VIVIEN'S eyes widened and whipped her head towards him. Their faces were inches apart and his emerald gaze went down to her plump lips. He raised his gaze and smirked when he saw the red face once again. He pulled away from her and laugh loudly. Realizing that he was only joking around, Vivien started to slap his arm repeatedly.
"Stop it. Stop it," Zephrain giggled as he tried to protect himself from Vivien's onslaught.
"You pervert! I hate it when you do that!" she shouted at him. Zephrain gasped when he felt his stitch straining. Vivien stopped abruptly and checked on him immediately. "Did it hurt? Are you okay?"
"No, no. I'm fine," Zephrain said, amused. He pressed his side and sat straight. Then he saw Vivien looking at the two swords sheathed in a cross at his back.
"I should practice with sword but Celine said I must wait until we get to the Land of Markus," she said before she brighten up. "Next time when you practice your swords, I'll practice with th
THE sun had set on the village and the night had grown cold when Zephrain saw a bright light erupt in the sky and shimmer out. He and Vivien were sitting on the edge of a porch, enjoying the quiet moment and watching the stars bloom in the evening. But when the light flashed, Zephrain stood up and watched the explosion. He had seen a light like that enough times to know what it could mean.The first time he had seen one had been during the inauguration of the Saeri ust Trux. To let everyone in the Kingdom of Demetrius know that there was a Saeri ust Trux appointed, the Krystalline Palace set off a large cannon-like ball that exploded in the sky, making a huge firework that lights up the whole sky. Smaller fireworks were used to celebrate festivals and other events. But there was nothing to celebrate here. Fireworks could also be used as a warning or an alert, a call to arms or a signal.Someone had sent up a signal."What was that?" Vivien asked, standing up beside
"THAT was more excitement than I was looking for tonight," Lukas said. He sat down beside the fire, his back to the village, looking out toward the plains. "It's made me hungry.""Hungry is our middle name," Dan chirped. He dropped down beside the fire as well, his back to the plains. "What are we eating, Celly?" He looked at Celine expectantly, and the woman made a face."I haven't had a chance to cook, go to sleep and dream of food," she said, but she was already setting up to cook their meager meal. Marjien kept an eye on the troops until they completely disappeared from her sight. She bent down and touched the ground, closing her eyes for a moment."What are you doing?" Elija's quiet voice asked behind her.She opened her eyes and stood. "I scattered the jewels around a certain perimeter. If someone is coming for us, the jewels underground will alert me.""Why didn't you use it before?" he said.She turned to him and smiled. "It will drain my
"VIVIEN, Marjien! I have something for you two."It was evening, and Lukas had just arrived at the edge of their camp, dusty from two days of traveling around the land of Vestia. The crew was sitting around their camp fire outside of one of the Graire Province's villages. They were all together, which did not happen all too often lately. Usually they were spread out, a few of them in one village and the rest in another, in an effort to protect multiple places. However, Gregori was starting to change things with the Krystalline Army's 31st Battalion. He managed to convince the commander of the Battalion to help out some impoverished villages under Lord Brail's nose. He made it seem like it was the Saeri ust Trux's discreet order and the lord must not know about it.Zephrain looked up from where he was sitting next to Dan, the two of them playing the hand game that involved slapping the ground and animal names. Dan had won every round, but Zephrain was learning about new
LATER that evening, Vivien was perched on a rock at the outskirts of their camp, the bow - now had a string attached to it - spread out in her lap. Lukas had promised to start giving her lessons the next day, which was sweet of him. She guessed that she would have to switch lessons with Zephrain for lessons with Lukas, since Zephrain seemed annoyed about her new weapon.She had known that he hadn't totally liked the idea of her arming herself, but she had hoped that maybe his opinion had changed or that he would at least see that it was important to her. But instead he had sort of stared in a way that she knew meant he wasn't entirely happy.Sliding one foot down the rock, she leaned back on her arms, palms against the cool stone. Overhead, the sky was overcast so there weren't any stars and the moon wasn't visible. It was a dark night, not very inviting. She was technically on watch, but she knew that at least one other person would be awake as well. For some reason,
ONE MONTH LATER, Chloe Rein and the Seven Geniuses got a message from Prince Ciaran himself that Drake Lornn, Theo Jon and Vivien Li were awakened. Princess Zillah told Ciaran was truly happened, and the queen demanded for information but the two remained mouth shut. The atmosphere in the palace was getting gloomier as time went by.After rescuing Jucel from being hostaged by the queen, Chloe began to become attentive to her surroundings. Neptos was gone for a month already, saying that he had to attend to something important. Chloe, however, trained nonstop every chance she gets. Her ability in archery drastically increased, and her swordsmanship was - in Jucel's comment - scary. Barbie and Kieran became her regular opponents in close combat.The only thing that Chloe couldn't master, and hated so much, was the Inner Core Enhancement which required her to meditate. Every time she attempted to close her eyes and turn her mind blank, it's as if her inner core woul
COLD without snow. Rain without dark clouds. Surrounded by thick forest and magical barrier. Isolated from the other town.Crystal Falls looked like a whole new world once they passed the barrier that separates it from the Kingdom of Demetrius as a whole. The woods are thicker and healthier, and there's a lot of chirping from different bird species. Chloe then heard it before she actually saw it. The rush, the pressure, and the roar.She adjusted her umbrella and followed Neptos who was walking ahead of her. Yep, they're just walking which caused them two days of travelling. Neptos said that he doesn't like riding horses. Chloe wondered why.They emerged from the woods and into a clearing. The rain had stopped so they closed their umbrellas. They were standing at a cliff that dropped 300m down. On their left side was a two-section waterfalls, dropping heavily and loudly which indicated a high pressure on the currents."Wow.." Chloe could only
CHLOE spent her whole couple of days getting drowned. Literally. Nobody told her that the lake got a sucking energy from beneath it, for Demetrius' sake!"AAAHHH!!" she screamed for the nth time for the day before being pulled by the strong pressure that goes to the bottom of the lake. A bubble of water enveloped her before she shot up into the surface."Focus, Chloe!" Neptos shouted from the side, comfortably sitting at the big rock and holding his jug of beer. "I can't look after you all the time!"He set her down on the flat stone, breaking off the bubble of water. Chloe fell onto her knees and hands as she coughed the water that invaded her system. "You...you're not helping," she panted.Neptos rolled his eyes and stood. "Rest first. Don't jump in. I'm not going to save you." He walked away and into the house.Chloe groaned as she rolled to her back and closed her eyes. She lets her breath become normal before she opened it and stared at the sky.You need to be
~O~O~O~Chloe stayed at the Crystal Falls with only Neptos and Hemera as her company. She counted the days and nights in her room, each day reflecting on what she achieved so far.Four days after she started her training in the Crystal Falls, she was able to hit the eyes of the moving target 15 feet away. Three days after that, she was able to stay in the surface of the lake until she reached the center before she goes down the pressure of the water. Chloe was not contented with the improvement and even trained at night.Thirteen days after she arrived in the Crystal Falls, she received a letter. Sending letters vary on the capability of the sender, not their abilities. Normal Kryst with limited magic power on their inner core, such as the soldiers, were given an eagle as their messenger. These eagles have wide black wings like that of a normal raven, white head and a metallic beak to kill those undetermined who will intercept the message chain.Some used Faeries. The