Chapter 73: Terrifying connections

Alaric went to Evan’s training room first, where the young Knight was practising with a broad, single edged blade with a tiny handle rather than his usual sword.

Evan already possessed Minor Mastery of the sword, but his proficiency with the blade had yet to cross that boundary.

He repeated the same cutting sequence while changing the angle and timing slightly with every attempt, trying to absorb the unfamiliar blade movements contained within his inherited memories.

Evan stopped when he noticed Alaric and lowered the blade. “Young Lord.”

“I intend to have you spar with someone who is cooperating with me,” Alaric said. “He is a Mage, although he follows the Body Path as well. Fight seriously, but don’t use anything intended to kill him.”

Evan was curious about the identity of someone who practised both paths, but he had long since learned that Alaric’s strange arrangements usually benefited him.

He accepted without asking unnecessary questions and followed Alaric out of the room.

Alaric asked him to wait outside the largest private training hall before continuing toward Zephyr’s room alone.

The baby dragon was actually training properly for once.

Titan’s Might and Obsidian Scales were both active, but the reinforcement across his scales began flickering after several breaths.

Zephyr still struggled to correct the conflicting circulation patterns before Titan’s Might collapsed.

“I have someone under my personal command who I want you to spar,” Alaric told him. “He is a newly advanced Knight, but take him seriously when you spar.”

Zephyr’s disappointment over his failed attempt disappeared. “Can I use magic?”

“Yes, but no invisibility and nothing lethal.”

The restrictions annoyed Zephyr, although fighting sounded far better than repeating the same exercise again.

He followed Alaric into the larger training hall, where Evan was already waiting with a blunted practice blade and reinforced armour.

Evan’s attention immediately settled upon the small black dragon who turned off his invisibility after entering the training hall, walking beside his Young Lord.

“This is Zephyr Nightscale,” Alaric introduced him. “He is a dragon who has an oath of cooperation with me. Zephyr, this is Evan Lionheart, a Knight under my personal command.”

For several seconds, Evan couldn’t think of an appropriate response.

His Young Lord had somehow convinced an actual dragon to cooperate with him.

That should have been unbelievable, but after everything Evan had witnessed, his surprise quickly turned into a strange feeling that this was exactly the sort of thing he should have expected.

Alaric had exposed noble conspiracies, overturned the situation of House Orlen, given Evan several sets of mysterious inherited memories and displayed talent that made other noble heirs look ordinary.

Of course he had also found a dragon somewhere.

What can the Young Lord NOT do?

Zephyr enlarged his body until his shoulders reached Evan’s waist, then examined the human standing across from him.

Evan didn’t appear particularly impressive, but Zephyr knew Alaric wouldn’t have arranged the fight without a reason.

“The match ends when one of you concedes or when I call it,” Alaric said as he moved outside the marked area. “Begin.”

Zephyr acted first, striking the floor with one forepaw as he formed a spell.

Spell Model — Earthen Grasp

Two hands rose from the floor and closed around Evan’s legs.

His sword pierced through the thinner joint of one earthen wrist while the heavier blade smashed through the other, but Zephyr immediately followed with another spell instead of waiting to see whether the first one succeeded.

Spell Model — Detonation

The air in front of Evan exploded.

He crossed both weapons before his body and threw himself aside before the centre of the blast reached him.

The remaining force struck his practice armour and pushed him several steps, but he recovered without falling.

Zephyr flew forward to take advantage of the opening, only for Evan’s sword and blade to meet his claws halfway.

The first exchange wiped the confidence from the baby dragon’s expression.

Evan didn’t compete directly against the strength of his charge. His sword turned at the moment of contact and redirected one claw past his shoulder, while the blade in his other hand continued toward the joint beneath Zephyr’s opposite foreleg.

Zephyr twisted away and swept his tail across Evan’s waist.

Evan stepped inside the widest part of the swing, kept the dragon’s claws occupied with his sword and struck the base of the tail with the flat of his blade, making Zephyr stumble before he could regain his balance.

The difference between the two weapons was obvious even to Zephyr.

The sword moved with a level of precision, timing and familiarity that clearly belonged to Minor Mastery, while the blade lacked that same perfection but was still handled with remarkably high proficiency.

He has Minor Mastery of the sword and can use a blade this well at the same time?

Zephyr thought with astonishment as he climbed into the air and released two more spells, but Evan continued finding ways through them.

He watched the gathering mana, moved before each spell was fully released and used the minimum movement required to avoid their strongest sections.

Whenever Zephyr descended to attack physically, the sword handled the most dangerous claw while the blade covered the angle created by his tail or second foreleg.

The fight remained even despite Zephyr practising both the Body and Magic Paths.

His magic, natural physique and ability to attack from the air gave him far more options, but Evan wasn’t opposing all of that with incomplete Blade Mastery alone.

His Sword Mastery remained the foundation of every exchange, while the second weapon allowed him to defend and counter from two directions at once.

The blade still moved a fraction slower whenever Evan had to make a difficult adjustment, but Zephyr couldn’t exploit that weakness long enough to land a decisive hit.

That weak human has a fucking collection of geniuses around him. Where does he keep finding these people?

Zephyr thought midfight as he glanced at Alaric who was watching from the corner of the training hall.

This weak human is terrifying!

Thank you for reading!