The sound of clashing steel filled the frigid air around the log cabin while Leona and Avalon were in the process of finishing their bonding ritual. Much like the act of knighting a chosen one, the bond between wielder and weapon was something of tradition amongst dragon knights.
Avalon had her head hanging low before Leona—who, instead of a sword, was holding the staff she used to train before coming to that place.
"Leona." The knight spoke without even changing her posture. "Can I ask you something?"
"Yes? What is it?"
"Can you promise me you won't leave me for another weapon?"
"Huh? What kind of question is that? I thought we were together for life."
"No it's just…" She swallowed dry. For Avalon, that was similar to reliving through an unspoken nightmare. "She chose to leave me. For that accursed blade, she left me with your granddaughter. I was cast aside and through my own blade she met her downfall." She slowly raised her head with pleading eyes. "This happened before and I… I wouldn't bear to lose you again."
However, her forehead was met with a light bump from Leona's staff.
"I'm no Empress nor swordswoman." She raised the staff and put it on the knight's left shoulder before passing onto the right. "You can rest assured I wouldn't trade you for any other weapon in this world. You are my sacred treasure after all."
With a short laugh, Avalon lowered her head once again and smiled.
"Long live my queen. Leona Crossford." She then grabbed the staff's shaft and looked the tactician in the eyes. "Victory shall be ours."
A blinding white glow started to envelop the knight as her very essence started to melt and blend into the staff. The wooden body started to solidify into a metallic silver sheen with the splintered ends of the wood suddenly growing like dragon claws before forming a prismatic round orb in its grasp.
Leona stood mesmerized by the beauty of the staff. The rough edges around the shaft were no longer there. There was a chilling aura around the metal like frostburnt silver that was oddly soothing in her hands, but what caught her attention the most was the prismatic orb in the dragon's claw grasp. Its appearance was roughly the same as the one she brought from Arivaul but the perfectly round shape made it feel like it had been polished for days before being placed in there.
"Oho, not bad at all." A surprised male voice came from the cabin's entrance. Robert was standing there with another cup of tea in hands. "A draconic staff, now this is the stuff of legends."
"Robert." Leona shifted her eyes towards the sage as if she suspected him. "What was this orb I brought? I find it strange that Avalon was only able to transform after you placed it close to her."
"Oh, that? It's called 'dragon's tear' essentially it's a dragon's mana turned into a stone. But to get that rainbow hue you need a very old dragon's essence."
"So you're telling me a dragon once lived near Arcadia?"
He raised an eyebrow and started to chuckle.
"Do you even know where the name of your kingdom comes from?"
"Arcadia? I remember from one of the history books that it was the kingdom founder's name."
"Typical." He rolled his eyes. "No, not really. Arcadia's name stems from the word 'heaven'. Long, long ago, Arcadia was much like Aradia in terms of land. A desert barren of life. Hardly anyone could live in such a place. But once upon a time, a dragon named Valkahaz descended to this world, bringing his children and asking a long time foe for a favor. Transform the wasteland into a flourishing land that his children could live in—unbothered and unfettered by conflict."
Leona narrowed her eyes.
"And I suppose it's safe to say that this 'foe' is you?"
He pointed to her with a short nod before continuing.
"By vanquishing the greatest dragon of all stars, lands and more lands became flourishing with vitality and Arcadia came to be."
"But that doesn't explain the name–" She turned to him with widened eyes. "No… no way. Were you the one who founded the capital city?"
He bowed dramatically, spreading out his arms without spilling a single drop of tea.
"Yours truly, Robert of Arcadia."
"How… how is this even…?"
"I told you I lived your life many times over." He sipped some of the tea and sighed. "See why I want it to end? Eons of suffering must be put to an end." He motioned to her staff with an open palm. "And this is one step to finally end it."
She narrowed her eyes and frowned her brows.
"You should pick your words carefully. Even though I dislike you, I'm not exactly happy in ending someone's life, even if not directly."
"Hah! We'll see what the future holds. Princess Leona." He flashed a smirk on his face. "That being said, you should test your new staff if anything."
He snapped his fingers and a pillar of gray rock suddenly popped amidst the snow covered mountain top a couple dozen meters downhill from them.
The pillar looked almost like a dot in the horizon as Leona had to squint her eyes to look at the target before turning to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you trying to deflect the conversation we were having just now?"
