《The Whisper of the Nightingale》


 The Prologue

    The Dark Forest. A place that everybody feared. The trees in this forest were so tall and so dense that the forest floor had since long been cast into a stage of perpetual darkness. Many camp-fire stories have been told about this unfriendly place, and the numerous people that have entered, supposedly, never to return. Most people see these myths as just that, myths, but despite the world being in an age of technology, were every inch of the globe was meticulously studied, explorers had never quite been able to navigate through the entire Dark Forest. . . .

    Deep in this otherwise silent place the quiet night was interrupted by the light sound of someone running. A young woman was rushing through the dense woods. Normally this person''s running wouldn''t make a sound, no matter how hard the young woman pushed herself to run, but today was different. If one were to look closely, one would notice that the sleek, black, leathery suit she was wearing was drenched in blood. This in itself was not unusual for her, but this time, most of the blood was hers.

    On her back sat a small child whose long, silvery hair whipped wildly behind them as they made their way deeper and deeper into the forest. The child was a young teenager, at most, but had a very androgynous appearance making it hard to tell if it was a girl or a boy. The child''s originally white clothes were now dyed red from tightly hugging the running woman.

    "Just a bit further, Miss Night!" the child urged.

    "Quiet!" hissed the woman; she was afraid that someone might pin-point their location through their voices.

    Unfortunately, her fears were not without reason, because a couple hundred meters behind her, dozens of people in black cloaks were rushing to catch up to them. They were being hunted and the distance between the hunters and the prey was slowly shrinking.

    The chase continued and before long the pursuers had all but caught up, only tens of meters remained. Just as ''Miss Night'' was about to curse that the situation had become hopeless she noticed a clearing up ahead, and on the other side of that clearing was a very narrow passage between two mountain sides.

    ''This must be the Rift! If the kid can get through to the other side he''ll be safe!''  The sight made her lip twitch into a slight smile as she forced her legs to make a last spurt towards the Rift. One meter away she stopped and practically threw the child off her back and into the narrow passage.

    "Run! Don''t look back!" As the young ''Miss Night'' shouted she turned around to face the oncoming assault of their pursuers. To herself she thought bitterly   ''This is why I never took any protection missions - running away on your own is one thing, but standing ground. . . .''

    The child only paused for a second before he too turned and, with tears running down his cheeks, dashed deeper into the Rift. Behind him the clearing had already been filled with nearly thirty angry looking men in black cloaks who all aimed their firearms at ''Miss Night'', his savior.

    For a moment the silence returned once more to the forest. The pursuers suddenly seemed hesitant to continue, as if their numbers and numerous firearms no longer would be enough to take care of the woman in front of them. After what seemed like ages, an older gentleman stepped out from the crowd.

    "Raven Night! By the order of the Union I demand that you let us pass!"

    The man''s shouts echoed against the mounting walls but Raven''s only reply was to, with a flip of her wrists, activate the two sword-units she was carrying along her arms and readying her stance for battle.

    "You have already killed nearly a hundred of your comrades! If that child doesn''t die, being the Night Songstress won''t be enough to spare your life!"

    Raven Night glared at the dark group in front of her. Not long ago she had considered herself one of them and she couldn''t help but think back on the nearly 25 years she had lived as a faithful servant of the Assassin Union. She had no memories of her parents and by now she barely remembered the horrible orphanage she spent her first three years in. Her first strong memory was from the day a Union member had come to her orphanage and picked four toddlers, seemingly at random, and Raven had been one of them.

    The Union member had taken her and her fellow orphans to a run-down warehouse where four people were chained to the floor. The Union member had then given them guns and ordered them to kill a captive each. If they did as they were told they would be granted a place to call home and a purpose with their lives, if they did not they would be killed themselves. Normal kids might not understand the meaning of death at the age of three but these orphans had already lived through enough to know and fear death. The four kids had only glances at each other before they fired their guns.

    As a result they had all been taken to the Union to begin their training as assassins. She had been given the name Raven Night; ''Raven'' had been the name of chained captive she had shot and ''Night'' was her unit. Any other names she had were to be forgotten, and they were.

    The training had been grueling. To call it torture would be more accurate, and at times not even that would suffice to describe what they had to experience, but the Union knew what they were doing and the kids quickly became loyal beyond belief. Raven Night had excelled in training and had extraordinary perception. She quickly shot through the ranks and by the age of 18 she was already considered too be the best assassin alive.

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    She was given the nickname Night Songstress and her ''performance'' became feared all over the world. She would execute her missions faster and cleaner than anybody else and by the of 25, the body count left in her wake had reached the equivalent of a medium-sized city, and this not counting the time she was ordered to actually erase an entire city - since it had been done with explosives, rather than by her own hands, she didn''t feel like it counted. . . .

    Most likely she would have continued to be a loyal servant of the Assassin Union until killed in action, but her latest mission had changed that. She had been sent to a secluded mountain village with orders kill a young child living with the town elders. This was a fairly common assignment; some hotshot had most likely fathered an illegitimate child and now another heir wanted to get rid of the competition. Of course this was all speculation; reasons behind the missions were never stated and Raven never asked.

    It was supposed to be a routine hit, but the moment she had laid eyes on her target she had felt an inexpiable urge to protect him. She really couldn''t say why. It was not love or pity or any other odd emotional reason - such nonsense had since long been trained away - but there had been a sort of eerie nobleness over the child that had struck at her very soul. It was a presence she hadn''t experienced before and it made her question every order she had ever followed. In that instant she had gained the insight to the difference between following orders because you wanted to and simply following out of habit or fear. She hadn''t hesitated for a second. Within minutes she had grabbed the kid and started running.

    Naturally the Union had learned of her disregard for orders and had labeled her a traitor. Now, half a year later the Union had finally caught up. "Humph! Union puppets, I am done killing for others. Done killing for reasons not my own." As she spoke, the initial disdain on her face was replaced with an eerie sort of calm. "It may be the last thing I do, but I will protect that kid. Come!" At the last word an overwhelming killing intent filled the clearing.

    After only a brief millisecond of hesitation the man shouted his order "Engage!"

    At once every dark cloaked assassin fired their guns as half of them rushed forward in a frenzy. They knew very well that simple guns wouldn''t do the trick against the legendary Night Songstress. Being the queen of all assassins, perhaps even the greatest assassin the world had ever seen, guns had stopped being fatal for her a long time ago. But they would still be a distraction that could slow her down.

    Despite the blood flowing from the heavy wounds she had already obtained, Raven Night moved like a light feather with her two swords flying around her in streaks of light. A faint whistle rang out every time she, with perceived ease, blocked an incoming bullet. But as the cloaked assassins drew closer she was forced to split her attention between those fighting in close combat and those who momentarily jumped away only to fire off their guns again. She also had to make sure no one darted into the Rift behind her to pursue the fleeing child.

    What followed was a fierce battle where the thirty cloaked assassins took turns slashing and shooting at the lone Raven guarding the Rift. No commands were shouted among the attackers, no cries of pain were heard. Nobody that witnessed the fight would doubt for a second that everyone present were professionals at killing. Every so often an attacker would fall to the ground by Raven''s swords and the group was shrinking in size. But her defenses were becoming less and less perfect. It was only a matter of time before a fatal wound would be inflicted.

    As the fourteenth attacker fell dead to the ground the air about the cloaked men changed and their attacks intensified. They no longer switched between shooting and engaging in close-combat, but rather combined the two and disregarded the risks of friendly fire.

    Raven grunted and stretched out her two swords in opposite directions. The sharp swords effortlessly pierced through two assassins that had drawn too close to Rift too recklessly.

    At this point four more assassins rushed in and used all their strength to keep Raven''s swords lodged in her last kills and block her line of sight. Not hesitating for a second the remaining cloaked men fired of their firearms straight through their own comrades. Over a hundred shots were fired before the bullet riddled assassins sank to the ground.

    Surrounded by corpses Raven sank to her knees, her eyes glazed over as she stared of into the distance, not focusing on anything in particular.  ''I . . . I guess this is my limit. . . ,''   she thought as her vision became blurry, darkness tugging at the corners.  ''Over 25 years of bringing death . . . hehe . . . with today''s kills I guess I''ve surpassed the half-a-million-hits record. . . . Ironic. . . .''

    As last strength left her, Raven Night fell to ground with her head facing the dark depth of the Rift. The remaining ten assassins only paused for a second to witness the legendary Night Songstress'' last breaths before they started to flood into the Rift. A final thought made it into Raven''s mind before the darkness claimed her.

    ''I hope the kid made it. . . . At least then I''ve done something good in this life.''

 Chapter 1: Life Begins Anew

    It was an unusually warm autumn day in the Nightingale Mountains. The forests covering the mountain range looked as if they were on fire; the sunlight hit the slowly moving leaves whose hues stretched from bright golden yellows to racy blood reds. Sometimes the light breeze would loosen a couple of leaves that took to the sky like embers.

    Suddenly, a high pitched wail yanked Raven out of the unconscious state she had sunken into. Disoriented, she tried to open her eyes so she could find the source of the screaming. Her eyes refused her command at first, but after some struggling a blurry world of light filled her eyes, and Raven realized to her surprise that she herself was the perpetrator.

    ''What is going on?''

    She tried to stop screaming but her body responded sluggishly.

    "There, there. Everything is alright." A gentle soft voice cooed in her ear.

    Blinking, Raven forced herself to calm down, slowly gaining control over her body and voice. The wails came to an end and the blurry world became clearer and clearer. Looking at her surroundings and her own tiny hands Raven could only come to one conclusion: she had been reborn, and if the architecture of the room was anything to go by, it was not in a place remotely close to the where - and perhaps even when - she came from!

    She was currently lying in the arms of a young woman that looked down on her with tender, loving eyes. A shudder ran through the small body of the former Raven Night - never had she been looked at with eyes like those. . . . The woman was obviously very tired and her long light violet hair clung tightly to her face, but despite this she had a slight warm glow about her. To Raven the woman seemed like a star lighting up a dark night sky.

    Without looking away from her newborn baby, the lady spoke: "I''iwi, let Lord Maleo know that he has sired a lovely little daughter."

    ''What language is this? I can understand what they are saying, but I don''t recognize it at all. . . .''

    "Yes, Lady Besra." Light steps scurried out of the room.

    "Hello, little one." With a pearly white hand, the woman lightly poked at Raven''s bead-sized nose. "Welcome to Trinity. I am your mother, Besra." A bright smile spread across her face, and Raven couldn''t help but stretch out a fumbling hand towards the woman.

    "maoa . . . ," a small sound rolled out of Raven''s mouth, followed by a baffled look on her infant face. ''Ah, I can''t speak yet - my vocal cords haven''t develop completely, I guess.'' The baffled look was quickly replaced by that of serendipity; ''this mother of mine seems very kind. . . .'' For Raven, the love she felt from this ''Lady Besra'' was something she had never experienced before and she already cherished it deeply.

    Just as Raven''s tiny hand was about to reach her mother''s cheek, she could her the door opening and, in the same instant, a huge figure loomed over the bed in which Lady Besra and little Raven were resting. Raven froze and stared at the figure. It was a powerfully built man, at most thirty years old, whose black hair was arranged in a thick braid swaying behind him. He wore fine silken garments in different shades of green, intricate copper patterns were woven over his chest and arms.

    "Maleo! Don''t shadow walk in front of the child, you will scare her!" reprimanded Besra.

    "Haha, how could a child of mine possibly be scared so easily!" bellowed the man named Maleo, but noticing the glare Besra gave him he immediately quieted down, a guilty look on his face.

    But Raven hadn''t been scared, she had been dumbfounded. How could a man possibly move so quickly? Sure, she had been focused on her mother and no doubt her senses as a baby were not what they had been as an adult, but the man had appeared out of nowhere. . . .

    However, before Raven could spend any more time contemplating what she had just witnessed, the man bent down over the bed and scooped her up. His strong arms were surprisingly careful as they gently held Raven. She looked up into the man''s face, and she could see the same love and happiness in his eyes that her mother had shown her, only this time there was an overbearing air of protectiveness present. Raven couldn''t help but feel that this man, her father, would move the world to keep her safe. This too was a feeling foreign to Raven. ''It would seem I have been blessed with two loving parents this time around. . . .''

    Maleo looked pensively at the newborn daughter in his arms for a while. The little infant just looked back at him, eyes filled with curiosity. He couldn''t shake the feeling that this little one was trying to learn everything about him just by staring at him. "Besra, this child of ours looks at me like an all-seeing raven. . . ." Maleo was silent for a while. "Yes, Raven. It will be a fitting name for her."

    "Raven Nightingale." Her mother tried the name and nodded approvingly.

    Raven was quietly shocked. How come her father had given her the same name that she had acquired in her past life? The coincidence was just too enormous! Last time she had only been named Raven due to her first kill, now she got the same name simply because she stared at her father?

    The family name was also cause for amazement. The infamous ''Night Songstress'' had been born into a family named after the ultimate songstress of the night; the nightingale songbird.

    ''This must be what is called fate. . . .'' Raven''s initial shock quickly subsided, what point was there in being surprised at the mysteries of fate?

    "Raven Nightingale? Very well, this shall be the second me. Here I will live a life of my choosing with people that genuinely care for me." With this thought Raven Night, a.k.a. the Night Songstress, finally embraced her new self. She was Raven Nightingale, daughter of Maleo and Besra Nightingale, and she was loved.

    Maleo kept looking at his new born daughter in his arms. Her tiny mouth had curved into a small smile as he had given her a name, and her big green eyes were quietly looking up at him. Once again he felt as if this child hid unusual intelligence underneath its infant appearance, but as he had just become her father all he felt at this was limitless pride.

    "She''s got my eyes this little one." He said with a chuckle. "Only fair considering the first one got yours."

    He turned to his wife on the bed and lowered Raven back into her arms. As he did so Raven took the opportunity to study the room she was in. It was a fairly large bedchamber, complete with a large double bed, a few meticulously carved wooden cabinets and a gorgeous little desk that stood in front of one of the larger windows, looking out at what seemed to be endless skies. The craftsmanship on the wooden furniture was simply amazing; flowers and leaves tangled their way up the sides and legs of the cabinets and the desk. Within the lush greenery small birds where perched and they looked almost alive.

    The tall walls were all made of a reddish stone that had been polished blank and as the sunlight lit up the far-side wall, it seemed as if hundreds of tiny specks of crystal had been embedded in the rock. The multiple tall windows were flanked by thick white curtains that ran from the ceiling to the floor. Raven couldn''t help but assume that she had been born into a very wealthy family.

    As she looked towards the big wooden door her father had entered from, she noticed a small boy peeping in from outside. He was perhaps five or six years old and looked like a miniature version of her father; he wore the same green robes, but without the copper patterns covering his chest and arms, his hair was pitch black and small braid could be seen hanging over his shoulder.

    With Raven back in her mother''s arms Maleo faced the boy in the doorway. "Son, come over here!"

    "Yes father!" The little boy hurried into the room, stopping at the foot of the bed.

    Maleo placed a large hand on his son''s shoulder and led him to a place next to the bed with Besra and Raven.

    "Look son, this is your baby sister Raven!"

    As Maleo spoke, Besra tilted the little Raven in her arms to give her son a better look. Curiosity filled his eyes as he stretched to look at his sister.

    "So cute!" he exclaimed.

    "Next year you will start your training to become a spiritualist. You have to work hard so you can become strong enough to protect her!" The large hand patted his son''s shoulder firmly.

    They boy''s hazel brown eyes glowed with confidence and resolution. "Yes, father!" Clearly he took his new mission very seriously. He placed his hand his chest, as if copying a military salute, and looked straight in front of him. "I, Haotzin Nightingale, will protect my little sister with my life!"

    Besra chuckled. "Very good, my child." Her gentle hand reached out to ruffle the hair on Haotzin''s head. "You will have to work hard."  Startled by his mother''s movements, the young Hoatzin became conflicted about whether he should hold his grand stance or avoid his mother''s embarrassing touch. In the end he managed to do neither.

    "Mother!" he complained, but Besra just smiled.

    Raven on the other hand looked at her ''older'' brother with newfound love. This little boy seemed so sincere. She could tell that he really would work hard for her sake. No doubt he was in a slightly rebellious age where he wanted to prove to everyone around that he was a man rather than a boy. Hoatzin had a long way to go, but effort does count and the previously cold assassin heart couldn''t help but melt a little bit more. ''What a family I have gained!''

    Before Raven could reflect any more on her new family, a wave of fatigue swept through her body and she failed to stifle a yawn. She was completely spent, and had to work hard in order to keep her eyes from instantly closing. Of course, mother Besra noticed her daughter''s struggles.

    "Okay now. It''s time to let us get some rest."

    "Ah! Yes. Come son, you mother and sister have had a long day." Maleo kissed his wife on the forehead and led their son out the door. "I''ll see you in a while," he called back softly with a smile on his face as he too disappeared out the door.

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    Besra sighed and sank further into the bed, carefully placing her newborn infant next to her, using her own body heat to keep it warm.

    "There my darling, my little Raven, time to sleep." As she spoke the faint glow around her seemed to expand and envelope the child in her arms. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread through Raven''s tiny body and, try as she might to stay awake, within a heartbeat she had fallen into a deep sleep.

    ---------

    Over the next couple of days various people came to congratulate the newest addition to the Nightingale family, or ''Nightingale clan'' as they called it. Most of the visitors seemed to be either close friends or not-too-distant family members. Raven quickly learned that her father was the ruler of an area called Nightingale Prefecture and that his servants had great respect for him. This information came from the servants themselves who became very loose-lipped as soon as they figured none but the baby could overhear them.

    The same servants were on the other hand not very fond of the older sister of Raven''s father, Lady Anhinga, who had come to visit quite quickly after Raven''s birth. Word was that she never treated her servants well and Raven couldn''t help but agree with their negative opinions. Aunt Anhinga had practically stormed into the dining hall where Raven''s family had been seated for dinner the day after her birth. Raven, who had been sleeping in her mother''s arms, had woken with a start.

    "I heard that my dear brother has sired his second child! My congratulations!" The unknown woman with grayish hair and a velvet dark blue gown smiled widely as she rushed over to Lady Besra''s side. "Let aunt Anhinga see this little bundle of joy!" The woman had almost already yanked Raven from her mother as she spoke.

    Although aunt Anhinga had been all smiles and congratulations in front of Raven''s parents, she couldn''t help but notice a flash of contempt on her aunt''s face when she inspected the newest addition to the family that she held in her arms. Raven had seen that look all too many times in her previous life. Her aunt had considered her an enemy!

    Raven had listened intently to the servants gossiping about her aunt after that and if the servants'' guesses were correct, aunt Anhinga wasn''t very pleased with the low influence her husband held in the prefecture. Naturally an additional heir to the current prefecture lord wouldn''t improve the situation. It was a fairly common situation in a powerful family so Raven didn''t think much about it.

    Raven was of course very curious about her new world but her information source was limited to whatever the people around her discussed so insights came slowly.

    ''Sigh, I wish I could move around a bit more. . . .''

    As a newly born infant, Raven''s muscle strength and control was very limited. From what she knew of babies in her old world it would normally take about a year before an infant would be able to walk, but patience had never been one of her strong sides. So, to speed up the process, Raven spent every moment she was alone trying to gain more control over her body and work up her strength bit by bit. It was extremely tiring work and as a result she slept quite a lot.

    But when others were around Raven spent most of her time either eating or quietly observing her surroundings. To her relief her mother didn''t breast feed her, instead a servant would give her a bottle filled with a delicious sweet liquid that seemed to strengthen her considerably.

    Raven''s name was one of the much debated topics so she quickly learnt the reason behind it; here, in this new world, ravens were considered a symbol unparalleled wisdom and insight. When Raven kept quietly observing the new world around her, the servants would all agree that the name was well picked. Since Raven''s soul had already lived through 25 years of ruthless experiences, of course her eyes would reflect more wisdom than those of a regular infant.

    Because of her quiet nature Raven was quickly considered to be a very well behaved child who rarely cried or made any fuss. Sometimes though, the jubilant giggles of an infant echoed through the many halls of the Nightingale palace. To the servants, this indicated that young master Haotzin had been given time off from his schooling and had rushed to entertain his little sister, something he did very well.

    "Hear ye! Hear ye!" Hoatzin would yell and strike an impressive pose in front of his sister. "This is the tale of Weebill the Great!"

    Clad in fake armor with a large cape fluttering about him, Hoatzin would reenact the stories his father had told him of great battles where even greater heroes and magical beasts fought to the death. Raven would always start bubbling with laughter as her older brother, with a hideous grimace on his face, ''died'' for the first time, usually slain by some vicious beast, only to rise again as a vengeful hero who would save the day.

    A couple of months passed like this and as autumn turned into winter, Raven was finally strong enough to crawl around a bit. However, due to fairly strict supervision she could never get very far and whenever she was alone she was left in her cradle, whose high bars made escape impossible. She once got hold of a book but to her dismay the scripture was entirely different from her own alphabet so she had to give up on reading for now. Despite all this Raven had still managed to learn quite a lot about her new world.

    It was currently the year of 4990 of the so called Trinity era. This she knew because the servants were preparing for the grand celebration - to mark the beginning of a new year - that would take place in a few weeks. It seemed as if this world also operated on a 12 month calendar. She herself had been born on the 13th day of the 10th month - a very ominous date in her old world but people here didn''t seem to care.

    At another time she had overheard officials discussing trade with her father which told her that the Nightingale Prefecture her father ruled over was one of three prefectures in the northerly Sky Kingdom. Besides the Sky Kingdom, there seemed to be two more countries on the continent, Earth Kingdom and Sea Kingdom. The reason why her country was called the Sky Kingdom was very apparent as soon as you looked out a window; the entire Sky Kingdom consisted of massive mountain ranges that seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky. The view from Nightingale Palace - that was located high up in the Nightingale Prefecture''s mountain range - was quite breathtaking. Most likely the other kingdoms had equivalent reasons behind their names.

    Apart from these insights, she had also heard various tidbits about the state of the prefecture, loads of gossip about who was courting whom, and even managed to snap up information on various hidden passages and places the servants had found during their rounds - she couldn''t wait to explore these once her legs got strong enough to carry her.

    But there were also some discussions she overheard that she didn''t quite understand.

    Servants would talk about magical beasts that roamed the mountains and forests around the City. They would talk in grave voices with serious faces, but the stories would be nearly as extreme as her older brother''s reenactments, indicating that there actually was some truth behind them. They also expressed much relief that Lord Nightingale hired so many ''spiritualists'' to keep these beasts away from the various cities spread throughout the mountain range.

    Raven had no idea what these so called spiritualists were, but if they could fight of the magical beasts in brother Hoatzin''s stories they must be quite amazing. After all, those beast were capable of everything from spitting fireballs to freezing time itself. She guessed the stories were a bit exaggerated, but still!

    Raven tried her best to find out more about this, but since her speech still was limited, there wasn''t much she could do.

    ---------

    The new year''s celebration arrived. That day the otherwise dark city around the Nightingale Palace lit up like a sea of stars. On a balcony facing the city, Lady Besra stood dressed in a fabulous white fur coat. In her arms was her nearly three months old daughter, wrapped in a warm bundle. Besra lifted Raven so she could see out over the city below.

    "Look my darling. Today is the Day of Light! On this darkest of days we honor the past year and welcome the year to come by burning away the darkness. Thus we purify not only the night but also our hearts."

    Raven stared with wonder in her eyes at the city below - it was truly a sight for the soul.

    "My lady Besra." A solemn voice called out behind them.

    It was Besra''s head maid I''iwi, who had been with her on the day Raven was born. I''iwi''s hazel brown hair was in the same tight knot on her head that I''iwi always wore. Her gown was dark red and on her chest she bore the emblem of a high level servant, indicating for everyone that she served the head family directly. I''iwi continued, "Lord Maleo and young master Hoatzin have returned from the celebrations in the city. They are headed for Spirit Hall."

    ''Spirit Hall?''  Raven''s eyes lit up. She had never heard of it before.

    "Thank you, I''iwi. I will go there at once." Besra turned and left the balcony.

    "Shall I take young mistress Raven?"

    "Yes." Besra started to hand over Raven to the servant, but as she did, the normally complacent little girl started to wail desperately.

    ''This is the first lead in weeks; no way I''m letting mother go without me!'' Raven refused to give in to I''iwi''s cooing.

    Besra stared at her daughter. This was the first time she had protested so vehemently when being left behind. Besra only hesitated for a moment before collecting her daughter once again in her arms. "Oh well, I might as well bring her. It will make little difference."

    With her daughter in her arms Besra made her way deeper into the palace than Raven had ever been before. Raven curiously observed the hallways they were passing through, subconsciously expanding her inner map of the palace - old habits die hard and some were worth keeping. Soon they arrived at a winding staircase.

    "I''iwi, you may wait here."

    With a nod to her servant, Besra started ascending the stairs.

 Chapter 2: Spirit Essence

    Lady Besra, with the infant Raven in her arms, reached the top of the stairs and entered a dimly lit chamber. The chamber had nine walls made of a semi-translucent stone that allowed the starlight outside to slightly shine through. In the center of the room sat father and son on either side of a large symbol that glistened on the floor.

    Maleo lifted his head and looked quizzically at the Raven.

    "She protested when I tried to leave her with I''iwi. Don''t worry she is a quiet child, she won''t disturb her brother. Right little Raven?"

    The infant blinked, an innocent smile on her face.

    "Very well. She is too young to be affected anyway," laughed Maleo. "Take your seat."

    Without hesitation, Besra elegantly sank to the floor next to the glistening symbol. As Raven came closer she noticed that symbol consisted of three overlapped and interlocked triangles that created a complex star-like pattern. Each triangle-side had been made by different colored stones inserted into the floor. The segments were made of what looked like white jade, red jasper, orange amber, yellow serpentine, green jade, light blue amazonite, indigo lapis lazuli, violet charoite, and deep, black onyx. Raven''s thoughts immediately went to the rainbows of her old world, that embodied every aspect of light.

    Once Besra, with Raven, had taken her place on the floor, Maleo turned his attention back to his very nervous son. Hoatzin tried is best to hide this nervousness, but his eyes darted from the symbol on the floor to his two parents, out through the translucent walls and then back again to the floor. His hands were tightly clenched in his lap.

    "Hoatzin." Maleo spoke with a steady and serious voice. "Son, this year you will turn six years old. With two spiritualist parents this means that your soul should be crystallized and strong enough to start walking the path of spirit cultivation."

    By now not only Hoatzin looked on his father with deep interest; Raven also stared at her father expectantly. ''Finally some insight to this spirit-business!''

    "As you know, leading Spiritualists throughout the ages have accomplished astonishing deeds. They are capable of defeating horrendous magical beasts and single-handedly defeating great armies. Fights between true masters can shake the entire world. But how can they do all this?" He gave Hoatzin a look, encouraging him to continue the explanation.

    "By cultivating spirit essence!" answered Hoatzin eagerly.

    "Indeed. But how?"

    "Ah! By . . ." Hoatzin faltered.

    Maleo hid a smile. "It is done by establishing spirit connections between your soul and the spirit energies that flow throughout the very fabric of the world" He explained. "Once a connection has been made, you can start cultivating your own spirit core. With your spirit core established you can use collected spirit essence to strengthen yourself, both passively and actively during battles." He studied his son for a moment then asked. "So, what are the different levels of cultivation spiritualists are separated into?"

    This time Hoatzin didn''t hesitate. "There are three levels of spiritualists. Spirit Novice, Spirit Adept and Spirit Champion."

    "Right. And beyond that are the true masters, Spirit Masters. Each level is divided into low, mid and high. As you advance the differences in these levels grow larger, with the biggest leaps between title changes. It might not be entirely impossible for a low level Spirit Novice to defeat a high level Novice, but a low level Adept will wipe out both without any problems. Then again a high level Champion will always crush a low level Champion despite them both being ''champions''. So ber that in mind!"

    Maleo paused and fished a grey pendant out from a pouch he carried at his hip and tossed it to his son. "This is a spirit stone. Every Spiritualist is required to carry one and its color reveals the level of its owner. Apart from intrusively examining others through physical contact or willingly releasing spirit essence this is the only way to tell the cultivation level of another spiritualist."

    "Once you managed to form a spirit core and thereby have entered the stage of a lower Spirit Novice, a speck of white will appear in the pendant''s center. This white will then spread until it fills the entire pendant. When it does it indicates that you''ve reach the peak Novice stage. When breaking through to the next stage a red speck will be formed at its center and the process will start again."

    Maleo parted the fabric of his robe to reveal a deep red pendant with a large orange center. "Novices are white, Adepts red, Champions orange. Supposedly, true masters are yellow. Your own father is approaching the mid Champion stage, with a possibility of breaking through any day now." He smiled proudly, and Hoatzin looked as his father with big, wondrous eyes.

    Mid Champion? What did this signify? Within the entire Sky Empire, consisting of perhaps four million inhabitants, there were probably no more than a couple hundred mid Champions! They were extremely valuable assets for the Empire. Even if Maleo hadn''t been born a noble, he would be held in very high regard.

    To the side Besra gave a small cough and glanced at her husband.

    "Ah, yes. That is all quite far off for you, son, but train hard and you might get there." Maleo stuffed back the pendant into his robes. "Today you will attempt to make your first spirit connection, once you have three you will be considered a lower Spirit Novice, capable of forming your spirit core."

    "The first connection is always the hardest and it is difficult to say when your soul is strong enough to make it. However! Today is the last day of the year, the Day of Light, and as midnight approaches spirit essence will pour into Spirit Halls all over the continent, marking the new beginning. This is the optimal time to attempt making your first connection."

    "It comes," Besra urged.

    In the center of the nine-pointed star, a dim light started to spread.

    "Son, close your eyes and relax. Focus on the darkness in your mind and try not to resist when you feel a slight push in your mind." As he spoke, both he and Besra closed their eyes and started to breathe in slow, rhythmic, breaths. Hoatzin only hesitated for a moment before he did the same. Raven on the other hand stared at the accumulating light in the center of the symbol with growing eagerness. This was the first time she had witnessed something so . . . magical! The light moved as if made of water as it stretched upwards pouring into a large sphere. After a while the flow stopped and the sphere floated in mid-air, swaying slightly.

    Suddenly the spirit essence split into three smaller spheres and one very large sphere. Even the smaller ones varied in sizes - the smallest no bigger than a finger nail, the largest was the size of a thumb - but the fourth sphere was the size of a watermelon. Raven barely had time to notice how the smallest sphere shot at high speed towards her older brother before the biggest sphere slammed into her and her mind went blank with pain.

    It felt as if thousands of tiny needles tried to drill their way into her head at once. Instinctively, she turned all her senses inwards and what she saw changed the way she viewed the world. In her head hovered a dim, light-green prism. The moment she saw it she knew that it was her crystallized soul. If the pain she felt at that moment hadn''t been so excruciating she would have found it amusing that something that had caused so much religious debates and even great wars in her old world not only existed but turned out to be something so . . . simple.

    She was, however, distracted by the pain. The source was without a doubt the bright light that endlessly pressed at the prism, trying to force its way in. She wanted to push the light away but there was nothing she could do. In reality, even if she had known how to put up a fight, she wouldn''t have been strong enough for it to make any difference. Finally, the first ray of light managed to penetrate deep into the prism. As it did, it was as if the dam broke; countless rays of light forced their way into the depths of her soul, latching on to whatever they found in there.

    Raven had lived through all kinds of torture methods imaginable to man in her old life - in most cases, it had been part of her training as a child - but none of it came close to what she was feeling now. She wanted to cry out, she wanted to get away, she wanted it to end any way possible. But none of it happened. Her body didn''t listen to her, and as more and more rays penetrated her soul her senses only became more heightened. She could feel everything; not only her own pain but the pressure the stone under her mother felt from being sat on, she could feel the air''s hopelessness as it was being breathed in and out by the people in the room, she could feel the excitement and hunger of the raw spirit essence pushing its way into her mind. Everything.

    It was all just too much to bear. . . .

    But, just as it started to feel as if her soul was going to shatter for good, the pressure stopped. The spirit essence stopped trying to force its way in and instead allowed itself to flow freely along the already established connections, filling her soul. The pain subsided and was replaced by a warm, fuzzy feeling. She was healing.

    Her previously dim prism now shone brightly, around it floated a haze of excess spirit essence that didn''t seem to have fit inside. The extreme clearness Raven''s senses had held during the connecting process had faded considerably but she could still tell that the spirit essence seemed to be waiting for something, but Raven didn''t know what it was.

    As she was contemplating this she heard her father speaking. "Son, how did it go?"

    Raven opened her eyes and saw her brother''s bewildered gaze.

    "Father! That was amazing! It hurt at fist but once I stopped resisting everything changed. It was as if I could feel the very air I was breathing! It was absolutely amazing!" Hoatzin couldn''t have hid his excitement even if he wanted to.

    "Good, son! Very good indeed!" Maleo looked at his son with overflowing pride. "New connections are always a bit painful but you get used to it. In the future they will come more naturally as your soul grows mature enough."

    Raven couldn''t help but snort coldly inside. ''You call that a bit painful? They must have insane pain tolerance. . . .''

    "Now then, tell me son, what do you see with your minds inner eye?" Maleo inquired.

    Hoatzin closed his eyes and breathed calmly. "I see a clear prism with a string of light flowing out of it."

    "That would be your first connection to the spirit energy that is the very fabric of the very world. As you grow older and your soul matures, more connections will be formed. As they are formed, your perception and ability to cultivate will increase."

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    Out of curiosity, Raven took a closer look at her own soul and it gave her a huge shock.  ''. . . 243!? 243 connections? Is that even possible?'' As she pondered over this another thought hit her. ''. . . hehe, at least it explains the additional pain. If one connection hurt, what would over 200 times that feel like?''

    Her father continued. "As your connections increase you will notice that your soul will follow the same color scheme as you spirit stone. White, or clear, being the weakest, followed by red and so on. However, your soul strength and your cultivation won''t necessarily be in phase. The strength of your soul merely indicates how fast you can absorb the spirit essence, your cultivation will depend on what you do with it."

    Yet again Raven was baffled. What about her own soul? It was green, and according to her father, shouldn''t it be either white, red, orange or yellow?

    ''Perhaps it''s a consequence of being reborn with my mind intact. . . .'' Raven speculated.

    "On average you will establish one new connection every year or so, but extreme events might cause your soul to develop faster than that. There is no other way to develop your soul, so you have to make sure to live your life to the fullest or you will get stuck," Maleo continued.

    "Yes, father!"

    "But remember, the strength of your soul is important since it will improve you cultivation speed, but when it comes down to it, the most important thing is to have a strong cultivation! A spiritualist with a weak soul can still make up for it by cultivating relentlessly and even if you have the strongest soul in the world you won''t be able to break a twig if you don''t cultivate properly. If you want to be able to protect your sister you have to work hard!" Maleo''s voice was stern as he reminded his son.

    "Yes, father!" Hoatzin straightened up a bit and glanced at his smiling mother and the infant in her arms.

    "With only one connection, forming a permanent spirit core will be impossible, but you can still start cultivating to increase your overall strength. Tell me, is there any spirit essence floating around your soul?"

    Hoatzin looked a bit puzzled. "No, father."

    Maleo frowned slightly then glanced at his wife with a mischievous smile before he waved his hand in front of him.

    "No matter." He paused for a second, then started instructing his son.

    "Focus on your existing connection and try tugging at it. As you do, the area around your soul will slowly fill up with spirit essence. You will notice that once the essence enters your mind you will able to control it and move it around your body. It will be a bit hard at first but you will get the hang of it. Once you can freely control it, move it towards the area right below your navel and let it circulate there until you feel you can''t hold it any more. At that time just let it go and it will naturally disperse through your body and return to the world around you."

    Hoatzin looked nervously at his father.

    "Go ahead, try it. It will come to you more naturally than you think." His mother spoke softly, coaxing her son into action.

    Hoatzin nodded and once again closed his eyes. Both parents looked at their son with anticipation. His aptitude for controlling the spirit essence within him would be very important for his development over the next couple of years. It would be crucial for him when time came for him to join a spirit school. After all, since it would take roughly three years for him to get enough spirit connections to form a spirit core he would be young but not unusual among his peers, but if he could control the spirit essence efficiently then he could be taught several breathing techniques that would lift him above the rest.

    What nobody noticed was that in Besra''s arms, little Raven copied her brother; she too closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. For her this state came very naturally since meditation had been a big part of her training as an assassin. Within her mind Raven observed the hazy essence swirling slowly around her soul and the 243 connections that extended from her green prism. With a thought she tried to extort pressure on the floating essence and to her surprise the cloud of light easily moved away. Raven quickly realized that even though she had no problems what so ever to move the essence, making it flow exactly where she wanted was a bit more tricky. However, she was persistent and within just a minute or so she had figured it out to the point where it almost became second nature.

    Excitedly she led the essence down towards her navel, but as it approached its destination she was in for another surprise. The closer she got the faster the essence moved and before she had a chance to start rotating it herself, all spirit essence was sucked up in a small vortex, right below her navel. There it formed a small and slowly rotating disk of dense white light. Without her knowing how, Raven had already managed to form her spirit core! But how could she not? The minimum requirement was to have 3 spirit connections, she had over 200!

    Raven studied the vortex and tried to move the spirit essence within in the same manner as before but nothing happened. Perplexed, Raven turned her attention back to her spirit connections. This time she ''tugged'' at them as instructed and new spirit essence flowed into her soul. The prism flashed slightly and slowly a new haze started to seep into her mind. Once the haze was roughly the same size as before no more essence came to her no matter how hard she tried, so Raven instead tried to once more move the new haze towards her navel.

    Yet again the spirit essence seemed drawn to the newly formed vortex but this time, as the new essence was absorbed and started rotating, almost all of the old essence was forced out and dispersed throughout her body. As it did Raven could feel how her cells welcomed the essence like it was rain in a desert. Her cells were already in a state of rapid growth due to her being an infant, but spurred on by the spirit essence the growth rate accelerated immensely. But now, rather than focusing solely on growing in size, her cells now also focused on growing in strength and flexibility.

    The process only lasted for a couple of minutes but once it was done Raven was exhausted. Every muscle ached as after a hard work out, even her skin tingled, but it was a welcome ache because Raven knew what it meant - she was getting stronger, and fast! She yawned and opened her eyes to see how it was going for her brother.

    Hoatzin was still sitting with his eyes closed. His brows were slightly furrowed in concentration, but it didn''t seem as he was going to give up any time soon. Raven wanted to stay awake in support of her brother but soon she had no choice but to give in; she was just too tired. She yawned once more, snuggled closer to her mother''s chest and fell asleep.

    Besra noticed this and gave her daughter a light peck on the forehead before returning her attention to her son.

    ---------

    Barely one hour later husband and wife walked into their bedchamber with happy smiles on their faces. Their son had not only managed to form a spirit connection on the first try but also only required half an hour to grasp how to control the spirit essence within him. This was borderline genius! By the time spirit school drafting came around, with the right guiding, Hoatzin would perhaps be unrivaled within the Nightingale prefecture and among the best within the empire. Chances were high that he could get accepted into the Imperial Sky Academy of Spiritual Arts in Sky City by his own strength, rather than relying on his father''s name. Only 1 in 10,000 could do that!

    They were still smiling when they crept into bed, but as Maleo glanced at his wife he remembered something.

    "Congratulations on your breakthrough," he whispered as he hugged his wife tightly. "Giving birth to little Raven must have helped your soul this time."

    "Hmm, what are you talking about?" Besra mumbled as she moved closer to her husband. It had been a long day and she was starting to feel it.

    "Didn''t you establish multiple connections or even enter the ranks of lower champions?"

    This caused Besra to snap out of her sleepy state. "How could I possibly?" As she stared at her husband in bewilderment she pulled out a pendant from under her sleeping gown, it was mostly red but it still had a thick border white. "I''m still a mid-level Adept!"

    Maleo frowned. "But then were did all that spirit essence go? I sensed so much in the hall at the beginning. . . . I figured I would get enough to break through to mid-level Champion, but I barely got any. . . ."

    Usually cultivators would slowly store more and more essence in their spirit cores, strengthening their bodies as they go along. As their bodies grew stronger, so would their spirit core, and once the spirit core was strong enough it would evolve to the next step and the cultivator would improve a level. However, during the Day of Light, the spirit essence that flows into Spirit Halls behaves differently from usual.

    During these circumstances the spirit essence formed is hungry for change and works actively to improve its surroundings. Because of this, cultivators at a bottleneck can use a Spirit Hall to forcefully evolve their cores. Every one present in the Hall at midnight during the Day of Light would get a share of the gathered spirit essence; the share would be proportionate to the strength of their souls. This spirit essence would then willfully enter the spiritualist''s body and try to improve it as much as possible by increasing the strength of said body, sometimes to the point of a breakthrough.

    "That makes no sense darling, you must have sensed wrong." Besra sighed and settled back on her pillow. "Go to sleep. It''s been a long day."

    Maleo felt that his wife''s explanation didn''t completely hit the mark but what could he do about it? He had checked his son before he sent him to bed and his wife clearly hadn''t advanced beyond expectations either. He had no choice but to let it go and try to fall asleep.

    Maleo didn''t even consider checking his daughter, and why would he? Historically, the earliest age someone had even been able to form one lone spirit connection was at the age of 4 and that child had been  put through some extremely traumatizing events in order to strengthen the soul. How could he know that the cute little daughter sleeping soundly in the next room had lived through more than most people do in multiple lifetimes? If he had known, it is hard to tell if he would be happy for her potential or heartbroken by the hardships she must have experienced.

 Chapter 3: Three Years Pass

    A slight breeze caused the sheer white curtains to sway and stretch, like delicate wings, into a faintly lit chamber. Just out of the curtains reach stood a wooden bed, whose life-like flower carvings almost seemed to sway in shifting sunlight.

    The thick covers on the bed started to move and a small child made its way out from underneath. As the child moved away from the bed long dark hair flowed behind her, its tips slightly grazing the floor. At first glance the hair seemed black, but as she stepped into the sunlight at the foot of her bed, its color shifted to a dark violet shade.

    The child absentmindedly grabbed a thick velvet robe hanging over a bed post a walked over to the window, draping the robe around her as she went. She paused and looked out at the mint green mountain range that stretched out beneath her window; spring had arrived and the trees were bursting with new life. A fond smile spread on her face.

    If an adult had seen her now, her expression would have puzzled them. It might not seem as much but her smile was one only those who realized the value of and truly cherished spring would reveal, and yet here it was on a child that impossibly could have lived through more than a couple of winters.

    She glanced towards the chamber doors before smoothly sitting down at a chair in front of the window. Her face now looked more fitting for her age as she smiled happily. She tapped her fingers three times against her chair and in the same instant the third *tap* echoed throughout the chamber, a light knock came at the door.  Shortly after, the door opened and a middle-aged woman walked in with a tray held high in one hand.

    When she saw the child waiting happily in front of the window, she sighed lightly.

    "Young Mistress Raven, will I never catch you sleeping in?"

    Raven just smiled. "Good morning, I''iwi."

    It had become something of a game for her to always be awake before any of the servants came to wake her. So far she was winning easily. And how could she not? Her spirit connections made it practically impossible to sneak up on her. If not using some Divine Martial Skill, such as her father''s Shadow Walk, of course.

    I''iwi shook her head and placed the tray she was carrying on a small table by the window. She picked up a mug from the tray and handed it to the smiling child, who clasped it with both hands. Steam rose from the mug and a sweet scent, reminiscent of honey, filled Raven''s nose. As Raven sipped the warm liquid while looking out the window, I''iwi pulled out a comb from within her robes and started to brush the long violet hair of the child.

    As she worked, I''iwi pondered about the odd fixation of the child waiting patiently while I''iwi fixed her hair. For a child of her age to agree to sit still for nearly an hour every morning so that I''iwi could tend to her long locks was very unusual. Normally, the hair of such young children would be kept short out of convenience, but from the day the first hairs had grown on Raven''s head until today, three years later, she had adamantly refused to let anyone cut her hair. Even as an infant she would thrash around so much that the servants had no choice but to let it grow. This behavior stood out for this otherwise complacent child that rarely made a fuss and seemed to enjoy reading more than old scholars.

    How could she know that, for Raven, the long hair had become somewhat of a symbol for her new life? She relished having it long, to the point that she even let her Spirit Essence stimulate its growth. In her old life, her training had begun the same year she turned three, in other words when Raven was as old as she was now. As an assassin she had been forced to keep her hair short out of necessity; long hair was not only easy for an enemy to grab, it also served as an identifying characteristic that potential eye-witnesses could remember her by. Not that she ever left any witnesses. . . .

    Barely an hour later, I''iwi took a step back and inspected her creation. Raven''s hair had been braided and pinned to her head in complex patterns, efficiently keeping it off the ground. A lone, thin braid hung lightly over her shoulder, extending down to her waist. It was quite an adult hair style but surprisingly it fit this child very well. Three years of spirit cultivation, during a period of already rapid growth, had resulted in giving Raven a relatively strong but lithe body that showed none of the typical chubbiness of normal three-year-old toddlers. Her face was cute but not overly round and she was a bit taller than your average three-year-old as well, measuring just over a meter. If someone were to guess her age they would put her at perhaps six, at the youngest, but even then her appearance didn''t quite fit. Raven looked more like a miniature adult than a well developed child, disregarding the lack of passing through puberty of course.

    I''iwi handed Raven a light blue dress, and once she had slipped into it, I''iwi draped a soft gray fur coat over Raven''s shoulders.

    "Young master Hoatzin is training in the northern courtyard as usual." I''iwi said smiling and opened the chamber door with a slight bow. I''iwi knew very well that Raven enjoyed watching her brother train.

    Raven answered with a smile of her own and passed through the doorway, heading towards the northern area of the mansion. The two guards that had been standing on either side of the door immediately stirred and followed behind her. The mansion was well guarded but the two younger members of the Nightingale family had their own guards with them wherever they went.

    ---------

    *BOOM!*

    Just as Raven stepped out into the courtyard, a large bang vibrated through the open area and a small figure flew several meters backwards before tumbling to the ground. As soon as the figure hit the ground it curled up in a ball, instantly regaining some control over the falling motion. It was her brother.

    "Haha! Good, son! You are improving."

    In the other end of the courtyard stood her father, beaming with satisfaction.

    "Again!" Haotzin was already on his feet and had started running towards his father. Determination filled his eyes.

    Raven quietly slipped into a fur-covered armchair that had been placed by to the side of the courtyard, looking out over the training area. As she settled down, she wrapped herself in the coat she was wearing - it might be spring, but spring in the Nightingale mountain range was still quite a cold affair. Flanking her were her two guards. Together the trio observed father and son training in the center of the courtyard.

    Amusement twinkled in Raven''s eyes. She really liked this part of the day. Hoatzin was very dedicated to his training and would train relentlessly. Thanks to his advanced spirit control, Hoatzin had spent every day cultivating spirit essence with various breathing techniques. Even without a complete spirit core he had improved a great deal over the past three years. Raven couldn''t help but think of her old world; here her brother might be considered close to a genius but there his progress would be simply impossible, even within the Assassins Union. Hoatzin might still lack the skill to win in a battle, but his strength was already comparable to that of someone five years his senior. It really showed the potential of spiritualists.

    Raven observed her brother approaching her father at a high speed.

    Ever since her brother had managed to establish his third spirit connection a few months ago, her father had taken it upon himself to start his training in basic Divine Martial Skills.

    Even though Raven had instinctively understood the spoken language of this world it had taken her roughly a year to learn how to read it, and since then she had spent a great deal of time reading about many things concerning her new world. Divine Martial Skills had been one of them. From what Raven had read she knew that even though increasing your cultivation was the most important pillar stone for a spiritualist, in order to use your cultivated spirit essence efficiently you had to practice the Divine Skills.

    There were two major types of Divine Skills; Divine Healing Skills and Divine Martial Skills. Divine Healing Skills were mainly practiced by women since it didn''t require hours of physical training and gave the added effect of safer childbirth. For example, the slight glow Raven had noticed around her mother at her birth had been Besra''s Divine Healing Skill Nourishing Light that continuously replenished your body, countering exhaustion. Divine Martial Skills on the other hand forced you to train relentlessly in order to master them. But once you did, you would be able to crush mountains with pebbles.

    Both sets of skills had two things in common. The first was that both contained a nine-level categorization system that divided different skills into power levels - level one skills were the weakest, level nine skills the strongest. Although there were nine levels in theory, in practice most people never came into contact with skills beyond level three. As prefecture lords, the Nightingale clan most likely had access to a handful of level five skills and perhaps one or two level six skills. Beyond that was the realm of legend.

    The second thing they had in common was that the Divine Skills could not be taught simply by observing, you had to get them imprinted on your very soul before you could even start practicing them. This had been a great source of irritation for Raven the past two years; the moment she had read about the Divine Skills she became so excited that she nearly fell out of the chair she had been sitting in. However, her excitement had soon died because there was no way she could possibly learn them.

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    There were essentially two ways to get a skill imprinted on your soul. The first was to learn it from a Divine Scroll written with spirit essence. Once read, the spirit essence in the scroll would flow into the reader to complete the imprint. These scrolls were however very precious and the three-year-old Raven had no way of getting hold of one. Of course, if she had asked her parents she might have been given one but she would have a hard time explaining why she wanted it without revealing that she''d already formed her spirit core.

    Unfortunately the second option was even worse since it meant that someone who already had a skill imprint would form a temporary spirit connection with the person who wished to learn the skill, thus copying the imprint to the next soul. This option would instantly reveal not only how far your cultivation had come but also how many spirit connections you had.

    Raven had clearly understood from all her reading that someone like her, with 243 spirit connections and a spirit core formed right after birth, was completely unprecedented. According to the books in the mansions library, the highest recorded amount of spirit connections in Sky Empire had been a legendary Spirit Master some hundred years ago, but he had been an 80-year-old man and his connections had still been in the quite far off from 200.

    Raven had, by now, reached 245 connections and she could feel the next one connecting soon. All things considered, she would be seen as a monster. Or perhaps a miracle. Either way, it would change her life drastically if someone found out. This was something Raven feared more than anything - she had never lived a peaceful life before and now she was determined to keep it.

    Of course, in theory, it should be possible to develop new Divine Skills on your own but very few had ever succeeded. The existing skills had usually been developed over countless generations.

    Thus, Raven had chosen to quietly cultivate her spirit essence, without the aid of breathing techniques or Divine Skills; judging by the increased size of her spirit core she suspected that her cultivation had reached the mid-level Spirit Novice realm by now, but couldn''t say for sure without a spirit stone. Also, without any Divine Skills to use it with, her core was of little practical use for Raven.

    But Raven wasn''t too disappointed. Even without any breathing techniques, her numerous spirit connections more than made up for it, keeping her cultivation at an alarming rate. Her brother''s six-year head-start and aided cultivation still put him slightly ahead in terms of physical strength but Raven was catching up. Quickly.

    She had also kept training her old world''s martial arts to ensure a level of control over her body that she was comfortable with. In fact, this was perhaps the area she was most pleased with - practically since birth, Raven had nourished her cells with nearly boundless spirit essence. As a result, her body was extraordinarily flexible and resilient. She could train for hours on end without getting tired and some techniques she had trouble with in her past life, she could now execute flawlessly.

    *BOOM!*

    Haotzin once again flew across the courtyard, but he regained his footing a bit faster than last time. By now his previously green robes where covered in layers of dust.

    "Again!" he shouted and once more rushed towards his father.

    As he came closer Maleo swung out a big arm that first seemed to miss Haotzin but . . . *BOOM!* Hoatzin was sent flying.

    "Again!"

    The guard on Raven''s right chuckled softly. "He has determination at least."

    "Verdin, don''t tease. It took you a year to come this close to learning the Shadow Walk." The left guard, Rook, teased back.

    Raven simply smiled. These two guards were in their late-twenties and had quite recently graduated from a spirit school in the Nightingale prefecture. They had been the top of their class, both renowned for their fast learning skills. How else could they be guarding their lord''s only daughter so soon after graduation? They were both lower Spirit Champions and Raven was very fond of the two; they were very loyal to her family and proud to be guarding one of them personally, but they never put on airs or treated those with lower status ill.

    Raven focused her attention on her brother as he yet again tried to move past his father. Haotzin''s task was actually quite straightforward. He was to run straight at his father and then use the second level Divine Martial Skill Shadow Walk to swiftly sidestep around Maleo, at the same time as he avoided his father''s heavy arm sweeping towards him.

    Raven could sense spirit essence collecting at the soles of Hoatzin''s feet as he tried to perform the Divine Skill, but it was not stable enough this time either so she felt that failure was eminent. Seconds later Hoatzin was tossed into the air.

    ''He is so close. . . .'' Raven mused to herself. She might not be able to learn the skill on her own but with her heightened senses she could clearly tell where the differences between her brother''s faulty activation and her father''s perfected version lay.

    As Haotzin sprang to his feet and repeated the process once more, Raven''s eyes flashed with insight.

    ''Hmm, it might work!''

    In the same instant the loud bang rang out from the collision between father and son, Raven sprung to her feet and rushed towards her brother before her guards had a chance to stop her.

    "Brother! Brother! Play with me!" a radiant smile spread across Raven''s face as she bounced up and down around her brother at the center of the courtyard.

    The soon to be nine-year-old Haotzin was a head taller than Raven so he bent down until he was face to face with her.

    "Sorry little sister, I need to train with father. I can play with you after lunch." He placed a hand on her shoulder to push her off to the side but Raven easily sidestepped him.

    "But I wanna play now!" Raven pouted.

    Haotzin sighed. "Later," he repeated and made a second attempt to push his sister back to her armchair. However, Raven once more slipped out of his hand, now moving further away, giggling loudly.

    "Hihi, you have to catch me first!" A small pink tongue popped out of her mouth as she teased her brother.

    By the armchair, guards Verdin and Rook started to move forward to collect their young charge, but Lord Maleo raised a hand to stop them. He quite enjoyed seeing his children play and his son had reached a bottleneck anyway - some distraction might do him good.

    Hoatzin gave his father a pleading look but Maleo only chuckled.

    "You heard her, son. A woman''s requests must be fulfilled, even a miniature one''s." He crossed his arms and leaned against the courtyard wall. "Hurry up and catch her so we can continue."

    Raven giggled and balanced on the heels of her feet. "You have to catch me! You have to catch me!"

    With yet another sigh Haotzin finally gave in and started to chase after his taunting little sister. To his surprise Raven didn''t run, but rather waited for him to grab her. Just as he thought the ordeal would be over quicker than expected, Raven shifted her body slightly and moved around him, her loose braid flowing behind her.

    "Hihi, almost! Almost!" She laughed brightly as she moved away.

    Hoatzin blinked. How had his sister moved away so quickly? He spun around and tried again, but once more she moved away in the last instant, like water slipping through his hands.

    How could a barely trained 9-year-old possibly compare to the experience of a master assassin? Raven easily made up for their differences in strength by her perfectly executed footwork. What''s more, from a distance it simply looked as if she was happily dancing around her brother. Unless you paid extreme attention to what was going on you wouldn''t notice anything odd.

    The "dance" continued for nearly 5 minutes and Haotzin was growing more and more frustrated. He had even started to use his incomplete Shadow Walk to assist him but he couldn''t get the concentration of spirit essence at his feet high enough for it to make any difference.

    The jubilant laughter of the young girl filled the courtyard.

    "Hihi, brother is so clumsy! You move like an elephant!" Raven swayed lightly on the tip of her toes and once again twirled out of reach.

    "Hmpf! What elephant? You''re the one who moves like a Shadow Fairy, tipping around on your toes. . . ." Suddenly Haotzin''s eyes widened and he stopped dead in his tracks. Next to him a mischievous smile crossed Raven''s face only to be swiftly replaced with the earlier pout.

    "Tche. Brother is so boring. You can''t catch me no matter what!" Raven stopped her dodging and stomped back to her armchair and sank down with a loud *humph*.

    The three older men in the courtyard stared at the young girl with astonishment and confusion. Five minutes! This three-year-old had danced around with her six years older brother for five minutes without him being able to catch her. Sure, it had looked more like a dance than a game of catch but when Haotzin in desperation had tried to rely the Shadow Walk it became apparent that the kid was actually trying his best.

    "Father." Haotzin ignored his sister''s comments and looked over at his father with new determination. His call roused Maleo from his thoughts of Raven''s performance. "Can we continue?"

    Maleo smiled and pushed away from the wall he was leaning against. He was really proud of his son''s tenacity.

    "Come!"

 Chapter 4: Time To Enroll

    From her armchair Raven watched as her brother resumed the previous exercises rushing towards their father. This time however, the spirit essence that flowed to his feet was no longer spread over the entire soles of his feet but was instead concentrated to only the front halves. Maleo swiped out his arm as soon as Hoatzin was within range but in that very instant Hoatzin had already appeared behind his fathers back.

    "Yes!" Hoatzin raised a fist into the sky, pride filling his face.

    Maleo blinked in surprise and then started laughing.

    "Hahaha! Son, well done! You still have some ways to go before your spirit core is strong enough for you to preform the full Shadow Walk but by focusing on half the area you can indeed pull of this version." His big hands smacked his son on the back. "Good thinking!"

    Maleo glanced over to the still pouting little Raven. "Make sure to thank your sister. You got some insight from playing with her, no?"

    "Yes, father!" Hoatzin bowed and then also glanced at his sister. He would indeed have to think of a way to pay her back; who would have guessed that her game of tag would give him such ideas? If nothing else, next time she requested him to play her, he would have no right to refuse, regardless of the situation.

    "Good, good. This will do for now. Go and clean up for lunch."

    "Yes, father!" Hoatzin bowed once more and hurried of towards his chambers. Without her farther having to order it, guard Verdin stirred and followed his young master out. Hoatzin''s own guards had been dismissed before the training so Verdin would naturally take their place temporarily.

    Seeing her brother leave, Raven jumped to her feet, her previous pout nowhere to be seen. "Lunch!" she chimed happily and ran of towards the dining hall, her remaining guard close behind her.

    Maleo looked pensively at the small female figure leaving the courtyard. What an odd daughter he had.

    ---------

    A few minutes later, the family of four was seated around a smaller table in their private dining hall. I''iwi was standing to the side instructing servants where to place the trays of food they were carrying. Once they were done, Besra motioned for them to leave.

    A variation of dishes had been paced on the table and their lovely aromas quickly filled the room. Raven noticed that even her favorite dish, stewed Mountain Owl with Frost Berries, was present. She pointed happily at the dish and before she had the time to ask, her brother had stretched over to give her a hand. Afterwards he served himself the same dish.

    "Hoatzin, your father told me that you have managed to activate the Shadow Walk."

    "Right now it''s more of a step rather than a walk, mother." Hoatzin replied humbly. "It''s not complete yet."

    Raven hid her smile by drinking a large gulp of milk. Her father had often stressed the importance of not overestimating ones strengths and Haotzin seemed to have taken the preachers to heart.

    Maleo simply nodded but Besra smiled happily. "Well done, my little Hoatzin!"

    "I''m not little anymore, mother! I''ve already started learning my first Divine Skills..." Hoatzin protested.

    "Right you are, son! Well spoken." Maleo laughed and smacked his son on his back so hard that Hoatzin dropped his fork. As it hit his plate, a red Frost Berry was flung across the room.

    Raven started giggling uncontrollably and Besra shot her husband a reproving glare.

    Maleo caughed slightly but placed his hand on Hoatzin''s sholder, preventing the boy from rising to collect the wayward berry. "Never mind that. Late next month, the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts will have their entrance examinations in Sky City."

    At this Hoatzin stopped trying to get up, and Raven''s giggles quieted down as well. Both children looked at their father with excitement.

    "I want you to go and take the exam, son."

    "Really?" Hoatzin asked enthusiastically.

    "Yes. As my son you might get accepted on your lineage alone but I want you to earn it on your own. If you can''t pass you will return home and attend our Nightingale Academy. But with your spirit control you should have no problems!"

    "I will make father proud!" Hoatzin was still happy but now determination seeped through every inch of him.

    "You are a young man now so I will not accompany you. In two weeks you will leave with your guard detail. After that, as long as you get accepted, it will be a year until you can come home for a visit. This will continue for ten years. You are aware of this, right?"

    "I know, Father. I still want to go."

    Next to Maleo, Besra was smiling a bittersweet smile. She of course wanted the very best for her son, but to be separated from him for such long periods of time was still going to be painful for her.

    Raven sat quietly for a while. She was really curious about the Sky Empire''s capital and also about this Sky Acadamy. She quickly made up her mind.

    Gingerly, Raven jumped down from her chair and walked around the table to her father. She grabbed the sleeve of her father''s robe and looked up at him. Her green eyes were big and she looked so sweet that that even the coldest of men would melt in front of her. She lightly bit her pink lower lip before she spoke in a pleading voice.

    "Father, can I go too? I want to cheer big brother on!"

    "This..." Maleo frowned slightly. Originally he had only intended to send a small group guards with his son but if both his heirs were going it would be a completely different matter. Additionally, Raven was still so young. If she went it meant a governess or more had to go too.

    "Pleeeease father!" Raven pulled of the remarkable feat of looking even sweeter as she pleaded yet again.

    Besra chuckled lightly. "Let her go with him, Maleo. I will join them too, that way you can just focus on sending enough guards for us."

    Of course, secretly Besra was overjoyed with an excuse to follow Hoatzin on his journey; it would be overprotective for her to join her son, but staying by her tree-year-old daughter was only to be expected.

    Maleo sighed. He knew very well what his wife was thinking.

    "If you insist." At least this way there would be no need for the governesses.

    "Yeay!" The little Raven jumped up and down. She had gotten quite accustomed to acting like the spoiled little child she was supposed to be during the past three years.

    Raven twirled around and threw herself at her brother, laughing happily. Hoatzin gave her a big hug and patted her on the head.

    "Isn''t this great? I get to show the capital my adorable little sister!" A bright smile was on Hoatzin''s face too.

    ---------

    Preparations for the trip started the very next day. Travelling was quite the affair for the wife and heirs of one the Sky Empire''s three prefecture lords, especially for such a long trip as to Sky City. The best guards were chosen and safe travel routes were discussed - it was a time of relative peace on the continent in general, but there were still some bandits roaming around and you never knew when peace would turn to war; no risks were to be taken.

    Sky Empire is one of the most wide-stretched countries on the continent and since it consists of mostly mountain ranges, it made the trip on the roads would take over a year, perhaps even two. Even between neighboring cities the journey would usually add up to a month or so, if done on horseback. Naturally a country would find it hard to stay united under such circumstances, but Sky Empire had a solution; the Everest Hawks.

    The Everest Hawks were one of the aspects of the journey that Raven looked forward to the most. The Everest Hawks are a type of magical beast hawks that are incomparably large. The smallest of them are still large enough to carry a full-grown man on its back several hundreds of kilometers without tiring. The largest can use their talons to carry heavy cabins, big enough to fit up to a dozen fully armored soldiers inside. With these huge birds the travel times are reduced a hundred times over, turning the trip from Nightingale Prefecture to the capital city from nearly two years to a bare month.

    Roughly five centuries ago the Sky Empire had started breeding these previously wild beasts and, by now, every city and larger village had a merchants guild responsible of tending to their appointed Everest Hawks. The hawk herd that would live on nearby mountain tops and be called upon using special whistles. Richer families might even have their own Everest Hawks. Naturally the Nightingale clan was no exception. Raven had with envy watched her father teach Hoatzin who to fly a smaller one not to long ago.

    Now two of the clans larger Hawks were being prepared for the journey. One would carry Besra, the children and maid I''iwi. The other one their ten guards. The Everest Hawks could fly day and night for nearly a week without landing so both Hawks would be accompanied by a flying crew of three people taking turns guiding the birds. The hawks could be trusted to fly all the way to their destination without supervision but it was better to have someone keep track of their physical and mental state at all times so as to not tire them needlessly.

    Apart from the actual travel arrangements, a large variety of goods had to be packed. If Hoatzin was to be accepted into the school he would move into the dorms immediately. This meant that all necessary personal effects had to be brought from the beginning. He would get a school uniform but he would need more than that if he were to live in a distant city for the next year. Two large trunks were filled with everything from copies of books from the clan library to high-level battle gear.

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    An additional trunk was filled to the brim with extravagant gifts that Besra would present during her visit. Since she was going, they were bound to be introduced to plenty of high-standing figures, including the Imperial family. There was no getting around that and gifts would be expected.

    For the same reason two travel-cabinets, that basically looked like large trunks tilted over so as to stand on their smallest side, were also prepared. Within them hung two beautifully tailored gowns in fine, sky blue, silks. Intricate cloud patterns were woven into the fabric with copper-like thread. At their feat lay complex head ornaments, shimmering with golden luster. These were the official gowns noble women would wear while officially visiting other prefectures. Every prefecture had the same gowns, but the thread used to weave the patterns would vary. The other countries had similar traditions.

    Raven might be young but she would still be expected to wear hers, and since she obviously had yet to be married her head ornament also included a veil to cover her face with. Only core clan members and their personal servants had the privilege to see her face before marriage, forcing her to wear a veil whenever leaving the Nightingale residence.

    It was a notion extremely foreign to Raven herself. But she had learned to stick to the rule very quickly though..

    She had once accidentally walked in on a public forum her father had held in their main hall, and over fifty merchants and normal citizens had seen her face. As a result every non-clan member present had been given the required punishment: one whiplash for every year since Raven was born! Fortunately Raven had only been two at the time so no one was severely injured, but she still felt extremely guilty about it all and had secretly vowed to make it up to them at a later time.

    ---------

    Two weeks went by quickly and on a crisp spring day Raven and her family gathered in the main courtyard. In the center stood the two cabins that would house them and their guards on the journey to Sky City. The ten guards that would accompany them were waiting patiently to the side. Raven''s personal guards, Verdin and Rook were among them. The crewmen appointed to the trip were making last minute checks, calling short commands to each other as they worked.

    "Well then."

    Maleo glanced at the sky above them before he went down on one knee to be face-to-face with Hoatzin. He grabbed his son''s shoulders and gave him a firm look.

    "Remember who you are; as a Nightingale you have a great heritage but you must never abuse this, nor let your self be abused by others."

    Hoatzin swallowed. "Yes, father."

    "I know you will make me proud." Maleo stood up and patted his son on his back.

    Raven watched as her father and brother said their goodbyes. There was an awkwardness about it that Raven found quite amusing. She even had to bite her lip to stop herself from giggling when she caught her father scratching the bridge of his nose, stealthily removing the moist that had gathered in the inner corner of his eye.

    It was obvious that her father was trying to be strict and resolute in front of her brother but at the same time she suspected that Maleo was even more unwilling to see Hoatzin go than her mother. Haotzin was his first-born son after all. Maleo knew the importance of letting him spread his wings, but knowing and wholeheartedly approving were two different things.

    A minute later, Maleo waved for the guards to enter their cabin. Verdin and Rook winked at Raven as they disappeared inside. Noticing the movements of the guards, two of the crewmen pulled out a small silver whistle each and placed them to their lips. No sound was heard, but instants later two distant figures appeared in the sky. Raven watched with awe as the figures grew larger and larger, and finally two huge hawks landed on the ground next to the crewmen that blew the whistles. The sight of the Everest Hawks - these two easily five meters tall - with their glacier white feathers, never seized to amaze her.

    The hawks lowered their majestic blue-tinged heads so that the men on the ground could reach them. The crewmen in turn placed their hands on the birds'' beaks. Raven knew that this was done to initiate the spirit connection that would allow them to communicate efficiently with each other. Even if the Hawk''s intellect was far from being on par with humans, the spirit connection would allow bird and man to instinctively understand each others needs. To call it a bond between equals was however incorrect. The crewmen could use the same connection to give orders that the hawks couldn''t refuse.

    "Come children, it is time for us to leave." Besra gave her husband a quick kiss before leading her two children into the passenger section of their cabin, followed closely by I''iwi.

    Once inside, Raven rushed to the window that faced her father still in the courtyard. She waved enthusiastically and thought to herself ''This being-a-kid thing is quite refreshing!''.

    "Bye, bye, father!" she shouted as the Everest Hawks spread their enormous wings.

    With only one beat of the giant birds''s wings, wild gusts of wind spread throughout the courtyard. In the next moment Raven felt the cabin sway slightly, and within three breaths they where already nearly a hundred meters above the mansion.

    Hoatzin joined her at the window and together they looked down on the city that spread around the mansion. Most houses were built out of wood, that had later been painted in a rusty red copper paint that kept the harsh weathers at bay. These houses were intermingled with the light green specks of spring trees. It might not be an awe-inspiring sight, but it was indeed beautiful, and it was their home.

    Raven looked up at her brother. He had a complicated expression on his face. Raven could guess at the conflicting emotions he must be experiencing; he was excited for what he was going to experience but reluctant about what he was leaving behind. Hoatzin was after all only nine and this would be his first time away from home, away from his family.

    "Brother! Brother! What will Sky City be like?" Raven twirled around and plopped down on the nearby couch.

    Hoatzin joined her at the couch and started retelling the stories he had heard about the city. Raven had of course already heard, or read, all of these stories before but she wanted to distract her brother. As Hoatzin spoke the reluctance in him seemed to fade, leaving only anticipation.

    And so, the journey flashed by. Most days were spent reading or telling stories but every once in a while the hawks would lower the cabins to the ground to rest for a day while the travelers used the opportunity to stretch their legs. The cabins were fairly large but for the ten guards that shared the same space as the four people riding in Raven''s cabin, it became quite cramped. On these day''s the company would arrange larger meals and even have sparring sessions for entertainment and for practice. Raven really enjoyed watching these.

    All the guards were lower Spirit Champions and their battles were quite spectacular. As they fought, they used various Divine Martial Skills that would sometimes allow them to move at extreme speeds, sometimes combine blows with various elements such as fire or lightning. Of course, they couldn''t go all out in fear of attracting unwanted attention, but it was none the less amazing to watch. Both Raven''s and Hoatzin''s eyes twitched slightly every time a martial skill was activated; none of them could wait until the day they too would start to learn these martial skills. Raven realized that it would take some convincing of her parents to let her train in the martial skills rather than the healing ones but she would deal with that problem once it comes.

    One skill set in particular caught Raven''s interest. It was used by one of the smaller guards and it went by the name Sonic Swords. They were a peculiar set of Divine Martial Skills in the sense that they evolved. When you first learned it, it would only be a level one skill, but if you practiced with it relentlessly you could gain additional insights and evolve the skill. There seemed to be no limits how far it could go. The small guard who used it seemed to have evolved it to the rare fourth level; Silent Pierce.

    The small guard would keep his sword sheathed as he moved around his opponent. Once he found a opening he would then silently withdraw his sword. It looked very unremarkable, and yet somehow his opponents never seamed to be able to tell where he would strike at and as a result almost always lost. He never even had to use any of the other Sonic Sword skills. As an ex-assassin, Raven was quite envious about this skill, she could tell the frightening potential of such attacks. But, as usual, there was no way for her to learn it so she had to settle for watching.

    After sparring the company would return to their cabins and the Everest Hawks would take of yet again. Four weeks passed in this manner and on the 29th day after their departure from Nightingale City Hoatzin suddenly jumped to his feat and rushed over to the bay side window. His eyes were round in awe.

    "Little sister, come look!"

 Chapter 5: Sky City

    Raven bounced up from the floor, where she had been reading a book about various Magical Beats, and joined her brother at the window.

    "Wow!" Raven didn''t need to act her astonishment this time; nobody could see Sky City for the first time without being impressed.

    The city truly lived up to its name. Four mountain peaks stood fairly close to each other as they stretched towards the sky. The center peak was the tallest, with the three slightly lower peaks surrounding it. Around the foot of the mountains spread a large city, several kilometers in every direction, but the city wasn''t limited to the ground.

    Making its way up the mountains, several layers of settlements extended between the peaks, suspended over nothing but air. A great waterfall flowed down the middle peak, branching out into smaller waterfalls at every new level. Despite being covered by higher settlements, even the lowest levels had no problems getting plenty of sunlight since the distance between them where so great. Hundreds of Everest Hawks were constantly traveling between the different levels and the surrounding city.

    The Sky City was located slightly further south that the Nightingale prefecture. As a result spring had come further here and dark green greenery wove its way up the mountains and intermingled with both the houses around and on the mountain. As their cabin drew closer to the city, Hoatzin nudged Raven''s shoulder and pointed to the top of the center peak.

    "That must be the imperial palace, Indigo Cloud Palace!"

    Raven lifted her gaze and noticed an extravagant structure sitting on a plateau above the massive waterfall. The Indigo Cloud Palace''s stone walls shone with a light blue shimmer amidst the otherwise dark stone surrounding it. Large portions of the palace perturbed daringly over the plateau''s edge, defying both gravity and logic. It was many times larger than the Nightingale mansion, with multiple towers extending towards the skies.

    Raven wondered if not most residents of her home city would fit within.

    "Raven, come here."

    Just as the cabin got close enough for Raven to start seeing people milling about the city, her mother called out to her. Raven reluctantly turned away from the window and obediently walked over to her mother. Besra placed a simple veiled ornament on Raven''s head.

    "You have to be careful not to drop this, little Raven."

    "Yes mother!" Raven would not make that mistake again...

    Not soon after, the cabin swayed slightly and with a soft thud it came to a stop. Outside of the cabin Raven could hear the roaring sounds of rushing water.

    ''We must have landed quite close to the waterfall...''

    Raven glanced back towards the window, but before she could move to look out, the cabin door opened and a familiar guard bowed in the doorway.

    "My Lady Besra, young master, young mistress. We have arrived at the imperial residence, Indigo Cloud Palace."

    The guard moved out of the way and Besra stood up to walk out, motioning to Raven and her brother to follow.

    Once outside, Raven noticed that the cabin had been placed on a constructed landing area, protruding the middle peak''s mountain wall. Several similar platforms could be seen on both sides of the one they were on. At the end of them all were the foundations of the awe-inspiring imperial palace she had seen from the sky. This close it looked even more daunting, as if it was challenging heaven it self with its high towers, and ornate walls, reaching endlessly upwards.

    Besra walked towards the palace, closely followed by her two children. Hoatzin had grabbed Raven''s hand, keeping her close to him as they came approached the palace. Excitement filled both their eyes, but Raven noticed a tinge of nervousness beneath the surface within her brother. How could he not be nervous? He was about to meet the Emperor for the first time.

    ''My dear brother... He hides his nervousness so well and strives to comfort me at the same time. He will grow into a fine man one day!''

    Of course Hoatzin wanted to comfort her, if he was nervous, his little sister must be even more so. However, in her past life Raven had been sent to assassinate both kings and emperors numerous times, why be nervous only to meet one?

    Raven and her family were flanked on both sides by palace guards - their own guards would have to wait by the cabins until the emperor gave them permission to enter - but I''iwi followed the family five steps behind them, carrying a small wooden box.

    Finally Raven''s mother reached the end of the platform. Slightly lifting her gown, she curtsied gracefully; her knees almost hitting the ground as she spoke with a lowered head.

    "Lady Besra of the Nightingale Prefecture pays her respects to Sky Empress Nene."

    Behind her Raven copied her mother perfectly while Hoatzin bowed deeply. I''iwi kneeled behind them..

    "We pay our respects to the Empress!" the children echoed in unison.

    "Oh my! Dear Besra, we are childhood friends! No need for all this formality."

    The sweetest voice Raven had ever heard filled the air and a pearly white hand reached out to pull Besra to her feat. Raven straightened to see a petite woman in a gold-shimmering gown warmly embrace her mother. Even though her face looked very young, the woman''s hair was pure white and flowed like water over her shoulders.

    "As you wish, Nene." Besra laughed as she answered the embrace wholeheartedly.

    Behind Raven''s veil a small, dark-violet eyebrow rose.

    ''To think my mother had this good a relationship with the Empress... Quite impressive!''

    "I know Mallard usually greets the Prefecture Lords but when I heard you were coming I begged him to let me do it." Empress Nene smiled mischievously as she backed away from Raven''s mother.

    Besra glanced questioningly at her imperial friend. "Begged? You?"

    "Haha, well, ''forced'' sounds so harsh." A saint couldn''t look more innocent.

    Raven immediately got a good impression of the woman. She had an impressive nobility about her that remained even as she joked with Raven''s mother. She had no doubt been raised for her role since birth, but no haughtiness was present at all.

    Besra chuckled and waved a hand signaling I''iwi to get move forward.

    "I have a gift for you."

    "Keep it for now." Nene interrupted. "Let me take you to your quarters. There we can talk undisturbed and you can hand me this gift of yours."

    She nodded to one of her attendants before grabbing Besra by the arm and walking of into the palace. Hoatzin and Raven glanced at each other before hurrying after the pair of ladies.

    ---------

    After that Raven and her family had been lead to the spacious suite they would use while in town. As soon as they have entered the empress had ordered her attendants to inform the emperor of their arrival and then leave. The moment the servants had left Nene had pulled Raven''s mother into a nearby sofa and started chatting about everything between heaven and earth.

    Soon after a middle-aged, sturdily built, man in golden robes had strode into the room and before Besra or her children had the time to stand and welcome him, Emperor Mullard had laughed waved for them to stay seated.

    "Any childhood friend of my wife''s is a childhood friend of me. No need for formality in private." With that he had sat down as well and joined the conversations.

    Like this the days passed. Empress Nene would arrive everyday to talk with Raven''s mother, sometimes joined by her husband, sometimes alone. Raven grew really fond of the imperial couple. They were very friendly, and seemed just and fair in their ruling; Raven could understand why the people loved them.

    Once a day, Hoatzin would head out to join their family guard''s training sessions and Raven would keep him company. She had hoped to be able to sneak of and explore her surroundings a bit more but Verdin and Rook were on duty even here so there was nothing she could do.

    One week later, to the day, Besra and Raven rose extra early in the morning. Today was finally the day when the young applicants would have their entrance exams in hope of earning a spot at the Imperial Academy of Divine Arts. After the examinations concluded, a minor banquette would be held at the palace for all children of nobles and foreign dignitaries that might have passed. Since Raven and her mother were going to attend all of this, they had to dress as tradition demanded from the start.

    But dressing according to tradition took time. Simply putting on the gowns was complicated, not to mention getting the head ornaments in place; to make it in time, Besra had to work on Raven''s hair at the same time as I''iwi worked on Besra''s.

    As the minutes turned into hours the delicate ornaments were slowly woven into place by interlocking braids, while some hair was left to hang freely down their backs. Once the coiffure was done, the multiple layers of the gowns were draped around the two ladies. All together it took nearly four hours to get ready. The results, however, were quite spectacular.

    Raven looked at her reflection in the large mirror in her mother''s chamber and sighed slightly in appreciation. With the extravagant dress in light blue silks on, together with the exquisitely arranged hair and veiled head-ornament, Raven looked like a combination of the magical Water Nymphs she had read about in her books and the elegant geisha of her old world. When she moved bells tingled in her hair and the thin fabrics of her gown swayed slightly. The free, floor-long, hair down her back rested on the long hem of the dress that swept the ground as she walked.

    The traditional dress came even more into its element when worn by Raven''s mother. On Besra, the dress perfectly showed of her supple waist and promoted her firm bosom, without becoming too evocative. Next to each other, one was a goddess, the other a fairy.

    "I''iwi, go bring my son."

    I''iwi bowed and left the room and soon after returned with Hoatzin in tow. He wearing the same green robes as always; since he was attending the exams he would not need to change until afterwards. If he passed he would change into the Academy''s uniforms. As he caught sight of Raven and his mother pride filled his happy face.

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    "It''s an honor to be blessed with two so beautiful women in my family! The very flowers of heaven would seem dull in your presence." He might be young, but Hoatzin knew to compliment beauty when he saw it.

    Besra just smiled.

    "Come, it is time to leave for the exam."

    Together the four of them left the suite and the Indigo Cloud Palace.

    ---------

    "Lady Nightingale, this way, if you please."

    A middle-aged attendant bowed deeply before slowly leading the way down a narrow corridor. Raven and the two women with her had entered the auditorium hall of the great Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts. Hoatzin had been already left them to join the rest of the applicants in an other area.

    The attendant elegantly opened a door at the end of the corridor. He bowed once again as Besra and Raven passed him, walking out on their personal viewing balcony. I''iwi nodded politely to the attendant before closing the door quietly. On the balcony there were two rows of comfortable chairs and a small table with drinks on it, all of it facing out towards the stage below the balcony. Beyond the stage was the common viewing area where family and friends of other applicants were allowed to watch the exams.

    ''It would seem as if we are as much part of the entertainment as the examinations...'' Raven mused to herself.

    Probably up to two thousand people could be seated below, but today nearly half of the seats were empty. Raven had noticed that quite a lot of the people below stared up at them with curious eyes, some would even point or nod in their direction whilst whispering something to their neighbors.

    Usually prefecture lords only attended the entrance examinations if an heir was present. For example, Rock Wren Prefecture had no lord or lady present today since their heirs were older and already attended Sky Academy.

    "All rise for their Imperial Highness, Sky Emperor Mallard Bateleur and Sky Empress Nene!"

    A loud voice echoed through the hall and everyone present, including Raven and her mother, rose to their feat and looked up at the balcony directly above the one Raven was in. This was the arrangement, the three prefectures each had a personal balcony above the stage and the imperial family had theirs above those three.

    The couple Raven had come to know a bit over the past week walked out on imperial balcony, with Nene''s hand resting on her husbands arm. With them standing next to each other Raven couldn''t help but notice how different they looked, they were almost each others opposites even. Were Empress Nene was lithe and petite, Emepror Mallard was muscular and tall. Were one had white hair that flowed like water in the wind, the other had pitch black hair trimmed too short for the wind to move very much at all.

