Jules and Numa had been walking for about ten minutes. Jules said something about a dragon, but when Numa asked him about it, he simply answered with:
"You'll understand when you see it. I promise you, it's awesome. One of the best perks of being a Magick Knight."
They've gone outside the scope of the battlefield, crossed the border town of Dunford, and entered a fairly dense forest right outside the town limits. And then another five-minute walk towards the center of the forest.
"Ah, there she is," whispered Jules. "Numa, look at her, isn't she beautiful?"
Numa looked in the direction pointed by Jules. Amidst the trunks of the tall trees, he could clearly see the silhouette of a large creature. Once they arrived at the center of the forest, he could finally see the dragon. This legendary creature was about three times larger than the Bear Beastman. Its body was covered in scales as dark as charcoal with a faint shade of blood red that only appeared when the light hit the scales just right. What surprised him the most, however, was actually its smell, which was musky with a hint of something sweet like honey. It was a truly majestic creature.
"Whoa, so this is a dragon," murmured Numa to himself.
Jules looked at his new junior, who was clearly in awe of his dragon, and smiled in satisfaction.
When the two of them got closer, the dragon's ears perked up, and it opened its eyelids, revealing golden brown eyes with vertical slit pupils, like those of a cat. The dragon yawned, stretched its bat-like wings that had a span of about two times the length of its body, lowered its head, and stared at Numa for a bit.
"She's judging you, kid," said Jules, like a parent who was proud of her girl. "If she deemed you worthy, she would let you ride on her back. If not, well, we need to find other means to get to our destination."
After looking at Numa for a few seconds, the dragon turned its head away and bowed to Jules. "Congratulations, kid. She accepted you. She's a smart girl, isn't she?" said Jules, smiling from ear to ear. He walked towards the dragon and patted its face. "Her name is Ashara."
Jules stepped onto the saddle strapped to Ashara's back and made his way toward the front seat. "Come on up, kid," said Jules.
Numa climbed onto the dragon and sat right behind Jules. He held onto his seat tightly. While he was absolutely ecstatic that he was about to ride a dragon, he was also afraid that he would fall when this amazing creature started to fly.
Jules grabbed onto the reins and gently pulled them backwards. Ashara stood on all fours and started to flap its massive wings. "Hang on, kid. We're about to soar toward the sky."
"Y-yes, sir."
With every movement of its massive wings, Ashara flew higher and faster until she eventually glided through the air. Numa thought the ride would be rough, but it was surprisingly quite smooth. The dragon's horns and the many ridges on its head protected her riders by redirecting the violent airflow that could've easily blown the puny humans away. The result was a fairly comfortable and enjoyable ride.
As a veteran dragon rider, Jules sat in the saddle as comfortably as he would on his own couch at home. Seeing his nervous junior, Jules tapped Numa's shoulder and asked, "Numa, other than body-strengthening, can you cast other types of magic?"
"No, Sir. My family couldn't afford to send me to the Magic Academy at the capital," explained Numa, "and there's hardly any book about magic in our village library. So this is the only magic I know."
Jules paused for a second and scratched his head. "That's not good. You need to master at least some basic magic like light-creation or long-distance telepathy."
The moment Jules finished talking about magic, his head twitched a bit. "Perfect timing. See, I just received a telepathy from our HQ," said Jules to Numa while pointing his index finger towards his head. "Yes, your voice is crystal clear. Be patient for a bit, will you? I'm talking to the new recruit right now."
Numa was never particularly interested in magic, but even this country bumpkin had to admit that long-distance telepathy was a pretty convenient magic.
"So what's the problem?" asked Jules to the person who talked to him directly in his head. "Monster attack? Where? ... Yeah, we should be close to that village. But I'm in a hurry right now. I need to drop this kid off at HQ and then hurry back to the battlefield. Can't you send another Magick Knight? I know we're technically the closest, but as I said-" Jules paused for a bit, seemingly taken aback by what he just heard. "It's that bad, huh? Alright, I got it. Me and the new kid will head there right away."
