When the four of us had arrived at the house from our escapade, Alzar occupied himself on a rock chair he constructed in the yard, reading a book. Alongside his nexus earth dragon, Ebizan, curled on the ground napping.
Alzar noticed us making our way through the clear path, heading towards him. As he stood closing the book, Alzar awakened the slumbering dragon. Ebizan became exuberant from us returning, then lunged onto Skysin.
"EBIZAN WAIT!!" Skysin shrieked in terror as the mid-sized dragon began licking his face, all while we had laughed at him.
Alzar approached us while Skysin laid down, covered in mucous, his hair formed in an abnormal state. "Well done kids, maybe I underestimated the four of you. Especially when you're working as a team," Alzar commended.
Nirvana made a proud smile, puffing out her chest, "mm-hm…it seems you got yourself some talented disciples master."
Skysin lifted his head, raising his fists into the air filled with excitement, "its time for the feast!" He remarked, laughing hysterically.
Alzar smiled, "it seems I did promise you, didn't I?" He asked, walking to the brown doors as we happily followed behind him through the yard.
When he opened the doors, we glanced to our right, being welcomed to a table filled with an abundance of nourishment. Turkey legs, giant bowl filled with rice, pineapples divided in small, circular segments placed on sliced ham, macaroni, bread lightly covered in honey, and much more.
We gazed at the ludicrous amount of food as our mouths were basically drooling.
Although it's not lady-like for a princess to salivate...I can't help it. That battle against the chimera really made my stomach empty.
It looks so good...
And smell of food did nothing more but enhance my hunger.
"Not yet brats. Go bathe first, change, then you can eat as much as you please," Alzar demanded, pointing at the carpet staircase.
Not wasting a single second, we hastily rushed upstairs to get cleaned.
As time flew by, we came back down with Nirvana and I sporting blue and white night gowns, while Crim and Skysin wore red and green pajamas.
A few maids and butlers came into view, swiftly walking out the hallway into the dining room. They all prepared the seats and added tableware; forks, spoons, and knifes for us and Alzar.
We were thrilled to finally eat and hurried along to the chairs, waiting for Alzar to be seated.
Skysin began to fidget, "come on master, we're starving!"
Alzar simply rolled his baggy eyes, then took a seat. At that point, everybody dug into the delicious feast. The ham is very appetizing, and the pineapples enhance the flavor greatly as well. The meat is tender yet has a sweetened taste.
Crim finished his first plate and turned to Alzar, "hey master, now that we're done with this portion of training, what will we do for the last day?"
Alzar glanced at us while we stared at him with curiosity, "for last day, you four will be fighting against me individually. Sort of like sparring, but this will be a way to test you - to see how much you all improved during your time these past two weeks. Just so you four know, there will be no holding back. I need to see you at peak performance," Alzar stated. The four of us sternly nodded, taking in what he explained.
"Hey master, I know this is out of the blue...but were you apart of Tyrant War?" Nirvana pondered, turning to the skinny man. "My father told me about it, but I wanted to know more."
Alzar paused, deemed to be perplexed by the question, "...yes, I was…this transpired around ten years ago. Your parents were also a part of that war too, which is how I was able to meet and become friends with them."
Crim then queried Alzar, "it was against the Ragnar kingdom, right?"
Alzar took a breath, closing his baggy eyes, "yes, the tyrant king Tellund was crazed for power. He had the great idea to take over each kingdom one by one. Starting with Valorrey, Aries, then Gremis. After the second attack on Valorrey, the other two decided to cooperate with us and go on a full-scale war against him.
Obviously, it ended with our victory, but we lost many soldiers, comrades, and friends from that dreadful battle. We simply left him alive to only use him as a gateway for trade. The number of subjects he lost was already enough for him. Even if he's somewhat of an ally now, we keep intelligencers in his kingdom secretly, just in case he plans something new. If that happens, he'll be killed off, immediately," Alzar informed, although his face kept a glimpse of solemn.