    ''Like Yin and Yang...'' Raven finally made the connection and chuckled softly to herself.

    Behind them walked a very muscular man with wavy blonde hair. He wore a sea green, silk jacket with two rows of buttons down the front. He seemed very imposing but Raven noticed that his right hand kept grabbing at his hip.

    ''He is a warrior then...'' Raven recognized the nervous tick that swordsmen would find hard to get rid of the moment they moved around without their weapons.

    Emperor Mallard lead his wife to one of the foremost chairs on the balcony and let her sit. He gave a light nod to Raven''s mother and another of to the left. Leaning out, Raven noticed that a man she recognized as Lord Griffin, the prefecture lord of Red Griffin Prefecture, sat on the left-side balcony.

    After the two nods, his Imperial Highness indicated for the blond man to take the chair to his left and sat down himself. The rest of the hall followed suit.

    Out on the stage walked a bearded elderly man in a light grey scholar''s robe. Over right chest was an embroidery of the same nine-pointed star that Raven had seen on the floor in the Spirit Hall over three years ago. Even though she hadn''t entered the Hall again she had since then learnt that it was the symbol representing all spiritualists, the Spirit Star. Elders and students at various spirit schools would have the emblem on their uniforms.

    Once at the center of the stage the elderly man bowed towards the Emperor before turning to face the majority of the crowd.

    "Welcome to the annual entrance exams for the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts!" his strong voice echoed out into the hall. "I am Elder Kagu, and I will administer today''s final exam." He paused and gazed out over the audience.

    "All applicants have been checked and they have all passed the first requirement; establishing their spirit cores before the age of nine. But, as you know, Sky Academy has even higher requirements before accepting new students."

    "896 children have applied for the exam this year, most likely less than ten will pass." Elder Kagu continued and at his words a sharp intake of air spread throughout the hall.

    ''Only ten? So few...'' Raven was quite surprised. She knew getting in would be hard but ten out of nearly a thousand was far worse than she had expected.

    "The final exam is a simple test of control." a small light-spark popped out of the man''s hand and came to rest in his palm. "Every child will be filled with one hundred small orbs of my spirit essence. They will then have five minutes to use their own spirit essence to force them out. From years of experience I can tell you that eight out of nine will be able to expel up to ten orbs. One in ten is likely to manage up to twenty. One in a hundred might succeed in expelling thirty. This is the bar they must pass to get accepted into the Sky Academy."

    The requirements to get accepted were really very high. Even though Raven and her brother had almost a 100% chance of being born with a crystallized soul due to both of their parents being fairly skilled spiritualists, crystallization was an inherited trait which meant that with normal parents the likelihood of being born with this feature was close to none existent.

    Of the four million inhabitants of Sky Empire, only 40,000 would have the potential to become spiritualist during their life-times. To then be able to form a spirit core before the age of nine almost always required access to a spirit hall that would allow the first spirit connection to form early. This reduced the pool to roughly 20,000 people. Statistically, at any given moment, less than 2,000 of these would be between the ages of five and nine. To have nearly 900 children with their cores formed present at the same time was already more than usual. Still, only ten were likely to be accepted.

    "We will test the children in groups of a hundred. Let the first group come in."

    The doors to the side of the stage swung open and the hundred children swarmed in, but Raven quickly noticed that her brother was not among them. Elder Kagu watched as the children formed ten neat rows.

    "Remember, use of any Divine Skill is strictly forbidden." He looked sternly at the youths on stage. Raven could clearly feel him using spirit essence to apply increased mental pressure on the group. Many swallowed and started sweating under this pressure.

    "Don''t resist." The elderly man shouted and thousands of small orbs of light streamed out of the Elder, swirling swiftly around the children before splitting up and surging into the waiting participants. The spectators could see how every child now had one hundred small dots of light spread out over their bodies, clearly visible through both skin and clothing. The whole ordeal was quite beautiful to watch actually.

    "You have five minutes, starting... now!"

    On Elder Kagu''s mark every child on stage closed their eyes, focusing on the foreign spirit essence within them. As they did, some the dots started moving slowly, clearly under the influence of the children. Soon the first sparks of light were forced out of their hosts. Once outside, the small orbs started circulating around the child it had come from.

    As the minutes passed, more and more light filled the stage, but as the five minute mark came, none had reached the thirty-orbs limit. Elder Kagu stopped the exam by simply retracting all orbs back to himself and then asking the children to leave the stage and take a seat in the audience instead. While the failed children walked of the stage, their faces filled with regret, the next group walked in and once more formed ten neat rows.

    This process was repeated once more before the first pass came; in the third group a pair of identical twins managed to both expel 33 orbs and thus earning a place at the academy. From the balcony to their left Raven heard a content chuckle.

    "Good, very good!"

    It was Lord Griffin that had spoken, and looking back at the two twins Raven could clearly see the family resemblance.

    ''First pass and with margins... Good for them.'' Raven smiled slightly behind her veil. Being the first to pass any exam would always leave a good impression. Naturally the prefecture lord would be extra happy for the luck of his heirs.

    Raven turned her attention back to the stage. Four more groups came and went, each producing one successful applicant, resulting in a total of six passes as the eighth group was asked to take the stage. Most had just barely passed but one applicant had amazed the crowds by removing an impressive 35 spirit orbs. To Raven''s dismay she had recognized the boy as her eldest cousin Dunlin, son of aunt Anhinga.

    If his mother was annoying to deal with, Dunlin was a virtual pest. He was one month older than Hoatzin and he was spoiled to the core. He lived under the impression that everyone either adored him or was too ignorant to know better. Raven hoped that someone, anyone, would preform better than him. At least that would be a thorn in his otherwise rosy life. But as the eighth group filled the stage Raven abandoned her current train of thoughts.

    Because at the very front of this group stood a very familiar face, Hoatzin.

 Chapter 6: Foreign Might

    Hoatzin stood at the front end of the stage. Raven couldn''t see his face from the balcony she was on but she noticed that his fists were clenched in determination.

    ''Good luck brother!'' Raven prayed.

    "Don''t resist." Elder Kagu shouted his instructions for the eighth time and the air was once more filled with thousands of spirit orbs. Once they had entered the present children, Elder Kagu spoke yet again. "You have five minutes, starting�� now!��

    The exam began. It only took a heartbeat before the first light shot out of Hoatzin. A faint murmur spread throughout the crowed. So far, no one had been this fast with the first expulsion.

    The seconds flew by and as the one minute mark came and went Hoatzin had managed to push nine orbs out of him. Raven sighed a breath of relief. If he kept this up her brother would pass the exam in flying colors, perhaps even beat cousin Dunlin!

    ''Hmm?''

    Raven had averted her gaze from her brother for a moment to observe the other participants and she noticed a blond youth standing right below her at the far right-hand side of the stage. By now, everyone else had managed to expel at least one or two orbs, but not this boy. Not even one orb of light rotated around him, but as Raven looked closer she realized that even if the lights from the spirit orbs were still within him, seven sparks seemed to shine brighter than the rest and the vibrated ever so slightly.

    At this moment a tenth orb flew out of her brother at the other end of the stage, momentarily taring Raven''s attention to the front. When she looked back at the blond youth see witnessed how yet another spark slowly began to glow stronger within him.

    ''Could it be...?''

    Raven kept observing her brother and the blond boy closely. Every time Haotzin managed to expel a new orb, one more spark would brighten within the blonde.

    ''It can''t be... Is he moving a new orb closer to his skin every time he sees my brother expel one?''

    Once ten sparks had increased in luminescence within the boy, they simultaneously shook once and then slipped out of him. Everyone in the hall noticed the sudden increase in light at the back of the stage, and yet another a faint murmur spread throughout the hall. At this moment Hoatzin had twelve orbs rotating slowly around him and the audience watched with intense stares as he and the blonde continued to steadily expel orb after orb.

    Raven noticed that even if the boy now pushed out the spirit orbs rather keep them just under his skin, he still paced himself after her brother''s progress; as soon as the previous orb left the blonde a new spark would intensify and then wait patiently under his skin until Hoatzin managed to release his next orb.

    By the time only one minute remained, Hoatzin had managed to remove a staggering 33 spirit orbs and more were still coming. Raven was overjoyed by her brother''s achievements but at the same time perplexed by the blonde youth. He had 31 spirit orbs flying around him and a thirty-second spark that shone brighter than the rest within him; why wasn''t he expelling it right away? He clearly had the skill to do so, but instead he matched his pace to her brother...

    While Raven pondered this, time went on and before she knew it Elder Kagu''s voice filled the hall.

    "Time is up." Elder Kagu waved his hand and collected all the orbs back to him.

    Silence filled the hall. How did it go? In the end there had been too many orbs flying around the participants on stage to tell clearly what the results were.

    "Two confirmed passes: Hoatzin Nightingale, 40 orbs cleared, and Javelin Hake, 38 orbs cleared."

    The gathered crowd started applauding vigorously at the elders report and even the previously indifferent elder himself seem quite pleased at these results. He felt joy at the fact that two geniuses had appeared this time, and the Dunlin kid wasn''t half bad either.

    "The two of you can follow the attendant out. The rest of you, take your seats in the audience." Elder Kagu instructed.

    On stage Hoatzin turned to look for the other person who had also passed. Seeing this, the blonde walked over to him, reaching out a hand in greeting. Clasping hands they said something to each other that Raven couldn''t hear and then turned to follow the attendant of the stage.

    Just as they reached the end of the stage Hoatzin saw Raven standing above them at the railing of her balcony. He paused and waved happily to her. The blond Javelin Hake stopped as well and followed Hoatzin''s gaze. When his eyes landed on the dolled-up Raven he seemed to freeze in place.

    Raven had lifted a delicate hand to wave back to her brother, but when she saw Javelin''s reaction, the hand instead moved to cover her already veiled mouth, stifling a giggle. Hoatzin of course noticed this and looked back at the boy next to him. Seeing the baffled expression on the boy''s face, Hoatzin laughed and rolled his eyes as he nudged Javelin in the side. This yanked the blonde back to reality. The tip of his ears turned bright red, and the young Javelin scratched the back of his neck as he sheepishly followed Hoatzin of the stage.

    ''Hehe, could that be what it meens to be "love struck"?'' Raven released the giggle. ''How adorable.''

    Raven had occasionally used her feminine charms to get close to targets in her old life but this was the first time seeing it in such a pure and innocent form. Previously there had always been a underlying surge of ravage lust for her to play on. But this youth had obviously not yet turned nine and was too young for that sort of thing. His attention was pure adoration.

    The remaining group didn''t give any big surprises, but one more managed to pass the exam, and thus a total of 9 children managed to get excepted into the Academy this year.

    None of the new students were girls, in fact, none of the applicants had been girls. This was to be expected though since Sky Academy was mostly an academy for Divine Martial Skills practiced mainly by boys. There was a special branch for Healing Skills but they held their exams separately and the criteria to pass was different as well.

    "Little Raven, what do you think of your brother?" Besra spoke for the first time since the exams started.

    Raven turned to look at her mother who couldn''t hide the pride she felt over her son from her face. Raven nodded happily.

    "Big brother is the best! A lot better than cousin Dunlin!"

    A trace of worry flashed across Besra face before returning to the pleased expression from before.

    "Indeed he was. Your father will be overjoyed when he hears of little Hoatzin''s results." Besra stood up. "Come little

    Raven, we must leave for the banquet so we can congratulate your big brother properly."

    I''iwi walked over to the door and opened it to let Lady Besra and her daughter out. Raven''s mother started walking towards the opening but before she reached the door she paused and glanced out over the stage. Besra then crouched down in front of her daughter and whispered softly in Raven''s ear.

    "And my darling little Raven, you are still young but tonight is important for you too. Perhaps your future husband will be present at the banquet so be on your best behavior. You must honor your father and brother by finding a good man to marry." Besra stood once more. "It is never too early to start looking."

    With a knowing smile on her face, Besra turned and walked out the door. Shocked, Raven was frozen in place for a few seconds before she shrugged and followed after her mother.

    ''I should have guessed this would be coming... I''m a female of noble birth, of course I''ll get a fiance at a young age! But to "start looking" at the age of three... isn''t that pushing it a bit?''

    It really wasn''t though. As a female child of two parents both able to become spiritualists she would have a higher chance of giving birth to spiritualists in the future. This in combination with her father being a prefecture lord meant that she was "prime meat", so to speak. It was only out of respect for her own wishes that she hadn''t been betrothed to someone the moment she was born.

    Raven, her mother and their maid were flown back to the Indigo Cloud Palace by a majestic Everest Hawk.

    Well back in the palace, they were led to one of the mid-sized dining halls were the banquet would take place. It was large enough to feel quite grand but still not too large considering the limited amount of people that would attend the banquet. "Limited" is of course only a relative term. In reality over one hundred people would be present at the event.

    Apart from representatives from the clans of the young nobles who passed the exam and the new students themselves, important elders from Sky Academy would also attend. Even prior, and present, students from noble clans would be present. It was supposed to be a celebration for the new students but Raven suspected it would become more of a bragging contest among the various noble clans present.

    The main noble clans, that is to say the three prefecture clans and of course the imperial family, were at least officially all on very good terms. This did however not stop them from competing with each other whenever they got the chance. Raven''s father detested the mood at these type of gatherings and she suspected that the reason he had stayed home was to avoid the hole event.

    Raven obediently followed her mother as Besra made her rounds, greeting the other guests that had already arrived. Keeping her mother''s orders from before in mind, Raven deliberately kept her movements as soft and fluid as humanly possible. As a result most ladies present seemed stiff in comparison; Raven moved as if floating on air and every time her mother introduced her to a new person the bells in her hair would jingle softly as she curtsied with so much grace that even her own mother started having doubts about her age an lineage - could a human child really be so graceful?

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.Raven''s veil had been lifted slightly to allow her to eat and drink. Her eyes were still covered, but her small mouth was not. This gave her a even more mysterious and fairy like air about her. Raven exploited this feature to the utmost as she smiled, grinned and laughed her way around the hall.

    She almost never spoke but somehow, everyone that greeted her got the best possible impression; she would smile silently in front of an old Elder from the Academy in one instant and then grin wholeheartedly at a noble youth in the next. Like such she adapted her demeanor depending on the people around her.

    ''Haha, what is humanity if not predictable.'' she thought to herself as she moved around the hall.

    Raven knew what kind of people she was among. The fabric of this world might work differently from her old world, but the humans living in it did not. With her background she could tell in an instant what the people she met thought was proper conduct and behave accordingly.

    ''Brother did so well during his exam, I must be a fitting complement!''

    Both her mother, that Raven accompanied, and maid I''iwi, that stood quietly observing at the back of the room, were struck by the same thought their husband, or correspondingly Lord, had just over a month ago: ''what an odd little daughter!'' Others might not notice the subtle variations in Raven''s behavior, but they did.

    At this point the grand doors at the far end of the banquet hall swung open. The people in the hall quieted down and bowed slightly as they saw the emperor striding in through the doorway. He was flanked on either side by his wife and the blond warrior in sea-green uniform that Raven had noticed before. Once inside, Emperor Mallard came to a halt and gazed out over the people gathered.

    "Greetings everyone. I''m glad to see so many of you here today to congratulate our newest generation of talented spiritualists. This year we have extra talented boys entering our Sky Academy - I really look forward to the future they will bring." He laughed merrily as he spoke.

    "The new students will join us shortly but before that I would like to introduce you all to a new friend of mine, Admiral Devario Hake of the Sea Empire." Mallard placed his imperial hand on the blonde man''s shoulder. The admiral seemed to stiffen slightly under the weight of the hand. Raven guessed that the poor admiral was not used to be treated in such friendly manner by his own emperor, let alone a neighboring one.

    "Admiral Hake is here to support his son that today passed the entrance exams with outstanding results. I am of course referring to the second ranked student, young Javelin Hake!" the emperors smile widened as he patted the admiral''s shoulder passionately. "Even though our young Hoatzin Nightingale managed to hit the one in a thousand mark of forty expelled orbs, considering your son''s age, it is hard to say who has the most potential."

    Admiral Hake simply nodded.

    Raven''s eyes widened slightly under her veil. ''A foreigner! Is that the reason he didn''t push himself to best Brother?''

    "The young Javelin attending our Sky Academy is part of a newly formed exchange program between the three great empires so treat him well in the future." Mallard finally let go of admiral Hake, who seemed to relax a bit."Now then, Elder Kagu, would you introduce our guests of honor?"

    From beyond the doorway the Elder from the exam walked in followed by five youths. The youths had all changed into the dark grey uniforms of Sky Academy consisting of simple grey robes with an all-white version of the Spirit Star on their chest. The group stopped in front of Emperor Mallard.

    "With pleasure, your Highness." The elder bowed before he gestured to the students behind him. "This year, four out of the nine student who passed the exams are of noble birth," The elderly man reported. "Including our foreign student of course." Elder Kagu added hastily. "In the order they passed we have first the twins Lark and Martin Griffin of the Red Griffin Prefecture." Hearing their names, two red headed boys, that looked identical to each other, stepped forward.

    "We greet our elders!" they shouted in perfect unison as they bowed deeply.

    "The young misters will turn nine in four months and both have a spirit control level of 33."

    The gathered group clapped politely and those who happened to stand close enough to Lord Griffin congratulated him for the achievements of his sons.

    "Then we have Dunlin Talon of the Nightingale Prefecture." The twins stepped back and Dunlin instead took a step forward.

    "This humble student greats his honorable elders!" he shouted and bowed far deeper than necessary.

    Underneath her veil Raven rolled her eyes. ''Seriously, this brat... Humble? He doesn''t know the meaning of the word.''

    Surprised by the sudden extravagance, Elder Kagu blinked twice before resuming his report. "Ah, yes... Young mister Talon is nine in two months and has a spirit control level of 35."

    Once again polite applauds spread through the hall accompanied by light murmurs about the youths achievement.

    "Thirdly, and with the highest score, is Hoatzin Nightingale of the Nightingale Prefecture."

    As Dunlin moved back, and Hoatzin moved forward to greet the assembly, Raven caught Dunlin sneering at her brother''s back. He made little to no attempt to hide his content.

    "I greet my elders!" Hoatzin bowed appropriately.

    "Young mister Hoatzin will turn nine in three months and has a truly amazing spirit control level of 40." Elder Kagu continued.

    At this shocked breaths could be heard before thunderous applauds filled the hall. Clearly everyone had not been present during the examinations and many were deeply impressed by his achievement. The difference between 35 and 40 might not seem as much but the difficulty of expelling the orbs rose exponentially for every next step; achieving 40 required nearly twice as much effort as achieving 35 and perhaps ten times as much as achieving 30.

    The praise to Raven''s mother flowed in endlessly and eventually Elder Kagu had to ask people to quiet down.

    "Yes, a truly amazing achievement." Elder Kagu agreed. "It has been nearly ten years since we had a student with the same potential."

    Hoatzin''s ears had turned slightly red by the time the elder spoke again. He was not used to so much praise.

    "Well then." the elder continued. "Finally we have our exchange student, Javelin Hake."

    The blond Javelin walked forward and bowed respectfully. "I greet my elders!"

    "Although he fell slightly short in his spirit control compared to young mister Nightingale, his age is quite impressive. Young mister Hake turned seven only two months ago."

    Silence.

    ''He is only seven? This Javelin keeps surprising me... Impressive!'' Raven eyed the blonde youth with increased interest.

    Murmurs started spreading in the hall that were soon covered by hesitant clapping. As the applause grew stronger and a few guests even started to compliment the admiral, Raven glanced around the room.

    ''Ah, that is perhaps the reason he held himself back. His age is intimidating enough. If he got the highest score as well, some would think that the Sky Empire had lost face to this little boy. His admiral father would not want him to cause an international incident.'' Raven looked back to Javelin who had returned to his place in the line. ''I wonder what his true level of control is...''

    "A very talented bunch indeed!" Emperor Mallard spoke once more and the applause quickly died down. "Come! Let us feast and get to know these young ones a little!"

    And with that the banquet started for real. The guests ate, drank and chatted while soft chamber music played in the background. Most were discussing the new students and comparing their achievements with previous students, usually pointing out similar or stronger talents within their own clans in the process. "Oh, right! Do you remember person so-and-so from our clan, wasn''t he also very young when he was excepted." or "I recall person such-and-such from your clan, didn''t he also get 40? Whatever happened to him?" were to be common phrases throughout the evening.

    Besra urged Raven to join up with her brother before she herself walked of to talk with Empress Nene. The urging was unnecessary though since Raven wanted to congratulate her brother in person as soon as possible.

    Raven didn''t have to look hard for her brother; Hoatzin stood at a table not too far away, surrounded by a large group of young girls. Most of the girls wore the noble''s gown of their prefectures whereas one or two wore the dark grey uniforms of the Academy. All of them wore veils, just like Raven, indicating that they were unwed and of noble birth.

    ''Hoho, someone has become popular all of a sudden.'' Raven smiled as she observed her brother trying to handle the girls around him. The redness of his ears had by now started to spread to his cheeks.

    ''Hmm, this will be fun.'' Raven let the smile on her face fade as she approached the group. Mischief twinkled in her hidden eyes.

 Chapter 7: An Unexpected Gift

    An Unexpected Gift

    As she drew closer, Raven started sorting out the girls around her brother in her mind; she had been introduced to all of them earlier and some of them she liked, some she didn''t.

    Once she was no more than a pace away, she stopped and instead started tapping her right foot lightly on the blue marble floor. Her mouth was twisted into a small pout. Hoatzin lifted his gaze almost immediately and a brief moment of relief flooded his face when he saw her, until he noticed that his sister seemed upset.

    "Little Sister!" He tried smiling at her as he gently pushed his way through the horde of girls.

    "Brother, you liar!" Raven''s voice was low and shaky.

    Only the girls standing in the group would be able to hear it over all the noise, but they could clearly hear the heartbreak in her voice. The girls immediately felt that the little child was truly upset; Raven''s tiny hands had even turned deathly pale as they tightly clutched the fabrics of her skirt.

    "What is wrong, little Sister?" Her brother probed.

    "You promised! You said my gift was most important, so it would be the first you accepted!"

    The other girls glanced at the table behind Hoatzin. They had all given him small tokens of congratulations; it was customary for girls to bring gifts to the Sky Academy banquets. They hoped to gain favor from the youngsters who were no doubt bound for greatness in the future. After all, graduates from Sky Academy were likely to be mid and possibly even high Spirit Champions; such rare experts were very good husband material and Hoatzin had showed enormous potential.

    The gifts weren''t expensive but they were suitable conversation starters and adequate reminders of an evening well spent later on. However, if they now became a source of discontent for Hoatzin, their purpose would backfire.

    Hoatzin looked at his sister in confusion. He had made no such promise. What was she up to?

    Just as he was going to ask her, Raven body shook lightly and she spoke again.

    "You promised! Is ...is Sister no longer important?" Her voice broke slightly at the end and a single tear slid down her pearly white cheek.

    Hoaztin started to panic. His sister was crying! He had never seen her cry before and now it seemed as if he was the cause of it. A couple of the girls around him noticed his distress and moved over to comfort Raven.

    "There, there." A gray robed girl consoled. "Your brother is not at fault. He was just being polite to us."

    Raven seemed to pause and think this over. Her hands gained some color as they slightly released their cramped clutch of her clothing.

    "Lady Cara is right - we shouldn''t have been so forward. Here, we will leave you two alone so you can give him your gift." Another girl chipped in and motioned for the rest of the girls to back away.

    "...Thank you." Raven replied in a still shaking voice.

    Raven''s head was lowered, as if starring on the floor, but in reality she observed the girls as they stepped away from the pair of siblings. Some of them looked at her with understanding, and perhaps even admiration for her devotion to her brother, while others frowned with discontent at having been interrupted. Not surprisingly, Raven noticed that her first impressions of them all, had been spot on.

    Tentatively, Hoatzin reached out his hand to dry of the falling tear on Raven''s cheek only to realize that the girl''s previously frowning mouth was now stretched into a wide grin.

    "Hihi, they fell for it." Raven giggled softly enough for only her brother to hear. "Now I have Brother all to my self!"

    Hoatzin blinked as he stared at his sister with round eyes.

    "You..." Her brother was speechless; he could not believe it. His little sister had effortlessly convinced not only the other girls that she was very upset, but him too.

    Raven smiled and, standing on her toes, gave her brother a affectionate hug.

    "I''m quite impressive too, right?" She giggled.

    Before Hoatzin had a chance to collect himself and give a reply, Raven backed away a bit and fiddled slightly with the folds of her gown, fishing out a small bracelet. Raven had made it herself by intertwining multiple brown leather straps with strands of dark green silks. She had learned how to make them a very long time ago - back then it had been one of the few normal hobbies she and her fellow female assassins had; making bracelets for each other.

    "Congratulations on getting accepted." She positively beamed as she handed her brother her gift.

    He shook off his earlier confusion. It was after all not the first time he had seen his sister coax her will out of someone, she had done it to their father in order to join Hoatzin now, for example. Instead, he looked at the incarnate bracelet in her hand.

    "You made this?" Hoatzin asked as he took the bracelet. He had not seen her working on it.

    "Mhm!" Raven placed her hands behind her back and swayed slightly. "You like it?"

    Hoatzin smiled widely as he tugged the bracelet over his right hand and tightened it around his wrist.

    "I do. The green is the same as your''s and Father''s eyes, the brown like Mother''s and mine. Like this I will carry you with me even when we are separated." He reached out his hand to pat Raven on her head but stopped himself when he realized that her head ornament would allow no such thing. Instead he embraced her tightly.

    "Thank you, little Raven." He whispered in her ear before braking the embrace.

    The two siblings started chatting happily among themselves, unconcerned by the feast around them. Just as they breached the topic of the other new students and their results, Raven felt as if someone was observing her closely. She looked around and saw that, at this moment, the young Javelin was staring at her intently.

    The blond took a deep breath before he started to stride over with resolute steps.

    Hoatzin had followed his sister''s gaze and when Javelin came close enough, he smiled and greeted the boy.

    "Fellow student Hake! How do you like the banquet?" Haotzin was nothing if not polite.

    "Hoatzin please, call me Javelin. We will be living together for a long time - let us be friends!"

    "Very well, Javelin." Hoatzins glanced at his sister. "Let me introduce my little sister, Raven Nightingale."

    Raven curtsied deeply with her small mouth smiling tenderly bellow her veil.

    "Raven Nightingale greets young master Javelin Hake." she spoke with a sweet voice.

    Javelin stared for a moment at the vision before him. Up close, and with her veil slightly lifted, Raven was even more mesmerizing for him than she had been from afar. He might only be seven but he had a mature soul, and in this very soul he felt a change, as if he had found something her never knew he had lost.

    "Javelin?" Hoatzin snickered  as he called his new friend.

    Startled, Javelin immediately bowed deeply, his ears red as tomatoes.

    "Young Lady Nightingale, it''s my pleasure!" Javelin spoke a bit louder than he had intended and a few guests turned to look at the spectacle. Most smiled knowingly before returning to their conversations.

    Raven stifled a giggle as she observed the youth in front of her. He now wore the same grey robes as Hoatzin did, but his blonde hair shone all the more brightly in contrast to it. In the dancing light of the candle fire, streaks of gold and silver shimmered ever so often in the short, wavy hear. A thin braid extended from the nape of his neck down to his shoulder blades. His hair was quite striking and Raven guessed that it would be even more so in sunlight.

    As Javelin straightened and nervously scratched the back of his head, Raven realized that his hair was, however, not his most striking feature. Shining brightly in the youths face were the most wondrous and peculiar eyes Raven had ever seen. They were like two supernovas; an amazing fusion of light and dark blues, violets and even some steaks gold swirled together as if they contained entire galaxies within. Those eyes, in combination with his golden blonde hair and slightly suntanned skin made him rather handsome, even though his features were still quite childish.

    ''This boy will be very dangerous when he grows older...'' Raven mused.

    While Raven was studying Javelin, the boy reached within his robes and pulled out a small cylinder made of pressed, green paper. He paused only for a second before stretching it out to Raven.

    "Young Lady Nightingale, please accept this small token of appreciation. I can think of no one more fitting for it."

    Raven and Hoatzin stared at Javelin in surprise. He was giving her a gift during his celebration banquet? Wasn''t this the wrong way around?

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    Raven hesitated to take it but Hoatzin pushed her forward.

    "Take it." Hoatzin urged. He had a good impression of the boy and Javelin seemed to have taken a fancy to his sister. Why back away only because his behavior was uncommon?

    Raven curtsied sightly and reached out to take the scroll.

    "Thank you, young master Hake. This one is most gre..." But just as she lifted the cylinder from Javelin''s outstretched hand she could feel the spirit essence stored within it. She froze in place.

    "This..." She stared with astonishment on the cylinder. It looked very plain on the outside, except for two golden words etched onto its side: Twilight Lullaby. She raised her head to look at Javelin.

    "This is too much! How can this one possibly accept such a precious gift?"

    Javelin stared back. How could she tell right away what it was? He naturally knew what was inside but he had no way of telling without opening the cylinder and it''s name should not be known in this empire... Raven however had more spirit connections then he could possibly imagine, of course she could tell.

    Javelin didn''t ponder on it for long though, he simply pushed the cylinder into Raven''s hands.

    "It''s my gift to give. Take it." He smiled at her before he turned to the very confused Hoatzin. "I will see you later, Hoatzin."

    With that, he just walked of into the crowd. Raven was still frozen in place, looking of towards where the boy had disappeared.

    "Little Sister, what''s wrong?"

    Startled, Raven quickly tucked the cylinder into the folds of her gown. She glanced around her before she answered him in a low voice.

    "A Divine Skill - Brother, he just gave me a Divine Skill! I''m not sure but I think it''s a level six skill and it goes by the name Twilight Lullaby."

    "What!?" Hoatzin''s reaction was strong and Raven had too hush him.

    "Are you sure?" He asked in a lower voice. "A level six skill is truly precious, how could he give it to you just like that?"

    "I don''t know, but brother, you better be a good friend to him in the future."

    "Yes, very much so."

    The two sibling were both quite affected by the exchange. Even though Hoatzin assumed that Raven was too young to use the skill at the moment, it was still a very precious gift that would no doubt benefit his sister greatly in the future. To him, Raven wasn''t likely to cultivate very far so a level six skill, if it was a healing one, would put her ahead among her peers by leaps and bounds. If it was a martial one it would perhaps become a life saving trump card for her. He would have to repay the favor Javelin had showed his sister, one way or the other.

    Raven on the other hand was even more overjoyed. She barely cared what level the skill was, or even what it did, at the moment. She would finally be able to start using her spirit essence for something more than simply strengthening herself - it was quite hard for her to hide her excitement enough to keep participating in the banquet. She would never forget this favor. Never.

    The evening''s banquet continued without any more big events. Eventually the night came to an end and the guests said their farewells and returned to their dwellings. The new students would have one last night with their families so they did not move into their dorms tonight. Raven and Javelin both bowed deeper then necessary to each other before parting.

    Raven was very eager to return to her room so she could study her first Divine Skill and payed little notice to anyone else as they left. If she had, she would no doubt have been shocked by the viscous expression on her cousin Dunlin''s face as he watched her family leaving. He had never fancied them, but there was more to it than that now.

    Dunlin had been sure that a spirit control of 35 would be enough to steal the limelight from his cousin, the precious prefecture heir. He had even used a secret Divine Skill his mother had given him that had raised is control by four levels to assure his own glory. The technique was impossible to detect from the outside and even the Elder Kagu had not noticed anything. But it had still not been enough!

    At first he had just been mad but as the evening progressed, and more and more people proclaimed Hoatzin as the "genius that upheld the honor of the Empire", Dunlin''s mood had gone from bad to worse. For him, this night had been nothing but a huge embarrassment! He had even failed at provoking the Griffin twins into joining Dunlin in his despise of the Nightingale boy.

    "Why should we be upset?" Lark had replied. "Is it not a good thing that we have gotten such a skilled classmate? No doubt his skill will rub of on us as well."

    "Hopefully your pride won''t have the same effect" Martin filled in.

    The twins had laughed as they walked away. Dunlin had, with seething eyes, watched them walk straight across the room to happily greet the oh-so-important Hoatzin and his pipsqueak of a sister.

    "Just you wait! We''ll see how high and mighty you will act once we''re done with you." Dunlin cursed as he followed the rest of his clan to their residence. His parents had not joined him for the event, but they would hear of it from him.

    ---------

    In one of the grander guest suites sat the young Javelin on his knees on the floor. The very furious Admiral Hake was pacing back and forth in front of him.

    "What did you say you did!?"

    "I gave the young Lady Nightingale the Twilight Lullaby." Javelin repeated himself calmly. He had known this was coming.

    "How could you bee so stupid!" His father spat. "Your mother gave you that skill to give to your fiance once you return, how could you give it to some random girl you''ve just met? She''s not even from our Sea Empire!" The usually stiff admiral was practically boiling with rage.

    "Mother told me to give it to a woman I cherish and wish to protect, and that is what I did." Javelin kept his calm as he spoke with a sincere face.

    The older man stopped his passing and started at his son in disbelief. After a long while he let out a heavy sigh.

    "Seriously, I don''t know what to do with you sometimes... It''s lucky little miss Arowana hadn''t been told to expect it." He sat down on a nearby chair.

    Javelin twitched slightly at the mention of his fiance.

    "Father, about that...."

    "Not a word more." The admiral cut him off. Javelin did as he was told and stayed silent.

    "At least you did as you were told during the exam... But to think they had a youngster with such good spirit control, they are quite lucky." Devario Hake finally smiled slightly. "Perhaps this exchange will be beneficial after all."

    Javelin remained silent but his thoughts went to the young Hoatzin he had met earlier. During the exam Javelin had been told to get, at most, a result one step below the best scoring child of the Sky Empire; just as Raven had guessed, Admiral Hake did not want to stir up any trouble. But Javelin had indeed been surprised when he noticed Hoatzin in his group.

    Hoatzin had expelled the first orb with astounding speed and even though Javelin would indeed have bested him if he had gone all out, it would not have been by much. Probably only by one step! After all, the more orbs you expel the harder it gets. If the difference in control between the level 35 and 40 was a doubling, then the same could be said for the distance between 40 and 41.

    But what had surprised Javelin the most was that, when he spoke with Hoatzin right after the exam, he learned that Hoatzin had been doing fairly straightforward training; Hoatzin had achieved his level of control simply by persistence. Javelin on the other hand had gone through quite a different training regime.

    Since the day he was born he had followed his father and older brother on the various excursions his father did for the Sea Empires navy. He had already witnessed, first hand, vicious battles and deception between both enemies and allies alike. By following his father, he had managed to form his first spirit connection shortly after his fifth birthday and had only needed two years to form the next three. He had even experienced a few life-or-death situations that pushed his spirit control to evolve even more rapidly.

    It was a risky tactic that could easily backfire, but both him and his older brother had gained a lot from it.

    As Javelin pondered the achievements of Hoatzin Nightingale, he couldn''t help letting his thoughts wander to the fairy-like figure of Hoatzin''s sister. He had only spoken to her once, and not much had been said, but he already felt a longing for her in his young heart. He was too young to truly understand the concepts of love but he still had no doubts that the longing would not pass until he met her again.

 Chapter 8: Twilight Lullaby

    Twilight Lullaby

    In her room, Raven sat cross-legged on her bed. She had since long undressed, with the help of her maid, and now only wore a simple nightgown. In front of her lay the green cylinder Javelin had given her earlier. Her brother and mother had already gone to bed and were sleeping soundly in their rooms.

    After simply staring at the cylinder and the golden words engraved on it for a long while, Raven drew a deep breath to steady herself and picked it up. She once more felt the spirit essence stored within, trickling her fingers. The essence fluctuations were stronger than in any of the scrolls her father had shown her and her brother a few years ago, the closest being a level five skill.

    With gentle hands she carefully broke the seal, opened the top and tilted the cylinder to let the scroll within slip out into her waiting hand. The scroll was small, only a little bit longer than her hand, but on contact with her skin she felt its power seeping into her. It was as if the scroll was examining her, checking its new master.

    Holding her breath, Raven slowly unrolled the scroll. Inside was, unexpectedly,  a poem written in what looked like golden ink. As Raven started reading she could feel the words vibrating within her soul, leaving a permanent mark. In her mind she heard a soft tune that accompanied the text perfectly. She read:

    Oh mister mine, where are you roaming?

    O, stay and hear; your true love''s coming,

    That can sing both high and low.

    Trip no further, handsome darling;

    Journeys end in lover meeting,

    Every wise man''s son doth know.

    Her reading and the tune in her head merged so perfectly that before she knew it she was quietly singing what she read, aloud.

    What is love? ''Tis not hereafter;

    Present mirth hath present laughter;

    What''s to come is still unsure.

    In delay there lies no plenty,

    Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty;

    Youth''s a stuff will not endure.

    As the last words left her mouth, a sharp pain throbbed through her mind and the scripture on the scroll faded. The imprint was complete. At the same moment Raven knew everything there was to know about her new and very odd Divine Skill - in all her reading she had never read of a Divine Skill in the form of a song, and yet here it was.

    It was indeed a level six skill, as she had predicted, but it was neither for healing nor martial prowess, but rather for control. Once she had mastered it, simply humming the first notes would cause those who heard it to be enthralled by her. Unless they had a significantly higher cultivation than hers, they would feel extremely compelled to pause whatever they doing and listen until she stopped her humming. If she was strong enough, the effect would remain long after she stopped singing.

    ''I wonder if Javelin knows meaning of this song or if he only knows it''s use.''

    Raven couldn''t help but laugh when she replayed the song in her head. It was a love song. A very bittersweet love song, urging the listener to seize the moment or it might be forever lost.

    Raven pondered the skill she had learned. Although it wasn''t what she had expected, she realized the vast uses it would have for her. It would be her last defense; if faced with multiple hostile people, even if she wasn''t strong enough to restrain her opponents for long, it would likely grant her the extra time she needed to run away or hide. It could also help her launch attacks against momentarily unguarded enemies. With this song, this Twilight Lullaby, and her earlier knowledge of martial arts she would be fairly dangerous even without any additional Divine Skills.

    Through the spirit imprint she now instinctively knew how to stimulate her spirit core to merge the stored spirit essence with her voice and achieve the desired effect. It would take practice, but Raven was confident in her abilities; now that she had the imprint nothing would stop her from perfecting the skill.

    She started practicing right away.

    The next morning a slightly red-eyed Raven made her way into the guest room''s dinning area. She had stayed up all night working on the skill; once they left for home it would be a month before she could practice it again without attracting unwanted attention.

    After nearly eight hours she had only managed to preform the most basic step of the skill ; merging her spirit essence with her voice. Next was to actually activate the skill. She wasn''t very pleased with her slow progress but it would have to do for now.

    Had Javelin been aware of her complaints he would have been shocked beyond belief. Eight hours? Eight months would be a more reasonable time span for her level of progress!

    ---------

    Later that day, the three Nightingale''s stood on the same landing platform on which they had arrived over a week earlier. They had already said goodbye to the Emperor and his wife and all that remained was the parting with Hoatzin.

    Besra''s eyes were moist but she managed to refrain from crying as she embraced her son.

    "Your mother and father love you dearly, remember that." She whispered in his ear before releasing him.

    "Here." Besra held out a delicate hand and in its palm lay a copper ring, gleaming with metallic luster.

    "This..."

    "Yes. Take it. Inside are some gifts from your father and me."

    Raven glanced at the ring with big eyes, it was an spacial ring! Such rings were very rare. By pouring your spirit essence into it you could access a separate dimension linked with the ring. Once bound by blood, the ring would even seal itself from any other user.

    "It is time, little Raven. Say your goodbyes." her mother urged her.

    Raven didn''t hesitate as she threw herself into her brother''s arms, hugging him tightly. She was silent for a long while and eventually Hoatzin spoke first.

    "Take care, little Sister. I will see you next spring." He stroked her long hair as he spoke. "I bet you won''t even notice that I''m gone before I''m back again."

    Raven looked up on her brother. Forced smiles were on both of their faces.

    "Brother too... You must take care!"

    "Don''t worry I will. The next time we meet I bet you''ll be surprised how much stronger you''re brother has become."

    Raven did not doubt this.

    The siblings tightened their embrace once more before Raven slipped out of her brother''s arms and followed her mother into the cabin.

    Eight of the ten guards entered their own cabin and with the silent whistle of the crewmen the Everest Hawks took fight once more.

    On the ground remained Hoatzin and his two personal guards, that would stay with him in Sky City. They wouldn''t follow him at school but if he wanted to venture outside the guards would protect him. He remained on the platform long after the Everest Hawks had disappeared out of sight.

    ---------

    The journey home was rather uneventful and four weeks later the party arrived back at Nightingale City. Summer was now at its brief peak and the previously light green trees had darkened to a lush dark green.

    Summer might be short here, but the days were long, so despite arriving in the middle of the night, the sky had already turned pale blue in anticipation of the dawning sun.

    In the large courtyard waited the sturdy Lord Maleo; it had been over two months since his wife and children left and he looked forward to their return. He had, of course, already received news of his son''s achievements and knew that only his girls would be returning.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    He lifted his gaze to the sky and smiled, because flying towards him were the family''s two Everest Hawks that had left months before. In barely a minute''s time, the birds lowered their precious cargo into the courtyard and flew off towards their own mountain top.

    Maleo walked over to his wife''s cabin and just as he reached it, I''iwi opened the cabin door from within. She held up a finger to her mouth and motioned for him to enter.

    Once inside he was greeted by his serene wife who leaned softly into his arms.

    "She fell asleep an hour ago. I didn''t have the heart to wake her." Besra whispered.

    Maleo looked over at his daughter sleeping soundly on the cabin''s sofa. With a tender smile on his face, he walked over and scooped up the sleeping Raven. Together with his wife, he carried his young daughter to her room.

    Despite being fast asleep, Raven was not oblivious to what was going on around her; the numerous spirit collections within her soul helped her keep a constant awareness. Nevertheless, she chose to not stir from her sleep. Biologically, she was after all, only three - why not enjoy being spoiled a bit while she had the chance?

    ----------

    Life went back to ordinary at the Nightingale mansion. Without her brother around, the days seemed to move a bit slower but Raven used her new found time to read even more books and, of course, diligently train her Twilight Lullaby.

    It took her a bit over a month to perfect the skill, which was an insane achievement in itself, and as she grew more accustomed to it Raven discovered a welcome surprise. If she was careful, and started singing the song like any one else would and then slowly let her spirit essence merge with it to activate the actual Twilight Lullaby, she could pull off the skill without any spiritualists even noticing that she was using a Divine Skill.

    Usually the sudden bust of spirit essence at the activation of a Divine Skill would be impossible to miss, and would even reveal the cultivation level of the practitioner, but for some reason this skill, if activated in this way, seamed to blend too well with the natural spirit essence in the air, making it incredibly hard to both detect and guard against.

    Realizing this trait, Raven had only hesitated for a day or two before using the skill on her own guards! By doing so she easily managed to shake of her protection and sneak into the Nightingale''s Spirit Scroll Library. She had only gone to the common section and not dared to stay long, but she had left with the two skills that had caught her attention the most so far: level three skill Shadow Walk and the evolving skill Sonic Swords.

    Since then she had practiced the Shadow Walk relentlessly and had by now become quite proficient in using it. When she used it in unison with her old world''s martial arts, adding superhuman speed with perfect timing here and there, she

    became very deadly.

    Her attack power was, however, still quite limited so she had wanted to start practicing with the Sonic Swords as well but once the imprint was complete she had realized that the first, and so far only, skill she had gained insight to was called the Deafening Sweep. Unfortunately, it lived up to its name, so finding a time and place for Raven to practice it was easier said than done.

    Regardless, Raven had set out to get her hands on an appropriate sword. First she had figured that she might nab one in the same manner as she got the Divine Skills but in the end she didn''t have to rely on such methods; Raven had pleaded with her father to "give her a cool sword just like her guards''s." and her father had given her one without much hustle. What astonished her more was that he had even taken it one step further and commissioned a personal sword to be forged just for her.

    The completed weapon reminded Raven of the Chinese jian swords of her old world; it was a thin one-handed sword, with beautiful patterns inlaid into the roughly 80 centimeters long blade. The hilt was formed like a pair of wings ready for flight, their violet feathers shimmering slightly as they stretched towards the tip of the blade. The handle was wrapped in a soft black fabric and two tassels, in the same violet shade as the wings, hung from the pommel at the end of the handle.

    Raven had stared at the beautiful weapon with big eyes. The sword was truly a masterpiece, but it was also too long for her. Raven herself was only about a head taller than the sword at the moment. Seeing his daughter''s wonder Maleo had laughed.

    "If my little Raven wants to carry a sword then it needs to be a sword fitting for a princess!"

    "But it is so long..." Raven sighed.

    "No rush, you will grow into it." Maleo looked quite smug as he handed over another parcel.

    To Raven''s surprise she found that her father had actually prepared a special scabbard that would allow her to carry the sword over her back, even though it was too long. The sword''s name, ''Nightingale''s Blessing'', was written on it in fine letters.

    "You are still too small for it but that will change. Once you are old enough, I can teach you how to use it."

    Raven realized that her father thought she had asked for the sword simply because she thought them fascinating and therefore wanted one for herself, so he had made her a pretty one.

    ''Considering that my father clearly doesn''t want me to actually use it, he has commissioned a truly amazing weapon for me!'' She had thought while inspecting it. Raven was very pleased with the sword, it was well balanced and sharp beyond compare.

    Despite the sword being to long for her, Raven started to gingerly carry it with her wherever she went, much to the Nightingale guards'' amusement. Seeing their young mistress'' love for the sword, Rook and Verdin had, on numerous occasions, taken it upon themselves to teach her the basic stances of swords fighting ahead of time. It however always ended in failure; the too long sword wold cause the young girl to lose balance and topple over at every swing.

    They would have given her a smaller sword to practice with but Lord Maleo forbade it - why had he forged a too large sword for her to begin with? To keep her away from sword fighting until she grew tiered of it, of course! After all, he had no wish to see his daughter get injured by taking up martial practices.

    Little did her father know that his hopes were already shattered. Sure, the blade was in reality too long for her, but who was Raven? She had adapted to the length of the sword within the fist hour of wielding it. She would swing it hundreds of times everyday, and it had become as much a part of her as her own arm. But yet again she wanted to keep a low profile, so she moved clumsily with it in public.

    Since that then, another six months had passed. Autumn and winter had both come and gone, and now spring had arrived. Besides tentative heat, spring brought another joy to the Nightingale mansion; news that young master Hoatzin had been given leave and was on his way home for a visit.

    Almost a year had passed since Raven last saw her brother and she was curious to see how much he''d improved over the year. Four weeks later, a very impatient Raven stood in the main courtyard, spying expectantly up into they vast sky. There, far away, the large silhouette of an Everest Hawk was slowly growing larger and larger.

 Chapter 9: Hoatzin Returns

    <h2 style="text-align: center">Hoatzin Returns</h2>

    Even before the cabin touched ground, the door swung open and a dark-haired youth in grey robes jumped down. With large steps the youth approached Raven and, once close enough, lifted her of the ground twirling her around him.

    "Welcome home, big brother!" Raven laughed.

    "I''m home!" Hoatzin laughed as well, and he lethis sister go.

    "You''ve grown, big Brother."

    Hoatzin had indeed grown. The soon ten-year-old boy had not only become a decimeter taller, his body build was a lot more firm. He now had an air of strength about him that wasn''t there before. The time at the academy was paying of.

    "You bet I have." Hoatzin smiled smugly and fished out his spirit stone pendant. "Look, am I not an impressive big Brother?"

    The previously greyhad now almost completely sifted to a opaque white. Only a slim line of greyremained around the border. Raven''s eyebrows rose in pleasant surprise.

    "Brother, you''re nearly a high Novice?"

    Hoatzin smiled pridefully, and rightfully so - to go from a new low Spirit Novice to a high Novice was something that usually took two to fouryears, depending on your skills. To advance that farin one was quite impressive.

    "Big brother is truly a genius!" Raven praised.

    She really meant every word, yet, she couldn''t help but marvel over her own progress at the same time. Despite not havingfocused on her cultivation the past year-rather,letting it progress naturally-she had still reachedthe peak of the Novice stage and could feel a slight change in her Spirit Core. She suspected that she would make the evolution to Adept in the near future.

    "Haha, not so! Remember Javelin? The blonde boy from Sea Empire?He is two years younger than me but is keeping up with me - when he is my age he will be even more impressive."

    "Really?"

    "Really. Oh, that reminds me, he has been eyeing the bracelet you gave me. Perhaps you should makehim one? As a thank you for the Divine Skill."

    Raven blinked and then started laughing. "Sure, why not?"

    "Where are Mother and Father? I want to tell them of my progress." Hoatzin looked around the courtyard.

    Raven frowned.

    "They had intended to come meet you but then aunt and uncle showed up. Mother and Father are "entertaining" them now."

    Hoatzin also frowned.

    "Hmm, do you know what they are talking about?"

    "Nope, but I''m guessing it''s about the ore."

    All three empires on the continent haddifferent things they excelled in. Sea Empire for example was the only empire with a proper coastline and they therefore held dominionin all things sea related, including everything from fishing to intercontinental trade. Sky Empire on the other hand, had a vast amount of prosperous mines. There were mines of various metals, gems and, most importantly, thesoulore that is used to make most things related to spiritualists: Spirit Halls, Spirit Stones, Divine weapons and armor, all of it is made withsoulore.

    The different prefectures within Sky Empire all had their own mines that they tended to. Within Nightingale Prefecture were a bunch of smaller gem mines and one very large soul ore mine. As the ruling clan, the Nightingale Clan was charged with the duty of mining and protecting these resources. The Talon clan were the head clan ofone of Nightingale prefectures largest merchants guilds and therefore worked with them closely whenever trading ore was involved.

    "Makes sense I suppose..." Hoatzin seemed lost in thoughts.

    "What''s wrong brother?" concern spread across Raven''s face.

    "Hm? No, I guess it''s nothing.... It''s just that cousin Dunlin has been acting a bit weird lately."

    "Weirder than usual?"

    "Yeah, he''s become... friendly. Well, friendlier."

    Raven stared at her brother.

    "Are we talking about the same Dunlin?"

    "Haha, yes, well who knows? Perhaps he''s actually reformed?" Hoatzin smirkedand winked at her, joking it of, but Raven couldn''t help but feel a bit uneasy. People don''t change for no reason, especially someone as self-centered as Dunlin. Perhaps she should look into the matter.

    "Nevermind. Come, I bet you are dying to hear all about my year at the Academy, right?" As he spoke Hoatzin started to walk towards their common chambers.

    Pushing her doubtsaside for now, Raven raised an eyebrow as she glanced at her brother.

    "Will bigbrothertell it to me like before? With the cape and all?" she teased.

    Hoatzin immediately straightened and placed a closed fist over his chest, cleared his throat and trumpeted "Hear ye! Hear ye! It''s the tale of Hoatzin the Spirit Novice!"

    Ravens happy laughter burst out and echoed down the hallways. Soon they were seated in big chairs, nibbling on fresh fruits and merrily talking about what Hoatzin had experienced over the past year.

    After a couple of hours, the doors to the room they were seated in flew open and a corpulent man in his late thirties and a sharp-featured woman in matching velvet gowns stormed through the room. It was Aunt Anhinga and her husband, Uncle Gyps, head of the Talon Clan. As they passed through the room they didn''t as much asglance at the two children seated there before they disappeared out the next set of doors.

    The siblings looked at each other and without saying a word they stood up and quietly walked into the room their aunt and uncle had come out from. Inside sat their parents at around table. Both looked very tired.

    "I know you love your sister and I can see the benefits, but what they are suggesting borders on treason..."

    "Enough, I rejected it. That should be the end of it." Maleo sighed and looked out the window.

    Besra said no more. She lifted her head and caught sight of her children standing in the doorway. Her worried expression was quickly replaced by a joyful smile.

    "My dear Hoatzin, you have returned!" She got to her feat and rushed over to give her son a warm embrace.

    Maleo stopped staring out the window and walked over to the group at the door. He placed a big hand on his son''s shoulder. Next to them, Raven could feel her father activatinghis spirit essence, letting it flow out of his hand and into his son. Most likelyit was to probe her brother''s current cultivation.

    "Well done my boy!" A huge grin spread on his face. "Already nearly a high Novice and two new spirit connections - Sky Academy lives up to its fame."

    Hoatzin smiled back at his father. "Congratulations to you too father, you''ve finally become a mid Champion!"

    Using spirit essence to ascertain someone''s level of cultivation was a two-way road, both would find out the other''s level.

    Both father and son have had a good year. Besra and Ravenstood to the side, smiling happily at their boys'' achievements.

    Raven remained quiet for a moment more before she looked up at she father.

    "Father, what was it Aunt and Uncle wanted to talk about?" Raven guessed she wouldn''t get an answer from him directly but her curiosity finally got the better of her and she had to ask.

    A flash of darkness crossed Maleo''s eyes before he sighed once more.

    "Nothing of consequence." was the only reply he gave on the subject. "Instead, let us eat dinner and talk of my son''stime at the Academy. Have you found any good rivals?"

    Raven sighed. She would have to find information elsewhere.

    They family ate and talked late into the night. Hoatzin was particularly amused by his sister''snew found love for her sword andthe rest of the family laughed merrily at the various mischief Hoatzin had pulled of with his new friends at the academy. Raven got the feeling that perhaps her brother''s academy life was not as rosy as he would want them to believe, but she did not push the matter. Her brother would talk about it if he felt he needed to.

    Eventually the family broke up the evenings pleasantries and returned to their own chambers for sleep. But before Raven had a chance to slip into her bed she felt the presence of her brother approaching her door. Moments later a light knock pounded at the door.

    "Come in Brother."

    The door opened and Hoatzin walked in.

    "It''s eerie that you can do that. A couple of the elders at school can tell if someone is outside their roombut not who."

    "Who else would visit me at this hour?" Raven winked.

    Hoatzin snorted. "If you say so."

    Raven sat down in one of the chairs by her window. "So, why has Brother come at this hour?"

    "I forgot to give you something." Hoatzin walked over to his sister and held out a small pouch. "I found this by chance on the way home and though it might suit you."

    Raven took the pouch and tilted it in her hand. A small, smooth ring rolled out in her palm. It was completely smooth with no engravings or blemishes and its dark violet color was almost identical to herown hair color. It felt oddly coldin her hand.

    "Here, let me help you." Hoatzin took the ring and started wiggling it onto Raven''s right index finger.

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    "Ouch!" Just as the ring slipped into place, Hoatzin withdrew has hand and examined it. A small wound was visible on the tip on his finger.

    "Hmm, odd. I must have pricked it without noticing." He sucked on his finger to stop the bleeding.

    Raven asked to see the woundbefore she, convinced it was nothing serious, turned her attention to her new ring.

    "Thank you brother. It is beautiful."

    Hoatzin smiled and walked over to the door.

    "Well then, sleep well little sister. I''ll see you tomorrow."

    "Sleep well, big brother."

    With a grin on her face, Raven crept in under her covers and fell asleep. None of the siblings had noticed how a small drop of blood had dripped onto the purple ring nor the faint light it emitted before the stain faded into its depths.

    <hr>

    Hoatzin had been given ten weeks leave, which meant he could spend two weeks with his family before he had to start his journey back to Sky City.

    The boy was diligent in his training, so despite thelimited time with his family he still practiced his cultivation, and the various new Divine Skills he had learnt, with his father every morning. Hoatzinhad by now advanced very far in hisShadow Walkand had been rewarded with two fifth level skills for his prowess from the academy. One wasfor hand to hand combat, the other for the sword.

    Like before, Raven stayed with her brother as he trained, but in her lap she now had a bunchleather stripsin various shades of blue and lilac. Intertwined with the strings of leather were golden stands of soul ore. The ore had been spun into thin wires that were thin enough to still be flexible.

    As she wove the strings together, Raven discreetly let her spirit essence seep through her fingers and into the soul ore. She had to be careful not to let any essence escape her control-if it did, any present spiritualists would no doubt notice it. It was hard work but Raven figured it was worth it.

    The reason was that Raven had presently read about how master craftsmen went about to make Divine Equipment; the very foundation of making such equipment was to infuse it with spirit essence during its creation. This, in it self, would strengthen the ore considerably but to produce additional benefits one usually needed to use special Divine Skills. However, there were some reports of random characteristics appearing anyway from time to time. No one knew why though.

    Raven doubted that any special effects would arise in her case but the additional strength couldn''t hurt;she needed to start repaying Javelin somehow.

    While the mornings were spent in training, the afternoons were mostly spent playing. The two children were truly enjoying themselves, sometimes even their guards would join in a game or two.

    Raven had tried to find out more about what her parents had discussed with her aunt and uncle but Raven''s parents refused to talk about it and nobody else had been present to overhear the conversation. Raven considered visiting the Talon household to sniff around but could think of no way to do so without drawing unwantedattentionto herself - everyone expected her to spend the brief weeks left of her brother''s vacation with him, not visiting relatives that would be around even after Hoatzin returned to school. She had no choice but to put off the investigation for now.

    About halfway through Hoatzin''s vacation, the two childrenwere enjoying a game of King Pin in the eastern courtyard. King Pin is a large scale game somewhat reminiscent of her old worlds chess with a few exceptions:instead of playing it on a board itrequired a large open area; rather than moving your pieces in set patterns you tossed your various "attackers" at your opponent''s pieces to knock them out;you were not allowed to hit either of the"kings" guarding the front line. Once all other pieces were out of play, the enemy king had to be taken out.

    Raven was so far winning a landslide victory, but her face was suddenly stripped of all triumph.At this moment a familiar, and always unwelcome, voice could be heard in the courtyard.

    "If it isn''t my dear cousins."

    ''Dunlin...''Raven didn''t need to turn to see who it was. Instead she pulled outa veil and fastened it over her face. She didn''t really need it for her cousin but Raven preferred to have a filter when dealing with him.

    "Cousin Dunlin, I take it you are back for a vacation just as I am. Do you wish to join us for a game?" Hoatzin was, as always, very polite.

    Dunin glanced at the playing field.

    "Thank you for the offer but I fear I''m no match for your sister."

    Raven was stunned. Dunlin had spoken without any hint of sarcasm or disdain whatsoever.

    ''He really is acting odd...''

    "I was actually hoping to use my parents visit here today as an opportunity for sparring with you, cousin Hoatzin. I have been making some progress lately and I''m sure some pointers from our class''s most prominent student would stimulate my cultivation further." Dunlin continued to speak in a polite tone and even clasped his hands in respect as he made his request.

    The siblings exchanged glances. What was Hoatzin to do? To refuse would be very impolite and even if Dunlin''s behavior was an act, the fact that Hoatzin was stronger than him could not be refused. At least, that had been the case six weeks ago; how much could have changed since then? Hoatzin should have nothing to worry about.

    "Of course, I would gladly spar with you cousin." Hoatzin returned the gesture of respect by clasping his own hands.

    Raven observed her cousin closely.Dunlin''s acting was surprisingly quite astonishingbut naturally Raven''s senses were even more so, and she could clearly feel an air of smugness around him that grew even stronger when Hoatzin agreed.

    ''What is he up to? Clearly he is trying to act polite, but surely there is more to it than that...''

    As Hoatzin motioned for the present servants to clear the courtyard field of the previous game, Raven whispered her concerns to her brother before shestrode of to stand next to her guards onthe side of the courtyard.

    "Good luck,cousin!" she yelled with perfectly faked enthusiasm.

    The the center of the courtyard stood the two young men.

    "What do you say, cousin, best of five?" Dunlin asked.

    "Fine by me. Cousin." Hoatzin answered.

    This was the way friendly sparring matches went at the Academy; the participants would agree to a fix amount of exchanges and the person with the most successful hits would be the victor.

    Suppressing hisapprehension, Hoatzin exchanged the customary bows with his cousin that marked the start of the exchange -he had to agree with his sister''s warning; something was fishy, but he had confident in his own ability and would not be caught of guard easily

    The spar began.

    At the exact same time, spirit essence surged to the two boys'' feet as they both activated Shadow Walkand rushed towards each other at high speeds. Non-spiritualists that observed the sparing would only see two shadows sweeping over the field, but Raven and her guards could not only follow what was going on with their eyes but could also clearly sense the level of the spirit essence used. Hoatzin was a borderline high Novice, whereas Dunlin was a stable mid Novice.

    As the pair drew closer, deep red flames burst out from Hoatzin''s palms, immediately covering his hands and lower arms. The moment he was with reach of Dunlin, Hoatzin slammed his right foot into the ground and used the momentum from his dash to lash out with a fiery fist towards Dunlin''s chest.

    Dunlin clearly expected this move and shifted ever so slightly in the last instant to let the punch misshim. However, just as Hoatzin''sfist was flying by his shoulder, Hoatzin grunted while harshly releasing the breath he''d been holding. The fires covering his outstretchedarm seemed to momentarily disappear, only to violently expandin the next instant.

    *BOOM!*

    Caught by surprise, Dunlin had no time to defend himself properly and was sent flying backwards several meters. When he got to his feet Raven noticed a brief moment of contempton Dunlin''s face before it was replaced by well-faked awe.

    "So you have learnt the second step of theEmber Palm,Exploding Fist? Impressive." Dunlin brushedsome dust off his clothing, but the fabric covering his chest had been permanently charred. "But, you are not the only one that has made a breakthrough."

    Dunlin had barely stopped speaking before he once more charged at Hoatzin, who stood in a defensive stance in the middle of the courtyard, arms still ablaze. Three strides away, Dunlin''s body started to turn, his body seemingly becoming transparent as he turned. To the side Raven raised an eyebrow in surprise.

    ''True Mirage Cyclone? That is a level sixskill! Where did he get that?''

 Chapter 10: A Token of Depreciation

    A Token of Depreciation

    As prefecture lords, the Nightingale clan had access to at most two level six skills. The Talon clan was a fairly large noble clan but a level six skill should still be beyond them.

    Dunlin''s nearly invisible leg was raised and traveling towards Hoatzin in a very high speed.

    As the leg approached him, Hoatzin shared his sister''s surprise; he could barely see the leg flying towards him - Dunlin had no such skill last time they sparred! Despite this, thanks to his great instincts and his higher cultivation, Hoatzin could clearly sense the leg coming.

    Without knowing what he was defending against, Hoatzin pored most of his spirit essence to his arms and feet. The flames on his arms deepened in color as Hoatzin crossed them over his chest. Dunlin''s kick landed on him with considerable force but the spirit essence in Hoatzin''s legs stirred and he was only pushed back a few centimeters before the two bodies stopped moving.

    Shock spread over Dunlin''s face. Ember Palm was "only" a level five Divine Skill so the difference in their cultivation shouldn''t be large enough for Hoatzin to prevail against his own level six skill so easily.

    Using these two milliseconds of shock in his opponent, Hoatzin''s flame covered arms grabbed the leg that had kicked him and twisted. The motion caused Dunlin to twist around and fall to the ground, face first.

    Raven smiled; her brother was truly skilled. He controlled his spirit essence elegantly to make up for the difference in the two skills'' explosive powers and then used the moment of confusion seal the deal.

    ''His year at Sky Academy has definitely payed of - his level of fighting prowess and experience has improved immensely! He would not have even imagined that exchange of blows a year ago.''

    In the courtyard Dunlin staggered to his feet. He had taken no serious damage but his nose was bleeding, clearly broken. Without a word Dunlin grabbed his nose and set the bone right with a subtle *Crack!*.

    His previously faked air of goodwill was gone.

    "Sorry about the nose." Hoatzin honestly apologized. "But your understanding of the True Mirage Cyclone is impressive - if we were at the same cultivation level it''s hard to say if I could block it."

    Dunlin glared at Hoatzin venomously.

    "Same cultivation you say? Hmpf!" Dunlin took a fighting stance. "Let me show you the quality of my cultivation."

    Suddenly Raven felt a surge of spirit essence spiraling around her cousin, but something was of. The essence was darker and less tangible than normal spirit essence. She glanced at the guards standing next to her but they didn''t seem to react at all.

    ''What is going on? It''s as if he is having a cultivation breakthrough right here and now - he seems to be becoming a high Spirit Novice!''

    Before Raven had a chance to think about it any further, Dunlin rushed forward once more.

    ''Oh no!''  Raven panicked; her brother wouldn''t be able to block the True Mirage Cyclone even if he was knew about Dunlin''s sudden increase in power, but since he didn''t know, Hoatzin would most likely get seriously injured!

    Just as Dunlin was about to activate True Mirage Cyclone yet again, a sharp voice rang out in the courtyard.

    "Dunlin!"

    Dunlin froze mid-action; the odd spirit essence dissipating instantly.

    "Mother."

    Aunt Anhinga shot her son a reproving look before she smiled towards Hoatzin.

    "Most impressive, my young nephew. You show much promise."

    She then motioned towards her sneering son.

    "Well, we''re leaving, but I hope you will keep helping my Dunlin with his training in the future."

    "Of course, Aunt." Hoatzin clasped his fist and bowed.

    Without so much as a glance at his cousins Dunlin joined his mother and the two Tanlons left together. As they walked away, Raven released her grip of her sword; pushing back the spirit essence she had gathered in every muscle of her body. If Dunlin had launched his attack, Raven wouldn''t have hesitated for a second to reveal her own cultivation to protect her bother from injury. Fortunately she didn''t need to.

    Hoatzin walked over to her.

    "What do you think all that was about?"

    "I don''t know."  Raven looked out the doors the Talons had left through before she fixed her eyes on her brother, locking their gazes. "But Brother, you have to be careful with Dunlin. I think his cultivation is higher then he shows."

    "What makes you say that? I clearly felt that his spiritual pressure was that of a mid Novice, and besides, the spirit stone is an absolute and his showed ''mid Novice''." Hoatzin had trouble believing his sister.

    "I don''t know..." How could Raven explain what she had sensed from her cousin without explaining the rest, and even if she did, she had no more insights as to how Dunlin had momentarily increased his cultivation then her brother would have. "Just be careful, okay?"

    "I will be careful, little sister." Hoatzin could tell his sister was worried about him so he quickly agreed. He would keep his guard up even more closely around his cousin in the future.

    ---------

    Later that day, Raven sat in her room, inspecting her newly finished creation; after working on it for a week, her gift to Javelin was finally complete. The result was more impressive than she had anticipated: the various leathers and strands of soul ore formed a slightly wider bracelet then the one her brother had received; it''s pattern was a lot more complicated.

    ''Now, let''s see what feeding it with spirit essence has done to it.'' Raven mused to herself.

    She sent a probing string of spirit essence into the bracelet, trying to form a temporary spirit connection with it. Divine equipment, that is to say equipment that had been successfully crafted with spirit essence, would be capable to form such connections with its bearer. In some cases, as with for example spacial rings, the connection could be made permanent by a contract of blood. Such contracts wold limit the equipment to one user until the contract was willingly removed by the owner. Or until the owner died.

    "Ha! It worked!" excited, she spoke out loud.

    Raven''s spirit essence had latched on to the bracelet in her hand with ease. As it did, a safeguarding feeling was transmitted from the bracelet that was glowing slightly. The light faded rather quickly, but Raven was smiling widely.

    ''It''s not very strong... but no doubt it will work to protect Javelin in times of need.''

    The bracelet wasn''t made by a crafting master, and with no Divine Skills, so to say that it would always do this or that was not possible. Raven had simply managed to imprint the bracelet with her wish to thank Javelin for his kindness - how this would portray itself in the future was impossible to say.

    "This will have to do for now."

    She pulled out the green cylinder Javelin had given her before, removed the empty scroll from within and replaced it with her gift. She placed a small note inside as well before she sealed the cylinder.

    Finally, Raven altered the golden markings on the cylinder''s outside. Before it read ''Twilight Lullaby'', now it read ''Twilight Paladin''.

    She walked out of her room and handed the cylinder to one of the servants always waiting outside.

    "See that this is sent to Javelin Hake at the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts, by Stormbird."

    "Yes, young mistress Nightingale." The servant bowed and hurried of with the green cylinder in hand.

    Smiling, Raven made her way towards the dinning hall. Javelin would get the gift in only a few days - whereas the Everest Hawk was known for its size and strength, the Stormbird was know for its immense speed. It wasn''t very large so it could only carry smaller parcels, but it did so at extraordinary speeds.

    ---------

    Still smiling, Raven entered the dining hall. At once she noticed an extremely large flower arrangement of exotic flowers that stood at the center of the dining table. It gave of a pleasantly sweet scent that filled the entire room. Raven''s mother leaned over the table with a relaxed smile on her face as she breathed in the flowery scent.

    "What beautiful flowers...!" Raven praised as she hurried into the room.

    "Aren''t they lovely?" Besra agreed. "Your aunt brought them over."

    "Aunt Anhinga?" Raven immediately grew cautious.

    "Yes, she came over to apologize to your father concerning their heated discussion a few days back; the matter is truly settled now."

    ''Apologize? How out of character...'' Raven''s wariness didn''t leave her.

    "It''s soon time to eat, I''ll go inform your father and brother." Besra started to move towards the door.

    "Where is I''iwi?" Raven asked - usually she would be the one preform such tasks.

    "Oh, I''iwi is on an errand to the Imperial Outpost." Besra spoke over her shoulder as she left the room.

    Raven glanced back at the flowers.

    ''Better safe than sorry...''

    "Wait outside for a moment." Raven ordered her guards.

    Her two guards looked at Raven with surprise, but they only hesitated for a moment before they stepped outside the hall. Once alone, Raven moved closer to the flowers and examined them closely. She recognized most of the flowers from the books in the library - some even grew in their own garden - and all of those were famous for having regenerative effects; simply breathing in their fragrance made you feel uplifted and calm at the same time.

    As for the few flowers she didn''t recognize, Raven spread out her spirit essence, carefully brushing against them. If they were poisonous, they should give of a hostile feeling when inspected.

    ''Nothing. Guess I''m being paranoid...'' Raven started to pull back her spirit essence.

    ''Hmm?''

    A small yellow plant caught her attention. When she tried to remove her spirit essence from it, the flower resisted.

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    ''What is this?'' Raven could feel the flower tugging at her spirit essence, almost as if the flower wanted to consume it all.

    More and more spirit essence seeped out of Raven''s spirit core and into the flower. Startled, Raven cut of the connection between her and the captured spirit essence in the flower, relinquishing her control over it. Immediately the tugging stopped.

    Raven studied the flower closely before picking it up with a table fork and burning it over a nearby candle. She would have to research it later, step one was to remove the immediate danger. Slowly the yellow plant withered and turned to embers over the flame.

    ''So the flowers weren''t harmless after all... Even though it is possible that Aunt Anhinga didn''t know what the flower did, it feels unlikely.'' Frowning, Raven came to a conclusion: ''Seems like I can''t put this investigation of any further...''

    Just as the last specks of ash fell to the table, Raven sensed her family approaching the room. She didn''t bother hiding the evidence of her little bonfire; since the plant was already gone, she could tell her parents that it was a regular poisonous flower she recognized from a book and raise her suspicions about her aunt''s involvement. Hopefully that would make them more prone to discuss what was going on with the Talon Clan.

    Seconds later, the dinning halls doors opened and Raven''s parents and brother walked in.

    "You sent out your guards? Little Raven, we have talked about this; they have to be with you at all times." Her father quickly reprimanded her.

    Raven rolled her eye''s. "They aren''t with me when I''m alone in my room, I don''t see how this is any different." She took a step to the side to reveal the small pile of ash on the table behind her.

    "More importantly, we need to... Hoatzin?"As Raven spoke she noticed her brother''s eyes becoming distant, his breathing quieter.

    Panicked, she tried to run over to her brother but as she took her first step, Raven''s legs gave way under her and she fell to the red marble floor.

    "Darling!" Besra cried and ran over to Raven, collecting her daughter in her arms.

    "Son, wake up!" Maleo shouted next to Hoatzin.

    ''What is happening to me!?''

    Raven tried to force her body into action but nothing happened. She tried to stir her spirit core but it was as if it no longer belonged to her.

    "Little Raven!" Besra continued to cry next to her. "Maleo, what is go..." Just as Besra lifted her head to talk to her husband, she too lost control over her body, causing her to slump over little Raven, still in her arms.

    "Besra!" Maleo lifted his son over to his wife and daughter. His face was distorted in worry. "Guards, Guards!"

    Hearing their lord''s calls, hurried footsteps echoed through the hallways outside of the room but even before the first guard set a foot inside, Maleo too fell powerless to the ground.

    This was the last thing Raven saw before the world turned dark. Just as when sleeping, Raven could still feel the world around her through her numerous spirit connections. But, helpless and afraid for her family''s safety, she could do nothing as she felt how gradually even that sensation faded.

    Slowly, Raven sank into oblivion.

    ---------

    Tens of thousands of miles away, in one of the dorm rooms at Sky Academy, Javelin Hake awakened with a jerk. His body was covered in cold sweat, his limbs shaking. Within him, his heart ached as if stabbed through by a knife, and his very soul trembled.

    ''A dream?'' Javelin tried to slow down his breathing.

    It took hours before he calmed down enough to go back to sleep, but when he did Javelin was continuously tormented by nightmares of endless darkness and unimaginable loss.

    ---------

    Cold. It was the first thing Raven felt. Cold and stiff.

    She tried to move, but her muscles were sore and slow to follow her commands. With much effort she opened her eyes and sat up. She had to blink several times before her started to adapt to her surroundings.

    She was in a cave, a damp and dark cave that she hadn''t seen before. She was sitting on a tattered blanket, and she noticed that her sword, ''Nightingale''s Blessing'', had been wrapped in another blanket so it could function as her makeshift pillow. She strained her eye''s to observe more of the cave but her eyes were too slow to adapt to the low light. Instinctively, she wanted to rely on the spirit connections in her soul, but her senses were dulled; barely above what they had been in her old life. So, confounded, she turned her attention inwards.

    "...what is this!?" She nearly jumped up in shock.

    Within her, only thirteen connections remained linked with her soul!

    "Something has removed most of my spirit connections? ....How is that even possible?"

    Raven started sifting through all the books she had read in her mind. She recalled books that wrote about souls being damaged beyond repair. These would indeed loose some of their spirit connections and be unable to form new ones, but that was usually accompanied by mental illnesses and Raven felt fine otherwise.

    "Perhaps mother has herd of.." Her voice trailed of mid-sentence. Despite the pain, Raven shot to her feat and started to search her surroundings in a frenzy.

    "Mother! Brother! Father!" she called out to her family but she could find no traces of them.

    Suddenly she herd light footsteps behind her, coming from the only tunnel Raven had noticed so far.

    "Brother?" Raven turned around, desperate hope shining in her eyes.

    "I''m sorry, young mistress Raven; it''s only me." The voice belonged to I''iwi, the maid.

    I''iwi walked into the cave crying a torch in one hand, and a dead hare in the other. Her clothes had been torn and showed signs of being in a fire. Her face looked tired. So very tired. But despite all this she still gave of an air of calm that seemed slightly out of place with the rest of her.

    "I''iwi," Raven ran over, frantically grabbing the maids clothes; "where is my family?" She couldn''t have kept the fear from her voice even if she''d wanted to.

    Immense sadness flooded I''iwi''s eyes.

    ''No!''

    Sometimes, being astute is a curse. Raven needed no more to know that the worst had happened. Tears started flowing, silently, down her face.

    "You should sit." I''iwi helped Raven to sit down before she spoke again.

    "There is much I must tell you, and I''m not sure were I should start." I''iwi paused for a moment as she watched the crying little four-year-old in front of her. ''It''s so unfortunate. Poor girl...''

    She took a deep breath and folded up the left arm of her robes, removing the arm guard that was hidden there.

    "I guess I should start at the beginning."

    As the arm guard fell to the ground, I''iwi''s always present air of calm disappeared. It was replaced by an overbearing feeling of strength. Had Raven been paying attention, she would have noticed how I''iwi seemed to grow more muscular; her face seemed less round, her skin less frail. A spirit stone hung in a pendant around her neck that Raven never noticed before. It was red with a large orange center; I''iwi was a peak mid Spirit Champion!

    But, as the tears kept flowing down her face in silent sorrow, Raven barely noticed any of this.

    "Actually, I was not really your mother''s maid... I was appointed to be her bodyguard by her good friend, the Empress Nene, who has cared dearly for your mother since they studied together. For nearly 15 years have I kept my Lady Besra, and her family, safe from harm."

    I''iwi sighed.

    "As I think you''ve noticed, things have been a bit tense between your father and his sister lately. Especially the past couple of weeks. But the other day they seemed to reconcile their differences and I was sent to the Imperial Outpost with a classified letter for instant transmission to the Emperor. Most likely it contained information of what had passed between them."

    "However, on the way to the outpost, I was attacked - they wanted to steal the letter. I burnt it before they had a chance.

    I hurried back to the mansion, because I knew something was wrong, but..." I''iwi fell silent.

    "But, I was too late. Once I returned, the mansion was ablaze and as I searched the house I found that most people within had already been consumed by the flames."

    "Finally, I found your family and a handful of servants in the private dining hall. The fire had not yet spread so far but nonetheless, everyone there was already dead - or so I thought, until I noticed that you were still breathing. I had no other choice but to take you with me and leave. I feared my pursuers would learn that you had survived so, as I left, I helped the flames spread into the room..."

    "I''m so sorry! It was my job to keep them safe but..." I''iwi''s voice trailed of. Over the years she had truly come to appreciate the Nightingale family; their deaths had hit her hard and she had even been forced to let them burn without a proper burial.

    I''iwi sat silent for quite a while, pensive. Finally she made up her mind.

    "Young mistress, I am pretty sure that the Talon''s are behind this but I don''t know how, or really even why... I wish to go investigate the matter more closely. I know it will be hard for you but if I wait the trail might go cold. I have brought you some food and I will be back within the week. Okay?"

    I''iwi didn''t wait for a reply. She could tell that Raven needed time. I''iwi simply wrapped Raven in another blanket before she slipped on her arm guard. As she did, her aura shifted yet again, making her seem... ignorable.  And then, she left the way she''d came.

    Through all of this Raven hadn''t said a word. Streams of tears flowed continuously down her cheeks as she sat like a statue on the cave floor.

    <hr />

    Author''s note: I know that many of you don''t approve of this turn of events - with the loss of family, OP prowess and all - but out of the hundreds of people who have decided to stick with the story anyway, very few have any complaints about it after a few chapters...

 Chapter 11: Light, where have you gone?

    In the dark cave, hours had passed since I''iwi left Raven to her grieving; it might as well have been mere seconds ago. The only difference between then and now was that Raven''s clothes had become damper from her tears.

    Raven herself no longer took any notice of her surroundings. Her mind was far, far away...

    ---------

    I lie in the arms of a young woman that looks on me with tender, loving eyes. I''ve never been looked at with eyes like those before... She is very tired - her long violet hair clings tightly to her damp face - but despite this she has a warm glow about her. To me she is a sun, expelling the night.

    "Hello, little one." With a pearly white hand, she lightly pokes my nose. "Welcome to the world. I am your mother, Besra."

    ---------

    Raven''s small body quivered and she closed her eyes tight, but this did nothing to stay her gushing tears.

    ---------

    I look towards the big wooden door in my mother''s chamber and see a small boy peeping in from outside. He is perhaps five or six years old. His hazel brown eyes glow with confidence and resolution as he places his hand on his chest and looks straight at me. "I, Haotzin Nightingale, will protect my little sister with my life!"

    ----------

    A silent whimper escaped Raven''s lips; the heartbreaking sound echoing lamentably within the cave.

    ---------

    *BOOM!*

    Just as I step out into the courtyard a small figure flies several meters backwards before tumbling to the ground.

    "Again!" Haotzin is already on his feat and running towards his father.

    My guard chuckles softly next to me. "He has determination at least."

    I giggle and balance on the heals of my feet. "You have to catch me! You have to catch me!"

    With a sigh Haotzin starts to chase me. Just as he is about to grab me, I shift ever so slightly and move around him.

    "Hihi, brother is so clumsy! You move like an elephant!" I sway lightly on the tip of my toes and once more twirl out of his reach.

    ---------

    Raven''s body collapsed to the ground, devoid of all her strength.

    ---------

    We are leaving for Sky Academy. In the southern courtyard I watch my father and brother say goodbye. There is an awkwardness about it that is quite amusing. I notice father scratching the bridge of his nose, stealthily removing the moist that is gathering at the inner corner of his eye - I bite my lip to stop myself from giggling. Father''s attempts to hide his affections are quite feeble.

    ---------

    Raven lifted her shaking hands to cover her face, grabbing at her tangled hair with paling fingers. Her previously beautiful braids were becoming undone.

    ---------

    My mother is walking towards the imperial palace. Hoatzin is next to me and he grabs my hand; keeping me close to him as we approach the building. I''m excited and I can tell that Hoatzin is too, but I notice a tinge of nervousness beneath his anticipating expression. Love fills my heart. My dear brother... He hides his nervousness so well and strives to comfort me at the same time. He will grow into a fine man one day!

    ---------

    Like a fetus, Raven pulled her legs closer to her.  She lied there, weeping endlessly on the cold cave floor.

    ---------

    "Two confirmed passes: Hoatzin Nightingale, 40 orbs cleared, and Javelin Hake, 38 orbs cleared."

    I hear the gathered crowd applauding vigorously but I''m more focused on my brother. On stage I can see how he finally turns around - he looks so proud. Hoatzin shakes hands with the blond boy and they say something I can''t hear. They start following the attendant of stage but as they reach the end of the stage my brother notices me. He stops and waves to me happily.

