After a while of me staying completely motionless atop Kylo, he finally grabbed me with his tail and lifted me back to the ground. Only then did I realize how bad I was shaking and found myself clinging to his tail, refusing to let go, closing my eyes the moment my feet left his back.

Instead of getting angry, he let out a long breath of fire and then wrapped his neck around me, covering me with a hot warmth that took away the chill I felt from the air thousands of feet in the sky. "Perhaps… I shouldn't have done that… I'm sorry…"

I finally felt my breath calm down and dried my tears. The heat gave me an indescribable comfort even greater than when I myself breathed fire. 'I haven't been that scared in a while…' Wiping my eyes, I slowly swallowed and hugged his neck for a moment before letting go with a soft chuckle. "You really aren't like the dragon I know at all, and I mean that in a good way, believe it or not."

He let out a soft growl before backing away. "Can I… Have my tail back now…"

I quickly let go and pulled my hands away. "S-sorry. That's my bad…"

He sighed, shaking his head. "It's fine."

With another long, slow breath, I turned towards the fortress we had landed in front of, and a heavy-armed knight riding out by himself greeted me. He dismounted a short way away and walked the rest on foot. Although I couldn't see his face, he stood as tall as my father, though with a slimmer build. A massive left pauldron could have easily worked as a shield for him, thrown on over a long scarlet red cloak that covered his shoulders over the rest of his plate and hugged tightly to his body. On the back of his belt were two massive greatswords, one with an extra-long handle, and in his right hand, he held a long spear with a massive tip that split into three bladed heads like a blooming flower. As Kylo reared his neck and bared his fangs, the knight spun his spear, jamming the hilt into the ground and taking off his helmet to reveal the slim face of a clean-shaven elderly man with long platinum hair. "The lady Siyasavide, I presume."

"General Eincraig… Did you receive my message?"

"I did. Let's fight."

"Eh… Can you give me a minute?" I blankly stared at him. 'I thought we were on good terms, though… I can't really refuse… Maybe it's a test? I've been acting pretty arrogant… Well… After losing Mr dragon, how do I stack up?

[Siya: Dragon (Lesser)]

[Height. 7'4 (-5)]

[Weight 238 lbs (-40)]

[Age ***]

Strength

165

Agility

165

Endurance

180

Constitution

200

Intelligence

190

Wisdom

250

Total / Level

985

Faith

–

Divinity

***

Magic

140

[True dragon form increases all stats by 100.]

[Weakened state from soul separation decreases all physical stats by 20]

[Eincraig.]

[Age 88]

Strength

298

Agility

345

Endurance

335

Constitution

271

Intelligence

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

230

Wisdom

120

Total / Level

985

Faith

–

Divinity

***

Magic

0

My breath caught in my throat. 'Average physical stat… of 312!?' I shuddered. 'No, calm down, stay confident… Stats… Don't matter… Ugh… This is why I don't look at them!' Freezing time, I scoped out and looked at the larger picture. 'This is around what Rokai was at too, before he was cripled. It's not surprising a general of ours would be this strong… Considering Rokai had to also learn some magic. The question is how I deal with it… A little trickery should be fine. Rather than trying to win, I should try and last as long as possible while handicapping myself. That will make it harder for him to judge my full strength, and he will naturally put me in a more positive light… Ok… But I can't deny the duel, or make excuses, I'll have to rely on him figuring it out for himself, in which case… I won't use my right arm… Or my left leg, and I'll change my footwork.'

My strategy set, I stepped closer to him, lifting out a hand for the so-called warriors' greeting. "It's an honor. You're spoken of quite highly in the academy of Kasesh. However, I'm afraid I'll have to impose a few restrictions."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what would those be?"

"We both wear armor and keep our weapons sheathed, like the students at the academy, rather than military style. While I would love to fight you properly… Risking injury between our strongest two soldiers currently available isn't ideal in the middle of a war…"

He grinned. "You… You're nothing like your father, are you?"

I grimaced at the thought of being compared to him. "I'm glad you think so…"

He chuckled before picking up his spear and leading me back towards the castle. Before long we were in the courtyard and I was given armor, although I only put it on around my right arm and left leg, aside from the thick leather jerkin I borrowed. The armor was sturdy and light, made from intricate crafted damascus steel and dented from the many impacts it had no doubt taken. 'The point of the armor isn't actually to protect me, but simply to draw attention to the places I'm not using.'

"Are you prepared?"

I tightened the last strap around my wrist and closed my hand into a fist, feeling the leather from the gauntlet tighten with my muscles. 'It feels weird having armor on this arm… I'm glad the break wasn't that bad and healed quickly, but it still makes me nervous… Well… It's not like it split in half and stuck out like the other one did, so it's still my good arm for sur,e but…' "I am."

