[TWS] Chapter 270 – Back to School

“Master!”

Miria’s slightly anxious voice echoed through the quarry as the panthergirl quickly paced toward the middle. Before she launched herself into the huge, whitish cloud filled with crackling lightning, Bryn caught her wrist and stopped her. It wasn’t the best idea to blindly come in contact with the clearly hazardous fumes created by the explosion of Venuzathor’s breath.

“Master is alright. I’m sure you can feel it too,” Bryn said softly, trying to calm down her friend a little.

They glanced at each other and Miria sighed quietly as Grea joined them. A powerful gust of wind crashed into them from the side and threw everyone off balance a little. It reached the dangerous cloud and dispersed the dust completely. The girls realized that it had come from the Dracodon flapping his impressive wings.

The electrified smoke revealed Asterios still in his draconic form lying on the ground. His scales were singed in many places and sparks of lightning danced over his entire body. The shackles that had been holding him in place a moment earlier were already gone.

“That hurt a tiny bit.” He chuckled wryly. “It might take a moment before the paralysis wears off.”

Venuzathor’s booming laugh joined him as the Dracodon slowly strolled closer. “I’m not surprised to see that this level of attack has barely tickled you, youngling. The additional layer of defense that you summoned right before our breaths collided helped a lot. Your combined attack was very impressive too. For something you have attempted for the first time in your life, it deserves all the praise.”

“It still barely stopped yours for a few seconds at best.” Asterios smirked. “I hope to at least have met half of your expectations regarding this duel.”

“Taking into consideration the fact that it was highly unstable since it lacked proper control and harmony between those three distinctive energies, not being dispersed immediately after clashing against my focused attack shows just how powerful it was. I did not exactly stop your breath but redirected it, and that’s different.” Venuzathor puffed some chilly air at him and the lightning crackles dissipated. “And don’t worry. I got my fun out of this bout. More than I have initially expected from an inexperienced Dragon.”

Dark crimson mist with a tinge of black surrounded Ast’s body and shrunk until he returned to his humanoid appearance. His spiritual attire was in complete tatters, matching the damage he had suffered during the battle. He could mend them real quick, but he decided to leave them be for a while longer, sitting up first and exhaling heavily.

Miria hastily trotted to him and dropped to her knees by his side with a small, concerned frown. He smiled at his lovely mate and reached out to pet her adorable ears, bringing the panthergirl closer to rest her head against his chest. Miria purred sweetly as he brushed through her soft hair and caressed the fluffy treasures adorning it.

The other girls walked up to them too and Bryn started slowly healing him up with her magic. Asterios nodded at her appreciatively and received a gentle smile in response. A moment later, Selene descended from the sky with nimble hops like she was jumping down uneven stairs and landed by his other side still in her fox form. Lerisse slid off her back, taking a quick glance at Asterios before she returned her shocked gaze to her friend’s unbelievable transformation.

“I swear, I leave you two alone for a few days and something outrageous happens every single time,” the Matriarch complained, but a barely noticeable smirk curled up her luscious lips. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Selene finally returned to her original appearance too, retaining the ten bushy tails swaying enchantingly behind her back. “I was pretty sure you’ve already gotten used to the surprises.”

“At least you’ve toned it down a notch when compared to the last time.” The other fox lady shook her head while rubbing her temples. “I don’t think I can survive another one of such caliber. And judging by the number of tails you brought out and your other form, you could have gone much further if only you wanted.”

“Too bad Ronye didn’t come with you.” Selene grinned impishly.

“Ronye is currently focusing on her breakthrough. Thanks to your and your mate’s support, she is advancing rapidly. Though, I don’t think she will ever be able to catch up to you.” Lerisse chuckled.

“Oh? Then I should go and see her before we leave. There might be something I could do to aid her advancement.” The white-haired lady tapped her lips. “After my own quite recent change, I seem to be able to sense much more regarding spiritual energy and our subrace than before.”

“So, the legend was right? Are you a goddess now? But didn’t it mention nine tails?” Lerisse raised a brow at her.

“There seem to be many misconceptions and unknowns about my bloodline, Lerisse. And, I can’t exactly be used as a good example because of these.” Selene gestured at her external spiritual circuits. “I have no doubts that they are what allowed me to break through what was assumed as the limits of my kind.”

“That’s right.” Grea nodded while setting her fists on her hips. “In the end, you still have two tails ahead of you if our guess isn’t wrong. Imagine what happens then.”

“Two more?” Lerisse’s eyes widened to the brim. “Great heavens… Are you sure you are even a Spiritual Fox from this realm and not some mystical entity comparable to your mate?”