    ---------

    Raven''s back stared convulsing as her desolate sobs grew louder and louder.

    ---------

    Outside the cabin I can sense my father approaching. My mother meets him at the door, their existences becoming one in my minds eye. I am sleeping but I am still partially aware of my surroundings.

    "She fell asleep an hour ago. I didn''t have the heart to wake her." My mother whispers softly.

    My father gives of a tender air, filled with love, as I feel him coming closer and scooping me up. My mother moves closer as well and together they carry me towards my room. Their warmth and security lull me to a deeper sleep.

    ---------

    Raven''s nails had turned red with blood from claw marks in her scalp. A thin line of blood even seeped out through the corner of her mouth. In angst, she had bit her tongue.

    ---------

    The cabin has a couple meters left to the ground but I see the door swing open. My dark-haired brother jumps down in his grey robes. He runs to me with large steps and, once we are close enough, we embrace tightly. He lifts me from the ground and spins me around him.

    "I''m home!" he laughs.

    ---------

    Raven opened her mouth wide and howled a soundless shriek. Every acing muscle in her body clenched as she writhed on the ground.

    She wanted to scream. But no sound could be heard.

    She wanted to forget. But amnesia didn''t come.

    She wanted to die. But death refused to claim her.

    ---------

    Finally, after three days and three nights of crying, Raven ran out of tears. She lay motionless on the cave floor staring absently into the distance. Her skin was pale, her nails broken. She hadn''t eaten or drunken anything during the past four days.

    ''It''s my fault. It''s all my fault.'' the thought repeated itself in her head, over and over.

    ''I knew something was going on between Father and Aunt - I should have been more stubborn in my inquires. I should have...''

    ''Oh, my dear family! I only had you for four years but I have never been happier...''

    Raven was at her wits end; if she didn''t find something to cling too soon, she would be lost for good. She didn''t notice it, but within her, the light in her soul was flickering, as if dangling at the border of extinction.

    ''...What is in this world for me if you are not here?''

    Suddenly, something flashed across Raven''s lifeless eyes.

    ''No, there is one thing I must do in this world...''

    Her soul stopped flickering and her previously listless eyes now held a sense of purpose. Slowly, Raven sat up. A fathomless rage was starting to build in the very core of her being.

    "There is indeed something I must do..." Her voice was shaky but it grew in strength as she spoke her words out loud. She lifted a pale hand and started into its palm.

    "Anyone and everyone involved in the death of my family will pay for their crimes - by this very hand! I swear it with all I am: they shall pay!" She clenched her fist and smacked it into the cave floor.

    She had found something to cling to.

    Raven took a deep breath and steeled herself; forcing down the emotions that threatened to undue her. In that instant, the heart she had spent the last four years melting, in the warm embrace of her family, froze over once more - she had no other choice but to fall back on her old training. She made her self look upon her situation with the eyes of an assassin; it was no longer a matter of grieving the loss of the only people she ever truly loved, it was a matter of finding, and then eradicating, her targets.

    And so, Raven started to eat. And drink.

    It had been too long and if she was left without nourishment much longer, death would stop being so picky and claim her too. Before she would be able to do anything about her new mission, she needed to regain her strength. Eating was the first step, but the food had no taste and the water didn''t feel refreshing as it flowed down her throat - Raven doubted that it ever would again.

    As the tasteless food and water gradually filled her stomach, Raven felt the familiar prickle of a spirit connection being formed. This caused her to turn her attention inwards.

    Raven inspected her soul and was revealed to find that in total four connections had been reestablished, without her noticing it. It would seem as if whatever caused her to loose them in the first place hadn''t actually damaged her soul - in fact, her soul even seemed to have strengthened slightly. Consequently, once her soul came in contact with enough spirit essence the connections would naturally reform.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Raven then turned her attention to her spirit core. Just like with her soul, it had been almost completely depleted of its content; the vortex of white light had shrunk considerably. Raven suspected that it had initially been fully drained, but that it too had started to recover over the past few days. Fortunately, her body strength had not been effected at all, so recovery should be rather quick.

    Raven sighed. Even if the damage wasn''t permanent, at this rate, it would take nearly a year for all her spirit connections to be restored and as for her core, it would most likely be a couple of months before it was back to its previous level. If the culprits were who she thought they were, it meant that she would be facing spiritualists - killing them would be hard, or more likely impossible, in her current condition.

    But she would be patient. No errors would be allowed; even if it took decades, she would accomplish her goal.

    Raven forced a final piece of meat down her throat, before adapting a cross legged position of meditation. A couple of days remained before she could expect I''iwi to return and Raven would use this time to try to speed up her recovery. She closed her eyes and started tugging at the seventeen strands of light that extended from her soul. Slowly, at least compared to before, spirit essence flooded her mind.

    ---------

    Two days passed. Within the cave Raven sat, as before, cross legged on the ground. She had spent little to no time sleeping, her meditative state was close enough to sleeping for her to be able to forgo it for longer periods. She would, however, pause her cultivation once in a while to eat and move around a bit in the cave; since all spirit essence she absorbed went to stimulate her spirit core, none was left to strengthen her body. Thus, she had to stimulate her muscles in other ways.

    She had noticed that, even though her soul continued to reestablish one connection a day, she could vastly increase the recovery rate of her core by this method. 29 days. That was her estimated time frame for her spirit core to make a full recovery. After that she planed start practicing her Divine Skills again.

    Raven felt her stomach growl; it was time to eat again. She broke her meditation, got up and started walking towards the few food parcels left in one corner of the cave. Just as she was about to bend down to pick up a bag filled with assorted berries, she heard a faint thud from the tunnel that led out towards the entrance of the cave.

    Raven didn''t hesitate; she spun around and dashed towards the tunnel on silent feet. She grabbed the Nightingale''s Blessing as she passed it.

    She had explored the tunnels during some of her earlier breaks and she had learned that it was quite difficult to navigate this far into it. There was a myriad of tunnels and no sunlight penetrated this far in - if not for the strange specks of glowing ore intermingled with the stone walls, the system of caves and tunnels would be forever clad in darkness. The complexity of the tunnels meant that Raven was quite confident that she could elude detection if she wanted to.

    As Raven approached the origin of the sound, she slowed down and drew her blade. By now she could hear labored breathing, sometimes accompanied by coughs and the sound of metal scraping against stone.

    There was only a small bend in the tunnel left. Slowing to a halt, Raven sank to the floor before she peaked around the corner. Her eye''s widened in shock.

    "I''iwi!" Raven scrambled to her feet and rushed towards the maid - or rather bodyguard - that was slowly crawling her way deeper into the cave.

    "Young mistress?" I''iwi''s voice was very weak. When she saw Raven running towards her, she stopped trying to move forward and collapsed to the ground. Within seconds, Raven had sank to her knees next to the bodyguard.

    As she rolled I''iwi unto her lap, Raven''s face darkened; a gaping wound in I''iwi''s abdomen was gushing blood and an equally large laceration ran down her thighs. It was a miracle that I''iwi hadn''t bled to death already.

    Raven knew it was hopeless but that didn''t stop her from taring the arm of her own robe. With practiced hands she tied it above the wound in the leg, tightening it hard enough to stay the blood flow. She then turned her attention to the gut-wound, but as Raven started trying to wrap it in more fabrics from her own robes, I''iwi''s pale hand came to rest on Raven''s.

    "It''s... no use...." I''iwi smiled weakly; "I''m..."

    "Shh... don''t speak." Raven hushed and tried to continue her work, but I''iwi''s seemingly frail hand suddenly grew too strong for Raven to break free.

    "No...*cough*...take this instead." I''iwi lifted her other hand and opened it. In her bloody palm lay a small jade colored glass orb; "...my findings...are...stored inside."

    Raven hesitated for a moment before she took the orb.

    "Thank you..." Raven looked at the dying bodyguard; her death was undoubtedly a result of trying to find out what had happened to Raven''s family.

    I''iwi forced another smile but there was an odd expression hidden beneath it that Raven couldn''t quite identify.

    "Goodbye, little Raven. Make us proud...."

    The last signs of life faded from I''iwi''s face and her outstretched hand fell, lifeless, to her chest. Raven had thought that all tears had left her, already spent, but when I''iwi called her ''little Raven'' - just as her parents had - two lone tears escaped her eyes; dripping down on the blood-covered servant below.

    ''This isn''t fair....'' her soul ached; ''why does everyone have to be wrenched from me like this?''

    Raven sat motionless on the ground with the dead I''iwi in her lap for quite some time. Eventually, she stirred; using much of her strength, she lifted I''iwi''s body into her arms and walked back into the depths of the tunnel system.

    Once back in her cave, Raven lowered I''iwi onto the makeshift bed of blankets on the ground. She removed all of the woman''s pieces of armor and other equipment. Taring more fabric from her gown, Raven used it to meticulously remove all blood stains from I''iwi''s face and hands. She then carefully wrapped the woman''s body in the blankets - I''iwi looked almost peaceful where she lay, yet again no more than a calm, sleeping, maid.

    Silently, Raven got to her feet and left the cave, only to return moments later carrying a small rock, no bigger than an orange. She placed it next to I''iwi and then left once more. This process repeated itself over and over. She worked in silence, her pace slow but steady, for almost five hours before she stopped and inspected her work. Before her, the bed of blankets had transformed into a large tomb of small, glistering rocks.

    Finally, Raven pulled out the Spirit Stone I''iwi had carried around her neck when she died. It had by now faded back to a lifeless grey, awaiting it''s next owner, but no such owner would come, because Raven placed the Stone on top of the self-made tomb.

    "Rest well."

    Raven bowed to the tomb thrice before backing away. In the other end of the cave, she sat down and brought out the jade glass orb. The anger from before was once more growing within her. She closed her eyes, calmed her self down, and then extended her spirit essence to make contact with the orb.

    The instant her essence entered the orb a stream of memories flooded her mind. In that moment Raven learned everything I''iwi had found out during the past week. Raven''s eyes shot open, the anger within her turned to pure, abysmal rage - no training in the world could keep her feelings in check now.

    "How. Dare. They." Raven spat the words through clenched teeth.

    Suddenly, the forest-green color of her eyes darkened and became a deep, blood-red. The air around her seemed to shake and quiver as if suddenly afraid. Within Raven''s soul, the previously golden strands of spirit connections were overflowed by a crimson light that flooded out of the crystal prism. The crimson light forced it''s way out into the world where it started swirling violently around Raven.

    It was immense killing intent.

    Never before had Raven wished to kill anyone as much as she did now. Previously, killing had been a way of living for her, not something she ever made personal - in fact she was trained to not make it personal. But this time was different. Now she wished to not only kill her enemies, she wanted to make them suffer first.

    The crimson whisks of light grew denser and denser, and as they did they started to lash out at their surroundings, leaving faint groves in the cave walls. Beneath her, the ground started to shake and crumble; above her, cracks appeared in the ceiling causing pebbles to fall. Even though Raven didn''t understand what was going on, she didn''t care.

    The light in her life had been torn from her by such horrifying means, and the world would burn for it!

 Chapter 12: Hope?

    Consumed by her boundless killing intent, Raven stood, shaking, inside the gradually crumbling cave. The emotions were just too strong, too raw; had she been in a more lucid state she would have felt her control slipping. As it was, she didn��t. She didn��t even notice the huge crack making it��s way over to the newly constructed tomb of I��iwi, located in the other end of the cave.

    But in all this chaos, a wondrous thing happened; a twentieth spirit connection was reformed.

    ����.aven! Raven, stop! Snap out of it, or you��ll kill yourself!��

    Raven froze. The solidified strands of killing intent vanished in that same heartbeat.

    ��*sigh*��finally she stopped. I thought she��d lost it for good this time��.��

    Raven looked down at her hand; disbelief filled her face. She didn��t dare hope��

    ����seriously, this little sister of mine, how many secrets has she been keeping?��

    Raven gasped and collapsed down on the broken ground beneath her.

    ����Brother? Is�� is that you?�� Her voice was fragile, as if on the verge of braking. Tentatively she started to expand her spirit essence to let it examine the deep purple ring on her finger.

    ��You can hear me!?�� the voice in her head suddenly grew happy. ��Finally! Oh, Little Sister, having to observe you in silence this past week����

    As Raven��s spirit essence tried to enter the cold ring, it was blocked �C just as it had been when she tried right after she received it. Nonetheless, she could now clearly feel a presence within; it was none other than Hoatzin, her brother.

    In that instant, disbelief and jubilant joy mixed within Raven in an odd merger.

    ��Don��t tell me you��ve forgotten the voice of your own brother?��

    He even teased her!

    ��But..! But how?�� Raven couldn��t help but be guarded; if this was her mind was playing tricks with her, she felt she wouldn��t be able to take it. To think that her brother now existed within the ring on her finger was just a bit too far fetched.

    ��Remember how I helped you put on this ring and started bleeding afterwards? Well, some of my blood must have gotten on the ring, because the moment I felt my consciousness slip away from me back at the mansion, this ring tugged at my soul, pulling me within it.��

    ��This���� Raven was flabbergasted. She had never even heard of such a thing!

    ��Quite fortunate, right? To think that something so small would help save me���� her brother��s voice grew solemn; ��if only our parents would have been so lucky����

    Raven��s red eyes flashed. Her killing intent surged once more, but this time around she was prepared for it; with little effort, she rained it in.

    ��Woaw, Little Sister, easy there. I��m upset too but, your reaction is quite frightening�� Tell me, what was in I��iwi��s memories that angers you to this extent?��

    From within the ring, Hoatzin could hear and see everything going on outside it. Naturally, he had heard the conversations between the two women; he knew that the glass orb held information about his parents deaths, and the demise of his body, but he couldn��t read Raven��s mind. She would have to speak out loud to tell him what she learnt.

    Of course, there were other questions he wanted to ask, such as: how come Raven is already a spiritualist, and one at a higher level than him at that; or, how could she, a four-year-old girl, possess killing intent so strong that it manifested in the physical world? As far as he knew, killing intent was linked to how many people a person had killed in their lifetime as well as their spirit connections �C the more people you killed, the stronger the killing intent grew; the more connections you had, the better you would be able to manifest it. What he had learnt of Raven the last couple of days indicated that her spirit connections alone would not generate such levels of manifestation.

    But these questions could wait; right now he wanted to know why his sister had nearly spiraled out of control.

    After hesitating for a moment Raven started to, haltingly, recall what she had learned from I��iwi��s memories.

    ��After I��iwi left me here, she returned to our�� to the Mansion �C not much was left of it. The fire had burnt for hours; barely any remains had been found and everyone that had been in the mansion were proclaimed dead. When she could find no hints about what had really happened in the rubble, I��iwi chose to make her way towards the Talon Clan��s main house. Using the ��Fox��s Veil�� �C that is her strange arm guard �C she moved through the city without anyone paying her any attention or even recognizing her. As she made her way, she learned that the general story around town was that one of the spiritualists of our clan had been bold enough to capture a Inferno Devil and bring it home.��

    Hoatzin snorted.

    ��Who would possibly do something so stupid within our clan?��

    What was an Inferno Devil? It was a small magical beast, roughly the size of a melon, that looked like a fiery red squirrel. Its bushy tail was replaced by a scorching hot flame that moved with a will of its own; it was quite cute actually. However, being fooled by it��s cute exterior would be the last mistake you did. If angered, this normally docile beast would use it��s tail to set everything it touched ablaze with a hellish fire that couldn��t be put out by normal means; water would only make it burn more viciously and even high Champions would have a hard time escaping alive if trapped in the blaze.

    ��I agree with you, Brother, but apparently, once the flames had died down, the people who rushed to the site had indeed found an Inferno Devil sleeping peacefully in the center of the mansion grounds����

    ��What!? Impossible!��

    Inferno Beasts were rare. Very rare. To think that one had ended up there by mere accident, the very same evening the Nightingale family met their untimely demise, was simply foolish.

    ��I��iwi didn��t find it reasonable either, so she infiltrated the Talon main house to find out more. I must say, that I��m quite impressed by her skills; sure the Fox��s Veil helped her greatly but still, to get so close to Aunt and Uncle without being detected is quite the feat.�� Raven had truly been impressed by the accomplishments of their little ��maid�� �C who would have thought that Raven had lived so close to an expert these past four years without even knowing it!

    ��She overheard a conversation our dear Talons had���� anger flashed across Raven��s face; ����they�� they were laughing. Gloating, even. Reveling in how they would undoubtedly be given the position as Lord Prefects �C they were after all not only second in line but had also, sooo heroically, captured the detestable creature responsible for their beloved relatives deaths.��

    ����.�� Hoatzin didn��t speak, but Raven could tell he too was growing increasingly angry.

    Raven swallowed and continued.

    ��They then mentioned something about the aid from foreign friends and how they together would turn Black Talon Prefecture,�� Raven spat the words; ��into something greater than Father ever could have imagined.��

    ��Preposterous!�� Hoatzin couldn��t hold it in any longer. ��How dare they rename Father��s prefecture? And what do they mean greater? The prefecture is fine as it is! Now I understand why you got so upset!��

    But Raven shook her head. If it was only this, how could she possibly loose her composure? Up till this point, the events had unfolded pretty much as she had suspected they would.

    ��There is more!?�� Her brother was shocked.

    Raven sighed and continued.

    ��I��iwi had confirmed that the Talons were indeed the main culprits, but also that they had been given aid �C not surprising considering that they must have managed to find, capture and control an Inferno Devil; something the spiritualists within the Talon clan would not be capable of on their own. I��iwi naturally wanted to find out the identity of these mysterious ��foreign friends��.��

    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Raven��s still dark red eyes became somewhat distant.

    ��I��iwi managed to sneak into aunt��s study. There she had found a letter that was being prepared for instant transfer. It was addressed to an ��Elder W�� at Sky Academy. Within stood the following: ��Humble thanks for all your aid; Elder��s hounds took care of the squirrel infestation beautifully. Most intrigued by Elder��s tale of the Phoenix Death Lotus; it��s fortunate they don��t grow in our colder climates.�� ��after reading the letter, I��iwi was discovered and mortally wounded, before she managed to flee back to this cave.��

    Raven stopped speaking. She knew this wouldn��t be enough for her brother to understand, but she didn��t really want to speak about it further.

    ��I��iwi��s sacrifice was indeed great, but now we know their accomplice is at Sky Academy; isn��t that a good thing? Like this we know were to look. Let me think, elders that have names starting with a ��W����.�� Hoatzin did indeed not understand the implications of what she had just said.

    Raven closed her eyes before she interrupted her brother��s contemplation.

    ��I had my self not heard of it before, but I��iwi had. The Phoenix Death Lotus is a legendary flower; supposedly it doesn��t even exist�� According to legend though, it is a small, yellow, flower that at first seems completely normal and harmless to its surroundings. However, if you burn it, the ash it leaves behind is drawn to the spirit cores of nearby spiritualists. Once inside their cores, it takes control over the essence stored within and stars consuming the spiritualists spirit connections. If it manages to consume all of the connections, the crystallized prism will no longer be able to contain its soul. Instead the soul disperses and the cultivator dies. The flowers ashes then settles in the vacant prism, where it��s starts to grow anew.��

    Pain filled Raven��s face.

    ��Oh. So that��s how they did it. The flower was burnt in the fire, the ash was released and when our parent��s souls had nowhere to go, they died���� Hoatzin was silent for a while; ����but wait. The fire hadn��t started then. How come����

    ��I did it!�� Raven couldn��t take it anymore.

    ��Huh?��

    ��I did it! I found the flower and noticed that it was dangerous. So�� So I burnt it! Don��t you see!? I killed my own family!�� Raven banged her fists into the stone floor; the sharp rocks cut into her palms.

    ��They made me kill my own family!�� her body shook as she forced her emotions under control.

    Hoatzin was shocked. At first he didn��t know what to say �C his sister blamed herself�� Wasn��t that pushing it? She had only acted out of concern for them; how could she possibly have known that the flower had been such a mythical plant? As he thought about it though, his anger grew within his soul.

    He wasn��t angry at Raven, quite the opposite. He was angry at the Talons, and, he was angry at this ��Elder W��. Hoatzin knew that even if his sister wasn��t really responsible for what had happened, it wouldn��t stop Raven from forever blaming herself for it. He knew his sister well, or at least, he understood her personality well, and she would not let this go easily.

    He was silent a little while longer before he spoke in a firm voice.

    ��Raven, while it might be true that the night��s events progressed a little bit faster by your hand, you can��t possibly doubt that all of it had been carefully planed to the point where all our deaths were unavoidable.��

    ��But if I had showed it to Father rather than burn it, then perhaps����

    Hoatzin cut her off.

    ��Perhaps is just that, perhaps. Perhaps, there were hundreds of those flowers hidden throughout our home. Perhaps, alerting father to it would have caused an all out war between our two clans, leading to the deaths of countless civilians. Perhaps, burning that flower ahead of time was the only thing that allowed I��iwi to find you before the Talons��s ��hounds�� did, thereby saving not only you but me as well.��

    Raven didn��t refute him this time. In her mind she knew he had a point, but to make her heart except it was another thing.

    ��As far as I��m concerned, the people responsible for the deaths of our parents are the Talon Clan and Elder W. And only them.��

    Slowly Raven��s body relaxed. Hearing her brother defend her so firmly was a bigger weight of her shoulder��s than she had expected.

    ��You are right; we should be focusing on avenging our parents�� Oh, and trying to figure out a way to get you a body!�� Raven��s mood was lifted slightly.

    ��Hehe��.�� Hoatzin laughed nervously. ��Ah, before that �C I have a few questions I would like to ask you.��

    ��Oh?�� Raven lifted an eyebrow.

    ��Yes, well, for starters, how come you survived?��

    Raven blinked in surprise.

    ��Haha, well, it��s quite a long story����

    Slowly, Raven started telling her brother about everything she had been through since she was born. She told him about her experience in the Spirit Hall during her first Day of Light, about learning various Divine Skills and training with her sword. She even told him that she had some recollections of her past life, where she seemed to have lived as a ��soldier�� �C she didn��t want to burden her brother with the vicious life she had lived before, so she told him her memories were more like muscle memories; her soul remembered what her body had learnt but not really how or when.

    As she spoke, Raven calmed down quite a lot; talking about her hidden life with her brother was a welcome distraction. Gradually the red in her eyes faded, once more returning to their original forest green.

    When her story was complete,  Hoatzin surprised her simply saying: ��Well, that explains a lot.��

    Raven had expected him to be less�� well, less prone to believe her story; it was a quite outrageous one after all. What she didn��t know was that while Raven had been unconscious, I��iwi had naturally examined her with spirit essence. Originally it was only to check that Raven was alright, but when she had discovered that this little four-year-old kid not only possessed over ten spirit connections, but also had a soul color I��iwi hadn��t even heard of, I��iwi��s examination had grown a lot more thorough. Every time she discovered something new she would marvel about it out loud:

    ��What!? A light blue soul prism �C is there even such a thing?��

    ��Dear heavens, such well developed muscles! She must have been cultivating all her life����

    ��Could it be? Is she entering the stage of Spirit Adept? At four!?��

    Hoatzin had observed it all from within his ring and had grown more and more curious about his sister. Later, when Raven exhibited killing intent like he��d never seen before, he truly wondered what this sister of his had gone through. Her explanation �C having kept some extent of her memories from a previous live �C kind of made it all fall into place. Of course she would have a special soul. Of course she would know how to fight and meditate. And most likely she had killed quite a few people as a soldier, whether she subconsciously remembered it or not, which explained the strong killing intent.

    Had Raven known about I��iwi��s insights, then she would perhaps have realized what the odd look I��iwi had given her as she died was �C it was wonder and hope; wonder at the little girls existence and hope for what she would accomplish in the future.

 Chapter 13: Moving Forward

    Author''s note: Magical beasts have been re-named to spirit beasts to fit with the lore better - the change will be carried out backwards eventually but not today.

    Also, the releases here have almost caught up with my writing speed so unfortunately I won''t be able to keep doing daily releases very much longer... The minimum will be once a week but most likely I will manage a release once every 3 days, depending on how much I have to do at school/work.

    <hr />

    Moving Forward

    Within the cave, Raven and her brother had been talking about their past four years together, for hours. Sometimes they grew sad as they thought about the people they''d lost, but sometimes they would laugh as they retold their experiences of an event from their different perspectives. At the moment, they were talking about exactly such an event.

    "So your little game of tag was all an act? You knew all along what I was doing wrong!" Hoatzin accused.

    "Hehe, well not exactly, but I did think I could help Brother make some advancements." Raven was smiling.

    "I was so annoyed with you at first..." Hoatzin sighed; "Really Sister, you are too calculating!"

    Both of them laughed.

    "Speaking of calculating, what do you intend to do now?" Hoatzin asked.

    He had already come to terms with his sister''s vast experience; even if Raven would always be his little sister in his heart, he naturally let her make their future plans. Besides, it was not like he could do anything about what she decided anyway - he was after all stuck in the ring - that they by now had named ''Life Link''.

    Raven, that had been absentmindedly re-braiding her hair, only pondered over the question for a second.

    "Well, the Talon''s must be taken care of, and as the first step will be for me to enroll at Sky Academy,"

    "Great! There you can grow stronger at a fast pace, take care of Dunlin and learn the identity of the mystery elder. It''s good to not be too impatient." Hoatzin''s response was quick; he naturally also knew that Raven, as she was now, was likely no match for their enemies. She had to grow stronger.

    "...as a man." She finished.

    "Of course you will... wait, what what did you say!?"

    "I will be enrolling as a man, or well, as a boy." Raven repeated calmly.

    "But why?"

    "Think about it; while it is true that most people haven''t seen my face due to always being veiled in public, if a female were to enter the Sky Academy''s martial division, with a cultivation like mine, it would cause too big of an uproar. Even if I can use the Fox''s Veil to alter my aura, it doesn''t actually change how I look. Sooner or later someone would recognize me."

    "But you would be capable of disguising yourself as a boy!? Have you seen yourself lately - you are as far from a boy as a four-year-old toddler could possibly be, and it will only get worse as you grow older!"

    Raven laughed. What her brother pointed out was indeed true, but even in her old world Raven had been forced to hide her sex many times. Raven knew that there was a lot more to "being male" than the physical features of her body. I was rather a question of mannerisms: body langue, how one chooses to speak, how one chooses to act and a lot more. Of course, once Raven entered full puberty, her body would complicate things, but firstly, that was at least six years in the future, and secondly, even if the Fox''s Veil couldn''t actually change her appearance, it could alter what people payed attention to.

    This combined with her previous experiences made her fairly confident in her abilities to remain as a boy for the ten years she would attend the Academy. Not that she had any intentions of waiting ten years before extracting her revenge - once that was done she would have no issues reveling her identity.

    Instead of explaining all this to her brother, she figured it would be more efficient to show him. She shifted her sitting position ever so slightly; relaxing some muscles, while tensing others. Her facial expression changed, enhancing her more masculine features.

    "You...." Hoatzin was stunned.

    The changes were, on their own, extremely small but the Raven sitting in the cave now was not the same Raven he had seen mere moments before. She was still Raven, but even Hoatzin would have labeled her a boy at a first glance. A feminine one, but still a boy.

    A faint smile curled at the corner of Raven''s mouth, giving her the expression of a mischievous little boy, preparing to steel an egg from under a hen. Before her brother had time to react, Raven drew her sword and with a swift, but almost robust move, chopped of her floor-long hair right above her shoulders. She caught the falling braid in her other hand.

    "Your hair!"

    "It had to go - I might be good at deception but this hair is more then I can handle..." Raven''s voice was calm and almost imperceptibly deeper than before - she could lower it further but she was only four; what four-year-old boy had already had his voice mature?

    "..." Hoatzin said nothing. He knew how much Raven valued her hair - how could he not when she had refused to let anyone cut it since the day she was born - but now she had cut it of without hesitation.

    Raven tied up her remaining hair in the back of her head, using the typical hair knot of commoners.

    "Well brother, your verdict?" Raven asked.

    "It will do." If not for Raven chopping of her hair, Hoatzin had prepared a joke for her about finally revealing her true gender, but now he let it pass. His sister was clearly serious about this.

    "There is more to it." Raven got to her feet and walked over to I''iwi''s tomb. Once next to it, she clasped her hand in respect before placing her own dark purple braid by the tombs feet and backing away. Next she moved to the small pile of equipment she had removed from I''iwi before she lay her to rest.

    To call it a pile was perhaps a stretch though, since it only consisted of three items: the arm guard Fox''s Veil, a small but surprisingly sharp dagger and a copper-colored spacial ring. Raven had yet to inspect the ring so she didn''t know what she would find inside, but right now, her attention was more focused on the Fox''s Veil.

    Raven lifted the arm guard and pulled it onto her right arm. It was way too big for her, but she wasn''t concerned. Instead she reached for the small dagger and, with a well trained movement, flicked it across her left palm. She then pressed her bleeding hand against the Fox''s Veil. The moment the arm guard came in contact with her blood, it started to glow and vibrate slightly. Slowly, it started to shrink, adapting itself to the arm wearing it. Soon, it was wrapped around Ravens arm like a second layer of skin.

    Raven flexed her right hand, and nodded approvingly; it wouldn''t hinder her movements at all. Through the blood connection Raven instinctively knew how to use it. With but a thought, she felt the air around her change according to her will.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    "Now it''s complete!"

    ---------

    In the old mining town of White Water, a small nondescript boy was making his way through deserted alleys. This town had once been a bustling hub of activity but once the nearby mines ran out of useful soul ore, it''s largest income was gone; only five years had passed since then but the town grew more desolate every passing month.

    The little boy kept to the shadows as he seemed to be searching for something. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. In the alley he''d just peeked into hung a clothing line, filled with damp children''s clothes, a few meters above ground. After pausing for a moment to inspect his surroundings more closely, the boy increased his pace and dashed down the ally in question. Just as it looked as if he was going to pass underneath the clothing line, the boy jumped into the air, extending a foot towards the nearby wall. With the additional boost from the wall, the tiny figure reached his target and snatched a set of child robes with ease.

    Before anyone had a chance to notice what had happened, the boy had already changed into the damp robes and disappeared. Tucked into a nearby burning garbage bin was a tattered dress in fine silks.

    The ''boy'' was no one else than young Raven. Earlier that night she had stored her sword within the spacial ring and then made her way out of the complex system of tunnels, emerging in this White Water Town - the cave she had hidden in had been a part of the those very soul ore mines that had been depleted five years ago.

    Now that she had changed into more fitting clothing she pondered her next step.

    "So, we won''t be flying, but rather go to Sky City by foot?" Hoatzin couldn''t help but ask again.

    "Yes, by foot. How would I possibly explain having the funds to pay for the transport when I''m supposed to be an orphaned commoner?" Raven explained patiently.

    Even through flight was the main form of transportation in Sky Empire, it was still quite expensive, so poorer citizens would normally have to either travel by foot and horseback or stay put. After inspecting I''iwi''s spacial ring, Raven had found a rather substantial amount of money inside - nothing compared to the wealth Raven''s own family had been in possession of, but definitely enough to pay for the trip to Sky City many times over.

    "Why not pretend to be a rich orphan?" Hoatzin suggested after some pondering.

    "And risk being robbed, or even killed for my money? Too much is at stake for that - I''d rather play it safe."

    "I wouldn''t call passing through the mountain ranges and living in the wild with spirit beasts for two years ''playing it safe''..." Hoatzin muttered, mostly to himself.

    Raven only smiled. She knew her brother''s concerns but in her opinion, being poor in the wilderness was a lot better than being rich in civilization. At least if you were weak. While greedy humans would be attracted to money no matter how uninteresting the person carrying it might seem, beasts were another matter; as long as you didn''t fall under either of the categories ''threat'' or ''food'', most beasts would leave you alone. With Raven''s training and the Fox''s Veil aiding her, she was confident to avoid them both.

    So, Raven continued to move quietly through town. She stopped sticking to the smaller alleys and instead used the bigger streets that were lined with the handful of shops that had managed to stay open, despite the state of the town - none were open right now though since it was still in the middle of the night. Raven walked slowly with her head down, as if to not accidentally offend any of the few townspeople that were moving around on the streets even at this hour. Once in a while though, she would pause and disappear into the shadows only to reappear moments later. Nobody noticed her weird behavior. In fact, few even looked at her, even when she was in plain sight.

    Just as dawn broke, Raven reached the end of the town. Standing beneath the huge stone gate in grey marble, Raven looked out over the landscape in front of her. White Water Town was located fairly high up, altitude-wise, and as far as Raven could see, it was surrounded by an ocean of dark green trees that covered the numerous mountains that made the Nightingale Prefecture. A wide river, with water so rapid that the water seemed white, ran next to the town, making its way to a huge lake at the foot of the mountain.

    White Water Town was fairly close to the prefecture''s capital and Raven knew the area well from the various books she had studied. In her mind she reviewed the geography of the entire Sky Empire and quickly decided on a route. To get to Sky City from White Water Town, Raven would have to travel to the other side of Nightingale Prefecture and then the entire length of Rock Wren Prefecture. This was a distance of nearly 12 000 kilometers, through rough terrain.

    Despite having her route figured out, Raven didn''t set of imminently, but rather observed the rising sun''s slow arrival in the morning sky.

    "What? Having second thoughts now that you''ve pilfered your way through town?" Hoatzin mocked.

    Raven had indeed stolen quite a lot on her way out - there was much equipment she would enjoy having once in the wilderness and whenever Raven had passed a store with such supplies she... liberated some of it. This didn''t sit very well with Hoatzin''s upfront nature, so he was currently sulking a bit.

    "Haha, no Brother. I''m simply enjoying the scenery. Once this journey truly starts, we won''t have the luxury of doing so very often."

    "Hmm, even though I can see the beauty of it from within this ring, it''s still not quite the same as experiencing it first hand..."  Her brother sighed.

    "Hopefully, we will find a way to change that as well, once we reach the Academy."

    Hoatzin didn''t reply.

    As Raven stood there, also in silence, an elderly man came walking up the mountain side road. Every morning he would make this climb up to town from his little cabin further down the mountain. In his younger days, he had worked in the mines and even earned enough money to build himself a home, for him, his wife and child. Now, however, he was all alone and could feel how the town he frequented was slowly fading, just like him.

    While he passed the town gate he almost failed to notice the small child standing by it, but since he walked that road every morning and usually never met anyone until he was much further in town, he eventually reacted to the unexpected presence.

    He turned to look at the boy once more, but when he did, the child was already gone. He leaned out through the gates to see if the boy was further down the road, but the road was just as empty as it always was this time of day.

    "Huh? Must have imagined it..." The man sighed wearily and continued his journey into town.

    - End of Volume 1 -

 Chapter 14: Hungry Persuit

    The Great Woodland Valley. This was a vast forest - perhaps nearly ten thousand square kilometers large - of densely packed trees, located at the very center of the Nightingale Prefecture. Circumventing it on all sides were tall mountains, who''s peaks were covered in a perpetual layer of snow.

    The Great Woodland Valley was home to a wide verity of normal and spirit beasts alike. It was not uncommon for these beasts to fight with each other, hoping to increase their areas of dominion; rarely, incredibly strong spirit beasts would fight each other and the shock waves of the battle would echo throughout the valley.

    Today, however, no such sounds could be heard. All in all, it was a fairly calm day in the huge valley. But not everywhere. In the far western corner of the forest, a small child was running dead east at an uncharacteristically high pace. At a glance the child looked like your average preteen boy, with no features really worth mentioning, but if you managed to look closely he would suddenly seem... delicate; the midsummer sun that seeped through the leaves above him made his nearly black hair reveal its true, purple color and even though the child was tall and muscular for his age, he was more lean than anything, giving him a slightly feminine appearance.

    The child kept running, once in a while glancing back over its shoulder.

    "I told you that saving that girl was a bad idea!" Raven hissed between labored breaths.

    The young ''boy'' was indeed none other than Raven Nightingale, who ran as fast as she could deeper into the forest. Every now and then she would activate Shadow Walk to momentarily increase her speed, but she could not keep it active for long; it wasn''t a long distance skill to begin with and Raven''s current cultivation did not allow her to force the skill to become one.

    "How was I to know that she was in fact a member of a cannibal tribe!?" Hoatzin retorted from within his ring.

    "She reeked of blood!" Raven panted. "Even if she hadn''t been a cannibal she had clearly been consorting with death for a long time..."

    "...she could have been a victim." was the only defense Hoatzin could give to that.

    The reason why Raven was running for all she was worth at the moment, was that she was currently being pursued by a horde of hungry cannibals. Everything had started a few days back...

    Raven had been steadily make her way through the wilderness for nearly a month without any mishaps; by relying on her assassin''s training, the Fox''s Veil and her slowly returning senses she had managed to stay under the radar of most beasts she had come across. However, two days ago, Raven had herd the faint crying of a little child. Surprised by the presence of humans this deep in the wilderness, Raven had carefully approached the source of the crying. She had soon come across a small girl trapped in a patch of Blue Fire Mire.

    The mire was perhaps no larger than a few square meters, but it was clear that the girl had fallen into the flame covered muck of the mire while trying to reach a branch of fruits growing above it, and now she was stuck. Although blue flames burned like lanterns here and there in the mire, the flames were cold to the touch and not dangerous by themselves. The danger of the Blue Fire Mire was getting stuck and then either starving to death or becoming fodder to some lucky beast that past by.

    The moment Raven came within a hundred meters of the girl, she sensed the prominent smell of blood filling the air as if a dense fog. The crying girl had noticed Raven''s approach at the same time and a relieved expression filled her teary face. However, reacting to the thick smell of blood, Raven had simply turned around and walked away.

    "Don''t go..." the girl had pleaded; "help me!"

    "What are you doing?" Hoatzin had in turn responded. "You can''t just leave her there!"

    Raven, who had felt the underlying danger, had still obediently turned around to help the girl. She knew very well that her brother wouldn''t let it go otherwise.

    Once out of the mire, the girl had implored Raven to follow her to her home.

    "Please, big brother, follow me to my home - daddy will want to thank you!" she had squealed.

    "Just go with her. It''s too dangerous for a little girl out here anyway." Hoatzin had coaxed.

    ''How about your sister? I''m also just a little girl!'' Raven had thought to herself, but in the end, she had just sighed and agreed to follow the rescuee home.

    However, as they arrived at this "home", even Hoatzin couldn''t deny that something was off. The home consisted of a cluster of huts built high in the tree tops with various cages hanging empty from them. But, most importantly, all the huts were made out of bones. Human bones.

    "Can I abandon her now?" Raven had asked sarcastically under her breath.

    "Yes!"

    Even before Hoatzin had given a reply, Raven had turned and fled. Unfortunately, the little girl had alerted her elders about Raven''s presence, leading to the ensuing hunt.

    As she now dashed through the forest, sometimes hearing the whistling sound of an approaching arrow, she couldn''t help but feel a pang of deja vu - last time Raven had rescued a child it had also ended up in a life-or-death chase through a dark forest.

    This time however she had a major benefit - she was a spiritualist while her pursuers where not. Thus, despite being only four years old the distance between her and her pursuers grew steadily larger. Half a day later, Raven started to slow down. By now she had shaken of the cannibals a while ago and even crossed a few rivers, diagonally, to prevent later tracking.

    "Brother, next time I choose to not save someone - let me."

    With a loud ''umpf'' Raven sank to the ground next to a tree, breathing heavily.

    "Especially if it''s a child," she added; "I have bad luck with those."

    "Yes, Sister." Her brother replied with a glum voice.

    On Raven''s tired face a slight smile appeared. Part of the reason she had let herself get ambushed by the girl''s family was to show her brother more of how the world worked. He had, after all, lived a fairly sheltered life. Even if he knew in his head that people weren''t always what they seemed - take the Talon Clan for instance - to be distrusting of random strangers was not in his nature. He would undoubtedly pick the option of "trust until proven untrustworthy" with innocent looking people like the young girl.

    This was a nice view to have of the world, but it was also way too naive for an heir of nobility, not to mention a martially cultivating spiritualist, like Hoatzin.

    "Well no worries. The danger has past now." Raven said reassuringly.

    With the wave of her hand, Raven retrieved a skin of water and some fruits from within her spacial ring. She drank eagerly from the water skin before she started chomping down the fruits.

    ''Had that chase been a month ago, I would have had a harder time outrunning them...'' she mused to herself as she ate. ''Luckily they had no spiritualists with them.''

    Raven sighed and looked inwards. Her spirit connections had increased to 47 and her spirit core was nearly back at peak high Novice level - in a couple of days, it should be back to were she started.

    ''Once my core recovered, I must hurry and break through to the Adept level. Only then will I start to be able to contend with rouge spiritualists...''

    Not all spiritualists developed their skills at a divine school. If their soul was too weak or they for some other reason had to start cultivating after the age of 18, no schools would accept them. Once they had stopped growing, advancing from a low Novice to a high Novice was no longer a matter of two to four years...  The fact that the body''s cells were already in a state of growth was very important for a speedy cultivation; if the essence absorption started later in life it would be extremely hard to achieve the same development in even ten years. Thus, the resources the school would have to spend to develop the older kids wouldn''t be compensated by any achievements worth mentioning in the future, so why bother?

    These later developed spiritualists would have to cultivate on their own and would rarely get a job as spiritualists. Instead, many became rouge spiritualists, turning to thievery and smuggling, were their limited skills still put them far ahead of normal people.

    Raven had yet to run in to such a crew of bandits, but she feared it would only be a question of time. If she wanted to leave such an encounter unfazed, she needed to advance her cultivation level quickly.

    Suddenly an idea struck her.

    "Hey, Big Brother, you no doubt received special Breathing Techniques from Sky Academy to help improve your cultivation rate. Am I right?" she asked excitedly.

    "Yes, Sister, that is correct." Hoatzin seemed a bit unsure what she was getting at.

    "Could you teach them to me?"

    "Ah!" Hoatzin understood right away; a first class breathing technique like the ones thought at the Academy would increase the cultivation rate of his sister''s already impressive cultivation vastly.

    He hesitated for a moment. "...I''m sorry, Sister. Although I do remember how to preform the techniques, the soul imprint needed for me to teach them to you disappeared together with my soul prism - I... I can''t teach them to others anymore."

    Raven sighed.

    "Oh well. It was worth asking at least." Raven had tried learning Divine Skills by listening to peoples descriptions and copying the flows of spirit essence before - it never worked.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Finished eating, Raven sat still, meditating, for a couple of hours. Within her, she carefully revolved the spirit essence her soul was absorbing three times around her body, before letting it be absorbed by her spirit core. This way she would strengthen her body and rebuild her core at the same time.

    Eventually she opened her eyes and got up.

    "At least, it would seem that the recovery of my spirit core isn''t slowed down by me activating Divine Skills."

    An almost savage smile spread across Raven''s face.

    "Do you know what that means, big Brother?"

    "I''d better be prepared for some singing lessons?" Hoatzin assumed his sister would start using the Twilight Lullaby to speed up their advance through the wilderness.

    "Haha! Perhaps, but not quite; it means I can start hunting and finally get to eat some meat!"

    Before being hunted by the cannibals, Raven had refrained from activating any Divine Skills in fear that it might slow down her recovery. When she realized that escaping without their aid would be tiresome, she chose to use Shadow Walk to speed up. She could, of course, have used the Twilight Lullaby and simply walked away from her pursuers but she didn''t, for two reasons: one, she wanted to get an idea of who fast she could escape if she wanted to; two, if using her a Divine Skill would slow down her recovery, it was better to use the Shadow Walk that had a lower consumption rate.

    Since she had wanted to avoid using Divine Skills, Raven had simply kept as low a profile as possible while she made her way through the mountains and forests. Now, however, she knew better and as long as she didn''t run into a higher level spirit beast or spiritualist, she was pretty confident in her abilities - if nothing else she should be able to run away. Also, she couldn''t cower away forever; only by pushing her limits would she be able to make advancements at a rapid pace.

    "I better start evolving my Sonic Sword while I''m at it."

    With a twist of her wrist, Raven withdrew the Nightingale''s Blessing from within her spacial ring; twirling it effortlessly in her right hand.

    Looking on from within the ring Hoatzin grew excited; he hadn''t really seen his sister in action during the past month, but just from how she handled her slightly too long sword, he could tell he was in for a treat.

    "Let''s see what we have around us..." Raven silenced her breathing and strained her senses to the max, taking in everything within a couple hundred meters.

    As luck would have it, Raven suddenly came across the presence of an approaching pack of wild game not to far away. Since there was no disturbance in the spirit essence around the them, they were clearly not spirit beasts.

    "Perfect."

    Without making a sound, Raven started to move towards the flock. Taking a slightly longer route, she even made sure to stay downwind of them, completely hiding her approach. Soon the group of eight elk-like creatures came into view; they stood in a small clearing were they were grazing peacefully at the lush greens around them, totally oblivious to the impending threat to their lives.

    A tense look of concentration was on Raven''s face. She stirred the spirit essence within her, preparing her attack.

    ''Now.''

    Suddenly, Raven shifted her position; in the next instant, seven loud bangs shook the forest almost simultaneously, shortly thereafter an eighth, and considerably softer, bang followed suit. As the silence fell, it was as if the world had been frozen in place; the "elks" stood motionlessly in their places and the soft grass that had surrounded Raven instants earlier still made a space for her, as if the already gone Raven yet sat among them.

    At the other side of the clearing, Raven routinely flicked her meter long sword, splattering a thin ray of blood on the ground.

    "Tsk, guess I can''t master the Deafing Sweap at the first try after all..."

    When Raven''s disappointed voice broke the silence, it also seemed to jog the flow of time in the clearing; at once, all eight creatures fell to the ground, decapitated.

    Raven re-stored the Nightingale''s Blessing within her spacial ring and instead extracted the sharp dagger that had previously belonged to I''iwi. She motionlessly walked over to the closest fallen animal, intending to get to work on its hide and meat.

    "How did you do that!?" Hoatzin''s amazed voice suddenly burst out in Raven''s head.

    Startled, Raven''s hands paused for a moment above the first animal before she smiled slightly and continued her movement.

    "You should recognize both of the Divine Skills I used, right?" she asked as she got to work.

    "This... Well, yes, it seemed like Shadow Walk combined with the first level of the Sonic Swords skills, Deafening Sweep... but no, they are both low level skills, no way you could pull of what you just did with those!"

    Hoatzin had a point. Deafening Sweep was indeed only a level one skill and Shadow Walk was only barely a level three skill. While there was no doubt that by using these skills to slay a group of regular animals it would result only in success, doing what Raven had done - massacre them within a single heartbeat - was just a ridiculous notion.

    "Only when one can be extremely soft and pliable can one be extremely hard and strong." Raven responded with a mischievous smile, after she giggled to herself: ''gosh, I sound like a fortune cookie!''

    "Huh?" Her brother didn''t understand what she was getting at.

    Sobering, Raven started explain in more detail.

    "It''s a question of how you apply your strength," as Raven talked, she effortlessly removed the skin from the animal she was working on, revealing the meaty carcass underneath; "if you go all out, all the time, the effects will be lower than if you pace yourself and adapt to your surroundings. What I used was indeed only a combination of Shadow Walk and Deafening Sweep, but interwoven so as to maximize their potentials."

    "Sadly..." Raven sighed while she, with a practiced hand, cut into the animal''s abdomen and stretched in to retrieve the nutritious liver within. Unfortunately for Hoatzin, the Life Link Ring was on the hand that retrieved said organ. Even though his existence was more abstract then feeling and seeing whatever the ring came in contact with, he couldn''t help but feel a bit nauseous at the notion of it.

    "Sadly, I have never practiced the Deafening Sweep before so the result wasn''t really up to standard..."

    As she spoke, Raven was about to move on to extracting the heart but Hoatzin''s slightly queasy voice stopped her.

    "Please, sis, not with your right hand..."

    "Oh?" Raven paused in surprise, glancing down at her bloodied right hand. "Sure."

    Without being hindered the least, Raven changed how she worked in order to minimize the Life Link''s contact with the animal''s intestines. Noticing the change, Hoatzin felt a bit steadier and could once more reflect over what his sister had said.

    Although he could understand her reasoning in theory, it didn''t mean that he got a deeper understanding of how to actually pull it of. He didn''t see how the two skills could be combined to create such impressive results as his sister had showed.

    "Wait, did you say that you''ve never practiced the Deafening Sweep before?" Hoatzin assumed he must have heard wrong.

    "Yes, of course. You have been with me the entire time since our pare... well, since we started journeying, and I''ve never used it, have I?"

    "No, you haven''t, but before that..."

    "Before?" Raven interrupted. "Where would I possibly be able to practice such a noisy technique at home without being noticed?"

    "But you''ve practically mastered it!"

    "Hmm," Raven paused for a second; "well, I guess it''s close to something I learnt earlier? In my previous life, that is."

    "I see..." Hoatzin grew silent as he pondered this.

    It was indeed. Usually, when someone was learning a new Divine Martial Skill, the imprint would teach your soul how to link your spirit essence with specific physical movements the very moment you completed the imprinting process. The hard part, however, was then not only to manage linking your essence with the movement, but also to master the actual movement. In her old world, Raven had mastered a extremely wide variation of martial art skills, for just as many variations of weapons; even if there could be smaller differences, she already had the basics movements down for almost every Divine Skill in existence.

    This, combined with her extreme control over her spirit essence, made learning new Divine Martial Skills a walk in the park for Raven - especially low level ones, like the Deafening Sweep.

    Hoatzin was silent for a long time before he spoke again.

    "Really now, I''m starting to wish I had lived you''re old life and kept my memories too." Hoatzin finally said with envy.

    Raven said nothing but a bittersweet smile crossed her face.

    ''No, big Brother, you don''t...''

 Chapter 15: Faked Bravado

    The day''s rolled on as Raven steadily made her way east through the Great Woodland Valley; it would take her a bit over a week to cross it and reach the mountain range that would take her to the borders of Nightingale Prefecture. Raven had not been in a rush as she moved through the forest and she often stopped to cultivate or hunt along the way.

    As she went, she had even fought against a couple of low level spirit beasts, winning with ease. Of course, she had made sure to avoid those beasts who seemed beyond her abilities, relying heavily on her instincts and recovering spirit connections to judge the danger they possessed. As a result, Raven had since long mastered the Deafening Sweep and even gained some insights to the next level of her Sonic Sword, the Shrill Rift.

    With only a day''s travel left before reaching the edge of the Woodlands, Raven sat cross legged by a rather calm river. Next to her were a couple of newly caught fishes skewered over a small fire. It was still bright out but Raven had nonetheless checked that no dangerous beasts were close enough to be drawn by the fire.

    "Aarg, those smell so nice!" Hoatzin sounded quite defeated.

    "Sorry, big Brother..." Raven glanced at the fish guiltily. "I can eat them raw if it helps."

    Raven couldn''t imagine how hard it must be to be confined with the Life Link all the time. Sure, Hoatzin might be grateful to be alive at all, but still...

    "Naw, don''t worry about me, Sister." Hoatsin reassured.

    "..." she wasn''t convinced.

    "Well, when you eat, I can nearly taste it too." Hoatzin joked and Raven could almost feel him winking within the ring.

    "If you say so..."

    She sat quietly for a while. Once the fishes were done Raven practically swallowed them hole.

    "Hey, hey! I was supposed to taste the flavor through you; don''t gobble them down like a hungry hound the moment they''re done!" Hoatzin''s complains echoed in Raven''s head.

    Raven''s face became saintlike as she blinked innocently.

    "Why, Big Brother, I noticed that the fishes had been slightly burnt over the fire. Fearing that I''d give you a bad experience, I figured that the best course of action was to eat them quickly, so as to not invade your tongue with the vial taste of ash."

    Silence, and then, after a while: "Well, did they taste bad?" Hoatzin asked disbelievingly.

    "No, they where quite divine." Raven answered without hesitation, still smiling like an angel.

    "Why you...! You were just hungry, right?"  A cynical sneer was obvious in his voice.

    "Indeed."

    Both were silent for a while, and then, simultaneously, broke out in laughter.

    "Haha, Sister, your eating style alone would convince anyone that you''re a boy!" Hoatzin cried between laughs.

    Coughing, Raven stilled her laughs.

    "So, tell me, once we figure out how to restore you body, what will you, Hoatzin the boy, gobble down?"

    The question caused Hoatzin''s laugh to die down as well. With an unwavering voice he answered: "Burnt fish."

    And the laughing started once more.

    ---------

    Later, as the sun slowly started to set, Raven still sat by the riverside, cross legged. The laughing had stopped hours ago and Raven had chosen to cultivate for a bit before finding a good place to rest for the night. Usually she would do this for one, perhaps two, hours, but this time was different.

    As Raven had entered her meditative state, she had realized that her spirit core, that had been fully restored soon after entering the Woodlands, seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Exited, Raven had focused wholeheartedly on absorbing more spirit essence and sending it to her core.

    Hoatzin knew that Raven was getting close to an important juncture in her cultivation so he stayed silent.

    At this moment, the large white vortex of rapidly spinning spirit essence that was Raven''s core, shock considerably and it''s center came to a sudden halt. The abrupt stop in the middle caused the surrounding essence to smash into each other with high force, forcibly combing them in the process. As the essence grew denser and smaller, its color grew brighter and stronger.

    Raven had read about this and knew that she had reached a critical point. Unceasingly she absorbed more and more essence to feed her core with. Soon, the shrinking disk started to revolve again, once more becoming a twirling vortex, but now it was considerably smaller and instead of white, it glowed with a warm red.

    While it was smaller, Raven clearly felt the qualitative difference between her old core and her new one - she didn''t doubt that her Divine Skills would become at least twice as deadly as before.

    Slowly Raven opened her eyes with a content smile on her face, but before she had a chance to tell her brother of her successful breakthrough, he spoke first in a slightly nervous voice.

    "Oh, good, you''re done. You''re about to get company."

    Startled, Raven realized that she could clearly hear two sets of heavy footsteps making their way towards her.

    ''Shit. I was too focused on my cultivation!'' she cursed to herself.

    She considered hiding, but it was too late - just as she was about to get up, two burly men stepped into view.

    "Woaw, there! No need to rush, boy." The slightly larger of the two spoke first.

    They had clearly already spotted her.

    "Yeah, stay and play with us for a while." The second man smiled viciously, revealing a row of blackened teeth.

    Raven looked the two men with frightened eyes, as if she was a dear caught in the headlights of a car, but behind those terrified eyes, she was as calm as ever. She observed the men and noted every last detail about them; everything from the enormous broadswords they carried over their backs and the beast hides they were wearing, down to their individual musculature. Within seconds, Raven had already fond several weak-spots.

    As she lifted her gaze to their foreheads however, Raven had a hard time not laughing out loud at their boastfulness. There, both of them, had fashioned a sort of metallic headband, or crown. Dead center in these head ornaments, glowed two completely white stones. Raven at once recognized them as Spirit Stones; these two men were high Spirit Novices, and they obviously liked to flaunt it.

    ''I guess reaching high Novice is quite okay for a rogue...'' she mused sarcastically to herself.

    "Are you going to be okay?" Hoatzin then asked her with concern.

    Outwardly, Raven started nodding frantically in confirmation.

    "Good boy." The black toothed man''s smile grew wider.  Obviously, he had taken Raven''s nodding as a sign of submission.

    "Now, let me take a look at you." The larger man was now close enough to Raven to be able to stretched out a hand to touch her.

    When faced with the approaching muscular hand, Raven scurried backwards, as if in an instinctive fright. Her retreat however, caused her to "trip" into the river behind her. The river wasn''t very deep, perhaps only half a meter, but it was enough to soak her completely. As she struggled to her feet the two men on the shore laughed.

    "Well, well. Such a feminine little boy - what a treasure." chuckled mister black-tooth.

    "Come on out of there, boy, and we''ll treat you nicely." cooed the larger one.

    "Speak for your self," laughed black-tooth; "I haven''t had a woman in weeks, and this one is close enough."

    ''Despicable...''

    Raven kept calm as she, seemingly panic-stricken, tried to make her way to the other side of the River. Just as the river wasn''t very deep, it wasn''t very wide either - any of the two men could jump over it if they wanted to - so they just watched as Raven slowly moved closer to the other side. But as she reached the bank, it would seem as if she couldn''t make it up. Raven''s little body tried, over and over again, to heave itself out of the water, but to no avail.

    Running out of patience, the black toothed man started to move into the water as well.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "No need to be nice then..." He said with his nefarious smile turning to a sneer.

    But just as he reached the middle of the river, barely a meter from Raven, Raven''s entire attitude changed; her green eyes turned red with cold killing intent and she dove down under the surface. The lack of sunlight had rendered the waters quite dark, so the two men instantly lost sight of her.

    "Eh? Where did he go?" the man in the water hurriedly dashed the last meter to were Raven had disappeared from, but she was gone.

    Looking up and down the calm river, neither of the two men saw any traces of the girlish boy they were hunting.

    Suddenly the water beneath black-tooth shifted and Raven sprang up from underneath. She lashed on the the man''s back and pulled the unsuspecting man with her back down under the water before he even had a chance to rally his spirit essence.

    "Brewer!" The large man still on the shore rushed forward, but he paused before stepping down into the river.

    The dark river had returned to it''s previous calm, with no sign of either Raven or the black toothed man, named Brewer.

    "Damn you, brat! Show yourself!" he drew his broad sword and shouted out over the river.

    Silence.

    "If you don''t come out here, right now, I''m going to blow up the entire river - with you in it!" He grew angrier every second.

    Silence.

    "Fine! Then take this: Wind Storm Claw!"

    The man swung his huge broadsword towards the river. Powerful gusts of wind surged from the tip of the sword, crashing into the water surface. The wind forced large quantities of water to splash up into the air, accompanied by the body of man''s dead companion, Brewer, that landed with a thud on the other side of the river.

    Just as the large man was considering where the boy''s body had ended up, he heard a pleasant tune being whistled behind him. Captivated by the melody, his mind felt slightly sluggish as he turned to find its source. But before he could locate it, a shrill roar rang out in the forest. Confused, he noticed how the world around him grew taller before it all turned dark.

    Next to the beheaded body, stood Raven in her drenched clothes clenching Nightingale''s blessing in one hand and her dagger in the other . She looked over the two corpses with disdain.

    "Wow, well done, Sister! You even had me fooled there for a while!" Hoatzin praised.

    Raven said nothing, instead she checked the two men''s clothing, seemingly searching for something. She really detested men like these two, and made no effort to calm her murderous feelings as she searched.

    "The way you used the first guy... Brewer, was it? The way you used him as a cover to get out of the water - brilliant! And there at the end, that was the Shrill Rift rather than the Deafening Sweep, right?"

    Hoatzin was laughing, but he soon noticed his sister''s mood was a bit of.

    "Are you okay?" He asked tentatively.

    Having just finished checking the two men''s possessions, Raven shuddered once before she started walking of into the forest with determination in her steps.

    "I''m fine," she spoke with a heavy voice; "it''s just that, when I consider what would have happened if they had met an ordinary child... It pisses me off." Her eyes still shined red with killing intent. "While it might be true that we live in a world were the strong rule the weak, there should be limits to how the strong abuse their."

    Hoatzin grew solemn. He had been raised with the burning desire to protect his sister, something that was still engraved deep in him. Even if he, of late, had grown to realize that his sister didn''t really need his protection, the thought of her in the hands of those two men - had she not been a spiritualist - made his skin crawl. Figuratively, of course.

    Suddenly he noticed a piece of paper in Raven''s hand.

    "What''s that in your hand?"

    "A map. I got it from the bigger fellow."

    "Map?"

    "Yes. It would seem like there is more of them.... It''s time to truly go hunting."

    Silent as the night, Raven made her way north through the undergrowth, her blood red eyes darkening to the point where they no longer stood out in the dark.

    ---------

    Further north, barely two hours walk away, a group of fifteen people were rowdily preparing for dinner. They were gathered in a clearing they''d made for themselves by chopping down the trees that had grown there. The logs and branches had then been used to construct tents and make-shift tables and stools for the group.

    Everyone present wore rugged clothes, made of animal hides, and carried various viscous-looking weapons. Almost everyone had a spirit stone fastened as a ornament on their foreheads. Only two of the fifteen people present were female, although ''feminine'' was not a word that could be used to describe them; both were built like fat oxen, and the earth almost shook beneath them as they walked. They were similar enough to be twins, but one seemed a little bit older than the other. Currently, they were busy stirring a big cauldron that was placed over an open fire as they shouted commands at the males around them; orders that were reluctantly followed by all but one man.

    The last, middle-aged, man was sitting, laughing and drinking, on one of the larger stools in the center of their encampment. He was far from the largest man present, but the air around him was different from the rest and the stone on his forehead had a large red center, surrounded by only a slim ring of white - mid Spirit Adept. As he watched the two ladies boss around the men around him, his laughs grew louder.

    "Hahaha! Tundra! Magpie! You two ladies show no mercy when it comes to cooking!" Ha slapped his hand down on the stool next to him that instantly split in two. "I look forward to the result, as always."

    "What ladies..." a nearby man grumbled under his breath as he lifted a heavy sack filled with meats.

    "Shut it!" The younger woman, Magpie, snapped at the disgruntled man, as she swung a heavy ladle at him. The man ducked, but the ladle left a deep impression in the tree it hit instead.

    "Riffleman! It''s fine that you don''t help, but don''t go disturbing us instead." Tundra glared at their leader, before she nudged Magpie to refocus her attention on the cooking.

    "Yes, yes." Rifleman agreed, but he kept laughing as he observed his men hard at work.

    Behind him stood a cage, perhaps one cubic meter large, adorned with sharp spikes; only, the spikes were not turned outwards, they stretched inwards. The spikes were covered in layers of dried blood, clearly from whatever poor creatures they had trapped within the cage previously. At the moment, a low level spirit beast lay whimpering inside. It''s previously snow white fur was damp with blood from the numerous wounds it had received as it tried to break free - but it''s strength was only comparable to a low Spirit Novice and it could do nothing about it''s restraints. Even if it could, it captors would easily catch, or slay it, if it actually escaped.

    "Quiet!" A passing man shouted at the beast and kicked at the cage.

    The sudden jolt caused the little animal to jump up in shock, piercing itself yet again on the spikes as it did. It squealed in pain, but quickly quieted down - it was smart enough to know what would happen to it if it was too loud.

    "Careful, Diver - we''ll get less money for it dead." Rifleman chided between his laughs. He didn''t really care about the creature''s well being - but money was money.

    "Yes, Boss." Diver didn''t disagree, and simply moved on with his work.

    Soon the food was done and and the preparations in camp were complete; they planed to stay here for a couple of days before heading to the closest town to sell their goods so fairly sturdy tents had been made.

    "Food''s done." grunted Tundra as she heaved the enormous cauldron of the fire and placed it on the ground with a loud thud.

    "Petrel and Brewer are running late..." Someone remarked.

    "Who cares? They can eat what ever''s left!" Someone else replied.

    "Yeah! I''m starving!" Encouraged a third.

    "Come, crew, let''s eat!" Rifleman finally invited and the group started to sloppily chow down on the prepared food.

    Nobody really cared that two of their members had yet to return and nobody seemed to notice the pair of deep red eyes staring silently at them from the within dark forest.

 Chapter 16: Masquerade

    [author''s note: mid terms are coming up so be prepared for a momentary dip in releases the next couple of weeks... sorry...]

    For the past couple of hours, Raven had been sitting quietly in a leafy tree top close to the group''s encampment. The more she learned about the people she was observing, the more agitated she grew. They were clearly nothing more than a group of rogue spiritualists who abused their powers to track, torture and eventually kill whatever they could find that was weaker than themselves, be it beast or man.

    "Truly despicable.... To think that bandits like these roam freely within our prefecture..." Hoatzin sighed deeply.

    Not wishing to be detected, Raven simply nodded. But she also knew that the people in front of her weren''t that rare. Power is an alluring concept, even more so in a world like this one where your own physical strength was so important if you were to advance in society.

    But just because she understood why they existed, didn''t mean she would ignore that existence when she came across it.

    "So, how are you going to deal with them? They are quite numerous and the leader is even a mid Adept.... Wait until they fall asleep and then slit their throats?"

    Raven raised a eyebrow in surprise. ''What ever happened to my upfront brother? ...am I rubbing of on him?''

    "What? No good?" her brother couldn''t read Raven''s mind and had therefor not heard her inner musings. He simply took her lack of response as a dismissal of his suggestion.

    Raven relaxed her brow and tilted her head to the side, considering her options. She could indeed go for her brother''s version. It was quick and simple, but there was a high risk of being detected before the job was done leading to an all-out battle with whomever remains.

    She could use the Twilight Lullaby to help her, but since even normal singing would be out of place in the forest she wouldn''t be able to activate the Divine Skill without them noticing her surging spirit essence. Raven feared that, if he was prepared for it, then there was a risk that Riffleman, as a mid Adept, might be able to resist her enough for it to become dangerous for her. However, if she could make them expect her singing, but not her attack, then....

    Raven''s mouth grew into a slightly vicious sneer. The leaves around her fluttered ever so slightly as she disappeared from the branch she was sitting on.

    "Where are you going?"

    Raven glanced over her back towards the bandits - that where busy eating to their hearts content - before she replied.

    "I''m going to make use of their greed and sense of superiority." She whispered as she moved further and further away from the camp.

    As she walked, she carefully scouted her surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes brightened and she came to a stop; she had found what she needed - a wolf. It was a perfectly normal, spirit essence free, wolf, that was currently resting not far from her position.

    Without hesitating, Raven removed the outer layers of her robes, revealing only the fine light blue undergarments that she had kept from home. She even removed her shoes. Swiftly, Raven released the fabric she had used to fasten her hair and instead wrapped it around her right hand and lower arm, efficiently hiding both her rings and the Fox''s Veil. Taking a deep breath, she finally started to alter the tension in her muscles, shifting back to her normal movement patterns.

    "Going back to being my real sister?" Hoatzin was watching his sisters transformation with a mixture of fascination and confusion.

    "I''m always your sister." Raven teased as she made the final adjustments by altering what the Fox''s Veil portrayed of her aura.

    There she stood, in the middle of a steadily darkening forest, in nothing but her silk undergarments that, along with her shoulder-long hair, swayed softly in the light breeze. Raven''s eyes remained dark red but no killing intent whatsoever could be detected from them. Instead, they gave her an very exotic appearance that, together with the mysterious and noble air brought out by the Fox''s Veil, made Raven seem even more fairy-like than she had done in her traditional dress, back in Sky City.

    The gleam of steal flashed over her left arm and then her right leg, causing two small streams of blood to flow down her pearly white skin. In mere seconds, the nearby wolf lifted its furry head and sniffed, picking up her sent.

    With a soft growl, it got to its feet and started to move towards Raven.

    Raven just waited. Once the wolf was close enough, it only hesitated for a heartbeat before it pounced at the frail human it had found. With a panicked yelp, Raven dodged in the absolutely last moment, but one paw made contact with her garments, resulting in three long tears running from her right hip all the way down to the hem. Remarkably, no damage was done to Raven herself.

    Scrambling to her feet, Raven let her panic grow as she frantically started running back towards the group of bandits. She paced herself to make sure the wolf kept up with her, and she made no attempts to avoid the low hanging branches that tore into her clothes as she ran. It didn''t take long before she saw the faint glow of the fireplace and heard the merry laughing of the eating crew.

    "It looks like we''re about to get company." Raven recognized the voice as Riffleman''s.

    By now, Raven had worked up quite a heavy breath, and naturally the spiritualists in the group heard her coming from quite far of.

    "Help!" Raven whimpered, terrified, just before she broke into the clearing.

    She threw herself onto the ground in the encampment and turned just in time to she the hungry wolf spring towards her.

    "Eii!" She squealed and closed her eyes tightly as if in fear of the coming impact but, just as she suspected, it never came.

    Slowly, she opened her eyes again and looked around in "shock". At her feet lay the slayed wolf with a gashing wound across its abdomen, next to it stood its slayer, Riffleman himself.

    Immense relief flooded her pale face and tears filled her eyes. With a loud sob she flung herself at the man, grabbing at his robes as she cried heavily.

    "Thank you... Thank you!" her voice was soft and delicate. Even if it didn''t hold the allure of a full-grown woman it had a beautiful ring to it that showed great potential for the future, and to rough people such as these it was like honey to a bee.

    Riffleman stared down at the frail, little girl clinging to him in surprise - he hadn''t expected her reaction to be so strong. But, as he thought about it, it started to make sense to him; the girl in his arms was perhaps seven or eight years old and had no doubt just been through something very new and scary for her. Judging by her clothes she was perhaps a nobleman''s daughter that had been abducted, but that also managed to escape - of course she would cling to whatever hope she was given.

    Pity it was false hope.

    Yet, as he was about to order the girl captured and caged, another idea struck him. Wouldn''t this girl basically treat him as her god-given savior for all eternity if he handled this right? If he could make her feel safe now, then he could groom her into his personal pleasure slave in the future; the girl did show much promise for such a thing...

    Greed and lust filled his face. He didn''t hesitate much longer. With strong arms, he scooped up the little girl and carried her closer to the fire.

    "Get me a blanket and a bowl of food." Riffleman barked before he sat down and focused on the shivering girl in his arms.

    In the dancing light from the fire, he inspected the crying Raven more closely. Her skin was pearly white without any blemishes, apart from the two shallow cut along her arms and legs, and her hair was silky soft and looked like the night sky - deep black, but with a hint of something more.

    "There, there..." he cooed as he rocked the child gently in his arms; "everything is fine now..."

    His crewmen stared at the seemingly softhearted man by the fire - this was not the captain they knew at all! Tundra was the first to catch on to what he was up too; she snorted as she went to get a bowl of her stew. She winked an evil sneer towards her sister that imminently caught on and in turn collected a  blanket.

    Together, they walked over to the fire with as close to tender looks on their faces as they could muster.

    "Here child, eat a bit and you''ll feel better." Tundra handed the bowl to the now sniveling Raven.

    "Poor little thing, you''re freazing!" Magpie quickly wrapped both Raven and Riffleman in the blanket, effectively pushing

    Raven''s young body even closer to the man still holding her.

    "Are they serious? What idiot of a child would fall for their lousy acting!?" remarked Hoatzin, who grew more disgusted by these people every minute.

    At that moment a wave of understanding swept over the group of bandits. Lust filled their eyes and some even winked at each other before making vulgar gestures towards Raven; she couldn''t see them directly from within Riflleman''s embrace, but at this range her senses were once again excellent so she could easily tell what they were doing anyway.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ''How original...'' she thought sarcastically to herself.

    Outwardly, however, she held her bowl with shaking hands as she looked up at Rifleman with big, nearly worshiping, eyes.

    "You''re... being so kind to me... No one has been so kind to me since... since... my family d.. di..." Her voice broke and new tears started falling down her face and into the bowl of food.

    When Raven had looked up at Rifleman with her exotic red eyes, a shiver run through his body and stirred his groin. Those eyes! There was an unfathomable depth to them that seemed to pull him in. He felt as if she was begging him to devour her...

    Little did he know that this feeling actually was born from Raven''s insane but well controlled killing intent - the red color came from linking her eyes with the killing intent in her very soul, giving them the feeling of immense depth, and as for the devouring part, well, there was definitely going to be some of that going on, just not the type Rifleman envisioned.

    Rifleman coughed and regained his composer slightly; "No need to cry! No matter where you came from, you can have a new home with us."

    Raven stayed her crying and hesitantly looked up at the man holding her.

    "Really?" Her voice was soft like summer rain.

    Rifleman shivered once more and a hint of his lust seeped into his face.

    "Of course you can. Right everyone?"

    "Sure." The men around him all laughed, but they sounded more like a pack of wolves than a welcoming family though.

    ''Time for the coup de grace...'' Raven smirked inwardly.

    "Oh, thank you!" Dropping the half-finished bowl to the ground, she returned Riffleman''s embrace with new vigor, pressing her tiny body tightly against his. Raven could clearly feel his excited member poking at her side, but she hid her revulsion masterfully.

    "Ah..." Riffleman''s eyes widened and his pupils dilated. He started to feel like waiting until she grew up a bit would be hard, and perhaps unnecessary.

    "Girl, what is your name?" He asked, his voice growing a bit husky.

    "Raven!" Raven replied happily. It was a common enough name in the Sky Empire, used by both girls and boys, so she felt no need to change it.

    "Well, little Raven, you are most welcome to stay with us! ...but in our family everyone has to contribute. We live in the wild so we can''t have people weighing us down for nothing. You understand that, right?" He pushed her away from him slightly and stared up and down her body.

    A brief flash of anger had flickered across Raven''s face when Rifleman called her ''little Raven'' but she covered it up before anyone had a chance to notice it. Instead, she tilted her head to the side as she looked worriedly at her "savior".

    "I''m not very strong..." she said in a low voice. She seemed afraid that they would go back on their agreement to let her stay.

    "Oh, don''t worry about that," Rifleman lifted Raven out of his lap and placed her in front of him; "I''m sure there are other things you can contribute with..."

    He reached out a hand and stroked her check.

    "Get your hand of my sister, you lecherous creep!" Hoatzin practically bellowed within the ring, but only Raven could hear him.

    Raven pretended to be unfazed by Rifleman''s touch and instead looked as if she continued to ponder over what she could do for the group. Suddenly, she lit up like a sun.

    "I know, I can sing! Mother always told me that I had a voice worth gold!" She smiled brilliantly.

    Everyone in the encampment blinked as they stared at the little girl by the fire. Such pure naivety! Almost at once they all started laughing hysterically.

    "Hey! It''s true!" Raven pouted and stamped a bare foot into the ground in protest.

    "Hahaha, very well! Let us hear this golden voice and see if it will be contribution enough." Rifleman laughed and slapped his lap, before he motioned to his crew to quite down. He smiled and nodded at Raven to let her know she should begin. Inwardly, he figured that he would listen to one song, then simply tell her that it wasn''t good enough and move on to the more interesting labors the girl could preform for him.

    Raven on the other hand had other plans.

    She stood in front of the fire and swayed slowly from side to side as she started humming the melody of the Twilight Lullaby, but it was just the melody, no Divine Skill was activated. Carefully she started to intertwine her spirit essence into the tune. As she did, the group around her seemed to calm down a bit and some even sat down around the fire to listen more astutely to her - to them it felt as if Raven really might possess a golden voice.

    Once her spirit essence had completely melded with her voice, Raven glanced around the clearing to make sure no one had noticed before she opened her mouth and started singing the first line of the Twilight Lullaby.

    Oh, mister mine, where are you roaming...

    As the first words left her, she let the full force of the Twilight Lullaby free; her voice instantly carried an air of allure and grace to it as the melancholy love song spread throughout the proximate forest.

    The forest around them fell deathly silent; every creature that heard Raven''s singing paused whatever they were doing to listen and even the few song birds that had been singing in the distance stopped, as if to not offend a superior voice.

    Within the clearing, the bandits - men and women alike - sat on the ground with stupefied expressions on their faces. In front of their eyes, the world became hazy and it felt as if nothing else was of importance; as long as they could hear one more second of singing they would be overjoyed.

    Within its spiked cage, the little white spirit beast lifted its weary head, seemingly in a better mental state then just before.

    Oh come and hear your true love calling...

    Raven observed the bandits around her as she sang. Once she was sure the lullaby had taken affect, she flicked her wrist and the sharp dagger appeared in her hand. Without hesitation she ignored the three non-spiritualist and swiftly walked over to the lowest level spiritualist in the group and pulled the dagger across his throat.

    Even as his life was draining from him, the man did not stir from his stupor. Noting this, Raven nodded approvingly and continued her swift walk through the camp.

    That can sing both high and low...

    Throat after throat was pierced by Raven''s dagger, and before she''d even finished the first verse of the lullaby every Spirit Novice had lost their life.

    Every wise man''s son doth know....

    As Raven sang the last line in the first verse, she glanced around the encampment. Only five people remained alive; three were non-spiritualist - whom Raven felt little fear for - while the other two were the groups only Adepts. One was Tundra that was a low Adept, just as Raven, the other was the mid Adept, Rifleman. Raven knew that as long as they had a lower cultivation than herself, the Twilight Lullaby would keep them completely sedated even as they died, as long as she didn''t run out of spirit essence to control her Divine Skill. However, if they were at the same level or higher then her, Raven wasn''t as sure.

    What is love, ''tis not here after...

    She did nonetheless not hesitate for long. She moved over to stand in front of the fat Tundra who swayed slightly with the rhythm of the song. With movements so quick that Hoatzin barely registered them, Raven sliced the woman''s throat and then stabbed the dagger deep into her gut, effectively piercing the spirit core located within.

    Present mirth has present laughter....

    The sudden pain caused Tundra to snap out of her daze, but as she looked at the little girl standing over her, terror filled her instead; she tried to stir her spirit essence but nothing happened. She opened her moth to speak, but Raven lifted a bloody finger to her lips, shaking her head.

    What''s to come is still unsure....

    Halfway through the final verse, Tundra''s life abandoned her. Raven observed her as it did and then steadily walked over to her final target with a satisfied smile on her face. She could have killed Tundra instantly, by stabbing at her head instead, but Raven needed to know the boundaries of her skill and wouldn''t let this opportunity go to waste. Besides, if bandits like these all died peacefully, it would be too good for them.

 Chapter 17: The Thrall of Her Voice

    Author''s note: Sorry about the delay - mid-terms.... T_T

    <hr />

    Hoatzin watched his sister''s progress in silence. He didn''t dare disturb her now, but he also couldn''t help but to be amazed and slightly sickened by the calm ease with which Raven executed the people in front of her. He knew they deserved it, but apart from the two brutes Raven had killed in self defense earlier, Hoatzin had never seen someone killed before. It was a lot to take in for a ten-year-old boy.

    In delay there lies no plenty...

    Raven now stood between the fire and the crew''s leader, Rifleman.

    Come and kiss me; sweet and twenty...

    The small dagger flashed in Raven''s hand, swiftly cutting through the man''s throat and then piercing into his abdomen as if it was butter under a hot knife.

    Youth''s a stuff does not endure...

    Just as Raven was singing the last words of the song, Rifleman''s eyes flashed open with clarity; despite being mortally wounded he quickly realized what had happened. Not bothering with his injuries, he angrily swung his arm at full force towards Raven. But Raven only smiled and lifted her own hand to catch it - even though Raven had depleted most of her spirit essence, she still had a lot more than Rifleman who had gotten his spirit core destroyed.

    As if grabbing the arm of a child throwing a tantrum, Raven easily stopped his punch and instead pinned him down to the ground. Her dagger rested at his genitals as she whispered flattly into his ear.

    "Dear savior, this little fellow seemed quite fond of me," she excreted pressure with her dagger; "let me bring it with me."

    Horrified, the man tried to wriggle free but there was nothing he could do; with a casual flick of the wrist, Raven castrated Rifleman. The immense pain caused him to shoat out in pain but only a soft gurgle could be heard as more blood flowed out of the gaping wound in his neck.

    "Nothing impressive." Raven barely glanced at the piece of flesh she held in her hand before she tossed it into the fire.

    "Good riddence, if you ask me." She looked back down at the dying bandit boss at her feat with clear disdain.

    "You...!" A startled scream suddenly rang out in the camp.

    Raven lifted her head. The three non-spiritualists had finally also regained there senses now that Raven had stopped singing. They looked at the small girl standing in the middle of a virtual blood bath as if she was the devil incarnate.

    Raven smiled a sweet smile and slowly started walking towards them. She no longer hid her killing intent and let some of it surge to the surface and swirl around her as she came closer to the three men.

    "Don''t... Don''t come any closer!" The three men wailed and tried to scurry backwards but, in a flash, Raven small body disappeared, and reappeared behind them.

    "No need to be in such a hurry." She smiled and spoke in kind voice.

    But as the men shakily turned to face her and their eyes locked with hers, rays of red flashed from Raven''s eyes and drilled into their minds. Suddenly, their vision blurred and the scene was replaced by horrible visions of the deaths they would undoubtedly face by Raven''s hand.

    Although they weren''t spiritualist, yet, they remarkably still possessed crystallized souls - apparently Rifleman had been picky about who could join his crew - unfortunately, these souls were very weak. Under the immense pressure of Raven''s killing intent, minute fissures appeared within the soul prisms, threatening to break them apart completely.

    "Leave this place and know that the black raven forbids people like you from entering these woodlands!"

    Raven''s voice was still merged with her spirit essence, that in turn had intertwined with her killing intent. As she spoke, the fissures grew into cracks and looks of hysteria spread across the three men''s faces.

    "Black... Black Raven... forbid it... death... blood" the men started mumbling in frantic raves, their bodies shaking considerably.

    "Go!" Raven ordered.

    The men yelped and ran of into the darkness as fast as their legs could carry them.

    Raven sighed and looked out over the man-made clearing. As her eyes fell on the cage with the white little spirit beast, her expression softened. Raven let her killing intent fade, her eyes once again returning to their usual green, before she carefully approached the cage.

    The little creature looked at her with unafraid eyes. It seemed pleased, as if it didn''t care what would happen to it now that all its captures were dead.

    "You''re a smart one, aren''t you?" Raven observed the animal''s calmness with surprise.

    "Well, from one captured creature to another, there is no animosity between us." Raven spoke as she fiddled a while with the look on the cage before she managed to open it. "There, of you go. No doubt you have some other place you call home."

    Raven smiled a warm smile as she swung open the cage door. The beast only hesitated for a moment before it carefully moved out of the cramped cage. Once outside, it looked at Raven for a long while. Finally, it gently licked her hand once, then jumped of in the opposite direction of the three men that had fled earlier.

    Raven gazed after the creature.

    "Odd, I don''t recognize the race...."

