The woman who entered has an imposing demeanor. Her dark violet eyes spoke of her arrogance as she stared down at the people in the room. Her confident figure as she stood straight was easily magnified by what she wore, a red medieval gown with long trailing sleeves. Clearly, a garment for the rich. Her long, wavy and brownish red hair swayed as she gracefully walked towards the group.
"What's this? You actually brought your so called friends with you."
Vera frowned as she stood and confronted the new arrival. "Why are you here?"
"Why can't I be here? I also live here." The woman raised her right eyebrow as she looked at the other people around. "Same worthless people. You even brought a new man. You two seemed really close just now. Is he one of your admirers that you felt pity for?"
"Enough Vina! You will not disrespect me and my friends like that!" Vera shouted.
Vina sniggered. "Ha! Your are delusional. You think they are really your friends? Have you forgotten your mistake from before?" Vina's laughter was suddenly replaced by a scornful look. The surroundings started to turn hot as she released a flaming aura around her. "And you are being mistaken my little sister. You all should be the one respectful to me."
Cyziel stood up. He walked beside Vera and smirked at Vina. "Need any help?" He jested.
Vera was startled. "Cy! There is no need for you to help me. I can handle her myself."
Vina was initially annoyed by how Cyziel looked at her but she then suddenly laughed. "This is so funny! Someone is actually protecting you!" She smiled at Cyziel. "Tell me. Where are you getting your confidence? I have never seen you before. Are you an Intermidis? Maxima?"
"Shut up Vina!" Vera nervously shouted. She was not scared of her sister. She was scared that Cyziel would actually get annoyed. "Just leave us!"
"Be quiet Vera!" Vina then reached out her right hand and caressed Cyziel's face. "You are pretty good looking you know? Unfortunately, you don't seem to know who-"
Vera slapped her sister's hand and gently inserting herself in front of Cyziel, pushing Cyziel back. "Do not touch him! I am warning you now."
"This is interesting! You seem really concerned about him! But-" Five yellow colored flames suddenly flared in each of Vina's fingertips. "did you actually just hit me? You think that I won't hurt you because you have your friends here with you?"
"I said leave us!" With a swing of Vera's hand, she casted a concentrated continuous wind breeze without doing any incantations. She was now able to use silent magic.
Vina immediately tried to block it with her pure aether aura but she was still pushed back by a few meters. She was not hurt but her hair and clothes got disheveled.
"You really have done it!" She swung her claws in the air in front of her and five huge claws of flames flew towards Vera.
Vera placed her hands parallel to each other as she casted a spell of wind and fire. It was similar to her spell that she used when she first fought Cyziel but the difference was that the wind essence is the dominant essence in the spell. The spell was not a streaming fire but a swirling fire like a horizontal spring.
The claws of flames clashed with the swirling gust of flames. The claws was destroyed and its flames were absorb by the swirling flames. The flames grew stronger as it continued towards Vina. Vina reinforced her body to brace for impact. As soon as Vera's spell hit her, she was blown towards the wall. Some parts of her clothes are burnt, showing parts of her skin. There were also visible injuries on her body.
"How! How are you able to fight my magic? Y-You!" Vina pointed at Vera. "You didn't say any incantations! You used silent magic!" She directed aether energy on her eyes and activated the combat art inspect. She scanned Vera and Vera didn't resist her. "How is that possible! Are you already an adept? You were only able to cast level 4 magic before I left!"
"I won't call myself an adept yet. My magicus might have reached the next level but I haven't practiced my wind spells that much yet." Vera smirked at Vina. "That's why I prefer to use it against you so you won't be hurt that much."
"Do you think that you are the only adept here? Just because you were able to surprise me, don't think that you are already stronger than me." Vina shouted. "I'll show you what a true adept is!"
*Clap Clap*. The old butler who greeted Vera earlier appeared by the door. "Young misses! You two should not fight here or your parents wouldn't be happy if they came back. You should know that I would be reporting this to them."
It should be noted that they are still in the library. The pedestal and the glass housing the memory cards might be durable but if the spells escalated to those of more destructive high ranking spells then it might still not be able to hold.
"Hmph! Report what you want! She started it! She was picking a fight with us." Vera mockingly said.
"She attacked first! I was just talking to them." Vina argued before noticing the books in the couch, behind Cyziel. "Look! Vera was letting her guests read those books! They might be taking advantage of her to get information about us! I was just warning her!"
"Shut up! This has nothing to do with these books! I was not forbidden to share this books so I can share them if I want!" Vera reasoned.
