-Age Ten Kyron Loeth -

A few days have passed since that talk about his father leaving for the wall, and Kyron was currently in a mental debate with himself over introducing Iska to his little brother. He was sprawled down on a patch of grass, resting his head on her fluffy back.

Staring at the slowly moving group of clouds up at the sky, he asked, “What do you think, Iska? Do you want to meet my little brother?” His right hand laid still on Iska's head.

“Wooo...” She answered with a soft whine and nudged her head slightly to urge his hand to move.

Gently scratching Iska's ears with his fingers, Kyron continued, “I just don't know if he can keep a secret. Little Urie's not exactly good at being covert— plus, I'm sure mother would notice if he ever goes missing from the house.” Urie was the darling in the house— high profile, always kept under their mother's watchful eye. It wouldn't take too long for the others to discover Iska if his little brother kept visiting.

“He's getting impatient as well, I'm running out of excuses to keep him from following me.”

“Woooh?” Iska turned her head to glance at him.

“Big bro? Nah, he's a stickler for rules. He'll force me to send you back inside the tower once he sees you.”

Iska replied with a light bark, “Woof,” she said, and tilted her head as if asking a question.

“The tower? It's that big thing over there.” Kyron raised his finger to point at Erden's tower, “It's where I found and picked you up.” He mentioned.

Iska raised her head slightly, a curious glint in her eyes as she looked towards the structure standing tall behind the outline of the Loeth Residence.

“Anyways, today's a day off from the academy so we can just lay here and relax for the whole day— whah! What was that for!?” Kyron spat and got up, rubbing the back of his head that had hit the grass.

Iska suddenly stood up on all paws, causing him to slip down. She left without a word and scurried towards her den— the cavity underneath the tree a few meters away. She returned with a thin piece of wood in her mouth and flicked it in front of Kyron.

Kyron stared deadpan at the stick, “You wanna play?” he asked, prompting Iska to bob her head up and down. He didn't pick it up, however, and laid back down on the ground face-up, closing his eyelids and crossing his arms behind his head.

Trying to keep a calm facade, he continued, “But today's a day to lay down, relax, and slee— pppbfft!” Only to be interrupted by a bushy tail smacking his face.

“Wooooo!” Iska whined.

Once, twice, each hit getting harder before Kyron finally yelled, “I was just kidding, stop it, Iska!” Laughing, he rolled on his belly and reached for Iska's throwing stick. He quickly grabbed hold of it and chucked it a distance away.

“Awwooowoo!” Iska chased after the stick in excitement, bringing it back a moment later and flinging it in front of Kyron again.

“Wait wait wait! Let me get up first!” Kyron, in fear of another face smacking, hurriedly stood up and picked up the stick. Making use of the full strength of his arm, he threw it a distance farther away.

Iska's eyes followed the throw and she turned around to chase after it, but as her paws padded only a few meters away, she made an abrupt stop.

Puzzled, Kyron asked, “What's wrong, girl?” He approached the pup in concern but suddenly slowed his tracks.

“Grrrrr...” She was growling.

Low guttural sounds caught Kyron's hearing as he drew nearer to her.

“I-Iska?” He unhesitantly placed his hand on Iska's back, “You okay, girl?” He asked, moving his hand to gently pat his pup while waiting for her to respond.

Iska's growling died down, seemingly brought back to her senses.

“Woooo...” She whined, before turning to Kyron, an imperceptible glow in her eyes.

“You're good...” Kyron whispered, and bent his knees, touching the grass by her front paws.

“The stick isn't going to pick itself up now, is it?” He teased, and ruffled the fur on Iska's chest.

“Woof!” She stuck out her tongue and painted his face with a clear coating of slobber before continuing towards the direction where he had thrown the thin piece of wood.

Kyron watched her trot away, not bothering to wipe the wetness on his face. He clenched his fist as a heavy feeling was beginning to weigh on his chest. He was feeling apprehension.

Iska had been acting unlike herself a few times over the past days, exactly like what had happened just now. However, Kyron had raised her since infancy, fed her, and bonded with her.

He turned his attention once again at the pup bringing him back the stick. She tossed it to his feet and sat down, looking at him in anticipation of the next throw while giving her nose a single lick. Kyron didn't feel afraid, he strongly believed that Iska would never hurt him.

They continued to spend the rest of the morning together— playing, rolling around on the grass, relaxing— only stopping when the sun had positioned itself overhead, and their stomachs had started to rumble loud enough to summon thunder. It was time to eat.

Kyron bade Iska a temporary farewell as he needed to show his face at home during lunch. He left, promising to come back with a heavy bag of meat and a flask of warm milk to wash it down.

