Chapter 172: Prepare to hunt

"Woohoo, I got the best team!" An excited declaration you would expect from a child. But no, it originated from an adult woman. A commander of armies, no less, Mai grinned like a child on Christmas.

Astrid gave a sheepish smile at the older woman's enthusiasm, while Mikoto just looked at her with a hidden and dry stare. Their small 'team', as Guinevere suggested, had split up so each could prioritize an Astrothian. After Mai's convincing arguments (she just begged a lot), Guinevere allowed her to pick Mikoto to hunt along with. And much to Lukas' annoyance, Astrid was also placed within this small group. He could still not gauge why the young knight did not like him.

Currently, they were within a vast clearing with trees strewn about, their destination was a cave their Astrothian frequented. But they were making no progress due to Mai.

"You're pretty strong, right? Why do you wear that helmet? Why are you so short? Is it true you caused those intense tremors a while back? Do you truly wield Sabre? I need to know!" Mikoto blinked at Mai's rapid firing of questions. Even Astrid seemed taken aback.

"Yes, I'm pretty strong, I wear it because it's cool, I ain't short, and yes, I did cause all those tremors. And yes, I do have Sabre," Mikoto answered smoothly.

"Whoa, so cool!" Mai exclaimed, "Can I see Sabre? Please? Pretty please!?" She all but begged as she invaded his personal space.

"No, he's shy," Mikoto flatly denied, causing the woman to deflate.

"Aww..." It was quite a sight to see an adult woman look like a kicked puppy. Luckily, Astrid chose this chance to intervene.

"Mayhap we should focus on the hunting of the Astrothian?" She suggested. "A class S beast, the Aurelion." A frown tugged at her lips, "There are only a handful of its kind, offspring of the Divine Beast Adhohan, beast of the abyss. A divine being tainted by the pits of it, we may be hard-pressed."

"You seem pretty well-versed in this, could an Astrothian be that strong?" Mikoto questioned.

Astrid smiled at the praise as she spoke, "Adhohan was second only to the Great Beast of the beginning. Furthermore, myths say it even managed to severely wound The Bellum Knight, one of the four guardians of Celestialia."

"Celestiallia?" Mikoto tested the foreign-sounding name on his tongue, and Astrid was quick to clarify.

"It was described as the grandest of cities the Gods created in but mere moments. A utopia like no other, the cornerstone of the city's defense and military might was the four guardians of Celestiallia. The Bellum Knight, the Mortem Knight, the Fames Knight, and the Knight of Conquest. They were all powerful, so powerful that the Gods had seen them as equals. So it speaks of Adhohan's strength to be able to mortally wound the Bellum Knight. An offspring of it will possess great power, no doubt utilizing the abyss."

"The abyss is nasty business," Mai spoke, her voice low, and there was a slight edge in her tone with seriousness in her eyes. "But no worries, you two!" Just as quickly, that seriousness vanished like dust in the wind, "I'm the invigilator, so I'll protect ya."

"I doubt I need any," Mikoto murmured. "But still, you know some interesting stuff, Astrid. I guess the age of Gods was a broader subject than I realized."

She smiled, "Thank you, at least someone sees my knowledge of lore as interesting. My father thinks I waste my time reading myths, and as you can imagine, Mira thinks it's boring and Val a waste of time."

"Seems like a good pastime, my old man was much the same whenever I pursued hobbies. Used to be-yell my head off whenever he caught me doing anything that didn't involve studying like a maniac," Mikoto said with a chuckle.

"Our fathers are alike then...they swear they're doing it for your own good but..." She trailed off slightly.

"...it's just what's in their best interest at the end of the day," Mikoto finished. ("I guess I can understand now why she wasn't bothered by me disrespecting her father so much.") They merely exchanged silent stares, Astrid could not see his eyes, but she could all but feel the understanding there.

"Uh, should I give you two some privacy?" Mai questioned, looking at the two with furrowed brows.

"N-no, that is quite fine," Astrid cleared her throat, realizing how they seemed to an outside perspective. "Anyhow, let us away," Astrid took point as the two others followed after her. Mikoto caught up with her easily enough.

"Still, this lore is pretty interesting, and those knights' names sound Latin," he noted, causing the princess's brows to furrow.

"Latin? I am not familiar with that term," she noted, cupping her chin in interest.

"Uh, yeah, just forget what I said," Mikoto waved off, "Anyway, about myths, is it ever said who the strongest of the Gods were?" He questioned curiously. He always assumed it was Octavia with how revered her blessing was, but that seemed too cut and dry.

"Well, myths never indicated who was mightiest, however, some Gods were granted the titles of the 'Primordial Gods'. It was only given to the most powerful of Gods. Octavia, Astrea, Aragorn, Vagnir, and a handful of others. However, the Forsaken God Vagnir was ever portrayed as a fierce and violent God even his brethren feared him." She explained, Mikoto hummed in interest.