Jules looked at Numa and said, "Change of plan, kid. We're making a brief detour to a little village called Brightmeadow. It's a cheerful village filled with nice people. At least that's how it was the last time I visited."
"What happened, Sir?"
"There's been a monster attack. Apparently, some villagers have already lost their lives." Jules usually talked with bright eyes and a relaxed expression, but not this time. He looked deeply concerned. "The Iron Legion had sent some soldiers to help, but they ended up as victims of this monster as well. In this kind of situation, Magick Knights like us are sent to save the day."
"..."
"Come on now, don't look so worried," Jules smiled as he patted Numa's shoulder. "Consider this your training to become a proper Magick Knight."
Jules shifted his seating position and looked down. "Oh, look, we almost missed it." He gently held the reins, touched the dragon's tough scales, and said, "Ashara, slow down. We're here. Let's look for a nice spot for you to rest." Jules looked around and finally found a relatively open field, not far from the village. "That'll do." As if they both came up with the same conclusion, Ashara slowly descended towards the field, and with a single flap of her wings, they safely landed on the ground.
"Brightmeadow is about five minutes west of here," explained Jules to Numa. "Let's hurry. I have a feeling that things will get worse soon."
Numa nodded and followed Jules as he climbed down from Ashara's back. The dragon glanced at the two humans, snorted, yawned, and then lowered her head to the ground.
"She always does that. Sleepyhead." Jules looked at his dragon like an owner who was disappointed with his lazy pet. "Anyway, let's go."
The two Magick Knights walked as fast as they could. Numa tried to run at first, but Jules stopped him. He explained that they didn't know what they would face at the village, so it's better to conserve their energy.
After following the open road for about five minutes, they finally arrived at Brightmeadow. What Numa saw, however, was starkly different from how Jules described this village earlier. The entrance gate was made out of wood, as wide as the road, and about as tall as the Bear. At least that was how it was supposed to look. Now, half of the gate was shattered, while the other half was scuffed and full of scratches and splinters. Beyond the gate, Brightmeadow was covered by thin grey fog that not only blocked the sun but also made the atmosphere of the village feel especially ominous. The lack of lighting from the houses amplified that dreadful feeling even further.
As they got closer to the entrance gate, the two slowed down for a bit. And that was when they heard a piercing scream, followed by a cry for help, and a strange, inhuman growl.
Jules pulled up his sword, whispered a spell that made his body glow red, and then jumped as hard as he could. Numa knew Sir Jules, the Spellblade of the Magick Knight Corps, was powerful, but he never thought the bulky old man could jump so high and so far. It was as if he were a rock getting launched from a massive catapult.
With Avara, Numa could possibly do something similar, though not as impressive. But he knew the limit of his own mana. As Jules said earlier, he didn't know what sort of battle they would experience later, so he needed to be extra efficient with his mana usage. So he chose to run normally instead.
When Numa arrived at the gate, he saw Jules swinging his sword toward an invisible enemy near the rows of houses on the right. Based on the movement of the fog, the monster seemed to be as tall as an average house, but the lack of a solid visual cue made it hard to know what this creature was doing. That being said, the sound of two sharp objects repeatedly clashing with each other indicated that Jules was somehow able to parry the monster's attacks relatively well.
Jules noticed Numa standing near the gate in confusion. He shouted, "What are you doing? Don't just stand there. Take these people behind me into that house." It took Jules less than five seconds to give that order, but that was more than enough time for the monster to launch an attack.
As he ran toward his left to reach the three people who were injured and cowering in fear behind Jules, Numa heard the sound of something dense moving quickly through the air, followed by a loud bang. The next thing he saw was the sight of Sir Jules' body arched gracefully through the air. The Spellblade landed right behind the three villagers that he was supposed to protect, with his face planted on the damp soil.
"Shit!" cursed the Magick Knight.