I pulled out my greatsword and focused inwardly on my soul. 'Despite separating from Mr Dragon, I still have true dragon form, which implies I can use it without him, meaning it's different from the dragon aspects he was talking about. When my blood begins to boil… And my eyes change color…'

I felt a heat rise in my chest and a bellow come from deep inside me, my mouth filling with a dull flame and my skin tightening around my muscles as small patches of scales appeared on my arms. It was nothing compared to before, at least visually, fewer scales, and of course no tail or wings, but the stat increase was similar, and since my magic had only been growing, I had enough to pour everything into strength and agility, bringing me up to 285 strength and 345 agility, which put me within 5% of him. Of course, I couldn't match his endurance, but that didn't matter. 'All I have to do is keep up for as long as I can.' I lifted my great blade off my back with my left hand alone and held it out to my side. "I admit I've been curious about what kind of techniques our people might use with other weapons. Come at me with that fancy spear of yours."

Almost before I could even react, he had closed the distance, forcing me to block, carefully calculating every move as I slowed time. 'Calm do– stay calm… Stay calm… It's fine. You knew he'd be fast…'

I stepped to the side, pivoting on my left leg like a dancer and twirling my sword around the spear's head, planting it in the ground between us and sliding it down the shaft as I closed the distance.

With a massive step back, he yanked on it, hooking my sword as if trying to pull it away, but tensing my arm, I resisted. The moment I got within striking range, he launched a barrage of kicks that I could only barely withstand without the use of my right arm. As the fight continued I slowed time less and less with each exchange, geting more used to the faster pace of things.

His expression changed, likely figuring it out. 'This isn't a duel I have to win; rather, it's one I should lose. Not just statistically… Not just to save his pride and help build relations… But fundamentally, I'm choosing to lose because… I'm honestly not sure I can win without serious consequences…'

"What an interesting girl." He said bluntly, pulling his spear back and grabbing high up on the handle, flicking it down like a sword, and wiping his nose with his other thumb.

Pulling my sword up to my shoulder, I assumed a proper stance. "I can't say I ever intended on catching the eye of someone older than my grandfather… But thanks, I guess."

He chuckled, regrapping his spear and bending his knees, whipping it out in front again and holding it directly between us. "There's that mouth you southerners are known for." He smirked.

'That's a thing?' Again, he charged forward and we exchanged blows, but it was all in vain. He had me completely out-ranged, and reading his attacks only allowed me to defend. If anything, I was being pushed back further. With the heavy weight behind each of his strikes my body started to numb.

Suddenly the tip of my sword was thrown upward, spinning like a wheel and leaving me wide open. Before he could capitalize I forced myself to move, reorienting my stats to be faster for just a moment. Leaping into the air I quickly followed behind my swords rotation catching up and blocking a thrust, somehow landing on my feet several meters away.

Before I could fully recover his spear had hooked my left ankle and pulled it forward, in order to keep my balance I stuck my sword into the ground behind me to lean on, leaving my wide open again. 'Is he getting faster?'

I just barely dodged, curling up backwards to the top of my sword and feeling it rattle as it took the impact in my stead. He lunged forward and lowered himself further, thrusting upward to try and catch me, but I quickly dropped down behind my sword again, separating him from my line of sight. 'Where is he…' With my manna, I sensed another strike coming right for my sword, and as soon as it struck, I stomped the ground, shaking and cracking the earth as I spun and crushed the following strike with a heavy downward swing that forced his spear's tip deep into the earth.

Lifting my sword off the ground, I stomped again, forcing it deeper into the ground, but he still held on with a cold look in his eyes. I took a step forward when suddenly the earth ripped underneath me, and he yanked back, pulling my ankle again and taking me off balance. No matter how much time I had to think or react after it happened… It didn't matter, it was too late… My weight… Even in my larger form… Wasn't enough to hold his spear down. I readied myself to block another thrust, but instead of pulling back, he leveraged the spear to throw me high into the air, making me tense up as the familiar rush of wind shot past me.

Spinning the spear back around, he pointed it straight up in the air, ready to impale me as I fell. Thinking it would be easy enough to block, I at least moved my sword in front of me, but in an instant, it was suddenly several yards away, flying out of my hands after a perfect thrust to the blade sent it out from under me… Before I hit the ground, suddenly I was tossed into the air again. I froze stiff, once again finding myself falling directly towards his spear's tip, this time with nothing to block with, save for the armor I borrowed…

Slowing down time I aimed to push the spear head out of the way as I fell, but seeing this he simply moved it, somehow keeping up with me. One move away from either a terrible stomach ach or victory, I aligned myself as best I could to try and grapple him, but instead of trying to skewer me he kicked his spear, spinning it around again before catching me.

Paralyzed by fear once I knew the fight had finished, I couldn't move, much less speak at first. "I believe I won." He said calmly, putting me down.

'Don't cry… I know it's scary, but don't cry, you're fine… Fine… I'm not even breathing, let's start with that… It's not working… Why isn't it working…'

He casually inspected his spear and its sheath for damage before ordering others to begin repairing the courtyard, all the while I was still stuck in place. "Are you alright there?"

"I-I… I'm…" I nervously swallowed, finally starting to breathe again and stepping closer. "I'm scared of heights, is all…" I muttered, quiet enough only he could hear. "Though… It's never been a problem in a fight before… It made me a little stiff while I was trying to defend that last attack…

He looked down at his long spear. "Of heights…" He repeated softly.

"Please don't tell anyone…"

He chuckled before patting me on the head and walking past. "Fine, fine. In any case, we should get going."

'I guess even in this form, people still treat me like a kid… Well… He is pretty old, though.'

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