Drow I
"Isn't this a little sudden?" Aurelia said suddenly, her large almond-shaped eyes poised upon the silver-haired boy with an Arcane Crystal in his hand. There was a sort of pressure to her gaze, an intensity that wasn't there before.
Zariel ignored it, pocketing the Arcane Crystal. He turned to Genny outside the manor. "The Manor is yours until we return. However, do be aware that should anyone that isn't me or you enter, there is a large possibility that something might occur that'll kill you and everyone on my property."
Genny, once again, wanted to cry. But didn't have the courage to speak out. " I understand," she said in squeamish cry.
Aurelia had not glared at Zariel so intently as she was doing now. "Then why don't we just bring her with us?"
"And who will feed the horses, water the gardens, or tend to many other things?" he said, wondering why he needed Genny anymore. 'It wouldn't be hard to create a 'Construct' out of Arcane Ore or some other lesser material.' he thought.
Aurelia fumbled for words, unable to refute his words. Yet intuition found the answer she sought. "You're not firing her."
Zariel looked a little surprised. 'Does she know me so well already?' "I never said I—-"
"You're not getting rid of her; I need her," Aurelia declared, her small fist tightening into balls.
Despite not liking the tone in which she spoke, the boy managed a smile so cold it felt like it could cut through steel. He could sense the resentment alongside the air of awareness the girl carried with her.
'Did her domain give me away?' he wondered. Without making his intent known, Aurelia had managed to gauge his train of thought, a feat few could manage.
"I do believe you've no say in the matter. But you're free to do as you like. Though her life is now in your hands." Zariel claimed, entering his carriage, that Selene had procured.
The Countess tilted her head. "What was that Arcane Crystal for?"
Zariel reached into his pocket and fished out the Arcane Stone, which was the size of a marble. It was a dull blue, a symbol of its poor grade. "It's a key. I've given one to Genny to enter and exit my estate as she pleases."
Selene was impressed. "What happens if someone steals it?"
"Nothing, though I'll be alerted of the changing of owners. And will make changes remotely should the need arise," he said, amused, mixing lies with truth.
He didn't tell her of the curse hidden within the depths of the stone or the trap hidden beneath the curse.
Aurelia boarded the carriage, finding a seat beside Zariel, her eyes fixed upon Selene. "Big Sis, what are the classes like within Trinity?"
Selene gave the question a bit of thought just as the carriage took off. "For the first years, there are three classes: Transfiguration with a focus on Alchemy, Abjuration, and Arcana."
"Why Abjuration?"
"Before one can fight, one must learn to protect themselves," she answered, smiling. "You've no idea how much trouble a child can get into. Fifty years ago, one of the fifth years hurled themselves off a castle wall nearly over a mile tall in order to test his body's resistance. Foolish, yes, but sensing his impending death, the boy managed to invoke 'Resist.' in time."
And Auralia was reminded of her actions about a year and a half ago when she, too, leaped off a cliff in order to prove herself.
"The boy broke several bones, but he's alive and well now. But had he not cast Resist, he'd have been a paste upon the cobblestone."
Zariel lazily glanced from out the window, spotting a few watchmen monitoring the carriage. He nearly laughed at the gall in which they so blatantly studied him.
'Should I perhaps bare my fangs?' he thought when his mind suddenly swayed to Jon, locked away in his dungeon howling like a deprave dog, and wondered if his mind would last. He'd placed the soul near the fire source, stimulating the searing sensation they would experience when they were burned alive.
'No… Better a broken man than a competent one. Jon is still young. It's safe to say the older he gets, the more his willpower will grow. My whispers will lose their effect. The fact I could control him was a mere testament to how much I frightened him.'
As the carriage pressed on in the dead of night, it did not take long for Aurelia to fall asleep and for Selene to vanish to feed. The night was her domain, and a pureblood like herself would never deprive herself of blood. In contrast, Zariel resumed his studies of the Weave.
