Belzac and Klea’Hatma.
Normally, you wouldn’t expect a wolf to have any interactions with a demon stuck in this world for over 2000 years. At least, not to the point both would have a grudge against each other. Well, it wasn’t like the demon really cared about the wolf, but, certainly, the wolf held onto his hatred for the demon.
Immortalized on the murals of an old dwarven fortress we found inside the Sirius March of Artorias, the story of Belzac and his growth in power until his death and the formation of a Belzac cult or something lay hidden and forgotten until the Tasianna, Saori and I stumbled onto it. There, not only did we learn the elves, dwarves, and humans had a hand in his demise, but also the fact he battled Klea’Hatma so many years ago.
Back then, Klea’Hatma was still sealed in that same fortress by Marsven—for some god-knows reason, although even Aurena couldn’t exactly tell me the reason—and was accidentally released by a human. Belzac, under the command of Marsven, hunted down the demonkin, driving her injured state back into her hiding hole. Once defeated, she was sealed once again.
Naturally, it was obvious my party found the orb she was sealed in and accidentally let her out, but, thankfully, nothing really happened. With Aurena controlling that demon with a noose around her neck, she was deemed suitable to use for Ellaine. Initially, I thought of the demon as a threat, but somehow, Ellaine managed to … tame? Befriend? Well, however you wanted to call it, she had become more helpful.
But, while Klea’Hatma had her own story to write, Belzac’s drew to an end after his fight with her. Critically injured, the rank S fenrir was too weak when he was ambushed by his enemies, and eventually slain. However, he defied true death by striking a deal with Edna, the Goddess of Monsters, to help him and grow one of his descendants into becoming her Champion. For that, his soul lingered, remaining behind in this place as an onnikai.
Which, surprisingly, led to the whole Belzac wolf thing and how Saori was now stuck in this place with him. Well, with a daughter who could control souls, I guess Edna had the privilege of fulfilling such a deal. Then again, her husband was also Marsven, and who knew what that Origin God had up his sleeves?
Now, due to Ellaine’s request, we were meeting Belzac “face-to-face,” concerning Klea’Hatma. As Ellaine had explained, the demon was dormant, having not responded once since they first found one of Broggart’s hideouts. Considering the gods weren’t answering me, the demon was our only way to identify hidden demonkins.
On our way to him, through one of the tunnels connecting Belzac’s shrine to the Saori’s and Asaka’s living area, our group suddenly stopped when we noticed something bright on the wall. Everybody but Saori and Asaka.
“Oi, come on, it’s nothing bad.” Asaka gestured for us to follow us, all while I noticed her mouth was slightly twitching upwards. Almost as if she was suppressing a smile.
Going closer to the bright lights, our eyes opened up a bit as we realized it was actually a drawing. White and black colors were painted on the tunnel wall, depicting something, a maybe, semi-pro drawing of a wolf. It was visually appealing with how the artist mixed the monochrome colors together, but it was a bit amateurish due to the over-the-top exaggeration on it, specifically, the cartoonish eyes and claws.
It was almost looked like—
“Graffiti,” Haruka stated after a couple moments of us observing it, drawing our attention to Asaka when the former walked up to her. “How?”
Asaka grinned boisterously, before she clapped her hands together, materializing two comma-looking objects with mana—one black, the other white. They twirled around, before they finally formed a ying-yang formation. She then snapped her fingers, causing the commas to swirl around and mix into a magic circle, becoming bright beige, just like the wall painting. It was a spell, and once cast, created an orb.
She then pushed her finger through it, before tearing off a piece of it like some kind of semi-solid fluid. She then used that slime to quickly paint a long stick with a handle in the air, which somehow was floating around, just like the weird beige orb. We were then left speechless as the painting became real, turning itself into a sword Asaka could wield.
She started swinging the blade around, causing the air to swoop with every slash. “My unique skill, [Twilight Paladin], was kinda difficult to actually figure out, you know? As in, what is a ‘Twilight element?’ Well, Twilight is the dim, orange light before the sun sets, right? Doesn’t make sense as an element, right?”
We all nodded. It always seemed weird that Asaka’s unique skill obtained after becoming a Saint of Ilsaphone allowed her to create those weird ying-yang things—one holy, one dark element.
