(September 25th, 2030)

*Lord Tenbu's Sanctuary*

I was going to keep up with my promise to Arkaid. Whether I liked it or not, I needed to keep up with the training regimen that Arkaid has provided for me. It may seem odd that I do not appear completely motivated by this amount of practice, but that is solely due to how she hopes to instruct me in the ways of magic. Needless to say, a human being such as myself is not fully aligned when it comes to magical talent. Melanie, according to what Mizaru later informed me, took quite some time in training just so that she could cast a simple spell. I could only sigh at the amount of work needed to be done.

Arkaid brought back a few items from Magic World, items that even I, to this day, cannot bring myself to remember. These gems possess an uncanny property to help align oneself with the ability to cast magic. Her magical practice, in regards to training me, consisted of reading and meditation. Reading was the easiest aspect of it all, for she instructed me on the sorts of spells I should be able to perform. The few aspects I understood immediately was the difference between normal offensive spells and healing ones. Healing ones took more mana and stamina to perform. When performing such a spell, you are hastening your body's way of healing wounds and projecting it onto another person. Even though you may not be the one being healed (generally, when casting this spell, you are expected to heal others since magicians are fighting in the back, away from physical combat), magicians using healing spells feel exhaustion depending on how much they healed an ally and their amount of skill in it. Offensive spells, on the other hand, were purely mana based and were much easier to use. However, using any spell involved allowing these gems to align themselves with your own being. According to Arkaid, since I'm a being that wasn't born with the innate magical talent (while most people in Magic World are), the best means of doing this is through direct meditation. It was grueling at first, especially since my mind continued to remain unclear. Certain events were transpiring back on Earth, making it so I was consistently distracted. For starters, Liam had not contacted me ever since he stormed out of my apartment that night. I have been asking around and texting him, hoping that I could get some sort of clue. Unfortunately, I could not obtain a single one. However, when it comes to my employment, I was still on my paid leave. I hated it, especially since my team was managing to make progress in their investigation on The Will of Kyoya. Four more criminals were captured and were sent to be interrogated. Because of my paid leave, I was unable to actually learn anything myself. My position left me utterly restricted, and I couldn't help but break out of my concentration each time I pondered about it.

My eyes popped open with the array of crystals resting in front of me. The mana emanating from the crystals glistened with an undeniably beautiful set of colors. Each crystal resonated with an element, and I was to meditate in front of these crystals in order to align myself with their mana. Citizens from Dragon World did not learn magic themselves; they only began to learn it once a select few went in-between this world and Magic World, allowing themselves to bury themselves in magician's studies. Some citizens managed to work their way into Magic World the rifts connecting to Earth now were even established, making it so a select few clans were ahead of the times in comparison to the others. Even then, however, other clans survived due to military prowess and strength. I didn't have the latter, so my best hope was to become the jack of all trades that Arkaid saw me as. To be honest, I viewed myself in a similar manner. However, as I glumly looked at the array of crystals before me, I couldn't help but occasionally wonder if this was right for me.

Arkaid seemed to read my mind when I thought that. "Even if you feel your mind slip, do not lose yourself." She was sitting in a meditative position on my right. Even though her eyes were closed, she appeared to have focused on all of her surroundings. Her short, light-brown hair waved in the soft winds, allowing her to feel each follicle of hair as it waved in unison with the others. I could only tell she sensed each small movement from how her head occasionally strayed. Even so, she remained relaxed, even when a small insect nestled itself on her robe. She was not someone meditating. Instead, she made herself become a part of the environment; a piece of land for the world to affect with its wind and nature while the insects roam on her to make their way through the plain.

"Easy for you to say," I mumbled back to her. "I'm not exactly magician material."

"As my eternal partner, it is only right for me to instruct you in the ways of the magician. Besides, this will help us find our alignment as well."

"Our alignment?"

