At some point, the thrill of becoming a hero lost its shimmer and became some sort of job. It was one that he took quite seriously. There were still many questions that he could answer, but he figured the answer to them would show up as he ventured into the unknown future.
Who would have thought that a normal boy would be able to live with such a great responsibility? Who would have thought to give it to him? It was a mystery beyond him, but for now, he would do the best he could to not let his blessing let others down.
"Kyle!" Beldeross yelled out. "I heard! I heard!" He added as he ran towards the young nova. "I heard!" He stopped and caught his breath, "You're really going to another world to train?!"
Kyle nodded. "I've completed most of my basic training. There is not much more for me to do." He looked ahead at the portals that lead to the other world. "The elders have studied this world in depth. They say that Magnus himself became stronger there."
Beldeross blinked, "Woah. That's…SO COOL!" he said. "Man, I wish I could do things like this." He sighed out.
"We need to keep the amount of people going between the two worlds low. If we send too many, people will notice and that could mean trouble for our planet… more so than it already has."
"I know, I know…" Beldeross whined. "It's just with you gone and Tear being busy with who knows what these days, I'm gonna be a little lonesome."
Kyle blinked. He didn't stop to think of it that way. He really was going to be leaving everyone behind. He would be out on his own with no one but his sword. He grew a little sad at this thought. "Don't worry…" he said, "I can always come back. The portal is being left open!"
Beldeross smiled a bit, "Thanks, but you have some training to do, right? We're all counting on you to get stronger and stop that tyrant."
Kyle smiled back, "Thanks Beldeross! I'll be quick!" Kyle said as he walked over to the portal.
This was it… the moment of truth. Kyle had never left his planet before. He never thought about it. He had no idea what was on the other side, but he knew if Magnus survived there, then so could he…or at least he had to, at least to make them equal. He walked in and felt a surge of wind blow against his wings. It almost gave the impression of him flying, but his wings were still small. He couldn't actually do that yet.
He felt the wind die down and his feet touch ground. He looked up and around. The area was green and quiet peaceful. He surveyed to the left and to the right, to see if anyone noticed him at all. Not a soul was to be seen.
"It… seems peaceful." Kyle told himself. "Did Magnus really train in this world?" He took a few steps carefully, looking around for any signs of suspicious activity. Everything looked clear.
He had successfully transitioned to the other world.
Kyle had mixed feelings on this. He was excited and thrilled, but at the same time, he was nervous and scared. He grabbed his face and began to shake the nervousness away. "Come on, Kyle! Get it together! Nothing's happen yet!" He took a deep breath and set on a determined face as he slowly walked forward.
After reaching a bit of distance, enough to where the portal was out of view, Kyle thought of his first step. "First…" He told himself, "I should find a nearby town… They do have towns here, right?" He thought. Then a scary thought creeped up on Kyle.
What if Magnus trained here so long ago that he wiped out all life?! What if he was the only living thing on this planet?! "Oh no! That would be bad!" Kyle flinched. He thought carefully, "But the elders wouldn't send me to a dead world, right? There has to be something!" panic settled in as Kyle realized he hadn't seen anyone since arriving. "May-Maybe they're all up ahead! Yeah, that has to be it!" Kyle ran up ahead.
After a bit more time running, Kyle came across his first living species in the new world. It was some kind of mushroom with feet… "...Ah… Are those the locals?" He walked up to a small group, "Ah… excuse me! I was... ah… wondering if…" the shroom monsters ran off.
"Oh… Okay." Kyle sighed. He could confirm there was life, but not exactly social life. Not that it mattered; he wasn't around to be social anyway. Still, he would like to find some sort of safe zone. Kyle decided to keep walking forward. He was clearly on the right track towards finding life; he just had to find something he could interact with.
He found a rather worn path in the ground. "I bet I could follow this to a town!" Kyle told himself, "It seems too big for those mushrooms from before." He stepped inside of it. "It almost seems my size, if not a bit bigger." So whatever walked this path walked it enough to leave a dirt path in the ground and it was close to Kyle's size. This looked a bit more promising! He slowly followed it, making sure he paid careful attention to his surroundings.
