Chapter 1058: Lessons Beneath a White Sun

Strax chuckled.

"Then let’s begin our training," Strax announced, walking toward the center of the clearing.

Vex immediately returned to his side.

"I’m going to show you the stars!" Vex declared, raising her hands.

Strax nodded.

"Let’s see them," Strax replied, crossing his arms.

The little girl took a deep breath.

A small amount of bluish mana began gathering in front of her hands.

First, an ice star appeared.

Then another.

And finally, a third.

The three structures floated before her, rotating slowly.

Strax watched in silence.

Vex pressed her lips together in concentration.

The stars began accelerating.

The first maintained its trajectory perfectly.

The second wobbled slightly.

The third, however, lost stability and began spinning irregularly.

Vex frowned.

"See? The third one always does that!" Vex complained, trying to correct its movement.

Strax approached.

"Don’t try to fix the third one by increasing the mana," Strax instructed, observing the small currents of energy.

Vex blinked.

"But Mommy told me to do that so the spell wouldn’t disappear," Vex replied, trying to keep the stars suspended.

"Your mother is right. But there’s a difference between keeping a spell active and feeding it too much energy," Strax explained, extending his hand.

A small star of black ice appeared above his palm.

Vex immediately looked at it.

"Wow..." Vex murmured, observing the structure.

Strax smiled.

"Watch," Strax said, creating two more stars.

All three began moving.

One moved slowly.

Another rotated in the opposite direction.

The third remained motionless, although it continued floating.

Vex’s eyes widened.

"How do you do that?" Vex asked, approaching.

"I don’t think of them as a single spell. Each one has its own flow," Strax explained, moving his fingers.

The stars began exchanging positions without colliding.

"Imagine you’re holding three threads. If you pull all of them at once, they’ll move together. But if you can control each thread separately, you can make each one do something different," Strax continued, letting the stars rotate around his hand.

Vex became thoughtful.

"Three threads..." Vex repeated, observing her own stars.

Strax nodded.

"Exactly. Now try keeping the first one spinning while making the second stay still," Strax instructed, dispelling his own creations.

Vex took a deep breath.

The first star continued spinning.

The second began slowing down.

The third...

Fell.

The structure struck the ground and shattered.

Vex puffed out her cheeks.

"Oh, no!" Vex complained, staring at the fragments.

Strax chuckled.

"That wasn’t bad. You managed to control two," Strax replied, stroking her head.

"But I wanted three!" Vex protested, crossing her arms.

"And you’ll manage three. You just don’t need to do everything on your first attempt," Strax explained, crouching in front of his daughter.

Vex looked at him.

Strax smiled.

"Do you know how many times I made mistakes when I first started learning to control my energies?" Strax asked, raising an eyebrow.

Vex tilted her head.

"How many?" Vex asked curiously.

Strax became thoughtful.

"A lot," Strax replied with a chuckle.

Vex began laughing.

"You made mistakes too?" Vex asked, widening her eyes.

"Of course. Nobody is born knowing how to control everything," Strax replied, standing up.

He paused briefly.

"Well... some dragons would probably claim they were born knowing everything. But those are usually the ones who need the most training," Strax added with a smile.

Vex nodded with an extremely serious expression.

"Then I’m going to practice a lot!" Vex declared, raising her fists.

Strax smiled.

"That’s my girl," Strax replied, pointing toward the space in front of her.

For the following hour, they continued practicing.

Vex repeated the exercise many times.

On some attempts, she managed to keep two stars perfectly stable.

On others, she lost control of the third before she had even finished forming it.

Strax showed no impatience.

Quite the opposite.

With each attempt, he offered a small correction, demonstrating how to distribute mana more efficiently and prevent the structures from consuming unnecessary energy.

Until...

"I did it!" Vex exclaimed as the three stars finally remained suspended in different positions.

One rotated slowly to the left.

Another floated motionlessly.

The third made small circles around the other two.