Moonlight Guider: A title granted to a mortal recognized by the Goddess of Death and Necromancy, whose control has been usurped by individual [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]. Enables the ability to communicate with all types of faefolk. Enables the ability to control and speak with the undead. The owner of this title will be immune to all mana ailments while the moon is up
Twilight Paladin: A unique skill given to the [Moonlight Guider]. Enables the owner to enchant equipment with either the Holy or Dark element. Enables the user to conjure up Holy and Dark mana into a twinned object of light and darkness, enabling them the usage of the compound element [Twilight]. Dramatically increases Health regeneration when the sun is up, and Mana during the night. Reduces damage received from all undead-related sources by 80%. The skills combined are: [Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Mana Control Lv. 10] [Holy Magic Lv. 10] [Dark Magic Lv. 10] [Health Recovery Lv. 10] [Mana Recovery Lv. 10] [Arcane Conduit Lv. 10] [Sorcerer’s Power Lv. 10]
You would think the Goddess of Death and Necromancy, who was also in control of soul rebirths, would give her Saintess a skill around those domains, but nope. It was something else entirely.
“The wolf can mostly translate what Ilsaphone told me. Over 2000 years of being dead and stuck in this place for Edna to strengthen his soul does that to you. Similar to your situation, Hestia.” Using me as an example made it simple for everybody else to understand the situation. “‘Light is life, darkness is death. The coalescence of those two concepts is the essence of true necromancy,’ or, whatever that philosophical ramble is supposed to mean.”
She then threw her sword in the air, causing it to dissipate into thin air, before she used the rest of the beige orb to paint something else. This time, though, it was in the shape of a thin gun and a can; the latter was loaded into the former, before she used that gun to spray shining white and black colors on the wall.
Asaka was fully immersed in her work, drawing more and more without saying another word. Seeing her like this, Saori sighed and continued the explanation in her stead.
“Essentially, our initial training involved Belzac trying to help us find our ‘drive.’ I experienced my memories of my human mother, including a chance to find closure to my past life’s death. Tatsuya and Kyouya had some … private stuff, while Asaka, well, she wouldn’t tell me anything, but I can guess.” Saori stared at the girl too focused on her job to respond. “The onnikai slime we saw with Kiiro, Tasianna’s catalyst, and the slime holding my garm mother together are not unique things. The idea behind the slime gave her the idea for her first custom spell, [Vivid Graffiti].”
I knew from everybody that Asaka was very much a delinquent who did graffiti, but I didn’t expect that she would use that hobby of hers to do this. I mean, it certainly was creative, something I probably wouldn’t have thought about doing, but was this really the best use of her unique skill? Maybe I wasn’t seeing the use-case for it.
After some more time had passed, Asaka was finally done, showing off a well-done painting of a husky plushie, once again reminding me of the one Shoyi suddenly transformed into. What surprised me, though, was how Saori once again reacted strongly to it. She wanted to complain at Asaka, but she just shot her graffiti gun at Saori, painting her black dress white.
“Still think you dress like an emo, teach, hehe.” She grinned.
Meanwhile, Saori just glared at her, before letting out a sigh as the white color just vanished like the sword from before. “… It is not only a way for her to deal damage, but the graffiti gun, especially, can act as her range healing after she lost [Holy Magic].”
Asaka still had [Sacred Magic] to give her access to [Sacred Field] and [Major Heal], but the idea behind the gun she was using was to give fast healing for far less mana than those two spells. Since [Vivid Graffiti] didn’t demand mana upon use, it allowed her to spray almost indefinitely outside of the fact she needed mana to maintain it.
Now, you might ask, why not just make an actual gun? Apparently, a gun with some ammo counted as two separate pieces of equipment, while a graffiti gun with some paint in it counted as one item. That was a restriction I hadn’t expected, but it did make sense in a way. Still, I guess the power coming from this spell was the fact she could stay relatively flexible in whatever situation she was, as long as she could paint the item in time.
Also, the fact they explained it to us now made what happened later far easier to understand. After all, the moment we entered Belzac’s shrine, we noticed the whole place was filled to the brim with graffiti, making it look like some ghetto. The colorful and bright “decorations” were a stark contrast to the bone wolf statue in the middle, giving off a more macabre feeling.
[“… You never listen, girl.”] We all could hear Belzac’s displeased voice enter our voice, followed by Asaka shrugging her shoulders.