The girls chuckled together at the disbelief in the mature lady’s expression. Since Asterios hadn’t been mortally wounded, Bryn already finished taking care of his moderate injuries and withdrew her techniques. Miria helped him stand up, placing a tender peck on his cheek before stepping back. Knowing the reason behind that action, Asterios brought Bryn close and expressed his gratitude for her treatment with a loving but delicate kiss. The Valkyrie didn’t shrink back from it and enjoyed the pleasant moment openly.

“Now, why won’t you two go and meet up with Ronye while the rest of us recaps the fight here with Venuzathor?” Asterios glanced at the fox ladies after breaking the kiss. “I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.”

“We shall do exactly that, my Lord. Thank you and have a nice discussion here. I’ll catch up on everything through our bond later.” Selene made a light bow and flashed him a beautiful smile.

She turned into the big fox again just to tease Lerisse even more and they departed for the massive mountain in the background. After escorting them with his gaze, Asterios shared one more kiss with Bryn and let go of the dazzling winged lady, who parted with him with a faint rosy flush on her gentle cheeks.

“Would you mind sharing with us what you think about the fight? Both advice and critique are very much appreciated.” He turned to the Dracodon.

“Naturally. It will be my pleasure to guide you.” Venuzathor made a slow, mighty nod with his massive head. “I already mentioned how you are able to keep your mind clear and focused while in your true form. It’s a great thing. Keeping your wits like that will certainly be of use to you in various bouts with Dragons and many other entities.”

“Not like we are aiming to duke it out with Dragons anytime soon but thanks. Going against you has been an amazing experience.” Asterios chuckled lightly.

“Sometimes, we don’t have a say in the matters of the world.” The Dracodon huffed a puff of air at them and they recognized that gesture as something similar to a silent chuckle too. “You certainly need a lot more experience than what you have gotten from just this fight. If you manage to merge both fighting styles into one, finding harmony between your logical human side and primal, instinctual draconic intuition, your battle sense will achieve an enviable level. Most Dragons have to use the respective forms to use either.”

“So, you want Asterios to learn how to let his inner Dragon out while he is human, and to embrace his human thinking while he is a badass lizard, right? That sounds fun.” Grea grinned at him.

“And how to be both at once too, most likely,” Bryn added with a nod of understanding.

“Mostly correct,” Venuzathor confirmed. “Being able to switch between them on the fly while in either form is also very beneficial. There is another part that you should train and practice. Quick switching between your transformations. It can make you more unpredictable and confusing to the enemy. You are already decently quick but it would still be risky in the middle of a heated battle.”

“Yeah, for sure. Even with both energies enhancing the process, it still takes a moment,” Asterios commented.

“Speaking of which, you haven’t really answered my question about those.” Grea pouted at him, evoking a snicker from Asterios. “That moment when you were working on the gate with Selene, you seemed even more badass and hot than before.”

“They both come from my Dragon’s Hearts, each from a separate one. I succeeded in taking control of them and actually making them work together. I don’t think I can say that it makes me twice as strong as when I’m using just the scorching hot mana but it certainly raises the power output by quite a bit. And during the last attack of our spar, I even managed to add some of Silvia’s bloodline energy to the mix. I had to go all out so it was more of a gamble but it looks like it paid off,” Asterios explained to her.

“Your ability to utilize two Dragon’s Hearts as the source of your power will make an immense difference in all your future fights and give you an edge over your enemies. Even the unstable and chaotic union you achieved under the pressure was astonishing. And if you say that you are able to further add more energies to that combination, then you will soon become an entity few will dare to offend intentionally.” Venuzathor glanced at him with a lazy blink full of respect. “I will do my best to aid you in getting better at controlling your draconic mana. Even if I am not a True Dragon, as you have seen, I am capable of condensing and properly making use of my own lightning mana. If your last attack was equally as perfected as mine, it would have blasted through my breath without an issue.”

“This all sounds so exciting!” Miria beamed at them with a wide, sunny smile. “Master has to learn how to think like a True Dragon while being human, how to think like a human while being True Dragon, how to do both at once, how to do either in all scenarios, and how to properly use his draconic mana for powerful attacks! Is there even more?”

A booming chuckle echoed through the quarry, originating from the Dracodon, of course. “You can add some general lessons on combat against different entities and that should be enough for now. I wouldn’t want to overwhelm your master with too much at first.”

“There’s even more? Damn, it feels like I’m going to start the academy once again. But, I did lose quite a few years of my supposed draconic upbringing so it’s natural that I will have to take some accelerated classes.” Asterios laughed softly. “What about the schedule?”

“If your vulpine friends do not mind, we can meet here whenever you have a moment to learn and practice. As you are aware, I’m not exactly extremely busy for most of the day and night. I can be very flexible when it comes to time,” Venuzathor replied.

“I’m sure Selene won’t mind, right Master?” Bryn smiled kindly at Asterios.

