Arthur sat on a bench with Gray at the base of Yggdrasil. Robin sat opposite them on the lush green grass. They chose a spot where there aren't many people.
The three of them were taking turns petting Selene. The Moon Falcon flew at Arthur's head two hours ago when he and Gray were in a crowd, which caused a small commotion.
He fed Selene a piece of beef jerky, a few silver feathers still stuck in his hair. The falcon ate the snack happily. The bird has a big appetite.
"It's a good thing that Miss Ruth taught us how to handle Moon Falcons a week ago.", Gray said as she softly stroked Selene's feathers which shimmered in the sunlight.
"Yeah. But I think Ray is still having issues with Selene. She would attack only him nowadays. As if she has a vendetta against him.", Robin said.
Arthur chuckled, "Well. He did try to encroach on her personal space many times."
"Anyway.", he looked at Gray, "You really are enjoying your time here."
"Of course! I have never seen a city like Elvenglade, so beautiful and full of life, like Yggdrasil.", Gray replied enthusiastically.
But suddenly, she swayed to the side and gripped the bench to stop herself from falling. Selene cried in surprise and flew to one of the lower branches of the immense tree.
"Gray! Are you alright?", Arthur was caught off guard. He and Robin helped her sit up straight. Arthur noticed that she was shivering and her face was pale.
"What happened?", he asked.
"She needs blood.", a voice said behind them. Arthur turned around and saw a young woman dressed in a black suit behind them. She had short red hair and pale skin.
The same type of rings that adorned Vesta's hand were seen on the woman's gloved hands. Even though Arthur didn't see any weapons, he knew this woman was armed.
"Are you Gray's Shadow?", he asked. The young woman nodded and knelt in front of Gray and rolled up her sleeves, "Here, Lady Gray. Please drink."
"I'm sorry.", Gray said weakly and opened her mouth, Her canines elongated into fangs which she sunk into the Shadow's arm.
After some time of drinking, she let go of the Shadow's hand and sighed in relief. Her trembling stopped and color came back to her cheeks.
"Thank you, Elise.", She said. The Shadow bowed, "I live to protect and look after you, Lady Gray.", she then slipped back into the shadow of Yggdrasil.
Gray blushed, "Sorry for what happened guys.", she said.
"It's alright. Vampire half-bloods must drink blood once a month.", Arthur said.
"So you drink the blood of your Shadow?", Robin asked. Gray shook her head.
"I receive fresh blood once a month from my family. But I left the academy before the blood could arrive today. So I had to substitute with Elise's blood."
"So miss Elise provides you with blood when you do not receive it from your family?", Arthur asked. "Yeah. That's correct.", Gray answered.
"Uh. So how does your family get blood?", Robin asked. "We get it through donations.", Gray replied.
"Oh."
"So. Which is your favorite?", Arthur asked, intrigued. He heard that blood from different races tastes different for vampires.
"Dragon blood.", Gray replied. "Seriously?", Robin asked.
Gray nodded, "It has a nice taste to it, like chocolate."
"Dragon blood tastes like chocolate? Hm. Interesting.", Arthur looked at Gray, "So you like chocolate?"
Gray's eyes brightened, "Yeah! I really love chocolate, especially dark chocolate. I just love the bitter and soothing taste of it.", she suddenly stopped before continuing.
Her face reddened, "I'm sorry! I get excited about chocolate and start to ramble. It's kind of embarrassing."
"I think it's cute.", Arthur said before his mind processed the answer. His face went red, "Uh. My bad.", he stammered.
He and Gray looked away, both red in the face.
Robin chuckled, "Real smooth Arthur. Real smooth."
"Shut it or I'll smack you upside the head.", Arthur warned. His face was still red. Robin laughed, "Alright. Whatever you say, buddy."
Selene flew back to the ground and was confused by the sight. The three of them soon resumed petting the falcon until the Sylran carriage stopped a few feet from them.
"Hey, guys. Hey Selene.", Seventeen said cheerfully as he exited the carriage followed by Ruth.
Selene cried excitedly and flew to Seventeen's shoulder and softly pecked his earring. He chuckled, "I am happy to see you too, girl."
"Robin. Your father asked wants you to be home for dinner since your mother is returning this evening.", Ruth said with a smile.
"Mom's coming back?", Robin looked at Edward who nodded. He smiled, "Sweet. Tell dad I'll be home, Edward."
Edward bowed his head, "As you wish, young master.", he nodded to Seventeen and Ruth and turned the carriage back the way it came.
"So. Did you guys enjoy your time in the city?", Ruth asked. The three of them nodded.
"Good to see that you guys had an amazing time. So are you ready for some exploring?", Seventeen asked.
"Yeah.", the three of them said in unison. "But where are we going?", Arthur asked.
"Well, according to lord Sylran. Some ancient ruins were found further south of the city this morning. He gave us permission to explore them and report any findings.", Ruth said.
"Ancient ruins? That sounds awesome.", Robin said. "We're supposed to meet your oldest brother there.", Seventeen added.
"Oh. Alvin.", Robin's enthusiasm dulled a bit. Seventeen raised an eyebrow, "Don't you like your brother?"
