The rest of Spyro, Spike, and Ember's visit to the land of the phoenixes was spent in the company of Sol, who seemed rather happy to have someone his own age to hang out with, even if it was three individuals, and he showed them a few of the tricks he had learned over the years, in terms of flying skills. The siblings were happy to see what he had to show them, and in return they did the same thing, demonstrating a few of the tricks they had picked up over the years, from what Nestor and the other dragons had taught them, which interested Sol, as this was the first time he was seeing anything that was remotely connected to how the various dragon clans flew around the skies. Of course he didn't count the Beast Makers that came and visited his home, since all they did was fly to where they were needed, without any tricks or interesting movements, and then leave when their objective was reached, which was why he was so interested in what the siblings were doing, as they were the first ones that were here without a purpose. The siblings enjoyed their time with Sol, as when he got tired of flying around the same boulder he returned to the island and they followed after him, exploring more of the land that their new friend and the rest of his species called home, which fascinated all three of them, especially since everything they discovered was stuff they hadn't seen before.
Of course none of the siblings mentioned the fact that the purpose behind them visiting this land was like a final reward for taking out Gnasty Gnorc, as that would surely ruin Sol's mood, so they pushed that through to the back of their minds and just enjoyed their time with their new friend. As they flew around the island Sol asked them questions, like were they the only young dragons around and what the other dragon clans were like, causing the siblings to take turns as they answered the various questions that Sol had for them, while at the same time asking him a few, so they could better understand him and the other phoenixes. One thing they discovered was that the dragon clans and the phoenixes shared a similar time period where their eggs would hatch, the Year of the Dragon to be exact, but, as it turned out, neither Sol or his species seemed to care what the time period was called, as it served as a marker for them, and he hatched around the same time that they did. Sol admitted that it was odd that only one phoenix would hatch at any given point in time, like he did ten years ago, but in about two years the next batch of eggs would hatch and the next generation of phoenixes would be born, meaning that he wouldn't be so lonely, and, more importantly, it proved that he was just like the siblings, as they were the only young dragons in the Dragon Realms and that there were more eggs on the way, so more dragons would be coming into the world at the same time as the phoenixes hatched.
Even as they shared that bit of information Spike determined that it was a good thing that the Machinists homeworld was being worked on by some of the other dragons, as it meant that there would be more than enough room for all of the dragons when the next generation hatched, even though he and his siblings knew there would be more than twelve eggs when the Year of the Dragon came around, like twenty to thirty based on what the records of the past said.
Eventually Nestor, Bruno, Sadiki, and the two phoenixes that had been their escorts came to find them, which told all four of them that their time was up and that the siblings would have to leave now, but, at the same time Sol didn't seem to mind that they were leaving, as he had friends now and was hoping that they would come back to visit him in the future, either to have fun or to practice their flying. The siblings agreed with him, even though they knew that it all depended on what the Leaders wanted them to do in the future and whether or not they would be busy, before they joined their elders in bidding their hosts farewell and then headed for the area that the portal that would take them back to the land of the Beast Makers land rested in. As it turned out the phoenixes kept a portal, styled in the way that the Beast Makers made their portals, in the very area that the siblings had first appeared in when they first arrived in the island, one they hadn't seen due to being caught off guard by where they were, before they accessed the portal. It didn't take them long to return to the chamber inside the temple that contained the portal to the island the phoenixes called home, though once they had appeared in their destination Nestor, Bruno, and Sadiki joined them, where they opened the way back to the main part of the swamp the Beast Makers called home and then, once everyone was outside, Bruno closed the door and locked it, only to hide the key once more.
Once that was done the group returned to where Marco had dropped them off and watched as he descended down to where they were standing, allowing the siblings to thank the Beast Makers for their time, and for being allowed to join the number of dragons that definitely knew about what they had seen, before they climbed into the basket and Marco took off, all so they could head back home. One thing that none of the siblings were looking forward to was the fact that a bath would be needed when they got back home, causing Ember to sigh, as she was hoping to just use a pool of lava to clean herself, like she had done when she first discovered she was immune to lava, but there were no areas like that near their homeworld, so she just had to suck it up and accept that a bath was coming her way. Spike, on the other hand, didn't mind the fact that he and his siblings would have to take a bath, as it made sense to him when he considered the same thing that his sister had thought about, and Spyro didn't seem to care either way, as he and his scarf would be clean by the time the day was over. Nestor, of course, flew near them as they headed back to their homeworld, though as they did so he informed them that he had already arranged for some new lessons for them in the near future, meaning that he actually had some new things to teach them, or some of the other Leaders did, which interested them and made them wonder what sort of skills they would learn in the near future.
