Varino hummed to herself, skipping along as lightning tore apart a group of monsters. This was her sixth attempt at training area four’s ascent challenge…alone. It had seemed daunting the first three times, but now it was a game. Currently, it was her best run and was she making good time and with plenty of mana too.
She swiped a hand, and a blast of air sent a spider-like stone golem flying off the cliff side. A glint caught her eye. She waved and whistled a hello to the group of recruits and trainers, watching using some sort of device Zerine probably had explained before, but she forgot. It just looked like a floating, shinning orb to her, but Zerine would have probably gone on and on about it.
Zerine was always taking about magitech, alchemy, and runes. At least the rune stuff was fun. Zerine would make all sorts of designs and she would supply the power. The skyboard project wasn’t their first runic project together, but it was the most complicated. A bonus from their fiddling was that she learned tricks to apply to her cloak and boots.
She could now run on the air with little mana consumed. Her cloak could slow a fall, along with creating a burst of air that could send her in any direction, and of course, looked awesome.
Thinking of her cloak made Varino grin even as she slid between the legs of a wolf-like golem and punched up with a fist.
Boom!
Lightning tore upwards, sending the golem blasting into the sky before crashing down on to another cluster of enemies.
What was she thinking about?
Varino tapped her cheek and snapped a finger. Ah, her cloak. The spell unleashed from her snap tore a monster into bloody chunks.
The other recruits' faces when they realized she had a runic spider silk cloak were priceless. Especially that bear man and elf.
She scowled, thinking of the bear man and the others that had been rude to Zerine. There was some sort of tribunal that evidently wasn’t an idle threat because it was happening and changed her training schedule, while also keeping Zerine away, and she would have to attend the dumb thing. To make things worse, she, her mom, and dad would have to let some dragon examine their minds to show they didn’t influence her.
Clouds began to form as her mood soured further.
They didn’t understand. No one did. Mom and Dad had talked about not bonding with Zerine after bonding with Bronte. She had taken their words to heart and thought about it for a while, but it always came back to one thing. Her instincts screamed that bonding with Zerine would bring adventure with a bonus of power and a dash of chaos. She kept thinking for days about this, trying to analyze her instincts and her actions, till one thing occurred to her.
She never thought this long about anything, so why start? She was a storm, her dragon partner was a storm dragon, and Zerine would herald a storm of fate and chaos unseen for millenniums. They were a perfect match, so who cares what some old stuffy dragon and people think? Varino was Varino and would do as she saw fit, just like a dragon.
It also helped that Bronte and she had talked, well, sort of. Bronte was still too young to do a full mental conversation, but they figured it out enough to discuss her thoughts and feelings. It had helped the most and made her even more excited about their coming adventures because Bronte was completely on board with joining them. He still had at least four years before his parents and she would be fine with him joining their growing group.
This tribunal would reveal the reasons -from their perspective- she was so stubborn about bonding and it felt…wrong. The spirit wasn’t sure why it felt wrong, but it felt intrusive, a new feeling to her and one she did not like. Not even Zerine’s weirdness, or is it awesomeness? Any way, even Zerine’s quirks didn’t feel like this.
The clouds darkened as her frustration mounted.
Varino blinked, realizing she had defeated all the monsters and golems without really paying attention to her mana consumption. Cassel and Vinessa wouldn’t be pleased about this. She took a long breath in and the clouds slowly cleared as she let it out just as slowly.
There…now she would have to work on her control as she continued upwards, having used a bit too much mana from her frustration. Varino pulled out her staff from her spatial dimensional ring. It would come down to beating the crap out of everything with her Doometalic staff and enchanted crossbow.
She sighed. Zerine had worked with her to learn the basics of using a bow, but it didn’t feel quite right to her. It was missing something. Her staff felt right, like an extension of herself. It easily channeled her mana and was great a whacking things. The bow, not so much. Maybe if she had one that was soul bonded or affinity aligned?
Hmm, food for thought, however, she needed to focus on the rest of this ascent. Something told her the other recruits would challenge her after this run like they had each time it looked as if she had used too much mana or exhausted.
It was frustrating, but at least it gave her an extra outlet for her frustration. And it felt like she was frustrated a lot lately. She knew why, of course. Two months had passed, and she hadn’t been allowed to go back to the fairy village. Instead, she stayed in a building in some sort of city for dragons and riders in the Burning Plains. It was probably something to do with this tribunal’s investigation into her, which only increased her frustration.
