“When one takes time to learn about an opponent before meeting them and relies on only that, they often find themselves left on the back foot when they are met with something they don't expect. Learning about the history of a person is only part of your opponent.” -Tern Oklad Spymaster of Elmardis, a long-lost city.
Aster
It was my first time seeing a griffin, and yeah, they were pretty much birds with legs. I mean, I knew what they looked like from drawings, but what they looked like in a book was different from what they actually looked like in reality in a weird kind of way. They were still a few hundred yards off in their own camp, so maybe up close, they looked better.
Sliding down the hill, I made my way to where Umbra was as she finished eating her catch. I couldn't tell what it was as the only piece left was a hoof.
“I look forward to seeing how your skills changed, even if only slightly,” I said, patting her side.
As she turned her head to me, her neck snapped back, and I could feel surprise in the bond, then confusion. Her head tilted as she peered close, bringing up one eye to meet mine.
“You've changed a lot more than I did, but I would have thought your eyes would match mine in color, but blue suits you.”
I smiled, warmed at how quickly Umbra accepted my change in looks. If anyone's option mattered, it was hers.
“I think our eyes were meant to match. I did go through a race change.” Speaking through the bond, I went over my advancement, giving my thoughts on how the Progenitor, multiple races, and the bond seemed to all want to change something about me. I also mentioned the weird error and repeated what it'd said off memory, but that moment was already starting to feel a bit fuzzy in my mind.
“Well, you don't look any different besides the eyes, although when I identify you, it does say beast-kin now instead of human.” Umbra made a humming noise and then blinked in thought. “There's a lot of things to test, but waiting until we're sure we're alone is a good idea. Not just to hide what we can do, but also because that progenitor system seems special, but in a way, I can't put my claw on.”
I let my eyes drift to the skill. There had been a lot of changes with my advancement and not just physically or with attribute increases. There was so much to go through that thinking of it all gave me a headache. Thankfully, Umbra was right, and in time, we'd get through it all. Our talk was interrupted by the sound of someone walking up, and I turned my attention away from Umbra to see Kat walking up.
“Hey! You're finally awake. I was getting worried. Whoa, what in the hell?” Kat stumbled In her walk, staring at me, and I snorted. If everyone was going to give me this reaction, maybe it'd be a little funny.
“I think that the change to my eyes is meant to happen in a later grade, but I guess I'm special,” I said, and I thought it was true. The only other person I'd seen with eyes like mine was Cassin, and he was the oldest dragon rider that I knew.
“Uh yeah, but there, wow, they're going to be quite noticeable,” Kat said while continuing to stare at them.
“Did your advancement go well? I know you wanted to continue your path.” My attempt at a subject change was obvious, but she answered anyway, her eyes lighting up.
“It did! It actually went better than I expected with my second-class advancement. I even..” She trailed off, looking behind her with a guilty look. “I can't say, but I have a lot of skills I can't wait to try. How did your advancement go?”
I nodded, my eyebrows raising slightly, but I didn't ask, understanding she wanted to keep it private. Wow, I was getting better at reading people's emotions. “I'm happy to hear it! Mine went well if a bit weird, but I'm really curious about some of my skills.” I pointed to my eyes, explaining part of it and hopefully avoiding questions.
Umbra let out a rumble, and I looked up at her, sensing what she wanted. She had just advanced and was still growing. A single catch wouldn't be enough. Standing up, I stretched, speaking through the bond, “Go on, I know you're hungry, and I'll be fine. I'll see what's going on with the griffins since you don't want to tell me.”
Moving away from the dragon, who was standing up as well, I gave my full attention to Kat, who was watching the dragon take off a weird expression on her face. My curiosity was turned to the new arrivals to the camp. “Kat, why are there griffins here?”
She turned to me, and her eyes widened as her face palmed. “I completely forgot. I was meant to warn you so the same thing didn't happen that happened with Umbra, but I don't think that will be a problem.”
“The same thing?” I echoed
Twisting up slightly, Kat's face displayed a bit of exasperation. “Her advancement finished just after mine, but when she awoke, the first thing she saw was the griffins, and she was hungry. It got resolved with only a few frozen feathers.”
I couldn't help it. I started to laugh, and parts of the memories showed through the bond at my request. Putting my hands on my knees, I took a breath after stopping the fights of laughter, but my smile didn't leave. For some reason, Kat didn't find the whole thing as amusing as I did, so I decided to move to a more serious topic. Standing up straight, I took note of the fact that Kat wasn't as high above me. The half-foot difference in height had shrunk. It was only an inch or maybe a little more, but I was growing.