At the same time, however, the siblings hoped that there would be more opportunities for them to hang out with Sol and learn more about the phoenixes, and that included the land they called home, though all they could do is wait and see what the future held for them.
A few days later the siblings found themselves back in the land of the Peace Keepers, where Titan and Trondo were getting ready to teach them another technique they might need in the future, before they matured into adult dragons, which all of them found to be interesting. Earlier, when Nestor had first told them this bit of information, Spyro had asked why they weren't training in their own homeworld anymore, as he was sure that Nestor and the other Artisans had more to impart to him and his siblings, but, as it turned out, their Leader admitted something that surprised him, he had nothing more to teach them. What he meant by that was that since the Artisans were the most peaceful dragons in the Dragon Realms, and didn't get into fights like the Peace Keepers did, he didn't have any physical or magical combat skills to teach them, which meant that the three of them were going to have to learn a few new tricks from the masters of combat, just in case there were any new adventures for them in the future. Of course that meant that he also arranged for them to train with Cosmos and the Magic Crafters as well, so they could build upon the various spells that they had been taught during their first lessons, though Spyro had admitted that he wasn't sure he and Ember really needed to worry Cosmos by joining their brother, as Spike was the strongest magic user among them and it might be in their best interest to let him learn on his own, to improve his existing skills. Nestor had been a little surprised by the suggestion, as he was sure that the siblings would want to learn the same things at the same time, though even as he considered that thought he understood that they had different talents and this was the way to make sure they focused on their individual skills.
As such Nestor amended his ideas while they were busy preparing themselves for whatever Titan had in mind for them, though all three of the siblings stood at attention and waited for one of the Peace Keepers to tell them what they were going to be doing, while Nestor waited near one of the rock pillars so he would be out of the way.
"Spyro, Spike, Ember, the three of you know the basics of how a young dragon is supposed to fight, should they have to do so," Trondo stated, though as he said that he started to move around the area that they were in, which allowed the siblings to notice that several targets, shaped in the style of the enemies that he and the other Peace Keepers fought in the realms of their homeworld, had been set up ahead of time, before he reached into a sack he was carrying as he continued to talk, "which, as you know, are the flame and charge skills we taught you, including the dodging techniques, to make sure you don't take a hit while fighting your opponent. Ember, from what I saw during your battle with Doctor Shemp, and from what we heard about your lone excursions into some of the realms, you have already taken the first steps into studying the layout of your enemies, the types of enemies they are, and are capable of rapidly forming a plan of attack to take out an entire chamber of foes, something we don't usually train young dragons in, so we'll talk with you later about how you might improve on that skill."
"I look forward to your ideas." Ember remarked, as she was happy to see that not only had she impressed Trondo, the best Peace Keeper dragon in this homeworld, with her battle against Doctor Shemp, but she had also done the same thing with the rest of his clan, thanks to what she had done in the last couple of realms she had taken on her own, though now she was interested in seeing what he and Titan had to offer her.
"Good to hear." Trondo replied, to which he turned towards them and pulled his hand out of the sack that he was carrying, where a few round balls, stone ones that were perfectly round, landed in front of the siblings, causing them to tilt their heads for a moment as they focused on him, because they were both interested and slightly confused as to what he wanted them to do, "Today we'll be learning a new technique that might come in handy in the future, a technique that will involve picking things up with your mouth, so you can carry them around the area that you happen to be in, and then, when you find your target, you can stop and spit them out, sending the item in question flying right into whoever or whatever you were aiming at, either knocking them out, taking them down, or breaking something in the process. Here, let me give you an idea as to what I mean."
