Kord

Kord had not slept well. He had tried, because he had been told over and over again that the Bonding Ceremony would be rough on him, and that wasn't even including the Sky Realm Breakthrough that was bound to occur at the same time. He knew that being well rested and mentally sound would only be to his benefit for the following day.

But he was nervous, damn it. Maybe not as much as his sisters were, he had to admit. Somehow, Cierra and Stena had both been a little off kilter since the first week of training or so. If he could see it, he was sure the others did too. After that one day with the whole 'Stena loves Cierra' misunderstanding, both of them had seemed a little unbalanced.

It was fair, though. The dragons - the Elders - had more or less outright stated everyone's weaknesses to their faces and refocused the training to overcome said weaknesses. Awkwardly, Ray had more or less said that Kord was on the right path and just needed to continue walking it.

Kord didn't think that was fair. He had plenty of shortcomings when it came to his Cultivation. Yes, he worked as hard as everyone else, and was often single minded when he pursued a goal. But he wasn't stupid - his Cultivation style was so straightforward to the point that sometimes he felt like he was cheating.

No complicated techniques, no unusual mixing of different affinities, nothing special. He reinforced his body, strengthened his weapons, and hit things really hard. It made his Cultivation very easy to train with, and he rarely hit any roadblocks unless his body wasn't strong enough to withstand the force of his Qi when he reinforced his body. And even when that did happen, it was simply a matter of more training to overcome.

He had simply taken the single foundational technique he had worked on and polished and improved it to the point of stupidity. He wasn't some genius Cultivator; he was an idiot that put all his eggs in one basket.

He had to admit, though, that it had worked out spectacularly for him. He had no doubt that he would have some incredibly bad match-ups against certain other styles of combat. Anyone who focused on control, like Momri, would shut him down entirely if they were stronger than him. His fights had often ended up one-sided beatdowns, entirely reliant on whether he could get in close enough to punch his opponent. If he could close the distance unhindered, more often than not, he won.

He also had to admit that his martial arts skills were probably his greatest asset. That might have been where he was most talented. He could see, break down, and digest most fighting techniques he watched quickly enough to dismantle most fighters in hand-to-hand only bouts in a few rounds. There were only two people in the Basin that he had never beaten in a simple hand-to-hand contest - his mother and Vale.

Vale was simply overwhelmingly strong, even when he was holding back to a roughly human level. He had mentioned at one point that dragons have remarkably sharp kinetic vision, which gave them an edge that they couldn't quite tone down even when trying to hold back.

Kord's mother, though, was just something else. Everyone in their family had some knowledge of her background, and the older teens more or less knew her whole story. If Kord had thought himself talented at breaking down martial art forms, Emery was somewhere above genius level. She could not only completely break down a fighting style having only seen a few techniques, but could replicate them flawlessly - so long as there wasn't some kind of Cultivation technique involved.

If there was, she could still imitate most of them unless they did something specific to the type of Qi involved.

Speaking plainly, his mother was a monster in hand-to-hand combat.

On the other hand, Kord's adaptive combat style mixed with his particular type of Cultivation had apparently made him perfectly matched for the Bond with Ray. Almost comically so. The Elder had apparently picked him for the Bond with minimal decision time simply because they were so similar.

Ray was much like Kord in his 'punch things very hard and keep it simple, stupid' type approach. Even when they had first begun Kord's training, Ray had very little new material to teach him. They spent most of their time together just strengthening Kord to the peak of the Earth Realm in the normal ways. The only exception was Ray teaching Kord three slightly more advanced metal Qi techniques that would improve his fighting style immensely.

One of them was a technique that could melt his gauntlets and greaves into a mercurial, poisonous state. When combined with adding spikes to his armor, any injuries he caused could potentially become much more dangerous for his opponents by infecting the wound with his Qi.

Second was a second metal skin technique that would help him withstand more punishment. It was a simple technique that could be layered on top of his standard body enhancement ones, as if adding a shield on top of his armored skin.

And finally, Ray taught him the singular long range attack that Ray also had at his disposal. It was a variation on the mercurial state of metal Qi, utilizing it as a whip to strike at range. It was far from a general use technique, but the ability could turn a fight in his favor through the element of surprise. Ray had drilled that idea into him over and over again; don't use the technique regularly - only when in danger and needing a sudden turn about in momentum.

"Kord? Are you alright?"

Kord's eyes snapped up to Emery's as he was pulled from his thoughts.

"Yes, sorry." He had gotten completely lost in his own head while they had travelled to the Elder's compound. He had even been walking the halls while lost in thought.

"It's fine." His mother said with a warm smile. "You're allowed to be nervous."

Is that what it was? He honestly didn't think so. Maybe the lack of rest the previous night got to him, but he wasn't supposed to really need sleep at this point either.

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"I know." He said. "I'm really not that nervous, though. Just lost in thought."

"That's not bad, either." Avuri said. "Being a little introspective right before a potential Breakthrough attempt is pretty common. Especially when you know it's coming."

"Good to know." Kord shook his head and looked forward, focusing on their walk deeper into the compound and the big training cavern they had been using for the last several months.

When they finally arrived, the Elders were all waiting for them. He almost snorted at the picturesque view of them, all standing and waiting together, in various poses that showed a bit of personality. It looked almost as if they were posing for a painting to show off who they were.

He met Ray's eyes, and his teacher grinned widely, clearly excited.

