Aster

[Through hard work and a satisfactory understanding of your skill, Mediation - Rank Nine has increased to Mediation - Rank Ten. Skill Evolution is Possible.]

[A skill is ready to evolve. Begin skill evolution? Y/N]

I pumped my fist in the air with an excited shout, startling Umbra into raising her head. She gave me an eye roll after seeing nothing was amiss. Then she laid her head back down, giving me a questioning look. Even with a bond and as close as we were, she still couldn't see or sense system messages. I hurried to explain my skill rank up. While meditation wasn't the skill I thought I would get to evolve first, I was still excited. Umbra perked up as she understood why I was excited, making the point that she would probably get the skill as well when she evolved. I mentally selected yes and excitedly read the next screen.

[Use of the Meditation has resulted in two paths for evolution; please select one of the following paths.]

[Battlefield Meditation - You have trained in Meditation under a great master of the art; you were taught to move while still keeping your mental balance perfect, and now you can walk down a path to use it during battle - The Battlefield Meditation path grants an easier use of Meditation while fighting and grants a greater understanding of battle-related skills while in meditation.]

[Frost Affinity Meditation - Your affinity for the cold has shown no end. With a dragon matching and raising this affinity, its limits are seemingly boundless. The Frost Affinity Meditation path allows for an easier understanding of any skill that relates to or uses frost affinity while the surrounding temperature is cold enough to create frost. This path also grants a significant boost to mana regeneration while in use in an area with temperatures cold enough to freeze water.]

At first glance, one option seemed to be superior. Battlefield Meditation allowed for use when fighting. Having an increased regeneration for stamina and mana seemed amazing, and increasing how quickly I learned skills on top of that seemed insanely good. That was only at first glance, though. At second glance, I frowned as I realized a few things.

As it stood, meditation was difficult with just limited movements. Even if the skill helped with easing learning to move, it would still take a lot of practice until it could be used when fighting reliably. Even then, how easy would it be to fall out of meditation?

On the other hand, Frost Affinity Meditation seemed good but limited. Learning skills relating to frost affinity easier was great, as my second class was based on it, but the requirement of having to be in a freezing location seemed almost unfair. Maybe only around four out of the ten months of the year, the weather would be cold enough to use this skill.

Every other month, it would just act as normal meditation, right? I looked up at the first covered room, my breath creating small clouds in the air with an idea.

Looking at Umbra, I asked, “How much mana does it take to keep this skill active?”

She looked confused, probably because the question seemed out of the blue, but after a slight pause, probably to check mana her mana, she responded, “It drains faster than I can regenerate it, but that's because I'm keeping it just cold enough to feel good. I could make it colder, but not by much. Each little bit after a point increases the drain on my mana a lot. Why?”

I thought over her words as I explained the options I had, reading them to her and giving her my thoughts. To no surprise, she was set on me picking the one that related to frost, but she did bring up a point that I hadn't thought about.

“Definitely Frost affinity. It's the best option, and I can keep it cold enough when it's not normal. Also, you'll be able to meditate on my back when we're flying, and if we get up really high, then it might be cold enough normally to meditate.”

When I was flying with Umbra, the idea seemed a long way away, but was it really? She was already big, maybe not enough to carry me when flying just yet, but I could sit on her back if I needed to. When she evolved, her size would increase, and with the boss core, she would be big enough. I felt that same River of unease and excitement that I had in the forest all the months ago, but this time, both were my own feelings. As for the skill evolution, she made a good point, and it was one I didn't see a reason to object to. While battlefield meditation was good, I didn't really see myself meditating during a fight.

Letting Umbra know my choice and smiling at her rumble of approval, I selected Frost Affinity Meditation.

[Frost Affinity Meditation selected]

The tingle that raced through my body was similar to how learning the race skill felt but not as invasive a feeling as it was. Stretching, I looked outside at the black sky. All traces of light in the sky were gone, but the city was still lit up, mage lights and torches marking people moving and shops that were open at the ungodly hour. Getting off the bed, which now looked like it had a sheet of snow over the sheets, I sat in between Umbra's front claws, rubbing the cool scales of her neck.

With the new race and second-class skill learned, It was time to start trying to get that bonded skill. Three new skills in one night would make a new record, and with as energized as I felt, now was as good a time as any. Getting Umbra's agreement through the bond, I laid back, closing my eyes.

Union had explained that keeping contact with our bonds made it easier to envision the bond in our minds. With the process of unlocking a bonded skill being different for everyone, there wasn't much else Union could give besides pointers.