"We have yet to activate our unified skill, correct?" I shook my head back to her. I could tell without even thinking that she was referencing the buddy skill; a skill developed and utilized while both buddies are together, and can only be activated when together. It is utilized with the assistance of a Core Deck Case. I recall Tasuku utilizing such a skill, and I have been told by Alvis that Tasuku's buddy skill involves flight. Even my coworkers were unable to unlock such skills. It appears that children and teenagers have an easier time doing it for some reason. "See this as a means to truly unite us. We haven't had the time to relax and mentally train ourselves for such a task, and this goes for me as well; you are my first buddy, so I have never found the opportunity to find our buddy skill."

"What do you think it is?"

"All I know if that it must be some sort of conjunction with you and me. The skill is a part of us, and highly important. However, none of the others have been able to do this. We are all, truly, inexperienced when it comes to being with our first human partners."

"If it means anything to you, I think you've been doing amazing."

"I greatly appreciate that," Arkaid hummed cheerfully. "Please, return to your meditivie stance. It is my responsibility as your buddy that I educate you in magic."

"What I find kind of weird is that Melanie isn't like Mizaru at all," I replied. "She's a mage like you. Did you have to train her?"

"Yes, but only because she isn't fit for Mizaru's role," Arkaid calmly replied. "She was dutifully assigned the role of the magician once we understood her position."

"Her position?" Arkaid didn't reply back to me. She was right; this was to be saved for another time. Accepting of my current situation, I returned to my meditative position and slowly allowed my mind to empty, feeling the mana from the crystals weave and caress my very body. It was an incredibly taboo feeling. Sensations of the heat, ice, winds, and waters began to pick at my body in different areas. The mana appeared alive, stroking and tapping my body, almost like it was searching for an opening, hoping to find a way inside. I had to let them in. As more time passed, the sensations occurring around my body began to feel normal.

The second and final part of the training regimen involved physical combat. Because my role was to be a sword mage (a person who utilizes magic and sword-based combat), I was to train myself in the ways of the sword too. This, however, came with the need to enhance my body's capabilities. Even though I figured I was rather fit for someone of my age, Alliot made sure to push me to the limit. Multiple exercises were being utilized in order to increase my reflexes, speed, and strength. I couldn't wield heavy armor like Alliot due to my focus on being a mage as well, so he made sure that I would remain swift on my feet. My weapon of choice, the rapier, implied the need of making small, seemingly meaningless cuts on key points of an enemy's body, slowing them down while I thrust a finishing blow. Alliot knew this, so he was prepared to make me become like Merak; a swift warrior.

Simply running was not going to cut it. I had to do quick sprints, quick running in place, and workouts one would often see on a football field when it came to increasing speed potential. Upper and back body strength was to be used later in the day. At that point, however, I was already almost dead. It was a clear sign to him that I was going to struggle with this routine later down the line. I'm supposed to do this after work for at least four hours in total (two hours with Arkaid and two with Alliot). I could not afford to waste too much time. Regardless of how I felt on the matter, my body just refused to budge. My muscles ached and I could feel my legs shaking the from quick, painful impulses coursing through them. Everything seemed to beg for my legs to stop.

Alliot sighed. "Alright, get up, brother," he hoisted me up and brought me back onto my feet. "Take your break, but keep this in mind; we can't afford to go easy on you. We need you to be ready."

I was too busy taking in heaps of water in hopes of quelling my intense thirst to even reply to him immediately. The orange dragon shook his head at me as his long, purple hair swayed with it. At first, I found myself rather curious at such a feminine hairstyle on such a masculine creature. However, I soon found myself appreciating it; it really showed a nice contrast with the rest of his body. It takes the average person by surprise, that's for sure. "R-right, I got it," I forced myself to reply.

He was definitely in a good mood while with me. The orange dragon snickered as his sharp teeth happily gleaned from the sunshine. "It's gonna take a while for you to catch up with us."

Doble's voice was heard from the distance. "Hell, it's gonna take him ages to catch up to Rikka!" The two of us turned to the source, watching as Rikka playfully nudged the confident red dragon. I could tell Rikka didn't mean any harm; she was simply enjoying the competitive scene of this exchange. Even though that was the case, I couldn't help but glare at the spiky, blonde-haired dragon next to her. Doble was annoying to me, simple as that, and it was obvious to Alliot that this was the case. "I'd take him in if you'd like. Have Rikka rough him up a bit. I feel like the bar you're setting is a bit too low, Alliot."

