A pleasant hum echoed in a cold, damp cell. Arte was bound by chains as he stared at the body of a bleeding woman.
Arte's mouth was opened as he failed to control his emotions. The fire burned around Arte's body, and the chains sent out lightning, shocking his body numb.
However, Arte's rage continued and with a roar similar to that of a beast's... Arte was devoured by his flames…
Fwu!
Arte's eyes shot open, and the first one he saw was Hylda's eyes.
"Why are you breathing so heavily?"
Arte realized what was happening and immediately crawled away to escape from Hylda.
Bam!
As he backed away, he hit his head on the tree that was directly behind him. He was in pain.
"Are you okay?"
"I am." Arte was fine.
Hylda raised her brows as she snickered at Arte's little show. She then picked up her spear once more and got back to training.
It was currently 1:00 in the afternoon. Filla and Lyra were inside training in magic. Lyra just awakened her Mana, and both of them were being taught by Mina and Vyra. Though Filla had been acting rather proud as she too was teaching Lyra the basics from time to time.
Arte watched as Hylda train. Her movements were elegant, too elegant to be dangerous, but enough to make Arte realize its strength. He had gathered information about Hylda and learned she had not even begun learning the spear for half a month.
He can only assume she was someone talented like every other person in this mansion.
But it did get Arte thinking. Someone like her wielding the spear so often could destroy her hands. There was a reason why both in this world and his previous one, female warriors were a minority.
Most fear combat would ruin their value as women. Many societies value a woman's beauty more often than anything else.
A woman warrior was sometimes even seen as barbaric by some narrow-minded fools. This would be the reason why there're so few women in the army.
Even attending the academy was a mere formality. But then again, Mina was feared but was desired by everyone.
Arte was at first struck by cupid when he saw her acting like an elegant lady. But seeing this side of her did not turn him off; instead, it made him fall harder for Hylda.
'Not only is she a perfect beauty, but she is also a true warrior.' He even decided to gather information regarding her and confirmed her kindness.
All of a sudden, a sigh came out of Hylda, and she stopped her movement. She turned to Arte and asked with furrowed brows, "Aren't you staring too intensely, Sir Arte?"
She felt no shame, for she was not the one doing something wrong.
'Being stared at is something to be proud of as it was proof of being your beauty. However, if one stares too much and makes you uncomfortable, it is acceptable to tell them off…if they don't stop, you can crush their balls. What was that, Filla? Oh, do not worry, dear, that's why we have healers.' Mina was not the one who taught Hylda these words…it was Shickly.
Hylda planned on keeping those lessons close to heart. She even poised her spear to strike all by instinctive movements.
Arte awoke in his trance and quickly stood up and lowered his head to apologize, "I-I am sorry, I was enamored by the beauty…ah, what am I saying? What am I saying? Forgive my rudeness, Young Miss."
Arte apologized as his face flushed. He thought a lady such as Hylda would be offended by such words, but as he raised his head, he saw Hylda, touching her reddened cheeks.
"D-do you really think so?" Hylda shyly asked.
Arte unknowingly nodded his head, further reddening Hylda's flushed image. Arte found this even more adorable as he felt his heart beating wildly as if he had gotten a heart attack.
'My son, you will know it when you finally experience it…your heart will feel like it is bursting. It is the greatest feeling and the one you must never let go of. If you feel that it is mutual…be a man and speak!' This was a memory for when he was three years of age. The earliest thing he could still remember about his father was this single word of wisdom.
"This is…this is the first time other than my family said such a thing…Sir Arte, why don't you face me?"
Once more, the boy nodded his head without so much as a thought.
"Yes? How lovely, this is a first for me..." Hylda celebrated with a wide smile.
Arte lifted his head and looked at Hylda's eyes. His mind was too muddled to notice that something weird was going on with Hylda.
'I-it's mutual?? Did I just do it? No, what kind of a man I am that I let her be the one to speak of those words. I must say it aloud.' Arte failed to think correctly, as this was a first for him as well.
He gathered his courage as he decided to go all-in, all of a sudden, "Young Miss…I—"
However, as he spoke, Hylda's crimson pair of eyes glowed, and the tip of her spear stopped just before Arte's neck.
Arte's mind blanked…
"…for you to acknowledge the beauty of my spear…I knew you wanted to face me, now, prove me of your worth."
Hylda…was not stupid. She was quite bright, actually. She learned etiquette and history fast and could be comparable to an average mage when it comes to intelligence.
However, she had no such thing as a romantic interest in her mind. She was aware of it but had no interest in them and ignore them if possible. If one tells her they like her, Hylda would most likely answer that person she likes him too before moving along.
Add to that fact that she had just gotten herself a family and cared more about them than anyone else. Hylda would rather spend time with Shickly training or hearing his war stories than be with anyone else. She sees romance as unnecessary.
But it was not that it would be impossible for Hylda to fall in love; she very much could. It was just that she didn't find Arte all that attractive or interesting. In short, he was not her type.
Besides, Arte cut off his sentence somewhat awkwardly, thus giving Hylda to fill the blanks for him.
Thus, without so much warning, Hylda and Arte entered into a spar and for some reason…Arte felt satisfied as this was enough to bridge a connection to Hylda.
He had taken a step forward from just looking at her from afar.
***
"Brother, is something funny?"
"No, I just felt satisfied for some reason."
At around 2:00 pm, Colt sensed something rather tragic. It was as if someone had been given hope and was shot down by chance. He smiled despite the bad feeling.
'Hmm, well, enough of that, let us go back to enjoying this moment.'
Colt was currently living through one of his childhood dreams of riding a Dragon.
He was currently on Draco's back, the Purifying Fire Dragon.
The beast was 25 meters in size. Its white scales were lustrous and beautiful; it was an almost perfect beast.
Colt was happy about this beast because, for one, he was actually controlling the darn thing. For some reason, the Dragon bowed down before Colt when it saw him.
The Dragon Pearl on his palms must have made it like him.
On the back of the beast were Mary, Risa, the two pets, and Colt.
In a matter of seven hours, they managed to reach the treeline of the Magical Beast Forest.
Waiting for them down below was Lopre and the Squadron awaiting their arrival.
Lopre and the Squadron were sent here for the final part of their training.
"We greet the Young Master." All of them bowed before Colt.
'It's time to hunt.'
However, as they arrived, a beast suddenly opened its eyes, for it had sensed the Dragon's return.
From the very depths of the Forest.