Chapter 20 A Long Walk Home

Alexander spent around a week in the town of Hwen preparing before departing.

The first thing he needed was a prosthetic. Hobbling around using his sheathed sword as a crutch whenever he was in public was hardly a long-term solution.

By selling a couple of the water stones he had collected from Tharildron's castle, Alexander had enough money to commission the town's best carpenter and leather worker to craft him a pegleg.

It was a fairly simple design, and did not quite perfectly fit Alexander, but it would do its job until he had the time and money to purchase something better.

With the rest of his money, he bought the supplies he would need for his trip back home.

Then early on the morning after he finished his business in Hwen, Alexander left the inn he had been staying at and headed towards the town's entrance.

On the way out he found Ollie once again manning the gate in his role as one of the town's guards.

Alexander exchanged a few pleasantries with the man but did not linger for long. He had a fair distance to walk to reach the vicinity of his home city.

'This should be far enough. There doesn't seem to be anyone around, and this area doesn't get much traffic.'

Once Hwen was out of sight and Alexander was certain he was alone, he pulled out the twin daggers made of umbral steel and used them to cast the Personal Shadow spell.

While the pegleg he had purchased made walking easier than simply using his sword as a crutch, it was nowhere near as effective as the shadow limb conjured by magic.

"I'd forgotten how much better this feels. It's almost like my leg is back." Alexander marveled.

Unlike the cheap and hastily built prosthetic, this limb actually had tactile feedback and could be controlled by Alexander's thoughts.

It still was not as responsive as a real leg, but in lieu of the original, it was probably the best Alexander could hope for.

The only problem was his inability to use it when in the presence of others. For those situations, he would have to make do with the pegleg.

'Judging from your condition, I doubt that you're walking for the exercise. Was there not a train stop in that town, or even a carriage service?' Tharildron said, his voice resounding in Alexander's mind from out of nowhere.

"I've no clue what this train thing is, but of course there is no carriage service going from here to my home. This is a small town that is practically the edge of civilization in this area. Dedicated carriages for people only go between major cities." Alexander replied with an exasperated sigh.

At this point he was not sure if things really were so different during Tharildron's time, or if the shadow dragon was just trying to confuse him.

Still, it was undeniable that magic technology was more advanced six hundred years ago before the War of Calamity.

Relics from that time period were more powerful than what could be made today, something Alexander knew for a fact. Thanks to obtaining Tharildron's horde, he had plenty of evidence in the form of several relics.

'Ah! What about skyships? Do they still exist?'

Rolling his eyes, Alexander wondered if his undesired companion was simply bored and that was why it was asking him so many questions.

Still, he answered the question despite not particularly caring.

"Yes, though as far as I know, the royal family is the only one in possession of a relic called a skyship. I've never seen it before, but my mother has told me about watching it fly through the sky a few times back when she was going to school the royal capital."

'I see. So, there's only one in this kingdom. Six hundred years ago there were far more, but I'm not too surprised to hear how scarce they are. Truthfully, I expected that all of the skyships would have been destroyed. But I suppose the other Dragon Lords need to provide treats for their most loyal pets.'

Alexander grimaced when he heard Tharildron's remark. From the time he became aware to the present day, he had heard and read about the majesty and benevolence of the Dragon Lords. He could not accept the monster inside of his head trying to manipulate him for its gain by turning him against the guardians of humanity.

"You can keep yapping if you wish. But I'm done answering your queries. All your going to keep trying to do is implant doubts and suggestions into my mind." Alexander said, his tone conveying his irritation.

'Very well. I can observe the state of the world to understand it. But as the past is long gone, allow me to continue enlightening you about it.' Tharildron replied, ignoring Alexander's obvious hostility.

For over an hour, Alexander walked down the road while completely disregarding the shadow dragon's words. He had gotten better at tuning out Tharildron's voice, as if it were simply unimportant background noise.

However, he could not fully show disinterest forever. His unwelcome partner was spilling secrets about a time that was mostly lost to humanity. Occasionally he would drop a piece of information that Alexander had learned about that added credibility to the shadow dragon's words.

Still, most of it ran counter to the small bits of documentation that remained from six centuries ago.

Tharildron explained that it was actually the Dragon Lords that had started the war because they were afraid of the progress that humans were making.

Of course, Alexander believed that this was just another lie. The only thing that he did think was the truth was that the other Dragon Lords killed Tharildron.

From what he knew of the shadow dragon's personality, he could easily envision it having been a tyrant and a menace.

"Okay, I get it. Enough with the propaganda. It doesn't matter what you say. I'm not going to do what you want. Even if everything you were honest about everything you said."

'Yes, I suppose that is enough.' Tharildron said, more speaking to himself than addressing Alexander.

'Now, how about we discuss the basics of shadow magic. Whether it is considered taboo or not in the current time is of little consequences. I imagine that you do not wish to die, or you would have already turned yourself in. It is a power that you now have, so you might as well learn to use it to the fullest.'

As much as Alexander generally did not want to listen to Tharildron, this was certainly something that would benefit him. So, as he had decided a week ago, when he thought that the shadow dragon was actually giving him useful information, he listened intently.