Chapter 5: Some Slices of Life
"Stella Dragon, Roar" screamed Romeo, fired of a blast of energy that hit a boulder, breaking it apart. Romeo then immediately got knocked back from the force of the blast. Luckily Keenan managed to catch him in time before he hit the rocks behind him. That didn't stop him from falling on his back crushing the poor exceed though.
A mighty laugh could be heard nearby. "Nice shot." Astery said between laughs "you're definitely improving."
"How?" Romeo groans, getting up then check on his cat friend.
"Well for starters you actually caused heavy damage on the boulder instead of just changing its position. You also improve your control and endurance much better than before so the knock back force aren't as powerful. Now Keenan can actually help you from getting hurt from your own attack." Astery finished explaining before snickering a bit more when he said the last part.
Speaking of Keenan, the exceed finally recovered with only minor injuries surprisingly.
"Thanks for the compliment." Both the cat and the boy said before getting up and ready to do it again.
Astery, chuckle a bit more, then watch them try again. "Try not to hurt yourself too bad, we have close range combat training after this." He said.
"We won't." Both Romeo and Keenan, preparing for another attack.
It's been six months since Romeo began his Dragon Slayer training and he had progressed much faster than expected. It only took him a week to fully adapt to the physical changes of becoming part dragon, a month to learn how to adjust his strength so he doesn't accidentally break stuff or hurt Keenan, and another 2 months to learn how to control his magic. Now he's learning how to mold his magic into attacks. Astery cannot be any more proud of his son's progress.
He also didn't forget to have his son focused on his studies which Romeo happily does since it helps reminds him of Lumina.
Speaking of Keenan, the exceed has been a great addition to the family. At first, he wasn't able to do much due to his size and because he couldn't maintain his wings for long. But with much training and encouragement from Romeo(and threat of being kicked out for being a freeloader from Astery, though he wasn't really gonna do that), Keenan grow substantially during the last six months. Now he can maintain his wings while carrying Romeo for a couple of hours(half an hour if he constantly going at top speed), he also gathers fruits and transport items when needed. Recently he even started helping Romeo with his training.
"Wooo" Romeo screams in joy at the top of his lungs while Keenan grabs onto him for dear life. It's Romeo's five years old birthday and Astery decided to take them on what he called a "joyride". There wasn't any particular destination in mind, they just flies at top speed in all directions. While this is Romeo's gift for his birthday and he is having fun, this is also a practice for him, to resist the pressure of high speed travel and to improve his observation skills by keeping track of his surroundings despite such the speed they're traveling at. And he's doing excellent on both.
"Was it fun?" Astery asked as they land back on their home.
"Yeah!" Was Romeo's excited answer.
"No." Was Keenan's whimpering answer.
"Oh come on we flew around before." Romeo starts walking towards the kitchen area to prepare dinner. After Lumina's passing, Romeo started learning how to cook himself, which was helped tremendously since she did have a few cooking recipes in her old hut. Romeo still visit that place from time to time.
"But never that fast!" Keenan retorted, flying up to Romeo. They have fly together many times in the past and are now practically in sync with each other in air. While Romeo love flying with Keenan, he also enjoyed flying with his father.
"Well one day you're gonna have to reach that speed so might as well get use to it now." Romeo getting some fish and spices out.
"That's impossible!" Keenan yelled.
"No it's not." Romeo starts a fire with an energy beam.
"Indeed." Astery walk in, waiting for his son's food. While he doesn't need to eat since he gets more from consuming energy, he still enjoys the taste of Romeo's dishes.
"See." Romeo now has a smug look on his face, Keenan only groan.
"But you're not just gonna reach that speed," Astery said getting the two's attention "You need to surpass it too, and continue to do so if you wish to grow stronger."
Romeo is excited at the idea while Keenan is terrified. Astery just smile.
Omake
The day after Romeo's Birth day.
In a certain guild with a certain dragon slayer.
"So many dragon sightings." Natsu scream excitedly. "This is it buddy."
"Aye sir" Happy replied.
"We won't stop until we found Igneel. You hear?" Natsu declare to the guildhall. Everyone cheers.
They gave up after a month of searching due to the lack of any clear clue or direction.(On account of Astery random directions and the speed he was travel at)
Author's note
If you're wondering how I write so fast, well let's just say I have a lot of free time right now and are fill with ideas. Let's hope this'll last.