Chereads / The Archaic Dragon Mage / Chapter 18 - Talk

Chapter 18 - Talk

"A tug at the back of my mind?" Ethan looked a little confused by the question.

"Yeah," I felt for that little space at the back of my own mind, "It's like there's a mental compass at the back of my mind pointing at you."

"I don't know," Ethan frowned as he sat down, "I don't think I feel anything. Why is it so important?"

"Well this bond," I hesitated going over the negative affects of severing the bond again in my head, "I don't know entirely what will happen to you if it gets stronger, but the longer I wait to break it the worse it'll be for you."

"I don't know if I want you to sever it," Ethan thought about it for a second, "But I don't know if I want to keep it if it's dangerous. We have to figure out a way to test it."

"What?" I cocked my head to the side slowly.

"If the benefits outweigh the negatives it's better to have it," Ethan mumbled to himself mostly then focused on me, "What does it do right now?"

"Right now it should only give you a general sense of what direction I'm in," I straightened my head out, "I think it works better for me though. All I have to do is think of you, and I feel that tug of what direction you're in."

"That could be really useful later on if we go out on a field mission," Ethan started tapping his fingers on his leg, "Especially if we get separated. Do you know what happens when it gets stronger?"

"I'm not sure," I cocked my head to the other side, "But if the bond gets strong enough severing it could kill you."

I laid down as I straightened my head back up. I was tired, and my head started to droop. Ethan sat there silently for such a long time that I almost fell asleep at least a dozen times.

"I think we should test it out somehow," Ethan speaking startled me back to full awareness.

"How?" I snorted grumpily.

"I don't know," Ethan frowned, "Put some distance between us, and see how long it takes to track each other down maybe?"

"What distance?" I yawned, "We live in the same room, and go to the same classes. I can't go very far outside of school in my real form, and I'm so exhausted most of the time that if I went camouflaged I wouldn't get very far."

"What about in a VR world?" Ethan asked.

"Would the VR pod be able to simulate an ability like that?" I could feel my head drooping as my eye lids dropped as well.

"VR pods scan the user," Ethan stopped tapping his fingers, "Anything the user is capable of in the real world the pod can scan, and input into your Avatar. The ones at the school can even detect Archaic abilities, and simulate them."

"Wait the school pods can detect Archaic abilities?" I perked up a little, "Why would they input such a feature?"

"Because they train Archaic mages at the academy too," Ethan looked at me funny, "There's two class S mages in our academy right now. A level one, and a level seven. It's the best way to train their abilities without doing damage."

"Level one, and seven," I thought about it for a second, "That's not that strong."

"The levels are different for mages than regulars," Ethan studied me for a second, "Their level represents the amount of mana they are holding in their body. It has nothing to do with their skill or abilities as a mage."

"Class S ability holders are mages?" I yawned again, "I thought Archaic's were illegal."

"If you can get a military permit," Ethan looked up thinking for a second, "Then you can study under one of the military's current mages, and learn magic abilities. It's pretty much impossible to get a permit though unless you're related to a military mage so most people don't know about it."

"Then how do you know about it?" I looked at him skeptically.

"I'm a third generation natural telekinetic," Ethan stood up stretching slowly, "Both my parents are pretty high in the chain of command. They got my brother a permit a few years back when he didn't get the family ability."

I stopped mid yawn, and shook my head.

"Your brother is a mage," I could fell my jaw slacked low.

"Yeah," Ethan yawned, "He has an affinity for wind."

Ethan got this far off look on his face.

"Are you okay?" I stood up, and looked up at him.

"Yeah just tired," Ethan smiled tensely, "Goodnight."

Ethan went to his room, and closed the door quietly. He didn't even try to pet me as he walked by. I went to my room closing the door behind me, and climbing on the bed. Ethan always at the very least tried to touch me whenever I was in dragon form. Something about our conversation had upset him.

My agitation curled in my gut as I tried to figure out what it was that bothered him. What was it that made him so upset? My tired brain just could grasp what had been bothering him, but my curiousity kept rolling it over in my head over, and over. Was it because I bonded to him without permission? No.

That didn't seem to bother him that much. Was it the military? No. That didn't make sense either. He'd be walking around angry all the time or trying to get out of here asap.

That meant it had something to do with archaic's or mages. Maybe just magic. I would probably just ask him about it later. I yawned as I curled up in the middle of my bed. My eye lids were so heavy now. I would be able to think way better once I got some sleep in.