On one shoulder was Little Blue, bouncing up and down on her seat as she chattered to Jai Chen. That wasn’t unusual, but on his other shoulder was a tiny red-and-black turtle that resembled Orthos. Did Orthos have children?
That idea wasn’t nearly as strange as the fact that Jai Long hadn’t sensed them coming.
He stiffened up, and Lindon noticed. The Overlord gave Jai Long an apologetic look.
“Apologies; I’ve been working on my veils. It’s easier when people don’t drop to their knees every time they sense me coming.”
The turtle on Lindon’s shoulder grunted, bringing up a plume of smoke. “You don’t have to veil me. I’ve been hiding my own power since before your grandfather hatched.”
That voice. Jai Long stared. That was definitely Orthos.
Kelsa looked as stunned as he felt. “Orthos?”
At the opposite extreme, Jai Chen was delighted. “Right? It’s really him! I can’t believe it!”
“This is nothing. I have many more…stop, what are you doing? Get away!”
Fingerling was bobbing around Orthos, and Jai Long couldn’t tell if the spirit was happy to have recognized an old friend or if he was gloating that the turtle was his size now.
Lindon dipped his head to Kelsa and Jai Long. “Pardon us for disturbing your training. I only wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help.”
Jai Long was immediately torn. On the one hand, he might have a chance to learn from an Overlord and a Sage.
On the other hand…well, Jai Long had been the one to cut off Lindon’s other hand.
Kelsa stood up immediately and pressed her fists together, bowing to him. “This one would be grateful for your attention, Overlord.”
Lindon’s cheeks colored. “Please don’t do that.”
“If you’re going to train me, then I need to treat you as my teacher.” Kelsa wasn’t playing around, and Lindon knew that just as well as Jai Long did.
But Lindon adapted in an instant. “Then I’ve decided that the title you should use to address me is my name.”
“You’re the highest-ranking person on this ship. We have to keep a clear—”
“Are you questioning me?” Lindon asked quietly.
Lindon still hadn’t released his veil, but every muscle in Jai Long’s body froze up as though he were staring down the jaws of a massive beast.
Kelsa straightened her spine. “No, sir!”
“Then my name is Lindon.”
“…fine.” Kelsa blew out a breath and scratched the back of her neck. “I can’t win against you at all anymore, can I?”
The tension had vanished like an illusion, and Lindon gave her a sheepish smile. Orthos was the one that answered.
“Of course you can’t. A hatchling shouldn’t try to bring down a whole flight.”
Little Blue crossed her arms and gave a ring that somehow managed to sound smug.
Jai Chen grabbed Lindon’s arm and pulled him forward, which seized Jai Long’s attention. When had they gotten that close?
“You said you could teach all of us at once, right?”
Lindon coughed. “Ah, actually, that was Little Blue who said—”
“Come on, I know you can do it!”
He glanced from Jai Long to Kelsa, looking uncomfortable, but Kelsa looked intensely interested.
When he saw that, Lindon sighed. “Okay. Everyone go sit by a different wall and start cycling, if you don’t mind.”
Kelsa and Jai Chen ran off immediately, leaving Jai Long standing alone. This was stupid. Even tips from someone more advanced than him wasn’t worth this. This was just giving Lindon a chance to show off.
Lindon looked to him again, and Jai Long suddenly thought that he didn’t have anything better to do anyway, so he might as well follow instructions.
When all three of them were cycling, with Lindon standing in the center of the room, Lindon’s veil slipped. Just a little.
His spiritual perception filled the room like an overwhelming tide. Jai Long’s whole spirit shivered, but only for an instant.
“Jai Chen, you’ve been focusing on using your techniques with your contracted spirit as a medium. You don’t have to do that; not all your madra is taken up by him anymore. I’ll give you four basic techniques you can work on, and you can refine them on your own, but for now start cycling your madra separately from your dragon.”
Jai Chen looked startled, but Lindon had already turned to Kelsa.
“You’re practicing the techniques I gave you correctly, but you’re too slow. Don’t learn to walk by taking one step and stopping to evaluate. Walk. You could spar against some clan elders, but for now…”