"Eh… maybe? You know, instead of talking about moral dilemmas I think our time is better spent with you trying to improve. Besides, you still have to prove to everyone else that you're a leader worth following." He smirked. "Might make it right in this world after all."
"Hmph."
She turned around and pointed the staff in the pillar's direction. She narrowed her eyes and took one slow deep breath. In a single heartbeat, time came to a crawl as mana gathered around the tactician. Her very core burned with the familiar strain of power. She channeled that mana from her arm to the staff and the soothing cold silver became a freezing blizzard as if to counteract the blazing heat. The claws grasping the prismatic orb started to shine as the gem itself focused the mana into a singular point on the very edge of the staff as the light blue color suddenly turned into a fiery dark blue hue.
"Fireball!"
A powerful blast of wind magic propelled the large orb of fire in a thunderous roar. Semi-melted snow and water blasted away from the spell in a cone behind her. The hurling dark blue fireball slowly arced before landing right beside the pillar and in a split second the spell went off into a roaring blast. Not only the pillar but the snow around it ceased to exist alongside part of the ground as the explosion was strong enough to obliterate the terrain. A thick mushroom cloud of steam blotted the sky as the sun became blurry from the mist curtain.
At that moment the sound of clashing steel stopped.
Leona let out a low hiss of steam from her mouth as she exhaled. Her body felt like it was burning up but no part of it was crystalized thanks to Avalon's superior form as a magic catalyst. She glanced at her own staff and smiled. However, unlike her expectations, Robert sighed.
"While your display of power is impressive. I was hoping for a more… 'refined' approach."
She raised an eyebrow as she cleaned the sweat off her brow.
"What do you mean? You asked me to hit it."
"Oh well." He snapped his fingers and yet another pillar appeared where the old one was destroyed. He then positioned his body sideways and pointed to the target like an olympics shooter as he took a sip of the tea. "Megido."
A pinpoint laser of light streaked across the snow, lifting a trench of white as the spell traveled unbelievably fast through its target. At that distance it was almost impossible to tell if it connected but a split second later the top half of the pillar simply fell off.
There was barely any notion of a spell being cast. To Leona, it felt strange. It was as if she was witnessing a mage assassin. She put her staff upright and leaned some of her weight against it on the ground as she frowned her brows at him.
"You haven't taught me light elemental magic."
"Eh… you can get similar results with windshot." He finished his tea and placed the cup on the porch before picking an exposed rock around the melted snow near his feet. He tossed in the air twice before cocking his arm back. "Watch."
Mana gathered around his right wrist before he stepped forward while turning his hip and the entirety of his arm in one fluid motion. With what seemed to be a simple act of tossing a rock, came a loud crack of the wind as the projectile left his hand.
Unlike the previous light spell, the stone made a slight curve before hitting the target. Despite the powerful impact, only a dry thud could be heard from where they were accompanied by the distinct dust of pulverized rock puffing up from the half broken pillar.
Robert looked at her with a smirk. Leona's jaw tightened with irritation and admiration in equal parts—he was truly a master of the craft.
She was thinking of ways to use what she just witnessed until the sounds of metallic footsteps crunching the snow behind her made her turn around. Sylphia stood towering above her while holding an equally broad and large frostburnt silver blade. The dragon knight tilted her head towards the newly made crater amidst the snow as she asked.
"Leona, was that explosion your doing?"
"Ah, yes, it was me."
"Careful to not make the ground shake too much. It can send avalanches down the hill at times and it might ruin the crops."
She flinched a bit before bowing.
"Oh. I'm so sorry, grandmother."
"It's alright. Just letting you know." She then glanced at Robert, her gentle expression turning somewhat sour as she frowned her brow. "You're still here?"
"Hey, that was rude." He crossed his arms, dissatisfied. "What about you? Aren't you going too hard on your nephew? I could hear the clashes from here."
She scoffed in return.
"Krieg has more backbone than you, that is for sure."
"Hah?"
"Come, see for yourself."
As she turned around, Leona lifted her head and stood in awe as she looked at her grandmother's wide back. The gleaming platinum armor accompanied by heavy footsteps as she wielded the large blade like an extension of her body made her look like a formidable knight.
Robert on the other hand rolled his eyes as he started to follow her. The clashing of steel became louder as they skirted around the log cabin. Krieg stood with a frostburnt silver longsword in his right hand while holding a slender steel kite shield on the other.
