Chapter 110：Change of clothes

Dylan and Matthias entered Sherry's house and were greeted by Sherry. Her eyes were slightly teary and a smile bloomed on her face.

"Long time no see, Matthias."

Matthias smiled back, approaching Sherry with arms spread wide. "I'm glad to see you well, Sherry."

Just as he was about to hug her, Matthias felt a tug at his collar. He looked back to see Dylan's annoyed and angry face.

"No hugging." Dylan firmly stated.

"Why! We used to hug all the time, why not now? I haven't seen her in over a year!" Matthias complained, upset that his emotional reunion was ruined by Dylan.

Dylan shrugged and threw Matthias aside. He walked to Sherry and kissed her on the cheek and embraced the blushing Sherry from behind. "She's mine now." He proudly announced.

Matthias laughed after a brief pause. "So, you're just jealous?"

"Yeah! So no touching!" Dylan admitted openly with no shame.

He didn't know shame but that didn't mean that Sherry didn't. She very shyly pulled his arms away from her and chuckled to hide her embarrassment. "Are you hungry? I'm going to make lunch now if you want anything."

Matthias rubbed his belly. He smiled and nodded. "I haven't eaten the whole day, it'll be great if you could make me something filling."

"Mm, got it! You two enjoy yourselves first." Saying so, Sherry escaped into the kitchen.

Dylan and Matthias looked at each other awkwardly. "Do you want to change now?" He asked to break the silence.

"Oh, yeah, sure." Matthias nodded and followed Dylan into the room Dylan stayed in for a while.

Dylan looked Matthias up and down. The guy was skinnier than him, shorter too. That meant that the shirts would probably be baggy on him and the shorts too big. Dylan shrugged, it didn't really make a difference anyways. It was not like they had a better alternative. He casually picked out an outfit and threw them at Matthias.

Matthias caught the clothes with his face and smiled at Dylan. "Thanks. I'll be right out."

"Got it. Meet us at the living room later."

With that all settled, Dylan suddenly remembered Fir and summoned him out. The bird came out, floating down to his palm, still sleeping. Dylan chuckled and placed him on his head, and walked into the living room. The kids were inside, absorbed in the cartoon on TV.

Only when Dylan sat beside him did George take his attention off the screen. "Where'd your friend go?" He asked.

"He's changing." Dylan replied.

"I saw you swing your sword before. It was so cool!" George exclaimed in admiration. "I thought you were going to hit your friend with it, it was so scary!"

Dylan coughed dryly and smiled. "His name is Matthias."

"Oh, is he from your country too?"

Dylan nodded. "We've been friends since we were kids."

"Hey." Frank interjected. "When are you going to teach us how to use a sword? I thought you were training us for that."

"I never said I was teaching you how to use a sword though."

"What? But I thought-"

"I only said I'll make you stronger. And I did. You guys have gotten much faster and have a greater stamina now than when I first met you."

That was true. Frank nodded. "But I want to learn how to use a sword too. It'll be cool!"

"You don't need to learn how to use one. It's too impractical. It'll be better to learn self-defence like I've been teaching you thus far."

Frank and George pouted.

"You haven't even taught us how to fight!" Fiona who had been listening in on their conversation added. "All we do is run and do that stupid horse stance!"

"Mm, that's true." Dylan admitted. "Then we can start doing other stuff starting from today."

"Like what?"

"Dodging, blocking, falling, getting back up, tripping, things like that." Dylan listed.

"What? That's no fun~! What about punching and kicking? How are we supposed to win a fight if we don't even attack?" Diana chimed.

"If the opponent can't land a fist on you, then they'll never be able to win. You can just trip them to prevent them from fighting. It's safe and easy." Dylan reasoned.

"That's boring." Frank complained. He imagined something similar to an action movie, with punching and kicking. Fist meeting fist! It was thrilling and a cool visual, dodging in his eyes was too cowardly and boring.

"But it works. I do that to you guys all the time."

"Since when?"

"Whenever we play tag. I dodge and when you get too close, I trip you."

Yasmin grimaced. She had been the victim of Dylan's first trip. Just when she thought victory was hers, Dylan effortlessly stretched out his legs and casually tripped her. When she face planted on the ground, she remembered feeling pain, grief, frustration and shame. Not only that, Dylan smugly smiled at her and told her she had to try harder than that. Urgh, just thinking about it annoyed her.

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, the children quieted down.

"I don't, so just give up. We can go buy some some other time." Dylan replied back in Divian.

Matthias sighed and resigned to his fate. He walked into the living room with his head handing low. The plain white shirt was baggy on Matthias and fell to his buttocks. The shorts were also too long, going to his shin if not for Matthias rolling it up. The restraints were also made more obvious and jarring when not hidden under his robes. The metallic black contrasted against his pale skin and thus stood out even more, making for a strange sight.

"Pft-! I knew it'll be big on you, but you look like a child wearing his father's clothing." Dylan unrestrainedly laughed and mocked.

Matthias glared at Dylan. "You're just too tall and have useless muscles all right? This is normal! Normal I say!"

Dylan shook his head. "You just have the body of a frail magician, wait, no, you haven't grown since academy so apprentice would be more accurate."

Matthias felt as if his heart was pierced by an arrow. The bastard just had to poke at his sore spot! He'd been self-conscious about it, alright! Matthias threw his robe at Dylan's face but the knight just caught it before it hit. "Damn you! You're just a giant who keeps growing taller!"

Dylan laughed at Matthias' misery. "You're right. You used to go up to my neck but now you don't even reach my chest. You're even shorter than Sherry."

"You're bullying me! I'm telling Sherry." Matthias exclaimed and ran off into the kitchen where a fragrant smell was spilling out.

The busily cooking Sherry was suddenly surprised by Matthias. He hugged her from behind and rested his head against her shoulder. "Sherry, Dylan is bullying me! He called me short!"

"Ah-! D-Dylan~! Let go me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please let go." Matthias cried in pain. Dylan held an iron grip on Matthias' head and forcibly pulled him away from Sherry.

"I thought I said no hugs." Dylan smiled and very intimidatingly said, emphasising his point by increasing the force of his grip.

"Ah, ah, ah! S-sorry! I was dumb and forgot for a bit! I won't do it again!" Tears in his eyes, Matthias desperately begged for forgiveness. In the corner of his eyes, he saw a peanut gallery of kids watching him and felt his cheeks heat up. He'd never spoken to them yet but he felt that he'd lost all their respect already.

Dylan hmphed and released Matthias. He pulled Sherry into his embrace again to stress his point. "No more hugs!"

"Sir yes sir!"

The victim Sherry: ...