“Try some colors and change, old man. You’re all grumpy and moody cuz you’ve been stuck in this shithole for over 2000 years. Might make your soul happier.”
[“My mood is ill because my time is waning like any other mortal, while you squander your precious human life with petty interests and tardiness. How would you feel if your descendant and her allies did nothing but trouble you, all while you know true death lingers around the corner?”]
Immortality being a curse was again shown clearly with Belzac. As Saori explained, the fenrir had an extremely old soul and it was nearing its end. Similar to the archerudite of Aleistunum, Uzerra, Belzac spent most of his days sleeping to ward off the deterioration of his soul and prolonging his life.
As such, unless he believed a [Belzac’s Successor] could succeed with his goal, he would simply remain dormant. Whenever he woke up, he would give this sorta training to them, allowing them to get stronger so they could become Edna’s Champion. However, time was waning, to the point every second was precious to him.
[“I explained that I leave my shrine empty so as to not overindulge my senses, reserving only the most important memories for my soul. This … This is poison,”] Belzac snarled at Asaka for all the graffiti, but the blue-haired girl could only scowl and shake her head.
“It’s that attitude that’s killing you, old man … Lighten up.”
As Uzerra had mentioned, happiness could enhance a soul’s life. Maybe Asaka wasn’t as heartless towards Belzac as I thought. I, too, was worried about Mom’s advance age and … maybe also my dragon father’s.
After that little argument, Asaka just left the room with Haruka following after her. Meanwhile, the rest of us remained silent, observing the creepy statue in the middle of this shrine, all while Ellaine moved forward. She raised her left hand, showing off the two spell rings—one green, one brown—to the legendary wolf.
[“… Yes, I can sense her mana. Smell it. How did she survive?”] Belzac asked, acting far less aggressive than before.
“You didn’t know?” Ellaine tilted her head, looking over at Saori, Tasianna, and me. We, after all, saw the murals of his fight with Klea’Hatma. “Do you remember where you fought Klea? A dwarven fortress occupied by humans?”
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[“It is a scar. You don’t forget them.”]
Ellaine nodded, continuing the story, “She was sealed in a catalyst there. Hestia, Saori, and Tasianna found it there, before we accidentally released her. I have been using her as a source of power ever since the Goddess allowed me to use her.”
“Not we. It was my fault,” I corrected Ellaine, making sure everybody else wasn’t at fault for my actions. I didn’t know it would have happened, but it still did.
[“… That doesn’t matter. Saori, you knew about this but didn’t tell me?”] His attention was now on my vice-captain, slightly growling at her in displeasure.
“Because Klea’Hatma was never brought up in our discussion, isn’t a real threat with Goddess Aurena keeping her in check, and, finally, you never talked about your grudge against her. Only against the one other person alive responsible for your death. Will you now tell me how I should kill the demon, despite our control over her?”
[“You cannot control a demon!”] Belzac snapped at her. [“No, they are beings controlled by their whims alone. You can only play around them, manipulate them as such. But you will never have full power over them, and if you believe you do, you are a fool. Grrr … Of course, it had to be God Marsven …”]
“Goddess Aurena did tell us he was the one to seal him, correct, Lady Hestia?” I nodded to Tasianna’s question.
Belzac’s growling stopped when he heard this, going silent for a moment before continuing, [“The Origin God of Darkness is also the ever mysterious maker of change for the sake of change. I have heard of Chihiro who ‘possesses’ the domain of change, but that is only in this world. It is God Marsven who is the true god of change, even back when he was still an Edjurl god.”]
“You didn’t know he was behind this up until now? Didn’t he send you to attack her?” Daichi brought up, also knowing about the story since we informed everybody about it during our story sessions.
[“His mood is fickle and he holds no strong love for mortalkind, seeing us as mere beings pleading for his power. Amongst the gods, he is the least intrusive one, leaving us to live however we want, never becoming angered even if we slight him. For he is the God of Progression, Defiance, and Fate in this world,”] Belzac gave us a detailed explanation of who Marsven was, but he wasn’t done just yet. [“Although I say that, he still chose Edna, a mortal elf, as his wife and had three daughters who went and created three new races for Peolynca. While he hasn’t reached his hand out personally, his daughters, who inherited many of his traits and power, still are expanding his power.”]
