Chapter 34: Arrival Arrival
Xander’s teammates stared at him strangely, and he kept a perfectly straight face despite the odd situation.
"... So I’m familiar with her. I’ve seen her multiple times already." Falael pointed at Mary who just stood slightly behind Xander, poised and demure as ever.
"What am not familiar with," Their hand moved to his shoulder. "Is that thing."
"... In my defense, it just sort of... happened." Xander shrugged his free shoulder and glanced at the occupied one.
On it, a black, scaled creature lay asleep. On its back were a pair of leathery wings, and on its head were two tiny protrustions, aka, horns. And overall, it was barely a few inches long, so it was definitely comfortable on his shoulder.
It was also asleep.
He looked back at his teammates who were staring at the creature with a mix of confusion and interest, but nothing beyond that.
’Well, it’s not surprising. With how rare they are, forget knowing what they look like, the public barely even knows they exist.’ Xander sighed in his heart.
As for what he was referring to, well...
It just so happened that the little creature that had made a bed of his shoulder was a baby dragon.
’I now have two entities that seem to see me as a bed more than anything else... That sounds VERY weird.’ He rubbed his temples as he recalled what had happened back in his room.
When the egg hatched, he and Mary were—understandably—very shocked. And when Xander asked how Mary, who was an Elemental Spirit, didn’t know it was a dragon egg, she responded saying she’d never seen one before.
’And yet,’ Xander glanced at Mia from the corner of his eye. ’She seemed to know exactly what it was the moment she noticed it.’ It was certainly a baffling affair, and for a while, Xander didn’t quite know how to react.
It was a dragon, after all. What if its kin some day noticed and tried to kill him for sullying their pride by watching over one of them? Or forget that, how did one even take care of a dragon???
Just the logistics of it made his head hurt.
In the end, he consulted Mia, and she gave him an answer he wasn’t sure was reassuring or worrying.
’I’ll take care of the things you can’t handle.’
...
What did that mean?
’At least it seems to like me.’ Xander sighed and glanced at the sleeping creature on his shoulder again. If he was being honest with himself, it looked kinda cute...
That, and there was absolutely a certain childish part of him that was excited as hell. If one ignored the implications, who wouldn’t want to own a dragon?
’Granted, it’s probably less about owning and being tolerated. Something tells me there will come a day where I can’t really stop it from just leaving.’
"Well, if everyone is all set, I suppose we can start going?" Xander finally spoke, drawing everyone’s attention from the small creature.
"Uh, I’m ready, and I’m sure everyone else is. But discounting that thing, would they allow her to come with us? She isn’t exactly a student, nor is she on our squad. And I highly doubt the people there would be receptive to use bringing a maid to the battlefield." Aubrey gestured to Mary, and Xander just smiled.
"That shouldn’t be an issue at all. Mary?" He glanced back at his taciturn maid who simply nodded.
In an instant, green winds engulfed her figure, causing everyone except Xander and Mia to shield their eyes.
When the wind subsided, they were surprised to see a green bird now perched on Xander’s shoulder.
"What that..." Curtis was the first one to come to his senses, then he paled.
"W-Wait... the only creatures that can swap between a humanoid and beastial form are..." He trailed off, and the other two stiffened when they realized where he was going.
"Correct. Allow me to reintroduce you. This is Mary, my maid and trusted ally, who also happens to be an Elemental Spirit."
"... And you’re just telling us this now?" Falael asked with a strained voice.
"Did you guys ever ask?"
"..."
A few seconds of awkward silence later, the group finally headed towards a building which had a collection of teleportation formations that would send students to different areas around the kingdom.
The process that followed was actually relatively swift. First, a guard at the entrance took their scroll and ascertained the legitimacy, then they were directed to a teleportation formation large enough to contain about 50 people that was being manned by a few mages in robes.
"There isn’t a corresponding teleportation formation in your destination, so we can only send you guys to a nearby town that does have the corresponding formation. Then you’ll need to travel from there." One of the mages explained, and the group showed their understanding.
A few seconds later, all 5 of them (plus Mary and the dragon) stood in the middle of the magic formation, and the mages started to chant. As they did so, it started to light up with silvery-blue light. And in moments, the whole thing had lit up, humming with dense energy.
’Incredible.’ Xander marveled as he watched it, and moments later, he felt space starting to twist around them.
Once that feeling registered, it happened.
What proceeded was... difficult to explain. But if he had to, he’d say that above them, space seemed to stretch impossibly upward, like a tunnel, and another "floor" with another magic circle rapidly closed in.
And just as it seemed like it was going to crash into them, the scene changed. Next thing he knew, Xander was standing in another spell formation in a completely different area.
’... Wow.’ Just as he was about to express his amazement and inspect his surroundings, Mia suddenly snapped her fingers.
...
And the group found themselves in a new area once more.
’... Huh?’ Everyone blinked.
One moment, they were standing within a spell formation. In the next, they appeared on a road with a walled town a few kilometers ahead.
Stunned, they all subconsciously turned to Mia who just shrugged.
"Taking a carriage from there would have taken too long." She explained like it was perfectly reasonable.
"... Then why not just transport us directly from the school?" Xander asked in exasperation, not exactly surprised that she could teleport, considering the things she’d do frequently.