"Are you okay?" Erza was surprised to meet Ash in her dream.
"Not okay. I did not expect that you were a demon princess."
"Sorry, it was all my fault that you ended up in your current state. Anything I could do to help you?" Erza slowly spoke. She did not argue back when she was called a demon princess.
"It's not your fault. I knew that you were not aware of your parents identities. Since the acceptance ceremony six years ago, I knew that you were a half demon, however, I underestimated your bloodline power. Your father must be at least a demon king."
"So what should I do to help you?"
"It is not easy to help me. You need to find a divine blacksmith to repair my soul. However, it is very hard to meet one in Black Snow Empire. Moreover, I don't think the current you have the qualification to request for their help yet." Ash slowly explained. Erza was clearly disappointed to hear that.
"No need to feel guilty. It was my choice to help you. Just remember to be careful when you break into the King realm in the future." Ash reminded.
"Also, think first before you talk. Luckily you haven't told your two aunts about me. Otherwise, how will you explain what caused me to be in this situation? Tell them that I helped you to pass your Demonic Tribulation?" Erza was speechless. Ash was right. She really did not think that far. She was too focused on finding help for him.
"As for my recovery, don't think much about it for now. Just focus on your study and practice well. I will still be able to talk with you in your dream." Erza nodded in reply.
"Can I still use the sword? Will it affect you in a bad way?" Erza suddenly remembered about this issue. When she was in the training room, she did not dare to use the sword flame too much because she was worried that it would weaken Ash.
"You can still use the sword. It won't affect me too much. However, until I fully recover, you would not be able to use those two ultimate moves." Erza knew which two moves Ash was talking about. She also hoped that there would not be a situation which forced her to use any of the two moves. After telling Erza those things, Ash then disappeared from her dream.
In the end, Erza spent the rest of her weekend catching up with her two aunts and practiced. She started to cultivate her Eyes of Chronos based on the method stated in the book she received from the old ancestor.
Interestingly, her eyes abilities were strongly related to her emotions. To improve her eyes mastery, Erza needed to practice controlling her emotions. In most cases, the stronger her emotion, the stronger her eyes would be.
Learning from her past mistake, this time before she went back to the academy, Erza asked for a number of resources from Valentine clan.
Given her status as their holy daughter, Erza ended up receiving more than what she requested. Some were recovery pills, some were antidotes, while some were poisons. She also received a lot of herbs and pills which would be helpful to her future practice.
Finally, it was the time for Erza to go back to Black Snow Royal Academy. Starting from tomorrow, she would really start her academy life. She would not be able to go back home whenever she wished it anymore.
Before she went, Victoria and Violet kept reminding her to be careful when dealing with boys, must not become the easy type. She needed to learn how to push and pull. Erza just laughed at their reminders, but deep inside, she felt warm from their concerns.
Erza already had her dinner at Valentine clan, so when she arrived at the academy, she went straight to her room. Soon, Lisa and Linda came to visit her. They talked for a short while before both girls returned to their room.
Just when Erza was going to sleep, there was suddenly a knocking sound on her door.
"Who is it?" Erza asked while walking toward the door. However, she did not receive any reply.
In the end, Erza still opened her door because she was confident that no student was her equal, while the staffs were mostly at knight realm. She believed that even if it was an assassination attempt, she would still be able to hold on until helps arrived.
"Elsa!" Erza was pleasantly surprised to see her friend standing in front of her.
"Surprise." Elsa smiled.
"Come in….. How are you doing?"
Erza and Elsa then spent a few minutes to catch up with one another. Elsa actually asked her sister not to inform her friends when she regained consciousness because she wanted to give them a surprise. When Erza asked how she was feeling now, Elsa assured her that she was fine.
Next, Elsa pulled up her clothes and Erza could see a crystal blue ice in the middle of her chest.
"This….." Erza was shocked.
"It is called 'Ice Heart'. I'm currently depending on this thing to survive." Elsa revealed.
"Why do you show me this?"
"To show you that I trust you. How about you, do you trust me?" Elsa asked and looked at her in the eyes. Erza shuddered.
"Yes." Erza replied in a low voice.
"Good, I know you have your own secrets and I will not force you to tell me. I just hope that when you feel the weight on your shoulders is too much, you are willing to share some of those with me."
"You are not alone."
Erza was really touched by her friend words. She hugged Elsa and slowly said "Fine, I'll remember that."
Elsa had long noticed the change in Erza. It started in her fight with Veronica. Then, when Elsa woke up from her coma, her sister told her everything about the final match and it bothered her mind again. She was worried that her first friend would change to become she did not know.
Besides telling her about the final match, her sister also told her that her friends were all worried about her condition and said that she had found good friends in the academy. She was happy with her sister valuation because Bella was very keen in observing people personalities.
Elsa did not stay for long since they still had class tomorrow morning. As usual, after exchanging good night greetings with Beel, Erza went to sleep.
........................…
Erza and Elsa arrived on time for their morning class. Shortly after them, Qi Long and Qi Di also arrived. Erza noticed that Qi Long was looking at her with an angry face but she did not care. Who asked him to push her down and kissed her cheek. He did not feel sorry for doing that, so Erza also did not feel sorry to make him waited like a fool last Friday.
Mr. Ariel came and the class started. Today lesson was about the general knowledge and the situation of human realm. Some students were aware of it, while others did not. Therefore, it was important to bring everyone on the same page.
"As some of you probably know, human realm is divided into five continents; Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Central Continents." Mr. Ariel started to explain.
"Each of the continents has several countries, cities, empires, and kingdoms in it. For example, in the Northern Continent, we have our Black Snow Empire, Cersian Empire, Hevant, and the Kingdom of Athens. There are also smaller empires and countries like Megathenes, Nanda Empire, and Jiang Dynasty, which attach themselves to the bigger players."
"Back in the First Realms War, in order to deal with the Gods and Demons, World Alliance was founded. There were five founding members and the alliance included every major empires, kingdoms, and countries in the human realm."
"The founding members were our Black Snow Empire from the North, Ten Thousand Islands Empire from the South, Holy Kingdom of Panace from the West, Eastern Sage Dynasty from the East, and Hathaway Empire from the Central Continent."
"Obviously after the fall of Eastern Sage Dynasty, there are currently only four founding members remaining."
"At present time, those founding members are recognized as the overlords of their respective continents and become the main pillars of human realm. As for the Eastern Continent, most of the empires there are controlled by demons and fallen angels."
"In order to protect the rest of the human realm, the four overlords decided to station their troops at Parmenia, Cheras, Nanda, and Ashoka respectively. There are always skirmishes on the borders every now and then."
"And for your information, at the end of your second year, the academy will conduct a special test called Eastern Trial in Parmenia. For most of you, it will be your first life and death trial. So study and practice well in these next two years."
"So far, do you have any question?"
"Is the trial mandatory for all second year students?"
"Yes."
Every students gulped after hearing their teacher confirmation. This was not a joking matter. If they understood correctly, then in that trial, they would be up against the demons and fallen angels in the Eastern Continent.
After seeing that there was no further question from his students, Mr. Ariel continued with the lesson.
Finally, it was the time for lunch break. Erza and Elsa stood up and was planning to make their ways to the cafeteria. However, Erza suddenly found her hand was grabbed by someone.
"Wait!"