He had only walked a matter of minutes before hearing strange, yet familiar noises. "Hmm? Laughter? Is somebody over there?" Kyle thought. He looked at the dirt path and then in the direction the noise came from. To go check on the noise, he would have to leave the dirt path. If he left it, he didn't know what his chances would be of finding it again. But then again, he had no promise that this would lead to anyone. Should he really make the decision to get off a clear path and check on a noise, or just ignore it?
Kyle felt that if the dirt path lead anywhere, maybe the one who laughed could tell him, or show him. He wasn't sure. He slowly crept over towards the noise, making sure he wasn't heard at all.
He shuffled through some bushes and looked around for anything that seemed to be in a happy mood. Something that would laugh. After a short period of time, Kyle found it. "...What?" He looked at the species in front of him.
He resembled Kyle in shape. He had hands, feet, legs… all the basic things. His hair color was a rather odd shade of dirt, and he wore some bundle of hay on his head. "Is…is this normal?" Kyle thought to himself.
Despite looking like him, the figure lacked a few things Kyle did have. Like wings and horns. "How does he plan on flying if he doesn't have any wings?" Then he thought, "Do people fly here?"
He looked back at the boy and found another shock. This one was more surprising than the last because he knew exactly what it was. A young blue dragon, freshly hatched with the egg still on its head, flew down and nudged again the boy. "A dragon?! A baby dragon?! Here?!" Kyle thought.
Most dragons in his world were protective of their young, especially if they were eggs. They would cause rampage if someone entered their home while they hatched their young. Kyle was almost surprised to see one out and about so openly. "Is it different here? Are dragons allowed to roam so… freely?"
Kyle watched the young dragon float around and constantly nudge at the boy. The boy would laugh and say a few things, and then the dragon would fly around and nudge again. "Is the dragon trying to weaken the boy to escape?" Kyle told himself.
He watched a bit more and saw the same process repeat itself. He was sure of it now. That dragon was trying to flee, but was too young to stand a chance! "I have to help him!" Kyle said as he held his sword up. "Similar to me or not, it's far too cruel to tear a child from its mother!" He jumped down and charged quickly towards the boy with the brown hair.
The boy with the straw hat looked up, "Huh? Did you just hear something, Mir?" He asked the dragon.
"I dunno, Master Evan!" The dragon remarked innocently. The dragon turned its body facing the direction Evan heard a noise from.
Suddenly, a silhouette appeared from the bushes. The sun faded out most of the details, but it became clear to Evan in an instant that he was being attacked by something. Evan jumped off to the side. "Augghh!" he yelled as he slid across the dirt.
"Master!" Mir yelled as he flapped his tiny wings over to Evan's side. "Master! Come on! You need to be strong!"
Evan rolled up and looked at what lunged out of the bushes. It was a boy! He didn't seem to be much older than Evan himself… Well… maybe a bit, but only by a year at most. After examining his face, Evan's eyes quickly examined his body and noticed the very odd features. "W-Woah… That's-!"
Kyle did not even allow Evan to finish his remark before sending a slash of energy his way.
"Waahh!" Evan yelled out of surprise.
Mir looked at the energy bravely and took a deep breath in. He shot out a fireball with just enough force to break the energy wave. "Master, get on your feet! "
Evan looked at Mir, "Ah…" He was still confused. This guy came from out of nowhere and attacked him for no reason! Well… he did have those strange dragon traits… "I-Is this about Mir?" Evan asked Kyle.
Kyle, on the other hand, was shocked. The baby dragon had not only just managed to protect the boy, but he also called him… master. "Since when do dragons have…?" Kyle took a step back. This world was different. Too different. He should have been careful before jumping to conclusions. Now he could have possibly gotten into a bit of trouble. He needed to get out before anything else stirred up. He turned around quickly and made a quick escape.
Evan slowly wobbled up. "Uhh? Wh-What was that about?"
