightly I could feel it through my scales. You'll exhaust yourself before the first attack run.
She had a point. His legs were already aching from the earlier flight, and they'd barely done anything strenuous yet.
Now, Azura said, settling into a steady walk, practice maintaining your balance while I move. Use your core, not your grip. Feel my rhythm and move with it.
Clive focused on her gait, the way her shoulders rose and fell with each step. It was like trying to stay balanced on a ship in gentle waves. Once he stopped fighting the motion and let his body adapt to it, everything became easier.
[Dragon Riding Level 4]
"Better?" he asked.
Much better. Now we fly.
Azura launched herself into the air with a single powerful leap.
The camp fell away beneath them. From above, it looked like a child's toy soldiers arranged in neat rows.
Where to? Azura asked.
"Out over the water. I want to test something without risk of hitting anyone."
They flew west toward the coast, leaving the mainland behind. The ocean stretched out beneath them.
"There," Clive said, pointing to a stable etheric current flowing parallel to the coastline. "That one. Nice and steady."
Azura banked into it smoothly. The moment they entered the flow, they glided through the air with minimal effort.
What are you testing?
Clive pulled out his paintbrush and palette. "The aerial illustration bonus said wind and sky-based creations get a twenty-five percent effectiveness boost. I want to see what that actually means in practical terms."
He dipped his brush into cyan. On the ground, when he painted a frost effect, it would typically cover maybe ten square feet and last for several minutes. But up here, with the altitude, the moisture in the air, and his new passive ability...
Clive painted a simple spiral in the air, a quick swirl of cyan that caught the wind and began to spin. Ice crystals formed immediately, much faster than they would on the ground. The spiral expanded, drawing moisture from the ocean below and freezing it. Within seconds, the small swirl had become a miniature vortex of ice and mist.
[Aerial Illustration: Frost Spiral]
- Coverage: 40 square feet (4x normal)
- Duration: 8 minutes (2x normal)
"Holy—" Clive watched the vortex continue to grow. "That's not twenty-five percent. That's exponentially more effective."
The altitude amplifies your magic, Azura observed. Less resistance, more ambient elements to draw from. What else can you create?
Clive thought about the upcoming battle. Louis had mentioned they'd have eight minutes of clear fire zones. Three attack runs. He needed attacks that could hit multiple targets, ideally ones that would continue to deal damage even after he'd moved on.
He switched to red and yellow. Fire and energy. He painted broad, sweeping strokes across the sky, creating what looked like falling stars. Each point of light was a condensed ball of flame and kinetic energy.
[Aerial Illustration: Meteor Shower]
- Projectiles: 15
- Impact Radius: 8 feet each
- Burn Duration: 45 seconds
- Total Coverage: 120 square feet
The meteors fell toward the ocean, leaving trails of fire in their wake. They hit the water with tremendous force, sending up columns of steam where the flames met the waves. Even from this height, Clive could hear the impacts. It was a sharp crack like thunder, followed by the hiss of boiling water.
Impressive, Azura said. But you're thinking too much like a ground-based mage. You're still creating discrete attacks, individual effects.
"What do you mean?"
The sky isn't a collection of targets. It's a continuous space. You should be thinking in terms of areas, zones, atmospheric effects. Watch.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Azura flew higher, ascending into a layer of thin clouds. The mist clung to Clive's face and clothes.
Look at these clouds, she said. They're your canvas now. Not the air, not the ground below. The clouds themselves. What could you paint here?
Clive studied the cloud layer. It was like a shifting sea of white and gray. In the fading light, it looked almost solid, diffusing the last rays of sunset into a soft, ambient glow.
He had an idea.
"In battle," Clive said, "we have six dragons."
Yes?
“But the enemy probably doesn’t know that.” Clive pulled out his paintbrush. "What if they saw twenty dragons instead of six?"
You want to paint fake dragons? That won't fool anyone. Not up close.
"Not up close," Clive agreed. "But from a distance? If I use the clouds themselves as the medium?"
He began to paint, using broad strokes of white, gray, and pale blue. But instead of creating solid forms, he painted shadows and light, working with the cloud's natural texture. He shaped the mist, darkening it here, thinning it there, creating the silhouette of a massive dragon gliding through the air.
The shape moved as the clouds moved, drifting on the wind. From their current position, it looked convincing.
Clever, Azura said. But can you control them?
"Let's find out."
Clive added more detail to the illusion, painting subtle gradients that suggested scales catching light, a hint of tail movement, the impression of a rider on its back. Then he painted another dragon-shape in a different cloud bank, and another beyond that.
[Aerial Illustration: Dragon Mirage]
"They're not perfect," Clive admitted, "but from the ground? In the middle of battle, with smoke and chaos? The enemy won't be able to tell which dragons are real until we're right on top of them."
And they'll waste arrows, spells, and ballista shots on shadows, Azura finished. Divide their attention, make them guess. This is good tactical thinking.
They flew closer to one of the mirages. Up close, the illusion fell apart. It was just shaped clouds and painted shadows. But as they pulled back, the form cohered again, disturbingly lifelike in its motion.
