Chapter 11: Book:1 | Arc:2 | Ch:7

[Year 227, Steel Calendar: 2/27]

'Hmm... what to do.'

There were two days before Seyra's birthday and I sat upon my new wooden chair in another guest room. The one I destroyed had nothing of note that survived apart from some custom clothes I got for my fourth birthday. Thus, while the room was being cleaned and refurbished, I was given a guest room to use in the meantime.

And using that time, I was thinking what me and Grandpa had planned for Seyra. We'd originally planned to have half the food stored for the birthday party and half stored for when she leaves. However, we'd received some worrying news earlier that day.

Seyra was eating less and less. She stayed in her room more often than not and rarely did anything other than eat, talk to us, train and sleep.

It worried everyone... but Grandpa. He made it seem like there wasn't any problem in the first place.

Still, he was pretty grumpy before but now he's even grumpier. I don't think he'll ever show worry easily but maybe that's his way of being worried. I don't even know if he does worry. Well, that wasn't the immediate problem.

The immediate problem was two-fold. One, I was sitting in front of Cyr and a few other maids with a rack of clothes. Two, the reason for their actions, a ball. A noble ball.

Three, did I say two? Oh well, three is that I had to learn etiquette the past half a year and it had me pissed and irritable. After all, they decided two days before that I wouldn't go and Seyra would instead.

The weather had settled and the chill was receding, most of the maids and butlers were running around getting things ready for the Time of Flame. The mansion was also preparing for the Banquet me and Grandpa planned for Seyra.

And my task was to distract Seyra for a few weeks. Which, although I didn't think so at first, was much more difficult. Especially so after I learned she was mostly in her room in order to train. The noble ball was one method, I was planning to matchmake Seyra with someone else. I had no clue who as of yet but I had hopes. The ideal goal would be to distract her from what she was doing so she could take a break and maybe find some inspiration.

The clothes lined in front of me were for Seyra and we planned on storming her room with 4 or 5 sets of clothes that we thought would look good. Then, we'd see which one looks best on her. I wasn't allowed to go to the ball because I was too young but Cyr understood the mission.

"Are you even listening?"

Cyr was up in my face as I stopped zoning out. She only backed up after she saw I was paying attention.

"Now then, we've narrowed the options down to five, with the final decision being left up to Miss Seyra."

"Right, well. Let's go then."

I stood up and walked out the room. We passed a servant now or then but most of the time nothing happened. When we got to Seyra's room, I opened the door to no-one. She wasn't there. Only weights and broken wooden swords. Her bed was broken, her table shattered. I'd think someone attacked her if I didn't know better. Oh, and her pajamas were just on the floor as well.

My eye twitched.

"Wait here."

My new destination was the entrance hall. Lo and behold, there was Seyra, in what we were worried about, the clothes she was given for training albeit a bit touched up. The last 5 years had been good on her physical development at least. She was still a ris and a fifth tall but her hair had gotten longer and, while I hadn't had the chance to touch it, I'd bet on my life that it was silkier. She looked fit despite her staying in her room for most of the past years.

Her eyes held the same black flame but it looked subdued and tired, there was also this tense feeling from her. She felt like a loaded gun.

I walked up to her without care for what they were talking about. I grabbed her arm and started dragging her. She was surprisingly heavy but she didn't resist me pulling her.

"Igni, what are you doing."

Her voice sounded duller. It pissed me off. What's the point in training so hard? Why would you do something like this? Questions ran through my mind as I walked her over to the room.

When we got there, I didn't see the maids so I pushed her inside and closed the door. I heard her protests shortly after.

I stood in front of the door, looking around the hallway, my fingers twined together behind my back. I couldn't say I was better in terms of clothing choice than Seyra five years ago but I certainly could now. She didn't bother learning much other than swordsmanship and the basics of weapon care. That said, the protests I heard from the room were probably an extremely quick etiquette lesson rather than the dress.

The whole reason they decided for Seyra to go instead was because of her Aura. It was apparently rare to have a gradient color in Aura, like the pink hue she had.

"She'll be late like this."

I turned my head to the newcomer and saw Grandpa. I turned my head away and closed my eyes.

"Then she'll be late."

A scoff. I looked at him. He had a small smile on him.

"Despite Seyra changing, you've changed quite little over the years."

I closed my eyes rather lazily.

"Yeah, I don't take to change quite well."

"Do you still hate me for bringing you here?"

"No, just for making me learn etiquette."

"Ah, that makes sense then, it's frustrating even for me."

"What do you mean, 'even for you'? Your patience is non-existent as far as I've seen."

"When it comes to you, brat, it doesn't exist. But yes, I do have patience."

Then the conversation died and we just stood there. I adjusted my clothes a little but nothing else happened. The door opened. Seyra stood there in a beautiful sunset dress, matching her eyes' auburn color. The black flame twinkled inside her eyes, slightly livelier than before.

