Blade Over Magic

Reunited

Under the lead of Mary, the group made its way into the Lowell Residence.

The others looked on in awe as they passed through the large halls, and even Falael, who appeared to have some experience in dealing with nobles, was begrudgingly impressed by the extravagance.

Xander didn’t really care about any of that, though, as he was currently speaking to Mary.

"So, Mia and my father have been training you and Keir all this time?" He asked, and Mary nodded slightly.

"Indeed, they deemed it necessary that we undergo a period of training in order to advance certain things about ourselves. It was arduous, but I believe the results were satisfactory." Hearing them, Xander gave a self-deprecating smile.

"That’s good. At least you didn’t need to worry about messing up certain things." This caused Mary to look back at him. Seeing his dark clothes and his expression, she sighed softly and spoke.

"I heard what happened, Milord. I will not offer empty platitudes, I doubt that is what you want to hear." Xander nodded slightly, but Mary’s next words surprised him.

"But, do know that I’m proud of you. So please, hold your head up high." The words were simple, yet Xander felt like he’d been struck by a lightning bolt. He stopped walking, and the others, who had been pretending not to listen, slowly passed him by.

"She’s not wrong. You were pretty cool during that whole thing." Aubrey said when she passed him.

"Seriously, seeing you mope is weird. You gonna be sad the whole time or actually make up for it?" Falael snorted as they passed by.

"Knowing the Captain, he’d have wanted you to look forward regardless. Come on, Xander, you got this." Curtis was the last one to pass him by, and Xander stared at the backs of the people he called his friends, and he felt his eyes sting.

Wiping an arm across them, he smiled, but it was much lighter than before. The weight on his heart hadn’t disappeared, but it was no longer as suffocating.

"... Alright, I’ll do that." He whispered to himself and stepped forward. Mia, who was hanging off his neck, briefly opened her eyes to inspect his side profile, then she closed them and held on tighter.

***

"You’re taking us to see Keir?" Xander asked with surprise and slight elation when Mary explained their destination.

"Correct. He is currently resting in the training fields." Mary confirmed. Xander would be lying if he said he wasn’t eager to see the baby dragon again. He wondered how much he had changed after the so-called training they had been put through.

They passed by several guards and servants, many of whom gave Xander odd looks, but compared to the gossiping students in Avoma, these people were much more professional and didn’t cause any issues.

Soon enough, the group arrived at the training fields, and Xander felt a bit of nostalgia, remembering when he first came here and saw the—frankly—abhorrent swordsmanship of the Lowell Family’s knights.

But as soon as they stepped into the field, the group’s attention was stolen by a large black shape.

Xander judged it to be the size of an SUV on earth, yet the moment he laid eyes on it, he felt a tug.

It came from somewhere deep within him, likely his soul, and as soon as he did, he immediately know what that shape was.

At the same time, the ’shape’ moved, and a large reptilian head emerged, amethyst eyes locking onto Xander and the rest.

Xander and the creature locked eyes, then it melded into a dark shadow that streaked across the ground at impossible speeds, arriving in front of the group so fast it almost looked like teleportation.

Falael and Curtis were startled, Aubrey seemed to recognize something, and Xander just smirked.

"Look at you. Seems like you’ve been eating very well recently." Hearing his words, Keir’s eye twitched, and he opened his maw, a voice that could have belonged to a teenager sounding out with grievance.

| Eating very well?! Do you know the stuff I’ve been through recently?! | The surrounding space quake at his voice, and Xander felt a strange ripple pass through his body. The others felt similar, and Aubrey’s fingers moved to her temples.

Mary gave Keir a stern look.

"You can speak without authority, Keir." Sensing her gaze, the dragon seemed to realize something and cleared his throat, an oddly human action despite his clearly inhuman visage.

"Right, sorry. Now as I was saying!" The strange distortions filling his voice faded, leaving Xander and co dazed. What the hell was that?

"All I’ve been doing is training and training and training! And when I get tired, I’m force fed something hell knows the origin of! And if I fall asleep, it’s like I close my eyes for a second, but I’m already fully rested, but it’s not enjoyable at all! The number of times I had to use a single aspect of my abilities over and over until I lost count are beyond me! I couldn’t even take a break without it being some form of training! And just when I thought I could take a break from ability stuff, I’m suddenly training my body, then my mind! Why does a dragon need to read?!" Keir basically wailed as he dropped his large head on the grass in front of Xander, his eyes watery.

"And when I asked when I could finish, all I got told was that I’d finish when I finished. I just wanna sleep and actually enjoy it. And eat actually good food!" Xander laughed slightly and patted the head of the large creature who was still evidently a child.

"Alright, you big baby. You’re alright." Falael, Aubrey, and Curtis watched this scene in shock.

"W-Wait, that’s Keir? How?! Since when did dragons grow so fast?! Well, I don’t actually know much about dragons... but still!" Falael exclaimed in disbelief.

"Time Dilation." Mary explained succinctly. "In the training we did, we experienced time at a rate faster than the outside world. That, coupled with the constant flow of extremely high quality food, Keir’s growth both in his size and abilities experienced a significant change. All of this is thanks to his Excellency" Hearing this explanation, Aubrey looked on in interest.

"Does that mean Keir is nearing adulthood with how big he is now?" She asked.

"Not in the slightest. In dragon terms, he is in fact, still a child. Just no longer a hatchling. Dragons are absurdly long-lived creatures. They take an immense amount of time to mature. It is also why fully grown dragons have sizes that defy common sense." When she said this, the trio shuddered. If Keir was this big as a dragon, then how large would he be as an actual adult?

At that moment, Keir, who had been getting comforted by Xander, looked up and said.

"Huh? What have you been doing? You feel different." Xander raised a brow.

"In what way?" Keir hummed in thought before saying.

"Well... it’s like those guys who have strange things in their mana pools. But yours feels different... I can’t really ascertain its origins. How does that work?" Sensing his obvious confusion, Xander just chuckled.

"Let’s just say that I managed to figure something out." He looked around. "By the way where is my father?"

"I’m glad you asked." Everyone—yes, everyone, even Mary and Keir—flinched at the sound of the voice, all except Mia.

Xavier emerged from who knows where with a smile.

"I’m glad I was finally remembered in my own home." As soon as he saw him, Keir squeaked and rushed to hide behind Xander. The image of the large dragon hiding behind a human was... amusing, to say the least.

Xander looked at Xavier in a way that said ’what the heck?’ And asked.

"We’re you seriously just waiting for me to mention you?" Xavier nodded.

"Correct."

"... Why?" At that, the dignified Archmage deadpanned.

"I take pleasure in catching others off-guard and behaving in ways that defy expectation."

Silence.

’... Is it just me, or is he even more unhinged than back in the tent?’ Curtis asked through the bond, only for Xavier to look straight at him.

"First of all, using telepathy in front of an Archmage is dumb. It’s like whispering loudly. Second, this is just me without any airs. Just because I’m strong doesn’t mean I need to act like an arrogant prick all the time." Xander’s eye twitched.

’Then why the hell was he so imposing the first time we met?!’ He recalled the day he had met Xavier after receiving the Spring of Life water. Back then, the man acted like a mysterious, unfathomable creature.

Now he was like a completely different person. If they didn’t know he was an Archmage beforehand, they would have thought he was just someone’s very quirky father.

Mary regained her composure and bowed, but Xavier just waved her off and looked at the group.

"Now, then. Since you’ve all reunited, how about we get to business?" He said with a smile that made everyone feel a chill run down their spines.