In Crystalis City, many heads were turning.
The males and females of every race in the northern square of the city collectively looked with awe, envy, and curiosity at the gorgeous pair walking past them.
The first one to grab their attention was the half-elf. Her amber-colored hair glowed under the light of the morning sun and she looked very fine in her casual clothes. Her earrings sparkled under the sunlight and her snowflake tattoo almost glowed.
Many recognized her.
"That's the famous ice sculptor, Ruth Aeva, right?", an elven guy asked the dwarven owner of a bakery.
"Oh, yeah. Her works are amazing! I have one that is in the shape of a ferret.", brushing his huge beard, the dwarf recognized her.
"Why do you have an ice sculpture of a ferret?"
"I like them!"
Whispers and conversations like these surrounded the air until one question changed the topic entirely.
"Who is the handsome guy with her?", a demon girl asked her demi-beast friends.
"By the Founder's name! He is beautiful! Like a god!", a young woman said dreamily.
Her elven husband began to panic, "Honey! You're married!"
"Is he her boyfriend?"
"Oooh. They look good together!"
Seventeen and Ruth heard these words as they walked along the street. The latter's face was getting beet red while the former just looked amused.
"Seriously. A ferret?", he asked her.
Ruth sighed, "Some people have weird tastes. I try not to question them."
Seventeen smiled, "I see. I must say, you are quite the popular one."
She smirked, "Look who's talking. You will be the talk of the city by tomorrow. I believe no one in the city currently is as good-looking as you."
He raised an eyebrow, "Wow. I never thought I would get a compliment about my looks from you."
"Consider it a privilege,"
Ruth looked around, "So. Where are we having lunch?"
Seventeen looked ahead, "I once asked the Headmaster for a good place to eat out and he told me to try the Black Pegasus at North Square Boulevard."
Her eyes lit up, "The Black Pegasus! They are a popular customer of mine. They always buy the latest styles I come up with."
"What do they do with so many sculptures?"
"They use the more expensive ones as decorations and most are given away as gifts to their patrons.", Ruth replied.
Seventeen tilted his head, "Wouldn't giving so much away lower the value of your sculptures."
She shook her head, "The ones used as gifts are small sculptures that are cheap. After all, people only need a small piece of memory to remember."
"You have a good business going on, Popsicle. Add the ice jewelry and soon the wealth of the Aevas will be on par with the Arken Families.", Seventeen was impressed
Ruth grinned, "Watch out my friend. The Aevas will rise from the ashes of the dragon attack."
She looked away from his face and with a flustered face, spoke, "Again, thank you for getting rid of my family's curse. Creating jewelry from Aeva ice requires fine control of my attribute. It wouldn't have been possible with the curse."
Seventeen smiled kindly, "I told you, Popsicle. No need to keep on thanking me. Now then..."
He suddenly leaned close to Ruth's ear, almost making her jump.
"What are you doing?", she stammered, blushing furiously.
"I believe we have spies tailing us.", he whispered in her ear.
"Ah. That.", she sighed and looked at him, "I was expecting this when I saw Minerva's grin."
"I sense Jade and Alice along with them.", Seventeen's eyes widened, "I can sense Arthur too. How is that possible?"
Ruth rubbed her forehead, "Looks like he heard about our date and woke up. Trust me. There is nothing more exciting for Jade and Alice than to secretly follow their friend on a date."
"I guess that bad habit has rubbed off on their younger siblings.", Seventeen noted. He looked at her, "What do we do? Should we shake them off? It will be difficult to confront two captains in the city."
"By Arkenstein's name.", Ruth rolled her eyes, remembering this was Seventeen's first date. "You don't have to go that far. Just do what I tell you. I know how to deal with them."
He nodded, "Alright then. What's your plan, Popsicle?"
She smiled mischievously, "Let them follow us for now."
*******
"You think they noticed us?", Ray whispered as he tried to blend in with the crowd in front of a popular food stall.
Minerva rolled her eyes, "Of course they did. There are four of us with strong magia and two captains. We're releasing so much magia even a Diran would notice it."
The Diran, the ever-mysterious beast known for its immense vitality is also known for another thing, its absurdly low perception of magia.
While other magia beasts are sensitive to the tiniest amount of magia, a Diran is so insensitive that it wouldn't sense a captain dancing behind it and releasing magia with each step.
"This is stupid and inappropriate.", Damien grumbled. He was dragged into this by Minerva as he was one of the fastest in the class.
At first, three of them decided to go as the entire class snooping on their powerful and sometimes scary instructors is quite troublesome.
So Minerva, Ray, and Damien were chosen to go. They were then joined by Jade Aria, Alice Night, and Arthur who suddenly woke up and shocked everyone.
"Please keep it down, guys. We're trying to be covert.", Alice said as she and Jade observed the pair while pretending to look at some jewelry displayed in the opposite shop.
They were dressed casually and unless one looks carefully at them, they wouldn't recognize the Luminous Knight and the Sword Princess.
