No breaks, day or night?

"So, you're saying you want me to help that 'Red Dragon' you all have such high hopes for?" Sovell asked.

"That's right, but not now. Eight years from now. During those eight years, I'll make sure you're fed every day and teach you swordsmanship and some essential Magecraft.

Of course, you can study Magecraft further if you like. It's up to you."

Merlin offered Sovell extraordinarily generous terms.

"But what's the price? If you want me to help the New King, you could just toss me out and find some family to raise me.

With a dragon's power, I could become a perfectly adequate weapon just by growing up, without any training."

"No, no, no, Sovell. I won't make you into a weapon. I hope you can become her companion, her friend, and her most trusted subject." Merlin swiftly rejected Sovell's proposal.

"Her... companion? Wait, her?!" Sovell noticed something was off.

"What, is that 'Red Dragon' a girl?"

"That's right. Bad luck-we landed on the other fifty-percent possibility." Merlin delivered that bombshell in a perfectly ordinary tone.

"But she can still inherit the throne even if she's a woman. She just needs to disguise herself as a man. For your big brother Merlin, the Magus of Flowers, that's no trouble at all!"

"Magecraft really can do anything... but,

why would you make the son of the 'Vile King,' who colluded with foreign invaders, a friend of the 'Red Dragon' you claim can save Britain?

What about everyone else? Won't this entire country have any outstanding knights in the future?"

"In the future I foresaw, the New King's reign was nothing but solitude. Not because she was aloof, but because no one understood her. She could only walk onward alone.

So I hope that you, who are inhuman just as she is, can become her companion and her closest friend. If a day comes when she is hated and everyone abandons her, you can still be someone she can lean on."

Merlin told the boy before him this, silently thinking, This can at least be a small way of making amends for Lia's tragic future...

"Then why me? As a Half-Incubus, your theoretical lifespan is eternal. As long as you don't die in an accident or get murdered, aging doesn't exist for you.

Why don't you stay with her? You're supposed to be her teacher, aren't you?"

Sovell questioned Merlin.

"I don't have human emotions."

"What?" For a moment, Sovell thought he had misheard.

"I don't have human emotions. Or rather, I can't fully understand them and use them appropriately." Merlin repeated himself.

"But aren't you only a Half-Incubus?"

"That's right. I am only a Half-Incubus, and only a small part of my physical makeup comes from an Incubus.

That part still gives me abilities like entering dreams, eating dreams, and creating illusions, along with considerable talent for Magecraft.

But my patterns of thought and emotion come almost entirely from an Incubus.

You and she are different. Only your body can temporarily transform into a dragon's body.

You simply can't make that transformation permanent, like the evil dragon's curse in a certain region east of France thirty or forty years ago.

But that's already excellent, and quite 'moderate.' After all, if you became one of the True Dragon Kind, people would instinctively feel afraid the moment they saw you.

And she only has a dragon's heart and muscular capabilities. Your emotions and thoughts are still human."

"I understand. I accept the deal," Sovell replied.

"Good. Come with me."

With that, Merlin headed toward a wooden cabin in the distance. Sovell stood and followed him toward it.

A short while later, they arrived in front of the cabin. The wooden door opened on its own without a breeze, and Merlin snapped his fingers.

Snap.

Some dry rations and meat appeared on the table inside. Merlin told Sovell:

"I can't promise this food will taste wonderful, but the magical energy and nutrients it contains will certainly cover the daily demands of the training I'll put you through."

A little later, Merlin looked helplessly at the boy before him and the clean plates in front of him.

I've seen Lia eat both as a little girl and recently, but... never mind. He's been starving for half a month, too. A bit more food won't hurt him.

"All right, I've eaten and had my fill. Time to start training. But are you really going to teach me swordsmanship when you're a mage?"

"Of course. Don't underestimate me. I am the highest-ranking mage of this era, you know. Come with me." A hint of resentment crept into Merlin's tone.

Merlin and Sovell left the cabin and arrived at another sea of flowers.

Merlin casually pulled a Wooden Longsword out of nowhere and tossed it effortlessly toward Sovell.

"Here, catch."

"You're still just a mage when all's said and done... holy shit!" Sovell caught the flying wooden sword, only to be sent flying by its momentum.

"Draw on the dragon's magical energy to strengthen your body. The wood this sword is made from is extremely dense, even denser than actual steel.

At your age, you can't lift it without using the dragon's power."

Sovell began drawing on the dragon's power to strengthen his muscles and bones. Dragon scales began appearing on his skin below his head.