I felt a sudden rise in temperature. Alliot's scales seemed to shake as he bared his teeth. "You say something?!"

"Oh?" Doble mockingly replied. "Did I say something? Oh, not at all. By the way, I don't think you'll get far with that routine. I think it's a little short-sighted."

Before I knew it, Alliot was racing over to Doble. The red dragon grinned cockily as they bumped heads. Rikka rolled her eyes as her buddy engaged in another "dick-measuring" (her words, not mine) contest with Alliot. The two dragons pressed their weight against each other, one of them gaining the advantage over the other at different times. I noticed Arkaid walking over, noticing that she was watching the spar too. When she finally noticed me, I shrugged my shoulders with a worried look on my face that said: "Should I do something?" Arkaid shook her head, telling me to let the event transpire.

Alliot huffed as he brought a large smile on his face. "Say that again, Doble. Call me short one more time, ya bastard!" He confidently exclaimed.

"You offended, short-stuff?" Doble engaged back. "Tell me why I should expect to lose to you this time?"

"You say that like I lost the last times," Alliot huffed back. "Gotta say, you're a piece of work, Doble!"

Rikka sighed. "Can you two quit this garbage?" She complained. She grasped Doble by the hair, dragging him away from the engagement. He vocally complained, but she demanded that he make the trip to Earth this instant. I figured that the two must be heading off somewhere. She turned over to me and smiled nervously. "Sorry about Doble. He can be a runt when he wants to be."

"So, all the time," I replied without pausing.

"Yep, pretty much," Rikka snickered. "Say, I'm going to the gym right now and I'm gonna box a little bit. You wanna watch?"

"When we're done, maybe," I replied with a shrug. "It depends."

"Whatever's good. Maybe some other time," Rikka returned. She noticed that Doble was about to make another complaint. He groaned, protesting my comment just now. In response, she only tugged harder, but Doble wouldn't dare to lay a finger on her. "Actually, you mind if you pick up Melanie from school for me? She should be done in an hour."

"Uh, sure," I hesitantly replied. "I should be done by then."

"Cool. See ya."

As fun as it would be to watch Rikka force Doble to get them back to Earth, Alliot was quick to send me back into my regimen. Fortunately, Arkaid walked over to check up on us, ceasing all activity. I appreciated the extra break time. She seemed content with what Alliot was doing so far, soon noticing my winded gasps. She covered her mouth with her right hand as she giggled ever so innocently. "It's good to see that you're instruction is working well, Alliot."

Alliot smirked. "Of course it's working. Don't listen to what Doble says," he stated, soon addressing me. "He says all that, but there's no way he could devote his time to two people. That'd be too much for him to handle."

I only nodded back. A sudden thought came to my mind, reminding me of a comment Arkaid made a few days ago. At first, I discounted my memory, seeing it as a poor recollection. However, the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to ask Arkaid if she actually asked such a thing. When she seemed curious by my silence, I decided to speak up. "Arkaid? What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Genuinely curious, Arkaid pondered back to me. "How do you mean?"

"I know it's a bit odd, but before I was stabbed by Sinblade, you said you wanted to talk to me about something." I looked over to Alliot. He was nodding back to me, confirming my suspicion. I was going to take that as a win but then, as I turned back to Arkaid, I noticed that she was nervously looking away. Her eyes darted a bit, which was definitely odd to me. She was far from cool and collected, and it was definitely strange that she appeared to have a harder time maintaining her composure around questions she may have thought to be 'out there.'

Finally, she corrected her composure. It wasn't swift or abrupt, but more of a soft transition back. She lowly chuckled before giving me a smirk. "I believe I remember now," Arkaid replied. "I was foolish to address you about it back then. I'll be sure to tell you about it later, when it's more relevant."

"O…kay?"

"Good. Continue with your training." Arkaid turned around. She started walking away when Alliot caught my attention again. He was nudging my shoulder. When my eyes looked over to him, I caught him snickering like a little devil. It was quiet, yet just loud enough for me to hear. He kept nudging me with his elbow.