“Yeah. And it will be good practice for her to keep widening the gates. We can initially agree on this. Hopefully, I will be able to find a lot of time to train with you since I really need it. I’m looking forward to our sparring sessions.” He bowed respectfully toward his new mentor.

“We will be lucky if this area resembles anything of its current state after you two are done with your little speed learning.” Grea snickered while running her gaze around the quarry.

Miria giggled adorably. “I agree. It already looks like this was an immense battlefield rather than a mine.”

They all laughed together for a while and decided to wrap their meeting up. Venuzathor returned to his post through his own gate while Asterios and the girls remained in the quarry for a few more minutes as Miria, Bryn, and Grea insisted on him taking a longer break to fully recover. He didn’t mind spending some time just with the quite distinct trio so Asterios didn’t argue.

Afterward, they joined Selene and Lerisse at the temple for some tea while the former shared some more instructions and guidance with Ronye. It was a challenge as the young foxgirl could barely focus on anything else than the fact that her senior had become an entity on par if not greater than the fabled fox goddess. But, thankfully, the old jealousy and envy were no longer present that much in Ronye’s heart, and Ast’s encouragement only inspired her to further chase after Selene with their enormous support.

When it started getting late, Ast’s group excused themselves and returned home for the night. He accompanied his mother for a few hours just to spend some quality time with her and perhaps see how things had been progressing with the king. As expected, not much, but at least Kindra wasn’t in complete denial anymore whenever he slightly teased her about the man’s advances.

As they predicted and agreed, Tina and Silvia stayed the night at the royal castle instead of their own. Asterios only paid them a short visit to share a goodnight kiss with both girls before they went to bed. He had to admit, the sight of his beautiful colleague and charming princess together under the sheets was very tempting as they looked extremely well together, but he still managed to escape their allure and allow the two noble ladies to share a night alone. He didn’t want to disappoint the rest of his mates with the lack of his presence either.

In the morning, Miria, Selene, Grea, and Bryn took a quick bath with Asterios, which obviously was full of mischief caused by the crimson-skinned demon lady, and they decided to pay a visit to their elf friends. It was a good idea to let them know about their little trip if the father and daughter duo hadn’t been informed about it through their own information net.

Eating their fill at the castle first to not be rude to all the people who had prepared an amazing meal for them, they ventured into the town and headed straight for their friends’ forge. The artisanal district was as busy as always and the air was filled with loud noises often associated with metalworking and similar professions. They entered Imadil’s place and found the handsome elf behind the counter.

“Ah, Asterios. Welcome again. Anything you guys need?” the man asked with a noble smile.

“We just wanted to chat if you aren’t extremely busy. About our upcoming journey.” Asterios smiled back as he walked closer and they exchanged handshakes.

“Already leaving? And which one of us is the busy one?” Imadil chuckled and gestured at the door on the side. “Come in. We don’t have anything urgent to take care of right away. Cynthia will be happy to take a break too.”

They followed him to a comfortable break room and sat down on a nice sofa big enough for all of them. Imadil went to grab his daughter and they were soon back together, seating themselves opposite Asterios and the girls.

“I heard that you are running after another quest already. Do you need the weapon back?” Cynthia asked, glancing between Asterios and Grea.

“We aren’t departing immediately so you don’t have to interrupt whatever you might be doing with it right away. It will most likely happen tomorrow. And, we don’t really expect to get into a fight out there since it’s kind of a diplomatic mission so it could be fine to leave it with you if you would like. Plus, we won’t be tied down to a location as hard as the last time, most likely,” Asterios replied.

Grea instantly hit him with her puppy eyes, or rather puppy face since her eyes were quite special, and he snorted at her, already reconsidering his statement. It might be a better idea to reunite his demon lover with her favorite toy.

“That should be enough time to finish up our current analysis.” Imadil nodded to himself. “What kind of a diplomatic mission are we talking about if it’s not a secret?”

“The Elf Queen invited us over so we are going to visit the Garden of Sinners!” Miria giggled excitedly.

At that, both the father’s and the daughter’s eyes turned into saucers. It didn’t seem that they had known about the request beforehand.

“You received a personal summons?” Cynthia didn’t hide her astonishment. “It’s either something really serious for the queen to call for a human or she really took an interest in you out of a sudden.”

“The latter wouldn’t be that surprising.” Imadil chuckled. “Many great things have happened to Glimmervale since the moment the town welcomed its new lord. Those benefits reached the elves too. They were also the ones who resolved the incident with the summoning circle, openly cooperating with the queen’s agents and sharing their findings. Perhaps she wants to officially thank you for that.”

“There might be something more to that but who knows? The increased support and involvement in Glimmervale’s daily matters from the elves near the border finally make a bit more sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had something to ask of you,” his daughter added.