If I recall correctly, intelligencers are extremely stealthy individuals. They function in, assassination, reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, and bodyguarding as well. Their main purpose is primarily gaining information, anything that can assist their own military about the enemy and use it as their advantage. That's what aunt Ru is too, she's supposed to be in the Ragnar Kingdom, a part of uncle Rellgis' elite division.
"Who defeated Tellund in battle?" Nirvana asked raising her spoon.
Alzar's eyes moved onto Crim and Skysin, "Rellgis and a man named Sedreen, defeated him in battle. Which is why they were known as heroes of the three kingdoms. Even though Rellgis says he doesn't like to be called that..." Alzar remarked.
For some reason, Crim ceased eating, just staring through the glass in the table, at the wooden floor with a gloomed look on his face.
Just before I could ask, Nirvana did, "who's Sedreen?"
"He's my father, Sedreen Magmastiem. Mom told me he was on par with uncle Rellgis," Crim stated, lifting his head with a hint of agitation behind his eyes.
Nirvana and I grew surprised, but that explains why Crim seems so aggravated. I couldn't imagine not having my father, it must be painful...
"Yes, he was a powerful man indeed, flawless control over the sun-dragon flames. It's truly a shame he passed, if it wasn't for those two, I don't think we would've won the war in my opinion," Alzar shook his head.
After finishing the last amount of his food, Alzar rose from his seat, "but…war stories are for another time. You kids will need your energy for tomorrow, I insist you go to sleep."
As Alzar walked away, Crim grounded his teeth, clicking his tongue and quickly stood, heading to the hall.
Nirvana grabbed Crim's sleeve, "Crim, are you okay?"
Skysin had erected to his feet and walked around the table to the left of Crim.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Crim replied with a slight vexation in his voice.
As he tramped up the stairs, Nirvana began to accompany him. But Skysin placed his hand on Nirvana's shoulder, shaking his head, "it's best to give him some air when he's mad. I'm sure he'll listen more tomorrow." Skysin informed with a relaxed expression.
Nirvana looked at him with worry as her brows furrowed, "are you sure? He looked angry..."
"Yeah, when he's mad, you can't really calm him down at the moment. Just give him some space to cool down..." Skysin insisted with a light sigh.
Still, with a face of fret, Nirvana nodded and headed upstairs.
"I hope there isn't another war any time soon, father and mother told me stories about it. Especially what uncle Rellgis had told us too..." I added, being moderately shaken walking to Skysin's side.
"Yeah, your right..." Skysin huffed, laying his back against the wall. Skysin took a bow, gesturing his arm to his side like a gentleman, "but if my princess Elaine needs me to protect her, I'll by her side at all costs."
I pouted from his jest, walking upstairs, "we'll see about that, maybe you'll be the one who needs protection, Sin..." I mumbled stilly.
"Awe come on Elaine, I was just joking," Skysin chuckled, increasing pace to keep with me.
*****
Skysin Rillem-
Morning had arrived and everyone was standing outside, ready for our battle against master. We stood in a healthy green and yellow field, located not too far from the mansion. I simply gazed at the morning sky, supplied with fluffy white clouds taking in the beautiful nature.
Master stretched his limbs, "alright, who'd like to go first?"
We all raised our hands in sync, waving them frantically.
"Hmmm - Nirvana… you can go first," Master acknowledged.
Nirvana pumped her fists in the air, "yess."
The two moved out in the middle of the field. Nirvana lowered her posture, prepared for battle. Master stood silently as the calm breeze blew through our hair and clothes. He motioned his hand, "come."
Nirvana set her feet ablaze in scorching flames and shifted towards master, covering the distance in a of short amount time.
Master idly stood, and Nirvana leapt into the air, performing a rapid number of summersaults, diving a kick right to his head.
As she landed, a huge tempest of chaotic winds was blown around the area, despite that, master blocked the attack with his arm alone.
Nirvana's face became serious, her chestnut eyes seemed blank, like she was in a trance.
When master brought his arm around, swinging a fist to her, Nirvana jumped into the air evading the attack, and conjured water, shooting multiple fierce pellets at him.
Master avoided them all, spinning, flipping, and ducking flawlessly.