"What?" I asked him. Asking him that only made him a bit louder with his incessant chuckling. I rolled my eyes back at him. "What?!" He refused to answer me. Instead, he simply started walking off, leaving me by myself as he kept a tight grip on his stomach, holding in the laughter. However, it was then that I noticed that Arkaid wasn't too far off. She was standing firm, stuck in awe as her eyes stared at a great beast from beyond the plain. Alliot soon caught glimpse of the majestic beast too. By the time I managed to notice it, the great dragon was beginning to fly away from Lord Tenbu in the distance. Tenbu seemed saddened by the other dragon's departure. The creature was incredibly gigantic, almost as tall as Lord Tenbu himself. It possessed three large, dark-purple scaled heads with golden dragonic armor surrounding its breast. Four swords were held in each of the beasts four arms. A shining, crimson symbol glistened behind the deity as it fluttered it's sinister, yet beautiful, yet iridescent wings; the wings themselves resembled that of a nocturnal butterfly's.

Alliot, Arkaid, and I were quick to rush over and investigate. However, Arkaid and Alliot appeared to already know who the strange visitor was. The two were muttering to each other, leaving me in the dark. They mentioned a name resembling 'Dyn' but that was all I was able to make out. However, we were immediately drawn to new visitors. Dragonic humanoids, just like the ones from the cavalry, but they were broader in appearance. They wore much heavier armor. They carried a much more defensive presence, yet their huge sets of armor portrayed some semblance of slowness. A few of the other humanoid dragons carried lesser pieces of armor, but they looked younger, almost like apprentices to these newcomers. It was then that Fuad approached us. "Hahaha! The reinforcements have arrived! The great Armordeity brought gifts!"

Arkaid took the initiative. "So that great deity was Dynamis, indeed."

I curiously turned to her. "Dynamis?"

She nodded back to me. "The founder of the armordragons, beings such as ourselves. She as a deity who's age rivals that of our Lord Tenbu." She turned to face Fuad, soon giving off a soft smile. "That means our time here is done, isn't it?"

"For you guys, yes," Fuad returned with a small shrug. "I'm going to stick around for a while. I need to show these new members the ropes! Most of them are small fry, but it's great to see some familiar faces amongst 'em all!"

Alliot nudged me, filling me in. I guess I was a bit transparent about my cluelessness after all. "They're talking about the Fifth Omni Armored Dragons. Remember them?"

"Oh yeah!" I returned. "Good timing, too. We really needed them after what happened nearby."

Fuad sighed. "Curse my body."

My buddy approached her comrade with a comforting hand. "We needed a dragon such as yourself, Fuad. It is an honor to be assisting the armored dragons. See this as a reward; you've been struggling to find a buddy that suits your taste, so it shouldn't be too horrible to instruct these armordragons on how to protect our precious Lord Tenbu."

"If you say so," Fuad mumbled as he fiddled with his fingers. "Feels like I'm being stuck here because I'm big n' all." He turned his head. "No offense, Alliot."

A subtle tch spouted from Alliot's teeth. "Ya bastard!"

"Hahahaha! I'm gonna miss you, brother!"

"Same to you, but we aren't far," Alliot returned. "We're one warp away. Nothing to it. Besides, Dragon World's way better than Earth anyway; we're playing guard duty and you're playing teacher."

"Yeah, Ahahaha!" Fuad heartily returned. "Anyways, Tenbu is conversing with the others for the time being. Settling them in involves removing you guys out. So please, leave him be."

Dynamis is a rather legendary figure, according to what Arkaid informed me. As Arkaid and Alliot joined me on our walk to Aibo Academy, she thoroughly examined some of the documents she decided to bring with her regarding the deity. Founder of the armordragons, this deity played a huge role in stopping the 'Yamigedo' incident. Unfortunately, this resulted in the deity losing some credibility, almost in the same merit that the Omni Lords did due to the world being saved, from Yamigedo, by a child. Gao Mikado must've been some legendary kid, or the threat was so legendarily miniscule that it was a cinch for Gao to defeat. Most of the world's population, including people in charge of political discussions involving the relations between monsters and humans, appeared to believe in the latter. Despite this, I could not help but feel in awe as Arkaid discussed and explained the history behind such a mythical figure in Dragon World's history. The great deity gave strength to the weak, trained the legendary warriors of the armordragons such as Fang Slade Terrestrial XIII, the leader of the Drum clan. That is only one clan of the many that this deity trained and raised from the ground up. She's someone I'd love to talk to one day. She's another Tenbu in a way. I'd love to know her history.