Instead of the fairy training, she had been thrown into classes, but they were boring. Why did she need to know about flying in formation or the best ways to navigate or avoid a storm? Just fly straight into the storm, duh. For her and Bronte, it would be like an enjoyable jaunt. Then again, the amount of storm dragons she had met was an impressive…four. Really? Just four?
She counted using the fingers of her left hand and came up with that number again. Huh, thought it would be higher.
As she had counted, her staff cracked down with a crunch, crushing the chitin exoskeleton of a monster that reminded her of an ant. If the ant was the size of a large dog, had poison dripping from its pincers and iridescent green eyes.
But back to it. To make it worse, the storm dragons were all in Falkor’s riot, well, except for Bronte and his dad. So maybe that’s why all the lessons were about handling winds, air combat, what to do if you fell, and handle stormy weather. All of those were pointless to her and Bronte.
If she fell off, all she had to do was fly on a cloud and catch up or use her cloak to glide. Combat, well, just work with Bronte and take everything out, preferably with some sort of explosion mixed into the fighting.
The only class she took seriously was the care taking class. She learned to identify and address problems that Bronte may encounter as they traveled the world. For example, in sandy areas, non-ground affinity dragons may have their scales dry out and cause itching, which intern could cause an infection if the dragon picked at one spot. Another thing she learned was how to handle wing injuries, and things like that. Varino wanted to make sure Bronte would grow up strong and healthy. He had no concepts aligned with healing, so out of their group it would come down to her to heal and evaluate their health.
There was one more thing that the instructor had said off-hand that had really lit a fire in her.
“These skills are important. Most of you will be in a wing squad, but you never know. Maybe you’ll be a scout, or an independent. These skills will help you and your dragon stay in the fight and healthy which ever path you follow.”
After studying, she found out that being an independent was the hardest path a rider could take. There would be more tests, harder and stricter training, and far higher expectations along with the responsibilities once a rider pair passed the trials.
It was perfect. She planned on talking to Dad about it after the tribunal nonsense was behind them. She suspected he and his bonded were considered independent, which only meant they were just as awesome as she had suspected. It was only right for her family to be a group of powerhouses.
If only Varino knew just how infamous her household truly was. Something she would learn in a few weeks and experience firsthand in a few years.
It took a little while till she finally worked her way up to the summit. She gave Cassel a wave and skipped over to him. The Scalekin smiled down at her. She may not like how he treated Zerine, but Cassel was a guy with a hard shell, but soft inside.
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“Well, well, beat your last time by a full hour, Varino. Excellent.”
Varino gave him a beaming smile.
“We can go over a full breakdown later. Who's next?”
He looked at the cluster of other recruits, including Kamar.
“Vestar glad you volunteered,” Cassel said, which got snickers as Cassel had volunteered the young Scalekin for him.
The Scalekin vanished in a blink of light before he could protest.
Varino skipped to Kamar, who grinned down at Varino.
“Great job!”
Varino drifted up and sat on her shoulder, that wasn’t occupied by Fiamma. Once she had settled, Varino whistled.
“Hmm, oh, no one has tried to challenge me while we wait. Although some have occurred, but we’ve been sparring,” Kamar said absentmindedly, watching the scalekin start the ascent.
Varino chittered and trilled.
“Nothing from Zerine today, sorry. I think today she is in the hatchery hunting grounds again, so maybe Bronte will bring a message along. Also, side note, I love the fact that Zerine’s name is a trill.”
Varion whistle, but went “oooh” as Vestar created a fiery explosion turning a cluster of golems into dust.
She clapped and cheered him on, echoed by Fiamma.
Kamar giggled.
“Do none of you take this seriously?” came a voice that Varino acutely disliked. It sounded like the bear man was forcing his voice to sound deeper, but all it did was make it sound tight, gravely, and still high for such a big guy.
The three turned and glared at the bear man.
“There is a war coming and we are all training to be ready and bond with a dragon to fight in that war,” he said, folding his arms, looking serious. Varino wished Zerine was around so she could figure out if he was just acting like an ass or just really was one.
Varino whistled, titling her head.
The bear mans gaze narrowed.