The pup whimpered, reluctant to let him go, but obediently went back to her den as she knew he would shortly return.

Upon reaching the confines of her den, she immediately let out the same threatening growls as earlier and started clawing at the nearby tree roots. “Awoooo...” The glow in her pupils she had been holding back flushed out, emitting an eerie luminosity that would make her eyes appear as purple lanterns in the dark.

She settled down a few minutes later, panting from the exertion of energy. The light of mana in her eyes had receded and she stepped out of her den. She raised her head, directing her line of sight at the figure of Erden's Tower in the distance, and stared in deep contemplation before feeling the rush of mana once again spread throughout her body. Her eyes lit up luminous purple and she turned around, making her way back into the den.

Kyron, unaware of what was happening to Iska, rushed back to the Loeth Residence. He wore impatience on his face as he entered the dining room, stuffed his face with food, and then proceeded to the corridor heading into the kitchen, leaving the people currently having lunch flabbergasted.

The young maid who was entering the room carrying a tray with a tea set had almost bumped into him but managed to evade without dropping anything. Watching the boy with unruly hair pass her by, Patty muttered, “What's with him? He's late for lunch and he didn't even stop to greet the mistress.”

“Let him be. He must've found a new friend.” Rivelle said, covering her mouth with the back of her right hand as she let out a light chuckle. She had just finished eating lunch with her youngest and eldest son at the table.

“Excuse me,” Vigril spoke, and wiped his lips with a napkin before standing up. “I have an appointment with him as well, he was supposed to introduce me to his friend”

“Then take your younger brother with you. Can't you tell he's feeling left out?” Rivelle said, patting the back of her son, Urie, sitting beside her. He was leaning on the table, arms crossed and chin to his forearms, and pouting as Vigril was about to leave.

Vigril deliberated but quickly agreed after hearing the front door make a clacking sound as it was opened and shut. “We better get going then or Kyron will leave us behind.”

He gestured for his youngest brother to accompany him, earning from Urie a beaming smile as he happily skipped to his side.

“Take care boys, be back before sundown!” Rivelle instructed.

“Yes, mother, we'll be home before dark.” Kyron assured.

***

- Age Nineteen Kyron Loeth -

“Day six of my week-long vacation, and I spent it all doing nothing but teaching kids.” Kyron sighed, before having a wood branch from his left slip past his arm and hit his face. “Ahk!! Even the plants are attacking me!”

“That's why you should pay attention to where you're going instead of complaining.” Elicia snickered. She was walking behind Kyron and saw the moment he got hit by a treebranch.

“Urgh... At least Vigril should be arriving soon, I can pass you guys over to him once he does so I can have the last day of vacation to myself~” Kyron said, waving his arms up and down while joyfully skipping through the foliage underneath.

“Why are we here?” Someone lagging at the back grumbled, she hated it here. Celeste always felt uncomfortable inside Erden's Tower. She had long since become accustomed to the sunlight outside, but the amped up brightness on the ceiling of the tower still irritated her.

“Another lesson, Little Red~ Something you'll have to come across with eventually— oh?” Kyron stopped. He bent down to the ground and spotted the tracks of a magic creature. Pawprints deeply imprinted on the grass, it was an indication of a heavy beast. “Be quiet, both of you,” He said, bringing his index finger to his lips, “Today, we'll be hunting a magic creature.”

“Eh? We already did that before, didn't we Celeste? We brought down a shadow wolf!” Elicia bragged.

“I heard about that, yes, but although that was a magic creature, it was a mana beast.” Kyron replied.

“What's the difference?” Elicia asked.

Kyron stopped walking and turned around to answer her, “Magic creatures think their actions through.” He said, softly touching the scar on his left cheek before stating, “Mana beasts do not.”

Elicia and Celeste stared at the long scar running down his neck from his cheek, “What did that?” Celeste asked, curious since the first time she'd seen it.

“A mana beast...” Kyron replied, a hint of sadness in his voice. His eyes staring at the ground as he fell into reminiscence.

The two girls went quiet, they didn't know how to reply. Elicia leaned in and snapped her finger close to his face. “Hey, something wrong, big brother?” She teased.

“Over there.” Celeste spoke to alert the two, directing her gaze at the bushes and shrubbery a few meters behind Kyron.

Elicia and Kyron turned to look at where Celeste indicated. A long snout was bobbing up from the leaves, it's black nose twitching as it was smelling for food. Between the rustling green leaves and woody stems, slight gaps among them peeked out thick, shaggy brown fur.