Nirvana had finally landed on the ground and sprinted towards him. Just as she got into striking distance, she sent a mass number of punches, kicks, and elbows while he circumvented through the attacks or parried them all.
He then caught her arm, and swept his leg under her foot, casting her into the air. Next, Alzar palmed Nirvana's stomach, ejecting her back afar.
Still airborne, Nirvana slashed a crescent blade of water towards him. But Alzar immediately blocked it with his palm, unharmed from her attack.
Nirvana utilized a trail of wind to guide herself back to him, leading in with a mighty kick onto the side of his leg.
As he fell, Nirvana rotated and landed on the ground, then quickly leapt right above him, plunging her elbow onto his chest, smashing Alzar into the ground. From the force of the strike, blades of grass and dirt was casted hectically.
In that short moment while we all waited, some of the dust shifted as Nirvana was flung out into the air once more. Just when she landed, master appeared before her and dug a punch onto her abdomen.
Alzar palmed Nirvana's sternum, pushing her back. When she fell backwards, Alzar conjured a rock bed from the ground to catch her, returning Nirvana back to him.
Nirvana aimed her hand and shot a blast of fire and wind fused together, but Alzar simply raised his palm to block the quick attack.
When she returned to him on the rock bed, Alzar lowered his stance and shot a punch so fast that my eyes couldn't track it, knocking Nirvana through the rough mattress, and into the ground with a small crater.
My mouth gaped open, completely amazed by the battle, "holy shi-"
"Sin, you know what happens when we curse in front of master..." Elaine reminded me. Remembering the last time I worded a curse, Alzar pommeled me into the ground.
Despite that, we ran to where Nirvana was.
Master helped Nirvana stand, "nice work, you're very precise with your attacks, especially that last one. If I was a normal grown man, I'm sure I would've died."
Alzar formed a rock chair for Nirvana to sit in. Nirvana had slouched taking a seat, breathing heavily, "…thank you master..."
Crim stood next to Nirvana, eyeing her bruises, "you did great Vana. Here, let me heal you..." When he sat his hand on her arm, marvelous phoenix flames appeared, looking like a setting sun. It steadily swiveled around Nirvana's body, completely restoring her as if she was never injured.
"Th-thank you Crim...and I'm sorry about yesterday..." Nirvana blushed, withdrawing her head away from him to avoid eye contact.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine. I'll tell you about it sometime," Crim shook his head.
After me and Elaine came to check on her, master clapped his hands, "ok kids, now who wants to go next?"
Crim rose his hand with a determined expression, "I'll go master."
"Fart baskets, I was just about to go up," I claimed in disappointment crossing my arms. Elaine let out a small chuckle, giving me a reassuring pat on my back.
Just when they were about to battle, master quickly gazed behind us with an irritated look on his face and sighed, "...welp, looks like we have some unwanted guests."
Five blokes' similar to master's height, wearing brown cloaks appeared approaching us.
"This looks good boys, one adult and four kids. We'll take the princess, and the two girls then kill the man and child," a bald, brawny muscle-head spoke, filled with cockiness.
My anger had grown, then shot my finger at the man, "I'm a boy! You reflective idiot!!"
The man was bemused by my statement and rubbed his shiny head, "huh? Well, if that's the case, just take princess and pinky over there."
Both me and Crim walked in front of Elaine and Nirvana, and Crim set his arms ablaze into white and orange flames. "that's not a good idea..."
Master moved in front of us as his green aura started to emerge, gradually flowing like a slow tornado. "Well then, I guess this'll be a part of your final training kids," He lazily spoke with a yawn. "Nirvana, are you able to fight?"
Nirvana stood, making all four strands of elements revolve around her.
"Good, if you brats lose to any of these idiots, you fail - understand?" Alzar ordered.
We all nodded, lowering our stances for battle.
Master added with caution, "these men are cocky, but remember what I said, don't underestimate your enemies."
As he told us this, I glared at the ignorant bald man with a malicious grin. I swelled all my ice-cold aura, surrounding my body like a blizzard. I felt that battle-infested adrenaline surge through my blood like electricity.
I'm really going to kick that bald guys ass.