Spyro, Spike, and Ember watched as Trondo pulled out one of the stone spheres and tossed it up into the air, where he caught it with his mouth before it could reach the ground, which was quite impressive on it's own and meant that he must have a lot of experience doing that sort of thing, before he focused on what he was going to do next. The siblings watched as Trondo carefully walked around the area they were in, gazing at the various targets he could pick from, almost like he was envisioning it as a battlefield and that he needed to be careful about who he picked as his first target, which did give them a few ideas in terms of strategy. Titan was watching him as well, no doubt to make sure the technique they were talking about was properly shown to the siblings, and Nestor, despite being a pacifist like the rest of the Artisans, focused on what was happening, meaning he was interested in what Trondo had to show them, especially since this could be one of the few times he got to see something like this happen. A few moments later Trondo struck his target, one that had been positioned so that half of it was hiding behind a rock pillar on the northern side of the training area, where he took a deep breath and spat out the sphere that was in his mouth, though instead of falling to the ground, like the siblings thought it might do, the sphere rushed through the air and hit his target, breaking the dummy in the process. Trondo then repeated the same movements a few more times, always targeting the targets that would be out of range for Spyro, Spike, and Ember, and before long he had broken four more of them, eliminating the harder to reach targets for the moment, even though it would be easy to put them back where they had been standing, before he stopped focusing on showing off the technique and faced the siblings once more.
In that moment the siblings determined that this was an interesting technique, one that could allow a dragon to fire at enemies from far away, as long as those targets were within the range that came with the attack, and they could see that it would be useful in the future.
"And that is the spitting technique," Trondo stated, his tone revealing that he was done showing off how they were supposed to use this new skill, in the way a master of the technique would use it, before he gestured to the spheres that he had placed in front of them before his demonstration, of which there were five for each of them, as the sack could only hold twenty stone spheres and he already had used his five, "Now that you have seen the technique in action, and have a good idea of what we're expecting from you, it's time for the three of you to take your spheres and spit them at the targets that are still standing. Once all of you have had a chance to spit all your spheres, regardless of whether or not you hit one of the targets, I'll go over what you need to improve on for the next practice bout, which we'll keep doing until it's time for you to tackle your individual training lessons."
Spyro was the first one to step forward and snatched one of the spheres in front of him, where he walked out into the area that the targets were in and wondered which of them he should focus on first, as Titan and Trondo had set up quite a bit of them for this sort of lesson, before picking out one that was halfway between him and the edge of the practice area they were in. To him, since he was a novice at this sort of technique, picking a target that wasn't too close to him or too far from where he was standing seemed to be the best idea, hence why he zeroed in on the dummy that he wanted to take out first, which was when he readied himself and spat out the sphere, only for it to hit the ground in front of him. As soon as he heard the thud he looked down and wondered what he could have done wrong, though it took him only a few seconds to understand that he had forgotten to take a deep breath before spitting the sphere out, so he quickly picked up the sphere with his mouth, where he noticed the sphere didn't have any dirt on it, no doubt due to the Magic Crafters likely putting an enchantment on all of the practice stones the Peace Keepers used for this technique, and prepared to make his second attempt. This time around he remembered to breath deeply before spitting the sphere out of his mouth, though this time around he found that he missed the target he was aiming for and the stone simply hit the ground with a thud, which informed him that he must have missed something else as well, other wise he should have hit the target so either Spike or Ember could take their first turn.
After missing a few more times, how he had no idea, Spyro decided to pull back for a moment and take a small break before attempting it again, allowing Ember to step forward with her first sphere already in her mouth, showing that she had put it in the moment he gave up. He was fine with that, because if there was one thing he had learned over the years, from learning the various techniques that Nestor and the other Leaders taught him and his siblings, it was the fact that if he couldn't get how to use one of the techniques, such as when he and his siblings first learned how to glide, than either Spike or Ember might have an idea on how he could have messed up. As he knew Ember was the one that usually figured out what he was doing wrong when it came to learning the various combat skills the Peace Keepers taught them, while Spike did the same with the various spells Cosmos and the Magic Crafters tried to teach them, to which he focused on what his sister was doing as she stopped in the area that he had stopped in, the center of the practice area to be exact, as he knew he could get some pointers from watching her try out the technique. Instead of spitting out her sphere instantly, like Spyro did, Ember focused on the various targets that were around her and picked out one that she wanted to take out, where she breathed deeply, while focusing on her target, and spat out the sphere, striking the target she intended on hitting, knocking it to the ground in a matter of seconds.