    Considering all the reading Raven had done about spirit beasts, this was indeed quite odd.

    With a shrug, Raven turned and started to leave the camp. She had no interest in looting these bandits, and the blood would sooner or later attract hunters. Raven had no spirit essence left to deal with such creatures, and wished to leave before they arrived. Just as she was about to step out into forest, something caught her attention, not too far from the spiked cage.

    It was a pair of metal anklets with complicated carvings on them. When Raven came closer and lifted them up, she was astonished by their weight; each anklet probably weighed around ten kilos. Inspecting them closer, Raven''s eyes flashed with recognition and she pricked her finger, so as to let a drop of blood fall down onto each of them. They glowed and absorbed the drops blood as if they were rain in a desert.

    "These will be convenient." Happily she stored the two anklets within her spacial ring before she, too, disappeared into the night.

    ---------

    A day and a half later, Raven had made her way to the edge of the Great Woodlands. She now sat in a small cave at the foot of the mountains. The cave - or rather the cave-shaped dent in the mountain wall - was looking out over turquoise lake formed by the small streams of water trickling down the mountain. There was a slight tinge of sulfur in the air, hinting that the mountain had a volcanic origin.

    She had since long shifted her mannerisms, and the Fox''s Veil, back to her male alter ego making her once more seem like a non-significant, preteen boy.

    Raven sighed and looked down on the purple ring on her finger. Hoatzin hadn''t said a word since they left the bandits camp. She hadn''t pushed him either; she knew that it must have been a lot for her brother to take in.

    "Brother?" she called softly.

    When no reply came, Raven sighed once more and instead retrieved the two anklets she had obtained earlier from within her spacial ring. But just as she was about to use her spirit essence to activate them, Hoatzin finally spoke.

    "You were quite heartless back there..."

    Raven froze.

    "You wish that I had acted differently?"

    "They died without even having a chance to defend themselves! Sister, you slaughtered them like sheep!" Hoatzins voice was growing agitated.

    "Then, you wished for me to spare their lives, only scare them a bit and then let them go, like the last three?" Her voice was flat, neither defensive nor accusing.

    "No! Of course not, but that was nothing more than plain massacre! Hardly behavior fit for nobility like..."

    "There is no nobility in death, Hoatzin." Raven interrupted her brother. "If you are going to kill someone, do it as quickly and efficiently as you can. Giving your opponent a, so called, fair chance is nothing else than plain stupidity."

    "But..."

    "No buts, Brother. You yourself suggested that I should slip in while they were sleeping and slit their throats - what I did was a mere extension of that."

    Hoatzin hesitated.

    "...I guess, but I didn''t think..."

    "That no one would be able to resist?" Raven''s voice remained flat and emotionless. "Would you really have felt better if I''d ended up in a life or death struggle with the remaining spiritualists?"

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "...no."

    Hoatzin grew silent once more, and Raven didn''t fill the silence. Instead, she closed her eyes and waited.

    "I''m sorry, Sister," After about twenty minutes Hoaztin finally spoke again; "I was wrong."

    Raven took a deep breath.

    "It''s okay, big Brother. I know it''s a difficult in the beginning."

    Silence descended again and Raven was just about to return her attention to the two anklets when Hoatzin spoke once more.

    "Are you sure you don''t have any clear memories of your past life? These bandits should have been the first humans Sister has killed in this life - how come you''re so unfazed?"

    Raven''s hand stopped. She couldn''t help but think back on her real first kill in that dark warehouse a long time ago...

    ---------

    The sharp smell of gunpowder filled the warehouse and stabbed at my nose, shortly followed by the metallic tang of blood.

    After shooting their targets, most of the kids had become pale faced and some even puked, but I only stared at the man I had shot moments before. The line "it''s them or me" repeated over and over in my head. I bit down on my tongue to steady the nausea welling up inside - it worked, but the taste of blood filled my mouth..

    The following day I arrived at the "the Camp". I was led to a slim bed that I would share with another girl. The other girl was smaller and seemed even more fragile than I was; her skin was white as snow, her hair a pail gold that barely had more color that her skin. Clearly she came from a northern country. When night came and we crept into our bed, both of us started crying. We hugged and I can''t put words on how much I appreciated that I wasn''t alone that night.

    After that, the girl and I took an instant liking to each other - the kind that only children in a tough situation can; we became each others lifelines as we forced ourselves through one grueling training regime after the other. Every time we were ordered to killed another person, we would spend the night crying, but over time our cries grew less intensive.

    One day, roughly two years later, a Union instructor took all the children outside and informed us plainly that we had outgrown our beds: "From today forward, only one child is allowed per bed, also, no changing of beds are allowed."

    The instructor didn''t say anymore. He didn''t need to, we all understood right away; half of us would not leave the court alive. Once again, the reactions from the assassin children varied, but I and my bleak bed-mate simply looked over at each other. Our''re eyes met, but no feelings of resentment was present in her eyes, and I suspect mine were the same. Silently, we nodded to each other as we accepted our fates.

    ''It''s them or me,..'' I thought before I launched myself forward.

    That night, I did''t cry.

    ---------

    "Sister?"

    Hoatzin''s concerned voice brought Raven back to her present life.

    "Oh, sorry," Raven shook her head and smiled an apologetic smile; "I was trying to remember..."

    "Anything?"

    "Not really, no... But I guess I can imagine that the humans I plan to kill are nothing more than animals or spirit beasts - and there is no trouble killing them, is there?"

    "...I guess not. But, I''m not sure I would be able to do it."

    "You would be, if you needed to." Raven smiled calmly and started to once again fiddle with the two anklets.

    "Then, how come you let three of them go?"

    "I wanted them to be a cautionary tale for other bandits in the area. Do you remember the story of Weebill the Great and his demise?"

    "You mean the story of the legendary spiritualist? If I remember correctly, he was finally slain by a huge spirit beast in the form of a black raven... Oh!"

    "If the three manage to reach a village, their lunatic ranting will make people wonder if not the legendary Black Raven has returned to our lands. Even if they manage to say that it was a little girl who did it, no one will believe them at that point. Hopefully it will deter other bandits from roaming too freely around here."

    "Impressive." Hoatzin indeed sounded very impressed with his sister. "To think that killing intent could cause someones mind to break apart to that degree... Scary."

    "I''m not sure it was only the killing intent..." Raven said pensively. "I don''t know for sure, but I think it was because my killing intent had merged with my already altered spirit essence. I can''t shake the feeling that if I manage to improve that merger, the results would be even more devastating."

    "Haha, if didn''t know better I would say that it sounds like you''ve stumbled upon a new Divine Skill!" Hoatzin joked.

    Raven raised an eyebrow. ''Could that be it? It did feel fairly close to the Twilight Lullaby... Hmm, I will have to experiment with this some more.''

    With two small clicking noises, Raven latched the two anklets to her ankles, and stretched her feet.

    "Wait, you''re actually going to ware the Limiters yourself!? I thought you picked them up to be able to use them on someone else."

    Raven leaned back against the mountain wall. Hoatzin was right to be surprised; the two anklets Raven had snapped on to her feet are actually called Spirit Limiters, and are normally used to temporarily strip spiritualists and spirit beasts of their cultivation. By binding them with blood, the owner can then choose to suppress as much cultivation from the person wearing them as they themselves possess. In other words, a low Spirit Adept can completely suppress cultivators of the same level or lower, but only remove the foundation for those with higher cultivation - for say a high Spirit Adept, this would still be at least a third of their cultivation, but a low Spirit Champion would barely notice it.

    "These Limiters are actually exactly what I needed. While I''m out in the wild, I will keep my cultivation at its max, and simply use the additional weight as training. But once I make contact with humans again, I will be able to alter my perceived cultivation as necessary. If, when I reach Sky Academy, I don''t want to reveal my full strength, then these Limiters will be very handy."

    "Why wouldn''t you want to reveal your full strength?"

    "We don''t know who we''re up against and I''d rather not let them know everything about me before I know everything about them."

    "You''re saying I''m not going to be able to gloat about the looks Sister will get when people realize how outstanding you are?" A note of disappointment hung on Hoatzin''s voice.

    "Haha, oh don''t worry Brother - your little sister is going to be outstanding enough!"

    Still laughing, Raven retrieved a bundle of fabrics from within her ring and made a make-shift bed for herself.

    "Tomorrow we''ll start the final mountain crossing before we reach the border - we are going to have to climb rather high this time, " Raven huddled up under a blanket and closed her eyes. "so, let us hope you''re at least immune to cold within the Life Link."

    "It would be too unfair if I wasn''t..." mumbled Hoatzin.

    <hr />

    Author''s note 2:

    I''d like to ask for your opinion on one thing, if you''ve got the time to consider it ^.^

    in this chapter, Raven thinks back on her past life and her memories are written in first person (because it is from her we''re getting what happened), but still in past tense. When I did a similar thing in Chapter 11, I chose to do it in present tense. The reason then was that she would be too consumed by grief to be able to tell they were memories so it felt odd to write it in past tense.

    Question is, should I write even normal memories  (in this chpater and in future ones), in present tens?

 Chapter 18: The Prefecture Border

    On a high mountain top stood a small figure, barely one and a half meter tall, wrapped in multiple layers of dark cloaks. Despite the season being well into summer, the snow still lay thick at these altitudes and the hard wind caused snow to whirl around the figure, stabbing at the small patches of skin the layers didn''t manager to cover.

    The area was desolate of any living creatures - except for the small figure, whom was staring down the mountain pass. Further down, where the air was milder and the snow held no sway, a small town could be observed, nestled deep in the valley.

    It was the border town, called Nightingale Gate, that efficiently blocked the entrance to the only safe land-crossing between the Nightingale Prefecture and Rock Wren Prefecture. It had a mirror town on the other side of the passage, called Rock Wren Gate, and if you were making your journey on foot, you had no other choice but to pass through both towns.

    The small figure lifted its head and gazed out over the mountain ranges on either side of the town. Their steep mountain walls stretched relentlessly towards the sky - one range running north, the other south - and practically no vegetation managed to grow on them.

    Suddenly, an unusually strong wind swept over the snow covered mountain top, grabbing hold of the cloaks worn by the lone figure. As the fabric flapped violently in the wind, the pearly-white face of a youth was revealed.

    The face was cold and stoic but nonetheless very beautiful. It was quite a feminine face, but the actual gender of the youth was hard to determine; by looks alone it would be female, but there was something about it that made you doubt your eyes. Perhaps it was a mirage brought on by the youth''s tender age, or perhaps, it was the two dark-red eyes that seemed too cold, too harsh, to belong to a girl. Or a child for that matter. Shivering, the youth collected the escaped fabric again.

    "It would seem like we really have no choice but to pass through the two gate towns... " The voice of Raven sounded slightly displeased as it disappeared into the heavy wind.

    "Are you worried you''ll be recognized?" within her head, Raven heard her brother''s question as clearly as if he was standing next to her.

    "No, but I will have to pay the toll to pass through, and even if it isn''t a lot of money, it might be enough to draw attention - the border towns are rough places..."

    The border towns were located far from any other cities and even if the were officially run by the two prefectures, many bandits and mercenaries were drawn there to take advantage of those who were too poor to fly, but still rich enough to travel.

    The two groups worked in an odd symbiosis - the bandits would rob people, who in turn would hire mercenaries to protect them. The mercenaries knew they wouldn''t be needed if not for the bandits so they usually went easy on the robbers and settled for scaring them off.

    "I will have to find some cover if I''m to pass through inconspicuously..."

    With a last glance over the mountains, Raven turned and started to walk the winding descent down towards the valley; even if the first town was visible from were Raven stood, it would take nearly four days to get there.

    ---------

    Disbelieving, Raven stared up at the huge walls that surrounded the first border town. There, right above the entrance - carved into stone that was slightly lighter than the surrounding stone, clearly, due to a resent remodeling - were three words: Black Talon Gate.

    Raven stood by the side of the road without moving, seemingly more deep frozen than she had been up on the icy mountain top.

    ''I knew they would change the name of the prefecture, but to do it so quickly and thoroughly...''

    It had barely been four months since Raven left White Water Town in the center of the prefecture. The mourning period for Raven and her family had only recently ended and yet, her she was, as far away from the prefecture capital as possible and the change had already come to effect.

    "Aren''t they afraid that someone will find it suspicious that they''ve acted so quickly?" Finally, Hoatzin''s bitter voice broke Raven''s silent contemplation.

    "Not necessarily. As far as they know, everyone involved in the incident, that oppose them, are dead - even if they fear what I''iwi might have found out, she was mortally wounded and who would believe a maid over them anyway." Raven covered her mouth and she spoke quietly, so as to not draw attention to her one-sided conversation.

    "But they are being so disrespectful to our family and clan! Wouldn''t at least Empress Nene be upset?"

    Raven''s eyes grew moist and she fanned herself with little hand before she spoke in a heartbroken voice "Oh, most benevolent Empress, I am beside myself with grief over my brother''s death! I want nothing more than to take over his legacy, but to constantly be reminded of his demise," Raven''s voice broke; "I... I can''t..." A lone tear slid down her left cheek.

    Hoatzin drew a shocked breath as Raven turned back to herself.

    "Aunt has had plenty of practice, she will be able to convince them..." Raven''s red eyes flashed; "But they will get what they deserve, in time."

    Within the ring Hoatzin shuddered. Ever since they left the small cave by the lake two months ago, his sister had continuously been attempting to completely merge her killing intent with her spirit essence in hopes of gaining new insights to whatever she had sensed that night. Slowly, she was succeeding with the merger, but as a consequence Raven''s eyes had practically become permanently red. Even though no killing intent escaped from her, it gave her a very cold glare that could send shivers down your spine. He almost felt pity for the Talon''s and their accomplices - she would no doubt make them suffer greatly - but only almost.

    "...But, the Empress would believe you, right? You can show her the orb left by I''iwi." Hoatzin asked after some consideration.

    "Hard to say... I''m only four, remember, and hardly count as a reliable witness. The orb might be enough to convince Empress Nene, or at least make her suspicious, but it will most likely not be enough for her to act against the Talon''s. After all, they could claim that the orb is fabricated."

    "It''s worth a try though, right?"

    "Could be..." Raven''s voice trailed of as she considered the Empress. Her aid would be most welcome but Raven felt a bit apprehensive when she considered the letter I''iwi had found; clearly they had help seizing the power over the prefecture from another Empire and Raven found it hard to believe that they would do so only for the sake of the Talon''s becoming prefecture lords. There must be more to it than that.

    However, there was nothing Raven could do about it right now so, not wishing to look at the huge carvings on the wall any further, Raven took a deep breath and entered the town. It was mid-day and there were plenty of people milling about on the streets. She disappeared into the crowds and followed the masses down the most populated streets, passing several inns and restaurants as she went. There were even quite a few shops and guild halls present on either sides.

    "This place really is a lot livelier than White Water Town." Hoatzin remarked.

    "And a lot rowdier." Raven snickered and glanced of to the right.

    "Huh?"

    "You''ll see." Calmly Raven walked over to the road leading off to the right.

    Just as Raven rounded the corner a loud crashing noise could be heard from within one of the buildings followed by several angry shouts. Nonchalantly, Raven leaned against a light post and started counting down. ''3....2....1....''

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    *SMASH*

    The wooden doors of the closest restaurant splintered into a thousand pieces as a huge figure blasted through them and slammed into the opposite stone wall. Raven raised an eyebrow and whistled approvingly as the huge figure brushed off the debris as it if was dust and stomped back towards the restaurant - on his feet, he was well over two meters and had the body-build of a smaller giant. By the looks of it, he was in his thirties.

    "Hog, you old bastard! Stop it with your cheap-shots!"

    Out on the street most ignored the commotion as if it was a drop of water in a lake - clearly such fights were common here. Some people, like Raven, chuckled and moved a bit closer so that they could see into the building through the broken doors, hoping for a bit of entertainment.

    Within, the brawl was in full swing. The giant had engaged with a tawny, probably fifty-year-old, man in scholars robes, and all around them men where fighting with each other, using everything from their fists to tables and chairs to fight. Even if the two Gates were fairly lawless places, they knew better than to go for killing hits within the city walls - the prefecture guards allowed much, but not that - so they refrained from using any real weapons.

    "Haha, few things are as entertaining as a good bar fight!" Raven laughed softly as she observed the chaos within with a devilish spark in his eyes.

    "Sister? I thought you disapproved of the behaviors of bandits..."

    "Oh, I do, but a bar fight is fairly harmless - you wouldn''t find kids or other defenseless innocents in a bar, right? Sometimes, arguments are best settled with your fists."

    She could still remember the huge fight she had been part of in a high-end casino parlor back when she was an assassin. Part of it had been planned, and would function as a cover for the the assassination of a local drug lord, but Raven had really enjoyed the absolute frenzy that it had caused. At one point, Raven had even been helped out by a small, shriveled up, old lady who smacked a high-up mob member on the head with her coin-filled purse. Raven giggled as she remembered the youth''s vacant expression as he sank unconscious to the floor.

    "Seriously Sister, I''m starting to doubt whether or not you aren''t a boy after all... What lady would be roused to laughter by a brawl?"

    Raven only rolled her eyes and kept watching the growing fight.

    "Damn you, Hog! Stop dodging and take my fist like a man." The giant roared and swung his huge fist towards the tawny man, that simply side-stepped the arm with a calm impression on his face.

    "Twig, don''t go defining what a man is when you don''t even have the skill to touch me." Hog too extended his hand and easily slapped the giant''s buttocks as he passed him. "Children should be spanked to know their place."

    "I''m 32!" Snapped the giant named Twig and swung at his opponent once more.

    "The big one is called ''Twig'' and the scrawny guy ''Hog''? It doesn''t match at all." Raven chuckled a bit too loudly and her fellow observes overheard her.

    "Kid, you''re new right? How else could you not know of Big Boy Twig and Old Man Hog!" an elderly man, that looked like he would die of old age any minute, spoke out next to her. "You shouldn''t make fun of them, they are the leaders of two very strong mercenary groups that operate in town and even if they are not showing it now, they are also both high level spiritualists!"

    "Oh, spiritualists, you say? I don''t see them wearing any spirit stones..."

    "Haha, kid, why would they? They are both rogue spiritualists and even if they could get a lot of advantages by wearing them, they are better off keeping their exact strengths hidden."

    Raven understood the man''s reasoning. She had always found it a bit odd that spiritualists chose to wear the spirit stones; sure it gave you a lot of benefits in the form of various discounts, access to otherwise restricted areas and so forth, but in Raven''s mind these weren''t enough for her to want to reveal her cultivation. Then again, spiritualist were fairly few in numbers and were generally very proud of their achievements - it was perhaps only natural that they would want to show of, even at the risk of there being bigger fish in the sea, so to speak.

    "So, what level are they?" Raven inquired.

    "Oi, kid, didn''t you hear me - they want to keep their cultivation hidden!"

    Raven raised an eyebrow. "So all your age and wisdom has given you no insights? Pity."

    "Tche, this brat..." the old man snorted disapprovingly, but continued; "Don''t go underestimating your elders! Of course I know - they are peak Adepts!"

    His voice might be frail but in his annoyance he had spoken a little to loudly, and the entire restaurant suddenly became silent.

    "Eh?" The old man lifted his head to look into the restaurant only to see Twig and Hog staring at him with annoyed eyes. The rest of the fighters were instead looking at Twig and Hog.

    "I... it wasn''t me! This kid, he..." he looked down at were Raven had stood only seconds ago, but the kid was nowhere to be seen.

    "What? Where did he go?" He looked back up at the two fighters with horror in his eyes. "This old one is terribly sorry, I didn''t mean to... to..." His old body was shaking like a leaf.

    "Humpf, I''ve lost interest in this fight. Let''s call it quits for today, old man." Twig walked over to the corner of the room to pick an enormous axe that was resting against the wall. "Let''s go!"

    As he motioned to the crowd, about thirty percent of the people present in the establishment straightened and shouted "Yes, boss!" and scurried after the departing giant.

    "Aren''t you forgetting our bet?" The tawny Hog called out just as Twig passed through the broken doors.

    Twig only glanced back before he stretched out his enormous hand and patted the terrified ancient man on his shoulder. The poor fellow seemed to break apart under the weight of the hand.

    "Since this elder seems to know so much, he''ll cover it." And with that Twig and his men left.

    Hog sighed.

    "Youths these days... So sensitive." Hog glanced at the old man that seemed to be about to faint any moment. "You can go."

    "Thank you!" the man looked as if he could die of relief as he hurried off surprisingly fast for his old age.

    Hog ignored the departing man and instead walked over to the owner, that stood pale-faced by a broken counter - it was the third time this month his restaurant had been totaled, and now he even had to replace the doors...

    "Pardon the mess," Hog nodded to the owner and retrieved a small pouch from within his robes; "here is for your troubles."

    He placed to pouch on the only part of the counter that was still intact, and then turned to leave as well. As he did, four more middle-aged men followed respectfully behind him. When Old Man Hog walked out into the street he glanced up towards the roof before he walked off in the opposite direction of Big Boy Twig that had left earlier.

    From behind a chimney on the roof, Raven emerged with a small smile on her face.

    "He noticed me? Interesting."

    Without hesitating, Raven jumped down from the roof and once more merged with the moving crowds. She didn''t bother following Twig or Hog, instead, she made her way towards to big marketplace she had seen from the roof top. She was too young to be able to gain any information at bars and restaurants, and besides, one should not underestimate the treasure trove that was merchant''s gossip.

 Chapter 19: Finding "Cover"

    The main market place of Black Talon Gate was bustling with activity; men and women alike were shouting out various bargains to the passing buyers, some of whom would stop and try to haggle the prices further. The aromas of spices and cooked meats filled the air, and children were running back en forth between the numerous stalls - some were playing, others were carrying large parcels on their backs as they ran deliveries for various merchants.

    Most buyers present at the market had a fairly rowdy disposition and sometimes arguments would brake out over the items for sale. The fights were usually resolved fairly quickly, either by the fighters themselves or by the patrolling guards the town provided to help safeguard the merchants wares.

    Despite the town''s remote location, the merchandise for sale was of fairly high quality and a lot of money changed hands every day here. Of course, the merchants wouldn''t be allowed to keep all of it - a tenth of their profits had to be paid as taxes to the town Lords in order for them to be allowed to set up their stalls within the town walls and enjoy the protection of the guards.

    Then again, not everyone in the market had any money to trade with or any services they could offer. Revealing the dirtier side of the market, several beggars were loitering around asking for scraps to survive another day. Most ignored them, but once the food stalls closed for the day, the beggars had a chance to get lucky and receive whatever left-overs that wouldn''t stay fresh till the next market day.

    Adapting the role of "street urchin" perfectly, Raven sat nibbling on a stale piece of breed, not far from the baker that had tossed said piece of bread on the ground moments earlier. Raven looked like all the other broken little boys roaming around as she ate her bread with apathy, but in reality her eyes were pushed to their limits in order to hear everything that was said around her.

    "One silver for a Frost Berry Pie!" The baker shouted.

    "Hey, don''t touch it if you''re not gonna buy it!" Reprimanded another salesman.

    Moments like these she really missed her spirit connections. Before, she would have been able to easily hear almost every voice within the vast market, but now she was limited to a couple of hundred meters. She had regained almost 150 of her connections but her senses were still far from returned to their former glory. Even worse, the recovery rate had started to slow down a bit, as every connection needed to come in contact with more spirit essence to be reformed.

    "Tui, go get more herbs from the carriage!" A young woman in her twenties ordered her daughter.

    "Buy a lovely hairpin for a lovely lady - who knows? It might seal the deal!" Hollered a fat man selling jewelry.

    Despite the lessened range, a multitude of voices still drilled into Raven''s ears, and she calmly sifted through what they were saying; taking note of any interesting information she came across. She had already learnt a great deal.

    It would seem like, at the moment, two large and four smaller caravans of merchants were present in Black Talon Gate. Among these, only three of the smaller ones were headed towards Rock Wren Prefecture, whereas the rest had, the now renamed, Black Talon City as their destination. The fat accessories salesman, located across from the baker, was the head of one of the smaller caravans and would, according to rumor, head out tomorrow.

    His name was Heron and he had the unusual reputation of being very considerate, from what Raven could tell, the reputation seemed warranted; he had on several occasions during the day given a copper or two to the beggars that passed his stall. Of course, coppers wouldn''t get you very far - the one silver Frost Berry pie the baker sold, would require a hundred coppers to buy - but it was better than nothing.

    At the moment Raven was waiting for an opportunity to strike a conversation with the man, in hopes of convincing him to let Raven join his caravan. After she''d been sitting in her spot for nearly an hour, and the darkness of the evening was starting to descend, a small smirk crossed Raven''s face.

    ''Finally...''

    The reason why Raven rejoiced was due to an approaching man draped in fine silks. He looked very regal as he elegantly swept down the street, glancing at the various stalls with feigned disinterest. At a glance, the man looked very refined, but his body language was slightly of - as if it had been altered from his normal routine.

    As the man reached Heron''s stall he slowed down his pace and started examining the displayed merchandise loftily.

    "Fine sir, are you looking for anything in particular?" Noticing the man''s stare, Heron naturally engaged with the possible buyer.

    "My wife and I have an anniversary coming up but I have had some trouble with my Hawks, so I fear I will miss it." The mans left shoulder shifted slightly as he spoke. "I wish to make it up to her."

    Raven snorted.

    "He''s lying?" Hoatzin asked, puzzled.

    Raven nodded. "He''s fairly good, but yes, he is lying."

    "Ah, then you have come to the right place!" Heron beamed. "How about this golden hair pin with inlaid pearls? Nothing says happy anniversary more than gold and pearls."

    A well executed look of disappointment filled the mans face.

    "Don''t you have anything more unique? She already has plenty of golden jewelry."

    Heron on the other hand showed genuine excitement - few customers complained that his finest hair pins were too ordinary. Happily he brought out one expensive item after the other, the price steadily increasing, but the refined man was not to be satisfied. Finally, Heron ran out of wares and the silk dressed man sighed deeply.

    "I''m afraid this won''t do... I will have to keep looking." The man placed his hands on his back and started to walk away with a dejected expression on his face.

    Even more dejected was poor Heron that watched his potential money trove walk away without buying anything.

    "Can I also get a hair pin?"

    A small voice peeped next to Heron. The merchant looked down on the dirty boy standing in front of his stall, holding a half-eaten loaf of bread in his hand.

    "No, boy, you have to pay for those." he sighed and started fishing into his own purse after a copper coin.

    "But that man didn''t have to pay..."

    Heron froze. He inspected his table to make sure that everything was accounted for, but... "The hair pin!"

    Heron first turned deathly pale and then red with rage.

    "Guards! Guards! Stop the man in silks, he is a thief!" With surprising agility the fat merchant jumped out from behind his table and pointed at the departing burglar whom had started running when he heard the angry shouts.

    "It wasn''t a gift?" The voice turned Herons attention back to the little boy. "Well that''s not right."

    The kid bent down and picked up a palm sized rock. "You have to pay money if it isn''t a gift."

    Lifting his front leg and both his arms, much like a baseball player would, the boy fixed his eyes on the escaping man. Suddenly, he stomped down the raised foot in front of him and lobbed the stone at his target. The stone flew through the air so fast it caused to air to whistle as it passed. In an instant the stone arrived and hit the fleeing man right in his left kneecap, causing the man to fall to the ground with a pained wail.

    "Haha! Well done, kid!" Heron laughed and slapped the boy on the back before he ran over to the fallen thief. By now the guards had arrived and they soon found the golden hair pin tucked into the silken sleeves of his robes.

    "You were right, again." Hoatzin''s pleased voice rang out in Raven''s head, who watched to unfolding drama from where Heron had left her.

    Raven just smiled. She knew that, most likely, she had gained her way through the two gate towns.

    Once the guards had dragged away the thief, the fat Heron wobbled back to his stall with a pleased smile on his face and the golden hair pin in his hand. When his eyes fell on the patiently waiting Raven his expression grew more serious.

    "You have a good aim, boy!" Heron smiled and patted Raven''s shoulder. "Are you from around here? I don''t think I''ve seen you before."

    When Heron had started speaking, Raven had looked up at Heron pridefully, but when he asked her where she was from, a brief expression of fear flashed across her face. She hesitated a bit before she answered: "No, I just don''t come to the market very often..."

    "Oi, Sister, can''t you lie a bit better then that? Even I can tell that you''re being dishonest..." Hoatzin reprimanded  in her head.

    ''That''s kind of the point...'' Raven thought back, but her brother couldn''t hear it.

    Naturally, Heron had also caught on to that Raven was lying, but he wasn''t surprised by it; few people in Black Talon Gate would be honest about their past. Instead he continued probing.

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    "Then, are your parents around? I want to thank them for raising such a good kid."

    At the mention of parents, Raven lowered her gaze and looked away as she clenched her yaw slightly.

    "They''re dead." was all she said.

    Heron raised an eyebrow in surprise. He wasn''t surprised about the kid being an orphan - most kids roaming these streets were - what surprised him was that the child before him showed clear signs of shame and anger about the parents''s death; most kids would feel sad rather then ashamed about loosing their parents.

    "Well, you''re a good kid, nonetheless." Heron''s smile grew warmer, as if he was trying to comfort Raven. "And skilled too! I''m amazed that you saw the man stealing - I usually don''t miss such things."

    Heron was telling the truth. He was a seasoned merchant and was used to dealing with all sorts of customers; catching someone stealing was an important part of his trade.

    Raven lifted her head and looked up on Heron with renewed pride.

    "Thanks! I was the best of th..." Raven stopped speaking mid-sentence, and fear flashed across her face once more; "...ah, I mean, I''ve seem a lot of hungry people... stealing food."

    As if to prove a point, Raven nervously held up her loaf of bread and made it disappear into her robes with a sleight of hand. The movement, however, caused her robes to lift slightly and revealed the Limiters around her ankles.

    Heron, that was a lot taller than Raven, had already been looking down on her and therefore directly saw the two shackles. Understanding filled his face.

    ''So that''s it,'' he sighed to himself; ''the kid is an escaped bandit slave..''

    It was a fairly common notion around these parts. Smaller villages, that had trouble putting enough food on their tables, would occasionally sell of younger children to bandit crews. That way, they would gain some money to feed the hungry mouths with, and fewer hungry mouths to feed as well. The bandits would then first train the kids how to pick pockets and then how to fight. Eventually they would become the next generation of bandits. Of course, not all slaves where sold, some were stolen, but the risk of the kids rebelling was smaller if they were sold. After all, why rebel only to return to a village that betrayed your trust in the first place.

    Raven pretended to not notice the merchant''s stare and instead retrieved her half-eaten piece of bread and started nibbling at it yet again.

    "So, can I get a hair pin?" She asked between bites and looked up at Heron with expecting eyes.

    Heron stared blankly at the kid before him and started laughing.

    "Haha, kid, how about you start working for me instead? I could use an extra pair of eyes guarding my goods, and tomorrow I''m heading back to Rock Wren Prefecture - I''m sure my daughter would appropriate it if someone her own age joined us for the journey."

    Raven''s eyes widened. "You''re leaving?"

    "Yes, and if you do well on the way, you can become my apprentice once we reach my home town."

    Heron wasn''t sure if he''d actually take the kid in as an apprentice, but if he stayed in Black Talon Gate it would only be a matter of time before the bandits found him and took him back. As long as the kid was wearing those Limiters, their owners would sense them if they got close enough. Removing them would be for the best but, as long as the owner was alive, it was a nearly impossible task, at least in a back-water town like the two gate towns.

    Of course, Heron was assuming that the Limiters were the less complicated version, that were simple weights combined with a bit of tracking - why waste spiritualist Limiters on a kid that didn''t look much older them seven? Spirit Limiters used on spiritualists could not be removed by any force; if the owner didn''t die then all you could do was keep cultivating and hope to, one day, surpass the owner to the point where it didn''t matter if the Limiter was on or not.

    As Heron expected, Raven barely hesitated at all before accepting his offer, seemingly very keen on the notion of leaving Black Talon Gate.

    "Good, good! If you have anything you want to bring, go get it now, otherwise you can get to work right away by helping me keep an eye on my goods."

    "I have nothing to get." She said and walked in and sat down in the far corner of the stall. The stall wasn''t very big, barely two square meters, so she still had no problem seeing out on the street.

    "Hehe, aren''t you a straightforward one." Heron muttered before he joined Raven in the stall.

    Even though the stall was small, it should be more than big enough for two people. However, Heron filled the stall quite efficiently by himself so it suddenly became fairly cramped.

    "It''s lucky I''m stuck in this ring or we wouldn''t all fit in here." Hoatzin teased.

    ---------

    The day progressed without any bigger incidents; Raven pointed out one more thief before he had a chance to do anything and after that future thieves seemed to choose other targets.

    Once darkness fell, Heron was joined by two large guards who helped him close his shop and then stayed to guard it during the night. Heron and Raven, on the other hand, walked off through the town until they reached a relatively fancy inn, called Song Bird Inn.

    Raven looked up at the familiar nightingale bird that had been carved into the sign above the door and smiled a bittersweet smile.

    "At least they haven''t been forced to change this sign..." Hoatzin sighed within his ring.

    Raven nodded slightly as she followed her new employer into the inn.

    The interior was neatly decorated in varying shades of brown and red fabrics, that somehow managed to remind Raven of the houses in Nightingale City. All in all, the inn gave a homey feel without being too extravagant. It was most likely one of the more expensive inns in town, but that said more about the town then the inn.

    "Daddy!"

    Just as Heron and Raven walked through the door a high pitched voice rang through the room and a slightly chubby, little girl in a pink dress came running down the stairs to the hallway.

    "Mayeri." Heron clucked happily and lifted the girl into the air. "Where is your mother?"

    "Taking a bath." The girl smiled.

    "I see." Heron gave her a kiss and put her back down.

    He walked over to the lady sitting behind a counter not far from the door.

    "This kid will be staying with us for the night. Is that okay?" Heron asked in a polite tone a waved at Raven.

    The lady behind the counter leaned to the side in order to observe the dirty kid standing quietly by the door. She frowned slightly, but quickly replaced the expression with a present smile.

    "Of course, sir. It will by five extra silver for the food and lodging for the child and an additional silver if you wish for him to take a bath." Her tone was very polite but no one would have missed her underlying opinion: the boy needed a bath.

    Heron fished six silvers out of his purse and returned to his daughter that was eyeing Raven curiously.

    "Mayeri, let me introduce you to my new assistant, this is..." Heron paused; "haha, I guess we never got to the name part... Kid, what''s you name?"

    "Raven."

    "Raven? Good name, it fits you! I am Heron and this is my seven-year-old daughter Mayeri. You will meet my wife later." Heron patted his daughter on her back. "Go on, say hello to the boy."

    With no more encouragement needed, the pink girl''s curious eyes sparkled and she bounced over to Raven. She was used to her father going out of his way to help less fortunate souls, so she felt neither fear nor disgust for the young boy she greeted.

    "Hello, Raven!" She laughed happily with dimples appearing in her round face while she reached out a hand for Raven to shake. "I''m Mayeri, let''s be friends!"

    Raven observed to seven-year-old in front of her. She was, contrary to Raven, fairly short for her age; barely over a meter tall, her features were cute but fairly round. As the girl stood there, with her small hand promptly stretched out before her, Raven couldn''t help but sigh inwardly - she always had the hardest time dealing with bubbling, straightforward personalities like the girl in front of her. No doubt, Raven would get few calm moments during the coming weeks.

    Nonetheless, after pausing for a moment Raven grabbed the girl''s hand.

    "Hi." Raven said with a halfhearted smile.

    To the side, Heron smiled more wholeheartedly. If he had guessed right about the boy''s past, then that halfhearted smile of his was a very good start.

 Chapter 20: Rumors and Consequences

    After the greetings, Raven was showed to a small chamber where a tub of hot water had been prepared in the middle of the room. Various fragrant oils lined the the tub''s rim and a soft towel lied, folded, on a stool nearby.

    "Change into these once your done." Heron handed her a parcel of clean clothes and then left Raven alone.

    Finally alone, Raven relaxed her muscles and walked over to the tub. She dipped her had into it to test the water. Its temperature was perfect; warm but not scorching.

    "Four months..." she sighed and started getting undressed.

    "Umm, Sister..." Hoatzin''s voice echoed a bit nervously in her head.

    "Yes Brother?" Raven was down to her undergarments and paused to sniff a orange bottle by the tub - it smelled of sandalwood.

    "You are aware of that I don''t really have any eyes to close in here, right?"

    Raven raised a surprised eyebrow; she understood his concerns right away. She had of course been made aware of the fact that her brother wasn''t able to stop seeing what was going on around him, but he hadn''t really bothered to bring it up like this before. Then again, until now, Raven had only washed herself sporadically by wiping her arms and legs with a damp cloth.

    "So? You are my brother - it''s not like you''ve never seen me naked before?" Raven chuckled. "Besides I''m only four, there is not that much to see."

    "I know and you are right," the nervousness in his voice lessened; "I just figured it was best to remind you before, rather than to have you mad at me afterwards."

    "Thank you for your concern, big Brother."

    Raven tilted the orange bottle and let the oil pore into the tub. Taking of her last piece of tattered clothes, she slipped into the bath with a content smile on her face.

    ''Ah, I have missed this!'' she thought to herself as she closed her eyes. ''Hehe, Brother is still too polite and innocent ...it kind of reminds me of Eric.''

    Raven thought back to the odd scientist she had been assigned to protect as he studied the effects of solar flares up in the arctic pole - apparently his research had quite a few military applications and his sponsors wanted to keep their investment safe. Eric had once walked in on her while she bathed in a natural hot spring close to the science station and had nearly fainted when he saw her. Of course, it might have been more due to the shock of seeing all her scars, than seeing the naked Raven herself. Perhaps, it was the combination of the two.

    Raven''s face grew solemn as she thought back on that mission - her employers might have been satisfied with the results but for her it was one of her few failures... She sighed heavily and sank deeper into the tub, nearly disappearing completely beneath the surface.

    ---------

    After soaking in the tub for fifteen minutes, Raven reluctantly got out and dressed in her new clothes - a blue, two-piece, cotton set, perfect for working in - and made her way to the room Heron had indicated before. Outside the room she paused to listen at the discussion going on inside. Normally, the thick doors would make eavesdropping rather hard, but Raven had no trouble hearing the conversation going on inside - to her, they might as well have been screaming right next to her, it made no difference.

    Within the room Raven could clearly feel the presence of two people - she had yet to recover enough to be able to tell who they were by their auras alone, but their conversation revealed that they were Heron and his wife.

    "Husband, I heard the other wives talking - is it true that the amount of bandits between the Gates has increased?" the wife''s voice sounded quite concerned.

    "It is true, according to the leader of our hired mercenaries, something has scared the bandits shitless and they have been flooding into the area during the last couple of weeks. Rumor has it, an ancient spirit beast has re-appeared in the Great Woodlands and it slaughters any bandits who enter."

    Heron sighed.

    "I don''t know if it''s true or not but the bandits seem to believe it, and many have opted to take the "safer" option of praying on people passing between the Gates."

    ''Hmm, can they talking about me, perhaps? I didn''t think the tales of those three men would be so effective...'' Raven frowned slightly. ''After all, it was only a one time thing...''

    As Raven pondered this, the conversation continued inside.

    "But don''t worry, my wife, I have sent word to the mercenary''s guild about hiring an additional group for the passing, so we will be safe either way."

    The wife clicked her tongue.

    "And what of our profits? If you hire any more people, we won''t have earned anything this trip"

    The sound of chairs scuffing across the floor could be heard as Heron pulled his wife into his arms.

    "Oh, come now, don''t be so stingy - or safety is more important. Besides, the kid saved us from a large loss today, you could say that it almost evens out."

    "Hmpf, you compare a hair pin, worth a couple of gold, with the cost of adding another mercenary crew? Honestly, how you managed to make a profit out of your merchandise before I married you is beyond me."

    "Ha! You mistrust my mind for business that much? I''ll have you know that I offered to pay no more then one gold a head for the extra group - there must be some group heading over to Wren Prefecture, for some other mission, that wouldn''t mind earning just a little bit extra on the way. "

    The wife snorted but didn''t lecture Heron further. Heron on the other hand seemed amused by his wife''s retort and started to snuggle her closely, whispering something in her ear that Raven couldn''t work out.

    As Raven noticed the change in atmosphere in the room, she briefly considered to walk away and leave the pair to their pleasures, but a presence approaching from downstairs, that was accompanied by the sent of smoked meats, made the decision for her.

    She lifted her hand and knocked politely on the door.

    "Mister Heron? I am done." She spoke in a steady voice with her mouth close to the door, so that they would hear her inside despite their unfolding activities.

    The snuggling came to an abrupt halt and a few coughs could be heard before an answer came.

    "Come in, Raven." Heron called.

    With a light push, Raven opened the door and walked in to a rather spacious room.

    At a table by the fireplace sat Heron and his wife, a plump little woman with flush cheeks. It was apparent that both husband and wife enjoyed to eat.

    "Thank you for the clothes, sir." Raven bowed stiffly.

    "Don''t mention it, don''t mention it." Heron laughed and looked over at his wife; "Ardea, this is.."

    Mid sentence, Heron was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

    "Room service!" shouted a nasal voice on the other side and before Heron had a chance to answer, the door swung open and a woman dressed for working in the kitchen strolled in with a large tray filled to the brim with meat and bread held high in one hand and a sizable tankard of ale in the other - how she hand managed to open the door was hard to say.

    Without waiting for instructions, the woman - whose appearance was about as crude as her temperament - placed her cargo at the table, wheezed "Enjoy" in her nasal voice, and left.

    Raven raised an eyebrow as she looked at the closed door. ''Charming...''

    Apparently, Heron and his wife were used to this behavior by now and simply glanced at each other; if they had expected higher standards from the staff in the beginning, they had clearly accepted it now.

    "You must be Raven," Ardea broke the silence; "I am Ardea, Heron''s wife."

    "Hello, mam." Raven gave another stiff bow.

    Ardea stood and walked over to Raven, who had remained by the door.

    "Heron told me you helped stop a thief today - very well done!" Ardea smiled a warm smile as she spoke.

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    When she reached Raven she paused for a moment to glance down at the metal shackles barely visible below Raven''s new pants and then at the cloth that was meticulously wrapped around Ravens right hand and arm as a bandage. Pity filled her face, momentarily drowning out the warm smile, before Ardea gently placed a hand on Raven''s shoulder. Raven flinched slightly from the contact but didn''t move away and Ardea''s smile warmed once more.

    "Come, you must be hungry." She guided Raven to the table and pulled out a chair for her.

    "Mayeri! Food''s here!" Heron called as Ardea motioned to the food. "Eat."

    "Thank you, mam."

    Raven reached for a piece of bread, just as Mayeri rushed into the room all smiles - clearly she too like to eat.

    "Dinner!" In a flash the little girl had taken her place at the table and started filling her plate. She only paused for a second to smile at Raven and get out a "Hi, Raven." before her focus turned back at the food.

    "I take back my statement from before about girls and eating," chuckled Hoatzin; "this girl''s appetite is worse than yours - by far."

    Raven had to force herself not to chuckle at her brother''s comment.

    There was a lot of food present and after some coaxing, Raven too started to eat with more enthusiasm. As the family ate, they listen to Mayeri talk about what she had done during the day and both parents engaged in various discussions with her. They tried to involve Raven as well, but she rarely contributed with more than a few words at a time, seemingly unsure of what to say regarding a seven-year-old girl''s daily life.

    Once the subject moved on to the coming journey, relief flooded Raven''s face and the surprised family was suddenly bombarded with questions: What route they will we take? Have you been to Wren Prefecture before? Is it different from this prefecture? Will they see bandits?

    Eventually both the food and the questions ran out and the dinner came to an end. The table was cleared and a mattress was placed on it for Raven to sleep on. Everyone said their good-nights and went to bed imminently because, as Heron pointed out: "It will be a long day tomorrow."

    Raven climbed up in her bed and lied down, but instead of sleeping she started meditating - the position was not as efficient as when sitting cross-legged, but she wouldn''t have to interrupt her meditation if any of the family members moved around during the night. Spirit essence flowed in through her 146 spirit connections, into her core, were some of it was sucked up by the vortex and the rest passed through only to be dispersed throughout her body and absorbed by her various cells.

    She repeated the process over and over. Her progress was astounding; with every breath she grew a bit stronger as her cells improved and her core''s capacity expanded with it. Every time essence passed through her core, it managed to absorb a little bit more. It had only been two months since Raven broke through and became a low Adept, statistically it should take her five years to become a mid Adept, if she cultivated outside of an academy, but Raven had a hard time believing it would take anywhere near that long for her.

    While Raven quietly meditated in her make-shift bead in front of the fire, Mayeri lay awake in her bed. Her parents had talked to her about the black haired boy, Raven, as they''d tucked her in.

    "You''ll have to help us take care of the boy, Mayeri." Her father had told her. "He''s been through a lot and needs a friend."

    Her mother had then laughingly joked about it being good to have a cute brother, but the laugh hadn''t reached her eyes. Her eyes had instead been sad. As Mayeri thought back on it she couldn''t help but wonder what it was the boy "had been through" that made her parents feel so sad for him. She grew more and more curious about it for every minute. She decided she would try to find out more on their journey.

    ''He was cute though...'' she thought and hid her blushing face under the covers.

    ---------

    Dawn broke and the moment Raven sensed movement from within the room were Heron and his wife slept, she halted her cultivation and got up from her bed. She moved over to the darkest corner in the room where she huddled up in a ball with her back towards the wall.

    "A good morning to you too, Sister." Hoatzin sarcastic voice filled Raven''s head.

    She smiled.

    "Good morning, big Brother." She whispered so softly that barely even Hoatzin heard her.

    "I preferred it when you were travelling alone, at least then you could speak to me a bit..."

    Hoatzin sighed and Raven would have answered him that he would need to get used to it, but at that moment she felt how Heron, who had been busy getting dressed, walked towards his bedroom door. Seconds later he gently opened the door and walked into the room on quiet feet.

    When he noticed that the table bed was empty he looked around the room, as his eyes fell upon the huddled figure of the young boy pressed up against the dark corner, he sighed heavily. ''Poor kid...''

    Heron walked over to Raven with heavy steps, hoping to not surprise the boy too much, and placed his hand on the kids shoulder to wake him. Raven jumped up at the touch, pressed her body hard against the wall behind her and looked around her with scared eyes.

    "Easy, boy, you are safe here." Heron voice was calm, soothing, and Raven was secretly impressed by this fat merchants way of handling scared kids; if she had been the slightly traumatized boy she was pretending to be, she would most likely be pacified by this man.

    As it was, her eyes slowly focused on Heron and, with a flash of recognition, she calmed down.

    "Mornin, sir."

    "Good morning, Raven." Heron still calm and soothing. "It is time to get to work."

    Together they left the inn to prepare for the journey that would start in only a couple of hours. Before they left, Heron had checked at the counter if the Mercenary Guild had accepted the escort mission - which they had - and also grabbed a couple of fruits from the kitchen as breakfast.

    Heron worked quickly and with the help of his guards, the other two merchants who would join his caravan and of course Raven, the preparations for the journey were quickly taken care of. Three hours later, Heron and Raven were standing next to three wagons close to the passage gate that gave the town its name. They were waiting for Heron''s family and the mercenaries that were going to protect them on their journey.

    The mercenaries were the first to arrive. Raven raised a surprised eyebrow when she recognized the two groups arriving. The first group, consisting of five people all dressed in white, was lead by the middle-aged man ''Old Man Hog''. The other group was twice as large Hog''s, everyone completely dressed in red, and was lead by ''Big Boy Twig''. Oddly enough, the two groups seemed to be on quite good terms, laughing and telling jokes to each other as they approached.

    "I guess you were right about the whole talk-things-out-with-fists thing..." Hoatzin muttered.

    Heron greeted the two groups respectfully. It was clear from the conversation that Hog was the original group and Twig was the extras.

    "Haha, all this crazy talk of monstrous spirit beasts in the Woodlands is most beneficial to us. Who would have thought that we could add ten extra gold to our original mission earnings without doing anything extra." Twig laughed.

    "You still have to protect your charges, Twig." Hog gave Heron a small bow. When he looked up again he noticed Raven leaning against the wagon behind Heron. His eyebrows lifted ever so slightly.

    "A servant of yours?" Hog asked and indicated towards Raven.

    Heron followed his gaze.

    "Ah, yes. That is Raven, he is my new assistant. Come and great our guards, kid."

    Raven stalled for a moment before she walked over to the group.

    "Hello, sirs."

 Chapter 21: Entering the Passage

    Raven bowed respectfully to the two mercenaries. Hog raised an eyebrow and almost instinctively stretched out a spirit essence laced hand to touch Raven''s shoulder. Raven sensed the hand coming and for a moment fear filled her.

    ''He wants to check my cultivation?'' Her mind reeled. ''This is bad...''

    Although the limiters would stop her cultivation from being exposed, they would do nothing to hide her spirit connections. Raven hadn''t thought this would be a problem since, at the academy, she could use her spirit essence to block her soul from being inspected, but if she did so now, Hog would notice and realize that she was a spiritualist.

    Her options at this moment were quite limited. She would have to make a gamble on Hog''s perception of her "personality".

    As the hand approached, Raven glanced up from her bow. The moment her eyes met Old Man Hog''s hand - now only centimeters away - absolute terror filled her face and she staggered backwards, falling to the ground in the process.

    "Ah!" The initial terror in Raven''s face faded quickly and was instead replaced by embarrassment. "S... Sorry... I..."

    As Hog observed the seemingly scrawny boy on the ground, his look of surprised interest shifted to that of understanding and he glanced over at Heron, who nodded back to him with a sad smile.

    Hog pulled back his hand.

    "No, I''m sorry, kid. I didn''t mean to startle you." Hog smiled slightly at Raven and backed away.

    Seeing his change in demeanor, Raven felt relieved and she didn''t bother hiding it. Her plan had worked; as she fell, her trousers had shifted upwards and thus clearly revealed the Limiters around her ankles. Being a veteran mercenary, Hog had instantly drawn the same conclusions that Heron had the day before: Raven was a slightly traumatized, escaped bandit slave. Heron''s nod had confirmed it.

    "Go check the horses, Raven." Heron ordered, or perhaps more accurately, suggested.

    "Yes, sir." Raven leaped from the ground and hurried away, honestly happy to put some distance between her and the spiritualists.

    Despite moving away, Raven had no problem listening to the conversation behind her.

    "Sigh, he''s a good kid but he seems to have some issues with sudden touches..." Heron explained.

    "Most escaped slaves do." Hog replied.

    "Has he been in your service for long?" Twig had also noticed Raven''s limiters and now joined the conversation.

    "No, not really. He helped me spot a thief I missed yesterday. When I realized his history I figured I''d help him back."

    "How noble." Twig sounded quite sincere.

    At that moment an other merchant called for Heron so he excused himself and walked away. Once alone, Twig focused his attention on Hog.

    "So, why sudden urge to scan the boy, old man?" He asked. He had, just as Raven, felt Hog fill his hand with spirit essence.

    Hog chuckled.

    "Remember the bar fight the other day? That kid was there."

    "Your point being...?"

    "He had been standing next to the man that stated our cultivation, but the boy was gone by the time we turned to look. His... Raven, was it...? Raven''s nimble movements got me a bit curious as to what kind of training he''s been through. His shackles explained it though. Poor kid." Hog sighed.

    "Poor? He''s better of than most, what with the merchant taking him in and all."

    "True."

    Their conversation soon moved on to the journey at hand, and Raven couldn''t help but release a heavy breath. Naturally, she had never stopped listening in on their conversation and since they had bought her background story, hopefully they wouldn''t investigate the matter further.

    ---------

    Shortly thereafter, Heron''s wife and daughter arrived together with another woman Raven hadn''t been introduced to - apparently she was the wife of one of the other merchants that had bought room on Heron''s caravans. Once the whole group was assembled, no more time was wasted and they immediately set out towards the gateway to the passage. In the driver''s coach of the first carriage sat Heron and Raven, while the three ladies sat comfortably inside it. While in town, the mercenaries simply followed behind the carriages - there was no point in keeping a protective formation while within the town walls.

    It didn''t take long before the caravan reached the gate. As they were arriving, Heron leaned over to Raven and whispered

    "Keep your head down." in her ear. He even handed over one of the horse''s blankets for Raven to hold on to, efficiently hiding both her legs and arms in the process.

    ''You didn''t have to tell me that, geezer.'' Raven thought to herself with amusement but she said nothing.

    Even without Heron''s warning, Raven had already stimulated the Fox''s Veil to make her seem less important and more forgettable than before. She kept her gaze absentmindedly fixed on the tip of the horse tail swaying a few feet above ground in front of the carriage, while her other senses worked on high drive to observe if anyone reacted to her presence.

    The carriage came to a halt.

    "Declare your goods and passengers." An official sounding voice spoke on the ground next to Heron.

    Heron pulled out a role of parchment and handed it to the owner of the voice.

    "These are our goods. The passengers are myself, my wife and daughter, my servant, two more merchants and a wife. All our names are written on the last page." Heron spoke in a calm voice. He didn''t need to declare the mercenaries, they would pass through on their own accord.

    There was silence as papers were being looked over, sometimes interrupted by the scribbling of notes or questions raised for Heron to answer. Everything seemed to be going well. But eventually...

    "The name of your servant is missing." The voice sounded a bit annoyed at this.

    "Is it? Sorry." Heron sounded genuinely surprised. "Must have forgotten to add it... Oh, well. He''s called Crass."

    Raven''s mouth twitched ever so slightly into a smile. She was impressed by Heron''s will to protect the supposed bandit slave by his side from being found out. She hadn''t really cared if her real name was registered here - the name was too normal to be a problem for her down the road - but Heron''s consideration warmed her.

    "Very well. That will be one gold for passage though the Gate."

    "One gold!? It was only 70 silver last time!" Heron protested.

    "More bandits out there now," the voice replied; "we need to hire more guards to keep the city safe."

    Heron snorted, but paid the price nonetheless. There was no point in haggling with the Gate officials - they would only raise the fee instead.

    The group started moving once more, but Raven didn''t change her posture until Heron spoke again.

    "You can relax now."

    But Raven didn''t relax quite yet. Keeping her senses on high alert she took in every sound and movement around her. None of the guards even so much as glanced at her.

    ''This Fox''s Veil is quite handy.'' she thought to her self as she finally relaxed a bit.

    Raven looked up just as they passed through the huge metal gate that separated the town from the only passageway between Black Talon Prefecture and Rock Wren Prefecture that could be tread by foot. Beyond the gate stretchered a narrow rode in between rows of densely packed trees that slowly climbed their way up the enclosing mountain walls. The walls were not as steep here as the had been on the other side so the trees managed to grow almost all the way to the top. Even though the walls weren''t steep - relatively speaking at least - the amount of flat ground suitable for carriages was still very limited.

    As she observed the terrain they would be traveling through the next couple of weeks, Raven could understand why the bandits liked it here; there were so many hiding places for them to hide, and those who traveled through the passage only had that narrow rode to use. All in all, it was easy pickings.

    Most likely, the bandits lived in caves along the mountain walls and only left the Passage every once in a while to sell the goods they gathered. By just paying a little extra to the Gate towns, they would be allowed to pass through undisturbed; the towns didn''t really care where the money or goods came from as long as appropriate taxes were payed.

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    The two gate towns would however, every once in awhile, send soldiers through the passage to clear out any bandit crews that had grown too large or had constructed too strong settlements. After all, it was bad for business if people didn''t dare travel through the passage at all.

    As Raven contemplated this, the white-garbed group lead by Old Man Hog moved up past the caravan and took point, while  Twig''s red men covered the flanks and rear. They were surprisingly well coordinated in the formation.

    "Keep your eyes open, men! We''re expecting more trouble than usual this time around."  Hog called from the front.

    "How much trouble is normal?" Raven asked Heron, but before the merchant could give an answer, Twig''s horse came up from the rear and walked next to where Raven was seated.

    "Normally, not that much - perhaps one or two attacks - but now it''s likely to be at least the double," the big man smiled a oddly gentle smile; "but don''t worry - we''ll keep you safe."

    With a wink, Twig rode on ahead and started discussing the night shifts with Hog. Raven couldn''t help but quietly snort at the notion of being protected, but said nothing.

    ---------

    After three days of relatively event-less progress, the traveling caravan and its guards started to relax a bit; people talked more and began to make jokes and other merriment with each other.

    Raven had at first been disappointed by the mercenaries lax approach to their situation, but as she observed them more closely she noticed a well hidden vigilance. Underneath all their fooling around they were never truly relaxed. Whether the act was for the benefit of the merchants they were guarding or if it was to fool the bandits in the passage to think they were incompetent, was hard to say.

    The caravan eventually stopped moving forward for the day and the now routine hustle of setting up their night camp was brought into motion. Every member had something to contribute with; some stood guard while others set up tents, gathered firewood and so on. The merchants and their wives were responsible for the food.

    Mayeri, however, was an exception to this rule. She was free to do whatever she wished and that usually meant that she would force a very reluctant Raven to accompany her as she "explored" the new campsite.

    Over the past few days Raven had learnt a great deal about Mayeri and grown accustomed to her jubilant personality. Even when on the road, Mayeri would constantly seek Raven out and try to coax Raven into talking about her past, or join some childish game Mayeri had thought up. By now, Raven didn''t have to fake her discomfort at the girl''s relentless presence.

    At this moment Raven and Mayeri - on Mayeri''s insistence of course - had climbed a smaller tree that stood slightly hidden across the road from the campsite. They sat there and observed how the setting sun was disappearing between the several mountain peaks in the west.

    Today Mayeri had been uncharacteristically quiet and Raven could guess that the girl was working up her courage to ask something important. It didn''t take long before their silence was broken.

    ��Raven���� Mayeri started carefully; ��are you happy with us?��

    That was not what Raven thought the girl would ask.

    Raven opened her mouth to respond as ''Raven, the enslaved boy'' would - with a disinterested ��sure�� - but she halted before the word was formed. At the border of Raven''s senses she had detected subtle movements. By reflex, Raven closed the distance between her and Mayeri and covered the girl��s mouth with her hand.

    ��Shhh..�� Raven hushed the struggling Mayeri and focused on the movement she''d sensed.

    ��...Twenty two humans are approaching from the north. Roughly four hundred meters out.�� Raven counted carefully. ��They are impressively quiet. If not for my excessive spirit connections, I might have missed them�� there must be spiritualists along them, and with a good Divine Skill at that.��

    ��Trouble?�� Hoatzin asked excitedly - he was growing quite bored because of the silent treatment Raven had to give him due to their constant company.

    Raven nodded and then frowned; the mercenaries were, not unexpectedly, not reacting to the coming ambush. If this continued, the situation would turn bad, and soon. Raven glanced down at the confused Mayeri in her arms.

    "Time to sleep." Raven whispered and used two fingers on her her free hand to put pressure slightly above the girl''s collar bone. In less than a quarter of a second, Mayeri''s body slumped as she drifted into unconsciousness.

    "How practical." Hoatzin mussed. "You must have been wanting to do that for days."

    "Can''t deny that..." Raven muttered.

    Carefully, Raven positioned Mayeri''s body so that she would remain on their branch on her own. Her movement had been swift but the assumed bandits were now only three hundred meters away from the camp. Considering her options, Raven only hesitating for a second more before she pulled out three small daggers from within her robes. She had snatched these daggers from inattentive mercenaries over the past few days and hidden in her garments so that she could used them for self-defense, without drawing attention to her spacial ring.

    Now she poured some of her spirit essence into two of them and threw them all into the middle of the campsite. She only used one hand and one movement to accomplish this, but the daggers shot towards completely different locations. The first dagger swiftly grazed the bag of grain Ardea was carrying towards the open fire. The second and third dagger, both filled with spirit essence, headed to the vicinity of the two mercenary leaders, Hog and Twig, but passed them almost a meter over their heads before disappearing into the forest behind them.

    Ardea hadn''t noticed the dagger that had ruptured her bag but she did notice the sudden grain leakedge. Her surprised yelp gave perfect reason for the sudden movement of the other two. Both Hog and Twig sprang to their feet the instant the daggers passed over them - any spiritualist with at least three spirit connections would have no problem sensing spirit essence activated within a radius of a couple of meters. Hog and Twig were apparently not the only spiritualists in the group because several other reacted to Raven''s daggers and focused their attention at their leaders for commands.

    The following moments proved how experienced the the two crews were; no verbal instructions were given, so with nothing but hand signals and body language it still only took a few breaths time for all the mercenaries to move into formation a prepared an ambush; Heron and the other merchants were at the center, with their backs to the carriages, and the mercenaries fanned out in a half-circle around them. Heron was holding his struggling wife and firmly covering her mouth, undoubtedly to stop her from calling out to Mayeri.

    ��Good.�� Raven thought, pleased at both their fast reaction and the choice they made to not call attention to the two kids.

    Silence spread. Shortly after the people in camp had stopped moving, the approaching humans did the same. No doubt they realized that they somehow had been discovered.

    ��Well then, the element of surprise is gone. Will you attack anyway or wait for a better opportunity?�� Raven pondered as she remained on the branch next to the unconscious Mayeri.

    There were barely a hundred meters left between the ambushers and the campsite and if they attacked it would only take them a few seconds to reach their target. Apparently a decision was made, because in the next instant the silence was broken by the rustle of leaves and branches swiftly being pushed aside - there was no longer any need to hide their approach.

    ��It��s an ambush!�� Twig bellowed as the mercenaries also sprang into action.

 Chapter 22: Ambushed

    What followed was a form of organized chaos; without braking formation, the seventeen mercenaries faced of against the twenty two bandits, causing the ringing sound of steel on steel, and rough grunts of fighting men to fill the quiet night. If not for the dens forest within the valley, the sound of the battle would no doubt have echoed throughout the entire passage. From her tree, Raven had a very good view of the campsite and she silently observed the unfolding battle.

    "Interesting..." Raven muttered.

    "Huh?" Hoatzin snapped up on her quiet comment.

    "Well, Hog and Twig''s groups both have surprisingly solid fighting styles. Usually, mercenary crews are put together randomly, with little to no consideration of how they would work as a group. Contrary to an army, that works hard to unify its troops, mercenaries tend to focus more on individual strengths. After all, people tend to come and go as they please from mercenary groups." Raven explained. "But look, Hog''s people all move in similar patterns and their auras are very calm and collected as they fight. Twig''s people, on the other hand, have their own set of patterns and fight more aggressively. These two groups have not been formed overnight."

    "I see what you mean... Perhaps they being together long enough that is affects their fighting style" Hoatizin offered as a reason. "The bandits seem to be at a disadvantage."

    Hoatzin was right about the bandits having a hard time; they might have the advantage in numbers but the mercenaries were well trained and more organized. At the moment, the bandits were making no progress and where rather being pushed back.

    "True, but neither side has yet to reveal any Divine Skills. It might shift the balance." Raven pointed out.

    As if the fighting men had heard her, spirit essence started to stir within first one, and then several more of the bandits, while the other bandits fell back a bit. Raven imminently sensed the change and could gauge the opponents strengths.

    "One low Adept and four Novices of varying strength. If these are all the spiritualists they have, then they are not as picky as Rifleman was with his crew." Raven concluded.

    By the time Raven had finished her sentence, the mercenaries had already regrouped with the intention of handling the enemy spiritualists more efficiently. Surprisingly enough, both Hog and Twig were at the back of this formation, no longer engaging in direct battle at all. Despite this, spirit essence started to stir within the foremost mercenaries and in the next instant numerous Divine Skills were activated, from mercenaries and bandits alike.

    "Barbarian Serpent Stroke!"

    "Thrust of the Five Warriors!"

    "Whirlwind Palm!"

    The active spiritualists shouted the name of the Divine Skills they were using as they rushed towards their enemies and Raven couldn''t help but snort.

    "Seriously, why do all the spiritualist we''ve come across have the tendency to announce their attacks when they execute them?" She muttered disapprovingly.

    In Raven''s training stealth and always getting the upper hand had been paramount. For her, making any unnecessary noise at all while attacking was not only silly, it was an error that might give her opponents the information they need to safeguard themselves!

    In the campsite, the fight had gained a new level of frenzy as spirit essence and various elemental traits boosted the spiritualists fighting power. However, the outcome was still the same as before, the bandits were at a clear disadvantage. Be it in cultivation or Skill level, the spiritualists the mercenaries had sent forward were all a notch above their opponents.

    "Retreat!"

    Finally realizing that they had picked the wrong target, one of the bandits shouted the command and all twenty two assailants turned and fled. By now, the sun had already set, and the silhouettes of the bandits quickly disappeared into the darkness.

    "That was it?" Hoatzin sounded somewhat disappointed.

    "So it would seem..." Raven sympathized  with her brother''s disappointment.

    The bandits had posed less of a threat to the caravan then Raven had expected, considering their silent approach, and when they withdrew, neither side had suffered any casualties. The fact that Hog and Twig hadn''t even joined the spiritualists in the later stage of the fray clearly indicated that they had been going easy on the bandits. Raven and Hoatzin had now seen the odd symbiosis between those who were out-laws and those who worked as guardians first hand.

    "Mayeri! Mayeri!" Finally free from her husbands embrace, Ardea shouted frantically for her child.

    Raven had already scooped up the still sleeping girl into her arms and now silently jumped down from the branch they had been sitting on. Even though the campsite had been visible from the tree branch, the base of the tree was hidden behind tall bushes and, fortunately, no one turned to look in her direction. If they had, they would no doubt had been shocked to she the roughly one meter tall boy jump down from a branch over two meters up, while carrying a child of similar size.

    Raven walked out from behind the bushes with Mayeri in her arms.

    "Here, ma''m." She answered Ardea''s call and, to calm the worrying mother, quickly added: "she fell asleep before the bandits came."

    "Mayeri!" Ardea rushed over and pulled the girl from Raven''s arms.

    Sitting on the ground, she carefully inspected her daughter, and when no wounds were found, she sighed in relief. Hugging Mayeri close, Ardea looked up at Raven.

    ''Oh, great...'' Raven cringed inwardly; Ardea''s face was warped with immense anger.

    *Whap!* The crisp sound of a hand slamming into a face filled the now quiet campsite. Everyone froze. Raven absentmindedly lifted a hand to cover the cheek that Ardea had just hit while pumped up on adrenaline.

    "You! How dare you lead my child out of the safety of camp!" Ardea shouted and prepared to slap Raven once more. "You could have gotten her killed!"

    Just as Ardea was about to hit Raven a second time, Twig''s large body appeared next to her and grabbed the descending hand.

    "Don''t." He spoke in a calm voice.

    "Let me go," Ardea kept shouting; "what''s the point of protecting a bandit slave like him? He might even be in on it!"

    The men in camp inhaled sharply and stared disbelievingly as Ardea. By now, everyone had become aware of the shackles Raven was wearing and had also noticed how the small boy would sometimes grew distant, as if he was watching something very far away. That the kid was a former slave was obvious, so was the fact that he must have been quite severely abused. They all pitied the kid, Ardea perhaps most so, which made her behavior now so hard to take in.

    "Ardea..." Heron walked up to his wife and put his arms around her shaking body; "calm down. You don''t really mean that."

    "Yes I do!" Ardea''s voice faltered and she slumped, crying, into her husbands arms.

    Heron patted her hair. "There, there, darling. We are all safe now."

    He knew that Ardea was overreacting due to her fears and that she actually was very concerned about Raven''s safety as well. Heron looked at Raven that stood rooted to the spot in front of them.

    "Raven, she..."

    Before he could finish the sentence, Raven turned around and fled into the forest. Heron sighed.

    "...and we had made so much progress these past days." Heron mumbled. In his eyes, Raven had become a lot more comfortable around people since they left Black Talon Gate. Now he feared that the situation would revert. "Twig, or Hog, would one of you go after him? He won''t survive for long on his own out here."

    "Sure, I''ll go." Hog was the first to respond and he calmly walked of in the direction Raven had left; the trail of broken branches and disturbed soil that Raven left behind her was easy to follow so Hog felt no need to run. The child would stop eventually.

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    ---------

    Raven kept running in a moderate pace up the forest covered mountain side.

    "Why are you running away? Don''t you need them to pass through the next Gate?" Hoatzin asked.

    "I do," Raven replied in a steady voice; "but the mother hit me with all her might, foolish woman."

    "So?"

    "Do you need to ask? If a normal non-spiritualist person hit you with full force, what would happen to their hand?"

    Hoatzin drew a deep breath. The fundamentals of cultivation was to absorb spirit essence into your spirit core and then use the refined energy to strengthen your body. However, this strengthening process was not limited to the body''s muscles alone, every single cell would grow stronger. When Hoatzin had his body, he was already more than twice as strong as regular children, which also meant that his bones were over twice as hard, his skin twice as tough.

    "I have been cultivating since I was an infant - since my cells already are in a state of rapid growth, they are and have been very susceptible to change. Although my cultivation is only that of an low Adept, I suspect that the state of my physical body is closer to that of a peak Adept, or possibly even a low Champion."

    Raven sped up a bit, she had noticed that somebody had been sent after her, but she wasn''t ready to be return quite yet.

    "For an ordinary person, hitting me is like hitting a rock... Even though a tried to lessen the damage to her hand by moving my head away, I clearly heard the woman''s hand fracturing slightly on impact - tomorrow it will be the size of a balloon."

    "Well, that is problematic. They will figure out something is wrong then, especially since Sister''s face won''t be injured at all." Hoatzin remarked, almost sounding pleased. "I guess Sister has no choice but to travel on your own again, huh?"

    Raven smiled mischievously.

    "Who said I wouldn''t be injured?"

    "Sister, you wouldn''t!" Hoatzin was flabbergasted; he knew his sister well enough to know what she was planing.

    "Sorry big Brother, you will have to live through the silent treatment a little bit longer."

    Confident that the distance between her and her follower was large enough Raven slowed to a stop. Gathering spirit essence into her already wrapped right hand, Raven unflinchingly slapped herself across the same cheek that Ardea had hit earlier.

    The slam from the impact was deafening, but the dense forest stopped the noise from travelling very far. Sharp pain filled Raven''s face and the vibrations from the impact made her a bit dizzy, but despite this she showed no outwardly signs of pain.

    "Damn it, Raven! Don''t hit yourself so hard!"

    "I''m fine, Brother."

    "Like hell you are - you face is already turning purple!"

    "My injury has to match hers."

    "So you inflict internal bleeding on yourself!?" Hoatizin was close to enraged. "And how can you look so unfazed? You must be in extreme pain!"

    Raven only smiled at this, even though the gesture caused the pain to intensify. Raven was indeed in quite a lot of pain but, for her, it was nothing. If need be, Raven could withstand days of torture without revealing even an ounce of the pain she felt. In fact, then pain would be treated as a welcome friend; as long as she could feel the pain, she knew she was alive.

    Hoatzin kept bombarding her with reprimands but Raven sensed that she would not be alone for very much longer - Hog was soon to catch up - so she sat down by one of the larger trees and started crying. At first, Hoatzin thought his sister had finally given in to the pain she felt, and started to comfort her. However, just a few minutes later, Hoatzin heard Hog approaching and realized that he had once again fallen for his sister''s charades.

    "Figures..." He murmured and stopped talking.

    When Hog came close enough to hear Raven''s sobs he increased his pace and quickly arrived at the tree she was sitting by. Looking at the small sobbing figure on the ground, his weathered heart felt pang of emotion; despite being a thick-skinned warrior, Hog couldn''t help but want to protect the child in front of him. Suddenly he hesitated. Contrary to Heron, Hog had no experience when it came to handling children. He hadn''t really cared before, but now he was at a loss at what to do.

    Slowly, Hog crouched down a meter away from Raven; he at least knew not to touch the kid out recklessly.

    "Um... hey, kid..." He started carefully but Raven''s body still shuddered. "Um.. You know, men shouldn''t cry when a woman hits him."

    "I''m not crying!" retorted Raven, sniveling, without looking up. She couldn''t help but roll her eyes though. ''What kind of advise is that to give a young child - are you grooming a soldier? Besides, if all of this wasn''t an act, it would hardly be the actual slap that was be the problem, would it?''

    Nonetheless, Raven''s crying was reduced to silent sniveling; there was no point in being hard on the man.

    "Good." Hog''s voice was more confident this time around. "Now let me take a look at your face, I have an ointment that will help with the pain."

    Hog looked away from Raven for a second to find the jar with the ointment within his purse but once he looked up again and saw how basically half of Raven''s face wad swollen beyond recognition and the trademark signs of internal bleeding already visible underneath the pale skin, he couldn''t help but gasp and drop the jar he had fished out.

    "Holy...!"

    He stared at Raven''s face in shock. Suddenly he felt that his previous remark about not crying was a bit insensitive. Heck, he was impressed that the kid hadn''t passed out the moment Ardea''s hand slapped him.

    Eventually his senses returned to him. With new-found resolution, Hog grabbed on to Raven''s shoulders - ignoring the fear it brought in the child''s eyes - and said firmly: "You actually tried to protect Mayeri, didn''t you? Kid, listen to me, anyone that can take a hit like that and still stand true to his convictions and not retaliate is a true man! Don''t bother with people that look down on you for your past - you have the potential to become a great man in the future."

    Hog''s face was now very close to Raven''s and despite the darkness Raven could clearly see how his eyes practically sparkled with enthusiasm. It was as if he was encouraging his most favored disciple. Within the Life Link Hoatzin was roaring with laughter.

    "Haha, Sister, he called you a true man! Hahaha, this is hilarious!"

    Before Raven had a chance to respond, Hog had risen to his feat and pulled Raven up with him - at first he had intended to carry the kid back to camp but now he thought differently.

    "Come, young man, let us go back to camp with our heads held high!" Hog put extra emphasis on the ''young man'' part as he spoke. "I bet you will have the most impressive battle wound of us all."

    Hog winked and strode of down the mountain side while pulling Raven along. As they walked Hog talked about various adventures he had gone through when he was younger and seemingly tried to convince Raven to do the same. Raven had to admit that the total one-eighty turn in Hog''s personality was outside of her calculations; she had wanted his to feel sorry for her and get more attached to her, yes, but this? Hog''s increased interest in her might back-fire on her later on.

 Chapter 23: To Help...

    When Raven and Hog, nearly an hour later, walked out from the line of trees by the road campsite, more than one stared at Raven with round eyes.

    "Blimey! Quite the jewel you''ve got there, boy!" Twig was the first to speak, but he was soon followed by the other mercenaries whom all seemed to wholeheartedly congratulate Raven for her "first battle wound".

    None of the women were present, they had most likely already gone to sleep, but Heron smiled as he walked up to Raven.

    "I''m glad you came ba..." His smile faltered when he saw the full extent of Raven''s injury. "Dear god... No wonder Ardea''s hand hurt!"

    Raven said nothing and just stared blankly at the nearby fire. Hog leaned over and whispered into Heron''s ear: "He''s been like this since I got him to follow me back. He hasn''t said a word."

    Heron glanced the tent where his wife was sleeping. He had feared Raven would close up even more because of this - seems he was right.

    "Raven, my boy, don''t take what my wife said to heart. She was only afraid after the ambush and she took it out on you." Heron moved so he stood between Raven and the fire, forcing Raven to look at him. "You have every right to be mad about what happened, but I hope you can trust me when I say it won''t happen again."

    "Sure." Raven''s voice sounded distant.

    She didn''t look up at Heron''s face before she turned and over to the tree that was closest to Hog''s tent. With almost no effort, she climbed to the lowest branch and settled down for the night.

    Behind her, Heron couldn''t help but feel dispirited. He had finally managed to get the kid comfortable enough to sleep in his family''s tent the night before, but now everything was back to square one.

    "Well, at least that''s end it for this time." With an understanding glance at Heron, Hog sat down next to Twig by the fire.

    "The bandit crew was large but not very skilled," Twig responded; "they only had a few spiritualists and they let their spirit essence slip early."

    Hog was silent for a while as he thought back on the fight, he seemed to ponder something but ultimately rejected the notion.

    "True. Let us hope it stays that way all the way through."

    "Haha, I hope not! That would be too boring!" Twig bellowed.

    Hog sighed. "Seriously, Twig, you never learn."

    The two mercenaries, and some of their fellow crew members, kept talking in hushed voices for a while, but Raven just smiled and let herself fall asleep. The mercenaries had not noticed the knives she threw before and only sensed the spirit essence, because of this they had figured that the bandits had messed up. So, at least for now, Raven felt than her cover was safe.

    ---------

    The next day was awkward for nearly everybody. Well, for everyone except for Raven.

    Ardea, with her fractured hand tightly wrapped in bandages, was clearly ashamed of her behavior the day before but had trouble getting around to apologizing. Mayeri, who had only learned of the ambush that morning, had shrieked loudly and nearly fainted the moment she saw Raven''s now nearly rainbow colored face. She spent the rest of the day unnaturally quiet, casting glances at her mother - the notion that her mother could hurt anyone to that degree shocked her. The men in the caravan, all made varying attempts at engaging Raven in conversations but to no avail, thus leaving the caravan in an odd silence.

    Raven on the other hand reveled in that very silence. She quite enjoyed playing the apathetic child while watching everybody else squirm awkwardly at her disinterest. After all, pretending to be someone your not can be quite exhausting in the long run, so this change of pace for her was most welcome.

    The situation remained unchanged until, two days later, another bandit crew attacked. This group attacked in broad daylight and their attempt was even more unsuccessful than the last one, but this time Ardea reacted differently; she forcefully pulled Raven, who had "just happened" to stand fairly close at the time of the attack, into her embrace and protected the the kid with her own body. Of course, there was never any danger to either of them - the mercenaries stopped the bandits with ease - but Raven thanked her nonetheless and the action drastically changed the mood in the caravan.

    "How magnanimous of you..." Hoatzin sneered - he had of course realized that Raven planed to let Ardea "protect" her. "And here I felt pleased by the fact that I was no longer the only one being ignored by Sister" He teased from withing the Life Link.

    Raven, on the other hand, felt a bit dejected. She had let it happen for "the good of the group" but as she looked at the, yet again, high spirited Mayeri bouncing towards her, Raven couldn''t help but cringe.

    ''I will never birth children...''

    With Ardea''s gesture everything went back to normal - except for the fact that Ardea was no longer able to help with the cooking and Raven was reduced to eating only liquids for a while - and the caravan slowly made its way through the passage.

    As they traveled, they came under quite a few bandit attacks. It was clear that some of the bandit groups had been hastily formed and were therefore quite sloppy, but others were more organized and put up more of a challenge for the mercenaries. By the time ten days had passed since the caravan entered the pass, the group had been attacked five times - already more than twice the normal amount, and they were then still quite far away from the next Gate Town.

    Despite this, Hog and Twig had only needed to use their spirit essence on one occasion. This was due to a mid Adept bandit that surprisingly enough possessed a level three area martial Divine Skill, thus forcing Hog and Twig to use the Divine Skill Golden Tortoise that formed their spirit essences into a protective barrier around the merchants and their goods. Other than during that first ambush, Raven hadn''t needed to give a helping hand even once; whatever skill their spiritualist had used to help them all move forward quietly, the other bandit crews didn''t know it.

    Since the last attack, that was ten days after entering the passage, another two days had passed. If nothing unexpected happened, they would reach Rock Wren Gate in two to three more days. Over the past two days, the passage had been very calm; not only were there no attacks, no cheering bandits could be heard in distance, and no wild animals howled in the night. This calm made Raven feel extremely on edge.

    She couldn''t help but think back on that same arctic landscape where she had spent nearly half a year protecting Eric, the solar scientist. There had been a huge forest a couple of kilometers from the research base. The trees in that forest were the largest Raven has ever seen, with trunks so large that five people holding hand wouldn''t be able to encircle them. The thick layer of snow covering every inch of the forest already made the it eerily quiet, but there was this one area that was even quieter... The hairs on the back on Raven''s neck stood up simply thinking of that place and what she had met there.

    The sensation wasn''t nearly as strong here, the silence not as prominent. She didn''t feel directly threatened here, but clearly the inhabitants of this passage seemed to feel differently.

    At the moment, it was dawn. The mercenaries that had kept watch during the later night shift were walking around and waking people up, but Raven didn''t need waking; even before, she had usually spent her nights cultivating while pretending to sleep, only sleeping for real every three days or so - she didn''t need more, no Spirit Adept really did. But since they entered the quiet area, Raven had remained extra vigilant.

    Raven pushed through the tent flap just as a night shift mercenary was about to lean closer to the tent, ready to wake the people within.

    "Oh! Morn''n!" The startled man backed up a bit, then nodded towards the tent. "Rest of ''em awake?"

    "Nope." No more reply was given by Raven as she strode of towards a nearby stream.

    It was the only stream they had come across over they past two weeks, and it was well needed - not only had their water supply been running a bit low, the entire caravan stank! Raven wished she had enough standing in the group to be able to order a mandatory wash for everyone, but unfortunately she didn''t have such authority. Then again, if she had she would only make her jealous - it wasn''t like she could strip down and wash herself thoroughly... As it was, she had to settle for splashing water her own face and limbs.

    A presence approached from behind.

    ''Oh, dear...'' Raven had hoped for a few more minutes of peace.

    "Good morning, Raven!" The annoyingly perky Mayeri dashed the last few steps and halted right behind Raven, giving the latter a firm shove forward at the same time.

    Had Raven not been, well, Raven, then Mayeri''s little stunt would have resulted in Raven tumbling head first into the water. Normally, Raven wouldn''t have bothered resisting - it was after all quite hot in this narrow valley with barely any wind, and childish play would be a good excuse for her to get wet without undressing - but not now. Not in this odd silence.

