Embervesent, more commonly called the Crimson Princess, was the sole grandchild of one of the strongest tribes in the continent of Sol. The Crimson Scale Tribe, a tribe of the red dragon bloodline.
Due to her grandfather's status and protection given to her by two of the Grand Elders, Embervesent from birth had a reputation in the tribe for being a beauty that no one could pluck up the courage to be close with much less talk to. Unable to figure out why no one wanted to be her friend, Ember roamed outside of Crimson Scale city on many occasions despite her grandfather's warnings.
One night when she was still fairly young, she caught sight of a set of two mysterious people chasing after a third as they dashed through the mountains in a rapid blur. One of the two people split off and managed to corner the third in a mountain valley that had been one of Ember's favorite getaways.
The grey cloaked figure looked incredibly tiny as the two figures robed in pitch-black attire lifted their daggers and jointly attacked.
Awestruck by the fight that ensued, Embervesent was unable to process the blinding flashes as the three people fought. Every time a flash occurred, a slash was gouged out of the mountain rock causing many collapses.
It wasn't much longer before the grey-robed figure caught one of their assailants off-guard with a blinding flash and bisected his body much to the shock of the other. Realizing that they were no longer able to kill their target, the last black-robed figure threw out a pouch of black dust in the air and grabbed his killed companion, and escaped.
As if expecting such a response, the grey-robed figure sheathed his sword on his back and quickly made his way out of the valley.
It was from that moment, Embervesent's heart was forever swayed by the beauty of the swordsmanship she had only been able to catch glimpses of and swore to take up sword cultivation much to the distress of her grandfather.
Despite his frustrations, Ember's grandfather gave into his granddaughter's whims to search for any shred of text or cultivation technique on the sword. Despite the meager amount of quality resources that she was able to recieve, Ember was able to fervently pursue the path of the sword and gain the reputation of the Blazing Sword Princess.
Smiling as the memories of that time flooded back to her, Ember focused on her opponent, and her devotion to the sword was ignited. Ember would figure out everything that this opponent knew about the sword and hopefully, it was enough to further polish her own skills.
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Ember's initial intrigue was solely at finding another swordsman, however, all the other beastkin she had faced before hadn't taken her seriously. They all just roamed their lustful gaze across her body and looked down on her even more since she decided on cultivating the sword.
After Embervesent got out of the carriage, she sighed in disappointment as she gazed across another small village that only clamored around in the attempt to sell their wares. While her keeper was there to make sure she wasn't hurt, at least she wasn't too heavily restricted and was able to wander around.
With no real destination in mind, Ember found herself walking towards the small patch of forest that wasn't quite close to any Savage Lands but still had some lesser savage beasts that might prove to lighten her boredom while the rest of the members were doing their merchant thing.
Finding herself coming across a clearing in the woods, Ember's ears perked up as she heard something. Curious as to who would be in the woods when most of the village should be busy with the merchant trading and entertaining the Crimson Scale guests.
Sneaking over to a rock just large enough to cover her body, Ember peaked over the edge to see a lone beastkin holding a sharp wooden sword and slicing at the air in a purposeful and dedicated manner.
While she had plenty of other beastkin try and woo her with their sword 'skills' over the years when she had initially shown her fascination with the battle style, they were all extremely mediocre at best and embarrassingly pathetic most of the time.
So to find a beastkin training beside a small tribe in the woods with clear skill and direction, the sight had brought up fond memories of that significant time that had changed her life.
Something within her chest beat unnaturally and confused her greatly. Her time in the Crimson Scale tribe had been as easygoing as it could be since she was the granddaughter of the Tribe leader who doted on her greatly. Ever since she was a hatchling, every one of her peers either distanced themselves due to the gap in their status or tried to get close for their own benefit.
But none had made her heart quiver as much as just seeing the breathtaking sword stances and maneuvers of this black-eared beastkin who was practically as young as she was.
Enraptured by the sight, Ember found herself looking on at the moves as her passion for swordsmanship was fully ignited and her mind set ablaze by the complexities that what initially looked to be simple moves at first.
Even the Phantom Mirko was surprised by the learning ability of the beastkin lady. He had long ago sensed the appearance of Embervesent long ago and hadn't interruped his pupil's training since she wasn't a threat. But to see another beastkin who also had such a clear passion for learning swordsmanship peaked Mirko's interest.
'Let's see where this goes, it would be great to find someone to match Noxtis' skills and help him improve even more. Thankfully Mirko had imbued me with more than the bear minimum, it shouldn't be too much trouble to take on one more pupil if things go the right way.'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Asking once more before they fought, Embervesent stared at the torn eared swordsman."What is your name?"
"My name is Noxtis, the name was given to me by my master."
"Well then Noxtis, will you spar with me?"
Placing his hand in a checkmark-looking fashion on his chin, Noxtis thought for a few moments. "I think I'll pass, I just finished my practice tonight anyway and should be getting back to my stall anyway."
As he began to walk away, Embervesent blocked his path, and her stern and furious gaze looked straight at Noxtis.
"What?! Why not? Is it because I'm a female? Am I not strong enough to spar with you in a swordfight?"
Chuckling at the fuming beauty, Noxtis shook his head. "Of course not my lady, your radiant beauty has no influence on me accepting your spar or not. I just find no reason to fight a random stranger who was spying on me. Besides, I'd rather get some rest before the trade tomorrow or Grandma Reah is going to scold me for being late."
"Reason? Do you really wish to ask me for benefits from a simple spar? Do you not wish to spend every waking moment learning and refining your sword skills? I finally found a beastkin with a decent semblance of sword skill and don't think you can escape without sparing with me!"
Noxtis was a bit irritated that a random beastkin, even though she was incredibly beautiful and had quite the sizable chest for being around his age, anyone who would randomly demand to fight was surely crazy in the head.
Just as Noxtis was about to reject again and leave, the voice of his teacher rang out in his head.
'Fight her kid, you would do well to learn how to fight a real opponent. As good as the shadow puppets that I forge for you to fight are, they are no substitute for a real fight against real opponents that have the ability to think and adapt and have their own skillsets.
For as knowledgable as myself and my true body are, we haven't been in this world too long and bloodline powers are still a bit of a mystery. They may prove troublesome to deal with if you have no experience.
On the plus side, she is quite the beauty. I can tell you like her a lot and she even is a girl who likes the sword more than you do. Just do what I say and mayhaps you can find yourself with more than just a sparing partner.'