"Of course I love him. It's just the thing about having an older sibling.", Robin replied. "I can relate to that.", Arthur said. "Same here.", Gray sighed.
Seventeen laughed, "Well then. Let's get going."
"Wait a minute.", Ruth called out. They all turned to her. "I need to change. I clearly cannot do exploring in this.", she gestured at her dress.
Seventeen frowned, "And how are you going to do that?"
Ruth smiled, "It was a good thing I went back to my room to get spare clothes and my daggers when you said about exploring before we left."
"So that's why you went back.", Seventeen said. Arthur recalled Ruth rushing back into the dorm before they left claiming she forgot something.
Ruth nodded, "Yggdrasil has many hollow spaces in its trunk. I had explored them as a kid and one of them is right beside that branch."
She pointed at a low-hanging branch the size of a small street. Arthur could barely see an opening in the bark where the branch met the trunk. It was so well hidden by smaller branches and leaves that he first thought it was a crack in the bark.
Ruth skillfully jumped and entered the opening and closed the entrance with a block of opaque ice.
A few minutes later the ice disappeared and the instructor came out in her usual clothes. She jumped and landed lightly on the ground.
"Let's go exploring.", she said with a smile.
*******
Seventeen followed his students and fellow instructor as Robin led them to his brother with the help of his shadow-tracking skill.
Seventeen didn't ask lord Sylran for directions feeling that Robin should polish his skills at tracking people.
"Hey.", Ruth walked beside him. "Why did you tell lord Sylran that I found a Code to remove the Aeva's curse?", she asked.
Seventeen shrugged, "Sometimes it is not wise to have so much attention on oneself."
Ruth frowned, "So you didn't want lord Sylran to know your true abilities?"
He nodded, "Code Cancel is a powerful ability. It is also an extremely dangerous one. I don't want anyone to foolishly underestimate its capacity to drain their Reserve dry."
"Headmaster Zephyrus told me about that ability. Only warlocks who can use the magia around them instead of in their Reserve can use Code Cancel.", Ruth said.
"You sound like those types of warlocks are not that rare.", Seventeen raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. They are rare. We call them the Blessed Ones. It is said that they are loved by magia and their Reserves are much larger. So the Blessed ones can use Code Cancel with less risk to their lives.", Ruth replied.
"And judging by your abilities and power. I'm not surprised that you are a Blessed One.", Ruth shrugged.
"Wow, you really know a lot about Blessed Ones.", Seventeen was impressed.
Ruth smiled sadly, "Well. My sister was a Blessed One."
"Ah.", Seventeen heard Ruth's past from Zephyrus. He didn't know what to tell her so never asked her about it.
He looked at the melancholy face of the half-elf and decided to lighten up the mood.
"That gloomy face doesn't suit you. It looks weird. Even your sister wouldn't want you to make that expression.", he said.
"Oh. Shut up. As if you're normal.", Ruth rolled her eyes. Seventeen then saw a small smile form on her face.
He smiled as he looked up at the canopy of trees forming a sort of mesh of leaves above them.
'Emotions are really interesting.', he thought. He wondered if he would be able to experience all of them one day.
The only emotions he ever felt were sadness when he first met Selene and excitement whenever he went into battle. Maybe he inherited the battle craze from Prime.
Speaking of battle craze. It had been some time since he had a decent fight. Seventeen wondered if he will get a chance to let loose.
His thoughts were interrupted by Robin's voice. "We're here.", he said.
Strewn across the forest floor in front of them were massive stone blocks and arches that seemed to rise from the ground. The ruins were covered with thick vegetation that had been recently removed.
Seventeen could see why these ruins could be easily missed. It was in an isolated part of the woods where few ventures and the stone blocks with the thick vegetation could be mistaken as curiously shaped rocks.
He wondered about the few people who entered these parts and sat on the stone blocks, not realizing that they were sitting on a piece of Arken's history.
He looked at the huge arch, which looked like it was recently dug.
"Robin. Does your brother have the Earth attribute?", he asked. Robin nodded.
"Yeah, he does. His ability to carefully control his attribute made him an amazing adventurer and also a good archaeologist who can unearth artifacts or ruins without possibly damaging them."
He rolled his eyes, "He unearthed so many relics that he even started putting them in my room. He's a total history nut."
"I heard that.", a young male voice said from a massive column. Robin flinched at the voice.
A young elf walked from the huge column towards them. He looked about Ruth's age and had Robin's bright blonde hair and little Faye's pale red eyes.
He wore a brown long coat over a grey t-shirt and brown pants with dusty black boots. A bit of dust layered his clothes and a sword hung from his hip.
He smiled at Robin, "I thought you liked those relics. They were pretty interesting."
"What's so interesting about plain broken jars? At least put an ancient sword in my room.", Robin grumbled.
His brother laughed, "You know I can't do that. You can't be trusted with valuables."
He shook hands with Seventeen and Ruth, "It's a pleasure to meet you, instructors. I hope my brother and sister were not making too much trouble."
Ruth smiled, "Not at all. Your father told us you were here to investigate the ruins."
Alvin then nodded to Arthur and Gray who nodded back.
"This place is doing a really good job puzzling me.", He gestured to the ruins.
"So shall we start exploring?"