Sovell's shirt had already been shredded during the "performance tests" and his escape. The dragon scales across his upper body gleamed silver in the sunlight.

Sovell bent down and grasped the wooden sword, its blade almost buried in the soil.

"Stop."

Merlin interrupted Sovell.

"What is it?"

"Retract the dragon scales. You need to learn to control your power, to control that 'dragon' inside your body."

Sovell tried to retract the dragon scales, but either his physical enhancement disappeared along with them, or they wouldn't retract at all.

To put it another way, it was like pinching a mosquito between your fingers without breaking its wings or legs.

"Once you can retract your dragon scales without interfering with your physical enhancement, I'll start teaching you swordsmanship and some essential Magecraft."

Merlin turned and left, leaving Sovell alone to act as a "strobe light."

The sun sank toward the horizon,

and our "strobe light" finally managed to switch off the "bulbs" on his body while retaining the "material strength" he had when they were on.

On a distant hill, Merlin marveled to himself:

"What remarkable talent. The first time Lia tried to control the intensity of her Mana Burst, it took her an entire day. He managed it in only half a day.

It looks like I can move up my plans for Lia to meet him."

By then, Sovell had collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. Each physical enhancement consumed magical energy, and repeatedly switching it on and off had used up most of the energy from the food he had eaten that day.

"Seriously, what a pain. Hah... huff... hah... huff...

My body's so tired. I'll sleep for a bit..."

I still have swordsmanship and Magecraft practice tomorrow. Better get to sleep early so my body can recover as soon as possible.

As Sovell thought this, his breathing soon steadied, and he fell asleep.

Watching Sovell on the ground, Merlin said:

"It's nice being young. Out like a light. Well, that saves me the trouble of helping him along myself."

"It's morning already? That was fast... where did these clothes come from?"

Sovell gazed at the blue sky overhead. He stood and brushed the dirt off himself, only to discover that he was suddenly wearing a black shirt.

Then Sovell realized that all the exhaustion from trying to retract his scales had vanished. He muttered to himself:

"Does the land of Avalon really help the human body recover that well? All my exhaustion is gone, and I don't feel any of the weakness or soreness I expected."

"No, it doesn't. The concentration of magical energy in Avalon's air is extremely high.

If it weren't for your half-dragon body, you'd probably split open from the inside the instant you inhaled that air."

Merlin rejected Sovell's conclusion, then added, "This isn't Avalon. It's a dream I constructed.

I made up your clothes, too. Well? Dreams are pretty amazing, aren't they?"

"Well, I appreciate you giving me a shirt so I don't have to go around bare-chested even in a dream.

But I still have to complain...

Damn it!

No breaks, day or night? You can't abuse even a half-dragon's body like this! Even if my body can take it, my mind can't!"

Sovell grumbled indignantly.

"You'll still have time to get real rest. Apart from today, I won't create dreams for you during the hours between sunset and one in the morning.

All right, enough talk. Get ready for combat training."

Once again, Merlin pulled a wooden sword out of nowhere and threw it to Sovell.

This time, Sovell caught the wooden sword without being knocked over, and no dragon scales appeared on his body.

"Very good. You can control your physical enhancement now." Merlin took out another wooden sword and pointed it at Sovell.

"As they say, practice is the best teacher. Come at me."

Holding his sword in both hands, Sovell charged at Merlin,

"Hah!"

Without hesitation, Sovell slashed at Merlin with all his strength. He didn't believe for a second that someone who could toss a wooden sword weighing over a dozen pounds so effortlessly was all show.

Bang!

Sure enough, Merlin blocked Sovell's strike with ease.

"Keep your edge aligned. Are you planning to slap your enemies to death with the flat of your blade?"

"Yes!"

"Watch your footwork. Don't get sloppy. Don't trip yourself before your enemy has even moved."

"Understood!"

"Don't just keep trying to attack. Pay attention to blocking your opponent's sword."

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Several hours later, Merlin had given Sovell a flawless training session (a one-sided beating).

Sovell lay on the grass nearby, aching faintly all over.

Merlin took out his staff and tapped it twice against the ground.

Thump. Thump.

Petals appeared out of thin air and settled on Sovell. His pain and exhaustion vanished completely. He stood and asked:

"Are we continuing the training?"

"That's right, but you won't be fighting me..."

Merlin waved his staff. A shower of petals fell from the air, and a petite figure appeared among them. Merlin addressed her:

"Thanks for your hard work training with Kay today, Lia."