Despite Mr. Dragon saying cubs didn't like being woken up early, Rune smiled brightly at me the moment she opened her eyes, making me not want to let go of her… But I did. I didn't want to be late. 'So… Does the order reset now? So I'll be with Tabernath again right?'
After eating I headed to the war room and opened the door… Once again I saw Bhaltair standing there. Upon my eyes settling on him, I slowly moved back outside, closed the door, and then turned and walked away.
"Siya!" I heard from behind me. "Where do you think you're going!"
My body froze, tensing more with every step closer that he took, and still not fully recovered from the day before. Again, I hid inside myself, and let Mr Dragon take control. The moment he did he let out a deep growl, turning around. "Screw off before I melt you."
He paused with a scowl, slowly pulling his sword from his sheath. "I guess we'll be making a habit of this then…"
I growled again. 'Siya… You can't just hide every time you see him, what are you doing!'
'WHY NOT! I-I have you here… Why can't I hide… Don't you like being in control?'
He growled again, folding his arms as the two of them stared at each other. 'You have a point… I suppose it was just something I felt I needed to say… Although I'm not sure why.'
'I'm… Still not ready yet…'
'I can always turn him to glass… Although I'm not sure I can win in a fight
'He's a commander… It's probably not a good idea to kill him… And humans don't glass… They what… Melt? Or maybe combust… I'm not sure I want to find out…''
He growled again, starting to walk back towards Bhaltair. 'Fine… I'll just repeat this day until you have the courage to stand up to him yourself then… It's your body being put through this pain anyway…'
He walked right up to Bhaltair and stared him in the eyes. 'Your soul is unchanging as well… Quite fitting, for a dragon…'
He reached up and grabbed the blade with a bare hand, punching it so hard with the other that it cracked and shattered. "The only habit you're making is pissing me off… What do you want..."
I was faintly watching, given chills by how easy it seemed to stand up to him… But when I saw Bhaltaird smile I shut my eyes again and tucked myself away. Before I knew it the day had repeated and I was in bed again, my whole body trembling, feeling like ice.
'Mr Dragon… It hurts…'
'Yeah… I took a beating today too, although I wouldn't have if I could use magic or breath… But then no one would have survived… If you don't like it then you should fight through it next time…' He growled in the back of my mind.
As my body slowly came under my control again my legs started shaking, and I started to cry, even in that form. 'That's not what I meant… You had to go through all that… Because I'm a coward…'
'Hm… Coward though you may be… It's good that you are back… And at least you didn't apologize this time…'
'Back? What do you mean?'
'It's been over a week… You weren't responding at all… You have no idea how awkward it is for me to bathe in this body… Especially because I can't touch it how I want to.'
'Pervert Dragon…'
'Considering I've now held out for more than a week in this unholy situation… I resent that statement.'
I let out a slow breath as my body began to feel warm again. 'You're right, so– Hm… Thank you…' As I finally relaxed, the last week of memories ran through me in vague streams of foggy moments.
Every day was fight after fight, intense combat training that battered my body, but with each day my manna grew, and so did my ability to enhance my body's defenses. 'Mr Dragon… Tomorrow… Even if I try to hide away… Can you not take over for me? My body has been standing up to him for over a week… It's about time my mind starts doing it too… Even back before we met I used to do it all the time… But I ran and hid because it was just too easy to do…'
'That's my girl.'
'You're girl?.' He growled and then went silent. 'Ah… Come on Mr Dragon, don't be like that!' I suddenly found myself grinning as he remained silent. 'You're a pouty dragon, aren't you… Well, get some good rest…'
…
The next day I waited in the war room, arriving first sitting on the table with my greatsword strapped to my back. I had been witnessing my brother's swordplay for a while, and he had never seen mine. The dragon fought with class, not blades. 'The ferocity of a dragon and the discipline of a knight…'
"Come on, let's go." His voice called out as he finally opened the door.
"No."
He paused, having already turned to leave, slowly turning back. "Always so obstinate…"
"I challenge you to a duel…"
He grinned. "Well… It's about time you start taking this seriously."
His reaction gave me goosebumps. 'He wanted this?'
"The arena is empty, let's go."
I gritted my teeth, a bit annoyed, but I ended up following him anyway and walked behind him until we entered the arena. 'How strong have I become exactly? Enough to beat him? Well, Mr Dragon couldn't but I have technique, which goes a long way compared to beast-like instincts. Especially because I have a lot of those too.'
I drew my sword. 'I have a lot working for me… A lot more sense then…' Enhancing my speed and strength with magic I reached new limits, feeling a little guilty that I wasn't the one who trained for them.
I looked down at my hand. 'My body feels different… Mr. Dragon?'
'Er, uhm… Yeah well… After being in it for a while I made some changes so you could move around better, and so I would have less of a pain doing certain things.'
'Wait, changes? Like what? Oh, now that you mention it my skin is a little rougher, and it's like my body is more compact somehow.'
'That's just a side effect of your training. All I really did was make your chest smaller…'
I stiffened up, starting to feel stupid as I looked down, unable to tell the difference… 'Oh… I didn't even notice…'
He sighed. 'Your body has grown, both physically, and magically, which in turn makes you able to enhance yourself even more… In short… You're turning into a real monster. Go kick his butt.'
I couldn't help but smile, shaking my head a bit at the way his phrasing made it sound like he was talking to his kid. Suddenly instead of being afraid or nervous all I felt was an overwhelming confidence. My skin felt so hard that even if he did hit me it wouldn't hurt, and my muscles felt strong enough that even if we traded blows I would push him back. At least… That's how it felt.
'I wonder just how close we really are?'
"Are you ready?"
I took a deep breath. "Give me a second."
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