“Oh, right? To translate,” Kamar said in an obviously false, bright tone that only made the bear man scowl. “If a war is coming, then we should be happy while we can.”
Varino fluted and chimed.
“Oh, and that you’re one to talk as your willpower is still laughable for your rank, so who is actually taking their training seriously…her words, not mine,” Kamar said.
“Smug for now,” he said and gave them what Zerine would say was a shit-eating grin. He was up to something, and Varino didn’t like that feeling. Her instincts had told her he was a slimy person, not one to be trusted or bond. There was something off about him too, but Varno couldn’t place it. She really needs Zerine to do a full instinct inspection of this guy.
“Alright, that’s enough you two. We are all running through physical training. Clearly, you all need to cool off,” Cassel snapped at them, not bothering to take his gaze from the floating image of Vestar’s run.
Varino hoped Zerine’s training was better than theirs as everyone grumbled, but began running through a set of training led by Kaz. Lucky Bronte was probably with her on the hatching hunting grounds.
***
“Go on, kolash,” Zerine encourage.
A deep purple scaled dragon hatchling looked at her nervously. The little dragon cooed and chirped, flapping its wings agitatedly.
“I know it is a light magic using monster and you’re a dark dragon. But it’s great practice for you to fight something where both your magic cancels each other,” Zerine reassured the hatching.
The dragon fidgeted, not meeting Zerine’s gaze.
“We will all be here for you. And if its goes wrong, me and Arashi can handle things,” Zerine said.
Arashi chuffed behind her.
“Speaking for me, little one, isn’t wise. But in this case, I will allow it.” Arashi thought to Zerine.
Zerine winced and bowed her head to the dragon.
“Go Kolash, the two-leg is right,” the large dragon said, using wind mana to vibrate the air to mimic her voice. She moved her head down to the hatchling and gently nudge her in the direction Arashi had sensed the monster.
With one more look back, the hatchling bounded off occasionally, leaping forward a few feet thanks to her flapping wings.
“You handle the hatchlings well,” Arashi thought to Zerine, who was sitting on the ground with a floating image of hatchling’s fight surrounded by other little ones eagerly watching.
“Growing up with a storm elemental, a younger brother and sister, and other hatchlings might have helped…just a bit,” Zerine thought back.
Arashi chuffed amsued.
A spiky green dragon chirped next to Zerine, who absentmindedly scratched the dragon quickly, finding the perfect spot. In an instant, the hatchling was on its side, eyes closed, humming happily.
Arashi let the littles one enjoy rooting on Kolash. Her gaze inspected Zerine curiously. Most would have had their hands full with the hatchings if they didn’t get attacked…Most got attacked as wild hatchings weren’t known for being reasonable when meeting random creatures for the first time.
And yet…here was Zerine scratching a ground and nature aligned dragon. A rare variant at that. Most wouldn’t be so casual when scratching a dragon who literally has poison infused in their scales.
Now that she looked, she saw Zerine was using a thin mana barrier around her hand like a skin tight gove.
So someone has gained better control over their willpower, she noted.
Zerine, being a crestless wouldn’t have improved the amount of willpower or how much ambient mana she could control, but clearly had improved her control overall. Now if only Bob could figure out the technique, while the rest of their wing would realize just how much better at willpower this crestless was.
Curiosity took hold, and she asked, “I’m curiously, how have you refined your ambient mana control so much?”
Zerine winced and thought back.
“Those simulation training tools are a nightmare. I get at least two or three days’ worth of training in a few hours of real time. Then I get to do what I learned for real afterwards. Well, expect for fighting people and higher ranked monsters, which I wouldn’t be surprised will happen at some point, if Vinessa gets her way.”
Zerine shuttered at the thought of Vinessa’s training.
“Ah, that training has yielded results. I don’t believe I have seen anyone manipulate ambient mana like a glove to scratch a dragon who normally would inflect poison upon connect.”
“Oooh, so that’s why my instincts warned me. Huh, I’ve seen this one play, though?”
“Dragons are resistant to most poisons. Only afflictions created by mana or willpower can truly affect our bodies. This dragon could do that, but he won’t. His natural poisons would only cause a rash at his age and rank.”
“Good to know. I…have a question. It might be personal, so you don’t have to answer if you-.”
“Just say it.”
