"Swords we could use. My brother and I spent time in the French Foreign Legion. While swords are not used in the Legion it can be learned. Magic, on the other hand... There's no magic in either of us, even if, to some, it might appear otherwise."
The bond is ... the bond. It doesn't grant any special powers to them at all. It's just ... there.

Sort of like having a telephone makes it easier to talk to someone far away. No telephone no conversation.

"Maybe he will come back in time?"