However, our latest task was to pick up Melanie from her class. I made sure to put on my work clothes for the sake of looking formal. I didn't want to wear my normal black hoodie and jeans; that would make me stick out in a bad way, especially on school grounds. It was nearing the end of class time as Arkaid and Alliot remained in their SD forms. Aibo Academy seemed abandoned on the front, but that only appeared to mean that classes were still in session. The halls were all empty, there were no signs of students traversing the halls to go to the bathroom. It was obscenely organized to me, way more than what I'd expect from a high school in America. Before our trip here, Arkaid told me to just look for Melanie buddy. Sure enough, the three of us located Mizaru in his SD form. The small, black dragon scratched his spiky white hair. His red headband rustled back and forth with each scratch as Mizaru observed the halls with diligence and discipline. His eyes soon caught us, relaxing him to an extent.

I made sure to lower my voice as we were approaching him. I knelt my head close to Arkaid's and whispered into his ear. "I don't want to make things awkward for anyone. Where are her parents?" The 16-year-old Melanie I knew looked incredibly younger than most girls of her age. That's not what tipped me off that something was up. Rikka, a non-sister of Melanie, informed us to pick Melanie up. It made me a bit curious to say the least.

Arkaid turned to me with a saddened expression. "Do not bring them up. They're not allowed to see her."

Not allowed to see her? Okay, so her parents are alive, which is something I assumed. "What do you mean?"

"Ill-equipped," Arkaid continued. "Please do not ask anything else about it, but she lives with her grandparents know and people like Rikka wish to save them the trouble."

That's a fair statement. I could not tell you how guilty I would feel if I asked my grandparents to pick me up from somewhere. Their old age would definitely make the action much more tiring and exhausting of a task. Those were the first few thoughts in my head. However, my head immediately stopped functioning for a moment. I realized that my agelessness was going to make it so I would keep living, far beyond their deaths. In that instant, my heart ached, even after I had already come to terms with that weeks ago. Melanie, on the other hand, is still a child, and she had to learn that too. Once she becomes a certain age, her prime age, she will be given that same curse too.

Mizaru approached us with content eyes. "Rikka sent you?"

Arkaid nodded. "She offered CJ, and he accepted the request," she returned.

"That's good; as long as she made an effort to get someone," Mizaru replied. He peered into the classroom behind him. The students were arranged in the familiar, organized fashion that I grew to hate as a child. Rows and rows of teenagers, all of whom looked much older than Melanie, conversed and talked to each other. From what I was able to make out, the teens were just talking about the usual teenager stuff. A few of them were talking about buddyfight while others were just mentioning their monsters and how cool they looked. Just because one had a buddy monster does not mean they had to play the cardgame, which is something that my case appeared to fill. Mizaru's eyes came across Melanie, noticing that she was keeping to herself. Her dull, innocent eyes peered to the side of the classroom. No one appeared to be making any effort to talk to her. She was definitely perceived as the weakling of the pack. If only they knew the terror that was her magical talent.

It was her loneliness that made Mizaru open the door, signaling to the students our presense. Alliot flinched a little bit from the sudden movement. The class was over at this point, and the teacher was just letting the students talk for a bit before heading out. That didn't stop the teacher from, initially, getting annoyed that a monster was walking in the classroom with a buddy immediately present. He quickly recognized Mizaru, quickly catching himself before allowing him to walk to Melanie. The classroom went silent as Mizaru approached the lonely Melanie. He extended his right hand as he addressed her like a gentleman. "The others are here. Are you ready to walk home?"