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    "Morning." Raven forced out.

    "Tche, how boring." Mayeri pouted over her failed ambush, but soon got over it. "Oh, today it''s a more yellow-ish green!"

    Mayeri was referring to Raven''s cheek. Mayeri had made it her mission to clearly inform Raven of the state of the ever changing shades of her bruise.

    "Is it? Fascinating." Raven didn''t sound very fascinated.

    "It is! It is! Who would have thought that a face could go through so many colors?" Mayeri giggled.

    "Then maybe you should become a nurse when you grow up. That way you''d..." Raven froze.

    ''How is this possible? Only two hundred meters! And there''s nearly thirty of them!''

    Raven had detected movement, but just like during the first attack, the crew moved towards them without making even the slightest sound. Only this time, they barely even displaced the wind as they slowly moved forward, as if flowed right through them. It wasn''t until the crew entered into the range in which Raven can detect activated spirit essence that she reacted to their presence. At least they moved a bit slower than the first crew.

    ''Shit!''

    "Mayeri, wanna play hide and seek?" Raven asked quickly, and without waiting for a reply she continued, "Go crouch under one of the carriages and count to one hundred while I hide - no peeking!"

    Mayeri''s eyes sparkled; Raven had never initiated a game before!

    "Okay!" Happily she ran of towards the carriages.

    With Mayeri out of the way, Raven quickly took in the state of the camp. Less then half of the men were out of their beds, and the few that were up were preoccupied getting either dressed for work or undressed for rest. Neither Hog nor Twig were up yet. Raven herself stood out in the open, if she through knives like last time the risk was high that people in camp would see her, and worse still, the approaching bandits. The mercenaries would gain no advantage like that. The same went for simply shouting: "Ambush". She needed to alert them in a way that gave the mercenaries the upper hand.

    Raven looked at the nearest tent. It was barely fifty meters away and it belonged to Twig.

    ''Twig seems to be in his thirties and has most likely lived a rather rich life, experience wise, so his spirit connections should number around twenty or twenty five. That would put his essence detection range at roughly forty meters... It''s not impossible. The bandits haven''t come much closer yet, so unless they have a freak like me...'' Frantically Raven weighed her options in her mind.

    "Sister?" Hoatzin had naturally noticed his sisters sudden pensiveness but Raven ignored him.

    ''But if I do this, they, or at least Twig, is likely to find out that I''m a spiritualist.'' Raven''s eyes suddenly lit up. ''Oh, that might work...''

    Focusing her attention on the movements within Twigs tent, Raven forcefully filled every cell in her body with spirit essence and then let it all burst free towards Twig''s tent. Raven was careful not to focus the spirit essence to harshly in one direction, if she did, it might take a visible form which would defeat the purpose of alerting only the mercenaries.

    For months now Raven had been working on merging her killing intent with her spirit essence and although it wasn''t complete, an overbearing feeling of eminent death still flowed out with her spirit essence. Within the tent, Twig''s eyes shot open, and cold sweat covered his body. Never before had he feared so much for his life as he did in this instant.

    ''I''m going to die!'' was his first thought. ''No! I must fight!'' was his next.

    He sprang to his feet and at the same time he let his spirit essence surge through is body, readying it for battle. He grabbed at his weapon and prepared to storm out of his tent.

    Outside, Raven reacted the moment Twig opened his eyes - her spirit essence had achieved the desired effect, so she instantly cut of her spirit essence and shouted: "I''ll hide now, Mayeri." Raven looked around, seemingly for a hiding place, and finally trotted over to a nearby tree. She climbed it with difficulty and settled on a branch, gazing of towards Mayeri.

    Before Raven had even reached the tree, Twig''s reaction to her spirit essence had already set of a chain reaction within the camp; as soon as the spiritualist that had Twig within their detection range noticed his spirit essence, they activated their own, thereby causing the next set of spiritualists to react and so on. The bandits where by then less than one hundred meters away by now - not close enough to sense the spirit essence but definitely close enough to hear and see the sudden activation in the campsite.

    By the time Raven sat on her branch, the battle had already begun.

    Contrary to the first time, there was no organized chaos this time, there was only chaos. Raven''s actions had merely given the mercenaries enough time to grab their weapons and ready their spirit essence. There had been no time to form and battle formations.

    Raven quietly observed to battle. It would seem like the bandits were going all out from the start. Over half of them were fighting with Divine Skills, and even though most of their spiritualist were low or mid Novices, they still clearly outnumbered the mercenaries that only had twelve spiritualists, yet with higher cultivation. Hog and Twig went all out as well, but the bandits also had a high Adept so they could not assist their fellow mercenaries freely. It was by far the bloodiest confrontation yet, and it didn''t take long before the first casualties came.

    While the mercenaries and bandits fought, Heron and Ardea had joined Mayeri by the carriage she had crouched under for the game of hide and seek. The other merchants where by another carriage and out of Raven''s line of sight, but as Raven glanced towards their direction, she noticed a small man moving rapidly towards the sturdiest carriage.

    As the man moved, no sound was made and the air seemed to part willfully in front of him. As Raven focused on the man she realized that she amazingly couldn''t sense any spirit essence coming from him, even though he was clearly using a Divine Skill. If he had been a bit more skilled at hiding his own presence, even Raven would have a hard time locating him with anything but sight.

    "It must be he that helped move everyone before..." Raven didn''t bother keeping her voice down, only someone right next to her, or someone with hundreds of spirit connections like her, would be able to hear her over all the fighting anyway. "I want that Skill."

    If it was only about hiding her own movement, Raven could do it with ease using her old skill, but to be able to hide others was something different. Additionally, there was the fact that the spirit essence of his skill wasn''t spreading - that too was worth looking into.

    Raven kept observing the man. At the moment she could do nothing else, but she was a patient girl. The bandit had reached his destination and swiftly entered the carriage. Moments later he came back out carrying a large chest that Raven recognized as the one containing Heron''s most precious wares and much of his money.

    "His companions fight the mercenaries while he snatches the goods - how despicable!" Hoatzin had noticed the small man as well.

    "It''s quite a solid tactic actually. The bandits don''t want to kill too excessively or the mercenary guilds might stop being lenient with them. Like this, the rest of the bandits will fight for a while, to let the man run away, and then they will withdraw. If all goes well, the merchant won''t realize anything is missing until much later."

    "Hmpf! It is dishonest nonetheless!"

    Raven rolled her eyes. "They are bandits, what do you expect?"

    Hoatzin fell silent and Raven kept watching the man as he was making his way out of the camp. If she was lucky, no one would notice him and Raven would be able to peruse him freely. Unfortunately, luck seemed to be on a break, because just as the man was about to reach the forest line of trees, Heron looked up from his hiding place and incidentally stared strait at the fleeing man.

    "My jewels! Hog, he''s getting away with my jewels!" Heron bellowed.

    Even over all the fighting Hog had no problem hearing Heron''s loud voice. He looked up from his fight and too spotted the man. Hog quickly shifted his body, thereby avoiding the sword sweep of the spiritualist he was fighting and then, using the forward momentum of his attacker and a well placed push, he shoved the spiritualist away from himself. The spiritualist only needed a few steps to regain his balance but by then Hog was already racing after the man escaping with the chest.

 Chapter 24: ...Or Not to Help?

    Raven cursed. With Hog pursuing the bandit she wouldn''t be able to act without drawing attention to herself.

    The man with the chest had entered the forest not far from Raven and Hog soon rushed by her as well. Raven considered her options for a moment but after a quick glance back at the battle taking place in the campsite, she made up her mind and swiftly descended from the tree. Silently, she started running after Hog and the escaping bandit. Even without any Divine Skill, Raven barely made any sounds as she rushed through the forest; her feet pattered lightly against the forest floor and her breathing was practically non-existent, despite pushing her muscles to their limits.

    ''The distance is growing..'' Raven frowned.

    She had hoped that she would be able to keep up by relying on her physique alone but clearly that wasn''t the case. At the moment there was roughly a hundred meters between her and Hog - and an additional seventy meters or so to the bandit - but the distance was slowly growing. She could feel the spirit essence the Hog in front of her had activated; most likely both of them were using agility type Martial Skills to increase their speed, just that the bandit was using his odd movement skill from before and therefore couldn''t be sensed.

    ''Well, they shouldn''t notice my spirit essence at this distance.''

    Raven''s red spirit core stirred and strong spirit essence flowed to her legs and feet. Milliseconds later, Raven''s figure grew hazy as she dashed forward with sudden speed. Shadow Walk might not be a skill made for long-distance running, but it was enough for Raven to catch up a bit and keep herself at a average distance of just over sixty meters from Hog.

    The chase continued for another twenty minutes before the bandit suddenly came to a stop. Raven noticed his abrupt halt before Hog did and immediately slowed down, but instead of following behind Hog, she started to slowly move towards the bandit''s left flank.

    ''Why stop now?'' wondered Raven as she moved to the left.

    Either the bandit had grown tired of running and decided to make a stance or there was an other reason for him to stop running at this time and place. She used all of her senses to try and figure out why the bandit had stopped here of all places, but noting was out of the ordinary; the area was just like any other part of this mountain forest - a sloping land covered with densely packed trees. However, the bandit didn''t seem very tired which forced Raven to suspect the later option nonetheless.

    While Raven silently moved to the side, Hog had already caught up with the bandit and they were now standing less then ten meters apart.

    "Well then, it was a good strategy but ultimately you were caught." said Hog with a steady voice that was seemingly unfazed by the intense chase that had just ended. "Hand me the chest and I will let you leave unharmed."

    The bandit sneered. "I think you''ve got it the wrong way around, sir mercenary. Leave now and I won''t kill you."

    Hog raised an eyebrow in surprise before he shook his head. The bandit in front of him looked fairly viscous, with a long scar running down his right cheek, but he was clearly not older than, at most, thirty. Considering the bandit''s occupation and age, it was doubtful that he had a higher cultivation than Hog himself - Hog was considered fairly skilled in this area, he had after all managed to become a peak Adept despite only attending a low level spirit academy, he even could have joined one of the imperial army as a soldier if he had wanted to.

    "I warned you." Hog said as his spirit essence surged into his sword.

    Of to the side, Raven smiled ruefully as she felt the pressure of Hog''s spirit essence flow over her. ''There really is a big difference between low Adepts and peak high Adepts... his essence is so much denser than mine. He would be a very tough opponent for me.''

    The temperature in the area dropped several degrees and a layer of frost covered Hog''s arm and sword. He dashed forward and swung his sword at the bandit''s neck.

    ''Frozen blade? A level four skill... Impressive.''

    Raven watched as Hog''s sword approached its target and Raven couldn''t help but frown; the man seemed totally unfazed by the approaching sword and still wore the same sneer from before. Suddenly, the bandit raised his hand and immense spirit essence flowed to his palm.

    ''Impossible!'' Raven almost shouted out load.

    The man easily stopped Hog''s attack with his bare hand, and as the pressure from his spirit essence reached Raven it made hard for her to breath. Without hesitating for a second Raven turned around and fled.

    "Where are you going?" Hoatzin shouted in her head.

    Raven didn''t answer, she just kept running.

    "Turn around, Sister! Hog will need your help."

    "Are you kidding?" Raven finally hissed back. "That man is a low Spirit Champion! He can swat me like a fly!"

    "But Hog will die if you don''t help him." Hoatzin pleaded.

    "No doubt, but that is not on me. Besides, he is a mercenary; he knew the risks when he signed up for the job." Raven didn''t slow down at all. An important aspect of being a good assassin was to know your own limits - do not go for the kill unless you know you can win.

    "Sister! Why not help him when you might make a difference?"

    "Because I value our lives higher than his..." Raven''s voice was calm but inside she felt great apprehension; she could tell where her brother was going with this and if her brother truly asked her for something she wouldn''t want to deny him it - even before he lost his body, Raven would have gone to great lengths for her brother, now she felt she owed him everything.

    "Turn around! You were able to use the Twilight Lullaby on our guards back home, you should be able to do the same with this low Champion. Sister, at least try to help him!"

    Hoatzin''s voice had grown pleading and Raven finally stopped running. Closing her eyes tightly, a pained expression filled her face.

    ''You are too softhearted, Brother... One day it will be the end of both of us.'' Regardless of her inner thoughts, Raven turned around and rushed back towards Hog and the Champion bandit.

    She had been able to hear the fighting all along, but the moment she came within two hundred meters of the two, a shock wave of spirit essence slammed against her mind. Raven''s face paled slightly under the pressure and she had to work hard to keep her breathing steady. Even though she had lived with several low Spirit Champions for the past four years, she had never seen any of them fighting all out; during training, they usually never used their full force, and when they did they had always asked Raven and Hoatzin to leave in fear of them getting indirectly hurt. The physical pressure generated by high levels of spirit essence was harmful to others, regardless if they could sense the spirit essence behind it or not.

    Raven pushed on, but she couldn''t help but be shocked by the scene in front of her once she reached her previous location. Most of the trees in a hundred meter radius had been utterly destroyed; some lay on the ground in shattered pieces, encased in ice, others were reduced to piles of charred ash. The ground was a tattered mess of ice and smoldering embers. At the center of this area, two blurry figures were charging at each other, one with a sword turned white by frost that caused the ground under it to freeze as it flew over, the other with a sword encased in bright red flames that burnt anything it came even close to touching.

    Whenever they clashed, Hog''s lean body would be pushed back several steps while the small bandit seemed unaffected. Yet, Hog was faring better than Raven expected in the fight - his body was covered in burns and deep, bleeding gashes, his face was filled with fatigue, but he was still alive.

    Raven didn''t bother retrieving the Nightingale''s Blessing from her spacial ring; if she needed to use it, she would die instantly anyway. Instead she remained at the outskirts of the ruined area as she stimulated her spirit core and readied her spirit essence.

    At that moment, Hog, who had just been pushed back yet again, paused his assault to observe his opponent. The bandit was still sneering at him with a hint of amusement, as if he was only playing around. Hog couldn''t believe his bad luck. How could there be a low Spirit Champion among a group of bandits? Basically every Champion was given a high position an the Imperial Army, and the salary would far surpass what this bandit could possibly hope to earn as a bandit here.

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    "...Okay..." Hog panted; "...take the chest... let''s stop fighting."

    Hog wasn''t stupid, he knew he had little no no chance of winning. He would have stopped fighting earlier if the bandit had given him the opportunity.

    "Stop?" The bandit chuckled. "I believe I gave you a chance to leave before. Now that you know my strength, I''m afraid I can''t let you leave."

    Hog frowned, he understood the bandit''s reasoning - if the neighboring prefectures found out that a low Champion was robing people in the passage between the Gate Towns, they would definitely send an horde of spiritualists to get rid of the problem.

    "...I suspect that promising to keep it to myself won''t help?" Hog tried.

    "No."

    Resignation filled Hog''s eyes.

    "Well then. Let''s get this over with." Hog straightened his stance and the sword in his hand was covered by an even thicker layer of ice. With a loud shout he rushed towards the bandit.

    The bandit raised his own sword to intercept Hog, but just as he was about to activate his own Divine Skill an odd tune filled his ears.

    "Huh?"

    The distraction didn''t even last for an entire second but by the time the bandit''s mind had cleared, blood was flowing profusely down his left arm. Hog''s sword had stabbed straight through the bandit''s left shoulder.

    The bandit wasn''t the only one who was surprised. Hog had never thought that his attack would actually reach its mark. For a moment he stared at his sword that was still lodged in the bandit''s shoulder. He tried to figure out what had happened, but Hog had been to focused on his own attack to notice anything else.

    Raven on the other hand was panting heavily. She had used much of her spirit essence to launch the strongest attack she had attempted with the Twilight Lullaby so far. She had only whistled the tune for a second - she could feel the bandit shaking of her influence at that point so she had stopped - but she had nonetheless used up almost a third of her spirit essence. Raven had hoped that Hog would manage to give the bandit a lethal blow during that brief moment but judging by the position of Hog''s sword it was unlikely. Raven knew that her own attacks would do little harm to the low Spirit Champion - his body''s defenses would simply be to strong for her to break through. If the bandit was to be defeated, then Hog needed to attack the man again.

    "Bloody old man, don''t just stand there - attack!" Raven roared.

    Her shout brought the to men back to their senses. Hog hurriedly jumped away from the bandit and prepared to attack once more. Without looking around to find out whom had shouted, he rushed at the bandit with his sword held high. He didn''t know what had happened earlier but he couldn''t help but feel like it wasn''t a coincidence, and that therefore it might happen again.

    However, Hog wasn''t the only one who reacted to Raven''s shout. Contrary to Hog, the bandit lifted his head and stared directly at Raven. When he had been distracted earlier, he had felt a string of spirit essence invading his mind and the little brat fifty meters away from him was definitely its source. Filled with hate and shame for being wounded because of a mere low Spirit Adept, the bandit ignored the approaching Hog and instead swung his enflamed sword towards Raven.

    A river of fire burst out of the sword and flowed towards Raven with great speed, but Raven stood her ground. As soon as the fire had left the sword, the bandit turned his attention back to Hog. With an even more sinister sneer on his face then before, he raised his sword towards the mercenary, ready to strike back. However, just as Hog got within his sword''s range, and the fire river was about to reach Raven, that same odd tune filled the air yet again and invaded the bandit''s mind. The alluring force behind it was even stronger this time and even though the bandit had been expecting it, he couldn''t help but pause his movements for half a second. Merely half a second. It sounds like so little time but within that half second, so many things happened. Once it was over, silence filled the forest, leaving only the faint crackling sound of burning wood.

    At that moment no one was left standing. During that half second, Hog had used his last strength and spirit essence to duck down under the bandit''s outstretched sword and dive, sword first, into the man, resulting in Hog''s sword piercing straight through the bandit''s abdomen and spirit core. The conclusion was that both men now lay unconscious and bleeding on the ground. For that to happened, Raven had been forced to focus all her spirit essence on controlling the Twilight Lullaby to its utmost. No spirit essence had been left for her to evade the approaching fire river, so she had been forced to rely solely on her physical strength to avoid the attack - something easier said then done, considering it had come from an enraged Spirit Champion.

    Fortunately, Raven had managed to avoid the worst of it but both her legs had been badly burned, and the fabric of her now tattered and burnt pants had merged with her burnt skin. The pain was excruciating, but not enough for her to pass out.

    "Sister! Sister, are you okay?" her frantic brother kept yelling in her head.

    "What do you think?" muttered Raven so low that not even Hoatzin had heard her.

    "Sister! Speak to me - are you okay?"

    "I''m alive so quiet down..." Raven''s voice was horse but stable.

    "Oh thank goodness!" he breathed a sigh of relief.

    Rolling on to her back Raven couldn''t help reflecting back on what had just happened. ''There really is a big difference in the efficiency for the Twilight Lullaby when it is launched slowly versus straight out. The guards back home were knocked out a lot longer... I should practice using it in combat more.''

    Groaning, Raven she forced herself to stand up and walk over to the two unconscious men. She carefully sat down on the ground next to them and checked their pulses.

    "Are they alive?" asked Hoatzin.

    "Yes, but the bandit''s pulse is getting weaker - he will die soon."

    "And Hog?"

    "He should be fine; I don''t have enough spirit essence left to check him thoroughly but his pulse is at least steady."

    Raven turned her attention back to the bandit.

    "Since you are still alive, let''s see if we can''t pry that movement Skill out of you."

    Raven placed her hand on the mans forehead and used the little spirit essence she had left to invade the mans mind, aiming for his soul prism. The man shuddered under her touch be didn''t stir. Once her spirit essence had reached its target, Raven forcefully made a spirit connection with the mans soul. Usually this would be impossible since, even in an unconscious state, a spiritualists spirit core would work to protect the soul prism, but since that very core had been destroyed, nothing prevented Raven from making a temporary spirit connection with the bandit.

    Of course, such a spirit connection would still be a two-way-bridge, if the man had been conscious, he would no doubt have been shocked and perhaps even scared by Raven''s extremely strong soul. As it was, the bandit made no signs of life as Raven closely examined the Skill imprints in his soul prism.

    To Raven''s surprise, she found that the man actually had the imprints for quite a few high leveled Divine Skills, at least, they were high leveled for a rogue bandit; apart from the level tree fire Skill he had used on her, Flaming River, there was also the level four area attack Meteor Descent, that hadn''t been used in the battle, and the level four elemental strengthening skill Inferno Sword. Although practical, none of these really suited Raven''s fighting style so she didn''t bother transferring the imprints.

    What did peak her interest though was a level three breathing technique that would allow her to add 30% to the rate of her spirit essence absorption - it wasn''t an outstanding technique, but it was better than none. After transferring the imprint for it she once more searched the soul prism and finally found what she had been looking for from the start, the mysterious movement Skill.

 Chapter 25: Sending of the Dead

    Author''s note: A small warning - I have yet to proof read this (it''s 2:33 in the morning here so it ain''t going to happen until tomorrow) so if your picky wait a day before you read this.

    <hr />

    As Raven was inspecting the movement technique more closely, the bandits body shuddered as the last breaths of life were about to leave him. Not lingering any further, Raven quickly transferred the inscription to her own soul prism, Just as the wordsVoid Tracker filled her mind, the bandit''s originally orange soul prism faded in to a dull grey hue before shattering - the man had died.

    ''That was close...'' Raven let go of the breath she hadn''t noticed she was holding. ''I should have gone for the Void Tracker from the beginning. It would have been a pity to miss it!''

    A satisfied smile filled Raven''s face. The Void Tracker Divine Skill fitted her quite well. It was a level five Skill with three stages of mastery. The first stage would let her nullify any noise made by the movement of anyone within her range - that range would depend on her cultivation, but at the time her limit should be at roughly 10 meters. The second stage would nullify the wind resistance for anyone within the same range, instantly giving a speed boost that would increase exponentially as the original seed rose. At low speeds it would at most make it harder to detect the movement, but at higher speeds this effect would be enormous. Finally, in the third stage the Void Tracker would hide the activation of any agility related Divine Skill, also this was applicable to others if mastered.

    ''This is quite a refined Divine Skill, it is of little use in itself but combined with other Skills it will have great benefits! It seems to draw very little spirit essence so once I''ve mastered the second stage, my Shadow Walk will become many time more deadly, perhaps comparable to a level four skill!''

    Raven drew a deep breath and lied down on the ground between the two male bodies. She was just about to close her eyes to rest for a bit when she suddenly heard faint running in the distance and felt the presence of 10-15 people, perhaps four hundred away.

    "The bandits are returning!" She spoke in a whisper and glanced over at the chest on the ground a few meters away and then at the still unconscious Hog. ''Sorry Heron.''

    Ignoring both the chest and the dead bandit, Raven forced herself to stand and then hoisted Hog over her shoulders with a classical fireman''s lift.

    ''I''m glad it wasn''t Twig who ran after the bandit...''

    Her soul prism was frantically working on absorbing new spirit essence for her to use, but she was still a bit short if she wanted to activate any Divine Skills, so she had no other choice but to run away relying on her old skills.

    She rushed downwards and into the forest, making sure to stay to the side of the approaching bandits. Once the bandits were less than a hundred meters away from Raven and her unconscious load, she crouched down behind a large tree and steadied her breath. With a free hand she covered Hog''s mouth, to lessen the noise of his breathing as well. Then she waited.

    The bandits were not running at full speed so it took a couple of minutes for them to pass them by and run an additional one hundred meters up the mountain side. Raven stood once more and continued her decent; soon, the bandits would come across the body of their comrade and Raven wanted to put some distance between her and them before that happened.

    Surely enough, before even three more minutes had passed, Raven could hear the shocked yelps of the bandits that had passed earlier. Raven had feared that they might start search the area for the man''s killer, but the bandit''s were either to shocked to act at the moment or they figured that whoever was strong enough to kill that man also was strong enough to kill them, either way they stayed put for a moment and then continued further up the mountain.

    ---------

    It took Raven nearly two hours to carry Hog back to the campsite and be the time she reached it, her legs had gone numb from the pain. She didn''t bother hiding her strength as she walked out from the tree line and approached the stream by the camp.

    The air was filled with smoke and the smell of burning flesh. Judging by the amount of people she sensed within the camp and the bandits that had passed her in the forest, there had been sixteen casualties, twelve bandits and four mercenaries. Raven didn''t bother calling out to anyone and simply let Hog slip down from her back next to the stream before she waded out into the stream and let the cool water wash over her burnt caffs.

    The water made the burns hurt even more but Raven made no outward sign of it. With I''iwi''s dagger, she tore through her pants right above the knees and carefully pealed of the burnt tatters that had merged with her wounds. The burns were the worst around her Limiters, that had been heated up but the flames, and she briefly considered taking them of but opted against it in the end.

    "Oi! Shouldn''t you guys be a bit more vigilant? The bandits didn''t leave that long ago..." Raven called out as she washed her burns - the fact that no one had noticed her return yet was indeed quite disappointing.

    Raven''s call did the trick, within seconds over ten men came running, with Twig and Heron in the lead.

    "Raven!" Heron shouted with relief; "You are okay!"

    Raven lifted an eyebrow and glanced down at her legs. ''I wouldn''t class third degree burns on a kid as being okay...'' But before she could say anything Twig noticed Hog on the ground.

    "Hog!" He dove down next to the man. "What happened?"

    "The bandit that fled was a low Champion."

    As Raven''s words the entire group of ten gasped.

    "A low Champion? That is not possible!" Heron exclaimed. It was clear he didn''t believe Raven''s claim.

    "Wait until Hog wakes and he can tell you himself." Raven got out of the stream, revealing her burnt lower legs in the process.

    "Holy...! How can you even walk with those burns?" Just as last time, Twig was first to react to Raven''s injuries.

    Raven shrugged.

    "Get Dove and Martial!" Twig ordered and one of the younger mercenaries ran of to a the largest tent only to return seconds later, followed by two other mercenaries - one dress in Hog''s white robes, one in Twig''s red.

    Dove, the white one, imminently bent down and got to work on Hog''s wounds; a warm light engulfed them both as very pure spirit essence flowed from Dove to Hog. Slowly, the bleeding seized and the burns lighted.

    ''Healing Divine Skills'' thought Raven.

    At the same time, Martial motioned for Raven to sit down. Raven considered the offer for a second before she obediently sat down, but before Martial''s hand reached her, Raven activated her Limiters to bring down her cultivation to the low Novice level and shielded her soul prism with her spirit essence. If a healer cared to look, they would learn the cultivation level and soul strength of their patients. The fact that she was a spiritualist couldn''t be hidden much longer but some secrets still had to be kept.

    Martial''s hands started to glow with the same warm light as Dove''s and when his hand touched her legs a pleasantly soothing feeling spread within her. Quickly Raven''s red and blistered skin started to pale and heal, even the areas were her skin had been charred black lightened noticeably. It only took a couple of minutes for the heavily burnt legs go from red and charred to merely a couple of shades pinker than usual. By then, Martial''s forehead was damp and he stopped his treatment.

    "Try flexing your feet." He urged.

    ''So he didn''t check, huh?'' Raven thought to herself before complied to his demand and moved her feet. A sudden flash of pleased surprise crossed her face. ''There is barely any pain at all!''

    Martial noticed her reaction. "Impressive right? Healing burns is relatively easy - you should be back to normal by tomorrow."

    Raven smiled but then narrowed her eyes and glared at Martial. "Hey, if you guys had healers, why didn''t you heal my face or Ardea''s hand?"

    Martial blinked in surprise and then started laughing. "Haha, well healing is usually an expensive extra service - see it as a bonus for bringing Old Hog back."

    Hoatzin snorted. "Stingy people. Who lets a woman walk around injured for weeks when they could do something about it?"

    "Bandits?" Offered Raven sarcastically in a soft voice.

    "Huh?" Martial asked.

    "Nothing." Raven shrugged, but both her and Hoatzin laughed on the inside.

    Martial paused a moment and then winked at Raven. "Besides, the woman deserved it."

    It was Raven''s turn to blink in surprise.

    "How is Hog?" Martial didn''t wait for a reply and instead asked of Hog''s condition.

    Dove''s forehead was a lot more damp then Martial''s had been when he looked up from his work. "He will live but it will take a while before he comes to." he looked at Heron and Twig. "We shouldn''t move him until he wakes up."

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "How long should that take?" Heron asked.

    "At most a day."

    Heron frowned. "What if the bandits come back?"

    "They won''t be back." Raven chipped in.

    Everyone looked at her questioningly.

    "Their strongest and half of the rest died today, but they got the loot they were after - why come back?"

    Only now did Heron realize that even though Hog was back, the chest the bandit had stolen was not. Heron''s knees went soft under him and he sank down to the ground with a defeated look on his face. Most of his earning had been in that chest. It was a hard blow for his business.

    "Raven, won''t you tell us what happened?" Twig asked.

    "The low Champion bandit and Hog fought, but Hog managed to kill the bandit, and I then helped him back."

    Silence.

    There was a lot in Raven''s statement that gave the men around her found unreasonable. Ignoring the fact that the bandits having a low Spirit Champion among their ranks - that didn''t fight but did the hit-and-run - was a preposterous notion in itself, if it was true, there should be no way for Hog to win; the difference between the Adept realm and the Champion realm was just too big. Secondly, if Raven was telling the truth, then the little boy in front of them - that seemed no older than seven - had subsequently carried the wounded Hog back to the campsite, with third degree burns his legs. Raven shouldn''t have the strength to lift Hog at all!

    Seeing the men''s looks of disbelief Raven sighed and held up her hand. The men gasped in shock as a globe of pure spirit essence flowed out of her hand and hovered in her palm.

    "You... you''re a spiritualist!?" Twig staggered backwards.

    Raven rolled her eyes and pointed to her Limiters. "How did you think I escaped in the first place, with these shackles on, without being a spiritualist?"

    "Ah..." Twig hesitated. It was indeed impressive for a bandit slave to have fled despite having Limiters on. Everyone had assumed that the Limiters were the kind that only functioned as weights and trackers, as they still did.

    "So the bandits that you were sold to didn''t know that you were a spiritualist and gave you normal Limiters, then you used tour spirit essence to block the tracking and ran away..." Heron was mumbling this absentmindedly to himself but everyone had heard him. Realizing his his mistake, his face snapped up to Raven''s. "Ah, I''m sorry I didn''t mean..."

    Raven shook her head. "I''m not an idiot. I guessed you had figured out my past..." she paused; "...but how did you know my parents had sold me?"

    Heron smiled apologetically. "You seemed more wronged then depressed when I talked about your parents so I figures they weren''t dead as you had said."

    "Oh," Raven sat quietly for a while before she added; "by the way, I wasn''t a spiritualist when they sold me - I awakened just a few months ago."

    "Makes sense," Twig nodded, but then furrowed his brows; "but that only explains how you could manage carry Hog back here. I still can''t see how Hog could possibly defeat a low Spirit Champion..."

    Raven smiled a half smile. "I''m good at distractions."

    The men blinked at her in surprise and wanted her to explain more in detail, but Raven refused. "Ask Hog when he wakes up" was all she would say. She wished to reveal as little about her abilities as possible, so she would wait until Hog''s version of the events were out; that way she wouldn''t tell anyone more than necessary.

    Eventually they stopped asking and instead got to work at setting up a shelter around Hog, so he would be kept warm until he woke up. Raven walked around the campsite to assess the damage and at the same time she strained her ears to listen to the conversations around her.

    "A spiritualist at seven! How is that even possible?"

    "He must have been through hell with those bandits, or else how could he gain enough spirit connections?"

    "Doesn''t this make him qualified to apply to Sky Academy?"

    "Are you kidding? He would be called a genius among geniuses even there!"

    Not surprisingly, most talk centered around Raven and her being a spiritualist. Somehow, her revelation had caused the mood in camp to lighten slightly. Even those who were injured and currently being treated by Dove and Martial seemed a bit distracted from their pains.

    Mayeri was currently sleeping, the shook of seeing so many people die had been a bit too much for her so Dove had sedated her, but Ardea looked at Raven with a new light. She walked over to stand next to Raven whom was currently observing the funeral pier for the dead bandits - the dead mercenaries would get their own pier later that night.

    "I''m really sorry about hitting you before." Her voice was soft but attentive. "I realize now that not only were you actually protecting Mayeri, you also didn''t strike back at me even though you could have done so easily... I''m sorry."

    Even if Ardea had protected her on the occasion of the second attack, she hadn''t actually apologized. As a mother, even though she felt she had overreacted in her actions, she still blamed Raven for not keeping Mayeri within line of sight from the campsite. She hadn''t truly forgiven Raven until now.

    "It''s okay. You didn''t know." Raven shrugged and walked away.

    ---------

    Later that night, a second funeral pier had been built, and the four dead mercenaries had been cleaned and placed on top. Amazingly, Hog had just moments ago regained his consciousness and was seated with the rest of the group around the pier - he had yet to speak of the battle in the mountain woods since he awoke just in time to partake in the funeral. Only Mayeri was missing as her soul had not yet stabilized after the day''s events.

    Twig stood next to the pier holding a burning torch.

    "We honor our fellow soldiers who have fallen in battle." He bellowed.

    "We honor them." the mercenaries chanted back in low voices.

    "May their next journey be victorious!" Twig continued.

    "Be victorious." the chant rang out once more.

    "And embrace us when we join you!"

    "We will join you."

    As the mercenaries chanted the last line, twig lowered the torch to the pier and used his own spirit essence to stimulate the fire; it only took seconds for the entire pier to be ablaze with burning flames.

    The group sat in silence as the watched they flames consume the dead. The flames stretched high into the night sky, as if licking the stars. No doubt this fire could be seen from kilometers away, but they didn''t care. Sending of their dead with respect was to these mercenaries a lot more important than avoiding more attacks.

    Raven couldn''t help but feel that is was a bit foolish - why risk the living for the the sake of the dead - but at the same time she understood that the people around her needed to vent their feelings. They had not had her training, they were still normal.

    Staring into the flames Raven couldn''t help but think back on that blonde little girl she had shared a bed with for a while back at the Camp, in her old life. The girl''s life had ended unceremoniously, and her body had been treated just as unceremoniously after her death - it had just been tossed in the mass grave not far from the Camp. Years later, when Raven had become the queen of assassins and had gained more freedom in picking her missions, Raven had chosen a mission in the little blonde girls home land. She had on a whim, spent some time trying to locate the girl''s parents'' graves. Once she found it, she had stared at it for hours simply walking away without a word.

    ''I should have done this then... but, I wasn''t strong enough to dare.''

    Slowly Raven opened her mouth and started singing. Her voice was soft and deep as she sang words in a langue this world had never heard before - it was not Raven''s original langue but rather the native tongue of the bleak little girl. Raven let her spirit essence meld with her voice and as the foreign words echoed out into the night their meanings were nonetheless clear - Raven''s song was not one for your ears but for your soul.

    The people around the fire slightly lifted their heads to glance at the young boy sitting of to the side. The flames made the already red eyes of the youth seem like smoldering embers that stared distantly into the fire. His voice was like an angel but the melody was eerie, and held a mellow undertone. As they them selves looked back into the flames, they seemed to see a story unfolding within the flames; it was a story about a young girl that had been transformed into a songbird by a evil stepmother and then been torn away from her love.

    Raven had chosen to use her spirit essence mostly out of courtesy for her dead friend, but as she sang she could feel her soul linking with the words, binding them to it. When raven reached the chorus, a bright white light suddenly surged from within the depths of Raven''s soul. The pure spirit essence, that Raven couldn''t control, merged with her own spirit essence and before she knew it her deep alto voice was joined by a bright soprano voice, singing in tandem with her.

 Chapter 26: Answers

    Moisture filled Raven''s eyes; she knew that voice! It was the little bleak girl from her past life - the little girl had taught this very song to her and they had often, in secret, crept away to sing it when no one paid attention.

    Their two voices complemented each other beautifully; sometimes almost as one in the same melody, sometimes separately in their own melodies that nonetheless melded perfectly with each other. The people around her sat as if in a trance as they observed the story in the fire; by now, the poor bird had narrowly managed to escape her own brother that was hunting her, not knowing her true identity, only to be captured by a wile and gruesome knight that fancied her wings.

    When the tale of the transformed girl was coming to an end, and the songbird was about to be slain by that very knight that had captured her, Raven felt how the foreign spirit essence grabbed hold of the killing intent Raven had been working on merging with her spirit essence and forcefully let it surge forward. It didn''t take physical form this time but rather spread like a haze around her. As the haze reached the people around her they froze solid in fear.

    Their vision in the flames seemed to leap out at them and they saw the death of the little bird, as if it caused by their own hands. In the distance came the grieving lover searching for bloody vengeance and they felt their heart beats slowing down slightly, as if it had already excepted the death that would inevitably come.

    The song came to an end, and utter silence descended - even the crackling noise of the flames seemed to have been dimmed.

    Raven, unaware of what had happened to the people around her, wore a look of wonder on her face. She quickly inspected her soul, only to find that a new Divine Skill had been etched into it. As she focused on it the words Ode of Woe were formed in her mind. This Divine Skill seemed to be the completed version of the merger of her spirit essence and her killing intent that Raven had been working on lately.

    This Divine Skill, despite it''s name, was not in form of a song, but rather a skill that allowed her to manipulate her killing intent into mentally attacking her opponents. Before, she had used the immense pressure of her killing intent to critically damage weaker souls, but that had been comparable smacking a fly with a rolled up newspaper - sure, it would kill a fly but it would do little damage in used on anything else.

    This was different. With the Ode of Woe, her killing intent became like a blade. A frightening blade of death. If used on someone with a stronger soul it would mostly cause them immense fear, but if it was someone of similar soul strength they would suffer damages to their soul that would make it harder for them to use Divine skills. If her opponents had a weaker soul then herself it might even cause them to subconsciously shut down their bodies, killing themselves in fear.

    However, if the opponent had a stronger cultivation than her, they might manage to defend themselves with their own spirit essence or killing intent, but it would be hard.

    ''What in heaven''s name just happened?''

    Raven could explain why the voice of her dead friend had accompanied her or why she suddenly had a break through leading to a new Divine Skill.

    *clap* *clap* *clap*

    Yanked out of her pondering by the sudden noise, Raven instinctively drew a dagger  and tried to find the source of the sound.

    ''What the...?'' As Raven looked around the campsite she noticed that everyone present had seemingly frozen in place, staring lifelessly at the fire in front of them. Raven followed their gazes and drew in a sharp breath.

    Slowly walking out from behind the burning pier came a odd looking young man in light green robes. Over all, his appearance was quite average; he was neither particularly handsome nor was he ugly to look at, he was also of average height and build. What made his appearance odd was that sticking out from the long white hair that hung over the man''s shoulders was a pair of snow white vulpine ears and stretching behind him was a white fluffy tail. He was looking at Raven with pleased eyes.

    "A most curious creature, you are." He said pensively as he came to a halt only meters away from Raven. "A young human girl, pretending to be a boy, that sings with a soul touched voice. Most curious, indeed."

    Raven stared at the man in shock. Not only did the man in front of her see through her charade with ease, Raven noticed that she couldn''t sense him at all; her eyes could see him but no other of her senses picked him up. This was not like with the Void Tracker, where the sound and spirit essence was nullified, this was something much more profound. It was as if the young man in front of her didn''t exist, or perhaps more as if he was one with the world, and therefore impossible to differentiate from his surroundings.

    "I must say," the vulpine-eared man continued; "you surprise me. When I heard from my grandson that he had been rescued by a human child I thought that was curious act in itself, but when I find you I learn that you are a four-year-old Spirit Adept, whom has been soul touched. To think I''d find such a human on this continent..." He paused and looked down on her right hand, a look of surprise flashed across his face. "Curious indeed."

    Raven''s mind reeled. So many questions rushed through her mind that she didn''t even know where to start. As if he''d read her mind the vulpine-eared man spoke yet again.

    "How about you introduce yourself first?" he smiled knowingly as he spoke.

    The question snapped Raven out of her confusion. One thing she was sure of - the man or creature before he was stronger than her. By a lot. She hurriedly bowed.

    "Junior Raven Night greats Senior..." her respectful voice trailed of in a question.

    "Raven is it? Fitting name..." a flash of mischief crossed the creature''s eyes, before he continued; "I have many names she-human, but you may call me Fenris."

    "Junior greats Senior Fenris." Raven repeated, together with another bow. She considered asking what type of creature this Fenris was but she quickly opted against it - what would she do if he took offense?

    Fenris stared at Raven for a moment. "So tell me, young Raven, who''s soul is it that touched you?"

    Raven frowned. "Soul?"

    "Earlier, when you sang, a remnant soul emerged and help you create a new Divine Skill. Who was it?" Fenris spoke as if his words were basic knowledge.

    "If you are referring to the second voice that sang than it..." Raven paused and glanced down on the Life Link. For some reason she felt that it was important to tell the truth to the man but if she did her brother would know she had been lying about her memories.

    Fenris noticed her quick glace. "Oh, I see..." He waved a hand and out of nowhere a gentle layer of spirit essence flowed around Raven''s hand, encasing the Life Link within. "The boy inside can''t hear you now."

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Raven jumped back but the spirit essence followed her. "How did you know th.."

    "That there is a boy inside the ring? Of course I can tell - I made it after all." Just like before Fenris spoke as if it was the most common thing in the world.

    Raven expression went from extreme shock to sparkling hope. "The you know how to restore him?"

    Fenris raised a white eyebrow and looked down on the ring "Curious..."

    "Huh?" Raven didn''t see what was Fenris had found so interesting.

    "Well we shall discuss that in a minute," Fenris''s focus returned to Raven; "first, tell me about the soul that touched you and sang with you."

    Raven didn''t hesitate at all this time. The creature in front of her might have a way to help her brother - she wold answer whatever questions he asked.

    "The voice belonged to to a friend of mine... I killed her."

    "And she chose to touch you? How curious."

    Raven could help but ask; "Senior Fenris, you keep talking about being soul touched. What do you mean by that? I have never heard of such a thing."

    Fenris snorted and his ears pulled back.

    "I''m not surprised. This continent is so primitive." before Raven could respond. he continued; "Listen, she-human, being soul touched by someone is very rare. It only has a chance at happening when someone, who cares very dearly for you, dies while trying to protect you. When that person dies, if they feel strongly enough about wanting to protect you, their soul will touch yours and they will leave a very special kind of imprint. It is hard to say what the imprint will do - the one who has been touched cannot control it - but usually it is either activated during a moment of great peril or during a cultivation breakthrough. It would seem your friend wished for you to grow stronger and therefore helped you create your Divine Skill."

    Raven stared blankly at Fenris. If she hadn''t experienced it herself, she would have never believed his story, but now it was the only explanation that made sense.

    ''She wanted to protect me? Oh, Inga...'' For the first time since that little, bleak, girl''s death, Raven cried for her.

    "You shouldn''t mourn her now, young Raven, she has done what she wished to do."

    Raven used her free hand to brush of the tears on her face.

    "Will it happen again?" she asked.

    Fenris smiled weakly. "No, by helping you her soul remnant has been released. She is gone."

    "Oh."

    The two stood in silence for a while - very odd sight with them surrounded by the entranced mercenaries and merchants - before Raven took a deep breath and then lifted her hand.

    "Will Senior Fenris tell me about this ring now? Can my brother be restored."

    "Why don''t you ask him yourself." As he spoke Fenris waved his arm and the spirit essence around the Life Link disappeared.

    "RAAAAVEN!" Hoatzin''s voice suddenly boomed inside Raven''s head.

    "Not so loud, big Brother. I can her you just fine."

    Hoatzin breathed a sigh of relief. "Not a moment ago you couldn''t! Ever since that... that creature... waved his hand I have cut of from the outside world! I haven''t seen or heard anything!" he sounded quite mad.

    "No need to get angry little man, your sister and I had something to discuss."

    "You can hear him?" Raven was shocked.

    Fenris gave her a condescending look. "I made it, remember."

    Within the ring Hoazin became as quiet as a grave.

    "Didn''t you have something to ask him?" Fenris continued.

    "Huh? No, I asked you how to restore him and you..." Raven''s eyes widened. "Big Brother, do you know what needs to be done to restore your body?"

    "What!? Of... of course not!" He tried to hide his nervousness but how could he possibly fool Raven.

    "Brother! Why didn''t you tell me?"

    "Sister, I... I don''t.." Hoatzin stutterd.

    "Perhaps he didn''t approve of the method." Fenris offered. By the looks of it he seemed quite amused by the two sibling''s argument.

    "Tell me." Raven basically ordered her brother.

    "Fine..." Hoatzin sounded deflated; "if a spiritualist dies while wearing this ring, then I can take over his body and soul prism. I can then live in that body instead of my own."

    "Ah." Raven understood.

    Her brother was too pure-hearted to willingly kill someone for their body alone - especially if he wanted a body that fit his age. Raven herself wouldn''t hesitate to arrange it for her brother but he would hate her for it. It explained why Hoatzin had chosen to keep silent about it, until now, and had been so reluctant to talk about getting his body back.

    "But, wait, how did you know of this method?" Raven asked her brother.

    "I left instructions in the ring before I dropped it." Fenris answered before Hoatzin could answer.

    "Why would you do such a thing?"

    Fenris shrugged. "Amusement? If you reach my age you will also be easily bored. Since I will be staying on this continent for a while I figured I see what would happen if such treasures started circulating."

    ''Treasures? There''s more of them?'' Raven couldn''t help but be a bit intrigued by the notion - the Life Link was after all a second chance at life.

    "What do you men by "if she reach your age? You can''t have reached thirty yet." While raven pondered this, Hoatzin shouted in an offended voice. "My Sister doesn''t die that easily!"

    ''I died before I reached thirty in my previous life, though.'' Raven mused to herself.

    Raven knew very well that the martial road as a dangerous one and that reaching thirty might be harder than it sounds, but Fenris only smiled and changes the subject.

    "I take it you''re not interested in the method recorded in the ring. To give your brother a new body, that is."

    "Certainly not!" Hoatzin exclaimed before Raven had a chance to reply.

    "Well, there is another way, that doubt your brother would disapprove of." Fenris eyes grey eyes locked on to Raven''s red ones. "But I won''t tell you for free."

    "Don''t listen to him, Sister! This creature would take the lives of others for his own benefits! He.."

    Hoatzin clearly had more to say but Fenris waved his hand and encased the ring in spirit essence once more.

    "Such a loud talker..." Fenris eye''s had never left Raven''s. "Well, what do you say?"

    "What is it you want?"

    A small smile appeared on Fenris face. "A life debt, repaid."

 Chapter 27: The Debt

    "Life debt?" Raven stared at the man.

    "Yes, do you recall releasing a small white Spirit Beast a while back?" Raven nodded so Fenris continued, "Well, that was my grandson."

    "Senior''s grandson? But you..."

    "Have human form, indeed. He might too, eventually."

    For the second time that evening Raven''s mind spun. She had read legends of extremely powerful Spirit Beasts that managed to take human form, the great raven that had caused the death of Weebill the Great was rumored to have been one of them, but that was in legends only. Besides, those creatures supposedly had no problem defeating Spirit Masters, doing so with but a thought; such a thing should be impossible.

    Before Raven had a chance to compose herself, Fenris continued talking.

    "By doing so, you saved his life. According to the laws laid down by our ancestors that means that my grandson owes you a life debt. That being the case, he must follow you as a servant until the debt is repaid, until he has saved your life."

    Raven''s mind had calmed down and she focused on what Fenris was telling her.

    "However, my grandson is still very weak and it is unsuitable for him to follow you - most likely he would do you more harm than good by doing so. That being the case, I chose to follow you in his place. I had intended to keep doing so in silence, until he was strong enough to do so himself, but curiosity got the better of me when I heard you singing and observing you create a new Divine Skill."

    As Raven listened she realized something.

    "Senior, may I be as bold as to ask if you perhaps did something to bandits who entered the Great Valley Woodlands after I left?"

    "Ah. Yes, I felt a little bit of punishment was at hand." Fenris smiled a sinister smile.

    ''That explains the fear the bandits had for that place...''

    "Then, when did Senior Fenris catch up to us - three days ago, perhaps?" Raven continued her investigation with as much respect she could muster.

    "No," Fenris seemed to be counting backwards, "it was twelve days ago. How so?"

    ''Hmm, so the silent forest is not because of him... Was the low Spirit Champion enough for the wildlife to quiet down?''

    Raven shook her head. "Never mind. So, what is Senior''s proposal exactly? Senior helps me restore my brother, by a method he would approve of, and I cancel the life debt of Senior''s grandson?"

    "Not quite." Fenris shook his head. "Since your brother''s life isn''t in direct peril at the moment the two acts don''t cancel each other out completely, and also, a life debt must ultimately be repaid by the one in debt. No, I will help you restore your brother''s body and, in turn, you will cancel my grandson''s servitude - he will still have to save your life some day but you two will be considered equals from now on."

    "...Senior Fenris, do not take offence, but how do I know you are not tricking us with all this? Senior might not even be related to that little Spirit Beast at all." Raven very much wanted to agree to his proposal but she was never one to trust easily.

    Fenris didn''t take offence though, he just smiled and flicked his wrist. A loud *thud* was heard as the spiked cage that Raven had rescued the small Spirit Beast from, landed by his feet.

    "You recognize this, right? Besides, no doubt your instincts are telling you that if I wanted to harm you I would not have needed to make a deal with you first, she-human."

    Raven definitely knew this in her heart, nonetheless, there were other ways one might harm others apart from using physical strength. The cage, however, together with the man''s body language indicated that he was telling the truth. It wasn''t fool-proof of course, but it was good enough.

    "Very well, I agree to Seniors proposition."Raven didn''t hesitate any longer.

    What was there for Raven to think about? She was in no need of a servant.

    Fenris stated laughing. "Haha, I like your decisiveness. We have an agreement." He flicked his sleeve and a small clump of grey clay appeared in his hand.

    "If you want to restore your brother''s body, you will have to let me remove a small shard from you soul prism and embed it, together with the ring, into this." he motioned to the lump in his hand. "I would use a shard from my own soul prism, but it is better to use the prism of someone your brother is related to. Don''t worry about it though - you won''t miss the shard at all and it will restore itself with time anyway."

    "The shard and the ring will merge within, and create a spirit body for your brother." Fenris continued.

    Raven''s eyes lit up, it sounded like such a simple solution!

    "However, there are three thing I must warn you about. Fist of, this merger won''t be stable for more than two years, unless you manage to get him to a Spirit Hall, during the Day of Light, within that time frame. Secondly, the spirit body will not take human form initially, rather, it will adapt an animal form your soul feels linked to. Thirdly, if your brother wishes to take human form again he must cultivate to the level of a peak Spirit Champion - only then will he be able to permanently retain a truly human form."

    Raven silently considered what Fenris had told her. The last two aspects weren''t that bad - it wasn''t impossible to become a peak Champion and even if her brother failed, it was surely better for him to have his own body, human or not, than to be stuck within a ring.

    However, getting access to a Spirit Hall was another thing. There were definitely a few Spirit Halls between Rock Wren Gate and Sky City, but she would never be given entrance to them, especially not on the Day of Light.

    Yet again, as if Fenris had read her mind, he said: "I''ve heard that students of the advanced classes at Sky Academy get access to private Spirit Halls..."

    That changed things. Raven knew of these advanced classes at Sky Academy, they were extremely hard to get into and were reserved for the geniuses among geniuses. Even her brother, whom was considered a one in a thousand talent had yet to manage earning a spot.

    ''By the time I reach sky city I will be six years old and already a Spirit Adept. Even if I hide my spirit connections and some of my cultivation that should be enough to earn me a spot in the advanced class... I won''t be able to enter the school quite as inconspicuously as I had intended but restoring my brother''s body takes precedence.''

    "I do not see any reason for my brother to reject this option, but I need to ask him."

    "Of course." Fenris removed the seal around the Life Link and, after spending some time calming her brother down,  Raven explained the method Fenris had provided.

    As Raven talked, she could feel a sense of growing excitement from her brother - clearly the thought of getting out of the ring, even in animal form, was very appealing to him.

    "You said Sister wouldn''t be hindered by the loss of the shard, is that really true?" Hoatzin asked skeptically once the explanation was done.

    "I didn''t say she wouldn''t be hindered, I said she wouldn''t miss it. By giving the shard to you she will lose roughly ten spirit connections permanently. Unlike whatever happened to her that made her soul let go of its connections in the past, these will not return simply by waiting - she will have to earn them back the hard way." Fenris gaze seemed to grow distant for a second before he continued. "But what are ten connections for a girl with hundreds of them?"

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    "It is worth it, big Brother." Raven prompted her brother while, secretly, wondering if Fenris perhaps could tell how many connections she ought to have.

    "And I''ll become human again if I become a peak Spirit Champion?" despite his excitement, Hoatzin was still a bit hesitant.

    "Indeed." a very brief moment of mischief flashed in Fenris''s eyes; Hoatzin didn''t notice, but Raven did.

    "Senior Fenris, is there something you have yet to tell us?" Raven''s voice was very polite but her eyes were sharp as knives as she observed the creature in front of her.

    "Perceptive, aren''t we?" Fenris seemed pleasantly surprised. "I have spoken no lies, but, cultivation in the spirit body is a bit different from normal cultivation."

    "How so?" Raven pressed.

    "Cultivating, for a spirit body, is very dependent on the strengthening effect of the spirit essence produced in Spirit Halls during the Day of Light. During all other times of the year, cultivation will be extremely slow..." his sentence trailed of as he gave Raven an urging glance.

    ''Then I must maximize the essence he receives each year.'' Raven had understood what Fenris meant right away. For her brother to make any progress she would have to let him use a Spirit Hall, alone, every year. As a consequence, Raven herself was unlikely to enjoy the benefits of the Day of Light for a very long time; she would make sure to get accepted into the advanced classes but that would only give her access to one Spirit Hall.

    "Then that is fine, slow is better than not at all." Raven nodded. "What do you say, big Brother?"

    While Raven had understood the consequences needing to use Spirit Halls right away, her brother had yet to catch on. She feared he might back down if he knew it would have negative effect on her cultivation so Raven wanted to make her brother agree as soon as possible. She would figure out how to force him into the Spirit Hall alone when the time came.

    "I agree!"

    Hoatzin only hesitated for a moment. He was, after all, only ten years old and the thought of being able to move around again made him very excited.

    "Good,"Fenris smiled an almost wolfish smile; "then let us get this over with."

    Raven didn''t even see when Fenris started moving before he appeared next to her with one hand placed on her forehead and the other, the one holding the lump of clay, clasped around Raven''s right hand and the Life Link ring she wore there.

    Raven barely had time to register how cold his hands were before foreign spirit essence flooded her mind and encased her soul prism. Sharp pain filled her head as that spirit essence started to cut into her sea green crystal of her soul. Instinctively, Raven rallied her own spirit essence to fight back but her efforts were like a light summer breeze trying to push away a mountain; she could do nothing against it.

    "Shhh, she-human," Fenris voice that had grown deeper whispered in her ear; "struggle, and it will only be more painful."

    Against her instincts, Raven closed her eyes and forced herself to draw back her spirit essence and instantly the sharp pain lessened somewhat. However, shaving of a peace of your soul was not something that could be done hastily.

    Fenris face was filled with concentration and if any of the members of the caravan had been free from their trance, they would no doubt have noticed how Fenris features had grown more angular, his nose and moth more elongated; he looked more like a wolf than a man.

    After almost an hour, Raven heard and felt a little *click* within her, and the cutting pain she had felt was reduced into a prominent throbbing. Within her, a small crystal shard, no bigger than the fingernail of a little finger, floated next to her soul prism. At first it had been sea green as the rest of Raven''s soul but as soon as it was separated from it faded to a dull gray. The shard only floated there for a split second before Fenris'' spirit essence grabbed a hold of it - instantly the shard shifted colors to a vibrant dark blue - and slowly pulled the shard towards his hand.

    Fenris pulled his hand, without breaking contact with Raven, slowly from her forehead to her neck, shoulder and arm, only to rest once it reached her right hand. During this time, the shard followed the movement of his hand, never leaving Raven''s body, until it reached the Life Link on her right hand. It seemed to lock in place as it tried to pass through the center of the Life Link ring on Raven''s finger.

    The light within the shard stretched out and latched onto the ring, creating a disk of light with the ring as its rim. Slowly the light started to rotate around the prism, creating a miniature vortex, quite similar to a spirit core.

    "Move into the prism chard, human."

    Raven felt her brother''s presence stir, and after hesitating for a moment, carefully moving towards the chard. The moment his soul reached it, streaks of white light intermingled with the dark blue light in the vortex. First the streaks were scarce, but slowly the grew larger  and more numerous, eventually replacing the dark blue light entirely even causing the initially purple ring to turn white as snow.

    All this time, the Life Link had yet to leave Raven''s finger, but once the ring had shifted color, Fenris molded the clay around both ring and finger before gently pulling of the ring. The moment the Life Link was of Raven''s finger the substance, that had already surrounded it completely, started to contract and glow.

    Raven had kept her eyes shut all this time now opened them to observe what was happening, and after a brief moment of shock over Fenris'' more canine appearance focused her attention on the glowing globe in his hand.

    Dense spirit essence swirled around it in complicated patterns. Every once in a while, a strand of spirit essence would flow through the globe, causing the white light to gain a momentary tint of blue as it grew in size.

    Slowly but surely the globe grew large and brighter until it eventually outshone the funeral pier that was still burning in the campsite. By now, it was almost painful for Raven to look directly at it, but she refused to avert her gaze - for her brother''s sake she wanted watch until the very end.

    Suddenly, the light intensified drastically and the surface of the globe started to move erratically, almost as if it was boiling water; it bulged and caved in alternately, constantly morphing. The spirit essence also started to move faster and faster in its patterns.

    Eventually the light grew too strong and Raven had no choice but to raise a hand to cover her eyes. For, what seemed like minuets, the light forced its way through Raven''s fingers, showing no signs of dissipating but, finally, with a last roaring surge of spirit essence, the light disappeared as if it had never existed.

    "Sister," Raven heard her bother''s slightly hesitant voice in her head; "what do you think of my new body?"

 Chapter 28: Development

    Raven lowered her hand and blinked a few times to adjust to the now dim fire light. Slowly the world returned to her eyes.

    In front of her stood Fenris, the wolfish appearance gone - apart from the always visible ears and tail - with a slight, pleased smile on his face. The hand, that had previously held the glowing orb, was still outstretched, only, now the orb was gone. In its place perched a small bird.

    The bird''s feathers were as white as snow, as was its beak and claws. Only the eyes offered some color; they were deep brown and looked inquisitively at Raven. The eyes where filled with much emotion and they felt more human than anything else.

    "Brother?" Raven stared at the bird in wonder.

    The bird winked at her and Raven heard her brother''s voice once more. "It is me Sister," the bird seemed to smile, "So what do you think? I can''t really tell what I am by myself, more than that I am a bird and that I''m small."

    Tentatively, Hoatzin spread his wings and hopped around on Fenris'' palm to let Raven view all of him. Fenris merely looked on with unconcealed amusement.

    ''It''s actually a nightingale!'' she realized as she observed her brother, the bird, closer - the size was a bit larger than usual and its coloration was wrong, but ever before being reborn as a Nightingale, Raven had possessed an interest in the bird, due to her assassin nickname, she wouldn''t mistake it. ''An animal form my soul feels linked to, huh? I guess that is true.''

    "It would seem like you''re a nightingale now, in more than just name."

    The albino nightingale''s beak popped open.

    "A nightingale?" Hoatzin sounded a bit disappointed, "I feel fondly for the bird, being our ancestral symbol and all, but if I have to spend the rest of my life as a bird I''d prefer something a bit more... manly."

    "The animal is derived from your sister''s soul, not yours.," Fenris chipped in, "what would you expect?"

    Hoatzin snorted, which, coming from a famous songbird, no doubt sounded a lot more musical than he had intended.

    "My sister is less feminine that you might think."

    Fenris looked at Raven and her boyish facade. "I had noticed."

    "Senior can still hear him, I take it." Raven ignored both their comments and changed the subject.

    "The ring is part of him, so I can hear him. As is your soul prism, so you can hear him as well. With a bit of practice you should be able to answer him." Fenris was back to speaking in his matter-of-fact tone.

    "Well, my task here is done so our agreement is complete. It is time for me to leave." Without waiting for Hoatzin to attempt flying on his own, spirit essence surged out of Fenris''s palm and effortlessly coiled around Hoatzin''s body. It lifted and transferred the bird to Raven''s shoulder.

    "As a last favor, what do you want me to do with these." Fenris gestured to the entranced people around the fire. "Kill them? Alter their memories?"

    Raven noted Fenris use of words; it didn''t seem like he put ordinary humans in very high regard, if any. This wasn''t surprising though - Raven barely put them in any regard herself - so instead of being offended she considered his offer.

    They now knew that she was a spiritualist and considering the reason behind her travels and her objective, the fewer people that could give insights to how she had arrived at Sky Academy the better.

    Then again, she still had things she needed from them.

    "Killing them would defeat the purpose of me saving one of them earlier, but having them remember everything would be bad as well," she finally answered, "Senior, how precise is this memory alteration of yours?"

    Fenris only smiled.

    ---------

    "Fine sirs, Fine sirs!" a small and rat-like man scurried along a mucky street, "If you are looking for a place to eat delicious food, then I know just the place.

    The group of people that the man was trying to get the attention of, ignored him and continued to walk further into town.

    "Fine sirs!" he called one last time but he didn''t dare follow them.

    He had lived long enough to know who he could pester, and for how long, without risking a beating. Kinglet Grove wasn''t a very large city, but it was one of the closest to the Imperial Sky City and therefore had a lot of different people passing through, some less patient then others.

    The man sighed and looked into the grey sky. A cold wind blew down the street and the rat-like man pulled his coat tighter around him. The winter was being unusually persistent this year; it was already four months in, but heavy snow still fell at least once a week, only to melt away within minutes.

    The man cursed the grey skies. The bad weather was bad for business too, since fewer people traveled, and if he wanted any pay at all he would have to get some customers for the restaurant he worked at today.

    He looked back down the street and noticed a new group walking in his direction. Quickly he sized up the group: four adult men and one boy, probably about eight years old; the men, although dressed in fine white robes, gave of an air of blood, indicating that the were warriors or mercenaries. Their faces, hardened by battle, only softened when they looked on the youth among them - clearly the boy meant a lot to them. Apart from his companions care, the boy himself didn''t seem very special so the observing man didn''t pay him any further notice.

    "Fine sirs," he rushed towards the group, stopping to bow when he was close enough, "may I guide you to a restaurant were you can rest your feet and have good meal?"

    The eldest in the group only glanced at the man before he turned to the boy, "what do you say kid, are you hungry?"

    Noticing that the child would have the final say, rat man added, "we have many dishes fit for a growing man."

    The kid snorted at the man but gave his consent nonetheless, "might as well get it over with."

    The three men that had yet to speak laughed at the child''s disinterest.

    "I swear, I will see you passionate about something other than training before we reach Sky City or I''ll streak the entire city." one of them chuckled as he wrapped the kids neck with his arm.

    "Don''t involve me in your Casanova plots," the child retorted coldly, "I know you relish at the thought of introducing Sky City to your family jewels," he paused, "well, at least half of the city."

    This got the rest of the group to laugh even harder, but they abruptly stopped as small white bird came swooping down from the sky and pecked at the man that had his arm around the kid.

    "Sorry, sorry!" the lewd man backed away. "No touching, I know." the bird didn''t abandon its assault. "Raven, get your bird of me!" He pleaded at last.

    The kid smirked slightly but said nothing and yet the bird immediately stopped and flew over to perch at the kid''s shoulder.

    "Well?" the kid looked at the rat-like man, "were you not going to take us to a restaurant?"

    "Ah! Yes of course!" rat man jumped, he had been totally distracted by their conversation and the small bird. "This way."

    He lead the group down a side alley and stopped outside one of the few wooden buildings in the area. "Here we are sirs, the Wooden Lodge." he motioned towards the entrance.

    "Inventive," muttered the kid sarcastically as the group of five entered the building.

    Once they were inside, the rat-like man started walking back towards the main street with a pleased look on his face.

    "Four people pulled is better than none." he smiled a crocked smile, revealing a mouth lacking some of its teeth. "Or wait, there was five of them, how come I can''t remember how the kid looked..."

    Within the restaurant, Raven and the four mercenaries had been shown to a table and ordered in some ale - and a large glass of milk - while they waited for their food. They weren''t the only customers in the room but almost.

    Raven observed the mercenaries as they drank their ale and talked in not too loud voices. It had been over a year since they had left Rock Wren Gate and the merchant caravan behind them and over that period of time Raven had started to grow quite fond of them.

    Hog was as calm and composed as always as he sipped the ale as if it was sherry; he really got excited, except when it came to talking about Raven''s cultivation progress, then he would be like a kid on Christmas - always excited for what would come next.

    Of the other three, two were actual brothers - they all referred to each other as brothers but only two were blood related. Emu and Dove were strong silent types that rarely spoke, but were happy to listen. Over the year they had grown very protective of Raven and had made her training their top priority.

    Finally, there was Saltmarsh. His real name was Sparrow but due to various incidents in the past - which none of the mercenaries would talk about, no matter how they were prompted - the nickname had stuck. Saltmarsh was the goof in the group and Raven''s earlier comment about him wanting to show of his family jewels to half of Sky City was definitely not without grounds.

    Raven looked at these four men and couldn''t help but sigh of admiration.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "To think Fenris was able to alter so much..." she directed the thought towards Hoatzin perched on her shoulder.

    "It''s very impressive indeed, and it helped you with your cover story too." Hoatzin replied while he swooped down to sit on the rim of the glass of milk on the table. He looked up at Raven before he bent down to dip his beak into the milk for a sip.

    "Indeed."

    Raven thought back on that night, well over a year ago, and a small shudder ran down her spine. When Fenris had asked what she wanted him to do with the people in the caravan, whom were still sitting in at trance around the funeral pier, Raven had asked if he could change their memories of how they had met Raven. She had assumed it impossible but had asked out of curiosity nonetheless.

    The result far outdid her hopes.

    One of Raven''s biggest problems when enrolling into the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts was her cover story, even more so if she had to stand out enough to get into the advanced classes without a hitch. Sooner or later people would start looking into her background and the more solid her cover story was, the less likely it was that someone would find out the truth.

    Fenris''s offer had given her the solid background she needed. As far as the four people around her were concerned, Raven had been saved by them from a viscous bandit crew three years ago - that is to say nearly a year before the Nightingale''s were killed. The bandits had supposedly been doing vile and very inhumane experiments on children in hope of causing their souls to mature faster. Only Raven had survived.

    They realized that Raven, whom - in line with her actual age - was barely three at the time, had already formed a Spirit Core. Due to this Hog''s mercenary crew decided to take the boy under their wings and bring him to the Sky Academy for further schooling. The journey had taken them three years but now they were soon at their destination.

    The rest of the caravan believed that Raven was an adopted son of Hog''s that was slightly unsocial perhaps but nothing more. They had no memories of how Heron hired Raven or how Raven had revealed her spirit essence for them. Hog and his crew believe that they did everything in their power to keep Raven''s skills hidden from the people of the caravan during the brief time they traveled together with them.

    But Hog and his crew did remember how Raven had helped save Hog''s life in the passage between the Gate Towns and then other members of the crew on later occasions, so even if the base of their memories were false, the concern and gratitude they felt toward Raven now was very real. They even insisted she called them her ''uncles''.

    Over the past year, Raven had been training relentlessly as they journeyed towards Sky City and thanks to the newly acquired breathing technique Raven''s already alarming cultivation rate had shot to the skies. She had, in barely two years, already become a mid Spirit Adept and was close to its peak, soon to be classed as a high Adept. This was an achievement that even spiritualist enrolled at Sky Academy would require four to six years to pull of.

    She had also made great progress with various of her Divine Skills. The Sonic Sword was already mastered to the fifth level, Whispered Blast, and the sixth level, Dance of Bells, was being fine tuned. The Ode of Woe had been mastered by Raven the moment it was created, but to increase its strength, she had ceaselessly worked on merging her killing intent with her spirit essence to the point that separating the two was now nearly impossible.

    Although she was doing exceedingly well with the more attack oriented skills, advancement was a lot slower with Void Tracker and the Healing Divine Skill that Dove taught her not too long ago, Blessed Hand. Contrary to her other Divine Skills, these two drew no real benefit from neither her previous life''s experiences nor her exceedingly strong soul. Instead they focused solely on manipulating spirit essence into intricate patterns within yourself.

    Her progress was still faster then most people''s but over the passing year, Raven had only managed to master the first stage of the Void Tracker - allowing her to nullify the sound of movement - and as for the Blessed Hand, the best she could do was heal minor cuts and bruises. Most likely she would have gotten further with the Blessed Hand if it wasn''t for the fact that the killing intent in her spirit essence seemed to counteract the effects of the Healing Skill.

    Of course, the men she traveled with did not now the full extent of her strengths, but they new enough to be mightily impressed and sometimes even a little scared. However, the fact that they knew the least about, and that would have scared them the most was Raven''s spirit connections.

    Five months after they had left Rock Wren Gate, Raven''s soul prism had returned the expected number of 239 connections - it would have been 249 if not for the ten she lost with the prism shard - but surprisingly enough, the number of connections continued to rise steadily for another five months. Eventually the amount of connections stopped at 373. Apparently, nearly being killed by a Phoenix Death Lotus and loosing the only people you''ve ever loved, without going insane, was strengthening for the soul.

    If she wished it, Raven could easily hear every sound, feel every movement, smell every sent around her, not only in the building but also outside on the street. Had it not been for all the houses and walls within the area, this would have been true for nearly a six hundred meter radius.

    She had also experienced a large and sudden change with her senses that gave her a new understanding of the world.

    Even prior to this point, Raven had regained the ability to differentiate between different people based on their auras. Then it had been a vague concept that she couldn''t really explain, she only knew it worked, not how. But when she reached 350 spirit connections she had started to see spirit essence within people, even when it wasn''t activated or dense enough to be actually visible.

    Every persons spirit essence looked differently and she realized that this was the auras she had been feeling before - it was leaking spirit essence. The best part of this development was the realization that the color of peoples spirit essence corresponded to their cultivation level.

    Thanks to this, Raven could clearly tell that out of the nine people in the building, only one more person was a spiritualist; a burly man seated on the floor above them gave of a purely white glow, indicating that he was a high Spirit Novice.

    At this moment the petite serving girl was returning to the table Raven and her fellow travelers were seated at - her aura was completely colorless, indicating not only the lack of cultivation but also the lack of potential cultivation. Nonetheless, she was remarkably enough balancing five large plates covered with food and a bowl filled with nuts on her small arms, as she expertly weaved her way between chairs and tables without mishap.

    "Here you go, sirs," she placed the plates on the table with well rehearsed movements, "and bird..." her look was quizzical as she moved to set down the bowl next to Raven''s glass of milk.

    "Tzin," remarked Saltmarsh with a wink at the girl, "we call him Tzin."

    The girl smiled and nodded towards Hoatzin, "then here you go, Tzin."

    Hoatzin only gave the girl a glance before he hopped over to the bowl and started pecking at the nuts. Saltmarsh, on the other hand, leaned closer to the girl and smiled his most seductive smile.

    "And you can call me Saltm... Ouch!" Halfway through his introduction Raven had kicked him in the shins.

    "Enjoy your meal, mister Salt." The girl ignored his yelp of pain and walked away.

    "What in the skies did you do that for!?" Saltmarsh grumbled at Raven.

    "Keep it in your pants, Casanova, she''s married."

    "What is this cassa.. casanoa you keep referring to," he waggled a warm chicken wing at Raven, "and how could you possibly know she''s married? She wears no ring."

    "Casanova is a person, not a thing," replied Raven flatly, "and the indent on her left ring finger, combined with the small bulk in her apron pocket would indicate that she has taken it of. For work, most likely."

    The three others looked on with amused smiles on their faces as Raven started eating and Saltmarsh stared disbelievingly at the eating youth. After a moments pause Saltmarsh''s eyes brightened.

    "Aha! She might not have taken it of for work, perhaps she has had a fight with her husband and wants to leave him now! I should offer my support by..."

    "If that''s the case, then they must have made their peace quickly," Raven interrupted him without looking up from her plate, "they are kissing quite passionately by the counter."

    "What?" Saltmarsh mouth fell open as he looked over towards the counter.

    Hog and the two brothers couldn''t hold it in anymore and started chuckling merrily.

 Chapter 29: News from the Capital

    News from the Capital

    Raven and her mercenary uncles ate their dinner, and Hoatzin his nuts, with much merriment. It had been a while since they ate food not cooked by one of them - something none of them excelled in - which put them all in a good mood. Eventually the discussion turned towards the remaining leg of their journey, and Hog started by explaining the situation.

    "We are now fairly close to Sky City now, only one last mountain range left and we will reach it. By foot it should take one to two months to cross it, depending on the weather."

    "Isn''t the spring entrance exams for Sky Academy on the last day of the fifth month of the year?" Dove asked, then added,  "that is barely fifty days from now."

    "Yes, so it might be a bit tight, if we''re unlucky."

    "Should we fly then?" asked Emu.

    "Excellent idea!" Saltmarsh chipped in before Hog could reply, "the city is at its best from above and the brat still hasn''t experienced travelling by Everest Hawks. He''ll get teased for being a country bumpkin if we leave it at that."

    "Don''t involve me in your schemes, Uncle," said Raven in a flat voice, ignoring the offended look Saltmarsh faked with exaggeratedly poor acting, "and I won''t get teased for anything."

    "We could," Hog ignored them both and answered Emu instead, "but until we know for sure that Raven is given a scholarship, we should save as much money as possible."

    "How could this little brat of ours not get a scholarship?" Saltmarsh had already forgotten that he was supposed to act offended and happily swung an arm around Raven''s shoulders, his free hand rubbed to top of her head wildly.

    Barely a second later Hoatzin was in the air, bombarding the mercenary with sharp claws - calling them talons would be incorrect but they were nonetheless very effective.

    "Sorry, Tzin." Saltmarsh let go of Raven right away.

    The rest of the group was used to this scenario by now so Hog simply raised his voice slightly and continued.

    "Since we want to spare the expenses, I suggest we rent a couple of Mountain Steeds and go the last stretch on horseback. What do you think?"

    "Well.." Dove started answering him but Raven zoned out from the conversation; it was important for her to reach Sky City in time for the exams but she didn''t really care how she got there. She was confident the mercenaries would solve the details on their own

    Instead Raven focused her attention on the few other conversations being held in the building.

    "Darling, why don''t we book room with a deluxe bed tonight?" A greasy sounding man urged his companion.

    "How bold!" His female answered but her giggles indicated that she was quite pleased with his suggestion.

    ''Boring.'' thought Raven.

    "Look at this!" a young voice bellowed out - the man wasn''t in fact speaking very loudly but to Raven, whom was currently focusing most of her attention on listening, the voice was nearly deafening. "I got it last night."

    The body belonging to the voice seemed to be showing off something on his shoulder to the person next to him.

    "Nice tattoo!" Laughed that person, just as loudly is the first one, and smacked his friend on the shoulder, causing his friend to grunt in pain.

    ''Insignificant.'' this was yet an other conversation that Raven felt little interest in.

    "Did you hear about the bandit massacres taking place in Woodland Valley,  of Black Talon Prefecture?" said an elderly man on the floor above them. His voice sounded cracked and full of dust.

    "Yeah., serves them bandits right though," answered a voice with a similar antique feeling, "heard the same thing started happening in the Griffin Caves not too long ago."

    ''Really?'' Raven tilted her head pensively to the side, recalling the Sky Empire''s geography in her head, ''the Griffin Caves are close to the ground passage between Black Talon Prefecture and Blood Griffin Prefecture... Is it a coincidence, or has Fenris perhaps moved there? But why then are rumors of killings in Woodland Valley still circulating...''

    Before she could ponder this any further, the rat like man, who had led her and her group to this restaurant, walked in within her range out on the street. Next to him walked a busty woman, who''s pale white spirit essence gave of a very stern feeling. The pair''s pace was brisk, much due to the woman, and rat man had to half-run to keep up with her.

    "Won''t you tell me a bit more?" He pleaded excitedly, "you can''t give my news like that and then not give me any more details!"

    They would soon reach the entrance to the restaurant bu the woman showed no signs of slowing down.

    "I have already told you more than I should," she sounded a bit annoyed, but then added, "for free."

    "Oh, come on, Tringa, for old times sake!" The man groaned, but his voice dropped to a whisper, "You tell me the empress has been accused of treason, but nothing more - even you can''t be that cruel."

    Raven tensed, nearly dropping the glass she''d been drinking from.

    ''Treason? That''s absurd!''

    "They are called old times for a reason," the woman paused outside of the building, "now a days, you have to pay with money like everybody else if you want information."

    With that, the woman turned and entered the stone building directly opposite of the restaurant. The thick stone walls made it difficult for Raven to sense what was going on inside the building, but the little she did sense, combined with the nondescript sign outside, gave Raven the general gist of the place.

    ''A low Spirit Novice works at a brothel?'' Raven was intrigued by the realization. ''Interesting, I wonder if spirit essence can be used to intensify the experience?''

    Brothels weren''t outlawed in the Sky Empire, as they were in large parts of Raven''s previous world, but since people were generally supposed to live in monogamy here so such places were still frowned upon. Consequently, discretion was important.

    Raven knew, however, that sex wasn''t the only thing for sale at brothels - neither in this world nor her old one. Few people knew so much about the people in power and what they were up to as the women, and men, who bedded them.

    "Brother," Raven spoke to Hoatzin mentally, "have you ever been to a brothel?"

    The bird nearly choked on the nut he was eating.

    "Of course not!" Hoatzin retorted. "How could you even suggest such a thing? I would never set foot in such a place!"

    "Well it''s a good thing you have wings then," said Raven sarcastically before she started explaining what she just had heard outside.

    "There is no way Empress Nene would betray the Empire," exclaimed Hoatzin as he flew up to Raven''s shoulder, "the information must be false!"

    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    "I agree that it is unlikely, but perhaps not all of the information is incorrect," Raven shifted around the few remaining pieces of food on her plate, seemingly sunken into deep thought, "we need to know more."

    "Fine," the bird even managed to sigh, "I''m guessing you want me to fly in there, find this Tringa and listen her conversations."

    "Yes," Raven replied but to herself she thought, ''and I''m guessing you''ll have to listen to more then just conversations.''

    Hoatzin extended his wings and flew of. No one remarked his departure - the bird had come and gone as it pleased over the last year anyway - and after about half an hour, Hog paid the waitress for the food and the group left the restaurant. By now, the sun had already set, and small fires had been lit along the streets to light the way in the darkening evening.

    A few blocks away, they found a suitable inn and acquired two rooms for the night; Raven and Hog shared one room, while the other three shared the second one. Due to her age, Raven was as usual sent to bed early. This was despite her argument that, for a peak Spirit Novice - the level of cultivation the four mercenaries thought she had - a long night''s sleep wasn''t really necessary.

    "Brats need sleep, and that''s final." would be Saltmarsh''s reply every time the argument rose.

    "Pleeeease, Uncle Dove..." would be Raven''s response, but not even her best puppy-eyed plea to the essentially softhearted Dove ever had any positive effect.

    So, Raven went to bed as commanded but, as always, decided to spend the night cultivating regardless. The breathing technique Raven had snagged from the dying bandit wasn''t really suited for cultivating lying down but she didn''t want to draw Hog''s attention, so it would have to do.

    Raven cultivated the entire night. Every once in a while, Hoatzin''s control over his voice and thoughts would slip and they poured into Raven''s mind. She could help but chuckle at how his thoughts changed during the night; there had been disgust, surprised interest, shock, wonder and even some hints of arousal. The boy was soon to be twelve year old and even though he had little prior experience regarding what he might see at at a brothel, once the initial shocked had passed, he found himself eager to... learn more.

    It wasn''t until dawn broke, and Hog already left his and Raven''s room for breakfast, that the little white body of Hoatzin''s flew in through the window and landed, unsteadily, on the table next to Raven''s bed.

    Raven opened her eyes and stared into her brother''s, whose pupils seemed to still be slightly dilated.

    "Was it an informative night?" she wanted to smirk at him but she kept her face innocent.

    "Very!"

    "You didn''t mind spending the night at a brothel?" Raven let the smirk grow on her face.

    "No, not at all! It was..." Hoatzin faltered as he realized how excited he had sounded.

    "It was... what?" Raven teased.

    "Uhm, it.. it was a good way to find out what information Tringa had about Nene, ah, I mean the Empress, Empress Nene."

    If Hoatzin''s spirit body had been capable of blushing, Raven had no doubt that her brother''s face would have gone from snowy white to bright pink by now. She decided to let him of the hook with only a snort.

    "Then what did you learn?" Raven asked instead, but couldn''t restist adding, "about the Empress, I mean."

    Hoatzin''s small bird body straightened.

    "Well, according to Tringa, and some of her... uh, guests, the Empress has indeed been accused of treason. The charge is: Caught red-handed consorting with the enemy."

    Raven frowned as Hoatzin continued.

    "No one seems to know who this supposed enemy is, but, as a result the queen has been placed under house arrest in one of the towers at Indigo Cloud Palace."

    "House arrest? Not imprisonment or execution?" Raven interrupted.

    "No, house arrest. Supposedly, Tringa is related to one of Empress Nene''s maids so she is quite sure of it. The general guess seems to be that the Emperor is too fond of the Empress to be able to do anything worse..."

    "Did they say anything about when the house arrest started?"

    "A month or so ago. They have been trying to keep it quiet."

    "It won''t be for much longer..." Raven said, more to herself than to her brother.

