"Okay Luis," Rico said, "First what do you want to do food or games?"
Luis said excitedly. "Games! I want to win something cool like last time."
Mira smirked. "Okay let's go but don't get sad when we win against you."
Rico was tall for his age he was 6 feet tall and had a lanky build which made him look even taller. He had short black hair that would always be messy. He had amber eyes and always had a carefree expression on his face. He was a person who would always make jokes.
In comparison to Rick, Mira was quiter she was 5'8 tall with a slim and athletic built, she also had black hair that was tied in a ponytail, and she had green colored eyes unlike her brother.
Both of them were adept level of aura users but that was what it was concealed at, they were a bit stronger than that because they always trained to get revenge for what they experienced at a young age especially for their older siblings.
Whenever they showed Luis their aura techniques he could tell they were strong even though they never showed it in public.
The festival was very lively, with many different stalls selling food, trinkets, and carnival games. Rico and Mira led Luis through the attractions, trying different foods and challenge each other to the games.
Most of the booths were won by mira, at one of the booths the small dart even pierced the back wall hinting at some aura use.
"At this rate, you will win every game," Luis said.
Mira smiled, giving him the price of the booth. "I have been to many of these my experience comes from winning against Rico just keep practicing, and maybe one day you'll win something cooler."
Rico, on the other hand, was failing a lot at ranged games such as archery and dart throwing. "Hey, all these bows and darts are rigged man!" he protested, only to be mocked by Mira and Luis who laughed at his failed shots.
As the night went on in the festival, Mira slowed down. "Rico," she said quietly while nudging him.
Rico followed his sisters gaze until he saw 2 strangers who looked out of place. One was a man in his mid twenties who looked like a seasoned warrior with big muscles and a bit shorter then Rico, and he appeared to be at the adept level. The women did not look as menacing as the man but the brother and sister could tell she was stronger atleast at the intermediate tier. They both wore clothing of the Black Talons.
"They're from the Black Talons," Mira whispered, her voice barely audible.
The Black Talons were the forces from the 4 empires in the Varlud( in real life would be Africa) and Vostram ( Asia in real life continents. They were a group of soldiers 10,000 strong specialised in tracking down Phoenix clan members to get their blessings so their empires could grow stronger. The Black talons were spread across in groups of 50 across the 2 continents made up of scouts, soldiers and aura users.
"What are they doing here nothing should have caused them to come here?" Rico asked, his carefree demeanor replaced by a more serious expression.
The woman's eyes were scanning the festival crowds, until for a moment, they paused on Rico and Mira. A faint smirk crossed her lips, and she leaned in to whisper something to the scarred man and started walking toward them.
"Don't have a tense expression," Mira said, pulling Rico back. "Don't give them a reason to suspect anything, they might just be travelling through here."
A few second before Mira and Rico saw the soldiers, Luis had heard the whispers again instead of coming from his chest he felt them in the forest, urging him to go there.
He hesitated and glanced back at Rico and Mira, who looked a bit dazed. The whispers were growing louder.
"I need to go to the toilet right now you guys wait here for me" Not wanting to tell Rico and Maria of the whispers because of the promise.
Snapping out of the gaze and looking at Luis heading off before they could say anything the female soldier placed a hand on Maria's shoulder.
"Excuse me kids I didn't not know there were such talented young aura users here."
Maria turned around and said "hello nice to meet you, who might you be I can see you are soldiers, is there a strong creature or some bandits in the area that there are soldiers here."
"yes, we are soldiers from the Black Talons I'm from the Xeran empire and he's from the Zhenqiu empire"
Maria said in an apologetic tone " I'm sorry but can we talk later if you have questions about the festival, the kid we are watching went to the toilet we should make sure he doesn't get lost"
In a understanding tone the women soldier said " oh the kid was with you, I see I understand, but can one you stay here, you see we just got here and we do have some questions, so as long as you don't mind can one of you stay and talk with us"
Maria gave a quick glance to Rico " of course, I can stay here Rico can you go look for Luis"
"Yeah I will see where he went."
Glancing at both the soldiers before asking "so what would you like to ask me and also why are you guys here again, I hope it's nothing worrying that requires soldiers"
"We are the Black Talons we go around the continents looking for Phoenix clan members, it's our duty to make it so that they share the blessings with the populous as many people should be experiencing the benefits of the Phoenix's blessing. We came here because we heard from a merchant that their were a few strong aura users in this village and that seems to be true.
Maria replied in a tone that seemed understanding of why they were here. "Oh I see you guys must be talking about my parents, they were both soldiers of the Kendalith kingdom our village's kingdom"
The soldier replied in a friendly tone. " oh I see your kids of soldiers, your parents are lucky to have been able to retire and have kids but seeing your aura I thought most kingdoms didn't allow soldiers to give aura training to their kids so I assumed you where Phoenix clan members in hiding."
Maria replied a surprised tone "oh no our kingdom is fine with that, I didn't know it was not allowed in the empire or other kingdoms but I can understand why, our kingdom is small and weak compared to the neighbouring region so it would make sense why they would allow it, and I wish I had a blessing I have not gotten lucky enough to be able to get one from a creature yet."
The soldier replied in a curios but friendly tone. "Oh I see I understand that does make sense. I am sorry for confusing you with Phoenix clan members, you see I instantly approached you because whenever we find the Phoenix clan members they always end up disappearing or they kill themselves before we can get to them, it is always sad that we can never get them to share their blessing with our people through the next generation, and we havent ever gotten the chance to even torture them for questions" the soldier mentioned the death of some clan members to see if there would be a reaction from the young girl.