Mir flew next to Evan, "I dunno." He looked at Evan and whacked him with his tail lightly, "Master! You need to be stronger than that! It makes me look bad!"
Evan laughed a bit,"H-Hey, I only just started this whole traveling thing! It's not in my blood."
The two of them talked a bit longer before moving ahead with their journey…
A few months went by. Evan had long since tossed his farmer's clothes aside for some formal mage robes. He felt so proud when he dressed himself in the morning. It was like he was a true mage!
Mir had grown a bit himself. He was actually big enough to ride at this point! Of course, that had its down sides too. Mir couldn't walk with him in most buildings and seems to cause a bit of a stir in most towns. Because of this, Mir was trying to get more adjusted to finding places where he could rest while Evan stayed in such places.
Evan ran through his usual morning routine. Get dressed; eat breakfast, then go find something heroic to do! He had to carry on the good name for Mir!
That and he still felt awful about before. He had been used by the Black Wings to hurt rather than help. Evan knew he was dense but he would have never imagined he would be that clueless. All it took was one caring puppet to alter his whole view on the organization. After that, he decided he needed to be stronger. He needed to be smart enough to not fall for that again!
He jumped on Mir. "Alright, where should we head today?"
Mir looked at Evan, "Oh, I heard there was a bit of monster activity in a forest not too far from here! "
"Training again?" Evan laughed. "Alright, I guess that will work."
Mir let out a small roar before taking off. Evan watched the ground slowly get small as Mir lifted off. Even though he had rode on Mir plenty before, taking off was always so much fun for him!
After reaching a patch of the forest, Mir found an opening and softly landed. "Alright… so you said there were some monsters causing some trouble?" Evan asked.
Mir nodded, "Yep! The people of Leafre were nice enough to tell me! They said it was some kind of bird causing people to get confused and lost."
Evan laughed, "Alright, let's go find some birds!"
The two of them carefully walked around, paying close attention to the trees. They'd be up there if not already sky bound. Mir was also letting out the casual sniff every so often, trying to find a bird like smell.
The two walked for an hour or two before stopping. "Are we even going in the right direction? I haven't seen any bird like monsters around at all."
Mir whined, "I was so sure they said it was this forest…"
Evan laughed, "I don't think there's any other forest in the area, Mir."
Mir sighed, "Then why can't we find them? They should be here!"
"Well maybe we're just in a bad area?" Evan laughed nervously, "And besides, I was hoping maybe we could talk with them and ask them to stop before fighting."
"Master, how am I supposed to train?" Mir whined.
"D-Don't worry! I'll figure something out!" Evan jumped back.
A loud screeched roared through out the tree tops. Suddenly, a vast amount of screeches joined in with it.
Evan covered his ears, "Ahh! What's that sound?!"
Mir looked up and growled, "It's the birds!"
Evan looked up to the sky and saw blue and red harps flying straight towards them on full attack mode. "Mir!" Evan said, accepting that they weren't going to be in much of a talking mood.
Mir was already prepared. He sent a surge of electric magic towards the birds. It hit two successfully, but the others managed to dodge.
Evan watched the birds. They were fast. And Mir couldn't use very wide spread moves or else the forest could get damaged. He looked for a way to get them in a more concentrated location. There was too many openings. "Mir." Evan said carefully, "We need to get higher up!"
Mir looked at Evan, "What? Are you sure?"
Evan nodded, "Yeah, we can't shoot needles at them one by one. There's too many and they're too fast!"
Mir nodded and tossed Evan on his back as he flew up.
"Alright!" Evan pointed his wand out towards the harps. "Try hitting them with some more wide spread attacks!"
Mir gave a blast of fire that shot out quickly. It threw a small number back, but still not near enough to make a dent in their numbers.
Evan sighed. This was going to be a long fight.
Mir continued to strike at the harps, dodging their own magic and strange sound waves in a panicked state. It made it hard to get any good attacks out.
"Mir!" Evan yelled out, "Watch out, I'm back here!"