To the outside, it appeared he was merely staring at empty space, but through his eyes, his gaze was upon a particular string. A string of karma. From his chest, it shone an iridescent grey.
It was the string of Zero.
And it was writhing, weaving through the confines of space, connecting to hundreds of different elements, monitoring him.
'He's listening now,' Zariel thought. 'Another test. How unfortunate he's so far away.' "I know you are watching me.' he said aloud. ' If it'll make you feel better. You can hire someone to deliver me a Holocube. Their frequencies are virtually impenetrable. And we can even use code names."
The string snapped, dissipating into the void of nothingness, bringing a smile to the boy's face at the caution of his friend. He chuckled, moving on without another thought.
This past year, with the collection of over a hundred souls, Zariel had managed to double the speed at which his soul supplied Astral Qi to his Dantain, allowing that small semi-ethereal organ of his to expand. He could sense the condensed energy calm as a still lake when his focus shifted to his Arcana.
[Arcane Essence: 886/900]
'The flow slowed considerably the more my energy gathered. Still, it's not bad. Once I collect my first star, the energy should condense enough for me to cast level two spells, maybe three.'
Continuing his idle cultivation of devouring the Arcana, the days towards Trinity seemed to slip away in. During the day, he taught Aurelia more about Transfiguration and Aburjation. To which Selene was more than willing to listen, finding her basic level of mastery increasing.
None of what Zariel spoke of was overly complicated, but it gave her perspective none in there could articulate to an audience.
When lessons were done, Aurelia saw to challenge some of the guardsmen Selene brought with her to escort them to Trinity to a dual. There had only been seven, but they had a high level of mastery within the school of Abjuration that earned them the right to accompany the Countess.
The little girl had not won a single match. But despite the somewhat harsh way she was being thrashed, she always popped her head up with a cheeky grin as if the pain was nothing.
The captain of the guards, Jessica Valstiv, had been the most impressed, nearly falling in love with the bright-eyed girl. No matter what she taught Aurelia, the girl would suck in that knowledge and enhance it until she was fighting back on even footing. This carried on for days before one of the scouts on patrol, Riv, came hurrying back around mid-afternoon.
"My Lady, we spotted a small caravan up ahead. A mile off," he said to Jessica.
"What's the scene like?" asked Jessica blandly as the Countess and Zariel listened.
"A slaver from Truval. Apparently, they were attacked by some Lunar Wolves. Quite a few bodies are on the road. It's a mess."
"This could be a trap. This area of forest is a prime location to lay an ambush," said Jessica mildly. She turned to the Countess. "What should we do, my lady?"
"Going off-road in a carriage isn't smart. Something will break," said Selene, peering into the dense forest of green. Even from here, she could smell the blood wafting through the air, stimulating her senses. "Stay on the road."
"You heard her. Tact, Vash, Loddi, Simon, ready your shield. Tim, Rel, get your bows ready. We're moving out." she ordered as Aurelia popped her head out of the carriage.
Zariel pulled her back in and away from the windows, "Have a bit of survival instincts, will you? Windows kill."
"You're by the window," the little lass countered, her cheeks puffing.
"That's because I'm unkillable," Zariel said as a matter of fact, the air of confidence around rising alongside his arrogance. He slid his gaze towards the forest, his eyes narrowing towards the depths of shadow leaves and trees dancing back and forth.
The carriage began forward, its pace slower than before.
The boy noted the tension of the guards, the perspiration gliding down the flesh. The unknown was testing them, measuring their courage.
Minutes later, signs of battle lined the forest bed filled with corpses of silverly white coats, alongside the bodies of several men, elves judging by their clipped ears, draped in rags.
'Did the Slaver use the slaves as bait?" Zariel wondered, studying the horrid expression of pain and relief during their last moments. He grinned, and beneath the eyes of everyone, he drew the rune [Resist].
"You suspect danger?" Selene asked, casting her Spirit Domain out a hundred meters. It gleamed nothing but the forest bed, covered by wildlife. "I don't sense anything."
The Silver Devil merely grinned.