“That’s one of the possibilities we’ve been thinking about too,” Asterios agreed. “But, we won’t know until we actually get there. There is one more thing we considered, though. Say, wouldn’t you perhaps like to accompany us? We could use a local friend to guide us around and you two seem quite well-acquainted with the elven court too.”

Imadil clicked his tongue. “Damn Fievedem and those idiots that blew our cover.”

Cynthia chuckled softly. “It did us good, though, no?”

“Of course, if that request makes you uncomfortable, you don’t need to say anything else. We don’t exactly know your circumstances besides the fact that you are quite famous and had a high standing,” Asterios added.

The father and daughter duo exchanged glances.

“We will think about it and let you know tomorrow morning, alright?” The man raised a brow at Asterios.

“We do see a few ways how this could be beneficial for us and our craft here but we need to discuss this amongst the two of us first.” Cynthia showed him a kind smile.

“No problem. Take your time. You know where to find us whenever you would like to talk.” Asterios nodded at them.

They continued talking about the queen and her potential intentions with Asterios and his team for about half an hour. A few smaller topics snuck into their discussion too, but it was clear that everyone was most interested in the mysterious request. As Welrond had described it, the Elf Queen seemed quite unrelenting in her attempts to secure an audience with them.

For the rest of the day, Asterios went to train with Venuzathor while the girls split up into two groups. Some of them relaxed in Glimmervale while others observed Ast’s efforts at becoming more accustomed to his true draconic self. After exhausting himself to his limits, he paid a visit to Silvia and Tina, checking on how they were doing with the revision.

Miria gaped with sparkling eyes at the official drills Tina’s squad repeated almost infinitely. The other girls were fascinated by the fancy gestures and movements too, but the panthergirl’s enthusiasm easily beat all of them combined. Miria was always weak to new and interesting things, especially when she could enjoy them alongside her beloved master.

Watching Tina actually be comfortable and even somewhat confident in leading her subordinates forced a big smile onto Ast’s lips. She had been so nervous about the position of captain at first but it looked like she’d managed to push through her timidness and accepted her role wholeheartedly. No doubt that Silvia and the members of Tina’s squad had helped her grow accustomed to it and also learn the ropes of representing and commanding the Royal Division. He remembered seeing her study all the thick rulebooks and other materials plenty of times.

When the practice was finished, Asterios and Umbra moved Tina’s squad to Glimmervale so they would already be stationed there for the night. Their living quarters had been prepared by the involved Committee members so things were settled fairly quickly. Camille returned with them all too, visibly less hostile towards Asterios after the talks she had shared with the two noble ladies during their visit to the castle. She apologized to Asterios and promised to try and get to know him better.

After another pleasant night with all the girls joining Asterios in bed this time, they went to Imadil and Cynthia to receive their response. The elf duo decided to accept their suggestion and had already made proper preparations, taking whatever they needed into their spatial storages. The forge would be closed for a few days as they took a short vacation.

With everything pretty much set, they all gathered at the main plaza. The Committee members joined them too and quite a crowd flocked the place soon enough. One of the leaders might have leaked the information about the departure to the public, which wasn’t surprising since it wasn’t exactly a secret.

People cheered joyfully while watching the famous Royal Division line themselves up on their proud beasts in one of their staple formations. Seven flying creatures formed a triangular shape with Esil and Tina in the lead. He took her and Asterios onto his back while the others spread over the remaining six mounts. Miria, Selene, Silvia, Grea, and Bryn took a spot on one each and the elves sat together on the last winged tiger.

They took off and made a few ceremonious circles above the plaza before finally departing for their destination. Thanks to Esil being present amongst their ranks, the winged tigers were somehow invigorated and didn’t tire as easily so their speed was much higher than usual. The lion patriarch clearly had some influence over his tribe, surprising the members of the squad.

Of course, while they sped through the uninhabited lands, they slowed down a lot over towns and other settlements. Asterios and the girls took in all the sights of the foreign architecture as they could. It wasn’t much considering their attitude but the difference was more than just apparent. First and foremost, most if not all the buildings were often made purely out of wood. Maybe not strictly house-grown trees as some rumors and tales suggested, but the dominant use of logs and planks was very noticeable.

After a few days of travel, they finally reached their destination. Miria was the first one to spot the massive clearing inside the giant, almost unending forest. The name Garden of Sinners made a lot more sense as they observed the elven capital from the air. All the roads and structures were constructed in a way that made the settlement look like a giant garden with countless flowers and other plants representing districts and various locations.

The wooden architecture was full of curls and sloped angles. Even some walls looked curved like an overpressurized barrel. It was a good thing that Umbra hadn’t spoiled them any sights of the elven capital because it was just something they were all glad to experience on their own.

And they were extremely eager to do so.