Darksteel

Chapter 36; The beginning of the end.

The months came and went like the quickly fading phases of a waning moon, and soon the bitterly cold snow gave way to bright blossoms and the cheerful fluttering of birds' wings. 

The air warmed, carrying away the icy chill of the Northern wind and the boys of Adalain Academy were soon seen out on the lawns and in the gardens, reading, drawing or most likely... practicing brutal sword play.

Now, engageed in one of these fights, Adar ducked as Asta swung his sword at the prince's head-- all while Smithy yelled helpful tips from the sidelines, such as, "PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT, ADAR! HE'S SHORTER THAN YOU, BLAST IT!" And so on. 

Surprisingly, Asta was very good at sword play, and for what feeble attempt he made at magic, he made up for in quick and smooth motions. 

The prince, however, was only really good at magic and while his sword-fighting was passible at best, he lacked the skill that Asta had. And thus, in order to win the fight, he did the one thing he could think of.

He cheated.

Summoning his magic and letting it run warm and alive through his veins, he raised up a small bit of land behind Asta's foot, tripping the boy as he stepped back. 

To Adar's relief, the fight was over soon after that, though he had the suspicion that Smithy knew he had cheated.

It wasn't fair, really; the other boys at Adalain were enjoying the rest of their day, lolling about and doing meaningless things. And yet Mr.Potter had insisted that the Iron Guild take on extra practice in preparation for Graduation in order to find out their strengths and weaknesses.

Rolling his eyes at that thought, Adar snorted; THAT was already quite easy to figure out WITHOUT the extra work. 

To begin, Asta was a bloody Monster Lord for the gods' sakes. And while none of the others had power such as that, they had other qualities that proved useful.

Nico and Blue were good with Mystics, Jeremiah was uncannily strong, Jin had a way with potions, and Adar had magic better than any one else on the face of this wretched earth.

 It was simple, really.

But after Yuletide, Mr.Potter had been training them harder than ever; making them work as a team, having them fight with live steel and not caring if they lopped off a finger or two in the process. 

Besides that, they worked with their Mystics daily and Adar had found the care and feeding of dragons book quite useful for Onyx. He was definitely having an easier time training than Asta, who couldn't even get Alphonse to sit yet. And after a full day such as that, the prince would collapse into bed every night, exhausted and with the ever-present dread of Graduation following him to sleep.

Snapping back to the present, Adar helped Asta to his feet and grinned, "Not bad, Featherstone. You might actually win next time."

Asta punched him lightly in the arm, smiling back and replying with, "You only won because you cheated."

Adar feigned shock, putting his hand on his chest as if he had been insulted. "My dear Asta, whatever could have made you say that?"

"Don't toy with me."

Adar chuckled softly, then noticed that all the boys from the gardens around them had gathered on the front lawn to gawk at some sort of carriage that had pulled up to the mansion's front doors.

By the gods... it couldn't be.

Adar stared at the familiar carriage; a horibbly pompous specimen pulled by four magnificent white horses-- a thing that Adar had ridden in many times before.