Strax broke into a proud smile.

"Very good, princess!" Strax praised, observing the three structures.

Vex began laughing.

"Look, Daddy! Look!" Vex repeated, moving her hands.

Strax nodded.

"I’m watching. Now try switching the positions of the first and third stars," Strax instructed, pointing toward them.

Vex became serious again.

The structures began moving.

For an instant, they seemed about to collide.

But the little girl corrected their trajectories.

The stars exchanged positions perfectly.

Strax began clapping.

"Excellent!" Strax celebrated with a smile.

Vex dispelled the stars and immediately ran toward him.

"DADDY! I DID IT!" Vex shouted, throwing herself into his arms.

Strax lifted her off the ground.

"You certainly did! Your mother is going to be very proud," Strax replied, spinning around once with his daughter.

Vex began laughing.

Then she looked at him.

"Are you proud too?" Vex asked, holding her father’s face.

Strax smiled affectionately.

"Very," Strax replied, kissing her forehead.

The little girl smiled so broadly that Strax ended up laughing again.

Their training continued for much of the afternoon.

After the stars, Strax taught Vex how to create small ice barriers using overlapping layers.

Her first attempt produced a wall so thin that he managed to break it with a simple touch.

The second became too thick and consumed an absurd amount of mana.

On the third attempt, however, Vex finally found a balance.

"Now try withstanding this," Strax instructed, forming a small sphere of water above his palm.

Vex’s eyes widened.

"You’re going to attack me?!" Vex asked, immediately raising her barrier.

Strax smiled.

"With water, princess. I’m not going to throw a mountain at you," Strax replied, launching the small sphere.

The water struck the barrier.

The ice held perfectly.

Vex flashed a victorious smile.

"HA! IT DIDN’T BREAK!" Vex celebrated, raising her arms.

Strax nodded.

"Great. Now let’s increase the force just a little," Strax remarked, creating another sphere.

Vex narrowed her eyes.

"You’re trying to trick me," Vex accused, reinforcing the barrier.

Strax began laughing.

"I’m trying to teach you how to defend yourself," Strax replied, launching the second projectile.

This time, the barrier cracked.

But it didn’t break.

Vex managed to reinforce it before any fragments could break away.

Strax smiled with satisfaction.

"Very good. You’re learning quickly," Strax praised, dispelling the remaining sphere.

Vex took a deep breath.

Then looked at the barrier.

"Daddy, can I try something?" Vex asked, a suspicious smile appearing on her face.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"Depends on what you’re planning," Strax replied, crossing his arms.

Vex smiled innocently.

"Nothing much!" Vex assured him, hiding her hands behind her back.

Strax narrowed his eyes.

That expression was far too familiar.

"Vex..." Strax called, watching his daughter.

Too late.

A thin layer of ice suddenly appeared beneath his boots.

Strax felt his feet slip.

"Hey!" Strax exclaimed, deliberately losing his balance and falling onto his backside.

Vex burst into laughter.

"I DID IT! I GOT DADDY!" Vex celebrated, pointing at him.

Strax remained sitting for a few seconds.

Looking at his daughter.

Then he slowly smiled.

"Oh... so that’s how it is?" Strax asked, placing one hand on the ground.

Vex stopped laughing.

Her smile faded a little.

"Daddy...?" Vex called, taking a step backward.

Strax snapped his fingers.

A small amount of snow appeared above the little girl’s head.

Vex looked up.

"Oh, no..." Vex murmured, widening her eyes.

The snow fell directly onto her.

It wasn’t enough to hurt her, only to cover her hair and shoulders with a soft, fluffy white layer.

Vex stood motionless.

Strax began laughing.

"Now we’re even," Strax remarked, standing up.

The little girl shook her head.

Snow fell from her hair.

She looked at her father.

Then she flashed a smile dangerously similar to his own.

"WAR!" Vex declared, creating two snowballs in her hands.

Strax widened his eyes.