Mir looked back, "Sorry master, these attacks are just too fast!"
"Come on, you're an ONYX DRAGON. You gonna let a few birds throw you around because they're too fast?!" Evan yelled out.
Mir looked at Evan and nodded, "No! I am not!" He roared and picked up the pace, getting a good blast of fire on the harps.
Evan clung to Mir tightly as Mir swept across the skies.
The problem with Mir's speed rush is that even Mir was not used to it. He left a spot open right beneath his stomach, where a red harp took advantage and attacked.
Mir let out a screech. In the state of shock, the other harps attacked Mir and Evan. Mir became stunned by the magic and began to quickly fall to the ground. Evan himself had been knocked out by the impact of the magic attack. Evan's hands calmly released from Mir as he began to fall off.
Mir flinched as he turned and saw his master separate from his back. Mir tried to get his wings to respond, but they were still numb from the magic.
As if it were an act of fate, a red light flared up from the ground and grabbed a hold of Evan. Mir's eyes widened as he slammed into the ground.
Mir raised his head up and looked to see if he could see the source of the red light. He saw a bright red armored figure flying amongst the trees.
Mir slowly picked himself up off the ground. He was almost too shocked to even check if he could fly.
The knighted figure looked at Evan, then back at the birds. The harps screeched loudly as they charged for the 'knight'.
Three swords. Three swords appeared in a flicker of flames before the knight. He waved his hand and sent the three swords up against the harps. Within an instant, the three swords rose and dove, twirling with their flames still aglow.
At the moment, the knight descended to the ground and laid Evan next to Mir. He looked up and saw the harps still in a fury. He flew up at a much faster pace and drew out his own sword. He joined in with his own swords and continued to cut the harps down.
Evan slowly began to wake up next to Mir. "Hmm?" He jumped, "Ah? What happened?!"
Mir looked up, "That guy!"
Evan saw the red armor move amongst the harps boldly, seeing twirling flames assisting him. He showed a fine control over his own weapons that he didn't even seem to graze the tree tops. Evan was in awe. "Woah… that's so cool!"
Shortly after, the harps that remained fled. The armored figure was left alone, floating in the sky. He looked down and saw Evan had woken up. Slowly he descended to the ground once again.
Evan watched as the armored figured landed before him. The armor was huge! It would take a fully grown man to fill that armor! "Ahhh.." Evan found himself at a loss for words. "Th-Thank you… Uhh.. Mister." Evan stumbled out. "Gee, way to look cool." He told himself.
The knight looked at Evan and then at Mir.
Mir smiled, "Yes, I'm okay too! Just a little shocked, that's all!"
The figured remained quiet. He simply stared at the two staring him down.
Behind Mir and Evan, one of the first harps Mir had shocked slowly got up. It charged a magic attack up quietly, aiming straight for Evan.
The red armored figure caught it just in time to knock Evan out of the way of the attack, but was sent flying back himself. Mir growled as he turned quickly and slammed the bird a few trees down with his tail. He let out a roar as he watched the bird fly off in a rather unstable manner.
Evan got up, "Ah! Mister?!" He ran over in the direction he had been shoved off in. He looked among the bushes and tree debris, only to find not an armored knight, but a boy with blue hair laying on the ground. A familiar looking boy.
"Ah, It's you!" He ran up and turned the boy around. "Hey! Hey! Are you alright?" He shook him lightly.
Kyle's eyes slowly opened. He let his mind catch up with what just happened.
Evan's eyes widened, "Ah, you're okay!"
Kyle looked at Evan and sat up on his own. He remained quiet but looked at Evan.
Evan nervously laughed, "Ahh… You aren't… still mad at me, are you?"
Kyle blinked. Still mad? What was he? Then it dawned on to him… This boy was the same boy that he had attacked when he first arrived to this world. It had been so long and so much had happened that he had actually almost completely forgotten about that. He looked at Mir. "You've grown." He remarked quietly.