Belzac then groaned, sounding irritated. [“He gave me a Divine Quest to slay the demonkin, which I accepted, as it would bring me closer to rank SS. I do not know how the demon was sealed, as I was sure I left the demon dead to lick my wounds. I suspect God Marsven kept her alive, but it cannot be through his personal hand. It has to be through other mortal hands.”]
“The villagers and followers you gained,” Saori brought up, pointing at the people who once lived inside the dwarven fortress during Belzac’s era.
[“Correct … I remember those humans. They worshipped me as their savior and helped heal my wounds. They made me this shrine when I died. I cannot remember where their descendants went, or if their bloodline still lives.”]
“None of them were beastmen, at least,” Tatsuya stated before explaining how he and the other Saori’s group buried them beneath this shrine, as their remains were left unburied. “Honestly, I thought one of them would be a beastman, but I—”
[“You guessed wrong.”] The grumpy wolf interrupted him, growling. [“I do not have an interest in human females, nor did I learn [Humanize]. Regardless, their story doesn’t matter, but if you wish to seek to learn more about Marsven and what he planned, you might wish to ask somebody who is in the know.”]
Like Aurena. She might also know if Belzac’s followers were still alive somehow, or not. Actually, the Night Sisters could know, too, but speaking with them just sounds like trouble.
[“Now, human girl, explain to me, why did you bring this creature’s mangled pieces before me?”] It felt like the big, bad wolf was standing before us with the gloomy voice he was speaking with. Not to mention, his aura was active once again. [“Is this my tribute?”]
Ellaine covered her left hand with her right and took a step back. “N-no, I just wish to ask you since you are the closest being I could ask about this. Uhm, Lord Belzac, I wish to ask you about Klea’s state. She had been dormant—non-responsive—for a long time now. Do you know why?”
[“There, you said it, again. ‘Klea,’ only her first name. Do you know demons separate their full names with an apostrophe? Do not tell me you consider this filth a friend? She once endangered the entirety of Peolynca; every single being was in danger of being defiled by her!”] Belzac shouted, almost to the point of scolding. [“If she is dormant, then leave her that way! I can smell the scent of demon mana around those rings, and if Goddess Aurena allows it, then you must be wielding her power. The power of a demon of lust.”]
“…” Ellaine couldn’t speak back, looking almost intimidated by him, reminding me of how Ellaine was afraid of her father. As in, the expectations he had for her.
[“Wield it, as long as it doesn’t corrupt you. The blackness of the void I am teaching Saori is almost as rare as the power of the demigods of Edjurl. Leave the demon alone. Leave her to die. Let the little bits of mana inside those rings perish.”]
“W-wait, die?!” Ellaine’s body twitched. “Hold on, Lord Belzac, are you telling me Klea is currently dying?!”
[“No.”] However, his answer was blunt, throwing us all off. [“That demon is essentially already dead, since I cannot even smell a soul. Only her mana. I presume this is what Saori meant with Goddess Aurena ‘keeping her in check.’ What I mean is that you should leave her like that until you are finished with your duty. Then, exterminate her for good. Do not risk the world with your naivety.”]
“The Goddess has her under her control!” Ellaine argued back, but such an argument couldn’t sway the wolf one bit.
[“And once you are dead, Goddess Aurena will just destroy her just as well. Why not just end her earlier?”]
I kinda understood what Belzac was meaning to say, but his bluntness was a clear turn off. It just made the situation sound bleaker than usual, while not helping with the problem at hand.
Almost as if he read my mind, Grimnir grumbled at the response. “The fact you can’t see why we are using the demon in our quest is the problem here. The lass asked ya a clear question, but instead of answering it, you derailed the conversation to prop up your own opinion. Bladdarg. Give it a rest until ya’re finished. Now what is it, wolf? Why is the demon dormant?”
[“Hrrrm?”] Belzac questioned Grimnir’s words with the sound of his displeased voice. [“What use is this knowledge, when it is more acceptable to just leave the dead to sleep? The girl can still use the demonic mana however she wishes as long as she can control herself. In fact, waking up the demon is a prime risk. You wish to corrupt your ally?”]
“Whether Ellaine’s action will produce proper consequences or not is not for you to decide, Belzac,” Saori supported Grimnir in this matter. “I understand you want to prevent the risk, and while I can agree with it, trying to hand hold everything until the very end to have your perfection will only hinder a person’s growth. Instead of hiding information, try to trust that we know what we will do is the right thing.”