Looking at the almost tree-like construct in my mind, I marveled at how much it had grown since the first time we had seen it. Now, instead of it just looking like a single long root or branch that went on forever, there were multiple overlapping paths of different branches reaching in every direction. They were far apart, well out of my ability to travel to.

As I looked around at pathways, my eyes landed on the one oddity I'd seen on my last visit. A set of purple vines. It had been an idea of Umbra to try to envision something to connect the branches, and what better than vines? To both of our surprise, it worked, not instantly, but purple sprouts had appeared on our branch. At the time of leaving last time, they had only just seemed to be about a foot in length.

Now, they were making their way across the wide gaps wrapping around some of the other vines, pulling them closer and creating a path to another branch.

“How long do you think it's going to take?” I asked Umbra. Neither of us had our actual bodies in this space, both of us appearing as weird shimmering orbs. Umbra’s was a purplish blue, but unlike the pale area around us, her orb appeared deeper and color and vibrant. When I had asked her, she had said mine looked like a mix of icy blue and gray.

“Half a week. Do you really think that this is how we will find the bonded skill?”

I would have shrugged my shoulders, but seeing as I didn't have any, I couldn't, so Instead, I responded verbally, “I don't know, but I'm curious about where it goes. No one has exactly talked about what they see when they focus on their bond, so there's no telling.”

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“Are you not worried about being dropped out of the class if you don't manage in time?” Umbra asked.

“No, not really. While it is an exam or whatever, I don't think Union really expects us to manage this. I think he's just trying to push us forward.” I gave my honest answer. Union was one of the most relaxed instructors I had met, and he had stressed that each bond worked differently, so placing a time limit to get something done seemed to be the exact opposite of what he had wanted.

“Then why are we in the bond? I can feel you're wanting to get this done soon.” Umbra’s orb moved closer, gently bobbing.

“Because I feel like getting this done might help with your classes. I'm not sure how impactful the bond is on you, but it can't hurt to get this done first, right?”

A long pause followed my words, and I could tell Umbra was thinking. She wanted to get into grade one right now, judging by her emotions, but she also wanted the best class possible.

“I think you're right. I should at least wait for the vines to finish growing first to see what the other branch has. Then I'll go into grade one if it has nothing.” A long grumble followed her words.

I had to hold back from laughing or letting any amusement show through the bond. Umbra was dying to go into grade one now that she could.

“I don't think there's really anything else we can do for now, and I have some studying I need to do.” With a thought and a little effort, I was out of the bond and stood up to stretch my joints, popping. After a few times of being in the bond, it had become evident time seemed to move wildly in the bond. A few moments or minutes in there could have been an hour or just seconds passing out here; it was weird, and I had stopped trying to figure it out.

I felt Umbra stir next to me just in time for a knock at the door, followed by, “Shit, this door is cold!” The voice was Baldwins, someone who I hadn't seen since coming here. Laughter followed those words, and I could tell he was with Roslin. Why were they here?

I looked around the room at the frost that covered everything, curious about how they would react to it.

Walking over to the door, I shook off any frost I had on myself and opened it. The icy air flowed out of the door and into the hallway before it dispersed, the fogginess of the cold disappearing.

Baldwin and Roslin were there, both looking into the room. “Hi Baldwin! It's been a bit.” I tilted my head as the two remained silent in place. “Can I, um, help?” I had studying to do, and if they were going to be weird statues, I would go back to it.

“Aster, why is it snowing in your room?” Roslin asked.

I turned to look at my room in time to see a clump of frost fall from the ceiling. “It's just frost. We can't actually make snow, I think, can we, Umbra?”

Umbra snorted, then gave a mental shrug, laying her head down. She looked like she had returned to sleep, but I could tell she was awake.

“This is so far off-topic, Aster. We need to talk, seeing as your room is colder than in the middle of winter. Would you mind if we did this downstairs?” Roslin asked

I nodded, and after a moment of clearing off all of the frost that had started to form on my head and ears again, I followed the two down the stairs, trying to think of what was going on. Sitting at one of the tables, I waited, seeing the two exchange a glance. There were a few small movements as the two talked back and forth in gestures until Baldwin sighed, seemingly having lost whatever the exchange had been about.

“Lady Aster, I'm here to let Roslin know she is being temporarily reassigned out of the capital and to let you know that I'm going to be the rider looking after you.”