Mir turned his head a bit to the side, "Well I can't stay small forever… Although I wouldn't have minded keeping my cuteness factor a bit."
"Cuteness factor?" Kyle repeated.
"Don't listen to him." Evan laughed, "He's just being silly. How are you feeling?"
Kyle took a moment to see if he noticed any pains or anything abnormal. From what he could tell while sitting down, he felt fine. He slowly stood up and looked around. "I think I'll be okay. What about you?"
Evan sighed and sat on the ground, "Ah, I'm okay. Just a bit shaken up. That wasn't what I was planning at all."
Kyle closed his eyes and sighed, "You have to plan for any situation fathomable."
"Fathom-what?" Evan repeated. "Ah, we made it out alive! We'll be good!"
Kyle sighed. "The only reason you aren't injured is because I just happened to notic—"
"Hey I have a question!" Mir asked in the middle of Kyle's sentence.
Kyle's eyes opened a bit, "Hmm? A question? What is it?"
Mir came in close to Kyle's face. "Are those things real?"
"Things?" Kyle looked where Mir's eyes were focused. They were dead set on his horns. "Ah, yes, these are real. So are my wings and tail."
Evan gasped in surprise, "C-can you move them? Like… actually move them?!"
Kyle stared at Evan with a rather unamused expression and began flapping his wings and swishing his tail back and forth.
"Woaahh!" Mir and Evan said in unison.
Kyle was a bit taken a back. He had helped Evan and Mir because he saw they needed help, but at the same time, he wasn't expecting to run into someone he gave a bad first impression to. He slowly turned around. "I suggest you leave the forest before the birds come back."
"Eh? You leavin?" Evan asked.
Kyle nodded, "I have a lot to do. Training on birds isn't exactly how I plan to spend my time."
"Theeeen…" Evan asked curiously, "What are you going to go do?"
Kyle turned around and looked at Evan and Mir, "Ideally, I'm going to train on tougher monsters."
Evan jumped up, "hey! That sounds great!"
Mir flapped his wings eagerly. "Yeah! I agree!"
It struck Kyle odd. He was used to dragons having majestic grace of some sort, but this dragon acted like a child… the child that was his master. "You couldn't even save yourself against the harps, why would I-?"
"So you can help us get better, right?" Evan asked. "Pleeaaasee! I have no idea what I'm doing with Mir at this point! He makes the schedule for us!"
There was an odd silence in the air before Kyle responded, "If you don't know what to do, why are you the master?"
Evan blushed out of embarrassment, "Well… uhh… you see, there's a bit of a story behind that, but I'm not really a master… he just calls me that."
Mir lowered his head and gently nudged against Evan , "Don't be silly! You're my master!" he looked at Kyle,"He's going to make me into a powerful dragon!"
"That wasn't exactly a good showing then…" Kyle thought to himself. He looked at Evan and Mir. The two had certainly grown since his first brief encounter, he could tell that much, but he could also tell that they had reached some kind of dead end. Kyle wasn't sure. He had to train to take by Helisium, but he wouldn't feel right turning down helping someone that was befriended by a dragon.
He sighed, "Alright, fine, I will help train you for three days. Nothing more. Nothing less. I really cannot be wasting too much time here."
Evan smiled, "Ahhh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" He ran up and grabbed Kyle's hand. "This is gonna be great! I promise!"
Kyle looked down at Evan's hand. He wasn't used to people touching him, even more so without asking. It was a very odd moment for him.
Mir flapped his wings happily as well. "Yay! I'm going to be stronger!" He said.
Kyle looked at Evan, "So I suppose we should start with introductions? My name is Kyle."
"I'm Evan!" Evan said as he pointed to himself. "And this is Mir!" Mir nodded in response. "We're traveling to be heroes!"
"Hero-?" Kyle looked up blankly. He turned around and began to walk forward, "Well, I'll see if I can get you off in the right direction there. I would imagine you have some basic knowledge…"
Evan ran up beside Kyle with Mir following along. The three of them left the forest area quiet but somehow with a warmer atmosphere.