“Sensei?” The students were shocked to hear that from Saori; from my recollection of her stories about her time on Earth, it did sound a bit different to how she was before she was reincarnated. Then again, I had been with her all this time, so I knew how much she had changed from our first meeting.
Belzac’s bullheadedness was met head-on by Grimnir’s abrasive attitude and Saori’s new teaching philosophy. If he was still alive, you could imagine him grating his teeth with how oppressive this silence was. However, from the look of it, those two really knew how to deal with a person like him.
[“Saori …”] he eventually growled in response, his attention fully on his “heir.” [“Everyday since you’ve been with me, you have become more and more bold. You spoke back to me when I told you to stop attacking the grimgarians. You spoke against me when I told you we should just let them reign. You spoke back against me when I told you to handle Asaka better, reining her in as is your job as her alpha! You have learned nothing!”]
“Wrong! I learned enough that sometimes dreams just can’t come true if you aren’t even willing to sacrifice something about your life. The hardships, the compromises, the emotional rollercoasters; those make a person whole. Something I’ve learned well enough after you made Mom interact with me in my human mother’s form. The past gives rise to fear, consuming your every step. Prevents you from embracing what is right.”
I instinctively gulped, remembering everything I did during my first year of being in this world. I was too scared of becoming an idol, too afraid of being rejected once again after all the training I did and the glimmer of hope I held of being in a new world. The fear of being alone again, causing me to nearly abandon my friends out of worry that I might end up hurting them.
The same thing had also happened to Saori, with how she acted at first. Even back then, I could tell she was a bit of a control freak with how she was scared of being “worthless” in my eyes and losing “power.” How she always wanted to keep us safe from everything, whether it was risks, poverty, or just general unhappiness. I thought she was selfish, but her attitude always hid her more caring side, to the point she neglected her passion for history.
Saori then shook her head. “It isn’t right that I needed to argue with you five times to overturn your opinions on the grimgarians. You want to keep your territory, but you don't want to fight for it. You want me to become your successor, but you keep me locked inside this place.”
[“Your life has more meaning than some petty squabble between the humans and the grimgarians, Saori!”] Belzac shouted to interject himself, not even letting Saori finish. [“You are the last Belzac. Literally. You are the last of my bloodline, untainted by death. If you die … then all the effort I’ve made for 2000 years will become irrelevant. All the descendants I’ve groomed—dead. I’m stuck here, unable to do anymore.”]
“…” Saori’s face was tense but it didn’t soften a bit. It seemed they had this discussion already.
[“According to Goddess Kronnaz’s lessons, the grimgarians have the right to fight back. Revenge. Why are you fighting them? The humans, the elves, the dwarves … they’ve done nothing but destroy our bloodline! They killed your great-grandfather and your grandfather. They forced your mother to lead a pack of young wargs all by herself when she was still barely an adult! The collapse of my bloodline is their fault. Why won’t you listen?”] His pleading voice was grating my consciousness. I could feel his stoicness fading.
“… Because I know you want me to succeed. Because you want me to live, I decided to break the loop and stop history from repeating. There are better ways to solve these problems if you think outside of the box,” Saori argued, steadfast in her opinions. “For what it is worth, Belzac, I am glad you decided to agree with my plan. We don’t need to hold the Belzac forest when I am the only Belzac left. Maybe … seeing the world will help you. See how much it has changed over the years.”
She then turned around. “Sadly, just as always, our arguments have derailed into constant fights. Ellaine, everybody, this is enough. Let us go. We will not gain any answers while he is like this. Belzac, after I’m done with my plan, we’ll move out towards Aureolis. We’ll continue the training within the subspace during our travels.”
Seeing Saori just walk away caused some confusion amongst us, but since she had the best handle on Belzac, we followed along with her. Ellaine looked disappointed, but it couldn’t be helped.
[“Wait.”] But our steps stopped when Belzac’s voice came. [“… The demon, if what you told me is true, is probably in the same state as when you first found her in the fortress. She cannot wake up by herself; she is trapped in her own dreams, so to speak. I don’t know why, but maybe she is hiding her presence from somebody. I could only ‘smell’ her due to my increased powers within this shrine of mine. If not for that, I don’t think anybody could sense her being within your rings. Even if they were a foot in front of you.”]
