The next day, Julius went out of his room down to the training yard with the newly hatched creature.
"Your Highness," Alexa arrived at the yard, and then Julius looked at her.
"Ah, can you get a plate of raw minced meat? If possible, let the meat have mana properties," Julius said to her, and the curious maid raised a brow.
"Uh, Your Highness, it's not healthy," she said with concern.
"Ah, it's not for me. This creature hatched yesterday." Julius pointed over at the Lycanaur that was in the bushes stalking a squirrel.
"Ah, is this the creature in that big golden egg? It looks small," Alexa said with a shocked expression.
Considering the half-a-meter-tall oval-shaped egg, this baby Lycanaur was only a quarter of a meter long.
She picked it up, and the little one barked and struggled to release itself.
Alexa stared at its deep green eyes, and Julius suddenly felt a tugging at his heart. He touched his chest and frowned.
'Is this what she's feeling right now?' Julius thought, and then he walked towards Alexa, who stared at the creature that felt intimidated by her look.
"Enough of that now. I've already done research; it's called a Lycanaur." Julius took the wolf from her hand, and it climbed on his shoulder and barked at Alexa.
"Huh? I've never heard of it before," Alexa frowned.
"Apparently, its bloodline is comparable to that of a dragon," Julius said as both of them looked at the creature that was happily chasing a squirrel with much curiosity.
'A dragon?!!' Alexa couldn't help but furrow her brows as she gazed at the cub that ran around.
"I'll go get the meat," Alexa bowed and left the yard.
'I wonder what the prince is going to do with those falcon eggs,' Alexa thought as she made her way to a storage room.
...
Back at the yard, Julius tried to focus on the wooden sword in his hand. It can get really dangerous holding a sword, and then a golden aura surrounded the wooden sword.
He slashed forward with all his might, and the sword made a whistling sound as it sliced through the air.
'Damn, that still took a lot of focus to do. I wonder where—'
"Your Highness." Ray entered into the yard, and Julius looked at him with a smile.
"I was about to come find you. Firstly, how do you use aura to fight? It takes so much concentration to make just one slash with a sword." Julius asked immediately he saw Ray, and the guardian was perplexed.
"I left the castle for a while to visit my fiancée." Ray said, and Julius pouted as he heard it.
"Well, you're back now. Let's train," Julius said, and then went to grab another wooden sword for Ray.
'The prince sure loves training. I wasn't this excited for sword practice when I was young.' Ray shook his head, and then he looked back as he heard a low barking sound.
He saw the little wolf-like creature rolling on the grass, and he raised a brow.
"Hm?" Julius noticed Ray looking at the little Lycanaur, and he smiled.
"That's the creature that was within that big golden egg. It hatched a day ago," Julius said as he threw Ray a wooden sword.
"It's your bond now; have you thought of giving her a name?" Ray asked, and Julius raised a brow.
"Naming a bond raises the connection between the person and the creature."
"Exactly," Ray said, and then Julius went towards the creature and bent down.
It ran around him excitedly as if it was in the presence of a long-lost friend.
Julius looked at her deep green eyes. They were beautiful, like a precious jewel.
"Aria. I name you Aria," Julius said, and then he put his head against Aria's head, and instantly he could feel their connection getting stronger.
"Papa?"
Julius heard a voice in his head, and then he smiled as he dropped her down and patted her head.
'No, Julie is okay,' he thought, and Aria lovingly rubbed herself on his small hands.
Alexa arrived with a plate of minced meat, and then she dropped it at the edge of the garden.
Well, the Lycanaur doesn't have a complete set of teeth and only has fangs now, so Julius thought of this way of feeding it.
"Come, eat."
Aria followed Julius and immediately started eating the minced meat.
"I might check the library for some books on the race of the creature," Alexa said, and Julius shook his head.
"I already read everything."
He then began to tell both Alexa and Ray about Aria, and the mention of her being at a level comparable with other rare magical beasts like dragons shocked Ray.
After the discussion, Julius changed into combat attire, wearing brown boots and a leather vest on top of his clothes.
He breathed, and Ray came towards him running. He struck at Julius, reducing his strength, and Julius parried his attacks.
Ray mixed his strikes with a series of thrusts, and Julius, with his enhanced perception, was able to deflect the strikes coming at him.
Ray increased his speed, aiming for other parts like the shoulder, head, and legs. Julius managed to hold back some, and he jumped backwards as he was already getting tired.
"Your reflexes training in the past year is really bearing fruit. There would be no better time to start learning about aura," Ray said, and Julius sat on the ground as he was sweating.
"Good, good." He smiled.
He suddenly heard a whistling sound coming towards him, and he rolled away from that position.
Ray held a bow in his hands, and he looked at Julius and shook his head.
"In the future, there will be so many unpredictable attacks from enemies. You have to be alert always. Now sit and close your eyes," Ray said, and Julius furrowed his brows as he sat down and got into a meditative position before he closed his eyes.
"Now, we'll test out your hearing," Ray said and pulled the wooden bow which had an arrow on its string and aimed it at the prince.