    Raven sat, quiet, for a very long time as she turned this new information over and over in her head. After nearly twenty minutes she sighed heavily, climbed out of the bed and stretched her body.

    "Well, there isn''t much we can do about it now." she indicated for Haoatzin to sit on her shoulder and moved to walk out of the room.

    "That''s it?" Hoatzin sounded shocked, "that''s all you have to say?"

    "But there really isn''t much we can do about it, at the moment." Raven walked out of the room so she switched to talking to her brother mentally, "there are no official reports and we are in the wrong city to make our own inquires."

    Before Hoatzin had a change to object she continued, "Considering what we know of Empress Nene''s personality, it is likely that she has been framed. Even more so if we add what happened to our family into the mix."

    "Our family?"

    "With the aid of the foreign ''Elder W'' they attempted to murder us all, hoping to gain control over the prefecture, but why would this foreigner help them at all? Clearly there was something that our father wouldn''t agree to that Aunt and Uncle would."

    Hoatzin''s bird eyes shined with revelation, "the borderline treason mother talked about?"

    "Yes, precisely. I suspect it wasn''t so borderline after all." Raven passed in through the dinning hall doorway and sank down next to her self appointed uncles, whom were currently halfway through their meal.

    "Then, what do we do?"

    "We travel to Sky City, I enroll at the Academy and then we spend every moment we can spare trying to find out what''s actually going on within this empire." Raven replied with a cold flare in her deep red eyes.

    The flare was gone as soon as it had arrived and, with the strained smile that had sort of become her trademark over the past year, she looked up at Hog.

    "Can you pass me the bread, Uncle Hog?"

    - End of Volume 2 -

 Chapter 30: Morning of the Exam

    "Javelin!" two nearly identical voices chimed in unison outside of room 207 on the second floor of the southern student dorms at Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts.

    "Come on, Javelin, the exam students," called the slightly lighter voice.

    "Will be arriving soon," continued the the slightly darker voice, "and you, mister Hake."

    "Promised to help us out!" they finished in unison.

    The door swung open and a well built youth, dressed only in a pair of grey pants, appeared in the doorway. A white Spirit Stone with a red center hung around his neck.

    "Don''t. Do. That." Javelin pointed decidedly at his two friends waiting for him outside. "It creeps me out."

    Javelin''s golden hair, that was long enough to cover his ears but not long enough to reach his shoulders, was in a ruffled mess and the thin braid extending down his back had tied a knot on itself. Beneath his clear, mixed-blue eyes, his slightly tanned skin was a bit darker than elsewhere; clearly he had just woken up, and most likely he didn''t have a very long nights sleep before that either.

    "That''s why we do it. Isn''t it, Twin Lark?" Said the twin with slightly darker voice without looking away from Javelin.

    "Indeed it is, Twin Martin." answered the other one immediately, also without looking away from Javelin.

    "How else would we get you out of bed?" they once more spoke as one, still looking at Javelin.

    Javelin shuddered.

    "I''m out of bed now, so stop it!" He turned around and re-entered his room.

    Inside was a mirrored world; almost everything - desks, beds, cupboards, and so on - existed in pairs, each placed at opposite sides of the room. However, only the left side showed any signs of being lived in.

    Under constant, and annoyingly synchronized, remarks about hurrying it up, Javelin put on the rest of his grey school robes. He paused in front of the room''s only mirror to make a swift attempt at straightening out his hair, something he quickly gave up, before he left and followed the Griffin twins down the corridor outside.

    As they walked past one of the large windows, the early morning sun stung Javelin''s eyes and he cringed before quickly looking away. Continuing on, he sighed heavily and used his thumb and index finger to kneed out the pressure below his brows. Today was going to be a long day and, for some reason, Javelin hadn''t been able to sleep or cultivate properly the last couple of days; an ever growing notion of anticipation seemed to keep pulling him awake.

    ---------

    Meanwhile, on Sky City''s ground level, Raven was being pulled along by her four mercenary uncles. Raven stifled a yawn.

    "Is it really necessary to go there so early? There are still a couple of hours left before the exam starts."

    "True," answered Hog, "but in order to take the test you have to sign up first and that alone takes about an hour."

    "That long?" the small white body of Hoatzin landed and Raven''s shoulder, "It didn''t even take five minutes last time..."

    "The noble clans most likely don''t have to go through with the full procedure." Raven thought back to her brother.

    At that moment the group rounded a corner and walked out on of the larger streets that headed directly towards the center of the city. Raven looked up and couldn''t help but draw a deep breath. The four peaks of Sky City were even more impressive from the ground and the blue imperial palace, situated thousands of meters above them, was only barely discernible through the misty clouds that covered the top of the central peak.

    "And there might be widows among the nervous parents," winked Saltmarsh.

    Emu smacked Saltmarsh over the back of his head while Hog and Dove rolled their eyes.

    "While you sign up for the exam, Raven, we," Hog said and focused his stare on Saltmarsh, "will visit the mercenary guild - we have yet to register here."

    Before Saltmarsh could cut in again Dove continued, "and if there is any time left over it will be spent on finding someone to remove those Limiters."

    "I told you, the is no need for that..." muttered Raven loud enough so the others could hear her.

    They had only arrived in Sky City two nights ago and had focused their attention on finding a fitting place to call home for the four mercenaries, who intended to make Sky City their home base for the duration of Raven''s studies.  Finally they had purchased a five room house in the outskirts of Sky City''s ground level.

    Due to the distance from the central peaks, it was quite affordable. The same could not be said about the houses closest to the peaks - those would cost a smaller fortune to buy and even the substantial amount of money I''iwi had saved after years of servitude, not only to the Nightingale''s but also to the Empress, wouldn''t be enough. As for the houses located on the peaks themselves, well, they could not be bought with money alone.

    "Ah, here we are."

    Hog motioned to a building that reminded Raven very much of the alpine lift houses of her old world, only, instead of ski cabins gliding in and out of the openings just under the roof, Everest Hawks came and went. These Everest Hawks were young and therefor a great deal smaller than the ones Raven''s family had used last time they arrived in Sky City.

    "Welcome," muttered a sleepy attendant as the group walked through the door, "where to?"

    "Business Tier, near the Academy enrollments."

    The attendant glanced down on Raven. "Under nine, are ya?" he asked but Raven only stared at him in response. He snorted and looked back at Hog, "That''s two silvers for each of ya, fifty coppers for the kid."

    Hog paid the man who then directed them to the nearest available bird. Moments later, the left the building strapped down on the back of an Everest Hawk.

    Apart from the Indigo Cloud Palace - located on its own, high above all the others - the settlements on the peaks were divided into four major tiers. The lowest and largest tier was the so called Business Tier. This enormous layer stretched around all four peaks and was the center of all important businesses in Sky City.

    Above the Business Tier were the Mansion Tier, the Military Tier and finally the Academy Tier. The Military and Academy Tiers'' names speak for themselves - one is the base of the Imperial Army and the other houses the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts - but the Mansion Tier is were the noble clans live, even the prefecture clans would have dwellings there, though they rarely used them.

    Although the distance between the outskirts of the ground level and the four peaks was rather vast, it only took roughly five minutes for the Everest Hawk to reach its destination, the northern side of the Business Tier.

    Even before the bird landed, Raven had figured out where she was supposed to go to sign up for the exams; thousands of young people were gathered on a large square fairly close to the landing area. Along the left and right side of the square were at least ten different banners, each representing a separate school trying to lure applicants - with varying success.

    At the far end was a large, dark blue, banner with the golden text: Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts, printed on it. Beneath it were five smaller banners that divided up interested participants based on their initials. No other school needed to make such a separation; clearly most youths present were aiming for the Sky Academy. Perhaps the other schools would have better luck in the afternoon, after the Academy''s exams.

    "We''ll be back here in two hours at most. Good luck Raven," Hog patted Raven on the shoulder, and was about to walk off when he added "and don''t cause any trouble."

    "I will do nothing that my dear uncles wouldn''t do." said Raven sarcastically.

    "That''s what worries us," answered Dove and Emu almost in unison as they glanced at Saltmarsh.

    "What?" Saltmarsh pulled back from the sudden stares.

    "Never mind," sighed Hog, and started to leave, "let us go."

    "Yes, brother boss!"

    The four white-robed mercenaries walked off, leaving Raven alone by the square. Well, as alone as one can be surrounded by thousands of people and with your bird-formed brother on your shoulder. Raven turned around and took in the crowd. All these people and their presences almost made Raven light headed; practically everyone present were, or at least had the potential to become, spiritualists and all gave of varying tones of grey.

    "Be careful not to fall of my shoulder, big Brother, or you might get trampled." warned Raven.

    "I''ll keep it in mind,"  he answered but he didn''t sound very thankful for the advice.

    Raven grit her teeth and moved into the crowd, placing herself last in what seemed to be the N-S line for Sky Academy - she might have practiced patience to perfection but that didn''t mean she liked waiting.

    One and a half hour later, Raven had still not reached her goal, although now only a handful of people were left in front of her. During the wait, Raven and her brother had tried to amuse themselves with guessing, or rather inventing, the backgrounds of the other youths waiting in the square, but, by now the exercise had grown tedious.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Suddenly, light flashed in Raven''s eyes.

    "Don''t look now brother, but we''re about to get some entertainment."

    "Huh? What..." Before Hoatzin had time to finish his sentence, a large white and purple crane, followed by a even larger Everest hawk, swooped in over the square and landed at the far end, close to where Raven had first arrived. The white and purple bird was a rare spirit beast called the Viola Crane, famous for its loyalty and devotion,  and this specimen wore lavish ornaments over its head and claws.

    Of from the Viola Crane''s back slipped a boy and a girl, both dressed in very exquisite clothes, and they were soon joined by four more, although in less fancy clothes, who had jumped off from the Hawk. Without hesitation, the group started to move through the crowd people in the square.

    "Make way for Lord and Lady Sarus!" the four groupies took turns at ordering the youths in the square to move and they met little to no resistance.

    "So the Sarus clan needs to register like everyone else... What are you going to do, Sister?"

    They were headed straight in Raven''s direction.

    "Keep waiting patiently in line," answered Raven with a slight smirk, "I wouldn''t want to loose my place."

    It didn''t take long before the group had made it''s way to Raven''s position.

    "Move, runt!" shouted groupie number one.

    Raven only glanced over her shoulder, before facing forward again. Another person was just done so Raven moved to fill the created gap.

    "There, I moved," she said with a flat tone, " no need to rush."

    "Are you stupid?" asked groupie number two as number one''s face started to grow red with anger.

    "Not particularly," answered Raven, without looking back.

    Now groupie number two started to grow red as well but before they could act, the boy lifted a hand to stop them. The boy, or Lord Sarus as the groupies called him, inspected Raven''s clean but somewhat tattered clothes from top till toe before he spoke in a condescending tone: "No point in getting mad a the, what did you call him, runt?" he paused, "yes, very fitting... This runt is clearly a poor little creature that has lived all his life away from civilized people. You can''t expect him to know proper manners."

    It was meant as an insult but Raven didn''t even flinch, or turn around for that matter.

    "You have a good eye, sir," her voice was still flat, "here I thought that it was the civilized thing to do, to stand in line without cutting ahead."

    "How dare you!" All four groupies became upset at once and the young lord got a murderous look in his eyes.

    The closest groupie, groupie number two, swung out a fist towards Raven''s head, but just as the fist was about to make contact, Raven bent down to the ground with a pleased, "Look at that, a copper!" The lack of a target caused the boy to loose his balance and topple over, just as Raven stood back up again, seemingly oblivious to everything.

    "Why is the line not moving?" said Raven in a pensive voice and jumped up to see over the crowd, just as groupie number one''s leg swept past under her legs and instead kicked the already fallen groupie number one.

    The groan of the boy on the ground finally got Raven''s attention and she looked at groupie number one with disdain, "you shouldn''t kick a man that''s down, that''s uncivilized."

    Suddenly, spirit essence surged within the young Lord and he gesticulated towards Raven, "You bastard! I, Brolga Sarus, will teach you a lesson in manners even your parents will remember!"

    Raven''s eyes narrowed.

    ''Now you''ve done it.'' thought Hoatzin and flew of from Raven''s shoulder.

    Slowly, Raven turned to look at Brolga. Her eyes met his at once. No spirit essence was used and her killing intent was kept in check, but the moment he stared into her deep, dark red eyes a shiver ran down Brolga''s spine. He had never seen such a cold and heartless glare before and all of his instincts were telling him, yelling at him, to run away.

    "What is going on here?" A loud voice rang out in the square and, calming down, Raven broke eye contact with Brolga to look for the source. As she did, Brolga let out a breath he hadn''t realized he was holding.

    When Raven looked at the boy who had spoken she almost smiled; she knew him. It was Javelin, the young boy that had gifted her the Twilight Lullaby almost exactly four years ago. He had grown a lot since then.

    Although he was only ten, his constant cultivation and training had made him mature quicker, to the point were he now seemed no younger than fifteen. He was nearly a head taller than Raven and very well built. His blonde hair shined like gold in the sunlight, just as she had guessed it would, and his striking galaxy-like eyes seemed to draw her in.

    ''Very dangerous, indeed.''

    As Raven looked at Javelin, he too looked at her, or him, as he saw it. Javelin had run over from his position beneath banner A-F when he sensed the spirit essence within Brolga Sarus activating. He had intended to quickly put an end to whatever ruckus was going on, but now found himself staring at a scrawny boy with midnight purple hair and blood red eyes. Apart from the cold glare of those red eyes, the boy seemed remarkably... unremarkable, and yet, the moment Javelin had laid eyes on him his heart a stopped beating for a second, only to start beating even faster afterwards.

    ''What the heck...'' he couldn''t understand his own reaction and, quite frankly, that made him annoyed.

    A light cough near by drew the attention of both Javelin and Raven.

    "My brother and I were on our way to register for the exams when we had a slight misunderstanding with this boy here," it was the young Lady Sarus that spoke, "it will not happen again."

    "Sister?" Brolga hissed under his breath.

    "Don''t go breaking rules when you can shame him during the exams, Brother," she whispered back.

    "Ah," Javelin looked back at Raven, "is that so?"

    Raven shrugged.

    "Very well then, back in line everyone." By now, the argument had drawn quite a lot of attention and the queues were largely disrupted, but on Javelin''s command they started to reform.

    Javelin glanced a final time at Raven before he started walking back to his post, but he stopped and turned as he noticed he was followed.

    "Yes?" he asked the two Sarus siblings behind him.

    They blinked at him in surprise. "We are going to register for the exams," said Brolga eventually.

    Javelin pointed at the back of the queue, "Then I suggest you wait in line." he said and walked of.

    "He hasn''t lost his straightforwardness over the last two years at least," commented Hoatzin happily as he settled back down on Raven''s shoulder, "nor his fascination for you, it would seem."

    "Don''t be silly, he no doubt thinks I''m a boy."

    "According to mistress Tinga, gender has nothing to do with it." he sounded very proud of his new insights.

    Raven just snorted and, since it was finally her turn, walked up to the desk under the N-S banner. Behind it sat another known face, one of the Griffin twins, though she didn''t know which one. The twin had also grown considerably, although he was less sturdy and more lean than Javelin.

    "Hello," the twin spoke with the dispirited voice of someone who has done the same thing for far too long, "name?"

    "Raven."

    He twitched a bit at her name but after a quick glance at her, he returned to his previous state. "And your family name?" he continued.

    Raven only paused for a second.

    "Night."

    He scribbled the full name down in a log book.

    "Age?"

    "Six."

    That caused him too look up again.

    "There is no point in lying, I will test you once I''ve written down your answers."

    "I''m not lying." Raven had known this was going to happen.

    "And you have formed a spirit core?"

    "Yes."

    "Then show me your Spirit Stone."

    "I don''t have one."

    The twin sighed and stopped taking notes.

    "Hold this," he held out a clear disk and motioned for Raven to take it - which she did - and then said, "pour spirit essence into it."

    Which she also did. Within seconds the disk flared up with extremely brightly light and then dimmed just as quickly, revealing the text ''6 years and 7 months, spirit core confirmed'' at its center.

 Chapter 31: The Exam Begins

    Martin stared at the disk with round eyes. Subconsciously he glanced over at Javelin''s desk two steps away; had Martin stumbled across a freak even more impressive than his foreign friend? He shook his head.

    "The disk must be broken..." he grumbled and fished out a new one from a box below his table.

    The disks could only test a hundred people or so before needing to be replaced, but what Martin forgot, or perhaps chose to forget, was that he had just changed the disk for the previous person.

    "Here, do it again."

    Inwardly Raven rolled her eyes slight annoyance but she showed no sign of it to Martin as she grabbed the second disk.

    Hoatzin''s eyes shined with amusement, watching silently from Raven''s shoulder.

    The disk flared up and ''6 years 7 months, spirit core confirmed'' was displayed once again.

    "How is that even..." Martin started to blurt out but then he chuckled and said, mostly to himself, "well, I though Javelin was impossible, so why not..."

    As far as Martin was concerned, forming a spirit core at the age of seven was unimaginable already, Raven had simply beat him to it by six months. What Martin was to young to take into consideration was that Javelin was from a famous military family with close to unlimited resources, he would for example have had no problem getting access to a Spirit Hall on the Day of Light. Night, however, was not a name of any big or wealthy clan in Sky Empire...

    As it was Martin just smiled happily at Raven and handed over two small wooden tablets. "The red one is for you, use it to get on the shuttles to Sky Academy for the exams. The blue one can be given to a family member that you want to bring with you."

    Raven accepted the tables with a curt bow, it was closer to a nod actually, and turned to walk of.

    "Good luck, little brother Night," Martin called out after Raven, "I hope you pass!"

    "Hmpf," snorted Hoatzin, "that Martin fellow, always too easy going. I hoped for a better reaction..."

    "You know him well then? I couldn''t have told the two twins apart before." Raven asked while she made her way through the crowd - there was still over a thousand people on the square and it was very cramped, but Raven didn''t even touch a single person as she moved.

    "Well, the four of us - the twins and Javelin - were all in the same dorm room that year and they are fun guys to be with." he explained, but then added with an other snort, "most of the time."

    Raven kept making her way across the square, careful not to get to close to the Sarus siblings - she had no wish to cause another scene, yet - and soon got a clear view of her target, her waiting mercenary uncles. They had switched out of their white robes and instead wore brown leather armor with a red sun on their chests.

    ''It would seem like they''ve joined a larger mercenary core.'' Raven thought to herself but just as she was about to step out of the square to join them, Hoatzin''s panicked voice rang in her head, "Wait!" and her brother flew up in front of her face.

    Raven stopped immediately, sharpening her senses in case of danger, and asked solemnly, "What is wrong, bother?"

    "The dorms! I had forgotten, but you will have to share a room with three guys at the Academy!"

    Raven blinked at her brother and then burst out laughing, with quite a few heads turning her way.

    "Oh, Brother..." her body had already relaxed, "have I not been traveling alone with four men for over a year now?"

    "That''s different! They are too old for you!"

    ''Hog is, certainly, but the other three are not that far from to my actual age. It''s more like my classmates will be way too young...'' she mused to herself but said nothing.

    Stifling her laughter, and ignoring her fretting brother, Raven rejoined the waiting mercenaries. She held up her two tablets and gave a small smile. After a heated discussion between the four men it was decided that Hog would be the one to join Raven, while the others would wait at a tavern, ready to celebrate the good news.

    Opting not to tarry any longer, Hog and Raven located the shuttle bird that flew anticipating students and their family members up to the second top most Tier that belonged to Sky Academy. The flight was fairly short, but the bird took a extra tour around the Academy Tier allowing the ten or so passengers to have a closer look.

    Most people had never seen it this up close before, since you required clearance from the military if you wished to fly above their Tier. Raven had seen it before but it was still very beautiful to watch.

    The Academy Tier was relatively small; most of it was centered around the main peak, with a smaller portion located to the south, at the very top of the second highest peak of Sky City - the other two peaks were not high enough to reach the Academy Tier. The two areas were interlinked by a wondrous garden that stretched between the two peaks.

    The garden had everything from exotic flowers and trees to rivers and ponds; a part of the huge waterfall running down the main peak had been diverted into this garden and flowed gently towards the outer peak. It was an optimal place for meditation and contemplating the natural spirit essences in the world.

    There were even a few open areas that allowed two student to spar with each other. Special force fields surrounded these areas so the fighting wouldn''t disrupt the rest of the garden.

    Hoatzin nodded towards the smaller settlement on the outer peak, "That is where the elders and advanced students live. The spirit essence is a lot denser there."

    Raven looked closer at the cluster of buildings. Apart from a larger tower in the middle, most houses were fairly low, two stories at most. The tiles on the roofs were a deep blue and, surprisingly enough, all of these houses seemed to be made of wood as white as snow.

    "Starlight Birch!" Raven exclaimed in shook.

    "You know of it?" Hoatzin first sounded surprised but it quickly faded, "of course you do.  Well, the Elders will tell you all about how the Academy got a hold of the wood if you ask them, for hours. To make a long story short, the founder was gifted the wood from a mysterious friend he once saved."

    Raven just stared at the houses, even as the bird took her out them out of sight. Starlight Birch was a long extinct tree that looked almost exactly like a normal birch, except for the snow white bark and wood and the dazzling silver leaves that would shine softly in the dark. The reason for this phenomenon was that the starlight birch was capable of absorbing spirit essence, much like a spirit beast, and purified itself in the process.

    The result would be unimaginably strong wood that was at one with the natures spirit essence. This had many positive consequences for a spiritualist. Starlight wood would for example not restrict a spiritualist''s senses, as normal stone would, but the biggest benefit was that even though the wood absorbed spirit essence, it didn''t keep it indefinitely. It simply absorbed it, refined it and then let''s it go again.

    "No wonder the spirit essence is denser there... I wonder who this friend was that casually gave away so much Starlight wood."

    "Nobody knows for sure." answered Hoatzin just as the cabin they were in was lower down to the ground.

    They had arrived in front of the huge auditorium were the exam would take place. Even the buildings here were white with deep blue roofs, but here the buildings were made out of stone. The roaring sound of the waterfall could be heard in the distance.

    As she and the other people in the cabin disembarked they were meet by none other than Lark, the other Griffin twin. Raven was astonished by how similar the two twins were even on a spirit essence level; very few differences existed between the two that she could use to tell them apart.

    "Welcome to the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts," said Lark without acknowledging any of the adults, "I will show you to the waiting rooms were you will be dived into groups for the exam." He turned and walked away, knocking on a sign that said ''Families this way'' as he past it.

    Hog and Raven glanced at each other once before Raven followed Lark and the five other students that had arrived with her. Hoatzin hesitated for a moment but in the end decided to remain on Raven''s shoulder.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "I know the Academy is supposed to treat all students equally, regardless of background but I didn''t think they''d go as far as to have prefecture heirs and important exchange students working as aids..."

    There wasn''t really a question in there but Hoatzin answered it anyway, "Ha! Sky Academy is anything but equal to its students, but, if our year together was an indicator then I bet the Griffin Twins did something they shouldn''t have and then got Javelin involved in the clean up."

    He tried to sound displeased with this behavior but Raven could tell that his heart wasn''t in it.

    "How improper!" she teased sarcastically as they followed Lark through a set of heavy doors.

    ---------

    Javelin sat in the second floor viewing area of the Academy''s auditorium together with the other few students who were either bored enough to come watch the entrance exams or had relatives entering. Across from him, over the stage, all three prefecture booths were empty and the emperor was not to arrive for a while longer - if he''d arrive at all this time, considering the troubles the imperial family were having at the time.

    Fairly few people were aware of the accusations against the Empress but Javelin had been present at the palace to meet with an ambassador from his home country when the Empress had been detained. Javelin himself had been sworn to secrecy, of course.

    Loud *thumps* on either side of him drew his attention to his two friends.

    "Unshackled for now?" he asked the twins - Hoatzin''s guess had been spot on.

    "Yeah, we are released until after the exam." smiled the one on the left, Lark, "how many do you think will pass?"

    "I don''t know," Hoatzin looked down on the stage, "it felt like fewer than usual even met the criteria this time."

    "Then you had bad luck in your line, according to Elder Kagu, we have a new record," Lark paused for effect, "1097 applicants."

    "I wouldn''t call it bad luck," sighed Martin, "I had to go get an extra box of age disks..."

    "At least you didn''t have to break up any fights," Javelin pushed down on his temples, ever since he broke up the first fight earlier, he had been feeling... odd.

    Martin, however, disregarded Javelin''s comment and tiered state as his eyes lit up and he leaned over so he could look at both his brother and friend.

    "Speaking of age disks, I came across a boy even freakier than our own mister Hake here." he jabbed Javelin with a closed fist on his shoulder.

    "Oh? Do tell." Lark seemed only mildly interested on the surface but light shone in his eyes and Javelin knew no man appreciated gossip more than Lark, and perhaps Martin.

    "Six years, seven months, spirit core confirmed."

    That jerked Javelin out of his odd mood.

    "The disk must have been broken." said Lark disbelievingly.

    "I thought so too but I had changed it right before and even gave him a new one to test him again. Same result."

    "Impossible." breathed Javelin.

    As someone who had managed to form his first spirit connection at the very young age of five years and one month, Javelin knew just how hard it was to make a child form a connection ahead of time. His empire had done countless studies on the subject, and no mentally sane child had ever managed to form a connection before the age of four years and nine months. Even then, the child had  basically been tortured its entire life and was of little use after that.

    Similarly, once the first connection was made, the all time record of forming a spirit core was currently held by his own big brother, who had only needed a couple of months under two years.

    Javelin''s own childhood had been very though and still his success hadn''t been certain.

    Javelin drew a deep breath, "poor kid, most likely he has life has been a living hell only to now have a useless and unstable soul prism and spirit core..."

    "Hmm, he didn''t seem so unstable to me," pondered Martin, "a bit cold, though."

    At that moment a loud voice echoed through the now filled hall.

    ��All rise for his Imperial Majesty, Sky Emperor Mallard Bateleur!"

    The hall was filled with shuffling noises as everyone got to their feet. Moments later the large golden clad figure of the emperor appeared on the highest balcony over the stage. He smiled and waved once to the crowd before sitting down. No one would have known that anything was wrong just by looking at him, perhaps not even Raven would be able to tell.

    The fact that the Empress wasn''t with him caused some whispers among the crowd but the Empress didn''t always attend the Academy exam so it was mostly whispers of disappointment, rather than suspicion.

    Elder Kagu walked out on stage in the light grey robes of a regular elder. He bowed to the Emperor and then started repeating the same speech he held every year.

    ��Welcome to the annual entrance exams for the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts!�� his strong voice echoed out into the hall. ��I am Elder Kagu, and I will administer today��s exam.�� He paused and gazed out over the audience.

    ��All applicants have been checked and they have all passed the first requirement; establishing their spirit cores before the age of nine. But, as you know, Sky Academy has even higher requirements before accepting new students.��

    ��1097 children have applied for the exam this year, most likely only about ten will pass.�� Elder Kagu continued and just like every year the hissing noise of sharp intakes of air spreads throughout the hall at his words.

    He continued to explain how the exam would work and the probabilities of passing but Javelin and his friends didn''t pay much attention.

    "So, you don''t think the six year old..." Lark looked questioningly at Martin.

    "Um, Night. Raven Night." Martin filled in and glanced at Javelin as he said the first name, but Javelin didn''t seem to react.

    That in itself caused the twins to exchange glances before Lark continued, "then...you don''t think that the Night kid will pass?"

    "It''s just a name..." sighed Javelin quietly - causing a second silent interaction between the twins - while he himself fiddled with something under his sleeve, "but, no, I don''t think he will pass."

    The twins didn''t seem to register his last comment as they stared at their friend. For two years now, Javelin had reacted negatively any time the name Raven came up, but now he seemed almost fine.

    "It begins."

    The first group of possible students shuffled out on stage and went through the procedure of expelling glowing orbs of spirit essence that Kagu planted in them. Eleven groups would come and go, and by the time the tenth group left the stage twelve children had already passed.

    None of them showed any stellar potential, like that of Hoatzin and Javelin, with the highest amount of expelled orbs numbering at 32. Surprisingly enough, that 32 had been achieved by a girl, meaning that she became the ninth girl currently attending the martial division at Sky Academy.

    "I bet Elder Kagu is quite pleased with this years results," commented Lark as the last group was lining up on stage, "it has been years since more than ten students were accepted."

    "If you''re lucky, he will forgive you for turning his cat pink last week, on account of his good mood." Javelin winked at Lark.

    "Ah, that''s him!" shouted Martin, way to loudly, as he pointed into the rows of students on stage.

    Elder Kagu twirled around on stage and shot the trio reproving glares.

    "Or not," cringed Lark.

    "Nevermind that," urged Martin, though in a lower voice, "look, it''s the kid with the white bird on his shoulder."

    Javelin and Lark scanned the group for the white bird and when Javelin found its owner his heart involuntarily skipped a beat. He frowned and suddenly felt quite annoyed. He recognized the boy from before and although he couldn''t put his finger on it, something about him made Javelin feel perturbed.

    "Are you sure that''s him, Twin, he doesn''t look like his any younger than the rest." questioned Lark.

    He did have a point, Raven might be leaner than the boys around her but she wasn''t much shorter, already being nearly one and a half meters tall.

    "Of course I''m sure! How could I forget a little freak like that?"

    With the children in place, neatly ordered in ten rows, nearly ten thousand spirit orbs surged out of Elder Kagu and moved towards 97 children on stage. The white bird on the Raven Night''s shoulder took flight just as a hundred light globes poured into the kid.

    ��You have five minutes, starting�� now!�� bellowed Elder Kagu.

 Chapter 32: Unprecedented

    The entire hall sat in silence as the seconds ticked by. It didn''t take long before the first student managed to expel an orb, Javelin recognized the kid from the the fight during sign ups, Brolga Sarus. Soon afterwards his achievement was mirrored by who Javelin assumed was his sister.

    "Looks like we might get a tenth girl today." remarked Lark, but Javelin couldn''t take his eyes of Raven Night.

    No orbs moved out of the boy and as the seconds grew to minutes, he started to grow nervous. He was aware that the kid was most likely ruined for life, and incapable of cultivation, because even if he combined his brother''s record for core formation with the earliest age a spirit connection has been formed - stable or not - this boy would still be too young.  However, he really wanted the kid to pass; a kid with a past like that, at least deserved to be... useful.

    Four and a half minute had passed and still no sign of activity from the orbs. At some point, the boy''s white bird had flown up and landed on the railing in front of the Javelin and the twins, but none of them had really noticed. Amusement and expectation twinkled in its very human eyes as it alternately looked at the stage in front of him and the boys behind him.

    With mere seconds to go, Brolga Sarus opened his eyes and risked a glance towards the little runt he had argued with earlier. He snorted disdainfully at the lack of orbs around the kid and was about to close his eyes again for a final attempt a removing a thirty fourth orb, when a blinding light filled the auditorium.

    Up on the student balcony Javelin shot to his feet and stared in disbelief at the immense light radiating from within the purple haired youth on stage. The light was so bright that the other student, who had their eyes closed in concentration, frowned and looked at it source.

    The light slowly faded and revealed the calm youth standing at the center of a sea of twirling orbs.

    "How...that''s..." Javelin stuttered as he stared at the boy; not a single orb could be seen within Raven Night.

    Javelin wasn''t the only once shocked into aphasia, even Elder Kagu missed the light *gong* that indicated that the time was up and instead, wide eyed and pale faced, stood muttering "a hundred..." over and over.

    At first the Elder though that some Divine Skill must have been used to accomplish the deed but as he thought back on what he happened it didn''t fit. The orbs of spirit essence he released were specially designed to pick up on the activation of Divine Skills and the few skills it wouldn''t pick up on were to weak to have this effect.

    No, the exam was put together so that the only way a spiritualist could expel the orbs was to use their own, pure, spirit essence to slowly push them out. With newly formed spirit cores, the children taking the exams could only hope to move one or maybe...

    The Elder''s eyes widened and he suddenly disappeared from his position on the side of the stage only to reappear next to Raven. Without even asking he reached out and placed his hand on the kid''s forehead. The kid stood there as calmly as before, and somewhere in the audience a muffled chuckle momentarily broke the silence.

    With shaking hands Elder Kagu backed away from the kid. He closed his eyes and turned to face the audience.

    ��Three confirmed passes: Kori Sarus, 31 orbs cleared; Brolga Sarus, 33 orbs cleared; Raven Night, 100 orbs cleared.��

    Silence.

    ��The three of you can follow the attendant out. The rest, may leave. The exams are over.�� Elder Kagu instructed.

    For a moment nothing happened. It wasn''t until Raven turned toward the exit and started walking of the stage that the people present woke from their daze. Clamor broke out at once.

    "A hundred? Isn''t that a one in a billion occurrence?"

    "Cheated, he must have cheated!"

    "How dare he!"

    Various comments and accusations flew through the air, but Javelin and the twins only sat silently in their chairs; the elder had passed the kid so they knew cheating was likely out of the question.

    The noise level only rose in the hall, some parents and failed students were even trying to make their way on to the stage. What they intended to do once they got there, was hard to tell if even they themselves knew.

    *BANG!*

    The sudden sound from the imperial balcony caused everyone to quiet down and look up at the Emperor; he did not seem pleased.

    Slowly he got up from his extravagant chair and walked over the balcony railing. His cold stare was like a bucket of water over the exasperated crowd.

    "Elder Kagu, you have permission to explain the situation." Emperor Malard''s voice was surprisingly calm. Even though he didn''t have all the details it would seem like he had an idea of what might have happened and his words told the Elder that it wasn''t necessary to hide the facts from the public.

    "As you wish, your Majesty," Elder Kagu bowed respectfully to the Emperor and then turned to the audience.

    "Raven Night has passed the exam on two grounds: firstly, he is well bellow the age of ten; secondly, his cultivation has already reached the peak of the Spirit Novice," this caused another shock for the listeners, "As such the spirit control exam is of no concern, since it is designed for a low Spirit Novice."

    The people in the audience seemed to have come to terms with something at that point: it is not that this child is one in a billion or a cheater, he has simply advanced further in his cultivation and can therefor overpower the test. Slowly they backed away and the tense air in the hall dissipated.

    The few spiritualists in the crowd, and the students on the floor above them, were not so easily calmed though. While it was true that practically anyone of them now could overpower the entrance exam with the sheer abundance of their spirit essence, was it truly less spectacular to be a peak Spirit Novice before the age of ten, than it was to have a one in a billion control over your spirit essence? Even the children attending Sky Academy, whom were considered the most talented of spiritualists, usually required three years simply to go from a new low Spirit Novice to a peak high Spirit Novice.

    "Well, what do you know," smiled Martin, "I told you he wasn''t unstable."

    "Indeed." Javelin couldn''t muster a longer reply.

    "I bet you will get a new student in the advanced classes after this." Lark nudged Javelin in the side.

    "Most likely."

    "Come, let''s go meet him before someone finds out and tries to sink his claws into him." Lark stood and pulled Javelin up with him.

    "Good idea, Twin!" Martin was already standing, "See, I told you it was a good idea to turn Kagu''s cat pink."

    As the trio hurried off, the white bird on the railing almost seemed to smirk at them before it took flight, heading down towards the stage exit.

    ---------

    Raven had, by now, already left the stage and entered the small backstage room where all other student who had already passed the exam waited. While they had waited, they had not been given any updates on the ongoing tests so none of them knew about Raven''s insane results.

    Therefore, the twelve eight-year-old kids looked at Raven and the Sarus siblings with mostly childlike curiosity. They might be young children but Raven could tell from their glances that they had quickly figured out that the later two did not like her. Perhaps some of them even noticed the fear Raven cold sense within the two. No doubt they wondered how Raven had grown disliked so fast.

    Raven casually crossed the room and leaned against the opposite wall. She had barely looked at any of her fellow students, but she smiled slightly as her gaze fell upon the young girl that had managed to pass the test earlier on.

    ''I''m glad to see that there are more girls this year. We can''t let the men keep hogging all the fun forever.''

    The girl had noticed Raven''s stare and hesitantly smiled back. The boys in the room where too focused on Kori to notice this exchange, but Kori herself had been shocked by the fact that another girl had passed and was already glaring at the girl. Her eyes narrowed.

    Kori was just about to step forward when the attendant from the stage entered the room, followed by Elder Kagu and, seconds later, the white little Hoatzin who landed gracefully on Raven''s shoulder.

    "Haha, that was awesome, Sister!" Hoaztin practically squealed in her mind, "You should have seen the faces of Javelin and the Griffin twins - it was priceless!"

    "The look the Elder is giving me right now is rather priceless as well." Raven replied as she lifted a finger to ruffle the feathers on her brother''s head.

    "True, it''s as if he can''t decide if he''s looking at a monster or a genius."

    "Let''s hope he goes for the later..."

    At this point, Elder Kagu, whom had been looking at Raven with an odd expression ever since he entered the room, tore his eyes away and addressed all the students.

    "Congratulations, you have all passed your entrance exams and have been accepted into our Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts. From tomorrow onward you will be living at the student dorms here on the Academy Tier and spend your days cultivating and perfecting your Divine Skills."

    "Your first lecture starts tomorrow at noon, you will then get a more thorough introduction to the Academy and your coming ten years. For now, I want you to follow this man, he will show you to your dorm rooms and give you your uniforms. After that, you are free to return to your families for the night," his expression grew stern, "but don''t be late tomorrow."

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    He motioned for the attendant to leave through the main doors and the new students stood up to follow him.

    "Ah, Raven Night," Elder Kagu''s gaze locked on Raven once more, "I''d like you to come with me."

    Brolga''s fists clenched until they turned white while the other students looked at Raven with confusion. Raven herself gave a disinterested shrug, as if it didn''t really concern her, and leaned of the wall.

    She followed the Elder out one of the side doors without looking back at the others but once the door closed behind her she heard Brolga mutter "Commoner runt, I''ll show you!" in a voice so low that, most likely, only Raven could hear him.

    She didn''t dignify that with even a mental response.

    Raven followed Elder Kagu in silence through narrow corridors and a few staircases before Raven felt a familiar presence not far from her position. Moments later the elder led her around a corner and stopped in front of a large wooden door. Next to the door stood a slightly, and therefor uncharacteristically, nervous Hog.

    "I see they have already brought your relative here," smiled Elder Kagu, "would you introduce me, Raven?"

    "Elder Kagu, this is my adoptive uncle, Uncle Hog," Hog bowed rather elegantly, "Uncle Hog, this is an Elder of the Academy whom you have already seen on stage, Elder Kagu."

    Elder Kagu also bowed, albeit not as deeply.

    "Wait here a moment," he then said and walked though the wooden doors.

    The moment he passed the threshold, Raven raised an eyebrow in surprise; she could no longer sense the Elder''s presence.

    "Hehe, you''ve impressed me yet again, Raven," chuckled Hog, "you don''t know how to hold back, do you?"

    "If you only knew..." puffed Hoatzin on her shoulder, but Raven just gave Hog a halfhearted smile.

    "It''s not always good to be too impressive, Raven," Hog continued, "you might attract unwanted attention." he glanced at the wooden door.

    "I will keep that in mind, Uncle Hog."

    After a few more minutes, the wooden door swung open once more and Elder Kagu called from within, "the two of you may enter now."

    Without hesitating, Hog and Raven entered the room, but Raven nearly froze at the doorstep; the presence of leaking spirit essences inside the room was too overbearing! There were only three people within, one of which, was of course Elder Kagu whose warm orange presence had revealed him as a mid Spirit Champion even before.

    The second person had an even brighter orange presence, indicating the impressive cultivation of high Champion - not yet at the peak, but still solidly ''high''. Amazingly enough, this man looked to be a lot younger than Elder Kagu, being perhaps roughly the same age as Hog. His eyes were bright and very curious as he observed Raven.

    However, it was the third person, calmly seated behind a big desk, who was the largest reason for Raven''s reaction; his presence was a blinding yellow that easily eclipsed the other two''s.

    ''A Spirit Master!'' Raven gasped. She had never met one before and could therefor not judge at what exact level the man was at but there was no doubt about him being in the Master realm.

    Both unknown men wore the same type of robes as Elder Kagu, only theirs were whiter than snow - had Hog still been in his white robes then they would have looked dirty in comparison - and the nine pointed Spirit Stars were black, rather than the silver one on Elder Kagu''s chest.

    The seated Spirit Master smiled warmly at Raven. His hair was long and just as white as the robes he was wearing, but his face looked very young. By the face alone, Raven would have guessed him no older than thirty, but his grey eyes revealed a lot more age than that - much like she guessed her own would, were she not careful.

    "You must be young Raven," the man''s ancient eyes seemed to drill into Raven, "I am Headmaster Eider Swan, and this is Vice Headmaster Smew Gadwall." he nodded towards the other man beside him.

    "Would you do me the honor?" Asked Headmaster Swan and stretched out a pale hand over his desk.

    Raven couldn''t help but swallow; this was it. If a Spirit Master couldn''t see through her male disguise and hidden cultivation, no one else was likely to. Her thoughts went to the mysterious Fenris for a moment but she dismissed them at once; she had no idea what level of cultivation Fenris had but she felt sure that he was one-of-a-kind.

    Almost holding her breath, Raven focused her attention on controlling her Limiters and circulating her spirit essence within her to hide her several secrets. Calmly she walked up to the table and grabbed the outstretched hand of the headmaster.

    The moment their hands touched, strong spirit essence surged in from the headmaster''s hand. A warm and gentle sensation filled Raven as the essence moved through her, first through her bones in her arm to ascertain her age, then to her spirit core to ascertain her cultivation.

    At this point Headmaster Swan''s eyes widened in pleased surprise, but he said nothing. His spirit essence then moved on towards her soul prism, but Raven put on a frown and used her own spirit essence to block him. Unlike with Fenris, she had no problem in stopping him.

    Had the headmaster wanted to, he could have forced his way through, but not without risking hurting Raven in the process. Raven gambled on the fact that he would be more interested in keeping her as a healthy student than forcefully inspecting her soul. She was right.

    "Apologies," he smiled as he let go of Raven''s hand, "I did not intend to pry so deeply, but your age and cultivation rose my curiosity."

    "So it''s true then," said Vice Headmaster Gadwall excitedly, more as a statement then a question.

    "Yes," he got a reply anyway, "tell me... Uncle Hog, was it? How have you raised such an extraordinary boy?"

    It was Hog''s turn to swallow. "Honorable Headmaster, although it is true that I, we, have raised and trained Raven these past three years, he was already a spiritualist when we found him."

    "What!?" Elder Kagu couldn''t hide his shock, "wouldn''t he have been only three at the time?"

    "Well," Hog glanced at Raven. He didn''t really like to talk about Raven''s past in front of her, since she would ''turn catatonic'' for days afterwords.

    The elders in the room seemed to understand that he didn''t want to talk about it with Raven present so they asked her to leave, which she did, but before she left, Hoatzin switched his resting place to Hog''s shoulder.

    Once Raven was out of the room, Hog started telling them of that horrible day when he and his mercenary group had stumbled across giant caves located at the western mountain cost of the then called Nightingale Prefecture. They had originally been out on an other mission but decided to explore them anyway.

    He then painted a very vivid picture of what they had found inside: cave after cave filled with dead, mutilated  children; smells that forced even veteran mercenaries to loose their dinner; torture chambers; and so on.

    Hoatzin kept repeating what Hog told the men inside, his voice growing queasier by the second, and Raven had to yet again admit the wonder that was Fenris; even she would have a hard time imagining some the atrocities Hog thought he''d witnessed. Then again, Hog''s story most likely had more truth to it then Fenris had realized since Raven actually had lived through, or dealt out, most of the rest of them.

    Once Hog had finished his story - ending with how they''d found Raven strapped to a chair with sharp spikes digging into her neck, surrounded by a dozen laughing bandits - the room remained silent for a long while.

    After a while, Hog continued talking, but now about the three years since then and how he and his crew had slowly made Raven to open up more and become the, all things considered, rather sociable kid she was today. He even brought up the times Raven helped save the lives of people in his crew. Perhaps he was afraid that they would think the kid unstable.

    When the door opened and Raven was called in again, much of the Academy Elder''s previous excitement had been sedated and Raven noticed that Hoatzin wasn''t the only one to have been sickened by story.

    "Junior Raven Night," Headmaster Swan still smiled at her, but it was more strained now, "I wholeheartedly welcome you to our Sky Academy. I hope you will enjoy your time here and find a place to call home."

    Raven bowed respectfully and Swan looked at his vice headmaster who nodded in a.

    "Junior, may we ask you something?" the headmaster spoke again.

    "Ask anything, Headmaster Swan."

    "Why do you want to grow stronger?"

    Both vice and head headmaster looked at Raven with profound eyes, waiting attentively for her response. She could tell they were putting a lot of weight in her answer.

    Raven seemed to ponder it for a moment before she lifted her gaze to look out through the rooms only window. When she spoke, it was the first time in a long while she was so honest with her words, perhaps even more so then she realized.

    "I don''t want to lose anyone... Not ever again."

 Chapter 33: Admittance

    The men in the room looked at Raven with mixed expressions, varying from pity to admiration, but Headmaster Swan seemed mostly determined.

    "Very well, Junior Night, here is your curriculum for your first semester," he lifted of a piece of paper from his desk and handed it to Raven, "it might be a bit though for you, at first, but I think you have the strength for it."

    Raven looked down on the paper and rejoiced; at the top was her name next to the number 95-01, followed by:

    Morning Class: Battle Strategy - 1st level

    Noon Recess

    Afternoon Class: Spirit Control - 4th level

    Evening Class: Advanced Classes - mixed

    "You made it?" asked Hoatzin and few back to Raven''s shoulder to look at the paper in her hand.

    "I made it." she said happily to her brother but outwardly she looked up at the headmaster with a confused look.

    "I guess you wouldn''t know about it," Swan''s smile had grown a bit more relaxed now, "well, Elder Kagu can explain on the way to your dorms."

    The headmaster was about to send Raven of when he remembered something, "Oh, and if you feel up to it, the Emperor has invited you to attend a banquet this evening. It''s normally for children from the noble clans who have been accepted into the school but he wanted to make an exception for you."

    "If you want to go, tell your roommate and he will bring you. He will also be attending."

    "Who is my roommate?" Raven wanted to ask but it wasn''t something Raven Night would care about so she said nothing as she once more followed Elder Kagu out.

    Hog hesitated, "um, respectable Headmaster Swan, the school fee..."

    "Raven''s studies will be paid for by the Academy, mister Hog," answered the vice headmaster matter-of-factly before Hog could finish his question. Hog bowed deeply and quickly exited the room, drawing a deep breath of relief once outside; he might not have Raven''s sharp senses but his instincts still warned him of how much strength had been gathered in that room.

    Raven and Hog said goodbye and Raven promised to head over to the earlier mentioned tavern later that night, but Hog recommended a visit to the Emperor''s banquet first; "it''s not every day you have an opportunity to see the Indigo Cloud Palace up close," he said.

    The encouragement was unnecessary though; Raven would certainly not give up the opportunity to snoop around at the Palace, even if it meant taking the risk of being recognized by one of the noble clans. At least, not considering the current situation where the Empress had been accused of treason.

    "Well then," said Elder Kagu as he and Raven walked away from the headmaster''s room, "I take it your schedule confused you, no?"

    "Yes, Elder Kagu, it did." This was of course a lie but she would let him explain anyway.

    "Normally, students have two classes per day - apart from the time spent in self cultivation. The class in the morning consists of various lectures and practical activities endeavoring to teach you all you need to know once you graduate. Everything from how to lead an army or working as an official to how to effectively attack or defend as a group. These morning lectures will continue for the entire ten years you study at Sky Academy and no skipping is allowed."

    Raven nodded as the elder spoke.

    "The afternoon class is instead focused on increasing your understanding and control of your spirit essence. After your display this morning and the headmaster''s inspection earlier, it is clear that putting you with the first year students for this class would be a waste. Therefore, you have been moved to the level for the forth year students instead," Elder Kagu glanced down at Raven, "I''m not sure that you will manage to follow their pace, but give it a try and if it doesn''t work we can move you down a step."

    "I will try, Elder Kagu."

    There was much determination in Raven''s voice and Kagu wondered if the kid had added the ''try'' more out of courtesy then to indicate an actual possibility of failure.

    He shook his head, smiling slightly, before he continued, "As for the advanced classes, well, you will find out the specifics later, but the students that have been picked for the advanced classes are the true elite potentials within our Academy. There can be at most twenty advanced students at any given time, two from each year, but there are rarely more that ten or fifteen that qualify. You are very fortunate to have been admitted, and so early on too."

    Elder Kagu paused in front of a small door, "wait here," he said and disappeared into the room behind it only to reappear seconds later, now holding a grey bundle.

    "Here you go," he handed it over to Raven, "your uniform. I slipped a Spirit Stone in there as well, since you don''t seem to have one."

    "Wouldn''t students have to take more tests before they are picked for the advanced class? Why was I  admitted right away?" asked Raven as they started walking again.

    "Do you really need to ask?" Elder Kagu raised an eyebrow in surprise but when Raven gave no other response he continued, "a six-year-old peak Spirit Novice is unheard of. If you work hard and get the right training from us, your potential is unlimited! Of course we would advance you right away."

    The elder smiled warmly at Raven and she felt as if he had the erge to lift a hand and ruffle her hair. He resisted it, however, and instead turned left walking out through a small archway. When Raven followed him, her eyes widened with awe. They had stepped out into the beautiful garden that stretched between the main and the southern peek and it was even more impressive up close than it had been from the air.

    Despite the cold temperatures of a too late spring, a sweet rosy scent filled the air and crystalline butterflies fluttered over the gurgling river that ran down along the garden. Here and there, students sat mediating on smooth white rocks, indifferent to the chill in the air.

    In the distance, the lone high tower, with white Starlight wood walls and cobalt blue roof tiles, stood like a mythical monument or mirage - oddly there but not there at the same time - against the black background of the even more distant mountain range that surrounded Sky City.

    "Impressive, no?" asked Elder Kagu as he took a deep breath and walked off down an ally of barren trees, "you see it at is least impressive time though, am I afraid. It''s in a transition period right now."

    "He''s right, Sister," confirmed Hoatzin, "wait until you see how it looks in the summer!"

    Raven looked forward to it already.

    Walking at a slower pace than before, Elder Kagu, with Raven in tow, made his way across the garden in silence until they reached a large gate at the far end of it. As they passed through it, the elder nodded respectfully to a man seated leisurely by the gate, but the man barely took notice.

    Judging by his clothes, the man was just another elder, but Raven could tell by his vibrantly orange presence that the man was not so simple; apart from the headmaster and his vice, this man was the strongest spiritualist she''d come across on campus.

    Raven stopped and bowed deeply to the man before she hurried after Elder Kagu. Behind her, the man raised his head and watched her go with curious eyes.

    "As a advanced student," the elder finally spoke again, "you will live here, in the southern dorms, together with the other advanced students." he paused and pointed to a ornate building to the right, "see that house, don''t go near it. It''s the Healing Division''s advanced dorm and they don''t approve of trespassers."

    "And don''t I know it..." muttered Hoatzin.

    Raven guessed there was an underlying story for this comment but let it go for now. The elder kept walking and pointing out various houses and their functions along the way, including the house were the elders lived.

    At this point Raven asked, "How many elders are there at Sky Academy?"

    "Forty three at the moment, if you don''t count the headmasters, but not all of us teach students." It was the first real question Raven asked so the elder was happy to answer.

    "That many?" Raven sounded shocked, "are all of them from Sky Empire?"

    "Usually, but as of late we''ve made an exchange with the other empires so we have two elders here from Earth and Sea Empire respectively."

    Raven nodded but said no more.

    Finally elder Kagu stopped in front of a two-story square garden house with a large sign over the front door that read ''Southern Martial Dorms'' in golden letters.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    "Here is were you will be living the next ten years, I would follow you in but I have other business to attend to." the elder held out his hand, revealing a smooth stone seemingly made of white jade. "This jade slip is your personal key in the Academy. Bind it with your blood and it will be able to unlock all rooms you have permission to enter, including your dorm room."

    Raven took the stone and before she had the opportunity to bind it, Elder Kagu excused himself and, after a final "Welcome to Sky Academy", strode of back the way they had come.

    "That was sudden..." Raven muttered as she looked at her surroundings, at the moment not a single soul was in sight.

    "They don''t tend to pamper students here. The fact that an elder escorted you this far is impressive enough," explained Hoatzin. "Brand the key, your room number should appear on it when you do."

    Raven did as she was told and a grey number appeared on the smooth surface.

    "That should be on the second floor, let''s go." said Hoatzin and flew off through the open doors.

    It didn''t take long to find the room in question and once inside, Raven sank down on the right-hand bed taking in her new home base. The room faced west and would eventually have a perfect view of the setting sun over the mountains. As far as furniture went, calling it spartan may be a bit of a stretch but not by much.

    "It will do, I suppose," muttered Raven, "at least the view is spectacular."

    Her roommate seemed fairly well organized - apart from a hastily made bed - and few personal effect were out in the open. Hoatzin flew over to the other bed and landed on one of its bedposts.

    "So who do you think your roommate is?" he asked.

    "Hard to say... He has too be from one of the higher classes and someone has drilled the importance of order into him, the son of a military man perhaps."

    "You just described nearly half the boys in the Academy..."

    "True," Raven got of the bed and started changing into her school robes. "But who many of them are skilled enough to be in the advanced classes?" she  paused for a minute before she gave Hoatzin a smirk, "I''m just glad it excludes cousin Dunlin; I bet he isn''t capable of keeping a straight line organized."

    Hoatzin laughed - something that sounded very melodious in his bird form. "Well said, sister!"

    Raven hung her old clothes in her empty cupboard before examining herself in the mirror. The effects of the Fox''s Veil had no affect on her so she clearly saw her self and the aura she gave of in the reflection. She let her muscles relax, reclaiming her natural appearance.

    For a six-year-old, Raven had to admit she looked rather striking; her purple-black hair, although short, framed a pale face with soft yet prominent features and her still blood red eyes gave her a cold, overbearing air that demanded regency. She was also tall for her age and even though the step into womanhood was still far away, the early signs were already there.

    Raven sighed and resumed her male persona and tied up her hair before she tugged at her grey robe to cover her Fox''s Veil arm guard.

    "It is fortunate that the school uniforms do so little to enhance body shapes but still, I only have five years, at most, before hiding my gender will be near impossible."

    "Sister could always just tell everyone that you''re a girl..." muttered Hoatzin, but seeing the look Raven shot him, he quickly added "or we get our revenge before it comes to that..."

    Raven smiled at him warmly but the underlying blood lust in her eyes still made Hoatzin''s feathers stand on edge.

    "On that note, we might as well get started. We have a lot of things we need to find out, but the most urgent is to learn what happened with the Empress." Raven moved over to the room''s window, "when we arrive at the Palace later, I want you to see if you can find where Empress Nene is being held - most likely, the stone walls will obstruct my senses too strongly to find her, but you should be able to fly from window to window in search for her."

    "Window to window? Sister, there must be at least a thousand windows in that Palace!"

    "True, but if Tringa''s information is correct, you only need to search the towers." Hoatzin snorted but didn''t voice any further complaints so Raven continued, "once you''ve found her, I''d like for you to stay with her for a while, a few days even, to see what you can learn of her situation."

    "I got it, Sister. What will you do?"

    "I''ll see what I can find out from the other end," replied Raven with a mischievous smile, "and go to class, of course."

    "Class, huh? Never thought I''d say this but I rather miss them," Hoatzin reminisced.

    "As it is a means to grow stronger, you should miss it," replied Raven as she hung the Spirit Stone pendant the elder had given her around her neck, tucking it into her robes, "but don''t worry brother, I shall make sure you don''t fall behind."

    The bird shuddered, "Why does that scare me more than facing of against our unknown enemies?"

    "Primal instinct?" Raven offered with an innocent face. She then looked towards the door, a surprised smile growing on her mouth.

    ---------

    "Blasted twins, dragging me around for nearly two hours," muttered Javelin as he approached his room, "That Raven Night is indeed really impressive but to hunt him down like some lovesick teenager is simply too much."

    Javelin placed his hand on the door knob for his room, pausing for a moment to let the door unlock itself for him, before he opened it and walked in.

    He glanced at the empty bed opposite his and froze. It wasn''t empty, She was sitting there; dressed in the same traditional gown She had worn three years ago, the soft sunlight from the window fell on her veiled face, slightly revealing the hidden features beneath. She had grown and had the years had done her well - she was beautiful.

    Moisture filled Javelin''s eyes and he had to blink to see clearly again, but when he did, She was gone. In her place was her namesake, the boy Raven Night that he and his friends had been searching for just moments ago.

    As he stared at the ordinary looking boy and his cold glare, Javelin''s confusion turned to anger and annoyance. Why did this kid bring up memories he was trying to put behind him?

    "Junior Student Raven Night greats Senior."

    Javelin blinked aagain. He hadn''t noticed Raven getting up from the bed.

    "What are you doing here?" he ignored courtesyand went straight to the point. "How did you get into my room?"

    "This junior used the key Elder Kagu provided." Was that a flash of amusement Javelin detected in the kid''s face? "I am under the impression that we are to be roommates."

    "That''s impossible, only advanced students can..." Javelin stopped mid-sentense. "Let me see your schedule."

    "Yes, senior." Raven walked over and handed him a piece of paper. Javelin stared at it with amazement.

    "I guess they would want a talent like yours to be nurtured right from the beginning." Javelin spoke more to convince himself than Raven. "No wonder we couldn''t find you."

    Coming to terms with the situation, Javelin suppressed his annoyance and stretched out his right hand to the boy, "I guess that makes us roommates for the next seven years. My name is Javelin Hake. No need to be so polite though, just call me Javelin."

    Raven took his hand after a moments hesitation and then answered "then you should call me Raven."

    "If it''s all the same to you I think I''ll stick with Night."

    The boy looked a bit surprised at this but said nothing, so Javelin assumed it was fine.

    Suddenly, a white little bird flew up between them and started flapping is wings violently in front of Javelin''s face. Taken by surprise, he took a few steps back and let go of Raven''s hand in the process.

    The bird calmed down and landed on Raven''s shoulder.

    "Javelin, meet Tzin. He''s a bit overprotective." Raven seemed to give the bird a reproving look.

    Javelin stared at the bird. "A tamed spirit beast?"

    "Something like that." Raven shrugged.

 Chapter 34: Imperial Banquet

    Author''s note: Happy Mid-Winter everyone (or midsummer if you live on the southern hemisphere) ! I hope everyone will have a lovely last week of 2015 ^.^

    Apart from this chapter I have also prepared a small Winter Interlude</a> - it''s a side story to the Whisper of the Nightingale and takes place back in Raven''s old world. Check it out if you''re interested!

    <hr />

    A slightly awkward silence filled dorm room 207 after that. Raven could tell that Javelin was a bit conflicted over her presence; she could have asked him a few leading questions about himself to break the ice but it wasn''t really the Raven-Night thing to do, so she let the awkwardness draw out for a while.

    Eventually, Javelin cleared his throat. "Ah, um, I''m headed for a banquet at the palace," he lifted his hand to scratch the back of his neck, causing Raven to secretly smile at the familiar gesture, "so, I guess I''ll see you when I get back... Or are you staying with your family tonight?"

    "I will be, but actually, Elder Kagu said I was invited to the banquet as well and that you would bring me along, if I wanted to go."

    "Really?" another conflicted look appeared on his face,"and you want to go? It is usually only nobility, Elders and ambassadors present..."

    "So?" Raven gave him a questioning glare, "are you saying I''m not worthy enough to go?"

    "No, no, I didn''t mean that," he sighed and scratched the back of his neck again, "it''s just a bit... stiff, that''s all. I''m not sure you''d like it."

    "We won''t know until we''ve tried." Raven smiled a cold smile that was closer to a sneer than anything else.

    If Javelin thought that the mockery was aimed at him, he ignored it. Instead he moved towards the door and motioned for Raven to follow.

    "Well, I''ve warned you." he said and then added in a lower voice, "I wouldn''t go if I had a choice."

    "Sister, you are being rather harsh with Javelin; shouldn''t you be trying to make friends?" Hoatzin asked as they followed Javelin down the hallway outside.

    "I need to make useful allies, not friends," Raven thought back, "and besides, I bet he has his own notions of what I''ve been through to mature my soul so quickly - it would be more odd if I acted sociably."

    Hoatzin said no more, but he couldn''t help but feel that his sister had grown colder than he remembered her.

    The journey to the palace was an uneventful one. Raven felt how Javelin kept shooting glances at her, only to look away with renewed confusion moments later. If she hadn''t know better, Raven would have thought that Javelin suspected her identity, but he showed no signs of mistrust towards her.

    Once at the palace, Javelin could have asked a palace attendant to show Raven to Elder Kagu, but he opted to do it himself. It didn''t take long before they stopped outside a small wooden door with a few familiar presences waiting on the other side.

    "Elder Kagu should be inside," Javelin nodded towards the door, "I will see you in the banquet hall."

    With that, he turned around and continued down the hallway.

    "It''s time for you to leave as well - I''ll see you in a few days, big Brother."

    "Yes, Sister - take care of yourself." Hoatzin took flight and flew out through a nearby window.

    "You too, big Brother," replied Raven as she placed her hand on the doorknob. She was just about to open the door when Javelin called out to her from further down the hallway.

    "Come to me if anyone tries to harass you; we roommates have to look out for each other." As the last words left his mouth, Javelin turned around a corner and disappeared from Raven''s line of sight.

    Raven blinked and almost started laughing.

    ''You feel awkward in my presence but are still willing to protect me? Someone had instilled a great sense of honor in you, mister Hake.''

    She covered up her smile and entered the room after a quick knock.

    "What are you doing here?" the upset voice of the Sarus clan boy greeted her the minute she stepped into the room  "Commoners are not welcome here!"

    "How fortunate then that I''m quite uncommon." Raven didn''t bother look at Brolga as she walked over to room''s only window.

    Elder Kagu had yet to arrive - although Raven could feel his presence swiftly approaching - so the only ones present where the Sarus siblings and a veiled girl dressed in the uniform of the Healing Arts department, who was engaged in reading a small book she seemed to have found in the dusty bookshelf behind her. The girl''s presence was familiar but Raven couldn''t place it exactly.

    ''So the Healing Arts department had their entrance exams recently too.''

    The Healing Arts placed their exam in accordance with the lunar calender so it wouldn''t always match up with the Martial one.

    "Hey, are you listening to me?" furious at being ignored, Brolga stomped over to the window, "Don''t think that your measly talent is enough to put you in equal terms with us nobles!"

    He stretched out a hand to grab Raven''s robes, but she was quicker; Raven took a hold of his wrist and twisted it behind his back before the little lord even realized that she had moved.

    "Your parents have done you a disfavor," she whispered is Brolga''s ear so only he could hear it, "you are way too proud." He struggled against her grip but to no avail. "Nobility is wasted on the likes of you."

    "You...!"

    Just as spirit essence started to gather within both Brolga, and his sister too, Raven let him go and backed off a few steps. In the same instant Elder Kagu walked through the door.

    "What do you think you are doing?" the elder immediately noticed the building power in the two youths, as well as their target.

    "Elder, this commoner has no right to be here; we were just about to force him to leave," explained Brolga as if it was the most natural thing in the world, but his underlying anger was obvious.

    The elder started blankly at the boy. "There is so much error in your statement that I don''t know where to begin... If nothing else, I would expect you to have eyes that work." Elder Kagu pointed towards Raven''s chest, "How could you possibly hope to force Junior Night to do anything?"

    When Brolga''s eyes feel upon the purely white pendant that hung visibly around Raven''s neck he became flabbergasted.

    "H... How.." Brolga stuttered.

    His sister was equally shocked but kept her composure a bit better, but she had the benefit of her veil to hide her expressions. The other girl, however, made no attempt to hide her wonder, instantly putting down her book, leaping to her feet and running the few steps to Raven''s side.

    "Wow, you''re already a high Novice, and a peak one at that? Impressive, brother Night!"

    "Brother?" Raven blinked in surprise.

    "Of course, we''re both students of the same school after all!" Even through the veil Raven could tell the girl was smiling foolishly. "My name is Kea Nestor of the Nestor Clan, but you can just call me sister Kea."

    ''Not another exuberant personality...'' sighed Raven inwardly; she had been so pleased when she parted with Mayeri.

    "Brother Night has to promise to come to me whenever you''re injured, okay?"

    Before Raven had a chance to reply, Elder Kagu intervened, "Enough of this, his Imperial majesty is waiting. Follow me."

    Without waiting for the students to collect themselves Elder Kagu turned around and left the small waiting room. Full of energy, Kea coupled her arm with Raven''s and dragged the obviously disapproving assassin girl with her after the Elder. It took a few moments before the Sarus siblings woke from their shock, forcing them to run in order to catch up.

    Just like last time when Raven was present at this banquet, the Emperor gave a short speech before asking Elder Kagu to present the newest addition of nobles at Sky Academy. Low murmurs spread in the hall as Raven entered, last in line of the students; most people present had only expected three children to arrive.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Those murmurs of confusion turned to a whirlwind of nihilism once Raven''s results were announced. If not for Elder Kagu''s assurance that the headmaster himself had checked both Raven''s age and cultivation, none would have believed even the notion of a six-year-old high Spirit Novice. During all this, Raven payed extra attention to people''s reactions, taking note of those who seemed to be more threatened than impressed by her presence.

    Eventually, the banquet hall calmed down and Emperor Mallard could welcome the new students and announce the beginning of the banquet. Immediately Raven got the explanation to Kea Nestor''s familiar presence as she bounced off to hug a slightly older girl that Raven recognized as Lady Cara - one of the girls who swamped Hoatzin two years ago. Clearly they were sisters.

    The banquet began; people ate, and some even danced, but everybody talked. At first Raven had been swamped with people, both young and old, whom all wanted to get to know the genius of the century, but Raven''s cold demeanour quickly sent them packing. turned her into somewhat of an exotic animal - to be observed and marveled at, from a distance, but not approached. Few of those pushed away felt offended by it though, to them out only felt natural. She had turned into somewhat of an exotic animal - to be observed and marveled at, from a distance, but not approached.

    Little did they know that just as they observer her, Raven too observed them. She was listening to every conversation, noticing every gesture. It was surprising how many dirty little secrets were revealed in a place like this, if you only paid attention.

    Once people had moved on from discussing Raven, many turned their gossip towards the Empress. Clearly, the noble clans were aware of the accusations laid against her, however the verdict was out on whether they beloved them or not. The details about the supposed treason itself was however all over the place - no two stories being the same - and there were also mixed opinions on the Emperor''s choice to keep his wife in the palace, rather than in a prison dungeon.

    Raven was leaning against a pillar, sipping punch and listening to a particularly interesting conversation about the evening when the accusations had been brought to light, when Raven''s body stiffened. She glared at a set of doors on the other end of the hall and as she did her blood red eyes seethed with murderous rage.

    Moments later, the doors opened and a group of Academy student entered. In the front was a black haired youth with equally black eyes, that seemed to swallow everything they looked at. But Raven didn''t care about him, what she cared about was that just behind him was a very familiar figure. Dunlin.

    Just feeling his presence made Raven recall what had come to pass two years ago, and despite all her training she was finding it hard to keep her emotions in check.

    ''It would be so easy to kill him...'' Raven''s hand clutched her glass so her knuckles turned white, ''I could have a knife down his throat before anyone even noticed.''

    Raven knew that killing her cousin now would do her no good, quite the opposite, but the temptation was so great. She felt herself taking a step forward as he word turned red, her mind mind blank.

    Just as she was about to walk over to Dunlin, a cool hand gripped her wrist.

    "Oi , Night, do you hear me?"

    In an instant Raven''s mind cleared and the ravaging blood lust within her calmed down. She was still upset, but in control of herself.

    Blinking, Raven focused her attention on the owner of the cool hand and was surprised to realize that it belonged to Javelin, and her surprise astonished her even more.

    ''When did he get so close?''

    "Night, are you okay?" Javelin looked genuinely concerned, "You look a bit pale."

    Pulling herself free from his grip she expelled the last disorder in her mind, pushing down the urge to look back at Dunlin. "I''m fine," was all she said.

    Javelin didn''t look convinced but he knew better then to pry, at least not here and now. Instead he stepped to the side, revealing the the two red haired twins that had been behind him.

    "My friends keep insisting that I introduce them to you. This is Martin and Lark Griffin, they started the same year as me and you will be having your afternoon Spirit Control classes with them."

    Raven bowed stiffly in greeting, but before she had a chance to say anything, Martin smiled broadly at Raven and patted Javelin on his shoulder. "I''m glad to see a more insane genius than our mister Hake here - we had started to worry it might get to his head, hadn''t we, Twin?"

    Javelin rolled his eyes.

    "Indeed we had, Twin," Lark''s smile was a bit more controlled than Martin''s, but just as genuine, "and any new addition to the anti-snob movement is most welcome."

    Raven could guess what they were referring to but asked anyway, "Anti-snob movement?"

    Martin snorted as Lark started explaining, "You noticed the group of late arriving student, right? Well, they are a bunch of snobs that believe that just because they were born by nobility the very world itself should kowtow before them; they have totally forgotten the point of having noble clans in the first place."

    "Unfortunately most of the young nobles agree with them and the older ones spoil them too much to care," added Martin.

    "Indeed," Lark nodded, "You have to be extra careful, Night; whereas they usually refrain from bothering other nobles, any ''commoner'' with talent risks to be mightily opposed by them."

    "Is that so?" Raven could have guessed this by their association to Dunlin alone.

    "There are three head-honchos that stick out particularly in this group that you ought to be extra weary of. First we have the young heir of the Rock Wren Prefecture, Auk Wren - you will have little to no contact with him as he is in his second to last year now. Auk is actually not so bad on his own, but he is way to malleable and eager to please," Javelin warned.

    "He wasn''t a problem before Jack started here two years ago," sighed Martin.

    "True," replied Javelin, "which brings us to trouble bringer number two - the Earth Empire exchange kid, Jack Tanuki. Like me, he is here for the exchange program between our three empires, but he is the eldest son of some important council member back home - something he is very proud of."

    "Unfortunately, he''s a Advanced student so there will be no avoiding him. The same goes for Dunlin Talon, who started same year as us and got accepted into the Advanced classes last year."

    ''Cousin Dunlin? An Advanced student!?'' This news stunned Raven; from what she knew of Dunlin''s talents, there was no way he would have been promoted.

    A loud chorus of swooning interrupted the boys'' talking. Raven completely ignored it, but Javelin and the twins looked around to find a group of young girls surrounding a young man. From his cultivation level, Raven assumed he was an elder at the school.

    Martin sighed. "If it isn''t Professor Love..." his voice was very sarcastic, "one of these days I''d like to see him enter a room without every woman melting like butter at the sight of him!"

    "If only his temperament was a bit more like his younger kinsman''s, then we''d have a legitimate reason to dislike him," teased Lark and both of the other boys laughed self-mockingly.

    "Oh, come on, this is getting boring. Let''s get out of here," suggested Martin and Javelin seemed sigh a breath of relief, "Yes, please!"

    Without further ado the trio started moving towards the closest exit, efficiently shoving Raven with them as they went. Raven could have side-stepped them of course, but she noticed how the three of boys were carefully making sure that they blocked Raven''s view of the group Dunlin had arrived with.

    ''It would seem like they are attempting to shield me from the snobs.'' Raven felt quite amused by the whole situation, ''well, I guess a confrontation at this point wouldn''t really lead to anything - I might as well go with the flow.''

    Raven had already learnt a great deal about the situation in the palace and the current relations between the various noble clans present, plus her brother would hopefully give her more insights in a few days; it was a good enough starting point for now.

 Chapter 35: The Dare

    The three boys managed to shuffle Raven out of the banquet hall with perfect timing; just as the doors closed behind them, Raven could hear Dunlin and his crew getting details about her. It was a shame she couldn''t see them, considering the sudden change in their breathing.

    As it was, Raven got away from the banquet without a fuss. Her new insights and whatever information Hoatzin would bring her, had given Raven a few options for her next move. Now, however, was not the time to consider them.

    "Now what?" she asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

    The two twins looked peevishly at each other, and Javelin sighed.

    "Well, there is this tradition..." started Lark.

    "It''s more of a dare really," inserted Martin.

    "...where new students try to climb as high as possible up the Spirit Hall tower back at the northern area of the Academy," continued Lark, "Normally you would have found out about it tomorrow during your first Spirit Control class..."

    "...but wouldn''t it be awesome if your mark was already on it when the others hear of it? Besides, you will have your first control lesson with us so tonight is your only chance, really," finished Martin.

    Raven stared at the excited twins with raised eyebrows; ''they are quite synchronized, these two...'' she thought, but instead asked, "why not just take a spirit beast to the top?"

    "Due to the nature of the tower there is a strong suction of spirit essence outside, normal spirit beasts won''t go near it," explained Javelin, "this also restricts the use of spirit essence during the climb; you will have to rely on body strength alone going up."

    "It doesn''t sound like much of a dare..." muttered Raven.

    The twins smirked slightly. "So you''ll do it then?" they echoed.

    Raven shrugged and nodded her consent, causing the Griffins to light up triumphantly while Javelin just smiled apologetically.

    ''I wonder what they have planned?'' mused Raven as the twins dragged her through the palace halls, likely towards an appropriate exit.

    How could she not notice that they were hiding something from her? Nonetheless, she obediently followed along; no matter what the hidden detail was, she was confident that she could handle it. Even though she saw few benefits in making friends with her preteen classmates, alienating them would bring no benefits at all.

    The departure from the palace was swift and before long Raven and the boys were seated on the back of a large Everest Hawk, headed for the north side of the Academy Tier. As they approached, Raven couldn''t help but notice a huge tower standing at the northern ledge of the Tier, looking as if it would topple over the edge at any moment.

    The architectural structure of the tower was a complete opposite to all the other constructions in the area. Whereas the other buildings had a very Asian feel to them, this tower was more medieval Gothic in nature; it was built out of smooth black bricks and had multiple large windows - decorated with intricate traceries - and ornate spires were in abundance.

    Every twenty meters or so, the tower changed shape; the base was square, the next level was slightly smaller but with five sides instead of four, the level after that was smaller still but with six sides. This pattern was repeated a total of six times, giving the smallest top-structure nine sides. All in all, it looked quite menacing.

    "That is the Spirit Hall Tower," Javelin, who was seated being Raven, pointed at the black building, "it had to be placed as far away from the southern dorms as possible, or it would have sucked the Starlight wood in our houses dry ages ago."

    Raven nodded - they were more than two hundred meters away from the tower but she could already feel how the natural spirit essence in the air was growing thinner.

    "Inside there are hundreds of Spirit Halls of varying size and quality. The fifth section, the one shaped like a octagon, is for us advanced students - it has twenty rooms, separated on five floors, and we get one room each during the Day of Light."

    Suddenly, the Hawk dived down and landed on the ground barely fifty meters away from the tower - clearly it would go no further. Raven understood its discomfort; the area in front of her was completely void of natural spirit essence, making the air itself seem dead and unwelcoming. Her own spirit core struggled desperately against the suction of the tower and any spirit essence that she tried to move out of it was sucked up in an instant.

    Raven shuddered but as she hesitated to walk forward, Javelin and the twins approached the tower totally unfazed. ''Ignorance is bliss...'' she thought derisively, ''they don''t even sense their own presences being sucked away...''

    Martin turned around and gave Raven a pleased smirk, "having second thoughts, are we?"

    Raven snorted and started walking.

    As she came closer to the tower she noticed how her senses grew duller, leaving her with only what her strengthened body provided. Up close and from the ground, the building was even more impressive and Raven had to crank her neck all the way back to see the top. She noticed the twins walking towards the ledge next to the tower and got a sudden premonition.

    "I just have to climb as high as I can, right?" she asked.

    "Well," started Lark, dragging out the word.

    "It wouldn''t be very much of a dare that way, now would it?" continued Martin and both twins glanced meaningfully towards the side of the tower facing the edge. They smiled broadly at Raven, obviously pleased at how they had turned Raven''s own words back at her.

    "Don''t listen to them," interrupted Javelin, "you don''t have to do it on the northern side - most students don''t."

    "But you three did."

    It wasn''t a question but Javelin nodded nonetheless.

    Raven walked over to the edge and looked down on the world bellow. Although the Military tier was only a couple of hundred meters bellow the Academy Tier, due to the location of the other three mountain peaks, there were no structures facing directly north. If Raven fell, she wouldn''t stop until she hit the Mansion Tier, roughly six hundred meters bellow.

    Suddenly her eyes narrowed slightly and a minuscule smile spread on her lips.

    "How high did you guys go?" she asked and while the boys were busy pointing out were they had been forced to turn around, Raven nudged a small stone over the edge and her smile grew. By the time the boys turned their attention back to Raven, however, the smile was relapsed by an unimpressed stare. "The record?" she prompted.

    The twins seemed a bit perturbed by Raven''s reaction, but Javelin answered calmly: "on the northern side the record is 63 meters - the bottom of the forth section - it might not sound like much but it''s a lot harder to climb than it looks."

    Raven couldn''t help but reflect back on her old world; the notion of eight-year-olds climbing sixty meters up a perpendicular facade, even without the six hundred meter drop below, would have been utterly ridiculous. Well, for anyone but Raven and her fellow assassin trainees that was.

    "How do I mark my top position?" she asked.

    "You don''t need to worry about that, the identification stone that Elder Kagu gave you will do it for you." informed Martin, who was almost bouncing with excitement by now.

    Raven just gave him a nod and walked over to the closest tower wall. It was impossible to reach the northern side from the ground, so she would have to swing around the corner once she was a bit up the wall. For a few seconds Raven just stood there, observing the tower in front of her. With her extraordinary eyesight she had no trouble seeing small details in the buildings structure even a hundred meters up.

    ''Let''s have some fun with this!''

    ---------

    Javelin observed the lean youth in front of him who was currently starting up the tower wall with intense eyes. He couldn''t help but feel like this was a bad idea. What if something happened to Raven? Usually an Elder would be present while the students attempted the climb.

    "Don''t push yourself too hard, Night," Javelin finally warned as Raven removed the outer layer of his grey uniform, revealing the equally grey tunic and pants underneath.

    "Yeah, it would be a pain in the neck to explain to the elders why their new favorite is plastered to a one of the noble clan''s family homes," joked Martin and Lark laughed, but Javelin only felt more uneasy.

    Raven didn''t even turn around at this though and just lifted a pale hand to his forehead, flicking it out in a salute.

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    ''His hands are so small...'' though Javelin absentmindedly before he quickly shook his head; why did he even care about the boy''s hands?

    Suddenly, Raven jumped up and down a few times before dashing towards the tower wall. With impressive ease, Raven basically ran up the wall before grabbing hold of the first windowsill, almost three meters up. The twins whistled in unison as Raven swiftly pulled himself up and somehow managed to stand on the narrow ledge beneath the window. A red dot appeared on the tower wall next to Raven''s head.

    Without pausing, Raven threw himself towards the corner of the tower and, for terrifying moment, Javelin thought that the boy had lost his mind - simply jumping of the building, and the Academy Tier in the process. However, just as Raven''s body passed the corner, a small hand shot out, grabbing at the perturbing list running down the side of the building. Using the forward momentum of his body, Raven swung around the corner and effortlessly latched on to the closest windowsill on the other side.

    Javelin released the breath he hadn''t realized he was holding. Martin and Lark were silent for a moment before they started cheering excitedly.

    "You''re insane, man!" shouted Martin joyfully and Javelin agreed, not with the sentiment but with the statement - most people that attempted the northern wall would climb up to the second segment before switching sides.

    As the twins cheered, Raven had already made it halfway up the first segment and kept climbing effortlessly at a steady pace.

    "Let''s get on the Hawk and watch from outside," suggested Javelin, "we''ll get a better view that way."

    The twins happily agreed with his reasoning and hurried back to the large bird that was waiting where they''d left it. Javelin had to force himself to look away from Raven''s ascent - the notion of leaving the kid unobserved, even for only a moment, stabbed at him, but he had his reasons for wanting to be on the Hawk so it had to be done.

    It took less than a minute for them to reach the bird and fly around the tower, as close as the Hawk would agree to, but when they arrived Raven was waving smugly at them from the ledge that separated to first and second segment.

    "The kid is impressively quick!" exclaimed Lark, "it has been, what, a minute since he started?"

    "But the hard part starts now..." said Martin, "think he''ll beat the record, Javelin?"

    "Huh? Ah, well, I guess so," Javelin''s unease grew as Raven resumed the climb with feline-like movements.

    "Oh, relax Javelin! Night will be just fine," assured Lark, "we''ll tell him to turn around after he reaches the forth segment."

    "That''s already further than any of us managed," exclaimed Javelin, "he''s only six for crying out loud!"

    "True, but he''s a high Novice - he ought to be many times stronger than we were three years ago, even without using spirit essence."

    "Stop blabbering, you two, and observe Night instead - this kid is amazing!" interrupted Martin just as Javelin was about to speak again.

    Immediately Javelin''s full attention was back at Raven and he had to admit that what he saw was beyond belief; like a river flowing in reverse, Raven''s lean figure moved up the tower wall with ease. Sometimes he climbed using the traceries in the windows, sometimes he jumped nearly a meter straight up to grab hold of the next ledge.

    At one point Raven even twisted around from hanging - from what looked like nothing more than two cracks in the wall - to standing on his hands - still lodged in those same cracks - in order to use his feat to latch on to a buttress that extended from one segment to the next.

