Dreiki took a long while to answer, “I dunno, I still feel like you’re leagues ahead of me. Plus, I’m only getting better faster because you’re beating me up everyday. I’ve got a training partner who punishes every mistake I make so I can learn not to make them faster. You have someone a lot weaker than you as a training partner. Once I catch up, we’ll both get better a lot faster.”

Luna shook her head, “It’s not just that. I honestly don’t know how you push yourself so hard.”

“It’s with your help.”

“I can only heal your body. But it’s like your brain doesn’t know how to quit.”

“Call it human tenacity I suppose.”

Luna smiled, “Whatever you call it, that’s your real strength. If I was in your position I would have stopped training a long time ago.”

“What do you mean?”

“Losing so often. Taking all those punishments for losing a match you were never meant to win. All of that. I can hardly handle the training I’m given, so I can only imagine being given extra just for losing during sparring.”

Dreiki set the soap down between them and watched the chunks of ice drift in the tub in front of him, “You’re selling yourself short.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re a lot stronger than you think. If I went through the things you did I would have quit, but you didn’t. You kept trying to live despite everything they did to you.”

“I’m not so sure about that…”

Before they could say anything more to each other a certain donkey-sized bat drake bounded in and dove into Luna’s tub with her.

“Ezo!” Luna shouted as the Bat Drake began drinking the water. She tried to push him out, but the bat drake had already decided to claim the tub for itself.

“I guess it’s his tub now!” Dreiki laughed.

“I guess…” Luna muttered, grabbing Ezo’s cheeks and prying him away from the bathwater, “Stop that, dummy.” She giggled, kissing his nose, “When are you gonna stop growing huh?”

Ezo licked her face, much to the displeasure of Luna, “I’m in the bathtub to get clean, not to smell like Drake breath.” Luna pouted, summoning a fog around her and exiting the water, “Fine, have it your way, dork. Happy?”

Ezo let out a pleased rattling purr.

Luna rolled her eyes, getting dressed under the cover of her fog, “Dinner’s probably ready by now. You should get out soon too.”

Dreiki nodded, “You beat me pretty bad today, so I’m gonna soak a bit longer.”

Luna strained her hair and pulled the water from it with her magic, dumping it on Ezo’s head. The bat drake happily thumped and splashed its tail about in response.

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“Don’t take too long, alright? I need your brain or I’ll be drowning in math problems and historical dates.”

Dreiki sank in his tub, glancing over to Ezo who was happily panting in the cold water, “Grandpa’s been working you hard too, huh?”

Ezo barked in affirmation.

Dreiki smiled, “Thanks for the assist, buddy.”

By the time Dreiki got out of the tub he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet. At least he could use his magic to thaw his legs.

When he opened the cabin door, Luna was already half buried in books.

Dreiki sat on the floor in front of several piles of dog eared books and parchment made from old hempen rags.

Savekio handed him a bowl of egg rice and grilled fish.

Luna had been a lot of help when it came to fishing.

After a few minutes of scribbling away at his notes, Dreiki pulled out the paper he had been writing on, "Please check the answers." He opened a new book and scribbled on another piece of parchment.

"Problems four, seven, nine, and ten are wrong. Looks like your cipher key is wrong too." The old xio placed the paper back down.

With a groan, Dreiki turned to the previous paper once more.

“I realize you’re trying to get everything done as fast as possible, but remember to take a step back, and be patient. Your mind will not grow if you cram everything in at once. Look beyond the surface of the page, and relate the information to what you already know.”

Dreiki nodded, spotting his errors after only a few seconds. He was trying to rush for Luna’s sake.

Dreiki nodded, going back to his studies. He took it a bit slower and eventually got around to helping Luna with her work. Her parents had taught her the basics, but she knew more about religious rites and battle tactics than science, math and history.

After a few more hours, his grandfather finally chimed in, "Alright, that's enough for today, get some rest." Dreiki finally relaxed, dropping the chunk of charcoal in his hand. With a hollow thump of wood, he was on his back, eyes closed as math equations buzzed in his brain.

Luna joined him looking as if her soul was about to leave her body. He took a deep breath and hefted himself to his feet.

Dreiki offered his hand, “Only two more days this week.”

Luna smirked, taking his hand.

With a long stretch, he made his way over to the bed they shared. Him and Luna slept head to foot since the cabin wasn’t spacious enough for another bed. Ezo slept outside in a new stable they constructed last summer.

Savekio was sitting in a rocking chair cushioned by furs. He had upgraded the chair so he could recline with it. It also had a folding mechanism like a carabiner which allowed him to put his tail through it without any issue. Dreiki could never figure out how he managed to sleep on it, though.

Just like every night, Dreiki oiled Savekio’s sword. It was his responsibility to take care of it and make sure it didn’t rust. The more he familiarized himself with it, the more he didn’t understand it.

The sword looked to be made of steel, but it was heavier than it would’ve been if it were made from solid gold. Dreiki had even made a side project out of calculating the sword’s weight if it was.

Even so, it didn’t look to be made of magical material either. Usually channeling one’s Aix through the blade would cause it to hum to life as it absorbed the energy. But Savekio’s sword did not respond that way.

Perhaps it was made from Adamantine. It was an uncommon resource from Lithiria, but Dreiki recalled the material was heavier than gold, nonmagical, and very difficult to break.

At the end of the day, for all Dreiki could figure out, it was just an abnormally heavy sword. At least it made for good weight training when he practiced with it.

He hefted Savekio’s sword and laid it between him and Luna. Even if they slept in the same bed she preferred to have it between them, and she never needed to tell Dreiki why for him to understand.

Dreiki woke up the next morning to a knock on his door. His hand instinctively grabbed for the sword, but Savekio had already picked it up. He tossed Dreiki a bag of equipment and made a signal for them to hide.