I blinked. “Reassigned? To where?” I had learned that having a rider watch over you wasn't a small thing, and I could see why she would have to be moved elsewhere. After all, the dragon riders were one of the backbones of the Arilon military, from what I had learned. The suddenness was what had me confused. If Roslin was being moved out of the capital, then she would have given me a warning, right?

Roslin sighed and muttered, “False dragon shit allegations.” Perhaps it was something I wasn't meant to hear, but with my stats higher, I was just able to make it out. I didn't comment on her words, and after a moment, she replied to my question. “To the north again, there are currently problems rising at the border, and more troops are being sent there, so I have to patrol the coast again.”

I gave a slow nod, feeling a spark of resentment towards the Karvum Empire. While I was by no means patriotic towards Arilon, the Karvum seemed to just keep causing problems that affected my life.

“This problem is expected to be resolved in less than two weeks and for Roslin to be back, but if you have any issues, you can let a guard at the gate know, and they'll let me know,” Baldwin said.

I would have shrugged at his words, but I had learned that doing so was considered rude, so instead, I gave a smile and asked a question I wanted to know now that Baldwin and Roslin were both in front of me. “What about Umbra? She's still not permitted to fly.”

Baldwin let out an exasperated sigh. “The problem is the king is at an impasse with the nobles. They think Umbra is a wild dragon who has decided to live in the tower for a bit. It's the story they were fed to explain her arrival. They want her gone because of what it costs to feed a growing dragon and see it as an insult to the kingdom and a waste of gold.”

“Then why don't you just tell them she's bonded and-” I started to ask but was cut off by Roslin.

“If they find out that there's a new bonded dragon not part of the Arilon, they'll want a contract signed immediately for military conscription, or they'll force you out of the Kingdom, and that's if they don't want to try to get rid of you.”

I leaned back at her words, surprised. “Get rid of us?”

There was an uncomfortable moment of silence in which Roslin received a sharp look from Baldwin, then he turned and spoke. “Lady Aster, as it stands, Arilon is the only country to ever have dragon riders. Karvum has griffins, and that's why they're able to compete with us, but even at that, it takes half a dozen griffins to stand against one dragon. It's why we're the only two nations left, and there are no more city-states. The rest have been integrated. If Karvum or others not so happy with the kingdom got even a single rider, then there could be a lot of problems.” Baldwin rubbed the bridge of his nose. “This has gotten too far off-topic. Look, when the tension with Karvum goes down and if no more country-shaking events happen, then I'll talk to Cassin, and we will get some form of teleportation set up in the courtyard so that Umbra can fly, and you can get your flight training started.”

I would have cheered at his words with the happiness that I felt, but with a tremendous amount of effort, I just gave a broad smile, ignoring my waving tail behind me as they couldn't see it with the table in the way.

“For now, just continue on with the academy. It's the whole reason you're here. Use your time to learn.” She gave me a half grin. “Or should I say both of you use the time to learn? With Umbra able to use your senses, she's as able as you are.”

I almost choked on my tongue as joy turned to trepidation. “You knew?” I asked

She snorted. “Of course, sharing senses isn't unique to dragons. In fact, it is one of the first things a bonded can learn, although it usually takes more than a year. I almost took two.”

I rubbed one of my ears as I gave an uneasy smile. “I guess I should have mentioned it.”

Roslin chuckled, and then her face took on a more serious expression. “Look, Aster, everyone has secrets. I'm sure keeping a lot from you, but you need to learn to keep the right secrets. You're only a grade one, and although you are Kulni’s child, you need to gain as much knowledge as you can right now. The world is changing, and more monsters at higher grades are showing up. If I were you, I'd try my hardest to get as much knowledge into my mind as I could.”

I looked away from her eyes, breaking contact as I thought about her words. I had been keeping a lot of secrets, some of which did seem silly, but that was because I hadn't understood how anything about humans or elves worked, and to some extent, I knew I still didn't. Still, it had been almost three months since I'd left the forest. Maybe it was time to come clean, at least a little. Roslin had been honest and was extremely straightforward about what she couldn't tell me when it came to dragons and riders, but she had been trying to get Umbra permission to fly. She seemed more than willing to provide her own opinions and could give answers to the questions Fernand hadn't been able to find in the academy.

I took a second to ask Umbra her opinion on what I wanted to tell Roslin and Baldwin. She seemed to understand something I didn't because she seemed more than willing to share some of the things we wanted to keep a secret.

With a slight hesitation and a wish that I had the time to talk to Kat and Fernand first, I pulled out the black token and set it on the table.