Aria woke up and groaned a bit. She sat up and looked around. She saw Joshua sitting on a chair and he looked at her and smiled.
"About time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty." Joshua said.
"Ehh?! W-What did you just call me?" Aria blushed and pinched his cheeks.
Joshua laughed softly and teased her more. Uchi ran to the room Aria was in and swung open the door.
"Aria! We won!" Uchi said happily.
"You did? That's amazing!" Aria smiled and released Joshua.
"It's all thanks to Avani, just barely tapping the flag of the banner." Uchi giggled.
"It's nothing worth mentioning." Avani gave a smug smile and rubbed her finger under her nose.
"Oh you all are letting her get a bit arrogant huh?" Aria giggled. "Where are Sefia and Kikuri?"
"They are catching up with Honoka and Tate. They are two of the top graduates from our home country. There are six top graduates, Vildron and Yan, Honoka and Tate, Quentin and Ebony. Quentin and Ebony didn't come as they are studying in our home. They recently got married." Avani smiled.
"What's your home country called?" Aria asked.
"Mistral." Joshua answered. "Actually we all studied in a place called Arkas Academy. I was in the 30th Division Demon Hunters, the Order of Light and I am the youngest commander of the 30th Division."
"Ohh? You never told me you are a demon hunter!" Aria said.
"Yeah there are many demon hunters in Mistral, there are magical being in our home country no one has even heard of!" Avani said.
"Well I'm sure Genten has their fair share of devils and angels here." Aria said.
"True, the elemental energy here is quite powerful to a fault, mainly because people here are legends. Speaking of Legends, we have two kingdoms to capture, Violight and Akura. The enemies are Ginchiyo Tachibana along with Muneshige Tachibana and in the Kingdom of Akura is Yoshihiro." Avani said.
"I see." Aria nodded.
"I think it's time for a change of pace. Instead of taking on one kingdom at a time, let's split into two groups!" Avani suggested.
"Ahhh, That sounds like an amazing idea! Okay who's with who?" Aria asked.
"You call the shots." Joshua smiled.
"Me? O-Okay." Aria said.
Aria thought for a while. She was more interested in fighting Ginchiyo and Muneshige than Yoshihiro. She had her sights on Ginchiyo. She closed her eyes.
"What element is Ginchiyo and Muneshige?" Aria asked.
"Ginchiyo is a Thunder Element and Muneshige is the Air Element." Uchi said.
Aria nodded and smiled. That's all she needed to know and she made up her mind.
"Alright. I am going to Violight. And Joshua, you are the commander of Team 2." Aria said.
"As you wish." Joshua said.
"I will be taking Uchi and Avani." Aria said.
"Do you have any specific reason why?" Joshua asked.
"Uchi is a Thunder Element so naturally she will just absorb any Thunder Elemental attack and Avani is an Earth Element so she can easily deal massive damage to Ginchiyo." Aria said.
"Keep in mind I can still be damaged by Thunder Based attacks since I am a Grass Variant." Avani said.
"And Muneshige can also damage us." Uchi said.
"I know. Muneshige shouldn't be too much of an issue though." Aria said.
"Alright so I shall take Sefia and Kikuri to conquer Akura. When shall we head out?" Joshua asked.
"Act upon your own integrity." Aria said. "You are the commander of your own team until we unite once more. So you call the shots with your own squad." Aria said.
"Right." Joshua stood up. "We shall meet in a few months if we are fast enough."
"Mhm! Do your best!" Aria said.
"Oh yeah the only way to get to Akura is by going north from Ignis." Avani said.
"Alright." Joshua said and walked out the room.
Uchi and Avani sat down in chairs and talked with Aria for a while. They talked happily about their huge victory. Later, they got an unexpected visit.
"Congrats on your victory." Motochika said and smiled.
"It wasn't me, it was all Avani clutching it." Aria smiled.
"As a Warlord, you deserve credit. You have trained hard and trained your soldiers to be this well skilled. And I must say, your melody stands out more. You have leveled up." Motochika nodded.
"You can tell?" Aria asked.
"It's true! That move you did with your katana!" Uchi said.
"Oh! I remember! It was all impulse." Aria giggled.
"Come on, give it a name." Avani said.
"Alright. Hmm.." Aria thought for a bit. "Ultimate Skill: Crescent Luminous!"
"Crescent Luminous. It has a nice ring to it." Motochika smiled.
"Mhm! Now all I have to do is evolve so I can use my new Ultimate Skill without passing out." Aria said.
"Can't you use your Warrior Skill to help with stamina?" Avani asked.
"Light Boost increases all my other attributes except stamina. That's the downside of Light Boost. Light Judgement Slash didn't take much stamina to use, Crescent Luminous uses both physical stamina and elemental energy so it's easier for me to get tired. That's why I am only going to use it as a last resort." Aria said.
"I see." Avani nodded.
"Well I wish you the best of luck in your next battle." Motochika said and walked off.
Aria smiled and nodded. She stood up fully recovered and grabbed her sword. It was going to take a while to get from the Kingdom of Kusa to Violight. Avani and Uchi also stood up and followed her out the room. Motonari watched from his balcony and smiled.
Meanwhile in Violight, Ginchiyo was training as she knew of Aria's soon to come arrival. She trained diligently. Muneshige walked up and touched her shoulder.
"There is no need to tire yourself out on the first day." He smiled.
"I have to as my samurai code, I will defend this kingdom at full power!" Ginchiyo said.
Muneshige looked at her and turned her to him and smiled. She looked into his eyes and he rubbed the few strands of her from her eyes. She blushed and looked away.
"You aren't the only Tachibana, I am also here. I can't have you risking your life. Take a break. I prepared us dinner and your favorite dessert." Muneshige smiled.
"S-Sweet cakes?" Ginchiyo mumbled quietly.
"What was that?" He chuckled.
"N-Nothing of your concern! Thank you for preparing dinner!" She blushed and quickly walked to the castle.
"The same Ginchiyo as in the past.." Muneshige chuckled.
He followed Ginchiyo into the castle. He looked at the Thunder Pillar. He chuckled as he continued to the castle.
"I hope Aria doesn't underestimate my wife..or else she's gonna feel a powerful shock." He said.