The sun's strong light rained down glaring off the train's windows blinding Soraya. Blasted sun. It was already hot and humid, but now she had to deal with the sunlight. It also didn't help that her brown curly hair greedily soaked in the summer heat. Picking up her cup she sipped her ice tea, her only oasis. A refreshing smile formed on her lips as she turned to her traveling companion .

" Thanh, are you now glad I paid extra so we can sit in the dining car? Imagine suffering in this heat without having a cold drink ."

"I rather suffer in the heat, then be forced to sleep outside." Thanh stirred his tea with a spoon as he frowned. "We have no source of income and we don't know how long our journey is going to be. What if we have to pay a fee to enter the capital or to use their library. Plus our main goal is information. Which most of the time cost money to attain."

"Stop worrying so much. I have been saving my money for years. We have plenty."

" I'm worrying so much because that is a lie. This is my savings. You blew any money you made on weapons and sweets."

"Thanh we are best friends. Best Friends share everything. Your savings is also my savings." She continued sipping her tea.

" I can't even…"

Thanh rubbed his hands through his hair.

Soraya snicker. She had won. Thanh was sometimes a little too weak willed to her liking, but there was no one else in the world she would have as her traveling partner. Especially when she was able to mooch off of him. She called over the waiter and ordered a new drink.

Enjoying her new tea, she shifted her attention to conversations surrounding her.

Around the cabin sat a mother and her children, some old ladies, a man who had fallen asleep into his food, a mage covered from head to toe with magic accessories, but what caught her attention was almost half the tables sat knights.

Of course the knights weren't wearing their armor, but their tunics' colorful emblem gave them away.

Soraya clicked her tongue.

The order of the dragons. What were they doing out here?

The nearest one seemed to be lecturing his apprentice. He spoke in a slow and even pace, drawing Soraya's attention.

"As you may know the world has many different Kingdoms' militaries, academics, and mercenaries. So in order to gauge each organization's strength the world has a ranking system for mages and warriors. Novice, Junior, and Senior. The latter two are divided into low, med, and high tier. Then Grand, Arch, and at top Supreme."

Soraya scoffed as she saw the knight's young apprentice’s eyes sparkle at the new information he received.

"Wow, that's useful. The Supreme rank must be unimaginably powerful."

The older knight dismissed it with a hand waved.

"Actually, no. It's all propaganda nonsense. It's too vague to mean anything."

The young knight's face scrunched.

"So why do they bother having it?"

"People just like titles.” the older knight shook his head. “Moving on. Though it is common for a person to be trained in the basics of both being a warrior and a mage, it is only possible to raise any title higher than a senior rank in one profession."

"Really?"

"Yeah, warriors and mages fight with mana completely differently. So it's impossible to train without sacrificing one proficiency for another."

" That makes sense."

"Hm, I guess there was one exception."

"One?"

"Couple of months ago, out of nowhere a person was granted both the title Arch-mage and Arch-warrior. Something about slaying a dragon or something."

"Wow, they must be extremely skilled."

"Who knows? The person never appeared in public. It could all be a tall tale."

The young knight deflated at hearing his teacher's words. Soraya got the impression that the young knight was a hero fanatic.

“Any more questions?”

“Yes, teacher. I know that there is a difference between mages and warriors, but what exactly is it? I won't start magic training until next month.”

Soraya could not help but chuckle. The young boy seemed to be already 13 year old, and yet he hadn't learned magic. Then again, it was probably the norm, and Soraya was the strange one. But still she found it to be amusing.

The older knight went silent. His face scrunched in thought.

“It's a little early, but I can explain it now.”

“Yes.” the young knight pumped his fist.

“ First as a Knight you will learn to be a warrior. A warrior uses his mana to perform Arts. Arts have many uses from strengthening physical abilities, to adding mana to weapons, to null voiding mana attacks. Arts rely heavily on the user's physical strength, so it's important for warriors to train their bodies. The strength of a warrior’s Arts is recognizable by its aura. ”

The young knight mumbled “aura?” under his breath.

“There are also special warriors called healers, who use Arts for healing instead of offensive. But I won't bore you with specifics. Next are the mages. Instead of using Arts, they convert mana into runes. They are able to use both their own and the world’s mana to cast spells.”

“World’s mana? Can warriors do it too?”

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“Yes and No. Arts rely on the person's body, so they must make the mana into their own first. Mages can take straight from nature and use it in their runes.”

“I see.”

“Continuing. There are two types of mages. Battle and scholarly type. However runes crafting rely on knowledge, so most mages are scholars.”

“So warriors are brawns and mages are the brain.”

“More or Less.”

The young knight shook his head.

“That is a lot. I can see why people focused on one class.”

Soraya unconsciously nodded in agreement. She turned her attention back to her drink as the mage covered in magic accessories stood up.

“Hey, kid if you thought that was confusing. Have you ever heard of ether?”

The young knight frowned.

“Ether?”

The older knight also frowned.

“Mage Kharon, sit down. A good teacher knows when to give and withhold information. In order not to confuse the student.”

“Relax, Sir Laszlo. The kid is smart. You want to hear, doncha?”

The boy nodded his head. The older knight signed, but waved his hand in approval.

“Great.” The mage smiled.

