The New Bond

“It's commonplace for the noble families to have multiple children. For one, it helps preserve the house in case a child dies. Second, it raises the chances for someone in the family to get past the hurdle of grade five and possibly past grade six. There is also the option of marrying a daughter to another family for multiple reasons.” - Howard Eknaw, during a lecture on political knowledge.

Aster

I was sitting cross-legged between Umbra's forelimbs. While the position was comfortable, I felt like Umbra was being a little overprotective at the moment. Since I had gotten back and into my room, she hadn't let me leave her sight. Even cake wasn't enough to persuade her.

As if to prove my point, I felt her snout bump into the back of my head. I didn't voice my thoughts mentally or out loud. Instead, I focused on twisting the thread in my fingers.

The silk was stretchy but thin, and a few tests showed it tended to be rather sticky when pressed against itself. It made the process of weaving the silk into a string difficult, as even a single misplaced thread could stick and ruin the whole string. All of this was before the runes engraving process even began as well. I paused in my work, setting the finished string down carefully. Looking at the two failed attempts to my left, while they wouldn't work for a bowstring, I had still practiced creating the runes on them, and I did feel confident in engraving them. The only problem would be the mana storage rune. It always gave me trouble.

The tool I was using to make the runes was a thin needle. As taught in the class, a different style of rune-making was needed for different materials. Wood had the runes burned in, fabric had the runes stitched, and metal had them engraved. Of the three we had practiced in the class, the fabric was the hardest for me, and wood was the easiest. It put this project in the middle difficulty, which I liked. Letting my hand rest from the hours of endless work, I leaned back against Umbra, enjoying the cool sensation of her scales.

“You've been up almost all night, the dawn is breaking, and you've only slept for three hours,” Umbra said.

I waved away the worry and smiled up at her. “My endurance is sitting at one seventy. I can miss a bit of sleep as long as I don't do it too often.”

My words weren't meant to be just talk. From what Mage Eldrim had said when going on a lecture about endurance and what it represented each hundred points put into the skill represented an hour less of sleep you needed a day, not that it was healthy to stay awake for any long periods at a time as it could affect your thought process apparently.

As I reached down to continue working, I paused, and a blue screen appeared in front of me.

[Congratulations, through the growth of your bond, you have unlocked the skill: Frost Control - Rank One.]

[Notice: This is a bond-based skill, and its growth is based on the growth of the bond. If a bond is severed or lost, this skill will become stagnant.]

Judging by the intake of breath from behind me, I assumed that Umbra had also received the notification. Without even having to speak, we both entered the space where our bond was located.

The purple vine that had started growing a few days ago now stretched over what had previously felt like an endless distance and had wrapped around another branch. While even as just a floating orb in this space, I wasn't going to risk trying to move over the vine.

“We did it. That means I can finally go into grade one!” The excitement and joy in Umbra's voice was like a breath of fresh air.

Pulling my mind out of the inner space, I rubbed one of Umbra's claws. “It looks like you can. When do you want to start the process?”

For a moment, Umbra hesitated, appearing unsure. “Is there a reason to wait? There have been a lot of things going on.”

“I'll be fine, Umbra, don't worry about me. Baldwin is here, and Roslin will be back in short order, I'm sure. If you want to start your advancement now, then I'll explain everything to them.”

She still seemed uncertain, but I didn't say anything else. In the end, it was her choice. There were a few minutes of silence in the room, but a lot of different emotions were filling the bond. It was a full three minutes before Umbra made her decision.

“It'll only be a week. I'll start it when we're done tonight.”

I smiled, looking up at her from where I set my tools out. “I'll speak to Baldwin in the morning then.” I was sure there wouldn't be too much to say. Once Umbra started her advancement into grade one, nothing could be done about it.

The rest of the night was rather peaceful, sitting between Umbra's front talons on the floor. I was making slow progress on engraving the runes, mostly because I was taking the time to practice the engraving on the already ruined string before I moved to the string my final product would be on. The process of putting the runes on the metal-like silk consisted of using a small needle made of silver with a hole in the middle and a sharp edge on one side. Mana infused into what was called a mana dripper made the tip scarily sharp and left a blue line when cut.

The blue of the line would fade out over a few minutes as the mana dispersed; it wouldn't stay until all the runes had been finished and connected to create a loop with only one exit for the mana. Taking in a deep breath, I started.