His precise flurry of strikes from behind the shield kept his father very wary of his range—which forced his black bladed katana into a defensive dance of parries.
"Not bad at all!"
He praised his son. Krieg pressed his advantage and kept attacking, pushing the swordmaster back.
"You're too smug for someone that has only been running away!"
Leona heard the tightening metallic grip to her right as she glanced to the side as Sylphia hefted her blade and sprang forward at Krieg. Her eyes widened in surprise as the dragon knight rushed in with an overhead swing of her sword.
'She's going to kill him!'
The knight noticed her advance and backpedaled and used his shield to deflect the blade to the side as it cleaved through the snow and embedded itself into the ground. The impact was so violent that it hurled a wave of powdery white on both sides of her sword.
As the curtain of snow hid Miyamoto from his sight—Krieg knew instinctively that a strike would come from behind it. It was as if he could hear the hiss of steel cutting through the air as he ducked. As anticipated—the black blade cut right through the snow curtain where Krieg's chest would be.
"Wha–!"
The knight shifted his weight and pressed forward in a shield bash which forced the swordmaster to leap to the side in order to avoid being crushed. Krieg turned around after creating enough space between them—Miyamoto sheathed his sword while keeping a firm grip on the hilt while Sylphia lifted her blade with both hands as she stood ready to charge.
Krieg slowly exhaled. A puff of steam came out of his mouth. Contrary to Leona's worried expression—he was smiling. A smirk that could only be described as ecstatic of combat.
At that moment the tactician noticed the threatening aura that her knight emitted. It was terrifyingly similar to Sylphia's dragon form. She swallowed dry as her hand unconsciously tightened around her staff.
Mana gathered from the center of his chest but unlike herself, his magic power didn't diminish, in fact, it was only growing stronger as his blade fed on the mana—almost letting out a low hum of condensing magic.
Krieg raised his shield again and flicked his arm which sent the protective gear tumbling on the snow before he grabbed Arondight with both hands. He lifted the blade into a high guard. There was so much mana coursing through the silver blade that it even made the air around it shimmer.
Both knight and swordmaster took measured steps as they closed in. Neither of which was completely sure of the other's range. Tensions were high as they locked eyes.
Krieg knew exactly how destructive a swing packed with energy blade would be, but he couldn't stop now, adrenaline was rushing through every inch of his body—not only him but Arondight also yearned for release.
Witnessing such raw passion for combat made Sylphia let out a low growl as mana started to gather around her arms, the large silver broadsword was gleaming with a fiery blue aura as each part of her armor started to shimmer and tighten around her body.
Each of Miyamoto's fingers pressed tighter against the blade's hilt as his right arm cocked back. If his own experience fighting against his wife taught him something—it was that one of dragon blood couldn't just stop there. He had to finish it. He smiled as he shouted atop of his lungs.
"Let's do this!"
The three fighters charged forward. Sylphia lightning fast overhead swing, Miyamoto's mortal draw and Krieg's executioner swing met one another and it was at that exact moment where Leona couldn't bear to watch—until she heard a familiar snap of fingers.
A low sigh made her open her eyes and in doing so she noticed all three combatants just standing there. Their mana stripped away from their strikes.
"Muscle heads all of you." Robert admonished them as he held an orb of mana the size of a boulder. "Do you even realize how much damage that would've done to your surroundings?"
Krieg fell with one knee on the snow as Arondight was sunk into the snow to keep him from falling straight down. His breath was ragged, his body was burning up with heat—after being stripped away from the mana coursing through him he noticed just how the thrill of battle made him lose track of his own judgement. It felt like he just came out of a delirious fever dream.
Miyamoto on the other hand laughed as he sheathed his blade.
"Well, I'm sure nothing of a few days of rebuilding would suffice."
Sylphia kept a straight face as she raised Ascalon before letting the blade go as she transformed midway and landed with her feet on the ground. The dragon knight raised her right hand and coughed while turning her head to the side.
"I'll resume my chores."
After opening her wings she flew away without saying another word. Leona let out a relieved sigh as she asked herself.
'Do dragons do chores?'
Once she was far enough away, Sylphia strongly closed her eyes and started to squirm while mid-air.
"Argh! Restraint Syl, even after all this time…" She stopped flying and looked back at the lone cabin in the snow covered mountain with a faint bittersweet smile. "...you still haven't learned it."