"Alright," Eiry began, "now that you're all here, we can finally get today's agenda started." She turned first to Cyril and Vyne, then motioned them forward. "You two can go about your normal routine. Glenn, Mica, Cove, you three and I will also be staying here."

She turned to Ray at that point. "Ray, you, Vale, and Lyn can go into the Mountain's Heart."

"Wait, we don't get to see the Bonding Ceremony?" Stena asked.

"You do not. Neither will Emery or Avuri, either. They will be sequestered until Kord has finished. The Bonding Ceremony is personal and private - and also differs for each dragon."

"Just to be clear," Ray cleared his throat, "'personal and private' does not mean anything untoward."

Eiry rolled her eyes. "Of course not. That should go without being said."

"Yes, but we have teenagers here." Ray reasoned.

Kord didn't think any of them would have taken the wording in that way, but he supposed the clarification would be good to eliminate any worries of that nature.

Eiry just let out a sigh. "Well, it doesn't matter now that it's been clarified, anyway." She clapped her hands twice. "Let's move, everyone. Just because today has some special events doesn't mean everyone gets to slack off." She glanced at Mica's group and grinned, showing teeth. "Especially you three."

Her tone sounded like she was making a joke, but the way they all shuddered left Kord unsure.

"Alright, you all follow me." Ray said, and led the way to a tunnel that no one had been down before. The group walked silently for a while, moving down a mild incline, presumably further into the mountain, if the name 'Mountain's Heart' was anything to go by.

The cavern that Ray ended up taking them to was breathtaking. It looked like the few cave rooms that had been made there were dug out of some kind of ore. The walls sparkled and refracted the light provided by Arrays scattered about the area that produced a small fire light.

"This is where we'll perform the Bonding ceremonies." Ray said, pointing straight ahead to the smaller chamber at the end of the space. "There are meditation and Breakthrough rooms to each side. Of course, the main room is prepared for Breakthroughs as well - Kord will be safe."

That didn't really reassure Kord very much, but both Emery and Avuri looked noticeably relieved. He supposed knowing that his Breakthrough wouldn't cause a cave-in was at least something.

"I'm sure you'll all feel it when Kord is finished, but until he is, you two may meditate and try to still yourselves."

Emery nodded solemnly, while Avuri glanced at Kord and smiled before turning back to Ray. "Anything happens to him and -"

"I know. Kord is safe with me." Ray smirked like a cocky fighter about to enter a fight he was sure to win and looked down at Kord. "At least until his Breakthrough begins. Then it's all on him. I have faith, though."

Emery took two quick steps up to Kord and wrapped her arms around him in a fierce hug and squeezed. If he had been anyone else in their family, she would have for sure been squeezing too hard. As it was, he had to reach up and tap on her arms.

"Mom, you're choking me." He wheezed.

"Oh. Sorry." Emery eased up and laid her nose against his hair and placed a gentle kiss on his head. "You got this."

"I know." He said, though he didn't feel as confident as he sounded.

Emery backed up and gave him an assured nod before Avuri stepped up and took her turn with the hug and kiss. Hers was much gentler and supportive as opposed to Emery's fierceness and warmth.

Once they both wished him well, they split off to the side rooms with Vale and Lyn respectively. Vale gave Kord a grin and an encouraging thumbs up as he walked with Emery, while Lyn offered him a warm smile and mouthed 'You'll do great.' at him.

Kord closed his eyes and took a deep breath before stepping into the ceremonial space with Ray. This smaller room was clearly designed for something special, though Kord really had no idea what. The dragons had originally said that Bonding like this was something incredibly rare and typically not done, so it didn't make sense that they had a special room already set aside for that purpose.

Kord's swiveling head must have tipped Ray off because the dragon chuckled. "This room is new. Made specifically for these ceremonies by Eiry. Don't forget, we've had months to prepare for this."

"Oh, I guess that's true, isn't it?"

The room was essentially just a round cave with a roughly 3 meter diameter. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of sturdy metal-like material. It looked unprocessed like ore, but had a strength to it that resembled a forged metal. It also was rife with Qi. If Eiry had made the space itself, Kord was willing to bet that Ray had created the metal to reinforce it for the ceremonies and Breakthroughs bound to happen here.

Ray stepped up to the center of the room where there was a small raised dais. It was made of the same material as the rest of the cavern, but was clearly made to be more sturdy and smooth. There was a single cushion resting dead center with a second slightly behind it, further from the entrance.

The dragon motioned to the center cushion as he positioned on the one behind it. "You'll be here, Kord. Facing the doorway." Ray said, as the doorway in question morphed under Ray's Qi. The ore-like stone twisted in a spiral like teeth to close, leaving them enclosed in the now private space. There were small gaps between each of the stone spikes to allow air to travel in and out, but Kord could also feel an Array meant to keep the Qi in the room contained.

Ray knelt carefully on the cushion behind where Kord was meant to sit, with a small knife in his hand that thrummed with Qi. "Take off the upper portion of your robes, and we'll begin."

Kord had to admit, if he hadn't been warned about this by Ray beforehand, this part may have scared him off - seeing the dragon there with the knife. But he knew that part of the ceremony involved the use of dragon blood as well as his own, and that he would be marked. Kord had chosen to bear the mark on his back, so everything so far made sense to him.

With another steadying breath, Kord sat on the centered cushion, folding his legs and entering his standard meditation pose. He took a few more breaths, using the chance to calm himself, even out his breathing, and mentally prepare. Once he felt steady, he nodded to Ray behind him.

"Very well. Let's begin."

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