It was a good three hours of work until I was starting to get tired, and my eyes and hands were beginning to ache from the way I had to grip the mana drip. There would be no point in continuing only to mess up. I looked down at the almost half-finished product before I stored it.

“Are you ready?” I asked Umbra as I stretched. My question seemed to pull her out of whatever thoughts she'd been having, and I smiled. It hadn't even been two years since I'd gone into grade one, but so much had happened since then that it felt like ages ago. Still, I could easily remember the nerves and excitement I saw in Umbra's eyes.

“Do you think I'll get a good class?” She asked as I scratched the scales on her snout.

I shrugged. “You'll get a class that suits you; everyone does, but it might not be as strong as you want it.”

Sitting on the bed, I frowned as I realized something. “You have a set time when you will have to advance, don't you?”

Umbra nodded her head and tilted it curiously, and I sighed, feeling the confusion in the bind, and explained to her that most people could only advance their grade at set times and couldn't use cores. It was only because she was a dragon that she didn't seem to have the same constraint.

“Get comfortable because you're going to be stiff when you wake up and hungry, but I'll have food waiting for you.”

As she got onto the bed for what I realized was probably the last time, I felt my smile falter. I was young, only almost sixteen, and I had next to no idea of how dragons worked besides a bit of biology, but I couldn't imagine how it would feel to grow up so fast.

“Are you okay?” Umbra asked as I moved up a bit, creating a spot where I could sleep on the bed, and I rolled my eyes.

“I'm fine, just thinking about how big you're going to be after the evolution. When Roslin gets back, we’ll be ready to fly.”

Umbra’s nervous energy switched to anticipation, and we talked for a bit, her trying to explain how fun flying was and both of us guessing about the class options she would get. It was obvious her class would be frost-related, but anything else was up in the air, especially for her second class. Eventually, though, she settled down, and after rubbing her snout over my head and ruining my hair, she started her advancement.

Looking over her, I watched, looking for any changes. Nothing seemed different compared to when she was normally asleep, and after an hour and realizing I should probably get some sleep before class, l took a spot next to her and closed my eyes.

“What do you mean she's advancing?” Baldwin asked. He sounded a bit angry, but that might have been because I caught him as he was coming in, and he looked exhausted. Baldwin held up a hand before I could respond. “First off, how is she advancing? Last time I saw her, she still had at least thirty levels to go.”

I crossed my arms, frowning at him. He was making it sound as if they had wanted Umbra to stay in grade one. After a second, I pulled out the only monster core I had left from the dungeon, and the only one Umbra didn't eat.

“Cores,” Baldwin scowled before he sighed. “Silt and Roslin probably told you two. Dragons can only rush through grade zero with cores, so don't get too expectant.”

I nodded at his words. The book on dragon biology had one chapter dedicated to how cores affect dragons, and after getting past grade zero, they acted like mana potions, restoring mana or hosting it temporality depending on the core and its type compared to the dragon.

“Is her evolving going to be a problem?” I asked, rubbing one of my ears. I had told Umbra that it wouldn't, but to be honest, I just hadn't wanted her to worry. To my relief, he shook his head.

“There normally are celebrations with other riders when a dragon advances, but since I'm the only rider in the capital, I think we’ll have to forego that event. I'll let the herders know to expect a hungry dragon in a week or so, but otherwise, there's nothing that has to be done.”

I shrugged. It sounded a lot like he was talking about a party. Oh well, it couldn't be helped that it was missed. “Then there's nothing else to do?” I asked to make sure.

Baldwin gave me a long look before he smiled and chuckled, apparently seeing I didn't.

“Yes, Lady Aster, you're fine. All you should have to worry about are your studies. Umbra will be up in a week or so. A dragon's advancement is the same as a humanoid, and in the tower, she'll be safe.”

Nodding, I picked up a fresh plate of peppers and slices of various fruits from the bar where they had been laid out at some point this morning, storing it in my spatial gem. While Umbra had grown a love for cake, I had found a similar enjoyment: fruits. They were a fair bit lighter than cake, so they made for a good snack, and all kinds of ones that didn't grow in the forest were available here.

Waving goodbye to Baldwin, who returned the gesture, I set off to the academy to meet up with Kat. It was only once I was almost at the Academy that I realized how different it felt not having Umbra's mind next to mine. The feeling was different from when I had gone to the dungeon. During that trip, the connection was there. It was just extremely distant. Now, the bond was as close as ever, but it was empty. It felt like a tree that lacked any leaves. The bond was there, but there was nothing to it.