Melanie nodded hastily. "Yes… I'm ready." Melanie got up from her seat, grabbing her belongings. The bell was going to ring in five more minutes anyway. The teacher, who appeared to know about her situation, didn't seem to really care about her leaving early. It was then that I heard Arkaid whisper into my ear one more time. "She gets let out early sometimes to avoid her parents." I can relate to such a feeling. My mother, before the divorce, would stalk me from school grounds. Releasing Melanie early is a consequence of that, hoping that she avoids her ill-equipped parents. That's all I knew at the time. At least, that's all Arkaid had the time to say. By the time Arkaid finished, Mizaru slowly led Melanie out of the classroom. She gasped softly as she noticed us others. She smiled a bit. "You're going to walk me home today?"

"Y-yeah," I slowly returned. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind. I'm glad," Melanie silently replied. As she walked next to Mizaru, the two appeared to become one. Mizaru expressed such a diligent sense of protection when it came to his buddy that it left me extremely curious about how long they've known each other. For Mizaru to recognize and choose someone… the circumstances must have been incredibly restrictive for Melanie. It made me wonder if Melanie chose this life or Mizaru solely wished to help her.

The walk to her home was only about twenty minutes. Her short grandmother was resting on the front porch. Melanie rushed over and greeted her grandmother like a young child would. Mizaru would rush after her to stay by her side, hoping to protect her from anything possible. The grandmother's light-blue dress was gripped tightly by Melanie as she embraced the elderly woman. The woman looked over at us others, smiling softly. She addressed Melanie. "Is he a new friend?" She asked as she looked over at me. I assumed that she already met Arkaid and Alliot.

"Mhm!" Melanie happily chimed. "Chase is the big guy. He's from overseas!"

"Really?" The grandmother replied with a kind, loving interest. "That's really something else! You should go tell your grandfather that. He's in the kitchen preparing dinner."

"Alright!" Melanie exclaimed happily. "Let's go, Mizaru!"

As the duo rushed in, the grandmother continued to look at me. Slowly, and showing her age, she started approaching me. I tried to walk over to her, but she insisted that we stay over there; she wanted to come to us. Alliot let out an appreciative huff as the elderly woman chuckled back at him. As she got closer, she looked down at Alliot, smiling at the little fellow. "Cute as ever, I see."

Alliot looked peeved for a moment, but he accepted the compliment. "T-…Thank you," he struggled to reply, holding his anger. Of course, it wasn't to her, but just hearing anything that made him out to be short just bothered him.

The grandmother looked over to Arkaid, nodding to her. "Good day to you, Arkaid. Melly has told me about you getting a buddy. Congratulations."

"I am certainly fortunate, madam," Arkaid replied with a soft bow.

Finally, the grandmother turned to me. She observed me from shoes to the forehead. "Melly has been interested in talking about you. You defeated that devil of a dragon. You helped save my granddaughter."

I was caught off guard; I didn't expect someone else to know about that, certainly not Melanie's grandparents. They must have been heartbroken to hear that their daughter was put in such a violent condition. "T-Thank you, but I couldn't have done it without Arkaid and Alliot. You should be thanking them."

"That's not what Melly told me," the grandmother returned. "She tells me that you stabbed the devil dragon, and he fled. It was your last action that made him give up and run."

"Only after I healed him," I morosely admitted.

"I know all about that, too," the grandmother replied. I tried to look away, but she held the bottom of my chin with the palm of her right hand. Her soft, aged skin seemed to weave around my chin, gripping me as she turned my attention to her. "Despite that mistake, you continued to fight on. Learn from your mistakes and keep going. I do not want an adult to wallow in their error when there are people like my granddaughter to protect."

"Of course!" I quickly bowed. "I'm sorry."

"There's no need for that," the grandmother returned. She sighed before turning away from me. Her hands grasped onto each other, nearly trembling the more she spoke. "… She wanted this more than anything. I'm sure that, as the years go by, she will learn to fight like the rest. But, for now, I expect people like Mizaru and the rest of you to look after her." She turned her head back to me, smiling softly. "After seeing you all, I'm happy to leave her in your hands."