Soraya put down her tea, and focused back on the conversation. She did not expect them to be talking about Ether. Even she herself knew very little on the subject. Her curiosity got the best of her and she moved her chair closer.

The young mage called Kharon posed and moved his hand in a dramatic way. His many magic accessories dangled producing a lot of noise. He seemed to be making a show out of it and drew all the passenger's attention to him. He lowered his voice in a creepy way and begin,

“The World's Magic can be divided into two: Ether and Mana. The Faileas and the Fae. Fae can sense and control mana, but not ether. Ether is the domain of the Faileas. It's a strange magic shrouded in mystery . We don't know too much about it, but there are rumors that those who can control Ether have the abilities to cast curses and control minds. Manipulate even the fabric of the universe. What is even more strange, since humans are creatures of mana, when we meet a Faileas they appear as ghosts. Lacking any presence. In return we appear as ghosts to them. There is a clear division between the two types of creatures. ”

Mage Kharon paused for a dramatic effect.

“But, haven’t you heard? There exists a third category. An unearthly mixture of mana and ether. How weird is it to think about it? Doesn't it make you shiver?”

The room caught into the man’s storytelling all gasped. A child started to cry, causing the mother to send Kharon a death stare. The older knight shook his head.

“Mage Kharon that is enough. Please sit down.”

“ Fine, killjoy.”

In a quick motion the mage pivoted on his heel to walk back, crashing into Soraya. He lost his balance falling onto his bottom.

“Ow.”

“Are you okay?” Soraya quickly offered her hand to him.

He grabbed it and Soraya helped him to his feet.

“I bumped into you, so I should be one to ask….” he looked at her trailing off.

He turned his head to Thanh then back to her. He lowered his voice to a soft tone.

“Are you perhaps the apprentice to the Supreme Warrior Louis and her green hair companion? From Francia?”

All the knights in the room turned towards them. Their eyes peered down on them.

Soraya narrowed her brows. So they recognized her. She was afraid of this happening. The order of the dragons had never been friendly with the Lutetia Knights. Nothing she could do now. Preparing for a confrontation, she put on her best business smile.

“Ex-apprentice. Didn't you hear I quit the Lutetia Knights.” Though she expected that the fact would not be enough to keep them from being hostile to her.

“I knew it.” The mage Kharon took in a big breath.

Soraya braced for his words.

He dropped onto his knees.

“What a wonderful day today is. The rumors of your beauty did not lie. To be gifted a sight of such a rare beauty, I’m truly the luckiest man around.”

Soraya’s smile slanted. From all the possible reactions, she didn't expect this. She turned her head to the knights. By the way all of them had a baffling look and the old knight burying his face into his hands, she guess they also didn't expect it.

Karon brought his hand to his forehead and continued his montage.

“ Hair as beautiful as a midnight calla lily. Skin beckoning to be kissed as an empress’s smoky quartz ring,” he lifted her hand and kissed it. “ Eyes enchanting as a desert at sunrise. I could stare at it all day. ”

“Flatter.” She cut him off. A sneaky suspicion told her, if she did not he would continue non-stop. She turned to Thanh. “ Why can't you praise me as such?”

“Because if I did, your already big ego would inflate. Ow.”

She smacked him on the head. Turning back to Kharon, she invited him to sit with them. A flirt such as him was easy prey to pry information from.

“Your name is Kharon, right? Mine is Soraya and this is my friend Thanh.”

Thanh waved to Kharon.

“ I was wondering, why were the order of the dragons and a Magyarorszag Empire’s court magician doing all the way out here?”

Kharon awkwardly smiled.

“You know I'm a court magician?”

Soraya smirked and lifted her tea.

. “You are not the only one who pays attention to the world’s politics, Grand Mage Kharon Kirall.”

Kharon shrugged .

“Caught red handed. So you want to know what we are doing? We are currently taking our apprentices to watch the war between the Aragon kingdom and the Navarre kingdom.”

“Why?” Soraya raised her eyebrow.

“Because youths have a habit of glamorizing war. Best way to disillusion them is for them to witness it themselves.”

“Understandable, but why are you going?”

“ Nothing gets past you. What a pleasure to be able to talk with such beauty.”

He pretended to swoon.

Thanh leaned over and whispered to Soraya.

“Permission to punch him.”

“Denied.”

Thanh clicked his tongue.

Kharon returned back to his serious expression. “ I'm going since the Varangian Guard is getting involved.”

“What is so important about a mercenary group joining a war that your empire sent a court magician?”

“ Because my empire is hoping I will be able to gain info on the Varangian Guard’s mysterious Dragon Slayer.”

“Dragon Slayer? As in the past heroes?”

Kharon tilted his head in confusion.

“Soraya, Thanh, you guys have not heard about it? About the Arch-mage and Arch-warrior from 3 months ago? ”

They both shook their heads.

“Let's say we have been busy dealing with some personal problems the last couple of months.”

Kharon smiled wide.

“Well I would be happy to catch you up to date.” but before he could begin the old knight stood up and placed his hand on Kharon’s shoulder.

“That is enough Mage Kharon. It is about time you stopped leaking our information. Lady Soraya and her companion have a good day. ” He bowed and dragged Kharon away.

Soraya frowned.

“Kharon is right. What a killjoy.” She slipped the last of her ice tea.