Minerva can't help but be impressed by those two.
'I wonder if my brother is quite skilled like them.", she thought.
Alice noticed Seventeen and Ruth move away. She nodded to Jade who whistled as if impressed by the jewelry behind the display window. It was actually a signal.
Immediately three streaks whipped between the crowds and disappeared behind three different buildings.
Almost no one noticed the odd disturbance.
"Ruth and Seventeen are training them well. They would make a good infiltration squad.", Jade remarked.
Alice agreed with her friend, "I should try to get them in my Squad."
"Dream on, my friend. Dream on.", Jade replied drily.
Alice elbowed her and looked at the young man beside her, entranced by a sapphire on an amulet.
Arthur reached out to the jewel behind the glass. It was the same color as the eyes of the person he met in his Mindscape.
"Arthur? Are you alright?", Alice asked with concern.
He snapped out of his trance and smiled at her, "I'm fine, Alice."
She can't help but be worried for her brother.
He looks much paler than before, there are faint white and blue streaks on his hair that now reached his waist and his amethyst eyes had a dim glow in them.
But the most concerning thing was that he was calm, not something that is expected when one awakens as a dragon half-blood and finds out they have a powerful spirit in them.
'I am sure he will have tons of questions but the first thing he did was insist on joining them in this date reconnaissance.', she thought.
Weird.
But it seems like she should be glad of this date since probably woke up because of that. Alice only allowed him to join them on the condition that he stays close to her.
"You sure you don't want more rest?", she asked again.
Arthur rolled his eyes, "Jeez, sis. I'm fine.", he walked past her with Jade following him, "Now come on. Sir and Miss Ruth are moving away!"
Alice sighed and followed her brother and friend.
*******
"I am very much delighted to have you in our cafe, Miss Aeva.", the manager of the Black Pegasus said as he led Seventeen and Ruth to their table.
Many of the diners looked at the pair who just entered with curiosity. Some even recognized Ruth and every female in the cafe can't take their eyes off Seventeen.
(A lot of guys aren't quite happy with you.)
'I know.', Seventeen sighed internally, 'But what can I do? I happen to be quite dashing.'
(My. You're a humble one.)
They ordered their food. A lot of food.
"Jeez, Popsicle. Were you starving?", Seventeen asked jokingly.
Ruth leaned back and smiled, "My appetite has increased since I broke into CAT 1. Adjusting my body to the new type of magia has increased my metabolism. So I get easily hungry. It's only a temporary state."
Seventeen raised an eyebrow, "Is that why you've been sneaking into the kitchen for the past three nights?"
Her face reddened, "You were watching me? That's creepy. Don't you sleep?"
He shrugged, "Well, I have insomnia."
"Or is it because you're not human? That could explain why you don't sleep and eat like us normal beings."
Seventeen was surprised, "You know that I don't eat that much?"
She nodded, "Yeah. I've rarely seen you eat."
(She's quite observant.)
'Yeah.', Seventeen agreed with Prime and glanced around the cafe. It is a quite comfy place with plenty of natural light and dim light crystals add to the aesthetic.
There are many decorations, most of them being beautiful ice sculptures that don't melt.
(Wow. The Black Pegasus is a really good customer of hers.)
"So.", Ruth leaned forward as their food arrived, "What should we do with our tails?"
Seventeen grinned, "They are really following their training. I can feel four presences scattered around this cafe. And our dear captains are observing us from that corner. Quite well hidden in fact."
She chuckled, "Of course. They are quite experienced in infiltration missions and are masters at not getting noticed and blending with the crowd, considering their fame and positions. they are unlike you, who makes heads turn at every corner."
Seventeen shrugged, "I can't deny that. I'm just so good-looking. And you are beautiful as well, Popsicle."
Ruth was speechless and she blushed furiously again. She just stared at Seventeen who started eating. He noticed her gaze and gave her a quizzical look, "Anything wrong?"
She snapped out of it and shook her head, "Nah. Just was thinking of what you said. It's nothing major.", she smiled but was still red in the face.
The food was great and they conversed about a lot of things. By dessert, Ruth was satisfied. She had eaten a lot.
"Are you excited?", she suddenly asked.
(Excuse me. What?)
"About what?", Seventeen asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, ignoring the voice in his head.
"The Grand Battle Festival?"
He smiled, "Ah yes. Of course. We've been waiting for this."
She nodded, "Let's take the top spot this year and make that damned Marvin regret ever messing with us."
Seventeen chuckled, "Oh don't worry about that. That guy is mine. He'll wish he was never born after I'm done with him."
The thought of destroying the guy they hate brought insidious smiles to their faces which made Alice and Jade, who were watching them shiver.
And with that, dessert came.
Ruth remarked, "I can't wait to see your expression when the bill comes."
"Prepare to be surprised.", Seventeen replied and then looked at her, "So. How do we deal with our tails?"
Ruth gave a crafty smile, "What do you think about a kitchen tour?"