In the courtyard of the floating castle, Arthur was seated at a wooden table writing on a piece of paper while enjoying a cup of java tea. It has been nearly a year since Ellie left for Lancer Academy, and just recently returned after her summer break. Classes still didn't start for another week, but their parents managed to get some time off the supply route to enjoy some time with their children. Unfortunately for Arthur, being a Lance during a war meant it was hard to get more than a day off, so all he could do was have a single day of his family being complete again before having to return to the castle.
The worst part of this was that it was his own fault that he was so busy. After Ellie left, the castle felt cold and lonely to him. In the beginning he thought he just needed some time to adjust, but he never did. In his past life he never felt this degree of loneliness, and when he did he simply got a female escort for an evening. But seeing as he was in a relationship with Tess that was far from a viable option. So instead he did what so many others did when they needed a distraction, he poured himself into his work.
He became much more involved in the train project with Gideon, worked with the council more so on domestic affairs, even took a more active role in commanding his division that was in Elenoir. All the while though he always did his best to be at the castle when Tess would come to visit.
Her visits were inconsistent at best, visiting every month or two, and staying anywhere from one day to five. There was no way to predict any of it, as everything was dependent on how the war was going in the glades and how her unit was fairing in the dungeons. This made the letters they sent back and forth that much more important. This was seen most clearly recently, as Arthur was away on a mission during her last visit, and it wasn't looking promising that he would get to see her this month either.
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As he wrote his letter to Tess he stopped suddenly.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's rude to read over someone's shoulder?"
"Haha, I guess I'm not as stealthy as I used to be," Virion teased as he walked around to the other side of the table and took a seat. "I must ask, politics, military strategy, inventing," Virion smirked teasingly. "And now poetry? Tell me, is there anything you can't do?"
I'm his past life Arthur went through a phase where he considered being in a romantic relationship, and thought poetry would be exceptionally beneficial. He had read dozens of poetry books, only to abandon the idea after a maid made an assassination attempt on him. Despite being of no use to him then, his mind was a steel trap and was now able to put it all to good use. Of course he wasn't exactly plagiarizing, as he changed the poems enough to make them feel original and written for Tess.
"Actually yes. Just ask Gideon, my artifacting skills are quite poor," Arthur replied with a sense of pride.
Virion chuckled at his response. "It seems the more I learn about you the more I realize how lucky my granddaughter is."
"So what can I do for you? I doubt you came here just to flatter me," Arthur asked while smiling from Virion's comment.
"I have an assignment for you. One of the units operating in the beast glades will be arriving at an S ranked dungeon in a few days, and they'll need a Lance for back up," Virion explained.
"What about Pasta? Isn't that his only responsibility?" Arthur questioned, having heard the rumors about the General.
"He won't be available. His current unit is on the opposite side of the glades and won't be ready in time."
"Alright then," Arthur replied as he laid down his pen.
"Oh no rush. You can finish your letter, I'm sure Tessia will love hearing from you," Virion teased, then activated his dimensional ring. "Also, this is for you."
Virion held out his hand to show an identification tag on a chain, similar to military dog tags from Arthur's previous life. Arthur took it as he remembered the one Alea had on her. The tag had the Dicathen flag stamped on one side, and an unusual name on the other.
"Godspell?" Arthur questioned as he looked at Virion with an eyebrow raised.
"That's your Lance code name, what do you think?"
Arthur thought for a few seconds. Despite it not being his first choice of code names, he could see the logic behind it.
"Not my first choice, but I guess it suits me."
"Oh? What would you have chosen?"
"Hmm. How about Dragon Master?"
"I don't think so," Sylvie chimed in through their bond.
Virion gave a deadpan expression. "I need to warn Tessia not to let you have a say in the naming of my great grandchildren."
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad," Arthur replied defensively.
Virion smirked. "So now you don't even act embarrassed when I talk about you and Tessia having children? What am I supposed to tease you about now?"
"Very funny old man. Anyway, why am I only getting this now?" Arthur asked as he held up the tag.
Viron's face turned grim. "They are made of a nearly indestructible metal created by Cynthia, which she took the recipe for to her grave."
"So was this some extra that you found?"
"No. Carlos, the only blacksmith to have worked with this metal, has been working to recreate it since Cynthia fell into her coma. He finally figured it out a few weeks ago."
"Clearly he has talent. He should probably be rewarded for this," Arthur stated as he held up his identification tag and put it around his neck.
"True, I'll think of something," Virion said as he stood up. "The dungeon is called The Swamp Pit, and the unit should arrive in three days." He then turned and walked off.
"Hey Gramps," Arthur called out, loud enough that others outside couldn't believe he referred to the commander of the entire Dicathen military so casually. "What unit will I be working with?"
He stopped and turned to face Arthur. "Hmm, I can't quite remember." Virion then turned back around and continued walking. "Good luck."
Arthur sighed. "He's forgetting a lot these days, I hope his age isn't catching up with him."
"Hey Sylv," Arthur called out through their bond.
"I heard everything, when are we leaving," Sylvie replied, sounding a little excited.