"Wait, princess, we can talk about this..." Strax began, raising his hands.

The first snowball struck his chest.

The second hit his shoulder.

Vex began laughing.

Strax sighed dramatically.

"You really chose violence," Strax remarked, creating a snowball in his own hand.

The little girl shrieked with delight and ran away.

Over the next several minutes, the clearing transformed into a genuine battlefield.

Vex glided along small ice tracks, hid behind improvised barriers, and tried to hit her father with snow projectiles.

Strax, for his part, made a point of missing some throws dramatically, pretending he couldn’t keep up with his daughter’s speed.

"You’re so slow, Daddy!" Vex teased, gliding around a tree.

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"Slow?" Strax repeated with a smile.

The next instant, he appeared behind her.

Vex let out a startled scream.

"AAAAH! THAT’S CHEATING!" Vex complained, trying to escape.

Strax caught her by the waist and lifted her off the ground.

"Cheating? I thought we were using magic," Strax replied, beginning to laugh.

Vex squirmed amid peals of laughter.

"PUT ME DOWN! I SURRENDER!" Vex shouted, trying to reach his shoulders.

Strax smiled.

"Are you sure?" Strax asked, holding her effortlessly.

"YES!" Vex replied, still laughing.

He placed her on the ground.

Vex immediately turned around and hugged him.

Strax was a little surprised.

Then he smiled and returned the embrace.

"That was fun, Daddy," Vex murmured, tightening her arms around his waist.

Strax stroked her hair.

"It really was, princess," Strax replied, looking around the small clearing.

The sphere of White Fire still shone in the sky, keeping the place warm.

Around them, snow continued falling over the trees.

Vex remained hugging her father for a few seconds.

Then she raised her face.

"Daddy..." Vex called softly, holding onto his clothes.

Strax looked down.

"Yes, my little one?" Strax asked with a smile.

"Can you come train with me more often?" Vex asked, sounding a little hesitant.

Strax felt a small pang in his chest.

The question was simple.

But he knew exactly what it meant.

He crouched in front of his daughter.

"I can. And I will," Strax replied, gently holding her hands.

Vex smiled.

"Even when you’re busy?" Vex asked, tilting her head.

Strax nodded.

"Even when I’m busy. I’ll organize my time better," Strax promised, caressing the little girl’s cheek.

Vex seemed satisfied.

"Then I’m going to learn a new spell every time you visit!" Vex declared, raising one fist.

Strax began laughing.

"Deal. But your mother has to approve the spells first," Strax replied, standing up.

Vex made a face.

"Aww, Daddy..." Vex complained, puffing out her cheeks.

Strax smiled.

"I like my ears right where they are, princess," Strax explained, pointing toward his head.

Vex burst into laughter.

The sun was already beginning to disappear behind the mountains when Strax finally dispelled the sphere of White Fire.

The warmth gradually faded.

The cold wind returned.

And the first snowflakes began accumulating once again on the grass of the clearing.

Vex watched the snow fall.

Then she took her father’s hand.

"Let’s go back, Daddy! I want to tell Mommy that I managed to control all three stars!" Vex requested, beginning to pull him along the path.

Strax smiled.

"Let’s go. I bet she’ll want a demonstration," Strax replied, accompanying his daughter.

Vex nodded enthusiastically.

"And I’m going to tell her that you fell on your butt!" Vex added, beginning to laugh.

Strax stopped.

"You don’t need to tell her that part," Strax replied, raising an eyebrow.

Vex flashed a mischievous smile.

"But that was the best part!" Vex declared, squeezing his hand.

Strax let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Definitely Mercedes’s daughter..." Strax murmured, shaking his head.

Vex laughed even harder.

And the two continued walking along the snow-covered path, hand in hand, while the little girl excitedly told him everything she intended to learn during their next training session.

For the first time in a long while, Strax wasn’t thinking about gods, wars, or administrative problems.

He was simply listening to his daughter.

And at that moment, that was more than enough.