The butler suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the couch Ru was still sitting. He picked up the two Venturian journals and momentarily opened it. "These journals. Your father is trying to study them. Do you know how important these journals are?"
"If its that important then my father should have stored them in a better location!" Vera shouted. "He can't even understand them so it is useless in his hands."
The butler shook his head. He understood very well how Vera acts so he doesn't want to argue with her. He turned to the other people in the room. "Forgive me for not properly greeting everyone from before but I assume you already know me. But for those who do not know me, I am Testune, just a lowly servant of this house. You should be Mr. Jorak, Lady Rika and of course Lady Ru. I have seen your parents visit our house quite a few times." He then looked at Cyziel. "If I may ask, you are?"
"I am Cyziel. I am a new member of their team in school." Cyziel calmly replied.
"Are you one of the new students?" The butler inquired.
Cyziel nodded his head.
The butler frowned. Even when Vera really doesn't talk much to him, he has heard of the news in Vera's school. The commotion caused by the new students in the Styrtan institute was hard to miss in a small village. It was even harder to hide since the new students were also the new survivors that just arrived a few months ago.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Hahaha!" Vina started laughing again. "He is actually a freshman and a new student at that."
"That's enough lady Vina." The butler said. He doesn't fully believe of the things that he heard but it would still not hurt to be careful. He knew that Vina was still ignorant of the happenings in the village since she usually does not stay here.
Vina ignored the butler. She fixed her hair and straightened her clothes. She started to walk again towards Cyziel, ignoring her injuries and tattered clothing. This time Vera let her get close to Cyziel. She looked at Cyziel and he still didn't seem afraid. In contrast, he was exuding a very noble and confident aura. "Are you one of those men who try to look good in front of woman? Or you really are just ignorant of where you stand? "
Ru, Rika and Jorak has conflicted looks as they stared at Vina and Cyziel. They are relieved to see that Cyziel was not getting agitated but they feel bad for Vera's sister.
"Are you done talking?" Vera impatiently asked.
"Are you gonna protect him? You don't need to. I am not hurting him. I am just telling him that he should know his limits." Vina then scowled at Cyziel. "I am starting to get pissed at your smile you know. Do you think that your looks are going to save you? Are you going to just hide behind my sister?"
"Do I look like I am trying to hide behind her? I am literally standing in front of you." Cyziel firmly stood, looking directly at Vina. He didn't actually got angry. He was very much in control of himself. His reply was more of a natural reaction when he was being looked down.
"Cy! Please! Just ignore her. Go sit back down." Vera politely interjected herself between Cyziel and her sister. She tried to push Cyziel back to the couch. Cyziel, not really interested in arguing, sat down.
"*Clap! Clap!* Did I just see my sister being respectful?" Vina laughed as she sarcastically applauded Vera. "You really care about him! What kind of words that he said to you? Do you really intend to repeat your mistakes?"
"Are you really going to keep bothering us? And I already warned you to stop disrespecting him. He is not what you think he is!" Vera shouted.
"Oh really?"
"My Lady. Let us just leave your sister with her friends." Testune suggested but his tone was closer to someone who was giving an order. He wanted to break any issues before they escalate. Especially not when it is between the two sisters that he should take care of.
"Hmph! Fine! By the way Vera, I can't wait to see you regret later." Vina walked away. "Let's go Testune! I'll still need to ask our maids to find me new clothes."
"We will be going first lady Vera. Please put back the books properly to where you got them. As for these two little books, I'll be taking them. I apologize that I will need to report what you have done but do not worry, I'll make sure that you and your friends won't be implicated." Testune bowed before turning around and following Vina.
"No! No! Testune... I'll make sure to report to father that Vera got a new guy." Vina laughed as she disappeared.
Vera sighed. "She finally left. I can't really stand her."
"Why? You two seemed really similar. I could see why you two are sisters." Jorak jested.
Vera scowled. "Say that again and I'm kicking you out."
"Hey! Hey! I'm just joking!" Jorak fearfully said.
"Won't you be in trouble?" Cyziel concerningly asked.
"Hmph! Whatever I do, I am always the one doing wrong so it doesn't change anything." Vera snorted.
"Your sister is also a graduate of the institute?" Rika asked.
"Yes. I hate to admit it but she is also really talented. It took her a year and a half to reach the needed merit points to graduate. Still, she was only ranked 3rd. I am already ranked 2nd and I will make sure that I graduate by the end of this year." Vera firmly said. She was really at most just as good as her sister but that was the past. This time, she thought that her growth has finally surpassed her. Her strength was not really far from her anymore.
"She was only third? So there are also still better students than her last year?" Ru asked.