"We could create a whole phantom wing," Clive said. "Make them think they're outnumbered three-to-one. They'll hold back reserves, split their focus—"
And waste defensive resources on ghosts. Azura banked in a slow circle. But there's another application. Watch.
She flew directly into one of the thicker cloud banks. The mist swallowed them whole, reducing visibility to nearly zero. Clive could barely see his own hands in front of his face.
We're completely exposed right now, Azura said. Any archer with a clear sight line could track us. But what if they couldn't see us at all?
Clive understood immediately. He pulled out his paintbrush and began working with the clouds around them. Thickening them, darkening them, creating pockets of dense fog that clung to Azura's body like smoke.
He mixed white with just a touch of blue and gray, painting broad strokes across the mist. The clouds responded, condensing around them, forming a layer of obscuring fog that moved when they moved.
[Aerial Illustration: Cloud Shroud]
- Detection Range: Reduced by 80%
They became a ghost in the sky. A patch of thick cloud drifting on the wind. Even Clive could barely see Azura's scales beneath him. The shroud was that effective.
Remarkable, Azura said. I can feel the fog clinging to me. It's cold.
"It's condensed water vapor," Clive explained, still painting. "I'm using the ambient moisture and cooling it just enough to maintain density. It should hold as long as we stay in the cloud layer."
He experimented further, thickening the fog in some areas, thinning it in others. He found he could create clear sight lines for himself while maintaining the shroud's concealment from outside observers. It was like painting a one-way mirror in three dimensions.
This changes everything, Azura said. Aerial combat relies on seeing your opponent. If they can't track us...
"We can strike and disappear before they know where the attack came from." Clive felt a rush of excitement. "And if we combine it with the mirages—they see multiple dragons, but they can't tell which ones are real, and the real ones are hidden in fog banks—"
Chaos, Azura said with satisfaction. Beautiful, tactical chaos.
They practiced for the next half hour. Clive would create dragon mirages at different altitudes and distances, then shroud Azura in fog. They'd fly through the cloud layer, appearing and disappearing, using the natural mist as both canvas and cover.
[HP + 20]
[MP + 20]
[Power Level + 20]
Clive Weston - Character Stat Sheet
Name: Clive Weston
Class: Pictomancer
Rank: Artist
Patron Deity: Certainty, Goddess of Certainty and Undoubting
Stats
- Power Level: 360
- HP: 445/445
- MP: 360/360
- Certainty Points: 11
Level Progression
- Metalwork Illustration: Level 7
- Consumable Illustration: Level 3
- Architectural Illustration: Level 3
- Dragon Riding: Level 4
- Dagger Mastery: Level 3
- Sword Mastery: Level 4
- Spear Mastery: Level 2
- Mace Mastery: Level 3
Abilities & Skills
Class Abilities
- Artist's Eyes (Passive): Enhanced visual perception and analysis
- Upgrade: Motion Vision - Can perceive movement trajectories before they occur
- Upgrade: Fine Resolution – Can visualize fine details
- Upgrade: Etheric Vision — Can perceive ether currents
- Draw (Active): Creates permanent physical objects through detailed sketching
- Paint (Combat): Harnesses color theory for elemental magic
- Mix: Combine available colors to create wider variety of spells (2 mixing slots)
- Apothecary's Nose (Passive): Identify and categorize complex scent profiles with precision
- Aerial Illustration: Create large scale atmospheric effects
Double Techs
- Inferno Blade - With Lucia
- Holy Nova – With Lucia
- Holy Drill – With Nydalea
- Hurricane Dive – With Sion
Special Traits & Achievements
- Obsessive Focus: +20% skill progression when working on single project
- Artistic Purist: Cannot create/accept currency; unable to sell created items
- Certainty's Chosen: Chosen champion of Certainty (Have absolute conviction)
- Pyrographer - Artist of Flame: +15% fire spell damage, burn 10% longer
- You alone will survive: 5% buff to power level when fighting alone.
- Sky Painter's Partner: Form bonds with Sky Dragons
Azura Bond Level: Developing
Skill Branches
Metalwork Illustration (Level 7)
- Materials: Iron, Steel, Mithril
- Quality Levels: Poor, Normal, High
- Weapon Types: Sword, Dagger, Spear, Mace
Consumable Illustration (Level 3)
Potions
- Current: Water, Small health potion, Small mana potion
- Quality Levels: Poor, Normal
Food
- Current: Sushi Set
- Quality Levels: Poor, Normal, High
Architectural Illustration (Level 2)
- Current Structures: Tent
- Scale: Single to Double
Equipment
- Artist's Sketchbook: 10 pages, regenerates daily at dawn
- Canvas of Reality: Pre-paint background spells once per day
- Novice's Paintbrush: Basic tool for chromatic spellcasting
- Professional Color Palette: 15 colors + 5 mixing slots
- Whetstone: Add Weapon damage & Durability
- Lucky charm: Increase Luck
The novice paints objects. The master paints space itself.
— The Legendary Moonlight Artist