    After ten minutes of continuous climbing, Raven had since long passed the previous record but all three boys were too entranced by what they saw to even notice. It wasn''t until Raven paused at the bottom of the fifth segment that Javelin snapped out of his daze.

    By now, strong winds were slamming into Raven''s small figure, causing his grey clothes to flutter wildly. Javelin could see how Raven''s body even swayed a bit under the high forces.

    "That''s enough, Night," he called out to Raven, "you''ve already set a new record!"

    The two twins stirred at Javelin''s call and once they realized how strong the winds actually were, they were quick to agree; "Javelin''s right," they called, "go around to the other side and start climbing down!"

    Raven turned to look at them and smiled the warmest smile Javelin had seen on that face yet. Javelin''s heart rate increased instantaneously, but he chose to blame it on his nerves.

    "Come on, Night, it''s time to go down," Javelin''s voice sounded a lot more pleading than he had intended, but at the moment he didn''t care because his eyes locked with Raven''s and he could have sworn that the boy winked at him while mouthing: "As you wish."

    ''Wha..'' before Javelin had a chance to process this, he saw Raven spread his slender arms and fall forwards.

    The world seemed to slow down.

    Javelin watched with round eyes as Raven went from standing on the tower - relatively safe and sound - to lying face down over absolutely nothing. Slowly, Raven turned around in the air until their eyes locked once more - only then did time catch up and Javelin registered Raven plummeting further and further away. It had only taken a few seconds but the kid had already fallen a third of the height of the tower.

    "Raven!" Javelin bellowed and forced the Everest Hawk to dive down. The bird promptly refused to fly within fifty meters of the tower so he had no choice but to speed on alongside Raven''s decent - only once they were bellow the tower would Javelin be able to steer closer and catch the falling boy.

    In mere seconds the Hawk had caught up to the point where it flew paralleled to Raven. The twins had already figured out Javelin''s plan and were just about to call out to Raven when they noticed that the kid was still smiling at them and was even repeating the salute from earlier.

    ---------

    When Raven lifted her hand to salute the boys on the back of the diving Hawk, she felt as if her body was being enveloped in a thick membrane of soft goo. Her speed slowed, instantly putting distance between her and the diving bird.

    Raven allowed herself to shout out in joy as the thick membrane around her stretched and eventually propelled her body in the opposite direction, back towards to top of the tower.

    ''Haha, this is even better than I thought - it''s like bungy jumping!''

    What Raven had noticed earlier were traces of what seemed like a protective net of spirit essence just bellow the ledge where the Spirit Hall Tower stood,. She had then confirmed its existence with the stone she had nudged over the ledge, which had slowed down to a halt after only a few feet. She hadn''t thought that the added speed of her fall would cause her to be ricocheted back up again.

    Smiling she let herself bounce up and down a few times until she finally jumped off towards solid ground. The three boys had already landed and waited for her by the ledge.

    "I''m starting to think you might not be so stable after all; why in the skies would you just jump off like that?" Martin''s voice was harsh but the glow in his eyes told Raven that he was mostly just impressed.

    Raven shrugged with obviously faked innocence, causing the two twins to burst out laughing. Javelin, however was not amused.

    "Answer him."

    "Huh?" Raven looked closer at Javelin''s face and could see that he was basically seething with rage.

    "Answer him," Javelin repeated and walked closer to Raven, "why did you jump?"

    Raven blinked; she hadn''t expected him to become so upset by her little stunt. Quickly, she picked up a stone and tossed it over the edge, pointing to where it stopped in mid air, "I noticed the safety net before I started climbing," she explained, before starting to turn back to face Javelin, "I figured it was the fastest way down..."

    *BANG*

    Numbing pain spread along Raven''s check bone and for a second the world grew dizzy. Surprised, it took a moment before she realized what had happened - Javelin had hit her, hard, and she hadn''t seen it coming.

    "Don''t ever do that again!" Javelin spat at her before he stormed of.

    To the side Martin and Lark stared at the departing Javelin with wide eyes. They looked at Raven and then each other before immediately splitting up in two different directions - Martin running after Javelin and Lark walking over to Raven.

    "Come," he said placing a hand on a confused Raven''s shoulder, "let''s find some ice for that."

 Chapter 36: The Library

    Author''s note: I LOVE winter but I hate winter exams....

    <hr />

    Raven declined the offer of applying ice to her swelling and instead used Healing Touch to lessen the reddening of her cheek. She didn''t go back to her dorm room after that, and instead made her way to the tavern were she had promised to meet her mercenary uncles. The four men were of course happy to see her and bragged to the entire room about their genius boy who had made history at the entrance exams.

    However, as they laughed and celebrated, Raven kept thinking back on the conversation she had with Lark just before leaving.

    "Sorry about that" he had said, "Javelin is usually a lot of fun, but I think you remind him of someone he lost a few years ago, so he overreacted."

    "Who do I remind him of?" Raven had asked in return.

    Lark had paused for a second before answering, "his first love - her name was also Raven."

    This had surprised Raven greatly. She was of course aware that Javelin had taken taken a keen liking to her when they first met, but that was three years ago. He had barely been seven at the time and they had only met once; his feelings for her shouldn''t be so strong as to cause a trauma after her death.

    ''Surely, he can''t still be in love with me?'' Raven pondered as Saltmarch waddled over to the bar and ordered another round of drinks, ''no, it''s more likely something else behind his overreaction.''

    The noise level in the tavern rose yet again when the very drunk Saltmarsh started retelling Hog''s story for the millionth time to the poor bloke next to him at the counter.

    ''... Javelin was uncomfortable with my presence before,'' Raven continued her silent reflections, ''I just figured he felt threatened by me - don''t tell me he actually suspects something?''

    Raven discarded the idea almost immediately; if a Spirit Master couldn''t see through her disguise, how could a ten-year-old?

    "Why are you looking so worried, Raven?" asked Dove as he leaned over a now empty cup.

    For an instant she was taken aback by the man''s comment before Raven realized that she had let her normal expression of disinterest slip, letting her worry shine through. Raven did, however, not have to search long for an excuse.

    "It''s because Uncle Saltmarsh is about to start a fight," she replied and took a sip from her own cup, that contained a type of spiced milk often drunk by children in this area.

    A large bang followed by the cracking noise of splintering wood filled the tavern mere seconds later.

    "Who''s girl do ya think ya touchin'', bastard!" bellowed an angry man in his late thirties; he was dressed in leather armor, similar to those of Raven''s mercenary uncles, and his right fist was lodged deep into the bar counter.

    Opposite him, Saltmarsh had pulled a slinky woman into his arms - she didn''t seem to mind his attention.

    "I don''t see your name on her," replied Saltmarsh with a wolfish grin and lifted the woman''s long hair to examine the nape of her neck, causing the girl to giggle seductively, "but I''m happy to look for it."

    The angry man''s face turned blood red as he watched Saltmarsh tug at the collar of the woman''s dress. In a fit of rage he picked up a bottle of the counter and lobbed it at Saltmarsh, but Saltmarsh had seen it coming and ducked at the last moment, pulling the woman with him. The bottle flew past the pair and smashed into the head of a burly man behind them. The impact caused the bottle to break and splash its wet content over not only the burly man but also his companions.

    The room became deathly silent as the hit man, with blood trickling down the back of his head, slowly got up from his chair and turned around. The man was at least two meters tall and just as wide. Saltmarsh paled slightly and pointed at the leather armored man whom had thrown the bottle.

    ''Here we go again...'' Raven rolled her eyes but continued to drink from her cup as the burly man grunted and sprung into action. Within seconds the entire tavern was a war zone; with every missed punch causing a chain reaction that involved more and more people in the brawl. No weapons or Divine Skills were used but since the tavern was a place for spiritualist mercenaries, spirit essence was nonetheless running high, amplifying every hit.

    Dove and his brother were quick to join the fray and, sighing, Hog was soon to follow, leaving only Raven at their table. Donning an ill concealed smile, Raven observed every movement in the room with closed eyes as she sipped her milk in silence.

    At some point Raven unhurriedly tilted her head to the right, effortlessly avoiding a table knife that lodged itself in the wall next to her head. With a flick of her wrist, the knife was removed and tossed back whence it came, efficiently tripping a brawler whom was just about to hit Dove over the head with a broken bottle. A few breaths later, Raven''s own fork swiveled through the air and stopped the girl Saltmarsh had roped in from pulling a dagger at Hog.

    Nobody noticed Raven''s silent participation but whenever one of her mercenary uncles was in any real danger of getting hurt, more table utensils would disappear from her table. Suddenly, Raven''s eyes flashed open and she slipped off from her chair.

    Like a fish moving through water, she made her way through the fighting tavern guests and informed all of her companions that is was time to leave; the tavern brawl had finally drawn the attention of the city guards, whom would be arriving shortly.

    In all the chaos the five of them had little problem slipping out a back door, only moments before six men in silvery armor stormed the tavern.

    Laughing, the four uncles brought Raven back to their new home; apparently renting the house at the edge of the city had been a waste of time since the larger mercenary core that the uncles had chosen to join, the Dawn Brigade, owned their own lodgings on the Business Tier, with ample space for all their members.

    At this point Raven could have headed back to her dorm room, but she opted to give Javelin some more space and instead stayed the night with the mercenaries. Early next morning she bid them farewell for now and headed back to the Academy for her first lessons.

    ---------

    Raven and the other twelve students whom had passed this year''s entrance exams sat cross-legged in an open courtyard on the eastern side of the Academy Tier. When the lecture started the air was crisp with the morning chill and the sun had barely broken the mountain-hidden horizon.

    For an hour, Raven listened absentmindedly to an ancient Elder of mediocre cultivation - he was "only" a low Champion - explain how the Academy worked and what the new students should come to expect from their coming ten years here. Most of what he said Hoatzin had already told her about so Raven wasn''t very surprised, but some of her classmates gaped in shock as they realized how many cultivation resources would be used for their benefit.

    She was, however, a bit impressed when she heard of the practically bimonthly examinations that would take place starting next month. At every other full moon, the Academy would send the students to an area densely inhabited by spirit beasts and leave them there for the three days when the moon was the fullest.

    During that time the students would have to fend for themselves; staying and defending would safeguard your life, but venturing out and hunting spirit beasts would earn you merits. Threes merits could then be used to exchange for extra cultivation resources or, in extreme cases, applying to the advanced classes. This wasn''t without risk though and students loosing their lives wasn''t unheard of.

    ''A trial by fire every eight weeks? Interesting!'' thought Raven and wondered why her brother hadn''t mentioned this before.

    A lot less interesting, however, was the first subject the Battle Strategy class would study, the history of spiritualists; Raven almost fell asleep in protest when the ancient fellow made the switch. Everything the Elder mentioned Raven had, yet again, already learnt - this time through books - and judging from the bored expressions of her classmates, they either didn''t care for the subject or had likewise already learnt it.

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    Finally, the two hour mark came and the lesson ended. Most children headed off towards the dining hall for the mid-day meal. Oddly enough, all twelve of them kept their distance from Raven - the Sarus siblings included - and acted as if she wasn''t even there.

    Just as Raven was considering whether this was a consistence or an orchestrated scheme, the ancient Elder stopped her at the gate.

    "Elder Stork," Raven bowed politely.

    "Junior Night, the vice headmaster has asked me to show you to the Divine Library. Follow me." The Elder didn''t wait for Raven''s reply before he strolled off.

    "Elder Stork, what is the Divine Library and why would Vice Gadwall want you to take me there?" Raven asked as she followed behind the old man.

    "Use your head, Junior Night," chided Elder Stork, "naturally, the Divine Library is where we keep the Academy''s martial Divine Skills. You are to choose four Skills and practice them to perfection. You are not permitted a fifth skill until one of the first four is mastered. As for why I am showing you there, it is due to you skipping three grades of Spirit Control class, where you would have made your first visits to the Library," he didn''t seem to approve of the decision to lett her start at level four if his tone was anything to go by.

    After that the Elder stopped talking and the two of them walked in silence through the Academy grounds. As they walked, many other students passed by them and practically all of them would bow politely to the Elder and then completely ignore Raven, barely glancing at her.

    ''So it was not a coincidence then,'' she concluded. ''For it to be this widespread... Is it the work of the snobs, perhaps?''

    It didn''t take long before the Elder halted in front of a large building not far from the Auditorium where the entrance exam had been held. The words "Divine Library" were etched into the white stone facade and painted with gold.

    "Here we are. The identity stone will unlock the Skills you choose and automatically track your progress in mastering them. Don''t bother trying to cheat it." Raven noticed a underlying tone of contempt.

    ''I take it he''s not my fan either...''

    "You have clearance of all Skills up to level five and may select one at level six, but remember that you will not get new skills until you''ve mastered your old ones," he continued, his contempt growing clearer. "Your next lesson starts in three quarters of an hour - don''t be late."

    Without further ado Elder Stork walked off. Raven followed his departure with her eyes briefly before entering the building. As she walked through the door she felt a veil of spirit essence slip over and past her. Raven guessed that veil would block anyone without authorization to enter.

    The first floor of the Library was very vast and practically every square meter of it was covered in rows upon rows of bookshelves filled to the brim with scrolls. Raven whistled softly in admiration. This was the first time she had seen so many Divine Scrolls in one place and her strengthened senses now gave her an entirely different view of each scroll.

    Before Raven had only been able to sense the spirit essence within by touch but now every scroll shined with vibrant color, turning the entire first floor into a sea of kaleidoscopic light.

    ''That''s odd, I would have thought that the color of the scrolls would follow the same rules as cultivators but every color of the rainbow is present here,'' Raven looked over at a plaque of instructions on the wall, ''yet there are only Divine Skills of level one to three on this floor.''

    She looked back out over the sea of scrolls. The red and orange spectra of the rainbow was undoubtedly more abundant but there were plenty of yellow and green scrolls as well as a couple of blue ones. Walking over to the closest shelf, Raven pulled out a red and a light blue scroll that shined dimly in her hands.

    Both Skills were of level one and intended for fighting with a halberd. The martial arts depicted within them were very similar to each other, with only a few differences in their stances and spirit essence flow. Just judging from her own experiences with the halberd she would prefer the stance described in the blue one, simply because it was closer to the technique she''d learned in her previous life. Shrugging she put the two scrolls back.

    A few shelves away the scrolls shined more brightly so Raven stopped and pulled out an even deeper blue scroll and examined it. It was a level two skill and inside a familiar dagger technique was depicted causing Raven''s eyes to lit up when she saw it.

    ''Haha, I know this technique - it''s one of my favorits!'' Although the Divine Skill itself was new to her, the underlying martial arts technique was not and it was perfect for disarming opponents who were using heavier weapons.

    Without even thinking so much about it, Raven held up her identification stone to the scroll and with a light clicking noise the final part of the scroll was unlocked. On the white surface of the stone the text "Divine Skill Count 1/4" appeared. Excitedly Raven unrolled the scroll and completed the soul imprint. Immediately, information on how to apply spirit essence to her old martial arts technique flooded her mind and she impatiently pulled out a dagger from within her spacial ring.

    With the dager in hand she carefully activated her spirit essence according to the imprint as she stepped forward, ducking under the attack of an imaginary opponent and then jabbing with the dagger towards where their wrist would have been. Spirit essence surged to the small blade and sparks of lightning gathered at it''s point. It was perhaps not very strong but the added electrical shock would make the already numbing technique even more effective.

    ''Paralizing Ligtning Srike, huh? What a straightforward name.'' Smiling Raven placed the scroll back on the shelf and headed to the second floor that would contain Divine Skills of level four to six.

    On the second floor there were a few more students than on the first but they, just like every other student Raven had met today, merely glanced at her before looking away.

    Raven didn''t mind this though and only chuckled silently to herself; being ignored suited her just fine for now. Instead she focused her attention on this floor''s shelves. There were fewer of them here, perhaps not even half of what had been on the floor below.

    Upp here the bluer end of the spectra was basically nonexistent, leaving only a few green ones. Although the colors of the scrolls didn''t reveal their level, the intensity of the light did. From this Raven deduced that the majority of the scrolls were level four, with perhaps only a hundred at level five and a lone ten scrolls at level six.

    She approached the ten level six scrolls, noticing soft snickers from some of the students as she did - Raven acted as if she hadn''t heard them. Slowly Raven started reading through the descriptions of the ten Skills and her heart sank slightly as she did. Although all of the martial Divine Skills seemed to be very impressive none of them really caught her interest.

    Something that Raven had come to realize as she traveled towards Sky City was that she missed her old martial arts. Even though she easily adapted to using her Divine Skills, she often found herself wanting to execute one of her old moves but not having a way to merge such martial arts with her spirit essence for optimal effect.

    Raven had hoped to fill the gap here - after all, twenty years of habits are hard to break - but it would seem like the level six skills would not do the job. Finally Raven picked up the last level six scroll. It was the only whose light wasn''t red or orange, but rather green.

    Opening it she read the words "Spacial Dash" at the top.

 Chapter 37: An Arbitrary Amount of Skills

    Author''s note:

    I would like to send a big thank you to M. Kolb and he/she-whom-has-wished-to-be-anonymous for  their donations via Royal Road! It''s an unbelievably amazing feeling to actually "get paid" for my story ^.^

    Thank You!

    Also, the countdown to post-winter-exam "freedom" is swiftly approaching zero! A bit too swiftly atm.... T_T

    <hr />

    Raven stared at the description of the Divine Skill in her hands with wide eyes; it was an impressive movement type skill.

    ''Well this is definitely not a skill that I can base off my old martial arts!'' Raven exclaimed to herself. ''This is practically a teleportation skill!''

    If mastered, the Divine Skill Spacial Dash could be used to separate some of the practitioner''s spirit essence into a separate incorporeal body of sorts, that could be sustained within a radius dependent on the practitioner''s level of cultivation. It was then possible to, at any given moment, shift one''s real body to that location, instantaneously.

    There were however a few drawbacks to the skill, which might explain why it was graded as only a level six skill, despite the essence fluctuations being a bit stronger than those of the other level six skills Raven had inspected.

    Besides being unusually har to learn, the two major drawbacks were noise and essence consumption.

    Keeping a incorporeal body of spirit essence separate from oneself would, not surprisingly, be extremely taxing on the soul and once the actual dash was made huge amounts of spirit essence would be used up. Raven guessed that with her current cultivation, she would only be able to use the skill perhaps 2-3 times in actual combat, and this was only thanks to her soul being unusually fast at absorbing spirit essence.

    Then there was the noise. The immediate shift of pressure in the atmosphere, caused by the sudden disappearance and subsequent reappearance of a human body, would generate a bang so loud that it would burst the eardrums of any low level Spiritualists nearby. Not to mention the potentially deadly effects it would have on normal humans.

    ''Hehe, if I get proficient enough in with the Void Tracker, I should be able to cancel out the noise,'' Raven was incapable of hiding the glee from her face, ''although it will be hard to learn, I''m not in a hurry, and thanks to the extra skill given to Advanced Students I will still have plenty of slots open for other skills.''

    Raven had made up her mind and held up her identification stone to the scroll to unlock the Divine Skill within. Instantly a low murmur filled the floor.

    "Do you see that?" someone snickered quietly, "the slave kid picked the Spacial Dash."

    "Wasting his extra skill on a Divine Skill he will never learn, what a rookie mistake."

    "I thought a slave would have been taught his self-worth early on. . . ."

    It came to no surprise to Raven that the students on the second floor were only ignoring her when they thought she was looking. Although their voices were low, they might as well have shouted - it would have made no difference to Raven.

    Although she registered what they said, she chose to ignore it for now as she instead looked at the identification stone in her palm with even confusion; the text ��Divine Skill Count 1/4�� was once again displayed.

    ''Shouldn''t it be 2/4?'' Raven frowned.

    She thought back to the words Elder Stork had left her with: "you are to choose four Divine Skills and practice them to perfection. You are not permitted a fifth skill until one of the first four is mastered."

    ''Could it be that my trial run downstairs was enough for the stone to deem the Paralizing Ligtning Srike as mastered?''

    As far as Raven was concerned, her earlier performance had been merely adequate, with many adjustments still required before she would be satisfied.

    Then again, Raven was a bit of a perfectionist when it came her martial techniques; it wasn''t unreasonable to think that the Academy would put the bar lower or none of the students would learn more than five or six skills during their studies at Sky Academy.

    Raven smiled at the possibility this presented. If her guess was correct, wouldn''t that mean that she would be able to get the imprint for practically every low level Divine Skill that implemented her old martial arts almost as fast as she could read their scrolls?

    ''This has to be tested!''

    Although it was possible that she would find fitting skills on the second floor, Raven opted against it with so many people present. Instead, she immediately completed the imprint with the level six Spacial Dash and headed back to the first floor, fittingly ignoring every person she left behind on the second floor.

    Once back on the first floor, Raven strode to the very back of the library, almost forgetting to hide the lithe of her natural movements. Fortunately, the first floor was practically only used by first and second year students, whom seemed disinclined to skip out on lunch, so there were only two other students present. They were both low Novices and the numerous shelves separating them from Raven were more than enough to hide her activities from all their senses.

    With inhuman speed Raven started to sift through the scrolls on the self in front of her. Every time she came across a skill whose physical movements were nearly identical to her old martial arts, she would stop, unlock the imprint, and then perform the skill; it was a success, the first skill increased the counter on the identification stone to 2/4, but when the second skill was unlocked the counter was still only 2/4.

    Raven kept it up for over half an hour before her mind started feel strained; like a balloon filled with too much air. Drawing a deep breath, she looked back at the scrolls she had read and then leaned out into the next aisle of the library.

    ''I''ve checked 42 level three Divine Skills, and taken the imprint of the 17 level scrolls whose skills fit me,'' she lifted her hands to rub her temples, ''I haven''t even looked through a single shelf yet. . . .''

    Even though Raven''s mind was spent, she was still very pleased with the situation; finally she had made some of her old techniques a bit more useful to her even in Spiritualist combat.

    However, there were thousands of scrolls to go and hundreds of martial techniques she wanted to find a use for.

    ''I wonder how long time it would take to . . . ,'' Raven''s eyes widened, ''oh, shit! My next class!''

    Not bothering to restore order to the section she had worked through, Raven dashed out from the library, leaving two small piles of glowing scrolls behind. In her rush, Raven failed to notice that while the larger pile of disregarded skills consisted mostly of warm hues, the small pile shined with the colder lights of green, yellow and pale blue.

    ---------

    The location for the forth level Spirit Control Class was not particularly far away, but it still took five minutes for Raven to arrive, bursting through the gateway onto yet another open courtyard at full speed. Although she was moving very quickly, for observes it seemed as if Raven was simply taking a casual jog; her step was light and no sweat had been gathered on her forehead.

    The twenty or so people already present stared at her small figure with perplexed gazes. Whatever rumors, or perhaps instructions, someone had spread, they had apparently not taken hold in everyone here; quite a few students were not averting their eyes the moment they realized it was Raven.

    To Raven''s surprise, most of those students were women, all wearing the gold rimmed robes of the Healing Arts Department.

    ''So the Spirit Control Class is co-ed . . . ,'' noted Raven as she observed her observers, ''and judging by their appearances, the girls are younger than the boys.''

    Most males attending the fourth level class were simultaneously in their fourth year - as was the case with the Griffin twins - and therefor approaching their twelfth birthday. The girls on the other hand seemed to be ten or, at most, newly turned eleven. Granted, there were fewer of them, but still.

    If not for the fact that the Griffin twins were absent for some unknown reason, Raven would have asked them about it. Instead, she let the girls stare and simply waited for the class to start, which Raven figured, surprisingly, might take a while; she could sense no Spirit Champions approaching the courtyard.

    The children around Raven were clustered in small groups, and soon started to talk among themselves in hushed tones. If it wasn''t for Raven''s extraordinary hearing, she would most likely not have heard a word they said to each other. As it was . . .

    "Is that the super genius that joined the Martial Department yesterday?" asked one of the girls.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "He looks so ordinary. . . ." commented another.

    "Hmph, what''s so special about it - any high Novice who takes that trial would get the same result," mumbled one of the boys but Raven could tell from his voice that he didn''t really believe what he was saying.

    "I heard from Senior Wren that this so called genius is actually fake, " said another boy and in a voice loud enough for anyone in the open area to hear, "he''s only a thief who stole his cultivation from his fellow slaves!"

    Raven raised an eyebrow at that; ''stealing cultivation? Is that even possible?'' Raven tilted her head to the side as she pondered, ''you could perhaps find a way to absorb someones spirit essence but without a strong enough Spirit Core you wouldn''t be able to make it your own. . . .''

    Meanwhile, talks about Raven and her past grew more rowdy around her.

    "How horrible!" shrieked some of the girls, who clearly hadn''t heard the story before, while some of the others actually snorted disbelievingly.

    "Isn''t Senior Wren just jealous?" suggested one of the older girls. "Clearly he feels threatened by this Junior."

    "What''s there to be threatened by? Senior Wren is already a peak high Adept and will likely break through to the Champion realm before he graduates. This little thief will never catch up, now that he can''t keep to his old treachery anymore!"

    "The only thing impressive about Senior Wren''s cultivation is that he managed to get there without being an Advanced Student," retorted one of the smaller boys in a voice so low Raven almost missed it. His cultivation was lowest among the boys as he was the only one still quite far from reaching the bottleneck before advancing to Spirit Adept.

    "What was that?" the boy who had first raised his voice asked the small kid - he had seen the latter''s mouth moving but only heard fragments.

    The small boy shivered slightly and backed up a few steps. "Nothing," he said and looked down at his feet.

    "No, you definitely said something," the larger boy advanced towards the other one, "come on, Regulus, share your opinion with the rest of us."

    The girls frowned at the scen but said nothing. Perhaps the fact that their cultivation wasn''t any higher Regulus''s held them back. Raven on the other hand had no such scruples.

    ''Might as well see if I can get some more insight into this whole thief business. . . .''

    Swiftly, Raven stepped forward and blocked the larger kid''s approach with a cold glare.

    "Out of the way, slave thief," ordered the kid with disdain, "or do you think that you, with your fake cultivation, can match up to me - a true high Novice?"

    "I am no thief," answered Raven in a voice devoid of emotion.

    "No? Then how about ''murderer'' instead?"

    The other children gasped. Raven frowned slightly.

    ''Where does this come from? Usually people don''t choose to make such accusations without any sort of proof. . . .''

    "Don''t be ridiculous, Robin," the slightly older girl from before finally spoke again, "he''s only six!"

    The boy, Robin, didn''t look away from Raven as a smug sneer spread on his face.

    "Then do you deny that you have watched dussins of children get slowly ripped to pieces, limb form limb, right in front of you without doing a thing?" More gasps. "I bet you even enjoyed it!"

    Raven''s frown deepened. The scene Robin was describing was awfully close to one of the horrors Hog had described to the headmasters and Elder Kagu only yesterday. Was it a coincidence? Not likely. Had anyone of them told the story to someone else? Perhaps even less likely.

    ''But who could have overheard it? Even I couldn''t hear anything through those doors without Brother and it''s practically impossible that someone hid themselves in there...''

    When Raven remained silent, Robin laughed mockingly, "Ha! See, he doesn''t even deny it!"

    ''It would seem like I have something more to investigate - Auk Wren''s, or perhaps Jake Tanuki''s, source. As for this kid . . .''

    Raven''s eyes studied the soon to be twelve-year-old in front of her. Her frown slowly dissipated and was replaced by a cold and emotionless expression that sent shivers down Robin''s spine.

    "Whatever I have witnessed, it is none of your business, but if you think that my experiences make me weak, then you are dead wrong." Raven''s blood red eyes locked on to the boy like a hawk, minuscule amounts of killing intent seeping out towards him. Instinctively, Robin took a few steps back. Annoyed at his reaction, Robin faltered after a comeback, but the words were caught in his throat.

    One of the boys, whom had stood next to Robin prior to the altercation, and who didn''t feel the weight of Raven''s glare chuckled; "already he makes threats! Are you here to steal our cultivation as well?"

    "He is here to learn, just like the rest of you," a clear voice rang out in the courtyard, instantly putting a lid over the brewing tension.

    "Elder Willow!" the girls practically shrieked in unison, as they bowed their heads towards the gate.

    ''He''s an elder?'' thought Raven as she turned to look at the man who had just entered.

    She had recognized his presence while she sensed him he approached as the man Martin had referred to as "Professor Love" during the banquet but, at that time, she hadn''t turned to see look at him. Consequently she had not seen the color of his robes and had therefor assumed it was a simply a nickname. This assumption had based on the deep red glow of his presence that had relieved this ''Elder Willow'' as a high Adept, close to a breakthrough, but nonetheless just an Adept - there are students at Sky Academy with higher cultivation.

    However, now that Raven actually looked at him, she was even more disbelieving of his status as an Elder. His figure was lean and elegant, with long auburn hair, tied in a high ponytail, and ivory pale skin. His eyes, shining with dazzling light green hues, seemed to see right through whomever he looked at. Raven had to agree with the girls and admit that Elder Willow was irrefutably gorgeous - in a top model kind of way - but, most importantly, he was young - very young. It would not surprise Raven if the man was below nineteen.

    ''To be an Elder at such a young age, and yet with such a low cultivation . . . ,'' Raven glanced over his robes, and furrowed her brows; ''he''s from the Healing Department?''

    "Sorry for the delay," with elegant confidence, Elder Willow strode to the center of the courtyard as he spoke. "I was on my way when I found out two of your classmates were loitering near the Spirit Hall Tower, so I had to make a detour." He turned to face the gate. "Boys?"

    There was a short pause before two fiery sets of hair appeared outside, soon to be followed by an enormous crate of boxes that they were pulling behind them with much effort.

    Elder Willow smiled warmly at the sight and continued speaking over the huffs and puffs of the Twins; "they were however kind enough to help me with bringing over the equipment for today''s class. Collect one box each and take a seat somewhere; it doesn''t matter where, as long as you have at least an arms length to each other."

    "Yes, Elder!" the children shouted and did as they were told.

    "Up to no good again?" whispered Raven to the twins as she picked up a box for herself and handed a second one to Regulus, who was too short to reach them on his own.

    "No," wheezed Martin between labored breaths, "and what do you mean again? We are practically saints, right Twin?"

    "Indeed," smiled Lark and nodded towards an empty section of the courtyard. Together, the three walked over and sat down, but leaned in closer than the arms length distance so they could  continue their conversation.

    "We wanted to see the first year''s reaction to your record," explained Lark.

    "Did you?"

    "Well, Professor Love found us . . . ," started Martin dejectedly.

    "When we told him why we were there he started lecturing us about how reckless we had been . . ." interrupted Lark a little too quickly, "he dragged on for ever, but as a result we had yet to leave when the teacher found your record." His eyes practically twinkled. "It was awesome; the other Elder''s jaw nearly touched the ground!"

    "It would have been even more awesome if we hadn''t been forced to pull that god forsaken crate all the way here afterwards!" grumbled Martin causing Lark to laugh and nod, but surprisingly Raven noticed him giving Martin a slightly reproving look.

    ''Interesting,'' she thought, ''so they don''t agree on everything.''

 Chapter 38: The Fakes Performance

    Raven looked over at the young Elder that seemed to cause a rare difference of opinion between the two twins.

    "Isn''t he a bit too . . . young to be an Elder?" she asked in a low voice.

    "You bet!" exclaimed Martin in a not so low voice, causing a few students to look their way. Coughing slightly he continued, more silently this time, "he''s only nineteen!"

    "Then how come he''s an Elder? Even in Earth Empire, most academies only let''s you graduate at eighteen, right?"

    "Well, first off, he''s a Healer Spiritualist which means his focus in cultivation is on control of spirit essence rather than strength," said Lark and shot a keen glance at Elder Willow. "Just like with the girls here, Healers generally advance in control a lot faster than us Martial Spiritualist. According to rumor, Elder Willow was such a fast learner that, a few years ago, there came a point in when none of the Elders at his Academy could teach him anything! So, they asked him if he wanted to join them as an Elder and help teach the other students instead. It''s quite impressive, right?"

    ''He is even better than his academy''s headmaster? That aught to be at least a high Champion level . . . interesting!'' thought Raven as she nodded slightly.

    "Right, cause a male Healer is so amazing," said Martin sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

    "Then what is a female Martial Spiritualist - a joke?" countered Raven before she could resist it.

    Lark grinned approvingly while Martin blinked a few times in confusion. While he was searching for the words to refute Raven with, all students had already collected a box and taken their seats; the same groupings from before were still present and the male denser groups had ended up the furthest away from Raven.

    "Alright," Elder Willow''s voice filled the courtyard once more, "before we get started, I would like to introduce myself to those of you who might not have met me yet." He gazed over all the boys in the class. "My name is Myrtus Willow and I''m one of the exchange Elders from Earth Empire. Since last year, I have been teaching Spirit Control at the Healing Department here and from now on I will be in charge of this class as well. I know some of you might have doubts concerning my age . . ." Raven noticed him briefly looking over at her, challengingly, "but I assure you that you will find my teaching beneficial."

    ''Ho, he heard me?'' Raven smiled internally, ''I get the feeling he found the comment ironic coming from me.''

    "If you have any doubts about my abilities after this lesson, feel free to report it to Headmaster Swan."

    "We wouldn''t dream of it," echoed the girls in unison, causing more boys than just Martin to roll his eyes.

    Elder Willow seemed a bit amused by the commotion but suddenly his demeanor grew serious as he started his lecture; "Up until now, Control Class has been about inner control of your spirit essence. While such control is vital for how quickly you can prepare a Divine Skill, without sufficient control over your essence once it leaves your body, the effect of most Divine Skills will drop drastically. This is especially the case for Healing Skills."

    He paused and summoned a globe of visible spirit essence into his palm. The globe then separated into dozens of smaller globes that started flying around him in intricate patterns. Raven focused her attention on the globes.

    ''This seems similar to the process described in the Spacial Dash for creating an incorporeal body. . . .''

    Elder Willow waved his hand and the globes floated out among the children and landed on their boxes. "With sufficient control you can make your spirit essence take a nearly physical form, even without using a Divine Skill." He snapped his fingers causing the globes to simultaneously click open the small latches that had kept the boxes closed.

    ''So much theatrics,'' thought Raven, amused; as far as she could tell, all that hand waving and finger snapping was totally unnecessary - spirit essence was controlled with the mind, not the body.

    "Unfortunately, there are major limits to what you can do with your spirit essence without a Divine Skill, but it is good training nonetheless." The globes floated back to Elder Willow and were absorbed into his palm. "In the boxes you will find an instrument to help you train; lift them out and bind with the ring you find."

    Shuffling noises filled the air as the children hoisted the instruments out of their boxes. Raven studied the contraption with genuine interest. It looked like a crystalline material had been stretched into a thick wire that then twisted around itself in a maze-like manner. Resting at one end of the wire was a deep black ring. As she let a drop of blood fall from her finger onto the black ring, she felt it pulling out some of her spirit essence to form a glowing sphere around it. As she willed it, the sphere moved upwards along the wire, bringing the ring with it. It was harder to move the sphere than Raven had expected, but it was definitely manageable.

    "Your task is to move the ring from one end of the wire to the other, within one minute," explained Elder Willow as he used an unclaimed instrument to demonstrate. His black ring flowed effortlessly along the wire as the latter twisted in and out of itself. It took him less than thirty seconds to complete the course.

    "Looks easy enough," said the boy named Robin and started to slowly move his ring with, what to Raven seemed like herculean effort, shrouded by his overflowing confidence. As the ring approached the first turn in wire, Robin didn''t lower its speed and the ring clinked into contact with the wire. The instrument hissed loudly and Robin yelped as the ring snapped back to its original position. The girls burst out in giggles at his outburst.

    "What was that!?" he shouted in shock; "my spirit essence had been drained!"

    "If you would let me finish . . . ," sighed the young Elder. "The hardest part will be to avoid touching the wire; any slightest contact will cause the ring to return to the starting position and the wire will drain some of your spirit essence. This in turn making the sphere harder to control on your next attempt. The first student to complete this task will receive 100 merit points, the second 50. Anyone who manages to complete it today will get an additional 100 points."

    The students in the class gasped and an excited murmur spread through the courtyard; 200 merit points was the same amount that the victors of the bimonthly Lunar Trial would get. It would go far resource-wise at the academy, and was also a fifth of what you needed if you wished to attempt to become an Advanced Student - it was not a guarantee that you''d get accepted, but you would be allowed to try.

    "You may begin."

    Elder Willow had a mischievous spark in his eyes as he instructed the students to start. The additional 100 points were not something he intended to give out today, it was only a trap to make the kids more excited and therefore make it harder for them to concentrate. He wanted them to learn the difficulties of essence control the hard way.

    All the students started to manically focus on their spheres of spirit essence and after a bit of struggling, the Rings within them started to move. However it didn''t take long before buzzing sounds filled the courtyard like a swarm of angry bees. Within thirty minutes every child had beads of sweat rolling down their foreheads and were panting heavily. Not one had made it past the first three bends of the wire.

    "Argh! This is impossible!" grunted Martin and threw himself backwards onto the ground.

    The sudden noise caused most of the other students to lose the little concentration they had mustered and several rings snapped back at once. Everyone sighed in frustration.

    "Not so cocky now, are you, Slave?" Robin was quick to comment when he noticed that Raven looked just as tired as the rest of them. Perhaps even a bit more so.

    Raven ignored him and continued moving her ring slowly forward.

    "What? No comeback?" laughed Robin''s friend.

    "Quiet," ordered Elder Willow, whom had been strolling around the courtyard giving occasional advice, "Spirit Control is all about concentration and practice. Don''t waste your time babbling." He reached the area where Raven and her friends were seated and froze.

    "Junior Night, you have removed the binding to your ring." He didn''t say it like a question but he clearly didn''t really believe what he saw.

    Raven kept focusing on the ring''s progress along the wire as she answered, "Yes, Elder."

    Judging by his intake of breath Elder Willow took the confirmation hard, and even took a few step forward to make sure he wasn''t imagining things.

    "Why?" he questioned once closer. By now the rest of the class had stopped their progress and looked over at Raven and the Elder.

    "Elder Willow did not use a bind when he demonstrated."

    "But, that''s . . . ," Raven''s words were so matter-of-fact that Elder Willow was stunned for a moment. Was this kid serious? He had truly not used a bound ring to demonstrate with before, but doing the exercise without it was at least ten times harder!

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Raven had of course realized this difference the second she tried it but she felt that training as she did now would be more beneficial for her understanding to the Spacial Dash. Besides, she would have preferred the low profile of a slow progress anyway.

    Elder Willow seemed to gather himself. "Junior Night, please bind the ring again and complete the task before changing it," he said sternly. His words might sound harsh but there was an underlying hint of excitement in the Elder''s voice; he was clearly looking forward to Raven''s results.

    The rest of the students didn''t catch it through and some of them sneered at the seemingly reprimanded Raven with renewed contempt. Others, like Martin and Regulus, rather conveyed pity instead. Only Lark glanced from Raven to Elder Willow with an odd expression, like he was pondering something.

    "As the Elder mandates," Raven''s voice was just as devoid of zeal as before and inwardly she felt a sense of capitulation; ''I had hoped that he wouldn''t notice it; I''m going to cause a scene again . . . but I won''t benefit from my time at this Academy if I don''t push my limits somewhere!''

    As Raven pulled back her spirit essence from the ring it snapped back to its starting point where Raven reconnected the blood link. She let the ring hover up and down for a few heartbeats to readjust to the new connection between it and her before she started moving it along the wire at a steady pace. Without a hitch the ring slid past the third bend that no one had made it past yet.

    When she passed the fourth bend with ease, the mocking smiles had stiffened while the looks of pity had turned to excitement; Martin even raised his hand to give Raven an approving slap on the back, but Lark was quick to stop him.

    "So much for a fake . . ." giggled some of the girls and glanced at Robin insinuatingly.

    Ignoring all of this Raven''s spirit essence sphere with ring kept moving - the progress was noticeably slower than when Elder Willow had demonstrated but the movement was steady and showed no signs of Raven loosing control. Not even when she reached a section of the wire maze that was out of her sight did the ring falter.

    Fifty eight seconds after Raven had started, the light cling of the metal ring hitting the crystal blocker at the other end of the maze broke the silence that had transcended the training area.

    Raven turned around on the ground and looked up at the Elder. "May I remove the bond now, Elder  Willow?," she asked.

    ---------

    Hundreds of meters above Sky Academy, a white little bird was perched on the windowsill located at the very top of Indigo Cloud Palace''s highest tower. The small bird had been sitting there for almost an entire day as it quietly observed the world within.

    Its unnaturally big, brown, eyes had watched when the woman on the other side of the window glass spent hours pacing back and forth the previous evening. It had watched as the woman cried in silence when she was alone but then smiled strongly in front of her beloved. It had watched when she argued with her spy masters for hours on end.

    Although the bird''s presence hadn''t gone entirely unnoticed, nobody payed it any heed; it was, after all, only a bird.

    ---------

    With an expression that by no means revealed her satisfaction, Raven walked away from her first spirit control lesson with 200 merit points registered on her identification stone. She wasn''t one to bother with the opinions of random children but the bewildered expressions of Robin and the rest of the "he''s a fake" gang had been most gratifying, even for her.

    What pleased her most, however, was that after another hour of practicing, Raven''s spirit control had actually showed signs of improvement. She had yet to complete the course while not using the connection with the ring, but now she could at least manage a third of it before exhaustion forced her to lose control.

    Martin and Lark had "volunteered" to help Elder Willow bring back the crate of boxes, so at the moment Raven walked alone down the splendid garden that separated the main campus from the Starlight wood houses, where the Elders and Advanced Students resided. Well ''alone'' wasn''t really accurate; there were plenty of students spread out over the entire garden, whom were currently either quietly cultivating through meditation or sparring with fellow students.

    ''I see gossip travels fast here too. . . .''

    Just as before, no one approached Raven and preferred to observe from a distance as she passed, but the students no longer feigned ignorance of her existence. Instead, they would pause their training to whisper comments to each other, or simply stare at her for a moment. The expressions in their eyes varied from disgust to awe and occasionally even some fear.

    The rumors of Raven the Thieving Slave, whom merely had a fake cultivation and secretly reveled in death, had clearly reached everyone present, but so had her results from the previous class as well as the new Spirit Hall Tower record she''d set. The poor students didn''t know what to believe anymore.

    ''Well, they are not so far off on the death thing,'' she thought to herself.

    Suddenly, Raven felt the presence of a familiar high Champion enter the far end of the garden, heading her way. After a moment of internal debate, Raven slowed her pace, as if taking in the wonders of the garden, thus allowing the Elder in question to catch up without even trying.

    "Junior Student Night," the friendly voice of Vice Headmaster Gadwall called out to Raven. "If you tarry in the gardens too long then you''ll be late for class."

    Raven''s body twitched slightly, as if startled, before she turned and bowed. "Vice Gadwall", she said in a cold tone before she straightened and looked up at him with equally cold eyes.

    The man might not be as astute as Raven but didn''t miss her cold attitude. The curious light in his eyes dimmed and was replaced with concern as he asked, "is something wrong, Junior Night? Did you have any troubles picking out Divine Skills this morning?"

    Raven almost laughed at the irony of his assumption, but her face showed no traces of humor. "No, Vice Gadwall, I had no problems at the library."

    "Then what is the matter?" Gadwall''s eyes then suddenly shined with realization, "oh, I see, the rumors about your past . . . yes, it''s quite unfortunate . . . but all of it will be forgotten in a few days, I''m sure." He smiled warmly and reached out a hand to pat Raven''s shoulder, but she stepped out of his reach.

    "With all due respect, I would have preferred it if Vice Gadwall, Headmaster Swan and Elder Kagu had kept my past to yourselves."

    Gadwall''s brows furrowed. "I can assure you that it did, Junior Night; such secrets are not for us to tell! Perhaps . . . perhaps, your Uncles had a bit much to drink, while celebrating and. . ." he didn''t finish the sentence but there was no need to.

    Raven''s cold glare seemed to soften slightly; "perhaps . . . ," she agreed with a sigh. Inwardly, however, she couldn''t agree less. ''No matter how drunk they are, they would never say a word. . . . But if Gadwall is right, then how did it come out?''

    "Well then," taking Raven''s reaction as a sign that the matter was settled, Gadwall motioned towards the south; "I believe we are headed the same way."

    A few minutes later, with the guidance of Vice Gadwall, Raven arrived at the tall building where the advanced classes were being held. Along the way, Raven had learnt that the ordinary teacher for the Advanced Class was otherwise preoccupied at the moment so Gadwall would be stepping in as their adviser for today. She had also learnt that unless the Elder in charge had something special planned, the Advanced Class mostly consisted of individual training but under highly beneficial conditions. It was for this reason he had wanted Raven to pick out at least one Divine Skill before today''s lesson.

    Once inside, they were greeted by thirteen youngsters, of varying age and cultivation. Had any of them had the same perception as Raven, they would have been unable to miss the bloodthirsty aura that whiffed out into the room as soon as Raven laid eyes on her cousin.

    Dunlin had been standing with his back towards the entrance, talking to the black haired Jake Tanuki of Earth Empire, but turned around at the sound of the doors opening.

    For a brief moment, the gazes of the two cousins met.

    Raven had pondered if he, one of only two people still alive and well whom had actually seen her face - albeit when she was only a toddler - would be able to recognize her, but Dunlin''s gaze simply turned contemptuous before he looked away with ill-feigned indifference.

 Chapter 39: Threats and Lies

    Author''s Note: Heartfelt gratitude goes out to Anonymous for your donation; you know who you are - THANK YOU!

    <hr />

    Pushing down the urge to pull her sword out and sink it deep into her cousins chest, Raven instead looked over at Javelin, whom also had stopped talking to his friend at the sound of the door opening. Their gazes met and Javelin smiled meekly at her; he looked a bit tired, but also regretful, no doubt it was concerning yesterday''s events.

    Raven nodded at him, silently agreeing to put it all behind them, and was about to walk over when Jack Tanuki nudged Dunlin''s side. Together the two both bowed excessively low and shouted in a respectful tone, "Advanced Class greets Vice Headmaster Gadwall!"

    The rest of the students quickly followed suit, but Raven noticed that even if they hid it well not all of them were pleased by the perceived leadership of Dunlin and this Jack.

    "Greetings students," the youths straitened at Gadwall''s response, " I found your newest addition on my way here, whom I''m sure you have all heard of by now." Gadwall smiled warmly and Raven wondered if he grasped the double meaning of his worlds. "Do you wish to introduce yourself, Junior Night?"he asked.

    ''Not really,'' thought Raven but she shrugged and answered anyway; "Raven Night. First Year. High Spirit Novice."

    Gadwall waited a moment before he realized that was all Raven intended to say. "Ah . . . well, yes, straight to the point. Good. Why don''t the rest of you repeat the courtesy?"

    From the Vice Headmaster no more prompting was needed; one by one they introduced themselves with name, grade and spiritualist rank. From what Raven had learnt about expected cultivation levels of students at Sky Academy, these thirteen youths really were a step above their peers. The oldest student, an eighteen-year-old boy whom looked like bear, had even stepped into the Spirit Champion realm and was approaching mid Champion, something that even the talented students of Sky Academy would find hard to pull off before the age of twenty five.

    As the introductions moved along, from oldest to youngest, it was eventually time for the forth graders, but before Javelin or Dunlin had a chance, the black eyed exchange student spoke out.

    "Jack Tanuki, third year, peak mid Adept." His endlessly black eyes bore into Raven, as if daring her to oppose him or rebuff his prowess. Raven however showed no reaction at all; although his cultivation was impressive for someone not yet eleven years old, Javelin had almost the same cultivation, and, was even younger.

    Besides, she already found out about Jack''s cultivation level at the banquet yesterday, so what was there to be surprised about? The next introduction however did surprise her.

    "Dunlin Talon, forth year, mid Adept."

    ''What?'' Raven''s brow twitched slightly as she quelled her frown. She risked a glance around the room but no one reacted at Dunlin''s statement. ''How come no one is refuting him? He''s clearly only a low Adept!''

    She focused her senses on his presence but no matter how hard she concentrated, Dunlin''s leaking spirit essence was so light pink, it almost seemed white.

    "As for Junior Hake, I assume you''ve already been introduced to him, since you two are roommates," Gadwall suddenly put an end to the introductions, disrupting Raven''s pondering. "Your ordinary teacher is otherwise engaged at the moment so I will be over-seeing you today. I have nothing special planned so please proceed to your allocated rooms and I will be with you shortly. Junior Hake, your room is closest to Junior Night''s. Show him the way, won''t you?"

    "Yes Vice Headmaster," replied Javelin but Gadwall had already disappeared down a corridor.

    The advanced students studied Raven for a moment before they headed towards a nearby staircase. Raven had no doubts that these people had heard all the rumors about her but they were all considered geniuses among geniuses. She assumed that for them, regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, the only ting they cared about was personal strength. Right now, Raven was the weakest in the class - as the only person, presumably, below Spirit Adept level -  and was therefore of little to no concern for them.

    Well, almost all of them only cared about strength. On their way to the staircase, Raven and Javelin were passing by Dunlin and Jack when the latter snickered; "a slave and a soldier, roommates . . . how fitting; both are born to take orders!"

    While the pair laughed, Raven noticed Javelin''s hand clenching as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face them.

    "What, soldier boy, you want permission to speak?" retorted Dunlin and the two started laughing again.

    Javelin took a large step towards the duo, and for a moment Raven thought he might hit one of them. Instead he passed between the two and slammed his fist into the wall behind them.

    "Firstly," he said with an steady voice, "even as a soldier I wouldn''t have to ask the two of you permission for anything, since you''re not my officers. Secondly," Javelin''s voice grew more agitated, "no one, is born to be a slave!"

    With that he returned to Raven''s side and pulled her up the stairs before Dunlin and Jack had a chance to answer. Once they reached the second floor and had veered off into a side corridor Javelin finally realized he was still holding Raven''s arm and quickly let go.

    "Sorry," he said and looked away from her.

    "Why are you apologizing? They were the jerks. . . ." Raven sounded indifferent but inside she felt weirdly happy; this was the second time Javelin had stood up for her - not that it was needed, but it was sweet nonetheless.

    "Ah, no," Javelin''s ears turned slightly red and he lifted his hand to scratch the back of his neck, "not that. . . . They will retaliate against both of us for me speaking up. Usually it''s best to just let them be pricks in their own little world and then get better scores during the Lunar Trials, but I . . ."

    As he spoke, a smile too small for Javelin to notice spread on Raven''s lips. ''He keeps scratching his head whenever he''s embarrassed,'' she noted, amused, before she interrupted him by asking, "Retaliate? How?"

    "Well, the Talon Clan is the ruler clan of Nighting . . . I mean Black Talon Prefecture. As such Dunlin has sway over many of the students here; nearly a third are from clans that, by law, are lower ranked. As for Jack, he might be an exchange student but at home his clan is noble too and his father is one of the three High Counsillors of Earth Empire so many what to get on his good side. Going against them too openly is not a good idea."

    "Then what about the anti-snob group? That''s pretty out in the open."

    "That''s when the Griffin twins are around - as heirs to a Prefecture Lord themselves, and friendly ones at that, they hold almost equal sway over the student body. Only . . . their personal strength is lacking in comparison."

    Raven understood right away; as long as there was a crowd and the twins were present they could use their own status as a countermeasure, but they weren''t outstanding enough in their own right to rile up devoted followers.

    Raven shrugged indifferently. ''Let them come! If they start a fight, I have no reason to hold back - even as a high Novice I should be able to handle them - and if they use some other subterfuge . . . well, they''re not the only ones that can play at that game.''

    Javelin then proceeded to show Raven to her cultivation room before he left for his own room. As Raven entered hers, she could feel her Limiters suddenly weighing down heavily at her ankles, making it hard for her to walk. It turned out that one of the beneficial circumstances Gadwall had mentioned earlier was something akin to an increased gravity field. Every cell in Raven''s body strained against the extra pressure and the normally ten kilo Limiters now weighed perhaps three times as much.

    Apart from the higher gravity there was also an abundance of spirit essence gathered in the room, just waiting to be absorbed. That high concentration would increase the training endurance of the rooms occupant significantly - not that it would be noticeable from the outside, since the extra strain of the stronger gravitational pull would counter it.

    ''Training in here will definitely be advantageous!'' Raven didn''t bother hiding the wide grin on her face. ''Should I release the block on my cultivation? It would improve the results . . .''

    Stolen novel; please report.

    Just as she was about to go through with it, a merry voice spoke behind her; "What do you think, Junior Night?"

    Startled, Raven spun around as she, purely on instinct, withdrew a blade from her spacial ring and let her spirit essence surge to it.

    "Haha, sorry, I didn''t mean to startle you. I assumed Junior Hake warned you of how these rooms work."

    Raven started at Vice Headmaster Gadwall''s hazy figure in surprise. His body seemed almost transparent as he hovered over by the door; no spirit essence at all could be sensed from him - at least not any spirit essence that belonged to a living person.

    ''It''s almost like the holograms of my old world,'' she mused as she withdrew her blade and with more effort than she wished to admit walked a few steps to the side to study Gadwall''s apparition from another angle.

    Gadwall, however, noticed her struggle and smiled, that inquisitive flare was back in his eyes. "It''s not easy to move around, is it? Welcome to the Pressure Room; as you grow stronger, so will the pressure you experience. Here you will train for two hours everyday as long as you''re in the Advanced Class. It might not sound like much, but anymore and your body wouldn''t be able to take it. While you train in here you will gain guidence from an Elder at all times, if necessary."

    ''So much for training at full strength. . . .''

    "Usually we will just quietly observe and only intervene when we think it will be beneficial," continued Vice Gadwall. "I recommend that you start training with something simple, until you get the feel of the room. Call out when you wish to start practicing your new Divine Skills and I will walk you through it." Gadwall''s image faded, but Raven assumed he was still paying attention.

    ''Well, I guess, it''s better than nothing,'' thought Raven and did as she was told; she kept it "simple".

    ---------

    After two hours of switching between vigorous training with Shadow Walk and quiet contemplation regarding the Spacial Dash Raven walked out of her Pressure Room. Every cell in her body ached. As she reached the staircase she paused for a moment, considering if she should go down on her own or wait for Javelin. She opted for the former and, forcing the muscles in her body  to move more fluidly, she walked down the stairs.

    The moment she stepped out on the ground floor, the two people who had been "hiding" at either side of the staircase stepped forward to block her path. Their combined spirit essence pushed down on her, making it feel much like she was still in the Pressure Room.

    "Can I help you, Seniors?" she asked, as her cold blood red eyes moved from her cousin to his accomplice.

    Jack frowned slightly at how she seemed unaffected by the pressure they put on her but Dunlin didn''t seem to notice. "At least the slave knows that we are his superiors," he laughed and tapped Jack on his shoulder. "Use that limited intellect of yours to follow our orders in the future and we might let you off for disrespecting us earlier."

    "I said seniors," corrected Raven blankly.

    "Huh?" blinked Dunlin while Jack narrowed his eyes.

    "I called you my seniors, as in people older than me, not as in someone superior to me."

    Dunlin''s face turned bright red in rage. Raven noticed his pink spirit essence gathering at his fists, but now that he controlled it directly, Raven could sense something else, darker, mingling with it. Suddenly she remembered the duel Dunlin had held against her brother. ''Is this linked to the dark essence I sensed then? But it wasn''t so tangible then. . . .''

    While Raven was contemplating this, Dunlin was about to use his spirit essence to hit her when Jack stopped him. Boring his deep black eyes into Raven and leaned in closer. "Wits won''t save you here, little slave. What will you do if every student here despises you and wants to harm you? Do as we say, or we will make it happen."

    Raven stared blankly at the pair. In front of their threats she wasn''t sure if what she wanted most was to beat them up or laugh at how foolishly childish they sounded. She glanced at Dunlin. ''Oh, I definitely want to beat them up! But . . .''

    "Seniors, I am sure you have heard the rumors about me, and as they say: where there is smoke, there is fire." The two youths looked a bit confused. Raven sighed and rolled her eyes, "if you want to intimidate me, you have to try a lot harder than petty threats concerning my reputation. Besides, are you not afraid that you will be ridiculed for bullying someone almost half your age?"

    Raven almost chuckled as she saw the anger growing within Dunlin and Jack, but before they had a chance to move against her, she bowed her head and said, "thank you for your guidance, Vice Headmaster."

    Surprised, the boys turned towards the corridor Gadwall had walked off into before only to find it empty. Confused, they looked down the corridor for a moment more before they angrily turned back towards Raven, but she was already gone, the front door standing ajar.

    "Come back here, brat!" they shouted and rushed outside.

    Once they were gone, a small figure emerged from a shadow at the other end of the room.

    "Amateurs," Raven muttered.

    -------

    Like this the days passed; during the day she would attend her classes and spend the noon break imprinting skills in the Divine Library - to her great amusement, the staff had put up a big sign after her first few visits, ordering students to put back the scrolls where they belonged after reading them. To everyone''s joy, the Battle Strategy class had moved on from their brief history lessons to actual battle strategy, and had started teaching the first years how to efficiently attack and defend in a group. Needless to say, Raven shined brightly here as well. However, since she was supposedly raised by mercenaries, people weren''t to surprised.

    Outside of her classes, Raven used her exquisite senses to constantly avoid the snobbish troop of nobles, whom grew increasingly annoyed at how seemingly impossible it was to get Raven, or Javelin, on their own, without either the twins or an elder present to uproot their plans. It was almost uncanny how they might think they had succeeded, only to have an Elder walk around the corner a second later. As for her new friends, they had quickly grown accustomed to Raven''s sudden prompts to switch locations, and even found some amusement in it.

    As for the further rumors that Dunlin and Jack had threatened with, Raven had to admit that she was slightly impressed by the insanity of it all. By now they had graduated from the tales Hog had talked about and moved on to sheer imagination. There were even those who accused Raven for cannibalism - that she ate babies for breakfast.

    "Little Baby Night, steals babies in the night! But put up a fight, and you''ll give him a fright!" some would chime when Raven walked past them.

    However, despite the pair''s best efforts, the rumors had failed to take a strong hold in the groups Raven actually came in close contact with. This was partially due to Javelin and the twins helping out, but mostly it was because Raven''s prowess in both group fighting and Spirit Control continued to impress her fellow classmates. Additionally, while Raven definitely acted cold and distant, she was never mean, and would even give helpful pointers every once in a while, causing those same classmates to start liking her. Eventually, even the Sarus siblings and Robin''s crew refrained from taking part in further spreading of the nasty gossip around Raven.

    While Raven waited for Hoatzin to return with information about the Empress'' treason, she spent whatever extra time she had sneaking around the Headmaster''s office to see if she could find anything odd that might explain how her background came out. Unfortunately, short from attempting to break in, Raven had run into a dead end. None of the people whom had been present seemed inclined to spread the information on, and all Elders she had met seemed to have heard the rumors from the students first.

    On the eight day after she entered Sky Academy, she had yet to gain anymore insights to the rumor''s source. She had however learnt that there were, in total, four elders whose names started with a W, and three of them were not from Sky Empire. She was currently sitting in her dorm room, looming over a piece of paper with background information on these three when she looked up towards the window with a smile on her face.

    She stood up and walked over to the window. Opening it, she extended her pale hand outside. Seconds later a small bird landed on it.

 Chapter 40: Setting Things in Motion

    Author''s note: Due to some great points I got on the last chapter I have changed the time span for Raven''s wait from 4 days to a week.

    <hr />

    "Welcome back, big brother," Raven pulled in her hand but left the window open, "how has your week been?"

    Hoatzin''s bird form seemed to sneer up at Raven. "Tedious," he answered in hey mind, "I have a new found respect for spies."

    "You have been gone longer than I expected - did you learn anything about Empress Nene''s situation?"

    "Well . . . yes and no. . . . I''m a bit confused."

    "Tell me."

    "The charges against the Empress is that she was attempting to sell the secret of rearing Everest Hawks and other spirit beast birds to a Council Elder of Sea Empire."

    Raven stared at her brother. "Those are grave accusations. . . . " she said with a heavy voice.

    The secret techniques of raising aerial spirit beast that could be controlled by any spiritualist was highly guarded and even though full grown beasts could be sold to the other empires selling the former was high treason. As the saying goes: give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Sky Empire had no intentions of feeding the other nations for a lifetime.

    "It is, and the proof against her is nearly perfect. There are dozens of letters sealed with the Empress'' spirit essence and prepared scrolls with detailed descriptions on how to raise the beasts. There are even very reliable eyewitnesses that claim to have seen the Empress meet up with a foreign man in a tavern on the Business Tier!"

    Raven frowned. The eyewitness and prepared scrolls could have been planted but sealing letters with someone else''s spirit essence? She didn''t think it was even possible.

    ". . . You said it was just nearly perfect?"

    "That''s the part that has gotten me confused," confirmed Hoatzin and unfolded one of his wing to rub the underside of his beak in a very human-like gesture. "The thing is, despite the spy master''s assurance that the information they have gathered is valid, the Emperor himself doesn''t believe the Empress is guilty."

    "The man could be blinded by love," Raven conceded, although she didn''t want to admit what that meant Forge Empress innocence.

    "I don''t think so. I heard them arguing about a resent visit they made to the rules of both Earth and Sea Empire. Apparently, it had been done in utmost secrecy so no one except the rulers themselves should have known about it. For good reasons to, since one of the things they had discussed ear of they should more openly share the empires'' secrets. The aerial spirit beast techniques had been offered, but the other emperors actually declined the offer."

    Raven sat silently for a moment. "This is the Emperor''s reason for believing the Empress is innocent?"

    "Of course it is; it makes no sense for the Empress to be selling a secret to someone who had already declined it. "

    Raven grew silent once more. She could think of many reasons for such a sale to be made even after the other rulers disinterest. For one, there is no guarantee that just because an emperor said no, every one in his empire would agree. At the same time, simply saying no to something doesn''t necessarily mean that you don''t actually want it.

    "Did you find out what the Empress was trying to get in return for the techniques?" she finally asked.

    "They didn''t bring it up," Hoatzin''s little head shook left and right, "and it wasn''t like a could read any of the documents from outside the window. . ."

    ''Interesting,'' thought Raven, ''the talk about all of it in detail but don''t mention what would have been in it for the Empress? Is it because they don''t know, or because what she stood to gain is something she actually wants?''

    "So what now, Sister?" asked Hoatzin. "The Emperor wanted to drop the charges but the Empress said it was unwise until they knew who had tried to frame her and why."

    "That is not such a bad approach. If the Emperor released his wife too easily, it might lead to discontent in his court. Which might be what the supposed treason is all about." Raven paused and looked towards the door. "Do you think you can get a hold of the spy master''s report, big brother? I would like to read it."  Raven now spoke directly to Hoatzin''s mind.

    "I can try," he replied as he looked at her with perplexed eyes, "why the switch?"

    "We are about to get company."

    Raven walked over to her bed and sat down cross-legged, with Hoatzin on one of her knees. Just as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the dorm room door opened and Javelin walked in. He had clearly just come from the dorm showers since his golden hair was damp and slightly dripping. A fluffy towel was wrapped around his waist, doing nothing to conceal the tanned and well developed muscles of his upper body. Javelin might only have lived for ten years, but by the standards of Raven''s old world, no one would have believed him to be under fifteen.

    Javelin paused when he saw Raven sitting on her bed, seemingly meditating. The past week had done nothing to change the fact that his heart skipped a beat whenever he saw the red eyed youth. This reaction continued to annoy him and had Raven not been his roommate then Javelin would perhaps have tried to avoid her completely, but as it was he had instead figured that over exposure might do the trick just as well.

    Javelin''s eyes finally fell on the small white creature sitting on Raven''s knee.

    "Oh, you''re back . . . Tzin, was it?" Javelin walked over to his closest to retrieve a clean set of robes. "Have you been exploring Sky City perhaps?"

    Just as Javelin was about to start changing into his clean robes when he hear a shrill screech behind him and looked over his shoulder just in time to see a white streak zoom towards him with astonishing speed. By reflex, Javelin activated his spirit essence and formed a light golden shield between him and the approaching projectile.

    Raven suddenly opened her eyes and shouted, "Stop!" In the next instant she appeared next to Javelin and slammed into his side, causing him - and his shield with him - to stumble a few steps to the side. Milliseconds later, the Hoatzin''s white body passed through the space Javelin had been occupying with a whistle.

    "What the hell do you think you''re doing!" she spat.

    "Sorry," grumbled Javelin as he let his shield disperse, "I did it on reflex."

    "Not you," retorted Raven angrily and jabbed her finger towards the hovering bird. "You! He''s a mid Spirit Adept, you bird brain; did you really think you would be able to hurt him?"

    "But he was about to..." Hoatzin started to defend himself but Raven cut him off.

    "I am well aware of what he was about to do but if you had slammed into his Divine Oyster Shield at that speed you could have died!"

    In a freight, Hoaztin flew over and hid behind Javelin''s back. "I''m sorry! I too only acted on reflex!"

    "Reflex my ass!" Raven walked towards Javelin with firm steps while the latter looked at the approaching youth with an odd look in his eyes. The one sided conversation he heard between Raven and the bird was highly confusing for him. Even ignoring the fact that Raven seemed to be having a conversation with a bird, Javelin had never seen this much emotion coming from Raven before - this alone seemed strange to him and suddenly he felt a bit pained.

    ''Night seems very fond of this bird. . . . Why a bird?'' Javelin frowned at his thoughts. Why did he care at all?

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    When Raven was about to extend her hand behind Javelin''s back to grab the now squeaking bird, Javelin decided to intervene. He caught Raven''s wrist and looked down into those blood red eyes that always seemed so cold. A brief moment of surprise flashed across them before they glared at him disapprovingly.

    "No need to get so angry at the little bird, Night" said Javelin, sounding more genuine than he felt, "I''m sure he meant no harm."

    The red eyes glared at him for a moment longer before the anger subsided from them. "I guess if you forgive him then so should I."

    The bird landed on Javelin''s shoulder and silence filled the room. Javelin''s mind was oddly blank as he continued to look into Raven''s eyes.

    "You can let go off me now, Javelin." Raven''s voice snapped him back to reality and he quickly took a step back, using the hand that had been holding Raven to scratch his neck.

    "I''ll be visiting my Uncles tonight," said Raven and moved towards the door, "see you tomorrow." With a whistle, Raven left the room closely followed by the white bird.

    Left in their room Javelin looked down at his hands before he sighed in frustration. ''What is going on with me?'' he wondered. ''I get agitated when the boy is around but frustrated when he leaves.'' Javelin sank down on his bed.  Absentmindedly he pulled out a drawer from his bedside table and withdrew a gold and blue bracelet from within. He fiddled with it as he stared at the opposite bed lost in thoughts unknown.

    Suddenly his eyes flickered and he stood up. Activating his spirit essence he dashed from his bed to the Raven''s.  Frowning he turned and dashed back, now utilizing one of his more profound movement skills that caused small flecks of lightning to shoot out from the soles of his feet as he moved. The return to his bed was almost instantaneous but the frown only deepened.

    "How in the seas did Night manage to reach me fast enough? He only started moving once I activated the Oyster Shield but still arrived before the bird. Even with a my speed when using a Divine Skill, the reaction time alone should have made it impossible for him to get to me in time. . . . And I only barely felt any spirit essence being used!"

    Javelin stared at the door Raven had left through in shock. Slowly his mouth widened into a big smile before ha started laughing.

    "Haha, I guess there are more amazing things Night has yet to show us!"

    ---------

    Half an hour later, Raven''s dark clad figure arrived moved through the lamp-lit streets of the Business Tier. On the way here, Raven had changed into more inconspicuous clothes while Hoatzin had continued going through the details he had uncovered.

    "Weren''t we going to see the mercenaries?" he asked, still perched on Raven''s shoulder.

    "Of course not! It''s only been a week . . . ," Raven replied mentally. "Besides, I received a letter saying that they were to be sent on a mission so they are not in the city at the moment."

    "Then where are we headed?"

    "I''m headed to the tavern where that bar keep saw the Empress meet with a foreigner."

    "You''re visiting the Black Eagle? That''s hardly a place for a young girl!" retorted Hoatzin.

    Raven only snorted. "While I go investigate the witness I''d like for you to our old clan mansion on the Mansion Tier; I''ve heard that the Talon clan has taken it over. Don''t go inside, just observe who comes and goes. It high time we start learning more about our own enemies."

    Hoatzin''s eyes immediately turned solemn and he nodded before swiftly flying off into the dusk sky.

    It didn''t take long for Raven to reach the tavern in question. The Black Eagle was located on one of the few unlit streets of the Business Tier but despite its solitary location, the business must be booming - if the golden painted rims around the windows were any indication. Sanding in a dark corner of the street, Raven observed the building for a while before pulling up a scarf to cover the lower half of her face and entering the tavern.

    Once inside the smell of fermented beverages assaulted her nose. However, apart from the smell, the interior was surprisingly well organized with multiple small booths and all guests kept their voices low, efficiently drowning in the loud music a group of not-so-skilled youths were providing.

    ''This is quite a good place for secret meetings,'' thought Raven as she looked around. Letting some of her masculinity slip, Raven sauntered over to the bar with ill executed discretion. Anyone who saw her would assume that she, yes she, was perhaps a spy in training; trained enough to partially hide her sex but too young to know how to not draw attention to oneself.

    Behind the counter stood a weasel of a man that reminded Raven so much of the rat-man they''d met in Kinglet Grove that she almost figured them relatives. The man glanced at Raven though dirty spectacles, taking in all of her mannerism, before leaning over the counter to whisper, "wa du ye wan, miss?" in Raven''s ear.

    Raven jumped back in surprise and the little skin she showed under her hood and scarf turned slightly red. "I''m that obvious, huh?" she muttered to herself, but the weasel of course heard her. He laughed. "Don''t worry, you will get the hang of it," he said with much more warmth than Raven had expected and his broad accent was gone.

    "Your accent . . ." she started but was interrupted by the man.

    "What can I help you with?" he asked again ignoring her question.

    Checking that her scarf and hood was still in place - much to the bar keep''s amusement - Raven moved closer once again.

    "My Mast... I mean my  employer wishes to arrange a meeting with some foreign friends to discuss some private matters, only these friends might not be so friendly. . . ." She looked around nervously.

    "So he wants to meet somewhere public, but not too public, am I right?" finished the bar keep and Raven sighed in relief.

    "Would they stand out?" she asked. "The foreigners I mean. . . ."

    "Well, we don''t get a lot of them around here normally but recently there''s . . . ," the man stopped mid sentence as if he''d remembered something. "It will be fine," he reassured instead.

    "And if - just if - if my employer is a woman . . . "

    "Ah. That will be harder. We haven''t had a woman in here for years," he smiled and looked down on Raven, "well not a full grown one at least."

    "Really? I thought I heard of one being here not too long ago . . ." she was muttering again. "How unfortunate," said Raven loader to the man as she looked a bit forlorn and turned to walk away. Although see seemed to have stopped paying attention, she did not miss the sudden change in the man''s appearance as he when from surprised to afraid.

    "Wait," he called out, causing not only Raven''s head to turn towards him.

    "Yes?" answered Raven with eyes twinkling of new found hope.

    "Ah, never mind," said the weasel nervously, "good luck."

    Underneath the scarf Raven''s mouth twitched into a smile. ''When caught off guard he would remember not to talk about the foreigners but forget about a woman ever entering his tavern? Most likely there is some truth to his statement about meetings with foreigners but the Empress is most likely not involved.''

    To the bar keep witness Raven bowed slightly and once more turned to leave. Just as she put her hand on the doorknob her entire body froze. In one of the corners of the tavern two men where having a slightly heated discussion about gambling; betting on fights to be precise. Earlier Raven had ignored them but their latest bet caught her attention.

    "I''m telling you, the fight is going to get rigged. No way that Nightingale purist bastard is going to be allowed to win. Especially not against a Talon" said the first.

    "Rigged? Bullshit! Why would Fiscal would need to have the match rigged for him to win?" refuted the second.

    "Well then we agree, yet another obstinate Nightingale will die tonight!"

 Chapter 41: A Slip of the Hand

    Without even so much as a glance towards the two men whom were discussing the supposedly unavoidable death of one of her family''s supporters, Raven resumed her departure from the Black Eagle. For her, being inside or outside the tavern didn''t make that much of a difference - she would hear what was said anyway if she stayed close enough.

    Once outside, Raven made a quick right turn and walked around the corner of the building, melting into the darkness of the alleyway.

    "Are there any other interesting fights I should know about?" The two men inside begrudgingly moved on from their expectations regarding the Nightingale versus Talon match-up. Neither of them were spiritualists and rather seemed to make, or at least attempt to make, a living by instead gambling on spiritualist''s fights.

    "Not really; Limpkin is gonna be back, but the odds are too low with him for it to be really interesting."

    "Any newcomers?"

    The conversation dragged on for a while longer before they wrapped it up. After agreeing to meet an hour before the battles started, the two of them got up from their table and left. Outside of the tavern they parted ways, one heading south, the other north.

    Five minutes after they had departed, Raven''s figure emerged from the alleyway and calmly started making her way north. There were roughly 300 meters between her and her target but she didn''t need line of sight to track him and his dull-grey presence. After a while, the man stopped, looked around, to make sure he wasn''t followed, and ducked in between two rather rundown buildings. There was very little maneuver space in that passage, and most people would overlook it completely.

    Raven, still 300 meters behind him, smirked. That narrow passage would normally have made following someone tricky for any tracker whom wished to not be seen; no doubt the intention of whoever chose to base their operations at the other end of it. Unfortunately for them, the passage was too short so Raven had no problem listening in on their conversations without entering. Instead, she once more stepped to the side and hid in the shadows of a nearby crate.

    "Your membership medallion," said one of the people that greeted Raven''s target in the small hut located at the end of the passage. The voice belonged to a woman, a very voluptuous woman - if her manner of speaking was anything to go by. The man moved to pull something out of his pocket and the already alluring voice grew even more seductive; "Welcome to Combat Abyss'' betting service. How may I be of assistance tonight, sir?"

    "I''d like to place ten gold on Fiscal in his slaying, five on the rat in the bout and ten on Limpkin in all his fights."

    "Naturally, sir," a small pause, and then, "hmm . . . those are all low odds bets, sir. A rugged man like yourself surely wants to earn a bit more?" The woman practically purred as the spoke and leaned forward, most likely to accentuate a well-endowed bosom. "I so admire a man willing to take risks. . . ."

    "Ah, well . . . " the man swallowed and resisted for a moment but clearly the woman knew what she was doing for he quickly yielded; "of course I will - I''m not one who fears living on the edge! I''ll bet forty on the first newcomer who fights!"

    "Most impressive, sir," said the woman in well-faked awe, "that will be seventy five gold, sir."

    Raven couldn''t help but laugh silently. ''Her employers made wise choice in hiring this woman, she tipped the bets further in favor of the house with ease.''

    After placing his bets, the now rosy-cheeked man came back out from the passageway and Raven continued her quiet stalking him as the sun was slowly disappeared below the mountain range. Eventually, the man made the mistake of walking down a deserted street and, noticing that not a soul was out and about within a 400 meter radius, Raven made her move.

    Silent as the night, Raven picked up her pace and caught up to the man within the time it took for his heart to beat but once. Since the man was taller than her by a couple of decimeters, Raven kicked the back of his left knee to force him to the ground - she only used a fraction of her strength as the man was, after all, only a normal human; with her body strength alone she would have no problem snapping his leg in two if she used too much force. As the man sunk towards the ground, Raven used one hand to cover his mouth whilst pinning one of his arms arm behind his back with the other.

    She used no Divine Skills but she let her spirit essence flow out around her anyway. The man, who had initially intended to struggle, instantly froze and started to cold sweat; he might not sense the spirit essence, but the killing intent that was merged with it spoke to his most primal instincts.

    "Good boy," whispered Raven in his ear with a sweet voice. It sounded almost as if she was talking to a puppy, and the extreme contrast it made to the heavy blood lust in the air sent shivers down his spine. "I have a few questions I was wondering if you could help me answer. Do you think you can do that?" The man nodded frantically. "And no shouting; I''m not too fond of loud noises, and it would be a shame if I accidentally broke your neck in shock, right?" He nodded even more frantically.

    Raven lowered the hand that covered his mouth and lightly pinched down on the windpipe in his neck instead. "What is Combat Abyss?"

    The man seemed confounded by her question, but mustered up the strength to answer it nonetheless; "a ba . . .  battle arena run by the Mercenary''s and Assassin''s Guilds."

    ''An Assassin''s Guild that people know about?'' Raven was a bit surprised by this. Based on the other conversations and the mannerisms of the man in front of her, he did not hold a high position in neither normal society nor underworld; if he knew the guild existed then it was likely that most people were aware of it.

    "They organize fights every night at midnight," the man continued without needing extra urging, "ev . . . everyone knows this. . . ." There was an underling tone of doubt in his voice, but he squealed like a pig when Raven twisted his trapped hand into an unnatural position and stopped questioning her.

    "sch, sch..." she cooed, and slowly lessened the pressure on his wrist. "Go on. Can anyone attend these arranged battles?"

    "Anyone who shows up can pay a minor fee watch or fight - either a bout, or a slaying - but if you want to bet, you have to be a member. I . . . I can give you my membership medallion - it''s in my breast pocket - you can have it, if you want! It''s not linked to me so they won''t know. . . . Ple . . . please don''t ki . . . kill me. . . ." By now the man was sweating even more profusely.

    "Tell me about Fiscal and his opponent."

    "Fiscal of the Talon Clan? He is one of the top fifty fighters in the Abyss right now. Tonight he''s fighting a member of his own clan to the death, in a slaying."

    "His own clan?" Raven frowned.

    "Bill - that''s the other guy''s name - he used to be a Nightingale but rumor has it that ever since the Talon''s took over, Bill''s been resisting the shift of power. I don''t know why he agreed to a slaying with Fiscal though, Bill''s only a low Adept whereas Fiscal is a high Adept; Fiscal is going to slaughter him."

    Raven was silent for a while as she tried to recall anyone by the name of Bill in the Nightingale Clan, but, as one of the three strongest clans of the empire, it had consisted of nearly a thousand people. Raven hadn''t even met all the Nightingales that had lived in the prefecture capital. She had been fascinated by who seemingly effortless the Talons gained control over the Nightingale Prefecture; perhaps this Bill could give her some insights.

    The man in her clutches apparently took Raven''s silence as a sign of disapproval so he quickly added, "But Bill has it coming though. Who would deny his Lord Nightingale''s dying wish and refuse to accept the Talon''s just because Lady Anhinga is a woman?"

    Raven grew cold.

    "Lord Nightingales''s what?" the sweetness in her voice was gone without a trace and swirls of blood-lust infused spirit essence filled the air. At once, all living creatures in the area stilled; birds stopped singing, insects stopped moving and without knowing why or even realizing what they did, people indoors lowered their voices, opting to speak in hushed tones.

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    The man in her arms started shaking; "I . . . he . . . Lady Anhinga, she found a recording, in the ruins after the fire, where her dying brother begged . . . asked, the Lady to merge the Nightingale Clan with the Talon Clan and take care the prefecture!" Mid-through the man had started sobbing uncontrollably, "She didn''t want to at first but then she graciously . . . I''m sorry, please don''t. . . ."

    Even before he had the chance to finish his plea, the hand around his windpipe gleamed with a dark green light and contracted with unimaginable force. With an oddly undramatic *click*, the trachea and all the internal blood vessels between Raven''s fingers were crushed beyond recognition in an instant.

    As the man''s life force was slowly draining away, Raven lifted the weakly struggling man by his neck and turned him around. It was with sheer horror that this dying man''s eyes locked with hers; the red in her eyes had now spread to fill even their whites and the more the man stared, the more he felt like he could see countless souls drowning in that endless sea of blood.

    "My father made no such requests, that bitch lies!" As Raven spat out the last words, her spirit essence stirred once more and an invisible beam shot from her all-devouring eyes into the man''s. In the same instant, the struggles stopped; his soul had evaporated like smoke.

    Tossing the man to the ground, Raven stood still, panting, for a moment. Her hands opened and closed repeatedly as she slowly collected herself. Eventually she closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. Once she opened them again, the red color had retracted back into her iris and her breathing had stabilized.

    ''The Crocodile Grapple was more effective then I had imagined.'' Raven had utilized one of her new Divine Skills in action for the first time, and she was quite pleased with it. ''I''ve improved in the Ode of Woe as well. . . .''

    Raven looked down on the lifeless body on the ground and sighed; she hadn''t really intended to kill the guy. Now he laid there - his previously dark hair as white as snow, his malformed jugular slowly turning purple from internal bleeding and his face locked in everlasting terror. She bent down to collect his medallion but suddenly swore, halfway through the action.

    ''Damn. I forgot to ask him where the arena is located. . . .''

    With the medallion in her possession, Raven ignored the corpse she left behind and started walking away. As she considered her options, Raven got an idea she figured worth trying. Sensing that he was still close enough, Raven focused on the connection between her and Hoatzin; "Big Brother?"

    A sort pause and then, "Sister? What''s wrong?"

    "Have you heard of a place called Combat Abyss?" she asked back.

    "Of course I have! It''s a huge thing among the more fight crazy people in Sky City. We even visited it once during Battle Strategy Class with Academy; not that we were allowed to take part in the fighting, but it was considered a good experience to watch as well. Why do you ask?"

    Raven considered telling her brother what she had learnt, but she neither wanted to bring his hopes up for nothing or distract him from his current assignment so instead she said, "I heard some people talking about it and found it interesting. Is it true it''s partly run by an Assassin''s Guild?"