“Why has it been only you who has come along every time I get essentially tossed aside here? I know that this tribunal thing is one reason they toss me here, but why you?”
“You’re tossed here mostly, so you don’t get killed by those willing to strike at Callahan through you under the guise of freeing a spirit. As for me, I volunteer to help at any hatching grounds that are near our current station. So, no, it wasn’t a punishment, and it also is good to have someone monitoring you.”
Zerine raised an eyebrow.
“I’m a hundred percent certain there is a mage from the investigation team watching me. For,” her mental tone changed to mocking irritation, “any signs I’m a Mind Bender or a person who manipulates others.”
“Hmm, is that what has been bothering you since being separated from Varino?”
Zerine sighed out loud, getting some glances from the dragons.
“Looks like Kolash is done. Let’s go congratulate her,” Zerine said, getting to her feet and dropping the mental conversation with Arashi, who mentally sighed.
She had gotten to know Zerine over the last two months, so she knew that the investigation was only partly what was irritating Zerine. Ever since Varino and she hadn’t seen one another, Zerine had gotten more reserved. The only times she appeared to brighten was with the hatchlings, or spending time with her friend Kamar.
Interestingly, Varino seemed unbothered by the tribunal, just focusing on training and being her apparently usual chaotic self. Arashi said, apparently because the slimes and fire elementals had created a new racing game from out of nowhere. They recently discovered that Varino was behind it. She suspected some of the other oddities that had spread throughout the city had something to do with that spirit. There was no proof, but Arashi knew that the spirit was quite adept at mischief and a new place meant mischief a plenty for someone inclinded.
The rest of the day, she kept an eye on the hatchlings and Zerine. The group encountered little to no trouble. Only Zerine ran into some tricky fights near the end when golems targeting her attacked. After that, she took the hatchlings back, letting Vinessa take over Zerine’s transportation.
Vinessa looked over Zerine’s disheveled appearance. The teenager had soot covered cheeks, her hair had parts of singed with wisps of smoke drifting up from a cluster of locks that had barely missed being burned away from a stray golem attack. Dirt and grass stains covered Zerine’s leg armor and random bits of golem fell away from Zerine as she approached Vinessa, looking tired.
“You let your guard down near the end,” Vinessa commented.
Zerine’s zombie like walk paused.
“I didn’t know a golem’s spell could be cast after its core was destroyed. I now know better.”
“Hmm, I got some notes, which we will address in the simulation and break what went right and wrong when you fought those golems,” Vinessa said.
Zerine only nodded, not meeting Vinessa’s gaze.
Vinessa’s smile turned into a slight frown.
“You didn’t look quite as tired when the hatchlings were around,” she commented, hoping Zerine would volunteer what was bothering her without her constantly poking and prodding pieces out of her.
“Can this wait till after I take a bath in the rejuvenation pool?” Zerine wondered.
“Hmm, perfect. I’ve been meaning to go there myself today! Let’s go together,” Vinessa said cheerfully and clapped, light engulfing them before Zerine could say anything.
***
Varino sat on next to Fiamma, watching Kamar dance, avoiding a shard of metal and lash out, creating a tunnel of air sending her challenger flying, slamming into the barrier around their fighting arena with a very satisfying thunk. This was the third to challenge for her today.
It was after their training was done for the day, which was when Kamar and Varino had been quickly surrounded and challenged by what seemed like everyone. Normally, only a few stayed behind to spar, but today was apparently let’s all challenge the dragon chosen and storm elemental. Varino guess it might have had something to do with how today’s training group consisted entirely of D-rank rider recruits. To make it even more fun, only three had been there at their first day of introduction, the remaining twelve weren’t.
This meant they were all too eager to get the asses kicked or were cocky. Some seemed to take a sick pleasure losing to the beautiful Kamar. Take this most recent fight. Kamar landed a punch that blasted the girl back and the girl was grinning like she liked it. Then there was a guy that Varino would describe as quite literally love struck by the fairy’s blows.
Varino thought challenges were fun, but this many felt a bit too much, but that was until Kamar siad.
“Now we have a gauntlet of kick ass to dish out, so just have fun, Varino.”
And fun was exactly what Varino was having. It was a great way to let out her frustration, especially after breaking that bear man’s nose who was dumb enough to challenge her again.
As for the others…well… Zappy zappy would be a phrase they would learn to fear.