I sighed as I headed to my dorm room to pick Kat up, my plate of fruits forgotten. This week was going to be a long week.

Kat

Something was very clearly off with Aster. It was easy enough to pick up with the lack of any of the normal excitement in our first or second course.

At first, I thought she was just having a bad day; everyone has those, but as it stretched on throughout the entire day, it became obvious it was something different. If I was back at home, I could've just asked someone what the problem was, but it was a bit different with this girl.

Aster was unlike any girl I'd ever ever met, not just the ears and tail, even if those were features I'd never seen on a human before. No, she was completely unaware of things that were considered normal and knew a lot about some things that made no sense. It made asking her if she was okay a bit hard if I wasn't just blunt, which went against everything I'd been taught. It was probably also why Fernand was giving me a strange look as we sat in our last house of the day.

“What's going on? You've been acting like a bard who broke his instrument all day.” My words didn't earn a glare but a confused look, and I sighed. Maybe now wasn't the best time for analogies.

I waited for Fernand to explain what I meant to Aster. The girl hesitated but then echoed my sigh as she spoke.

“My bond is evolving. It's just weird not having her presence with me.”

I blinked a bit, taken back. I knew Aster had a bond I'd never met, but usually, when a bond went up a grade, there was some sort of celebration families did the week leading up to it, well, at least back home, there was. Pulling myself up from the slouch I was sitting in, I smiled. I had a little experience regarding people who had bonds that were advancing. A similar situation had happened to my brother a few months before I had left, but his bond was rather special, all things considered, so I wasn't too sure how it would transfer over to this situation.

“My brother had the same problem; he was moody the entire week, but he was able to get his mind off of it,” I said

Aster looked up at my words, a bit surprised. “What did he do to get his mind off of it?”

“He went to as many parties as he could. He was so drunk that he..” I trailed off and waved a hand. “It doesn't matter, but it did work.”

I watched Aster's ears droop. “I don't think parties are the best idea, and I don't want to forget about her. She's my bond.” She said

I looked at Fernand, who was giving me a look, but he didn't seem to have any ideas.

“How about the three of us just go out into the city tomorrow afternoon as a get-together, then? The Fundamentals and Rune course tests end tomorrow, and we don't have to get black-out drunk, but a few drinks might help settle the feeling that you have, and the next day, we'll have nothing to do.”

She seemed to consider the idea and eventually gave a smile and nodded, looking a little better than she had this morning. I looked over to Fernand, who sighed but agreed as well before he looked down at the book he had in his lap. I looked around for our fourth party member to make sure that he hadn't heard, and thankfully, Wren was sitting two rows down with another group.

“Then it's a plan.”

Turning my head to Adventure Henry, who was talking about what to expect in the forest, I tried to pay attention but couldn't help my thoughts staying on the enigma of a girl next to me.

When it came to Aster, nothing added up. She was too young to be in grade one, not even sixteen, which put her two years under me, but she was in grade one, which shouldn't be possible without serious circumstances. Her skill when fighting with a bow also made no sense at that age. Then, the fact that she came from a village near the claw woods did nothing to explain where she got all of the gold and items she used from. The biggest thing, though was how bad she was at almost anything to do with conservation. If she weren't a terrible liar, I would have thought she was the bastard of a famous noble. I shook my head at the idea, but I couldn't help but find her curious. She had as many secrets as me, if not more.

I was just starting to pay attention when I felt a slight sting on my right shoulder and barely held back a grimace as I felt my skin heat up slightly. Getting that tattoo had been one of the best things I had ever done, even if it required a permanent mana draw to keep active. The anti scrying and identify runes hidden in it were probably the only thing that had allowed me to even get into the kingdom and away from, well…everything.

After about a minute and a decent amount of stored mana from the runes, the burning sensation started to die down, and I relaxed back into my seat. The number of times some had tried to scry me had dropped from three times a day to only one. If I were a guessing woman, I would say my family or a knight my father had sent out to search for me, but there was no other sign besides that. I had made sure when I left to leave everything behind beside the clothes on my back, and even those had been taken from a servant. I had left the girl a gold coin in place of the clothes.

I blinked, trying to clear the thoughts out of my head. Being a runaway princess wasn't how I would have pictured my life two years ago, but Father was not going to send me off to some noble house even if I was the youngest child and last in line for the throne. I gave one last mental shake and focused on the course, if anything I needed to not really think about my past.