Clearing my throat, I asked, “Why are the griffins here anyway? There from Karvum, of course; I'm sure you know why.”
Kat raised her eyebrows. “You're not as surprised as I thought you'd be to see griffins. I mean, they're not as big as Umbra, but there are still big creatures.”
I rolled my eyes. Apparently, it was my turn to feel exasperated. “I grew up with wolves that make the elk in most forests look like babies. My mother is a guardian beast, and while not as big as some of the beasts in the forest, I hunted in the inner forest; they were all triple my size at that time.” In the end, I was ticking the points off on my fingers.
Raising her hands, Kat conceded the point. “The more you speak about that place, the more mystical and dangerous it sounds, and the more I want to see it. Anyway, you're right. I know why they are here, and I did know they were coming, but I can't say why because, well, it's not my secret to tell. My brother is one of the riders that came, and he asked to meet you. If he wants, he'll tell you why, that is, if you want to see him.”
I watched as Kat's mood seemed to change, her expression growing gloomy in a way I'd never seen on her face before, but I had no idea. “I'll speak to him, of course, but Kat, are you sure, okay?”
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“I don't know, Aster, a lot is going to happen that I can't change. We're still children and gods. I'm not even eighteen yet. There's a reason I went to Arilon to learn instead of a place in Karvum.” Her fist clenched by the dagger on her waist, but after a moment, her shoulders sagged.
There was no good response to her words. With only a quarter of the story, I had nothing to go off of, so I did the only thing I knew would work and hugged her. It was a little awkward because she was wearing her armor, but I knew I had made the right choice when her arms wrapped around me. The hug lasted a long moment, but eventually, she pulled away, and I took the moment to speak.
“Did they bring any cake? We ran out over a month ago, and I know Umbra ate most of it, but we need something to celebrate our advancement besides stew made with game.”
Kat gave a small smile and then sighed when she saw I was only half joking.
I waited until Umbra came back from her hunt to see Kat’s brother, whose name was apparently Ren, more specifically Prince Rendal Karvum, but I wasn't going to use the honorifics; they were just a mouthful. When she did come back and after a quick mental discussion, she agreed to wait nearby in case anything unexpected did happen. It was a long jump to say they would attack me, but you never knew.
Approaching the camp with Kat, who had waited with me, the griffins noticed us first, the beaks of two of them pointing towards us while the third continued to pull straps off of what looked like a giant ferret. My question about where Graves and his group had been all day was also answered as I saw them sitting with two new people in red and black armor. The smell of something heavy and slightly sweet to the nose was caught on a gust of wind, and I wrinkled mine. Wine. After the party in Arilon, where I'd been doused in it, I had developed a strong distaste for the drink and smell.
“Personal guards to my brother. They know Graves if not his group, as they trained early on in the castle with him,” Kat whispered, seeing me look over the new people, then tapping my shoulder, she directed me to one of the tents. Pausing on the outside as Kat ducked in, I was given time to really inspect the griffins and for them to look at me. Up Close, I had to admit they weren't just birds. The talons on each of their paws gleamed in the light with a sharpness that demanded to be tested on scale. The yellow matching eyes also reminded me of the birds from back in the forest that preyed on other birds.
I had no plans to fight the griffins, but it might be a good idea to learn more about the skills they had and if they were like dragons in their advancement. “I wonder what other types of special flying creatures exist. The sky is big enough to host a lot, I'd bet. I remember reading about a fox who could fly.”
Umbra snorted, the noise coming clear through the bond. “Some of those stories are just stories.”
Crossing my arms, I frowned as we began a debate on how possible it was for a fox to move through the sky. The debate was mostly centered around the idea of whether the system would actually give a fox the skill to fly. The debate I knew I was winning was put on hold as the flap opened again as Kat walked out with someone who could only be Ren. In the dropping sunlight, I was able to get a good look at both of the siblings side by side. They had matching brown hair and facial features with strong jaws and sharp eyes, with one of the only big differences being Kat's vibrant orange eyes from her class compared to the bright yellows of Ren's, and Kat's constantly tangled hair compared to the combed short cut Ren had.