"You were so focused on spitting the sphere that you forgot to focus on the target, didn't you?" Spike inquired, though as he said that Ember moved the second sphere into position and picked another dummy to focus on, giving Spyro the chance to see that he had missed a step again.
"It would appear so." Spyro admitted, but he wasn't annoyed by that fact, as that meant he was learning from the various mistakes he made and was improving because he figured out what he had done wrong, even if it was someone else that showed him where he needed to improve.
Spyro and Spike watched as Ember used her remaining four spheres and struck four more targets in the next couple of moments, where some hit them square in the chest and some hit the arms, showing that she needed more practice before she mastered this technique, which she was perfectly fine with. Once she was done with her spheres, and Trondo made sure they had been returned to her, Spyro stepped forward and tried again, where this time he managed to actually hit the targets this time around, though at the same time he found that he grazed each of the targets he hit, which was much better than his first attempt and he was happy to be making some progress. As soon as he was done, and had made sure to get his spheres back as well, he pulled back and sat by Ember as Spike took his turn, who spat out his spheres at the targets he wanted to target, where he hit them just like Spyro did, which he was fine with since this was the first time any of them had tackled this sort of technique, and he was looking forward to seeing what else Trondo and Titan had planned for the three of them. As it turned out, once all three of them were done and had actually hit the targets that were around them, the Peace Keepers had them do it again, this time changing the layout of the targets so they could adapt to changes in actual enemy patterns, just like Ember did when they went their separate ways in the Dream Weavers land, which only made them focus on what their elders wanted them to learn.
As such the siblings spent the next hour and a half practicing the technique, aiming to hit every target in some way before the time all of them had a turn, and while they could tell that they got the basics of using the technique down they also knew that all three of them were a ways away from mastering the skill, but before long Nestor had them stop, which meant it was time for the siblings to start their individual practice sessions.
"So, what else are we practicing?" Spyro asked, because while he suspected that he and his siblings would be split up for a time, based on what Nestor told them earlier and his reaction to that statement, there was always the chance that the situation had changed and he wanted to see what Nestor had to say.
"Ember will be learning a few more tricks from Titan and Trondo, while Nora is coming to collect Spike so she and Cosmos can teach him some new spells," Nestor said, as that was what he and the other Leaders had agreed on, after he learned what Spyro felt about attempting to learn more magic, even though he felt that Spyro might be selling himself short on that front, but for now having the three siblings focusing on a different field seemed to be the best course of action, at least until they matured into adults, "Spyro, that means you're free to do whatever you want until it's time for Spike to return to us, which is the signal that today's training will be over, so you can practice the spitting technique, brush up on any of the combat skills you have already learned, or do whatever appeals to you."
Spyro was a little surprised by that statement, as it sounded like none of the dragons really understood what he was good at, which he felt was being a leader for his siblings at times and possibly being a good flyer, but he said nothing to that as Nora appeared near them not a few seconds later, just like she did when she visited the beach on the day he and his siblings went there. A few moments later Spike, after bidding his siblings farewell for the time being, stood beside Nora as the two of them quickly vanished from where she had been standing, indicating that she must have taken them back to one of the realms in the Magic Crafters homeworld, though at the same time that was when Ember moved off to the side and headed over to where Titan was waiting for her, informing Spyro that Trondo wasn't helping out with this lesson and left the Peace Keeper to clean up the spheres and targets. Titan started to explain what sort of lesson he was going to be focusing on, to give Ember an edge in any battles she had in the future, which she could share with her siblings if they wanted to learn the attacks as well, to which Spyro raised an eyebrow for a moment as he watched Titan adapt the same quadruped stance he and Trondo used when they showed him and his siblings a mock battle all those years ago, and the same was true for Nestor when he showed them how to glide for the first time, only Titan swung his claws and used his tail in a number of attack patterns, which was interesting to both him and Ember. It was clear to Spyro that Titan was in the middle of teaching his sister how to use one's entire body in a fight, horns, claws, tail, and their head, and he was sure that Ember was going to put these new attacks to use the next time the three of them went on an adventure, even though he wasn't sure about that, given they had defeated the only villain the dragons knew about.