She was gorgeous. I smiled.

"This is annoying, it's not battle-ready at all."

"Indeed, it could use some adjustments."

A vein popped.

"IT'S NOT A BATTLEFIELD!"

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They stared blankly at my outburst. I got annoyed.

"Not the kind of battlefield you'd wear a battle ready dress to at the very least."

"Nonsense. Battle could happen at any time. Cities could be destroyed easily. Do not underestimate monsters, they are above us for many a reason."

Seyra furrowed her brows.

"Why is it that you seem oddly wise when it comes to battle?"

I choked back a laugh. Grandpa's eyes narrowed with an irritation I had seen many a time. I hadn't expected it to be because of Seyra this time.

"I am always wise. It comes with my age."

"How old are you even?"

His eyes turned melancholic. His fire calmed enough for me to see his actual eye color. A forest green, unusual. It certainly made my eyes widen, only for his to close a second later.

"Old enough."

There were many things I'd learned these past years. The first. Once Seyra or Grandpa fight someone on or above their level; you won't be able to stop them.

The second, the noble house that took us in was an Earl's house. They made themselves with war merits and economic contributions from Earl Gladius' wife and him respectively. That's right, the lady is the one who got war merits. Not a commanding position either, she earned the title Bloody Lady on the battlefield.

Little side-note, it was apparently middle names that were unique to nobles. Earls and above would get the option to swap last names to one that represents their contribution to the kingdom/empire.

The third, Grandpa was much, much stronger than I thought he was. His magic is baffling. It's like he skips the chant, the mana transfer, the transition. Everything. It just comes into existence. I briefly wondered whether someday, I could do that too.

The fifth was about my phoenix bloodline, I started to have thoughts that seeing the person's element and emotional state was from it. Well, it was my assumption anyway. I only knew about my abnormal fire affinity and ability to eat fire so far. Perhaps this was part of it too. It worried me because I couldn't turn it off. I couldn't sense any mana drain from it but I worry that I'd die from lack of mana for self-defence due to these eyes of mine.

I wouldn't die from lack of mana specifically since I still hadn't attempted replacing my body as of yet, I was too worried about what could go wrong.

And, although I would choose it over going back to the train... I still feared death. I last died peacefully and I didn't exactly want to know what other deaths feel like.

'I don't even know if I'd revive afterwards. It's a sobering thought.'

I came back to my senses and realized the two had already left. In front of me was Cyr with her signature smile. It irked me, the smile somewhere between motherly and super smug.

I then started towards my room.

"You aren't going to say goodbye or good luck to them?"

"They won't need it."

{{ PoV: 3rd Person }}

Chorua has two kingdoms and an empire. The one Igni was in bore the name of the Third God of Chorua, Tylrish, The God of Fire. To say she was lucky would be wrong since 'Grandpa', had chosen this kingdom personally given that all three of them had immense fire affinities. Most of its inhabitants were human, demon, the rare beastkin and the occasional dragonkin. The rest were beings without sentience.

The other kingdom was blessed by the Second God, Veiles, The God of Earth. It was populated by elves of all kinds, humans, beastman, dwarves and many others.

Then there was the Empire. Poseidon's Empire they called it, named after the Fourth God, Poseidon, The God of Water. They were a highly religious empire. Then again, all of them were to an extent.

Each place had two icons that be chosen from both war efforts and affinity with their worshipped element. For Tylrish, there was the Dragon, and the Phoenix. The ball that Seyra was going to had three objectives. The first was to acquaint the younger generation of nobility and those with great feats. The second, to bring people to their respective sides or opinions. The third, was to measure the fire affinity of the attendees.

There was the southern, eastern, western and northern regions and their resident nobility competed with who had a higher affinity. These were even solidified by wagers with high stakes more often than not.

And, in a room unseen by all attendees, those who made the wagers observed closely.

"Four outliers this time is it not?"

An olden but tired voice.

"Yes, the child who came with the Gladius household seems to have an infant hybrid aura."

A deep, energetic voice.

"The kid who came with the Myri household has an extremely high mana pool, almost the highest in the room."

A voice like that of a serene melody.

"I do believe that honor goes to the little monster that came with the Prince no?"

A stern and stiff voice.

"Indeed. And yet, that last outlier... that child is truly a monster. Where did he come from again? Or was he here in the Lioner house already?"

A voice that commanded authority.

And lastly, a soft voice.

"We have 10 slots this decade. Can we all agree that those four, if they agree, will take a slot each?"

The others nodded.

The Six voices would talk and consider their options. They would observe and make their claims. They would argue. And, their final choices would begin the maelstrom that was brewing.

And the ball would come to be known as just be the prelude to the true chaos.

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