"I'll head to the quartermaster to get some supplies after I'm done with this letter, we can leave right after," Arthur replied.
"How about instead I swing by the quartermaster to pick everything up and we meet in the hanger in thirty."
"Ok?" Arthur replied, sounding confused.
Sylvie of course was always eager to go on missions, as she found the castle boring, but something was off this time. He considered that this could have been the same as what happened a few months ago, but their bond felt normal so he dismissed the idea. As he went back to writing his letter he stopped and smiled as he realized the reason for her excitement.
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The Trailblazers were walking down the first tunnel of their next dungeon. The unit's captain was taking point of the main force with the majority of the tanks, as a team led by one of his senior heads scouted ahead. Everyone was on edge, as Alacryan forces had been more aggressive as of late and had been ambushing units in the dungeons.
Usually it was just hit and run tactics, however just two months ago, the Dungeon Divers unit was nearly wiped out by an ambush. Two thirds of the unit was killed in an A ranked dungeon, right after they defeated the dungeon boss. The unit took heavy losses as they retreated back to their camp, which was also being attacked on the opposite side, cutting off any chance of escape. The unit would have been completely wiped out if not for General Aya operating in the area searching for suspected Alacryan camps.
The unit had sent a distress message to the council, notifying them of their situation, and Aya was immediately dispatched. The battle ended only minutes after the General arrived, and finished off the enemy all on her own. The remaining members of the unit were not enough to continue on their mission, and there weren't enough available soldiers to bring them back to their full strength, so they were split up and sent to the other two units to improve their fighting strength.
As they continued walking they saw a figure rushing towards them. The Captain immediately raised his fist into the air and his unit stopped, and immediately took up a defensive stance with his shield out front and sword ready to strike. However it didn't take long before they realized the person running towards them was the senior head leading the scout team.
"Captain, Head Bladeheart reporting. There are two people in the chamber ahead," Claire reported in a whisper.
"Only two?" The Captain asked to reconfirm.
"We can't see any others or sense any mana," Claire stated.
"Hmm, it may be nothing, but we shouldn't take any chances. Head Eralith."
"Captain?" Tess replied after hearing being called.
"Get your team up here, we're going to check out a potential threat," the Captain replied.
"Captain, do you honestly believe it's wise for you to investigate along with both of your senior heads?" Another head asked.
"It's called captain's prerogative. Now stay back here and wait for my signal if we need you, Head Graves," the Captain replied neutrally.
Clive nodded in acceptance and the Captain and Tess assembled their teams up front. Seeing Tess preparing to go, Clive walked up to her.
"Be careful ok. If things get too dangerous no one will judge if you..." Clive started before being interrupted.
"Ok, let's move out," the Captain said as his and Tess' teams were ready.
As Tess began to walk away Clive grabbed her shoulder. She was quick to jerk away from him as she wanted nothing to do with him, and followed the Captain with Claire right beside her.
"You must really have a death wish," Carea commented as she walked past him and followed Tess.
Quietly they walked up to the chamber entrance, where Theo and the rest of Claire's team were waiting.
"Any change?" Claire whispered to Theo.
"None, they're just sitting there," Theo whispered back while gesturing to the two cloaked figures sitting by a fire.
"One of them looks pretty short," the Captain commented. "We may have a parent and child here that were running from Alacryan soldiers."
"You don't think they were any of the people who refused to move, do you?" Tess asked in disbelief.
When the war in the beast glades began, all of the outposts were ordered to evacuate. Most left with little protest, but there were some who completely refused to abandon the homes that they had built over years of hard work. Occasionally in the beginning of the war, a unit would come across one of the old outposts. Only to find they were burned to the ground or were actively being used by Alacryan soldiers. In some unfortunate cases the people who stayed were found dead after resisting or trying to run, or were captured and turned into slaves. So for the possibility that these people could have been survivors was nothing less than shocking.
The Captain made a quick and simple plan and shared it with everyone there, then quietly began to move into the chamber. Stealthily they moved behind the individuals, spreading out in case they were a threat.
"It's about time you all got here," The taller individual said as he stood up. His voice showing he was a young man.
Upon his movement and hearing his words, the Captain and most of the others immediately took a defensive stance and prepared to attack, while three others noticed a familiarity in his voice
"I know I'm early, but I got bored after I cleared this floor," Arthur said as he pulled down his hood.
"General!" The Captain announced in shock as he and everyone else saluted.
Arthur sighed, he didn't really like the extra attention his rank drew, but also knew there wasn't much he could do about it, as this type of structure was necessary for a military to operate properly. He turned his head slightly towards Tess. She was of course also saluting him as well, but while nearly everyone else remained as expressionless as statues, Tess was smiling brightly.
"As you were everyone," Arthur said dismissively as he walked towards Tess.
She fought the urge to jump into his arms and kiss him, but as he arrived she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately.
"Well that fell short of my expectations," a child's voice rang out from the second individual. "I was honestly hoping to see something along the lines of you tackling Arthur to the ground and making out with him."
"General! You brought a child here!" The Captain shouted in shock.