“Ah, the bonded on the frost dragon Umbra. You must be Aster, the only non-Arilon dragon rider on the continent.” He gave a smile. “I've been told a lot about you by Kat.” He gave a small wink.
My cheeks reddened slightly, and I looked at Kat, my eyes narrowing.
Kat held her hands up. “I only told him about a few of the things we did, like the dungeon. We had too much to catch up on to talk about much else.”
Ren chuckled, “I'm Rendal, but please call me Ren. Let's talk inside if you don't mind. My tent has runes that block most skills and abilities from hearing what's talked about inside.”
Giving a nod, I followed him in, pausing to look back at Kat, who gave a half-shrug. “He's my brother. I tell him almost everything.”
I didn't know whether to be upset at her, but when I saw Sandath, I suppose I would hide anything from him about my adventure. “That's fair, I guess. Are you coming in?”
“No, I'll wait out here and see my brother's griffin. I like to think they have a soft spot for me.”
Giving a small laugh, I walked in through the flap and took a quick look around. It was as average as any tent but made out of better fabric than my own and less decorated.
“You'll have to excuse the lack of room, but when you're on the move from place to place for a while, you get used to fewer amenities even if you do have a storage item. Please have a seat.” Ren said. He was already sitting on a cushion with a folded table in front of him and another cushion free on the other side of it that he gestured to.
“I don't mind. My tent isn't much better, ” I said as I crossed my legs and sat on the cushion.
“Usually, when someone meets with me, they expect quite a bit more ostentatious decor.” Ren chuckled. “Can I offer you a drink or wine? It's not the best, but its taste isn't bad.”
My fervently shaking head and expression had him grinning, and he relaxed back a bit.
“Wine doesn't suit me, but I'll take water if you have some,” I asked hopefully. I was still feeling the effects of the advancement, and while I could put the hunger off if I were going to be doing a lot of talking, something to drink would be nice.
Ren nodded, and with a slight movement, a glass appeared, followed by a picture. Only once we both had drinks in front of us did he start to talk about what he must have wanted.
“When I learned about you, it was a surprise that out of everyone in that school who Kat could have met, it was you. Some would call it luck, but I believe there's something more to it.”
“I didn't know who she was when I met her, and what's that even meant to mean?” I felt a bit defensive at his words, sitting up straighter and looking mentally to Umbra for a bit of help with my words. While my friendship with Kat didn't start truthfully, we still fought together, and we were friends.
“Oh, don't get me wrong, you were here with Graves for a while. If you were anyone besides who you claimed to be or had tried to get anything out of her, you wouldn't have lasted a week,” Ren said, his playful and nice mood dropping for a moment, and his yellow-eyed stare had me slightly unnerved. It was a second before he continued, “But you are who you say you are, and your intentions are what I wanted to talk about.”
“What do you mean by my intentions? I wasn't really given the option to come here after all.” I looked at the water, giving it a deep sniff as subtle as I could before I took a sip. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I'd seen it in a book. Either way, it smelled and tasted like water.
“I'm aware and sorry for that, but after the first week, the paper you asked to be sent to your mother was, and you have learned more here from these people than most would in a year of that school with only small dungeon runs and little spars,” Ren said and then let out a groan. “Sending Kat there seemed to cause more problems than it solved, but I'm getting off-topic. What I wanted to ask was your plans and intentions from here on.”
Rubbing one of my ears, I spent a moment deciding what to tell him. None of my plans were really set besides the realm event, and that was still a little ways off. “Well, I plan to go to the realm event with Kat and Umbra. After that, I'm not too sure exactly. Why do you ask?.” My answer wasn't vague by accident. A nudge from Umbra had let me know that Ren was admiring for something, but I didn't know what yet.
“Kat told me as much, and I assume that you and her, as well as your bond, are going to need to gain a lot of levels quite quickly for the event, Most people stay In their second grade for well over two years to refine their skills before advancing again?” Ren asked, giving me a curious look.
I tilted my head. Was he trying to go off-topic to throw me off, or was it a genuine question? “Not really. Why does that matter? I did just advance today.”
Ren tapped the table, eyeing me. “Because you'll be going into an event where the top people of grade two from every city all over will be fighting or doing whatever the realm event asks them to do, and you'll have my sister at your side. You're the only one that we have that can be at her side. What I'm saying is one of the reasons we're here is to take you both to dungeons to level you as fast as possible to the height of grade two, but I need to know that you have the strength to go into the realm event first.”