"That's not really surprising, seeing that we have someone like Cyziel this year." Vera momentarily pouted at Cyziel. "But yes, by the time she learned to cast level 6 spells. There was someone in their batch who could use level 7 combat arts. He was a corynis who is on the verge of being a premier."
"Oh! I think I have heard of him! I heard that he also got a high place in the interschool competition. I would be lucky to even be allowed to join." Jorak said.
"He was still not strong enough to win?" Cyziel curiously inquired.
Vera shook her head. "Unfortunately, our school is just in the middle of the bunch. We are actually lucky that our village is special in that we are the closest to the southern forest so our budget is a bit higher than other outskirt cities."
"If you also do not know, it is also the reason why Vera's family is living here. Her parents are assigned to assist those who are venturing the southern forest. She could be living somewhere near the capital you know. Isn't that right Vera?" Ru added.
"Hmph! My parents are nothing special. They just want to lord over people so they agreed to be assigned here." Vera snorted. "Enough of that. Let's get back on the topic. The stronger students are those from the large kingdoms that actually controls all the villages and cities in their domain."
"So whose domain do we belong?" Cyziel asked.
"We are different. We are directly under the capital kingdom but since we are too far from the capital then they really don't interact much with us. Unless, an aether storm happened which actually recently happened." Rika explained then turned to Vera. "Is that also why your parents are away Vera?"
"I don't really know. They don't really tell me anything but yes. They probably are preparing for an expedition to look for Cyziel's people which they won't really find." Vera smirked. "That's your fault, you know?"
"Hey! I don't have time to think of some other reasons. They won't be in trouble would they?" Cyziel asked. He suddenly felt concerned due to the fact that he might be the cause of any incidents that would happen.
"They would be fine. The people from the capital are much stronger than us. " Vera answered.
"Alright. That would be great then." Cyziel sighed in relief. He then seriously stared at the group. "So those from the kingdoms and the capital. How strong are they if you compare them to me."
Ru pondered. Thinking of the time she saw her father show his strength. "Uhhh... I am not sure! But if I am basing it with my father, you might actually be stronger."
"Your father? You are also from the capital?" Cyziel asked.
"Uhh no. Not me! Only my father. While Vera's parents are more of the one giving assessments and information to the expedition teams, my father usually leads the expeditions. So yeah, he is pretty strong but I still think that you would beat him." Ru then turned to Vera. "Vera would know more."
"I am also not that knowledgeable since the only time I came there was when I was a kid but the one thing I could remember is that there are a lot of places that are restricted in the capital. Even my father was not allowed to enter in those places. As for my parents, there is no mistaking it. You are definitely stronger. That monster you beat from before was something that my parents would have never face." Vera answered, smiling maliciously. That's why I want my parents to meet you. She thought.
"Yep! You still have that ring thingy of yours. I do not know how that works but you seem to suddenly erupt with power." Jorak added.
Cyziel slowly nodded his head. "I see. That seems reassuring."
"Cyziel is that strong?" Rika asked surprisingly.
"Hey, you already saw his capabilities. He also just taught you, a whole lot of intermedis and maximas!" Jorak uttered.
"I mean. I didn't know that he was that strong." Rika pointed at Cyziel. "I guess that monster that you told me was really that strong."
"Of course it was. We almost died." Vera tensely said before focusing on Cyziel. "But Cyziel, do not underestimate them. I have heard of really strong people from the kingdoms and specially the capital. There is a reason why those from the Amari Grounds were initially not that afraid of you. The first was they thought that the rumors was exaggerations and the other was that they already saw some other strong competitors."
"Did Aadit tell that to you?" Cyziel asked.
"Yes. When you talked with instructor Lyka, he told us about some other very strong participants. One in particular was said to have suddenly appeared in the Kingdom of Kangsworth. He was so strong that the previous top ranking students immediately surrendered to him. I do not know if it was just a coincidence but it seems that this year would really be different." Vera smirked. "But it would be great for you. If you do not know yet, your name has only reached up to the neighboring villages and they also are dismissing it as rumors. If you continued to lay low then they would be in for a surprise."
"We are really lucky that our village is kind of secluded. They won't know about you! The institute is probably thinking the same and planning to use you as a special weapon." Ru chuckled. "We could probably win this year's tournament. That would be the biggest surprise."
"I can't wait to watch this year's tournament. It would seem really fun to watch Cyziel beating the people from the other schools." Rika laughed.
"Hey! Hey! You just told me to not underestimate them! Don't think that I would already win!" Cyziel gleefully shouted. "But yeah, I also look forward to seeing the other participants."