Having personally experienced the magical power mastered by Hephaestus after unlocking intelligence, he gained a deeper appreciation for the innate talents of giant dragons.
Hephaestus’s 0th Ring tricks completely surpassed the power of the 1st-level spells used by most human casters.
It should be noted that it is completely a novice caster and hasn’t mastered advanced techniques like tier-up casting. Yet, such a casual release could achieve this level, which is truly admirable.
"Why don’t you try Electric Claw again?"
This elemental trick was something Gauss had previously attempted to teach Hephaestus.
However, possibly due to its red dragon lineage, back then when in good condition, it could barely manage a clumsy Flaming Arrow, but could not execute Electric Claw.
Worried that Hephaestus might not remember, Gauss casually released Electric Claw several times, deliberately slowing down to demonstrate.
Bolts of lightning shot out from his palm, piercing the air. Even after the magic ended, the arcs of electricity still danced in the air like small snakes.
Hephaestus’s pair of golden vertical pupils leaned in for a closer look.
Like the gilded dragon eyes Gauss had when activating dragon power, Hephaestus could naturally see the flow of magic power.
However, after several attempts, only a few scattered arcs appeared.
Hephaestus showed a frustrated expression on its face.
"I’m sorry, Gauss. It’s so difficult."
Faced with its disappointment, Gauss looked on with appreciation. He could already sense that its talent at this moment was indeed dramatically different. What seemed like failure was, with numerous attempts, increasingly close to success.
"Gauss, is this the big creature you’re raising? Is it a giant dragon? It looks kind of dazed." Eden remarked.
To Eden, a naturally gifted individual, casting magic was as easy as eating and drinking water.
In its view, this red dragon, though not yet mature, had magical skills that were somewhat lacking.
Perhaps instinctively sensing something, as Eden spoke, the previously dejected Hephaestus suddenly raised its head and looked around puzzledly.
"Can you hear someone talking?" Gauss looked at Hephaestus and asked with curiosity.
Could Hephaestus sense Eden’s voice?
He also asked Eden about it. The communication between them was a sophisticated use of spiritual power, a single-channel transmission of information, rather than a loud broadcast that anyone with adequate spiritual power could receive.
Normally, Hephaestus shouldn’t be able to hear it.
"No, just a bit strange," Hephaestus replied in a muffled voice.
It seemed to be its sixth sense.
Gauss nodded, meanwhile responding to Eden.
"Hephaestus was originally a dragon beast, oh right, do you know dragon beasts?"
"Oh, oh! I know, I know," Eden said with some surprise. "Then this big one is quite smart."
"I think I encountered a dragon beast when I was outside; after discovering me, it tried to eat me. A very savage demon."
"You seem to have a clear memory of demons?" Gauss asked curiously.
"It might be related to this body," Eden seemed unsure about this as well. "So, are you teaching it magic now?"
"Yes."
"Then I won’t disturb you. I’ll just watch, you do your best."
Gauss and Eden completed a round of encrypted communication.
Hephaestus saw Gauss, facing its casting failure, asking some inexplicable questions before standing silently aside.
It thought the "teacher" might be somewhat disappointed with it and was squatting uneasily nearby.
"Gauss, shall we switch to fire magic, which I’m good at?"
Seeing Gauss return to his senses, Hephaestus quickly slipped in a comment.
It instinctively felt that it indeed had a better talent for fire-related attributes in magic.
"No, try again. Let me demonstrate once more."
Gauss shook his head.
The giant dragon is a very powerful magical creature.
It was not easy for Hephaestus to be influenced by him and become intelligent.
If it were limited to just fire magic, it would be too much of a pity.
Although this "post-natal" giant dragon does not possess the inherited magic of a true innate giant dragon, it seems that through self-learning, it should still have the ability to master various types of magic.
And the stronger Hephaestus becomes, the more beneficial it is to him.
He also isn’t worried about this creature rebelling. Under the dual influence of [Controller] and [Leader’s Certificate], this creature was already loyal to him long ago.
At most, it might have a little temper tantrum usually, but its wild nature has completely faded away. It would not leave even if Gauss tried to drive it away.
"Alright."
Sure enough, upon receiving Gauss’s response, Hephaestus agreed eventually.
With Gauss’s several patient and targeted instructions, finally.
"Electric Claw!"
A bolt of lightning, thicker than a person, shot from its sharp curved claws.
"Boom!"
This time, Hephaestus wasn’t launching an attack on Gauss, but performing at Gauss’s request.
After the lightning on the body surface receded, Gauss touched his chin.
This trick might look intimidating, but in actuality, its power was much less than the previous Flaming Arrow.
Hephaestus’s Flaming Arrow could exceed the power of the 1st Ring spells, whereas its Electric Claw should barely have more destructive power than a regular caster’s trick, but it still didn’t reach the level of a 1st-level spell.
Of course, this was merely its first successful release, and perhaps with substantial practice, proficiency in this trick could enhance its power slightly, but it should never rival the Flaming Arrow.
If the bloodline it had was that of a blue dragon, a completely opposite situation might occur.
"Why don’t you try Mage’s Hand?"
Gauss released an invisible magical hand, then was about to take out the Trick Learning Book for Hephaestus to reference the magical model engraved on it.
Yet in the next moment, under Gauss’s astonished gaze, Hephaestus faintly began to form the outline of a dragon’s claw.
Unfortunately, before it could fully form, it shattered like glass.
Nevertheless, this exceeded Gauss’s expectations.
It could actually release a trick without relying on a pre-existing magical model.
Even though this trick was the most basic and simple Mage’s Hand, it still wasn’t easy.
"Could it be... this Hephaestus fellow is actually a hidden magical genius?" He speculated inwardly.
He felt he might have underestimated Hephaestus’s magical talent.
Hephaestus found mastering the Electric Claw a little challenging, but when it came to the non-elemental Mage’s Hand, its learning speed was remarkably swift.
Perhaps its original magical talent was very strong, but being born as a dragon beast severely impaired its intelligence level, rendering this talent latent without meeting Gauss.
As for why it had low innate intelligence yet formidable magical talent?
Gauss could only say the relationship between the two is complex and doesn’t always correlate directly, though generally positive correlation exists, individual exceptions occur.
Just like a spellcaster of level over ten might have high intelligence attributes, yet his magical talent might be far behind Gauss at level 1 or 2.
Typically, individuals with higher innate intelligence display stronger magical talents.
But Hephaestus is a dragon beast, not a human, so human-based samples might not be entirely applicable unless multiple cases like Hephaestus appear.
"Continue."
Gauss signaled Hephaestus to proceed.
Sure enough, after another attempt, an invisible dragon claw appeared in the air.
The dragon claw’s impact was more than twice as much as ordinary human casters and could reach farther distances.
Nonetheless, regarding Mage’s Hand, this advantage bears little significance, as the spell is seldom used offensively and rarely utilized otherwise.
Next, Gauss planned to instruct Hephaestus with higher-level magic, primarily focusing on Fire Magic.
While he encouraged Hephaestus to develop comprehensively, it doesn’t conflict with prioritizing Fire Magic.
It’s similar to parents urging children to eat more vegetables without being picky, while in reality, they consume the most staple foods like grains and noodles.
1st Ring magic Burning Hand, 2nd Ring magic Fiery Magic Ball, and even 3rd Ring magic Fireball Technique, he could instruct Hephaestus. After all, it seemed to possess the ability to learn magic without relying on a spell model.
It was just unclear to what extent Hephaestus could learn at this moment.
Gauss was, after all, being a teacher to a giant dragon for the first time.