A Dragon's Bond

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     The next few weeks went by in a blur as outfitting and training everyone took the forefront of our life. The Dragons worked on building the expansions into the Armory, creating room after room, all ready to be filled with whatever we ended up needing. The Armory grew from the small rooms housing the forges and weapons, to a sprawling multi-leveled underground castle. Each area was surprisingly intricate in decoration. As the new Earth dragons perfected their own skill in moving the Earth element they created grand rooms. Rooms that housed rock walls and slate floors. It became a place fit for a King, rather than a dilapidated hangout of a small resistance.

     Mixed within the building Draioct and I worked tirelessly on our knowledge and ability with the elements including our newest, Earth. The Earth element was much easier for us to learn as our strength in the other elements increased. We were able to adapt knowledge from other areas, letting us become proficient incredibly fast. We moved from slowly lifting gradually large piles of earth, to forming complex shapes such as walls or bricks. In regards to using it in battle Draioct had happened upon and ingenious use of the earth as defense.

     One day while he and I were sparring one another, I had begun peppering him with small fireballs in an attempt to overwhelm him. It was beginning to work until suddenly he slammed his foot down hard onto the earth. At the same time he used his mage abilities to shoot a flat wall of earth directly in front of him, effectively blocking my further fireballs. It caught me off guard and he seized the opportunity to swipe me off my feet with his tail. The both of us laughed in joy at the unexpected new ability. We both knew instantly that this would come in handy at some point in battle.

     As time passed the hardest part of the past few days was Jack's weapon training. We worked any moment we had free time until my skills grew enough that we were an even match. Weeks of rigorous daily training added to the skills he had already taught me growing up. I could feel that the years of training were beginning to finally pay off as my speed and skill increased. My body grew stronger physically with all this activity, leading to me becoming in great shape by the end of the month. I had become old enough that muscles had now formed and my lanky frame had become hard and bulging.

     Towards the end of the month I had gotten to the point that I was beating Jack in our sparring matches. After a particularly long bout where I finished him off with an offhand poke in the chest we at on the ground heaving in exhaustion smiling at one another.

"You know Adam, I think you have finally bested me in swordplay. I can no longer train you to a useful level. If you are open to the idea I would like to search out an old friend. One of the founding members of Retribution. He was a master in swordplay that at one time taught anyone and everyone important in the Kingdom."

"If you think he will be sympathetic to our cause still, I would be honored to learn from him."

     He laughed in joy as he lightly punched my shoulder, standing up and making his way up stairs to clean the sweat from our sparring.

"He will get some payback for you beating me for a week straight."

     His laugh trailed off as he entered the hut above our Armory. I gulped down a nervous giggle. What had I just agreed to?