Of course there was no telling what the future held for them, as there could be someone they would have to deal with waiting to meet them, or waiting to put their plan into action, so he guessed as he and his siblings could do is wait and see what the future held for them and the Dragon Realms.
"So, Spyro, what are you going to do until Spike returns?" Nestor inquired, because he had a good feeling the young dragon was going to surprise him in some manner, especially when he considered what Spike and Ember were capable of doing, which might have pushed Spyro to better himself in some manner.
"Actually, I haven't told Spike and Ember this, for fear of them laughing, but I've been trying to improve our ability to glide, or at least the end part anyway." Spyro replied, showing Nestor that he had been practicing this a few times when none of the other dragons were watching him, including his siblings, before he rushed over to a set of stones that were just perfect for what he had planned, especially since two of them were a good distance apart from each other.
Nestor raised an eyebrow for a moment as Spyro jumped up onto one of the stones that was low to the ground, one that was connected to two more low ones that allowed him to get on top of a rectangular shaped stone, where he came to a stop as he reached the end of the path he was following, which turned out to be a higher stone than the rectangular one he had been on moments ago. From there Spyro glided over to the stone that was close to where the first set happened to be resting and then jumped up to the highest point of that stone, before he glanced at the stone that was the end point of the path he was following, one that Nestor could see was just out of reach if he glided over to it. That fact didn't seem to stop Spyro as he jumped into the air and glided over to the stone that was his destination, though as he reached the edge of the stone, where one would assume he would just turn to the side and glide over to the ground for a safe landing, Spyro gave his wings a powerful flap before he touched the stone in front of him. In that moment Nestor noticed something that was interesting, it was like Spyro was giving himself some extra height and distance by doing what he was doing, a move he never thought of attempting before, though while it was clear that Spyro still needed some work to perfect it, as it appeared that he misjudged something and had to latch onto the edge of the stone with his claws, Nestor had to admit that all three of the siblings were full of surprises, and this really proved it to him.
"I have to admit, that's a pretty interesting move you're attempting to master," Nestor said, making sure Spyro got the idea that he was happy with what the young dragon was doing, especially since he was sure a move like that didn't exist in the Dragon Realms at the moment, though he did walk over to where Spyro was standing, so he could look up at him while he was talking, "What do you call this technique? Or have you been waiting to master it before naming it?"
"Actually, I was considering calling this the Hover technique, or just Hover, to go with Gliding," Spyro replied, as he was happy to see that Nestor approved of what he was doing, spending his time on mastering a technique that he was positive no one else had created yet, something that Spike would have to clarify at some point in time, once he had mastered the technique and was ready to show his siblings what he had done.
Nestor had to admit that he was impressed by what Spyro was doing, especially since he had a name for the skill he was working on, before he backed off to watch Spyro make a few more attempts on perfecting the skill, as he was sure that the scholars would love to add it to the list of skills when they found out about it, before hoping that Spike was having a good time like his siblings were.
Spike found himself back in the circular training area that he and his siblings had trained in when Cosmos wanted to teach them how to tap into their magic for the first time, which had been an interesting lesson and it was something that he kept in mind when he was using his power to cast spells. Of course this time around he found a pool of water, roughly the size of the various pools that were scattered across the Magic Crafters homeworld and realms, and by his estimates it seemed to be pretty deep, making him wonder if Cosmos knew he had read the page that contained the water safety spell, but he would have to wait and see what was going on when the Leader of this land joined him and Nora, who was standing by one of the nearby stone pillars. The chest that contained the circlets he and his siblings wore was resting nearby, though they were no longer necessary for him, not when he was able to tap into the magic that he possessed and could cast spells in the area around him, though once he thought about that he turned towards the area the portal to this realm was located in and found Cosmos walking over to them. He was interested in seeing what sort of training Cosmos and Nora had in mind, especially when he took into consideration the spells he had already learned so far, and remained focused as the Leader of the Magic Crafters came to a stop in front of him, with his usual smile on his face no less.
