"We survived…""That we did…"
Before any of the students had realized it the yearly expedition had come to an end. Mai and Vanessa were currently lying limply in the back of a horse drawn carriage, in their exhausted state which was shared by most of the other students, simply thinking was too much of a ha.s.sle. Throughout the last few days of the expedition they had been worked to the bone, mentally and physically. All the knowledge and techniques that had been imparted on them over the past 2 weeks served to shape them into new people, even if they didn"t yet know it the youths of the academy would come to shape the country.
"So where did you drop of that brat after that?"
Meanwhile Dax and Lux walked in front of the convoy and held a debriefing about the attempted attack that had happened during the expedition.
"About 50 klicks from the camp, near a prominent trade route."
"..."
Seeing Dax"s questioning face Lux realized she had done something that was not like her.
"What? His father has helped us a lot."
"No I was sure you would have killed him, don"t mind me. More importantly what do you think of the expedition? Even if everything didn"t go entirely to plan I think we did pretty okay."
Judging the matter of the attempted attack as closed Dax went on with the matter at hand.
"I"m not so sure it had the proper effect, but all things considered we should be able to keep up with current plans."
"That"s good then.. When we get back I want you to continue with the ICI cl.u.s.ter, also I want the defence project brought up in speed, make sure it"s at least 50% operational in 2 months."
"Okay, although I don"t see the point of the defence project…"
"That"s because you don"t need to, the details are cla.s.sified for now."
"Yes sir. Then I"ll not care about the specifics."
Understanding that she did not need to know everything at all times, and there were things better not known Lux accepted that Dax kept secrets from her.
"Good."
---
"So do you think you can fix me up doc?"
"Don"t call me that, and yes I can. I"ve learned a lot over the last few months after all."
Back at the magic academy Dax had his first checkup with Viktor in quite a while. While Dax had been away from the academy, Victor had spent time with Iris and Solaris a.n.a.lysing the data he had gained from examining the curse that Dax had been inflicted with.
"From what we have learned I would say it"s mostly sentient, having a single purpose."
"Killing me."
"Exactly, but we knew that already. What I didn"t know is why it didn"t succeed, but it turns out you really are as tough as you"re claiming all the time."
"Of course I am, I owe that in part to my heritage. Qitons were designed to be the perfect weapons, being a pureblood qiton I am by the very definition an anomaly. I have been shot, stabbed, torn apart by machines, poisoned, yet still I stand. And those are just the injuries sustained before I was cybernetically augmented, after that I had my still beating heart ripped from my body, my arm ripped off, my lung gouged out by sustained rifle fire, yet I still stand. From what I"ve learned about my own body I would say it is significantly harder to kill than the average being."
"And that a.s.sumption is correct. if that archangel had been the one to be cursed she would have died within minutes, if I would be infected by it I would die within seconds as my nervous system rapidly deteriorated. There"s without a doubt something different about you, if I could look at-"
"Nope."
Hearing the deep disdain poorly hidden in Dax"s voice Victor made a mental note to never ask Dax about his physiology ever again, at the same time he realized that people might go to unspeakable lengths to learn the secrets of his race, in even crueler ways that had could imagine.
"Okay then, I"ll have something new to try in a few days."
"Then I"ll see you there."
Leaving Victor behind with those words Dax walked a few times around the academy to pa.s.s the time. It had been a few days since the students had returned to the academy for a well earned break, so the grounds were more of a ghost town than anything else.
"Dax."
Except for a few dedicated people.
"Mare, and Anna? That"s an unusual combo, what"s going on?"
"Training."
Meeting Mare and Anna at the training fields Dax stopped for a moment to see what they were doing. Mare looked to be instructing the blonde haired n.o.ble in martial art, but since the latter had some problems with the fundamentals they were not making progress. Mare was instructing Anna in how to use a knife, as there had recently been announced new recruitments to joining the mages core which she desperately wanted to join. The new recruitments being that a mage had to be able to defend themselves without the use of magic, an idea which was absurd due to current doctrines, but the armed forces of the Kingdom were changing since Dax gained influence over it.
"She"s doing badly."
a.s.sessing the youth"s progress Dax found himself agreeing with Mare"s blunt a.s.sessment.
"I can see that Mare, do you want help?"
"... Mmm."
After a short hesitation Mare agreed to have Dax help Anna, without the person"s knowledge as she was still absorbed in learning how to breathe again after Mare had hit her in the stomach.
"Well let"s get to it….. Or not. We have visitors."
Switching att.i.tude Dax"s smile suddenly turned to a frown as he looked to the sky. After a few second Mare also seemed to pick up on something moving towards them fast, drawing a proper knife and tossing the training one aside.
"Need help?"
"Nah, stand down. Oh and drag Anna away will you? She might get caught up in this."
"... Okay. Anna come."
"Wait, what? Eh!?- Stop dragging me I can walk!"
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While Anna was literally being dragged by the foot away from the training field Dax drew a knife while breathing a deep sigh. Next moment something crashed into the training field and ripped up the ground as is crashed into Dax while Anna panicked at the sudden occurrences.
"h.e.l.lo~ I"ve come to play!~"
As the dust cleared Dax was met with a gigantic red sword that he had barely managed to pary with his t.i.tanium alloy dagger. The owner of such a ridiculously impractical weapon was someone Dax was very familiar with, she was about Lux"s hight, with a simually impressively toned body, her bright red eyes and tiger like ears on top of her head (along with her bloodthirsty smile) gave Dax the impression that she was more of a berserker than a knight.
"h.e.l.lo Marie, could we please play another time? I have work to do."