Ellaine instantly turned around, walking a few steps towards his shrine. “But she has already done this before, multiple times even! She would always suppress her aura to make sure the demonkins cannot trace her. She never fell asleep like this before.”
[“What if it is somebody she believes can find her? Tell me, girl, does an enemy know you can use demonic powers?”]
Vifi’Yok!
Ellaine, Tasianna, and Saori looked at each other, followed by the Tatsuya and Kyouya groaning. They probably had the same thought. During their fight with her in Estralia, Vifi’Yok and her apprentice saw Ellaine use her demonic powers. We used the smokescreen of “Ellaine is a Sin of Lust contractor” to hide the truth, but it would make sense if the demonkin decided to investigate her.
After all, did Ellaine ever have contact with a demonkin outside of combat? Who was it who gave her the powers? If the demonkins did their research, they would quickly find an inconsistency. Was that why Klea’Hatma hid herself to the point she was like when we first found her?
Ellaine began to piece the puzzle together. “… So to wake her, we need—”
“The last time I had her wake up was when she was in contact with one of the demonkin’s manatech—a Rebellion orb, meant to agitate a dungeon’s boss into a dungeon break.” I remembered the Cedaraille events and how an insane Shiterno cultist was cajoled by the demonkin or one of their sympathizers to destroy the city. “We need something like that again. Or, maybe anything with demonic energy?”
“… No.” Ellaine grimaced, understanding this was a near impossible task at this very point. Trying to find something like that without the proper contacts just sounded insane.
But, the question was, why did Klea’Hatma hide herself like this? And why did she do this when they entered Broggart’s hideout? What was going on?
I instinctively gulped when I realized this puzzle was starting to get more complicated than I thought. It might actually be time for me to visit one of Aurena’s shrines and try to talk to her in person about all of this.
“Thank you, Ancestor Belzac.” Saori bowed deeply to Belzac, before turning around and leaving without awaiting an answer.
With our questions finally answered, it was finally time to say our goodbyes to Saori and Asaka once again. Rajah, too, had to say goodbye to his mother and siblings, as they would stay here to train with the girls. It made me smile when I saw Rajah promise them he would become even stronger the next time they met.
Saori and Asaka would execute their plans before they traveled to Aureolis for their sneak mission. After my discussion with Saori, I knew I shouldn’t worry about her too much. At the end of the day, adults had a lot of bottled up feelings and emotions. I should be glad she showed more of herself today and just trust her. Similar to how she trusted me and Aurora as a whole.
Once everybody said their temporary byes, we returned to the subspace and then headed back into Inkoran-Tazul to go out for some food. After that stressful meeting, I was hungry again, and this time, I couldn’t wait to taste some traditional dwarven food.
Outside of your screaming drunks and merry party-makers, the best place to eat was truly the locals taverns. Hearty and filling dishes like pies, meat loaves, and so many more helped me understand how much the underground life had influenced their culture. If most of your people were miners and smiths, you needed to make food which could keep those tummy-engines roaring.
Naturally, since I had a feast to attend tonight, I didn’t fill myself up too much. After all, I had to make an impression on the Ankoran King and Queen that idols were the best moodmakers around. Naturally, I couldn’t help but show my skills off that night and then quickly asked him to allow me to perform in the city.
It was settled that I would perform on the first EarthDay of next month. Since it was AutumnSun and the start of a new season, I quickly understood he was talking about the Binding Festival—the seasonal wedding day. Since dwarves were rowdy, they celebrated in a far more unique manner than humans, and for that, he needed musicians.
Meaning, I was booked for the 2nd of AutumnSun, about three days after the dungeon announcement. After that, I would also enter the other dungeon to exterminate its growing rank B, while waiting for everybody to finish the Event Quest.
Honestly, I was still sad I couldn’t participate, but avoiding the dragonslayers sounded smart. Hopefully, Sis would also avoid them.
Sadly, fate and luck were fickle if you were part of Aurora. Meaning, it was time to train, and for me specifically, it was time to finish my new custom spells and also continue my [Battle Frenzy] training with my sister.
“Well, we didn’t get a chance to fight in Elyonda’s tournament, so how about now?” Sis offered as we began the first day of training.
I grinned. “Dragon form?”
“Ohoho! I’m going smack you, you little brat!”
“Less talk, more fisticuffs!”