"Spike, I know you're eager to learn more about magic, and I'm more than happy to teach you," Cosmos said, his tone revealing that he was quite proud of Spike, no doubt for how well he used his magical abilities in the battle against Gnasty Gnorc and his various minions, to which he tapped his staff on the ground for a moment to make sure Spike's attention was fully on him, though he doubted the young dragon would be looking elsewhere, "I have a few tips, tricks, and spells to teach you, but the first one we will be focusing on is the Water Safety spell, or Water Resistance Spell if you prefer, a spell that I'm sure you found in one of the tomes I gave you after the first lesson I gave you and your siblings. I'm going to show you how to create the spell and not attach it to anything, as that will be part of your lesson, being able to create the spell and then either place it on yourself or on something you're wearing, such as your new hat or the satchel that you've been carrying for a long time."
Instead of saying anything Spike nodded his head and watched as Cosmos called upon the magical energies that all wizards used for their spells, where a small downward pointing triangle, the reverse of a normal triangle, seemed to take shape in the air between them, only for Cosmos to do away with his spell, causing the symbol to disappear. Spike knew what to do at that point, as it was his turn to repeat what Cosmos had done, to which he focused on calling forth the same energies that Cosmos had used, only this time instead of creating one symbol, the same that he had been shown, he made three of them appear. That was followed by him attaching the resistance spell to his hat, his satchel, which also applied to everything that was inside it, and then to himself, where he felt a slight tingle for a moment before the spell died down, though he was sure that he had gotten the spell right and looked at Cosmos, who nodded his head to indicate that he had done well, even though he didn't tell him to make everything he had resistant to the water. Once that was done Spike did what any dragon would do if they were given this sort of resistance, one that was connected to the dragon's inner magic and wouldn't be removed unless the caster or someone else removed it, and that was jump into the pool of water to see if he got hurt by jumping into the deeper part of it. What he soon discovered was that he was able to float in the area that he had jumped into, as if nothing had happened at all, which was followed by him making sure his hat and satchel were fine as well, where neither of them were wet or soggy, something that caused him to smile as he climbed out of the pool and let Cosmos cast a spell that dried his entire body in an instant.
"You continue to surprise us," Nora remarked, as it wasn't everyday that a young dragon could replicate a spell just from watching one of the other wizards form the same spell for a few seconds as a demonstration, and yet she was sure that Spike would continue to surprise her, Cosmos, the other Magic Crafters, and the other Leaders with his deeds, which only made her interested in what else he could do at a young age.
"I'm glad you guys are impressed, as Blowhard sure was when I fought him," Spike replied, as the battle with Blowhard had been an exciting one, especially with how powerful his foe had been and the spell he needed to use to defeat him, one that had drained his reserves for a time, something he was hoping to improve upon before he needed to use it again, as being without any of his spells kind of sucked.
"Indeed, and that leads me into the main topic of today's lesson, fighting against another wizard," Cosmos said, where he took a few steps back and put some distance between him and Spike, before turning around to face the young dragon as he prepared himself for the next part of the lesson, because while he suspected that Spike wouldn't fight any of the other wizards in the Dragon Realms, unless they were asking for it, he wanted him to be prepared in case he found himself facing off against another magic user, "For now I want you to focus on defending yourself, so we can see just how good your shield spells are for ourselves, but if you see an opening you can exploit, and hit me a little, you're more than welcome to do so."
Spike summoned a barrier into existence the moment Cosmos loosed a bolt of lightning at him, one that was likely only a fraction of the power that the Leader of the Magic Crafters could call upon, even though it put a decent crack into the barrier, before he moved away from where he had been standing and focused on defending himself. It was just like what happened when he was facing Blowhard, where he used the barrier spell to protect himself from his foe's attacks as he thought about how to defeat him, but the difference between Blowhard and Cosmos was that one of them lacked any real knowledge on how to fight and the other was much more skilled. Of course that meant that Blowhard was the former and Cosmos was the latter, even though Gnasty Gnorc's commander did put up a good fight anyway, but Spike's thoughts informed him that even hitting Cosmos would be hard, given the experience and knowledge the dragon had, meaning he might be stuck defending himself against the attacks that were coming his way. He didn't shy away from using the barrier spell to cover himself every now and then, to stop the lightning, fireballs, and the occasional burst of ice shards from hitting him, but even then he suspected that this was purely to test his defenses, before Cosmos allowed him to take the side of the aggressor. As he thought about all of that, however, he noticed something odd, there was a loose stone in this area and, if he could prevent Cosmos from seeing what he was doing for a time, he might have a way to turn this practice session on it's side, and not in a way that Cosmos and Nora were expecting him to do so in.