The child walked into better lighting and was seen to be a little girl with topaz eyes and long pale wheat colored hair wearing a black dress, and had a pair of black horns that seemed to be going unnoticed.
Tess' eyes locked on this little girl as she looked in disbelief after hearing her familiar sounding voice.
"Sylvie?" Tess questioned as she started to walk closer.
Sylvie gave a big toothy smile. "Hi."
Tess rushed to Sylvie and took a knee as she gave her a tight hug that Sylvie returned. Everyone was confused, as they looked from Tess to Sylvie to Arthur, then back again as they felt they saw similarities between Arthur and Tess, and the little girl. Everyone had the same thought, but only Claire had it in her to ask.
"Arthur Tess, when did you two have a kid?"
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After explaining Sylvie to everyone, they regrouped with the rest of the Trailblazers and continued on their way to find a suitable place to make camp. They encountered a few mana beasts, but they were fairly docile and ran away quickly. This was unusual as there were usually significantly more beasts, which were much more aggressive. Some joked that the beasts got scared away by Arthur and Sylvie, not realizing how close to being right they were.
"So," the Captain started as he walked beside Sylvie. "You really are the same dragon we met a year ago?"
"That's right. I even remember how you were kind enough to give me that beast core I missed," Sylvie replied as she walked.
"And on the topic of beast cores," the Captain reached into his armor and pulled out a purple beats core. "Do you still eat them?" He asked while handing it out to her.
Sylvie took the core from his hand. "Thank you. I only ate them before to be more efficient. It would have taken me quite a bit of time to absorb all those cores before, so I ate them and could just contain the mana inside me as I absorbed it. But since I reached the level of power where I can take on a human form," the once purple core dulled and crumbled in her small hand. "I can absorb the mana incredibly faster."
"I see, I guess we won't be getting any beast cores again," the Captain commented. He didn't care for himself, since he normally didn't get many cores anyway, but many in his unit relied on the cores whether it be for money or absorbing them for the mana to become stronger."
"No, I don't need to take them anymore. I only wanted them so I could reach this stage more quickly. Even though I still need to become stronger, it'll take a lot stronger of a core to make a noticeable difference."
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"I still can't get over how adorable she looks," Tess gushed as she glanced to her left to see Sylvie talking with her Captain.
"Honestly if not for the horns she'd look completely human," Arthur commented in reply.
"But you have to admit, those horns really are so cute." Tess then swung her arm and playfully hit Arthur in the stomach. "And you didn't tell me about this! When did it even happen?" Tess asked, acting angry.
"That was her idea. Sylvie wanted to surprise you."
"Well that was definitely a surprise."
"As for when, almost a month ago," Arthur answered, as he remembered the day clearly. As it was also the day he spoke with Agrona.
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It was after he ate dinner and was walking back to his room that he felt Sylvie calling out to him through their bond. He rushed to his room, and when he arrived he saw Sylvie in her human form on her hands and knees. She attempted to get up, only to fall back down as she had never relied on only two legs before. As Arthur tried to help her up he noticed a sudden change in Sylvie. Everything from her motor skills to her demeanor, even the way their bond felt changed in an instant. That was when Agrona turned Sylvie into his own personal puppet.
Arthur and Agrona talked for a short period, with Arthur trying to gain as much information and insight into Alacrya's Virtra leader as possible. During this time he came to the conclusion that he wasn't given the full story between the Asura and Agrona, however he felt Agrona's truth was far from complete as well. He also learned why the Asura had disappeared and essentially abandoned them.
Lord Indrath had decided to launch another attack on Agrona, which again resulted in a failure. To avoid open war between the Vritra, the Asura made another agreement, to stay out of the war in Dicathen. Arthur cursed Lord Indrath for just making the decision to launch another attack, but also understood how easy it is to criticize a leader's decision after the fact. He suspected this was all part of Agrona's plan, and that he had somehow baited them into attacking, but it didn't matter now.
Arthur also learned a very troubling truth, that his former friend from his past life Nico had also been reincarnated into this world. To make matters worse he was working for Agrona, and somehow knew he was Gray. Considering their past and how he knew that Nico no doubt still hated him, he felt nervous that Nico could potentially walk right up to him and he wouldn't even see him coming.
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"I'm curious," Tess asked while looking at Sylvie. "Can she still transform into a dragon?"
"Yup."
"Then what about her dress? Does it just get ripped up?"
"Actually it's a part of her. If you look closely you'll be able to see that it's made up of scales, just like her skin. And her hair looks like the feathers in her wings," Arthur explained with wonder, as even he found Sylvie's translation amazing.
Tess looked back over to Sylvie with a motherly pride over what she accomplished. A thought then entered her mind, one that she had from time to time, but usually pushed it back down because it was too soon to worry about. However, due to Sylvie's new human form this thought had escalated to a strong desire, a desire to have children of her own, specifically with Arthur. This of course resulted in her blushing as she remembered how babies were made. Thankfully for her, it was dark enough that no one could see it, except for a young dragon who suspected she was having the same thoughts she had felt from Arthur from time to time.