"What was he the God of?"

"Apologies, but I do not know," She flashed an apologetic smile.

"No worries," Mikoto waved off, "These myths seem pretty interesting all the same. Maybe I should brush up on them."

Her expression brightened at that, "Truly? I would be happy to help you on where to start," She offered with enthusiasm.

Mai could but look at the two with a dry gaze, "I'm here too, ya know...." The general whined.

Mikoto would admit he did feel a tad bad about ignoring her. After all, she did look forward to teaming up with him, so the least he could do was offer some conversation. But where to start, "So, pretty nice Ao dai there....dude?" He awkwardly stated. He did not really know what to even speak about to the woman.

That did not seem to matter, though. Mai's expression grew ten times brighter than Astrid's. "Yay! You're talking to me! And my grandma made this Ao dai for me a while back!" She informed excitedly.

"I see, though something I'm curious about, you don't seem to be from Galadriel," Mikoto noted. Her clothes aside, there was also an odd kind of energy he was sensing from her. His eyes, ever trustworthy, could see a second layer of energy behind her mana. Translucent and in tune with the very nature surrounding them, not inherently different from mana but what differences it had were clear to see.

"Yep, I'm from Huaxia," she declared excitedly. "It's a nation a little further west from Vel'ryr. It's rather small, though, and the city I was born in... eh, never mind. Huaxia is a great place! The people are super nice, and the food is great, everyone would love it."

"Sounds like a nice place," But he had no plans to really ever visit other nations based on whims. He only had two goals: save this realm from whatever threats were going to plague it and then return home. He could not afford to be lax. His thoughts drifted off as the trio stopped in front of the large entrance of a cave. Darkness lay behind, not a flicker of light in sight, it was ominous.

"This is the cave the Aurelion resides in," Astrid noted, "I can already sense its tainted mana."

"Well, let's be quick about it," Mikoto attempted to enter the cave but was stopped when Astrid raised a hand.

"I know I've no place to make a request to you. But even with me possessing both Divine and Magic weaponry, it is quite clear that you are far mightier than I," She started, "May I request you be support while me and General Mai are our primary offense?"

"Sure, I don't really mind. This test wasn't meant for me anyhow," Mikoto agreed with a shrug, and he got a grateful smile from the princess.

"You have my gratitude, Mikoto. Rest assured that I shall attempt to make quick work of this beast," She flashed a confident smirk as he threw her a thumbs up. Without further reservations, the trio entered the dark abyss.

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"I must say, I feel quite bad that Adrian needs to venture alone," The worried declaration came from Fiona, her ears twitched along with the protective ornaments surrounding them.

"Worry not, he received ample training from General Mai, and Aleister holds him in high regard," Guinevere waved off her worries, "And if he can't handle a mere Astrothian, then he'll be naught but a liability come the festival."

Fiona could but sheepishly chuckle at the court mage's disregard of the boy. She looked to the other member of her group, Lukas. He looked rather anxious, but something was telling her it was not due to them having to face a powerful Astrothian.

It was something Guinevere noted as well, there was a gleam in her lilac eyes as she regarded the boy, "You look like you're about to wet yourself, boy. Worry not, your dear princess Astrid is in rather safe hands."

"That!-Tch!" A heavy frown made its way onto the young knight's face, "As if I could ever trust the safety of the princess to such an unruly boy."

Now it was Fiona's turn to frown, she crossed her arms and regarded him with a sharp stare knowing who he was referring to him, "Unruly? Mikoto is quite brash, but he's anything but unruly."

Lukas gave a scoff at her words, "I doubt that, I've heard word of his blatant disrespect of the king. That simply cannot be forgiven, he's but a foreigner on Galadriel soil. The least he could do is show the king respect."

"So that's what this is about, the constant glares you threw him was due to that?" Fiona shook her head, "Though I mean King Thordan no disrespect, he was merely attempting to treat Mikoto as a tool. Someone to follow his orders without any questions, it's clear what he wanted."

Lukas narrowed his eyes dangerously, "You would dare speak ill of the king?"

"Lukas please, your ass-kissing of the king does us no good," Guinevere bluntly chimed in, causing him to recoil as if slapped, "King Thordan expected obedience from someone infinitely more powerful than him and someone who was not even native to Galadriel. He was the prat in that situation."

"L-lady Guinevere," Lukas looked appalled, and Fiona had to stifle a chuckle.

"Now come, we're not here to dilly-dally." With a flourish of her raven hair, the court mage strode forward, Fiona quickly followed behind as they entered the great forest neighboring Veron.

Lukas pursed his lips at the two's blatant disrespect of the king. As a knight in training, his honor demanded the utmost respect and loyalty to the king. Yet there were many that disregarded the authority of the king. The court mage was understandable to some degree, she was an equal of the king with just as much influence. But Mikoto Yukio, a mere foreigner? That was where the line was drawn.