For the first two years I learned nothing but form from Exidium. During the day I had toned my body so there wasn’t an ounce of body fat on my body. Due to the instruction of Exidium, not a single bit of the muscle was wasted, it was all there with purpose. As for my magic training I refined it to where I could use Dark Flame without burning the forest down. But thanks to that incident, none of the mythical beasts, no matter how strong they were, even attempted to get close to me.

I also created a number of new spells, including Dark Pulse which was like a smaller version of Broken Stars except it wasn’t nearly as powerful and could only be used to paralyze. I also created Dark Domain a spell where everyone else’s strength was reduced by half and mine was doubled. I could move through it was ease and even faster while others would find that they were trying to resist a tide of water that never ended. Night vision was also a key factor in using this, but that wasn’t magic, it was due to the dragon’s blood that was in my body.

Being 15 without anybody but the dragon around, I talked to him a lot about everything. He was the only friend that I had as well as my teacher. He told me stories about his first and only other contractor. The original King of Justitia, from thousands of years ago. He didn’t have to go through this much training, he also wasn’t a criminal who slaughtered a lot of people. From what he told me it seems that Exidium is much more powerful now than when the original king contracted with him.

“When the king died, I wasn’t sent back to the spirit realm. I was taken to the dark realm. My once grand snow white scales were covered by blackness and after countless years of fighting I turned into a monster. I conquered the dark realm alone and then returned to the spirit realm and was looking forward to a long time of peace. When I returned, the gods shunned me for being corrupt and I had no choice but to display my power in order to get the rest of the realm to leave me in peace. Originally my name wasn’t Exidium, it was Justitia. That’s the real reason behind the name of your kingdom. I went from being the Holy Dragon of Justice to the Malevolent Dragon of Wrath. I wasn’t interested in anything outside of resting until I sensed your presence, boy. Your hate for this current world sent ripples throughout the spirit realm and I saw the same look in your eyes as I did the king’s.”

“ I knew that I had to make a contract with you. You hate this world, but you don’t have a spec of evil in your soul. You disdain the way this world is, but you refuse to take the lives of the innocent as collateral. You despise everything that this world has to offer you, but you forge your own path onward.”

After this story was told I felt another flame ignite inside myself that drove myself even further than before. I trained harder and harder for the benefit of myself and for the world. During the second two years I learned real combat and was beaten severely by Exidium a lot. I was taught various types of martial arts. They all focused around control of the body and some were swordplay based while others were bare handed. But thanks to those beating and a lack of lingering soreness from them, I learned efficient combat quickly. Also I was taught how to condense the armor that he was wearing. Because I refined my physique over the 4 years it didn’t burden my body like it would have. I estimate altogether the armor weighed about a thousand pounds.

While it was day I continued to refine my magic use, and every once in awhile I would conjure my wings and fly around. Every now and again I would fly with the armor on just to get used to the extra weight.

During the last few months of training I could fight on par with Exidium and would push him back every now and then. I still lost to him all the time, just not as badly. In terms of magic I learned how to use Broken Stars, but it was recommended I don’t use it unless it was for an emergency due to the high magic consumption rate. I also doubled the efficiency of the rest Dark Domain and increased my control and accuracy of the rest of my spells, including new ones. I still didn’t have anywhere near as much control over my magic as Exidium did, which is understandable. He’s been using it for millennia while I’ve barely scraped the surface with 4 years.

One night without warning, I wasn’t dragged into the starless world. I dreamed of a time where I was still with my parents. The innocent memory warmed my heart. I dreamed of a day when I was 5. It was a simple walk through town while holding both of my parents’ hands. Even if it didn’t seem significant, it was a time where I was carefree and ignorant to the world was priceless. I woke up with tears in my eyes, they didn’t sting and I didn’t try to wipe them away.

“Boy,” The voice resounded throughout my soul, “We’re leaving the mountains today, to search for a weapon worthy of you.”