Cosmos seemed to notice that he was thinking about something to do and loosed another bolt of lightning in Spike's direction, though this time he rolled out of the way a few times, to avoid the following attacks that were coming his way as his opponent forced him to adapt to the situation and defend himself with his barriers, instead of loosing his own attacks in response to what was happening in the area around him. Spike was okay with Cosmos controlling the battle as he kept defending himself, because he could use the fact that the Leader of the Magic Crafters wasn't using his full power against him to his advantage at some point, and right now he had to assume that Nora was purely watching the battle unfold, so he shouldn't expect her to jump in all of a sudden. As he summoned another barrier to protect himself he was sure that neither of the dragons noticed the loose stone, or more specifically the fact that he was interested in pulling it out so he could use it in some manner, but that was a good thing and the longer he could keep Cosmos in the dark the more his chances of success rose. Eventually he returned to where the stone was located and did something that he had read from one of the tomes he had read over the years, he summoned a three layered barrier in front of him, one that could actually withstand more damage and could stay up for a longer period of time, and as Cosmos struck the barrier with one of his lightning bolts, which Spike assumed was going to be followed by ice shards and a fireball, Spike readied himself as he gathered his magic and removed the stone from the ground with some ease.
It didn't take Cosmos long to smash through his new barrier, especially since he used three spells in rapid succession to get the job done, though before he could fire the fourth spell, to get Spike moving again, he moved to the side for a second or two as he dodged a stone that had been thrown at him, something he felt was odd before deciding that he could focus on it later. As soon as that happened he loosed the next lightning bolt he had prepared and watched as it struck the area that Spike was in, though instead of the young dragon moving like what he had seen earlier, where more barriers would pop up in his wake, he found that Spike had taken the spell directly and was now laying on his side. Both he and Nora were surprised by that, as they weren't expecting such a thing to happen and he took a step to see what he could do to mend the young dragon's wounds, before Spike disappeared in a puff of smoke and the stone Cosmos had dodged appeared where he had been resting, where it crumbled into a pile of dust seconds later. In that moment, where he saw the puff of smoke, Cosmos recalled one of the more powerful spells a Magic Crafters dragon could be taught, one of the Teleportation spells to be exact, and before he could react he felt Spike pulling in more magic behind him, which did confirm his suspicions on what the young dragon had done.
Spike, taking advantage of the fact that Cosmos was stunned, loosed a large fireball that raced towards where the Leader of the Magic Crafters was standing, who had to hastily summon a barrier to protect himself, which meant that it was weak and could be shattered easily... though when the two spells were cancelled out, and Cosmos' defenses were left open, he charged through the flames and barreled into Cosmos' chest, knocking his opponent backwards before he hit the ground, while Cosmos fell to one knee for a moment.
"We knew you were good when it came to magic, but I honestly wasn't expecting this," Cosmos said, to which he took a moment to chuckle as he stood up, because he had to admit that Spike's ability to use certain spells was quite amazing and it made him wonder what he could do in the future, "that was Substitution, one of the more advanced Teleportation spells that a dragon can use, one that we don't teach until a dragon has matured into an adult and is more in tune with the magical energies of the land, which is when the strain of the spell will be lessened for the user. Where in the world did you pick up that spell?"
"I would have to hazard it was in one of the tomes you gave him, hidden in the back," Nora remarked, though she was amazed by what Spike had done once more, as creating a new way to use Teleportation magic, by breathing on something to move it, was impressive, but being able to use the Substitution spell at such a young age, long before he was supposed to know about the spell's existence, was even more impressive.
"That's where I found it." Spike replied, where he huffed for a few moments as he glanced at the pair of dragons that were standing near him, as using that spell took a lot out of him and he knew that it would be some time before he got to the point where he could cast it without wiping out his magic supply.
Cosmos was still amazed by what Spike had done, even more so when the young dragon explained that this was the second time he had used it in battle, and that only made him all the more eager to teach Spike how to use the magic that was inside him and see what else he could do, because he was sure that Spike would continue to impress him and the rest of the Magic Crafters, regardless of what the future held for him and his siblings.