    "Haha, why am I not surprised that my dear little sister would find and arena of life or death battles interesting?" Hoatzin laughed. "And yes it is; both the mercenaries and the assassins use the Combat Abyss to help rank their members."

    "Isn''t a public assassins guild a bit . . . contradictory?"

    "Not at all. As I understand it, the Assassin Guild is allowed to exist exactly because it''s public. Supposedly, it functions sort of like a balancing chip between spiritualists and non-spiritualists; by only allowing the latter to hire them to ''take care'' of the former if they feel like they have been mistreated." As Hoatzin explained, Raven noticed his voice getting a bit strained; it didn''t seem like he approved of the set up. "The sums required are, however, very high and the imperial family is naturally off limits."

    Raven considered this for a while. It was an interesting solution to the problem of spiritualists acting too arrogantly towards the common folk; if a spiritualist was too unreasonable, they risked getting assassinated for it, even without it being by orders of the Emperor. Of course, considering how valuable and relatively scarce spiritualist were, the fees ought to by so outrageous that several people, if not hundreds, would have to work together to pay for it.

    "Am I right to assume that I will be on observation duty alone tonight?" asked Hoatzin even though he knew the answer.

    Raven smiled.

    ---------

    A few hours later, the setting sun had been replaced by a bright half-moon high in the sky and thousands of stars decorated the heavens like rivers of diamonds. Under such brilliance, Sky City did its best to mirror the view above by lighting several street lanterns along the roads on every Tier.

    Despite the late hour, the Business Tier was still bustling with activity, especially around the eastern peak, where a huge sign of flaming letters spelled out Combat Abyss above a man-made cave entrance which faced out over the city''s ground level below.

    The entrance itself was wide enough for 800 people to walk though it, side by side, and two gigantic sculptures in bronze stood on ether side of it. One was an eagle - whose lifelike gaze stared off at the horizon, daring the sun to rise - the other was a wolf - which instead bared its fangs as it snarled at the moon above.

    Currently, groups of people were making their way towards this cave, stopping here and there to buy food, beverages and other trinkets along they way. There where people of all ages here, even a few children, and every single one had faces filled with excitement. For many of them, watching these fights at the Combat Abyss was as close as they would ever get to a spiritualist battle.

    Suddenly, a large gong rang out from within and the crowd looked towards the cave entrance. Walking out of the cave, dressed in armor so revealing that it hardly could help protect their owners, came eight overwhelmingly beautiful women. In one hand they held a spear, in the other a shield.

    "Greetings," they spoke in uncanny unison, with voices smoother than honey, "midnight is upon us and the Abyss welcomes you all."

    With loud cheers, the crowd flowed into the cavern. Surprisingly enough, although many people stopped and stared, no one walked within five meters of either one of the armor clad ladies.

    One of those who paused for a moment to observe the eight women was a short figure wrapped in a black cloak. The well shrouded person snorted softly, muttering "brittle glass dolls. . . ." before continuing deeper into the cave.

    The expression on the man who had been standing next to this figure darkened. Enraged, he was just about to call out a reprimand for insulting the Combat Abyss''s own goddesses, when the figure stopped and turned towards him. The lower half of the figure''s face was hidden behind by black fabric and the upper was shielded by the hood of the cloak, but the man could still sense two eyes locking unto him, daring him to speak. He shivered and said nothing.

    After what felt like an aeon, the figure averted its gaze and moved on, disappearing into the crowd. Sighing a breath of relief, the man thought to himself, ''that was close; I almost insulted a contestant!'' He then frowned. ''Odd, I don''t remember any fighters who are that short. . . .''

 Chapter 42: Things You Live For

    With a vicious looking spear strapped to his back, Fiscal of the Talon Clan breathed in deeply as he stepped out into the enormous arena located at the heart of the eastern peak of Sky City. Smiling broadly he took in the sights and smells of one of his favorite places - the Combat Abyss. He had been coming here since he was ten, and had started fighting in bouts only a couple of years later - he had mostly lost at first, naturally, but over time Fiscal had grown stronger, and more vicious, resulting in victory after victory.

    By now the Abyss had almost become something like a second home for him; he knew every inch like the back of his hand and could describe every one of the nearly ten thousand shields that covered all the walls inside. He loved the Combat Abyss; here, his temperament was appreciated - here, he was someone.

    Of course, ever since the Talon Clan took over the Nightingale Prefecture he was someone out there as well.

    With large strides that caused the people around him to scurry out of his way, Fiscal walked over to the section restricted for one hundred highest ranked mercenary contestants and took a seat on the metal bench marked ''Top 40''. Looking around at the occupants of the other benches in this area, he counted roughly thirty contestants present - some sitting on the three benches in front of him, but most of them sitting on the six benches behind him.

    His smile widened with pride. It had taken him twenty years to get into the top forty on the Combat Abyss''s mercenary ranking and had only a year ago made the breakthrough - to high Spirit Adept - that made such an accomplishment possible. He was aware that this didn''t mean that he was even in the top hundred, or perhaps even top thousand, spiritualists of the nation as a whole - after all, most Spirit Champions preferred military employment over mercenary life - but he felt prideful about it anyway.

    As the sound level in the arena was growing increasingly intense, a movement in the opposing restricted area caught his attention.

    ''So the rumors are true,'' he thought with an odd look - halfway between awe and contempt - stuck on his face, ''Limpkin is back.''

    Taking hit seat at the very first row of the section for assassin contestants was a man who, apart form their similar age, contrasted Fiscals appearance in every way. While Fiscal was muscular, dark haired, and covered in metal armor, Limpkin seemed tawny, had grey-blue hair and wore nothing even remotely close to armor.

    Even their accomplishments were in stark contrast to each other, for whereas Fiscal had struggled for twenty years to make it to the top forty, Limpkin had only needed ten to break into the top ten, despite not yet having made the breakthrough to Spirit Champion. As such, Limpkin was one of the very few Adepts in Combat Abyss history who had managed to best low Champions in the assassin''s ranking.

    *DONG!*

    The Abyss''s bell rang out in the hall bringing immediate silence from the audience. The gate beneath the exclusive section opened up and the eight Abyss Angels walked out in two neat lines. Already drooling, Fiscal ignored those so called angels and stared at the open gate behind them.

    Moments later a true goddess walked out: her hair was like a golden veil that touched the ground behind her; her voluptuous but and elegant body was draped in a white dress so thin it bordered on transparent; her clear, copper rimmed, eyes shinned like embers in the torch light. Contrary to the cold expressions on the Angels, this woman smiled warmly. All the new visitors, whom had already been entranced by the eight Angels, nearly lost their minds at the sight of her.

    "Damn, that woman drives me crazy," groaned Fiscal and liked his lips. "One day, I''ll have my way with her . . ." Had not the two guilds running the Combat Abyss been any less protective of the nine ladies currently on stage, Fiscal would have forcefully tried to bed them long ago.

    "Spiritualists, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to the Abyss this night." the goddess spoke and several men, including Fiscal, started panting heavily with arousal. "We have twenty three registered battles tonight, which of, five are to be Slayings." The parts of the audience who had retained their wits cheered. "As always, anyone is welcome to make a challenge at any time and contestants above the rank of fifty may not refuse such a challenge."

    Fiscal smirked. ''What newcomer in their right mind would start of by challenging someone that highly ranked?'' This thought reminded him of his own battle tonight, causing him to turn his head around. With a smug smile, Fiscal''s eyes fell on a slightly older man sitting a few benches behind him.

    ''Bill, you obstinate fool,'' Fiscals smile grew malicious as their eyes met, ''had you accepted the Talons, like me, then perhaps you would still be stronger than me! Tonight I will pay you back for how you''ve treated me. . . .'' Fiscal was just opening his mouth when the Abyss''s goddess spoke again, snapping his attention back to the stage.

    "Remember that, in a bout, it is strictly forbidden to continue fighting once one party has forfeited." The woman waved her and, in perfect synchronization, the eight Angels spread out along the rim of the fighting stage. "A request has been made; tonight we will start with the Slayings. First up: Fiscal of the Talon Clan, mercenary rank 39, versus Bill of the Talon Clan, mercenary rank 68."

    For a moment Fiscal was surprised - Slayings were usually saved for last - but it quickly turned to vicious glee as he looked up at the exclusive area.

    ''The boss wants me to set an early example . . . ,'' he concluded, ''count me in!''

    As Fiscal and Bill made their way towards the stage, the thousands of people in the audience started discussing the upcoming match.

    "This is a no-brainer, this one..."

    "Bill''s only a borderline mid Adept, no way he''s gonna win."

    "Limpkin can defeat people of higher cultivation, perhaps Bill . . ."

    "Are you an idiot? How could you even compare them?"

    "I heard Bill''s the one who made the challenge though."

    Once the two fighters reached the middle of the stage, a huge steel cage was lowed down around them, sealing them within. This was done for every Slaying and indicated that one one would leave it alive.

    Fiscal unhooked the spear on his back and let his spirit essence surge through it so everyone could tell that he was indeed a high Adept. Sneering he glared at his opponent "Do you regret it now, Bill, resisting the Talons? We both know you won''t leave this place alive. If you at least admit your mistake, I will make your death a painless one."

    Bill''s face was growing red with rage. "You traitor! I don''t care what that witch says - I will never be a Talon!"

    Fiscal laughed mockingly. This was exactly the response he had been hoping for - a messy death was always more amusing. "You are calling me a traitor? How ironic."

    A slightly muffled bell rang out indicating the start of the match and with a roar Bill dashed towards Fiscal with his sword held high. Spirit essence swirled around the blade, instantly covering it in apple green flames caused the temperature in the hall to rise slightly.

    "Oh, that''s Bill''s signature move, the level four Divine Skill Blade of Borax! That''s a Prefecture Clan for you - even the normal members have fairly high level skills," exclaimed someone in the audience in awe, but Fiscal only snorted.

    He flexed his spear arm and deflected the incoming blade with ease and then using the blunt end of the spear to strike back at the head of the still advancing Bill. There was not a lot of force behind the strike, barely enough to disrupt Bill''s balance, but enough for Fiscal to easily step out of Bill''s path. Practically no one noticed the blackish green shimmer that had covered his stick on impact only to fade seconds later.

    "Impressive! He deflected a level four skill so easily! Can you tell what skill he used?" asked another in the audience, but he got no answers.

    "Haha, you wield a blade like a girl - all show and no action!" Fiscal laughed and thrust his hips forward repeatedly in an obscene gesture. The few women in the audience booed, but the sound was drowned out by cheering men, the eight Angels around the stage remained stone faced, but the goddess - now seated in the exclusive section - narrowed her eyes noticeably.

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    Bill grunted and attacked once more. What followed could be explained by nothing else then a cat playing with his food; Bill would continue to charge at Fiscal, utilizing the Blade of Borax, but every time, Fiscal deflected it before giving Bill a light smack with his spear, finally following up with insults on Bill''s manhood. By now'' the right side of Bill''s face had swelled immensely, his eyes were blood-shot and his breathing was growing ever more ragged.

    "It''s the level four Deflective Secret Spear!" The crowd finally realized what Divine Skill Fiscal was using to avoid the blows. "Unless Bill has a higher level skill, he won''t stand a chance. . . ."

    Eventually, Fiscal got bored of only using the blunt end of his weapon and switched to lashing out with the spear head instead. It didn''t take long before Bill''s body was covered in cuts, slowly seeping blood. Interestingly enough, Bill did not change his tactic, are he seemed to rush at Fiscal with almost frenzied anger.

    At this point, when Bill attacked for perhaps the hundredth time, Fiscal finally increased the amount of spirit essence he was deploying and instead of merely deflecting the blade, the entire sword was blasted out of Bill''s hand. Nonetheless, Bill kept going, and instead took a swing at Fiscal with his fist. Amused, Fiscal simply ducked under the arm and retaliated with a punch of his own.

    Spitting out a mouth-full of blood, Bill flew across the stage and slammed into the cage. Barely conscious, Bill slumped on the ground.

    Fiscal walked over and hoisted Bill up by the collar. "No, no, no," he said, "you are not allowed to faint now, old fool. Don''t you remember the drills you forced me though as a kind?" Fiscal slapped the already swollen face, "no rest until you fight like a man! Remember?"

    Another couple of slaps. The crowd grew silent; they could tell the match was about to come to an end and were excited to see who Fiscal would choose to end it.

    "Come on! Stop being such a woman!" With a bloody hand Fiscal slapped Bill yet again before whispering  in the latter''s ear "Is this the best a Nightingale-loving sissy can pull of?"

    Suddenly a shiver ran through his body and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Instinctively he looked up in fear but he almost snorted at his idiocy as he did it. Turning his focus back to the bloody lump of a human in his grasp, he was about to deliver his seventh slap when a clear and icy voice pierced the air.

    "I wonder, what gives you the right to insult me so?"

    Everyone immediately turned looked around for the person who had spoken, but due to the construction of the arena, determining where the sound had originated was not easy.

    "Who speaks?" yelled Fiscal. He had been quite pleased with his choice of final words to Bill, and now the moment had been ruined.

    "Who am I?" this time people were prepared and thousands of gazes fell on a short black figure graciously moving down one of the stairways towards the stage. "Let''s just say I''m a representative of the so called lesser sex."

    The entire body of this figure was covered by the hooded robe worn on top, but observing the flowing, almost feline, way the person moved, no one doubted that this short person was, indeed, a woman.

    "As such, Fiscal Talon, I challenge you, right now; let''s see if you are still so cocky after fighting a real woman!"

    Fiscal stared at the black figure, whom had come to a halt right outside of the circle made by the eight Abyss Angels, in utter disbelief. A woman wanted to fight him? Was this a joke? Noticing that the woman seemed to be staring at him intensely, Fiscal burst out laughing!

    "Haha, sure little girl, I''ll play around with you for a while! Just let me take care of this first." Fiscal fished out a dagger and was about to sink it into Bill''s throat when the melodious voice of the Abyss Goddess boomed out into the arena.

    "Stop! A challenge has been made by a newcomer. As per the rules of the Combat Abyss, ranked participants must accept such a challenge immediately. The Slaying will be put on hold until after the challenge has been answered."

    "What!?" Fiscal was noticeably shocked. What the Goddess said not exactly false but interpreting the rule as that it would lead to postponing an ongoing fight was unheard of. Then again, so was challenging someone while they were already fighting.

    "Newcomer," the Goddess ignored Fiscal''s outburst, "in accordance with the rules, you are welcome up on stage to fight partake in a bout against the man you''ve challenged. Likewise, it will only be a bout, if either of you call for a forfeit the fight will be over."

    The black figure curtsied deeply as the huge cage creaked and was slowly raised back up to hang above the stage. Two of the Abyss Angels moved forward to collect the now completely unconscious Bill from Fiscal, who tossed the former to ground grudgingly. All this was getting on his nerves.

    "Little girl," he neglected to retrieve the spear from the ground and instead tossed his dagger from one hand to the other, "you should know better to interrupt a man when he is fighting. You need a spanking!" He wasn''t the only man laughing at that. "But if you beg and plead, we can move this rumble to another arena." Fiscal smiled wolfishly at the covered girl; although it was impossible to say much about the body beneath, her movements were enticing enough to have him interested.

    There was a few heartbeats of silence, and for a moment Fiscal thought the girl was actually considering it - the girl was even shaking in fear - but suddenly an icy cold giggle bubbled out from under the fabrics covering the girl''s face. Slapping her knees, the short woman eventually bent over herself, laughing. Although the laughter was filled with much amusement, most who heard it felt cold to the core.

    "What''s so funny?" asked Fiscal angrily just as the muffled bell rang out to indicate the start of the bout.

    The girl stilled and straightened up and Fiscal could have sworn he saw a flash of red under her hood.

    "Why, it''s you, silly," she said and disappeared.

    Acting on reflex, Fiscal turned just in time to use his small dager to intercept the black short sword aiming for his throat from behind.

    "Bitch! How dare you sneak attack me?" He used his other hand to swing at the girl but she was long gone before his fist even came close.

    "To say that you have the aim of a girl," the girl now stood over by his discarded spear, "would be an insult to my own sex."

    "Why you little wench!" A large vein was burgling on Fiscal''s forehead; the girl''s comment had clearly his a sore spot. He started running towards her but she ignored his approach and instead bent down to pick up his spear, paying extra attention to the dull end.

    "So it was poison," her comment was said absentmindedly but inside, Fiscal turned cold; he had been given that poison by his boss, it should be nearly undetectable.

    Fiscal hadn''t been the only one who heard the girl and suddenly the entire arena was buzzing with conversation.

    "Fiscal used poison?"

    "I thought Bill was acting a bit weird, attacking like crazy. . . ."

    Fiscal felt his vein bulge even more; although poison wasn''t forbidden in the Combat Abyss it was generally frowned upon. This little girl''s revelation would ruin his reputation for years!

    "Girl, don''t think that just because I was surprised a moment ago, that I can''t crush your neck in a heartbeat." Fiscal pumped his spirit essence out into his hands, causing swirls of wind to start surging around them. Every spiritualist present could feel that he was indeed a high Adept.

    "That''s another level for skill," muttered some in the audience.

    "The girl is a goner. . . ." muttered others.

    To everyone''s surprise the girl showed no reactions to his display of power. Instead, she calmly weighed the spear in her had, feeling the balance of the weapon.

    "Do you want to know what I live for?" she suddenly asked.

    Fiscal blinked; he had not expected such a question and he couldn''t help but loose some of the focus on his anger.

    "Well do you?" the girl asked again.

    "To become the woman of a strong man?" he suggested mockingly but a shiver down his spine stopped him from laughing.

    "I live to rid the world of people like you," whispered the girl as oddly murderous spirit essence flowed to her limbs.

 Chapter 43: Saving a Madman

    Saving a Madman

    The moment the malicious whisper left the woman''s mouth and her spirit essence was activated the spiritualists in the arena dropped their jaws.

    "She''s almost a high Adept too!" they gasped with as much shock as Fiscal was feeling as he stared at his suddenly murderous opponent.

    Since the spiritualists cultivation level wasn''t as important for healing spiritualists, few females stepped into the Champion realm before the age of fifty but the voice of the hooded woman carried no such age. That alone indicated that the woman was a pure martial spiritualist.

    With Fiscal''s vicious looking spear in one hand and her own black short sword in the other, the girl leaned forward, sinking slightly towards the ground and Fiscal would have sworn that he could smell the metallic sent of blood filling the air.

    "Try to keep up," she hissed as she pounced like a cheetah at Fiscal, who was still startled by his opponents strength and ferocity.

    However, Fiscal could be considered an Combat Abyss veteran, so he quickly gathered himself from the surprise and swung at the approaching blur with his already prepared Divine Skill. Unfortunately for him, his target had already shifted out of his fist''s path and before Fiscal had even registered that this had occurred, a brief stabbing pain ran through his throat. His eyes narrowed in confusion as all sensations of Fiscal''s lower body disappeared from him. In his final moments of muddled thinking he couldn''t understand why his nose seemed to have been exchanged with a spearhead.

    ---------

    The Combat Abyss might as well have been deserted; so silent were the thousands of people who sat there as they stared at the stage. Raven landed softly on her feet and nearly ten meters away, Fiscal''s headless body still stood upright, whilst his severed head had been pinned to the arena floor - by his own spear - a few feet further away.

    With a flick of her wrist, the blood on her black blade was flung of in a thin line before the sword disappeared under her robes.

    Indifferently, Raven curtsied toward the so called Abyss Goddess and turned to walk back onto the stands. It wasn''t until she stepped past the row of armored girls that Fiscal''s body collapsed to the ground and the arena exploded in shocked outbursts.

    "What happened!?"

    "One minute they are talking about something and the next Fiscal''s . . . Fiscal''s been killed!"

    "But I thought Fiscal had the higher cultivation?"

    Everything had progressed too quickly; those who were not spiritualists hadn''t stood a chance at seeing what happened and those who were spiritualists still couldn''t believe what they had seen. As a result, both areas reserved for contestants - as well as the exclusive stands - were still oddly quiet, but eventually the golden haired woman woke from her stupor.

    "Wait," she called, and gracefully stepped forward. "Newcomer, congratulations! You have won your first challenge." Across the fighting stage, Raven stopped at the very bottom of the steps and turned around. "Since your opponent was the 39th ranked mercenary you may take his place as 39th in the mercenary ranking or instead take the 50th place in the assassin ranking. Which do you prefer?"

    "I strike to kill," answered Raven.

    "Assassin it is then." With a graceful movement the woman tossed a small token across the stage, which Raven caught with ease. "What shall we call you, newcomer?"

    Raven considered it for a moment; "Singer."

    "Very well. Welcome, Singer. If you want to make any further challenges tonight, just let us know."

    Raven curtsied yet again and walked away. Behind her, the Goddess stared at Raven''s departing back for a moment longer before she asked a few attendants to clear the stage and announced the next battle. Since Bill''s opponent had perished, his yet unconscious body was carried off the stage. Raven breathed a sigh of relief when she felt him being lowered down on a cot right beyond the gate located below the exclusive section.

    As Raven made her way towards the assassin''s area she reflected over her "performance". She had initially been taken by surprise when the unnaturally beautiful woman - referred to as simply the Abyss''s Goddess by the people here - had announced a change in the battle line-up. On Raven''s way to the Combat Abyss she had learnt the normal schedule and made her plans thereafter. The change made her original plans useless and Raven had felt a bit at a loss when Fiscal and Bill started their fight. How was she to save the man now? It wasn''t like she could publicly announce that she wanted to save Bill. . . .

    Fortunately, Fiscal, just like most grown men Raven had come across as of late, had a blatant disregard for females. Noticing that even the so called Goddess - who surprisingly enough had a really strong cultivation - seemed to disapprove of Fiscal''s continued degrading comments, Raven finally couldn''t wait any longer and decided to go out on a limb, only hoping that it would work.

    Stealthily removing her Limiters and pulling them into her spacial ring, Raven had issued her challenge and, as Raven had hoped, the  Goddess had jumped at the opportunity to punish Fiscal a bit - even though Raven had her doubts about whether the woman actually believed Raven had a chance of winning, disrupting Fiscal''s gloating had obviously been enough.

    The actual battle had then turned out even better than Raven had desired; Fiscal had been her strongest opponent yet and her victory had not been a hundred percent assured but, in the end, it had been easily obtained regardless. Pleased with her achievement, Raven took a seat on the fifth bench in the assassin''s section. Many heads turned her way and she could hear a variety of whispers about her. One conversation caused her to smile secretly underneath her scarf.

    "How many did you count?" asked an elderly man seated next to Limpkin on the first row of assassin contestants. His voice was flat with disbelief.

    "Four," answered Limpkin in an equally disbelieving tone. "Three level three and one level four."

    "I got four as well," agreed the older man; "quite extraordinary."

    ''It wasn''t four, it was five, if I may," smirked Raven. The men were, indeed, discussing Raven''s quite unique deploy of Divine Skills. The pair had quite astutely noticed that Raven used a variety of skills that were seamlessly merged into one - only they misjudged how many.

    Usually, spiritualists would perhaps combine two Divine Skills - one for movement and one for attack - but over that last week, Raven had made successful imprints with 113 Divine Skills whose physical movements were almost identical with martial arts techniques she had learned in her previous life. With only some alterations in her fighting style, Raven could now infuse practically every thrust, step and stab with powerful spirit essence. As she had made her way through the perhaps a third of the first floor, Raven had noticed that she seemed to have the highest affinity for skills that focused on boosting speed and strength while sometimes utilizing thunder and wind.

    Moments ago, she had used a wind-based movement skill to advance, a pure power-based skill to jump from below, followed by her Silent Pierce of the Sonic Sword to sever Fiscal''s neck, a second wind-based movement skill to turn around mid-air and finally a thunder-based attack to thrust the head-donned spear into the ground.

    ---------

    Raven watched the rest of the matches with varied enthusiasm; most of the battles were quite unimpressive, and even though the few Champion realm battles were undoubtedly very spectacular, the practitioners lacked the technical finesse required to spike Raven''s interest. Limpkin''s three matches did, however, catch her attention. In all his matches, be it the two bouts or the single slaying, Limpkin executed his skills with impressive clearness. The fighter spirit within her itched to challenge him, and had it not been for the fact that she couldn''t risk injuries tonight, she would have done so long ago.

    ''Once I''ve heard what Bill has to say, I''ll return,'' she thought as he small hands clenched down around the metal seat she was sitting on, ''I really want to test my new Divine Skills against that man!''

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    After nearly three and a half hours of fighting, this night''s Combat Abyss came to an end and the thousands of people in the crowds made their way out of the arena. Raven had hung back a bit to see what would happen with Bill, but clearly the Abyss felt no responsibility for its wounded combatants; the still unconscious Bill was simply hoisted away from the arena, carried out of the cave and dumped under a nearby tree.

    Raven stood in the cave opening, hesitating to approach the man - as far as she could tell, at least four people were silently observing her at the moment, but Raven could also sense that something was growing increasingly wrong with Bill. If she let him lie there while she got rid of the watchful eyes, it might be too late by the time she returned.

    With an overly dramatic sigh, Raven walked over to the unconscious man. "Oy," she said and poked Bill''s ribs with the tip of her toes, "you still alive?"

    No response, except for his raspy breathing.

    She bent down and checked his breathing before she grunted and scratched her forehead. "Well, not much point in intervening once if I don''t intervene now." Her voice was not much more than an whisper intended for her ears only, but she had no doubt the people observing her could hear it.

    With yet another grunt, it was Raven''s turn to hoist Bill over her shoulders. As his body-weight settled, she walked off towards the center of the Business Tier. An hour later, Raven''s dark figure walked through the doors of the small house her mercenary uncles had hired on the outskirts of Sky City, ground level.

    ---------

    In a poorly lit room two shriveled up old men were discussing with each other, frowning deeply.

    "So this Singer girl interrupted the fight? Do you think she wanted to save Bill?" asked one, with a voice so hoarse that his vocal cords must be even more shriveled up than their faces.

    "No, I don''t think so, " answered the other, "Fiscal kept badmouthing Bill, saying he was no better than a woman and so on. Apparently the woman snapped. She didn''t seem to care about Bill at all."

    "But she carried him away afterwards?"

    "According to the report, she did it mostly on a whim. She didn''t seem to know who he was."

    A knock on his door interrupted their  discussion. "Enter," called the man with the ruined voice. The door opened and a scrawny youth draped in black stepped into the room. Actually, calling him a youth was a bit of a stretch - he was at least forty, but compared to the other two, he was indeed a youth.

    "Greetings Councilor Talon," the younger man bowed respectfully towards the man who had called out before bowing to the second one as well; "Clan Elder."

    "So, who is she?" asked the Clan Elder.

    "Well . . ." the youngster hesitated, "we followed the woman for nearly half an hour but . . ."

    "Oh, for crying out loud, spit it out boy! What happened?" commanded the hoarse Councilor.

    ". . . we lost her, sirs," said the youth and looked down embarrassingly.

    The two old men stared at their junior with disbelief. Noticing this, the man hastily continued; "the . . . the girl suddenly started singing, and before we knew it she was nowhere to be found!"

    "Are you telling me that two Champions lost a mid Adept because she started singing!?" roared the Clan Elder, "Get lost you, useless piece of shit!"

    The man didn''t hesitate to do as he was told and within a heartbeat only the two shriveled up men remained in the room.

    "Such an embarrassment. . . ." muttered the Clan Elder before turning to his companion, "what now?"

    "What now?" repeated the Councilor, "there is nothing to be concerned about; Bill will die or grow insane by the poison and whoever this girl is, she is of no concern to us."

    "Of no concern? She had brought shame on the Talon name!"

    The councilor laughed - although it sounded more like a cough. "She followed the rules of the Abyss. There is nothing we can do." He then smiled viciously. "But she''s in the top fifty now, if she returns to the Combat Abyss, she too will have to follow the rules."

    A flash of realization crossed the Clan Elder''s face before he too started laughing smugly.

    ---------

    Back down, on the ground level of Sky City, Raven was observing the still practically unconscious Bill, who was sprawled out on the living room floor. On the way here, Raven had been force to stop on several occasions to administer some first aid healing with the Blessed Hand just to keep him breathing.

    By now, his breathing was a bit steadier and he had even started to regain his senses. Suddenly, Bill moaned and his eyes fluttered. Slowly they opened, but the moment his gaze fell on Raven, who was leaning against a wall not too far away, Bill shouted in anger and struggled to throw himself towards her.

    Easily stepping out of his way, Raven slapped him lightly on the only part of Bill''s face that was passably human. The sudden pain brought a brief moment of clarity to his eyes, but it quickly faded and that primal rage returned.

    ''I was afraid of this...'', thought Raven dejectedly. Although she had not been certain about what poison Fiscal had used, she had her suspicions, and any of those which effects lasted even after five hours were not good news.

    Grappling Bill''s hands behind his back, Raven forced some of her spirit essence into his body. Bill tried to resist but in his state of mind, he could do little against her intrusion. As her spirit essence approached Bill''d soul prism, his body shivered and stilled; he almost started whimpering, like a small animal.

    Despite her concentration, Raven couldn''t help but smirk slightly. The killing intent that had fused with her spirit essence had proven more useful than she had anticipated.

    Returning her attention to the matter at hand, Raven carefully inspected Bill''s soul prism. Small, worm-like lines squiggled around just below the prism''s surface, slowly expanding. After letting more of her own spirit essence converge around the soul prism, Raven made an attempt to force her way in, but no matter how hard she pushed, Bill''s prism wouldn''t let her in.

    ''Fenris made it seem so simple . . . ,'' sighed Raven. Her soul might be strong but without overwhelming cultivation or the person''s imminent death, Raven had no way of entering another''s soul prism. ''But if I don''t get in, I won''t be able to fight the poison! In a few more hours the poison will have completely corrupted his soul from within . . . .''

    Sighing, Raven was about to give up when an idea struck her. "It''s crazy . . . ," she mumbled, "but if I do nothing, he will be lost nonetheless." Turning Bill''s body around under her, so that he faced her, Raven used her free hand to force him to meet her gaze. As their eyes interlocked, a formless beam shot from Raven into Bill, causing his feral eyes to widen in absolute terror.

    As the Ode of Woe forced it''s way into Bill''s mind, the cumulative pressure of Raven''s sea green soul surged over his spirit prism, coercing it to link with the over 350 blood-lust infested spirit connections Raven had with the world. At first, Bill''s spirit essence tried to protect him, but as the pressure grew, small cracks started to appear on the surface of the prism. Noticing the change, Raven quickly withdrew her attack and instead used the cracks to penetrate the crystal surface.

    Once inside, Raven wrapped the black lines of poison in her own spirit essence and started pulling them out of the soul prism. The process was slow and every time she managed to get one bit of poison out some of her own spirit essence was drained. Slowly, sweat started gathering on her forehead. Another four hours later, Raven finally withdrew from Bill''s prism and slumped, exhausted, on the floor.

    She glanced at the middle aged man who was resting, rather peacefully, on the living room floor- or, perhaps, not so peacefully after all, every now and then his body would shudder as his face contorted in fear.

    Bill''s life was no longer in danger, but how much of his sanity would remain once he woke up . . . only time could tell.

    Outside, the sun had already risen; two hours from now, the morning classes would start for the day.

 Chapter 44: The Soul Stirs

    Author''s note: I made a little addition to the previous chapter (inspired by some entertaining comments). It dosen''t really affect the story so you can continue reading without a care but if you want some more fluff to the story, check it out. If you read chapter 43 after the 2/2/2016, then nevermind ;)

    <hr />

    The Soul Stirs

    Leaving the deeply sleeping Bill to be watched over by her brother, a thoroughly exhausted Raven presented herself for the Battle Strategy morning class, as if nothing had happened the night before. It wasn''t so much the lack of sleep, but rather the utter depletion of her spirit essence that had brought her to this dreary state - though she hid it well. She would need some quiet meditation to get her vigor back, and had it not been for the severe punishments carried out against students who skipped class, Raven would instead have headed straight for her dorm room.

    Completely ignoring the stares of her classmates, Raven walked to the very back of the room and sank down behind one of the vacant desks. She looked around the classroom with a bored expression before closing her eyes indifferently. This was the first time since entering Sky Academy that a lesson was held in a furnished room - raising much curiosity among the other students - but Raven couldn''t care less at the moment.

    As it was, the grumpy Elder Stork, who had held the first history lessons and shown Raven to the Divine Library, walked in moments later and started his lecture. Apparently today''s subject was a first introduction to military strategy and warfare - the students were expected to pay extreme attention and take notes. Raven did neither.

    "Junior Student Night," Elder Stork suddenly barked, "since you are not taking any notes I assume you are already an expert on the subject of strategic warfare!"

    Raven opened her eyes and stared at the man. She was not in the mood for this.

    "As such, I''m sure you can enlighten the class and tell us if there is anything more crucial to the outcome of a war than the armies'' size?" The elder had a small snicker on his face; he was annoyed by Raven''s rocket launch entry into the Academy and had been looking for a way to push this student down a notch. Considering Raven''s . . . meager background, military strategics shouldn''t be a strong point.

    Raven closed her eyes again, but just as Elder Stork was about to yell at her for insubordination, she opened her mouth instead.

    "Whilst it is true that most armies tend to focus strongly on increasing their numbers, due to over-all power this provides, it is equally true that no war is won by numbers alone. It cannot be denied that, under the right circumstances, an army of 500 could defeat one of 5 000. Therefore, the most important aspect of any warfare strategy is it''s ability to know, and understand, your enemies."

    She opened her blood-red eyes and drilled them into the Elder''s at the last word, causing him to swallow nervously before laughing off Raven''s insights as "having done her homework in advance". Raven closed her eyes again and the lesson continued as if the exchange never happened. The elder didn''t bother her again.

    By noon, Raven was once more on the first floor of the Divine Library, sifting through various scrolls. She still felt a bit tired, but it was no longer at the point where she felt an immanent collapse skulking around the corner. Just as Raven unrolled yet another scroll to scan its content, she lifted her head and frowned slightly. At that moment, Dunlin''s familiar presence had passed through the library doors, accompanied by Jack Tanuki and the presence which Raven had come to know belonged to the prefecture heir Auk Wren.

    Shifting her body slightly, Raven moved out of their line of sight but it would seem someone had told them where she was because they ignored the stairway that lead to the upper levels and instead headed straight towards the back of the first floor. For a moment Raven considered escaping by climbing over the shelves - if she timed it right, she would be able to leave without them ever even laying eyes on her.

    ''I don''t know what''s the bigger hassle here, avoiding them or talking to them. . . .'' In the end she decided to stay.

    "Well, well, well. If it isn''t the slave boy! Digging through the garbage, are we?" snickered Jack.

    "Me?" asked Raven with eyes of pure innocence. "I thought that was more of a tanuki thing, young master Raccoon."

    The irony in his remark had been too obvious for Raven not to take advantage of, but she almost regretted it even before all the words were out of her mouth. As Auk Wren couldn''t resist letting out a muffled laugh, Jack''s face turned black with anger in an instant. Dunlin glared harshly at Auk before stepping between Raven and a now seething Jack Tanuki; they were after all not completely alone here and making a mess would be troublesome.

    "What point is it to have a quick tongue if you can''t back it up?" snorted her cousin.

    ''Better a snake of mine, then a troll of yours,'' thought Raven, but this time she held kept it to herself.

    "I dare you to be witty again and I''ll pummel you for it," continued Dunlin as he took a threatening step forward. "Your little twin friends aren''t here to save you this time, slave boy," he hissed.

    "Are you sure about that?"

    Two nearly identical voices suddenly spoke up behind the Dunlin trio; Javelin and the Griffin twins had arrived and from what Raven could tell, they had been running to get here. Especially Javelin had a faint string of moist drops donning his forehead.

    Dunlin swore under his breath, but backed away a few steps from Raven. "Soldier boy to the rescue once again," he muttered disdainfully without looking away from her. "Perhaps we should start calling you slave girl instead! It seems more fitting as you''re doing such a good job at being a damsel in distress."

    Raven showed no reaction to Dunlin''s comment but Javelin shuddered slightly, as if he had suddenly realized something. Now it was his turn to have his face change color - but to pink rather then black. Just as Javelin was about to reject the statement, Martin started laughing.

    "Haha, Night, that''s not such a bad thing to be called by a Talon. I heard one of the Talon clansmen got utterly massacred by a mere girl at Combat Abyss yesterday. She was practically a midget too. Apparently, calling their opponent a girl is something a Talon does before defeat." Martin winked at Raven who answered with a rare smile.

    Dunlin''s eyes narrowed in vicious anger for a splitt second before he tried to hide it by shrugging nonchalantly."The man was practically only a guard, besides, he wasn''t even a real Talon. A spiritualists early years are the most important and he started as a Nightingale. . . ."

    Raven''s fists turned white as she pressed down on the scroll she was still holding and her mouth filled with the metal tang of blood. ''Patience . . . ,'' she repeated like a mantra in her mind, as she once again found herself forced to push back the impulse to end her cousin''s hateful life.

    But Raven wasn''t the only one infuriated by Dunlin''s comments. Without a warning, Javelin suddenly took a swing at Dunlin with full force. As his arm moved toward its target the distinct sound of gashing water filled the first floor accompanied by a light sea breeze in the air. The attack was truly profound and held great potential to do serious damage, but unfortunately, it would seem like Dunlin had expected this all along. He took a step to the side while Jack made a low kick towards Javelin''s feet with lightning speed.

    Javelin was a fairly skilled fighter for his age and under normal circumstances he would have no problem with both hitting Dunlin and parrying Jack''s advances, but as it was, Javelin had let himself get blinded by his emotion so his reactions were a bit slow. In the last minute he narrowly dodged the approaching leg but lost his balance instead, causing him to slam into Raven who had been standing on the opposite side of Dunlin. Since Raven had sealed her strength with her Limiters, and also was concentrating on not starting a killing spree, the sudden impact was enough for her to loose her balance and tumble backwards together with Javelin.

    The two of them hit the stone floor with a loud bang and the scroll Raven had been holding clicked into the floor next to them and rolled away. Impressively enough, Javelin had managed to get his arm around Raven, efficiently protecting her head from hitting the ground. His other arm suspended him only inches above Raven''s face.

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    Their eyes met and in that moment something extraordinary happened. Their rage evaporated like due in the morning sun, and the world around them seemed to fade away. For Raven, there was only the boundless depths of Javelin''s wondrous eyes. She felt them enveloping her in a galaxy ment solely for her, as if she had finally found her place. Her soul quivered and all the pain and horrors in her two lifetimes suddenly seemed so far away, so . . . insignificant.

    For Javelin, the cold red light of Raven''s eyes mesmerized him. He wouldn''t look away, he couldn''t, not for anything. The more he stared, the more he wondered how he ever could have considered these red eyes as cold. They were not cold, they were an inferno; burning with more passion than he had ever experienced. Suddenly the red in them flashed, and for a split second he could have sworn that Raven''s eyes shifted color to a luscious green - a green so familiar and full of life that he couldn''t help but shiver.

    Instinctively, Javelin lowered himself closer to Raven, who made no attempts of stopping him. It wasn''t until their noses touched that the sudden jolt of sensation snapped them back into the real world. Red as a lobster, Javelin jumped up from the floor and took a few steps back, scratching the back of his head nervously. Raven remained still on the floor for a few more seconds while she collected herself. Surprisingly enough, her heartbeat was calm and steady - she felt more at peace with herself than she had in ages.

    However, not so surprisingly, it didn''t take long before the silence in the room was broken by three people''s hysterical laughter; "haha, who would have guessed? The admiral son is a pansy! The army will tare him apart!" Jake served the first stab, quickly followed by Dunlin; "perhaps the slave boy actually wants to be a slave girl, how pathetic!" Auk said nothing but laughed wholeheartedly with the other two.

    Two people who weren''t laughing was Martin and Lark. "Hey!" shouted Martin with a glance towards his brother, "People can love whomever they want!" He then looked at Javelin''s now paling face and quickly added, "not that Javelin is in love with Ra . . . I mean, with Night! They were just . . . surprised, that''s all!"

    "Yeah, yeah," dismissed Dunlin, "say whatever you want to justify being friends with a pair of poofters." As if the four youths were no longer of any concern to them, Dunlin and his gang turned around and started walking away, still laughing uncontrollably.

    "No wonder the little slave stays on the first floor, I bet he checks out the boys as they climb the stairs to the next floor, drooling all over the place," suggested Jack mockingly.

    "Naw, I just don''t think his poofter brain is good enough to be able to learn the more complicated Divine Skills," countered Dunlin as Auk continued laughing, "I bet he''ll spend his entire ten years here on the same four skills."

    "If he stays that long," ended Jack and all three laughed even harder.

    Behind them Raven looked at her dispirited friends and sighed. Javelin looked like he''d seen a ghost, Martin had a worried frown on his face as he looked from Raven and Javelin to his brother, who in turn almost seemed so very frail all of a sudden. ''This won''t do,'' she thought and decided to call out to the departing trio.

    "Oy," she called as she pulled out one of the few scrolls that shined with a truly dark blue luster in Raven''s eyes. She tossed the scroll towards Dunlin even before the latter had turned around. Nonetheless, he caught it with ease.

    "What do you want with this?" he asked distastefully.

    "It is a challenge," replied Raven calmly. "I assume you have at least a spare slot left, in case a truly amazing skill would come your way. This is a simple level three skill, surely you can master it in a jiffy. . . . "

    "Of course I can," Dunlin spat before Raven had a chance to finish, "so what?"

    "You may pick any skill on this floor for me to learn, and then we''ll see who masters their skill first," continued Raven, unfazed by his interruption. "What do you say? Are you man enough for the challenge?"

    Dunlin snorted, "this is rediculous! Why would I bother with such a silly thing?"

    "If you don''t dare, just say so."

    "Who said I don''t dare!" Dunlin practically shouted back. "Fine! Then you learn this one!" He stormed over to the closest shelf with level three skills on it and pulled one at random.

    Raven tilted her head to the side, "sorry, I''ve already learnt that one."

    Dunlin clicked his tung angrily and pulled out another scroll, "this one then!"

    "Nope, I know that one too."

    Dunlin narrowed his eyes but pulled out a third scroll, however, Raven just shook her head at it.

    "Bullshit!" bellowed Dunlin, "You''ve only been here for a week, how could you possibly have mastered three Skills already?"

    "I already knew them when I arrived," lied Raven with a meek shoulder shrug.

    "Are you trying too fool me, slave? Where would you get your hands on three level three Divine Skills?"

    "I was raised by mercenaries," answered Raven patiently, as if it explained everything. "I can demonstrate them for you if you want. . . ."

    Dunlin was about to call her bluff when a small murmur broke out in the room. All the commotion had drawn quite the crowd by now and they were eagerly commenting on the unfolding events. Not wishing to make a fool out of himself if, by chance, Raven was actually telling the truth, Dunlin chose to grit his teeth and instead asked sarcastically, "well, where can I find skills you haven''t learnt then, little genius?"

    Raven pointed to one of the shelves she hadn''t looked through yet. With a grunt, Dunlin walked over and pulled a forth skill that he tossed to Raven without waiting for an okay. In Raven''s eyes the scroll she caught shined with a bright green hue. She unrolled it and almost smiled when she saw the skill described inside; Dunlin couldn''t have picked a more perfect match for her. It was thunder based attack whose physical movements were stunningly close to what Raven had learnt during medieval fencing lessons - yes, medieval; she had been in a odd period in her life at the moment.

    She pulled out her identification stone and unlocked the scroll, holding up the 2/4 text for everyone to see. Many gasped when they realized that this was only the second skill she had unlocked for imprint so far. Everybody already knew, through gossip, that she had picked the Spacial Dash on the second floor, and then spent the rest of her time sifting through scrolls on the first floor. They had all assumed that she would have imprinted with at least a few of them by now.

    To the side, the still pale faced Javelin furrowed his brows slightly in confusion. A few days ago, he had felt the sudden urge to see how Raven was doing and had sneaked up on her while she was reading in the library. While he observed her, he had clearly seen her imprinting with two different skills. He thought it reckless at the time and almost stopped her from wasting her slots on such low level skills. Little did he know, that Raven had noticed his presence and was instead being restrictive with her imprints that day.

    Dunlin, on the other hand, smirked as he too unrolled his skill. In his mind, the fact that Raven was only now imprinting with her second skill at the academy ment that she had most likely lied about the other skills and was only hoping to impress the crowds. Without even reading the description, Dunlin unlocked the imprint on his scroll with his own identification stone. Contrary to Raven''s, Dunlin''s stone warned him that he had now filled all four of his slots.

    "Let''s make our imprints at the same time," said Dunlin still smirking, "and if I haven''t mastered this skill within a month I will declare it your win!" His words echoed through the hall and many of the students drew in surprised gasps. Mastering a Divine Skill in one month would, even if it had been a level two skill, be quite an accomplishment.

    "That''s a true Advanced Student for you!" called someone.

    "So confident!" exclaimed someone else.

    Raven looked at her cousin calmly. "And if I learn my skill before you . . . ," her question trailed off.

    "Ha! Then I''ll stop calling you a slave, slave," answered Dunlin with a snort, "in fact, I''ll even start calling you senior Night! How about that?"

    A brief flash of mocking triumph crossed Raven''s face before it was replaced by a cold smile.

    "Sounds good enough for me," she said.

 Chapter 45: Merciless

    Merciless

    Dunlin and Raven glared at each other one more time before both of them closed their eyes and their scrolls lit up slightly for everyone to see. Raven''s cold smile widened as the imprint for her new Divine Skill, called Thunder Lock, filled her soul with divine instructions.

    The imprint process only took a second for her and when she opened her eyes again she was looking at a now pale Dunlin, who still stood before her with his eyes closed.

    ''That''s what you get for not reading what kind of skill I handed to you before agreeing,'' snickered Raven secretly as she thought back on the skill she had picked for her cousin.

    She had imprinted with it herself only yesterday and although it wasn''t a very powerful skill - the spirit essence implementation part was fairly straightforward and, on the surface, the skill seemed very simple - but, the physical aspect of the skill was almost identical to one of the most hard learned martial techniques ever created in her old world. Then, it had taken Raven - an already elite martial artist - nearly five years to master just this one move; if Dunlin mastered it before he graduated, Raven would very be impressed already.

    A few breaths later, Dunlin opened his eyes and looked down on the scroll in his hand bitterly. "Fuck! What''s with this skill . . . ," he swore so quietly only Raven heard it. She would have thought that this skill was famous at the Academy for how impossible it was to learn, but it would seem like at least Dunlin hadn''t known of it.

    "So," started Raven nonchalantly, "just to make sure we''re in agreement: one month from now, you will have mastered the Frozen Onslaught, proving you''re the better spiritualist," Auk Wren visibly twitched at the skill''s name, however Raven continued as if she hadn''t noticed it; "but, if I master the Thunder Lock before that, you will start calling me Senior Night. Right?"

    Dunlin''s already pale face paled a bit more. He might not have heard of the Frozen Onslaught before, but from the imprint itself he could tell that it was a very profound skill; to master it within a month would likely be hard for him. Then again, her was still convinced that he would fare better than the slave. After a pensive moment, his eyes lit up as he was struck with an idea.

    "Haha, sure!" he started, readily, but then paused for a moment. "I feel like I''m being a bit unfair to you," his face was benevolent to the extreme, "you are after all only a first grader. . . . How about this, if you can gain the same degree of understanding for your Divine Skill as I do of mine, by the time of the Lunar Trials, I will consider it your win."

    Raven smirked inwardly; the term''s first Lunar Trial was in 42 days, efficiently giving Dunlin another twelve days to gain some insights to the Frozen Onslaught and generating an air of generosity for him at the same time. ''Not that it will do him any good. . . .'' she mused as she shrugged at Dunlin''s suggestion.

    "On the other hand," said Dunlin when he saw her silent acknowledgement, "it also isn''t fair that you''re the only one who stands to gain something out of this. . . ." Once again Raven made no objections, so he continued, "after the Lunar Trials - if you loose - you will have to start calling us ''Master'' and work like the slave you are for us!"

    If Dunlin had managed to deceive any of the other students by his previous generosity, the current viciousness in his voice aught to convince them otherwise. Even the heavily distracted Lark and Javelin snapped out of their stupors and were about to retaliate against Dunlin''s statement when Raven stretched out a hand to block them.

    "That''s fine," she said calmly. Dunlin raised an eyebrow in surprise; he had thought that Raven would object to it a bit more.

    Malicious chuckles rang out next to Dunlin as Jack put is arm over the former''s shoulders and stared intensely at Raven. "Foolish slave! Here I thought you at least had some wits. . . . You might as well start practicing right away! Hmmm, Master Tanuki . . . it has a nice ring to it." He laughed even more but for once Auk didn''t join in and was instead looking a bit worriedly at Dunlin.

    "You have a point. . . ." said Raven with a pensive frown. She turned to Martin, "would Master Griffin mind assisting me?"

    "Night?" Martin looked very confused at Raven''s sudden shift in behavior.

    "Would you mind lending me one of your long swords and then attacking me with a similar weapon?" Raven bowed respectfully towards her friend as she spoke.

    Now Martin wasn''t the only one who was confused; the Dunlin trio, just as most observers, had assumed Raven was joking around with Tanuki''s mockery, but asking to be attacked was something else.

    A flash of realization, followed by a new type of bewilderment, crossed Javelin''s face, causing him to nod when Martin looked over at him moments later; he wasn''t sure what Raven was planing, but yesterday''s events in their dorm room had given Javelin a new reason to trust his roommate.

    "Okay," shrugged Martin and a large two-handed sword materialized in his hand. A few of the younger students gasped in admiration. Spacial rings were perhaps not extremely rare among the high nobility, but for commoners it was practically the stuff of legends. Martin handed his sword to Raven before retrieving a second one for himself. "What do you want me to do?" he asked her.

    "I was given the advice to practice, so that is what I intend to do," she answered with a serious face, causing the observers to raise their brows in unbelieving surprise.

    Dunlin and Jack started laughing. "Did you hear that?" said the latter as he smacked Dunlin''s on his chest, "he''s going to start right now! I bet you five gold he''ll trip on his own feet within five seconds!"

    "Ha! I bet he won''t even manage three seconds," replied Raven''s cousin with disdain. ''Trying to execute a skill right after imprinting?'' he thought, ''that''s pure hubris!''

    Raven ignored their comments and focused on Martin. "Strike at me with either an over head swing or a forward thrust, please," she instructed as she started activating her spirit essence in accordance with the Thunder Lock skill.

    After looking intently at Raven for a moment - so as to make sure that he hadn''t misunderstood anything - Martin did as he was asked and swung his huge sword towards Raven''s head. He used no spirit essence but the mere weight of the sword was enough to do great damage to Raven, should it hit her.

    While the blade approached her, Raven altered her body''s position ever so slightly and released one of the hands that she was holding her long sword with. Suddenly, the underside of that arm, and the chest area beneath it, was covered in tiny electrical sparks.

    With apparent ease, Raven side-stepped the falling blade completely, as it passed next to her, her electrified arm coiled around the blade and pinned it to her side with herculean strength, immobilizing it, her skin safely protected by the layer of sparks. Once the sword was lodged within her grasp, Raven stepped forward sharply, using just one free sword arm to thrust the two-handed heavy long sword at Martin''s gut.

    As soon as Raven''s sword started moving towards Martin, electrical sparks shot out along her second arm as well, traveling towards the tip of her weapon with incredible speed. Simultaneously, the sparks around Martin''s grappled sword started flowing down that blade as well, rapidly surging towards his hands.

    The room was in utter silence as everyone, Javelin included, stared at Raven in deep shock. They recognized the technique that was being executed - it was none other than the 0 Raven had imprinted with only moments earlier.

    By now, Raven''s sword was only inches any from Martin. She glanced over at the sheer horror she could see in her cousin''s face and snickered; ''you won''t get away that easily, my dear cousin Dunlin - that would be such a waste. . . .''

    It was at this point, with the sword barely an inch away from its target, that Raven shifted her spirit essence and body motion slightly off the correct track, causing the electrical sparks to flicker and fade while the pouncing sword in her had drooped noticeably towards the floor, as if her arm strength had suddenly failed her. The tip of the sword clanged into the stone floor only half a breath later.

    Raven straightened with an flustered smile and released the sword she had still been clutching under her other arm, revealing a hefty tear in the outer layer of her uniform. "Hehe," she laughed, embarrassed. "Level three skills really are tricky . . . I now understand why one might need a bit over a month to grasp them fully."

    She effortlessly flipped around her borrowed long sword and stretched it out towards Martin in an attempt to give it back, pommel first, but Martin just stared at her. The entire first floor of the Divine Library was deathly silent. "What?" she asked and looked around with perfect ignorance.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Nobody managed to say anything before, all of a sudden, a muffled bell rang out outside of the building.

    "Ah, afternoon classes are about to begin - we''d better not be late." Still holding the borrowed sword, she locked arms with the two Griffin twins and started moving towards the exit. "Aren''t you gonna walk us to our class, Jav?" she called back as they passed Dunlin''s crew, giving the latter cold glances in the process.

    Pulled out of his daze, Javelin nodded and hurried off after the departing trio.

    "What did you just call me?" he asked as the library doors closed behind them. Raven stared at him for a moment, surprised that this was his leading comment, until she eventually started laughing - her first genuine laugh in a long time.

    Still within the library building, Dunlin and his two companions, as well as the ten or so other students that had gathered over the course of their discussion still stood in silence as they stared at the closed library doors. As the realization of what they had just witnessed, excited whispers started to spread through the crowd.

    "Did you see that!? Raven almost managed to preform the Thunder Lock on his first try!"

    "Had I not seen it myself then I would never have believed it!"

    "Perhaps it was a trick? Could he have learnt the skill before?"

    "Impossible, the identification stone wouldn''t have increased it''s counter if he had."

    While different theories about what had just happened filled the room, three people remained silent. Jack and Auk were looking a Dunlin with shock, whose face had gone from slightly pale to deathly white and was currently turning a mixture of red and blue - the combination of rage and oxygen deprivation.

    ''That little bastard tricked me - he must have!'' he howled inside. A myriad of ideas concerning how this could have been done but none of them seemed very reasonable, causing him to strain his brain even further.

    "Talon?" asked Auk carefully and placed a hand on his friends shoulder. Dunlin instantly drew a deep breath and shrugged off the hand.

    "It''s not possible," he hissed and starred at the ground.

    "It was most likely only a fluke," suggested Jack, but he didn''t sound very convinced by his own words.

    After staring at the floor for a moment longer, resolve filled Dunlin''s face. "I know someone we can ask," he practically growled as he motioned for his fellows to follow him, storming out of the library.

    ---------

    The rest of the day was rarely uneventful as Elder Willow had been called away for some unknown reason just before the lesson started, leaving the students with the instructions to self-study, and once it was time for Advanced Class, Dunlin and Jack were nowhere to be found; according to Javelin, Dunlin had skipped the earlier class as well. Today, the original teacher for the Advanced Classes had returned and he was not happy about his missing students.

    The elder was a large grown fellow, with suntanned skin and long blonde hair who, as his appearance indicated, was originally from the Sea Empire. He was addressed as Elder Wrymouth and was, despite the fact that he had moved to Sky Empire nearly four decades ago, one of the three foreign elders who were on her suspect list for the mystery ''Elder W'' - including Elder Willow.

    Elder Wyrmouth had decided to collectively punish all Advanced Students for the two who were missing, so the evening class was spent in training so grueling that even Raven thought it a bit extreme - though that might be more due to her lack of stamina after the previous night than the training regime.

    Thoroughly spent, Raven and Javelin collapsed on their respective beds inside their room, breathing heavily and with all their limbs feeling like jelly.

    "Man, that was hell!" wheezed Javelin between his panting.

    "Are all Sea Empire instructors that demanding?" asked Raven, her breathing quickly stabilizing.

    "Pretty much," laughed Javelin, quickly regretting it when his laughter turned to coughs.

    "It''s so typical," sighed Raven and leaned over to give Javelin a ironic look, "Dunlin manages to be a pain in the ass even when he''s not there!" Javelin''s coughing grew more violent as he laughed even harder. Eventually the coughs stilled and he too propped himself up to look at his roommate.

    Their eyes met and in the next instant Javelin''s face turned bright red. He quickly looked away, his hand instinctively lifting towards his neck. At that moment, the sleeve was pulled back slightly, revealing a blue and gold bracelet around his wrist. The moment Javelin laid eyes on it, he froze in place as his previously red face paled and was replaced with an expression of immense loss that quickly mingled with that of shame.

    Raven frowned as she observed this sudden shift. Sitting up straight, she looked at the bracelet more closely and couldn''t help but gasp - she recognized that bracelet! She had made herself two years ago, and had sent it to Javelin as a small thank you for the Twilight Lullaby that he had gifted her the year before. That very evening, Raven''s entire family had been exterminated, leading her to forget about the bracelet completely.

    Looking at it again, the emotions from that night came welling back up as she thought back on everything she had lost. A lone tear trailed down her cheek.

    Sensing her stare, Javelin looked up from his wrist, and despite all the pain and shame he felt, the sight of that lone tear pierced through it, making his heart constrict even further.

    "Night?" his voice was concerned, almost pleading.

    Raven stirred and quickly wiped away the tear. "Ah, sorry," Raven smiled meekly as she searched for the right words, "you . . . you just seemed so sad all of a sudden."

    Some of Javelin''s worry eased, only to once more be replaced with the pain of loss as he looked  back to the bracelet.

    "I . . . this . . . " he too faltered as he tried to speak. "This was a gift from a girl I met once," he finally said.

    "Met once?" asked Raven carefully.

    "She . . . she was the most wondrous creature I''ve ever met. I can''t really explain it, but the moment I saw her, it was like something in me clicked into place." Javelin''s voice grew surprisingly steady for a moment; "I know it sounds stupid but I just knew - she was mine, she had always been mine."

    Raven sat in silence. Three years ago - not to mention six years ago, in her old life - Raven would have indeed have found Javelin''s words stupid, insane even. Today however, she wasn''t as sure. Wasn''t what he described similar to what she had experienced only hours earlier? Raven pushed the thought away; surely it hadn''t been that intense.

    "This bracelet . . . arrived the day after I learnt that not only she, but her entire family, had died in an accident. Not . . . not a soul survived." Javelin''s voice wavered as two streaks of tears trickled down his face. "I . . . should have been there! Her brother invited me. Had I only accepted then maybe I . . ." His jaw and fists clenched, his knuckles instantly turning white. He looked down on his hands.

    "Javelin . . ." Raven slipped off her bed and crouched down on the floor in front of him, forcing her way into his field of view. "What difference would that have made? You were only eight, what could you have done?"

    "I could have protected her!" Javelin almost shouted, "or at least not let her die alone!"

    Raven felt herself drawing in a deep breath in shock and the sudden urge to slapp him welled up. But she didn''t, instead she breathed out tried to comfort him; "she wasn''t alone. Her family was with her, right?"

    Javelin shook his head. "No! I know she was alone, I could feel it!" he slammed a fist into his bed post, cracking the wood. He was silent for a moment before he spoke in a steadier voice; "I felt her sorrow. She grieved alone. She died alone. I swore I would carry her with me forever, so she wouldn''t be alone again, and yet . . ." he briefly looked at Raven before turning away his face in intense shame.

    With wide eyes Raven realized the inner conflict within the boy. He had felt something for her today, perhaps even earlier considering his initial discomfort around her, and now Javelin feared that he was falling for someone else - and a boy at that.

    For a moment Raven hesitated, she really didn''t want anyone to know that she was still alive, but surely Javelin would want to protect her and guard her secret with his life? It would be so nice to have someone more to share to burden with. . . .

    "Javelin, I . . ." she started, but at that moment a slightly panicked voice filled her head.

    "Sister! Bill is awake and acting really strange; I need your help!"

 Chapter 46: Memories

    Author''s note: Many warm thanks to R. Kayne for your donations! it is much appreciated :D

    Recently, the donation regulations here att Royal Road have changed so from now on the donations I receive here (including R.K.''s contribution) will be added to the chapter queue on my own website (thereby contributing to the release speed of chapters). However, no promises are made that the releases on RR will be exactly the same as on my site</a>. Since quite a few of my readers there help me out with spotting any errors I miss, I tend to wait a bit before releasing it here.

    <hr />

    Memories

    For a moment Raven sat, frozen stiff, on the floor in front Javelin. Her mind was blank as she tried to decide what to do.

    "Raven?" Hoatzin''s voice came to her once more, this time with even more urgency.

    This distressed voice was like a bucket of cold water over Raven''s head; her entire body jolted and instantly she was on her feet, backing away from the still agitated Javelin.

    "Javelin, I''m sorry," she said while pulling at her robes, "I shouldn''t have pried. . . ."

    Javelin looked up at Raven. "You didn''t, I just . . ." Raven held up a hand to stop him from saying anything more. "It''s okay, I understand. I''ll give you some space," she said and left their room before Javelin had a chance to object. With the door safely closed behind her, Raven leaned her back against it for a moment as she pulled her hand over her tightly fastened hair and sighed.

    ''What was I thinking?'' she chided herself. ''Telling a ten-year-old a secret like mine just because he''s sad over loosing his first crush? This is even worse than with Eric . . . '' She closed her eyes and involuntarily thought back on her second to last mission in her past life; it had not ended like Raven wanted it to.

    She shook her head. ''Get a grip, Raven!'' she commanded of her self before she finally hurried off down the hall. Her red eyes, once again, emotionless and cold.

    Inside the room Javelin stood with one hand resting on the door leading to the hallway, his head was lowered as he stared at the floor in a daze. He wasn''t really sure what just happened; Raven had decided their conversation was over and then left all of a sudden. Javelin felt a sudden surge of d��j�� vu as he watched the lean boy''s swift depart from the room.

    Frowning, he shrugged it off as his mind playing tricks on him; Javelin might have had a demanding upbringing but he''d never been left behind. Sighing heavily, he sank back down on his bed, looking out at the dimming sky outside the window.

    ''Why do I feel so ashamed telling him about her?'' wondered Javelin. He had felt oddly obligated to explain to his roommate about his past love, the young lady Nightingale. He felt desperate to let Raven know that . . . he frowned.

    ''Know what? That I''m still in love with a ghost? That I''m unavailable?'' Javelin snorted and grumbled, "he''s a boy, for crying out loud! Besides, even three years ago my fianc�� was already . . ." Javelin''s eyes widened.

    He shot off his bed and rushed out of the room. ''How did he know?'' thought Javelin as he headed off along the path Raven most likely took, ''I never said when she died! Could Night know something about what happened?''

    This slim possibility made his heart beat with excitement. He had always thought that the death of the Nightingale main family was a bit odd. How could such a prestigious clan make such a novice mistake, and overestimate their abilities while handling a spirit beast? It made no sense! Apparently a Records Orb had been found in the rubble, but such orbs were the specialty of the Sea Empire and Javelin knew that they weren''t infallible; a skilled spiritualist might alter the stored information.

    ''If Night knows something, I must learn what it is!''

    Strangely enough, no matter how hard he ran, Javelin couldn''t seem to catch up to his roommate, who seemed nowhere to be found. Javelin ran all the way from the Southern Dorms to the grand academy garden in a flash but no sign of Raven. Just as he stepped outside the southern gate and stopped to consider where he should search next, two familiar voices called out to him in unison.

    "There you are, Javelin!"

    He turned to the left and saw the Griffin twins come jogging towards him. Martin was smiling broadly with a bit of peevishness in his eyes. Lark was smiling too, but the smile wasn''t quite as honest as his brother''s.

    "Have you two seen Night?" Javelin asked the twins, but their reactions answered his question even before they had the chance to speak.

    "We assumed he was with you," said Lark, looking a bit worried. "Don''t tell me you''ve yelled at him again."

    "No, I haven''t!" answered Javelin, quite a bit firmer than he had intended, "and what do you mean by again!?"

    Both twins raised their eyebrows - uncanningly in sync - as if saying "oh, really?"

    Javelin suddenly remembered, and he scratched the back of his neck. "Right, the Spirit Hall Tower thing. . . ." Javelin thought back on that evening and his spirit fell a bit. "Lark, did you tell him about her?" he asked.

    Lark needed no clarification to know what Javelin was referring to. He shook his head with genuine remorse. "I''m sorry I told him Javelin, but I had to explain why you reacted the way you did. I . . ."

    Javelin interrupted him. "Did you say when it happened?"

    "Sorry?" Lark looked confused; this was not the reaction he had been expecting from his friend.

    "Did you tell Night when she died?" Javelin asked again, more insistent now. The intensity in his eyes caused Lark to back up defensively.

    "No!" he replied in haste.

    "You sure?" Javelin stepped in closer.

    "No . . . maybe? I don''t know, Javelin. . . ." Lark backed away again, but this time Martin stepped in between them. "What''s going on, Hake?" he asked with a stern look, "you''re acting a bit weird, man."

    Javelin''s eyes met Martin''s and held them for a moment before yielding. "Sorry," he said, "I didn''t mean to get so riled up." Javelin backed away and gazed out over the garden with distant eyes. ''Where did he disappear to?''

    Martin glanced over his shoulder at his brother, but neither of them seemed to have any idea of what was going on. They wanted to ask, but had learnt over the past years that when it came to matters concerning Raven Nightingale, it was best to leave it alone.

    "You came looking for me?" Javelin eventually asked.

    Jumping at the change of subject, Martin gingerly put his arm around Javelin''s neck. "Yep," he said, "you and Night actually, but I guess we''ll have to make do with you." The mischief was ripe in him once more.

    ''Oh, boy,'' thought Javelin but said nothing.

    "Remember the fight we told you about? The one with the mystery woman killing a Talon Clan member during her first fight at the Combat Abyss." Javelin nodded and Martin continued. "We were thinking . . . " Lark coughed. "Well, I was thinking that we might as well visit the Abyss tonight and see if we''re lucky enough to watch her fight." Martin''s smile twisted into a smirk as he added, in a lower voice, "perhaps even give her a medal for her services to mankind."

    Despite everything, Javelin found himself laughing wholeheartedly. Once his laughter calmed down, he looked up at Martin, who was still hanging over Javelin''s shoulders, with warm eyes - Martin might seem easygoing and simple but he was quite astute. Clearly this was his attempt to lighten the mood, for both Javelin and Lark.

    "A medal dosen''t sound good enough, if you ask me," Javelin joked back. Suddenly he got a flash of insight; perhaps they weren''t the only ones considering a journey to the Business Tier.

    "Sure, let''s go," he said. "There are quite a few hours left before it starts. If we''re lucky we might find Night on the way; I think his uncles are mercenaries staying at the Business Tier."

    ---------

    The first thing Raven noticed as she approached the small house owned by Hog and his companions was the faint noise of rhythmic banging coming from inside it. The sound wasn''t loud enough for anyone else to hear it, but Raven could. Once she got close enough, she could sense the somewhat dimmed and erratic presence of Bill. He was sitting in the hallway closet, swaying back and forth, slamming into the wall in front of him every time he leaned forward.

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    ''Guess he didn''t survive the night''s treatment unscathed . . .'' Raven couldn''t help but feel a bit dispirited and she paused a moment on the doorstep before entering the house. Immediately, she was greeted by the flapping white wings of her brother shooting towards her face.

    "Sister, you''re here!" Hoatzin sounded very relieved.

    "How is he?" asked Raven mentally, so as to not disturb the already unnerved Bill.

    "Hard to say," replied Hoatzin as he landed on her shoulder. "When he woke up he seemed to be fine at first, apart from being confused about where he was. Then, all of a sudden, he started to shake and scream. It sounded like he was speaking but I couldn''t understand what he was saying, like he was speaking another language. Eventually, he tried to run for the door but when he looked out the window he turned white as a ghost and, well, he''s been like this ever since. . . ." Hoatzin extended a white wing towards the closet door.

    Raven glanced out the window but saw nothing out of the ordinary. ''Did he see someone, or something?'' Raven wondered as she walked closer to the closet. She gently tried the handle, but it had been locked from the inside.

    "Bill?" she asked in the softest voice she could muster. For a moment the banging stopped, but it soon started again, now with even more fervor. Raven tilted her head to the side, frowning. ''Is he saying something?''

    Straining her ears to the max Raven started to faintly hear the practically silent words that were pouring out with each of his breaths. Considering her hearing, she doubted Bill would even be able to hear it himself - if he''d been aware of what was going on, that is.

    "Sn?lla," he breathed, "sluta . . . jag klarar . . . inte mer!"

    Raven''s eyes widened in shock; she recognized those words, but they were not of this world - they were words that belonged in her old world! There they had been spoken by the last remaining survivors of a small northern country which had been nearly wiped off the map during a great world war, fought ages before Raven was even born. Her blonde bed-mate, and only friend, that Raven had been forced to kill before the age five had been from that part of the world.

    ''How can he speak it?'' she was baffled, but as Raven tried to understand what was going on she heard more words from within closet.

    "N?ktergalen . . . de kallar mig N?ktergalen. . . ."

    In that instant she realized what had happened. With a sudden surge of spirit-essence-powered force, Raven yanked open the closest door, pulling it off its hinges. Bill yelped as he looked up at her with utter terror. Raven did everything she could to push her killing-intent-merged spirit essence out of her own eyes as she clasped her hands around Bill''s head and forced him to face her. Instinctively, he closed his eyes.

    "Look at me," she urged with a firm voice. "Look at me, Bill," she repeated, but Bill''s eyes were still clamped shut. "Titta p? mig!" she demanded.

    Finally, her commands had effect; Bill''s eyes popped opened and met Raven''s with an unfocused gaze.

    "There you go, Bill," cooed Raven. "Keep your eyes on me, okay? Can you do that?" Bill slowly nodded. "Good, boy. Now, repeat after me: my name is Bill and I''m from Sky Empire."

    "My name is Bill. I''m from Sky Empire." Bill said the words but with very little conviction in their meaning.

    "Again, Bill," Raven urged.

    "My name is Bill. I''m from Sky Empire."

    Bill was told to repeat this one sentence like a mantra, over and over again, until slowly, life returned to his eyes and he spoke the words with growing confidence.

    Once he had become a bit more stable, Raven led the now nearly lucid Bill into the house''s kitchen and served him a cup of warm brew to calm him further. It took over two hours, but eventually Bill looked up at Raven - he was still clearly shaken but he also seemed to be relatively sane.

    "Miss Nightingale. . . ." there was a mix of pity and fear in his voice. "I . . . you . . . how can you live with that. . . ."

    Raven shook her head.

    "Can you give us a minute, brother?" she asked and although Hoatzin gave her a long, piercing look, her brother did as he was asked and flew out of the house. Sensing that he was out of earshot, Raven leaned back in her chair with a concerned, almost motherly, expression on her face.

    "How much did you get?" she asked.

    Bill was quiet for a while. "I don''t know. . . . There is so much I don''t understand." He grew quiet again but Raven just waited for him to continue. "I saw the cave where you mourned your families death and I . . . think I saw your birth? But most was before then." He shuddered. "There was so much . . . pain. To have experienced that . . ."

    ''So it was true then,'' thought Raven. She had read that sometime, when spiritualist made temporary connections with each other to transfer Divine Skill imprints, some memories might be transferred as well.

    As a person grew older and experienced more aspects of life, their soul would grow stronger. But what made it stronger? It was exactly those memories, those really life changing experiences that stayed with you for the rest of your life.

    When Raven had forced her spirit essence into Bill''s soul to deal with the poison, some of her memories had been transferred as well. Just like with imprints, the information in her soul was copied unto Bill''s. These memories wouldn''t become truly his, but he could recall them much like someone would recall a dream.

    "I''m sorry you have to see it," she said. Getting only the strongest of her memories, from a life filled with mostly pain, death and torture, would not be easy to deal with - even if he barely got a fraction of them. Raven had been trained for it for almost as long as she could remember, Bill had not.

    ". . . you saved me, this is a small price to pay," he answered, but Raven wasn''t as convinced. She had dealt with people given sudden traumas before; he might be alright at the moment, but no one could know for sure how long it would last. Most likely he would never sleep another nightmare free night again.

    ''Only time will tell. . . .''

    Deciding to change the subject, Raven instead asked Bill to talk a bit about himself before eventually moving on to the subject of the Talon Clan and their take-over. It turns out that Bill and his family had worked for and been members of the Nightingale Clan for generations. They never held very high positions in the clan but were respected for their diligent work.

    When Raven''s family had been killed and Lady Anhinga showed up with the recording of their Lord''s dying wishes, no one had reacted at first. However, time passed and the Talons made ever increasing changes to the prefecture, changes that many of the old Nightingales knew Lord Maleo wouldn''t have approved of - like demanding higher taxes even of people with little to no income.

    Some started voicing their objections but it didn''t take long before accidents started happening. It could be anything from rare diseases to faulty stairs and midnight robberies. Bill was ashamed to say that he had chosen to lay low, keeping his opinions to himself. It wasn''t until he happened to overhear a conversation about milking out more money from the prefecture residents for the benefit of some foreigner, that Bill figured he''d had enough.

    Of course, he was not so tired of living that he''d shout this from the mountain tops. Instead he started undermining the Talons'' actions from within, but apparently he hadn''t been discreet enough. Fiscal, also a former Nightingale but who had shifted his loyalties quite quickly after the regime change, had been sent to provoke Bill into challenging him at a slaying in the Abyss, leading to where they were now.

    Raven asked many questions as Bill talked, and learnt a great deal about the current situation in the Talon house hold - especially when it came to the number of spiritualists the Talon''s had at their disposal. However, no answer was available for the largest mystery: Who was this foreigner?

 Chapter 47: Visions

    Author''s note: A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>! And on another note, a friend of mine is helping me proof the earlier chapters right now so soon they''ll be error free ^.^

    <hr />

    Visions

    As the slim crescent moon rose over Sky City, Raven and Bill were still sitting in the kitchen of the little house located on the outskirts of the ground level. Hoatzin had long since been called back, and was now perched on the rim of a mug filled with the same broth Bill had been drinking.

    It was nearing midnight and much had been discussed. For the most part, it had been Raven asking Bill for information about the Talon''s or the city in general. However, Bill had a few questions of his own for Raven, mainly concerning what actually happened on that dreadful day two years ago and how Raven managed to survived it. Raven choose to be mostly honest about it, but skimming over the details of her cultivation and completely leaving out the fact that her brother survived it too - albeit, not in the same form.

    Oddly enough, Bill asked nothing about the memories he had received from Raven''s previous life; every once in a while he would grow deadly still, staring of into the distance in a daze, but he never said a word of what he was thinking about, or remembering, at those times. Perhaps he was afraid that talking about it would make him lose his mind again.

    "So," said Raven after Bill had snapped out of yet another trance, "as far as you know, the Talon clan has at least nine mid Champions, and close to a hundred low Champions?"

    "Huh? Ah, yes, miss . . . um, mam."

    "But how is that even possible!? The Nightingale Clan only had one mid Champion - my father - and as far as I know, there was no one even close to breaking through in either the Nightingale or Talon Clan!"

    "I don''t know how it happened, mam. I just know there are nine clan elders, who all follow your aunt''s commands very closely, and all of them are mid Champions."

    Raven couldn''t quite wrap her head around this part. It might not sound like a big step between a low Champion and a mid Champion, but the difference was enormous. The average spiritualist would need about 25 years of training to increase their cultivation to the bottleneck between the Adept and Champion realms. If they managed to make the breakthrough, an additional eleven years would likely be needed before they could even consider themselves being close to mid Champions. Additionally, if you were above thirty five and had yet to reach the mid Champion level, you were unlikely to ever make it there.

    "There are rumors, though," added Bill, "that they found some sort of treasure, that has helped them increase their cultivation. There are quite a few people in the clan who have been improving faster than normal, so it makes sense."

    Raven couldn''t help but think of Dunlin''s odd spirit essence. Was it linked somehow?

    "Sister, how come the Imperial family hasn''t reacted to this?" asked Hoatzin." If the Talons keep growing stronger like this, then their position as ruling clan would be in jeopardy."

    "Oh, they might have reacted to it, there''s just nothing they can do about it," sighed Raven. "You know as well as I do how strong the traditions are in our empire; the strongest clan rules, and that''s that. If one of the prefecture clans, or even the imperial family itself, try to move to restrict the development of the others, retaliation would be swift and absolute."

    Bill, who had heard nothing of the sibling''s conversation, took the silence as a cue to continue speaking, and said, "then again, there are also rumors that there are more experts hidden within the clan, who might be even stronger!"

    Hoatzin''s little bird body shook violently as he choked on the broth he''d just sipped up in his beak.

    "Is it true?" asked Raven with a concerned frown.

    "It''s a rumor, mam; the whole point is that you don''t actually know," Bill smiled meekly, "but, there have been a lot more letters being sent by instant transfer since the Talons took over. I know that for sure cause I''m . . . I was, in charge of keeping the equipment ready to use at any time."

    Raven''s eyes lit up. "Do you know who they sent it to?"

    "Sorry, mam. All I know is that most of the letters weren''t sent very far away, judging by the materials spent."

    "Do you know any way for me to intercept those letters?"

    Bill was silent for a moment and Raven almost feared he was about to sink into another trance before Bill spoke again. "If mam wants to see the letters, there''s nothing that can be done, ''cept sneaking in, either at the mansion or wherever the letters get sent to." Raven''s face fell, it was as she had anticipated. "However," continued Bill, "if you want to find out about the hidden experts then the Assassin Guild might be able to help you with the information. . . ."

    Bill gave Raven a quick glance before looking away, while her brother looked at Raven''s now grinning face quizzically. "Why would the assassins know that?" he asked.

    "One of the most important things for an assassin is to know their target, especially if you''re in the business of hunting spiritualist. If nothing else, how would they otherwise be able to set appropriate fees?" Raven spoke out loud, as if confirming her suspicions with Bill. "They must have quite an extensive spy network."

    Both Bill and Hoatzin nodded, although for different reasons. "Right," said Bill, "I don''t remember much about yesterday, but I''m sure that mam could . . ." Bill''s sentence trailed off before he could reach the end; his body stilled and his gaze grew distant.

    Raven''s eyes had traces of pity in them as she looked at the momentarily apathetic man in front of her and sighed. When he was like this, Bill''s presence dimmed considerably, as if covered by a dull grey membrane.

    "Will he be okay?" asked Hoatzin.

    Raven shook her head. "I don''t know. . . . But I''m afraid that unless he can come to terms with this, Bill won''t be making any more advancements in his cultivation. . . ."

    Raven got up from her chair and walked over to the kitchen window. Outside the sliver of the moon had almost reached its peak - midnight was nigh.

    "Brother, I will be heading out." Raven sent the message to her brother without looking away from the window.

    "You''re going to the Abyss, right?" Raven nodded.

    "You can''t," Raven turned around and gave her brother an apologetic look. "What if someone recognizes you later?"

    "No one has to see me with you. I could follow someone else in."

    Raven''s face turned stern. "I said no, Hoatzin." She pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled down a message for Bill - for whenever he resurfaced - and swiftly left the house.

    Inside, Hoatzin flew over to the window sill next to the door and saw Raven''s dark figure disappear into the shadows. Even though his face was that of a bird''s, his eyes were filled with deep sorrow.

    ''I''m no fool, dear sister,'' he thought as pain filled his heart. ''Whatever memories you have left of your past life, they are enough to drive a grown man insane. . . . Oh, what horrors have you been forced to live through?''

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    Without being able to control it, spirit essence flowed within him, condensing at the corner of his eyes, where it gave birth to two sparkling tears. The two crystal tears drifted downwards like snowflakes, disappearing the moment they came in contact with the wooden surface beneath Hoatzin''s small claws.

    ---------

    Moving expertly from shadow to shadow, Raven quickly made her way through the Business Tier towards the eastern mountain peak and Combat Abyss. She had taken a hawk from the ground level to the western side of the Business Tier and then zig-zagged down various alleyways to make sure no one could tell where she had come from as she approached her destination.

    She arrived perhaps an hour late, so most people had already made their way inside, but Raven clearly felt how a handfull of people were quietly observing her from various positions that they''d considered hidden. Raven had to force herself not to stare at one man in particular, who practically stood in the middle of the road, seemingly waiting for her; although her eyes couldn''t see him, his deep red presence was like a beacon in a dark night for the rest of her senses. Whatever he did to stay invisible did nothing to hide his presence.

    Ignoring her observers, Raven headed straight for the Abyss''s cave entrance, only briefly glancing up at the two huge stone statues she passed on the way. As she moved further in, the symphony of smells, sounds and leaking spirit essence, that was unavoidable when dealing with very large groups of people, pricked at her senses, to the point where it was almost painful.

    ''I didn''t like being in large crowds before, and I like it even less now!'' Hadn''t most of Raven''s face been carefully hidden beneath layers of wrapped cloth, people would have assumed she''d just swallowed a lemon.

    However, very few noticed her arriving in side at all, and the reason was that on the fighting stage a brutal battle was going on. It wasn''t a slaying, because the metal cage still hung from the ceiling, but the two men were evenly matched and seemed to hold a deep grudge against one another.

    Doing her best to filter out all unnecessary noises and presences, Raven made her way over to the area restricted for the top assassin participants. She needed to find a way into the guild, and this was the fastest way she could think of.

    ''Word seems to travel fast here too,'' she noted amused when nearly sixty sets of eyes turned towards her as she slid into her seat at the fifth bench from the front. There were a lot more ranked people here today - yesterday there had been barely thirty - and they all started whispering about yesterday''s events when they saw her.

    "So you dared come back."

    Raven turned around on her bench to see the man she yesterday had identified as Limpkin come walking down the stands. She smiled an almost hungry smile, which she knew he couldn''t see through her fabrics - her senses had not been mistaken, he had been the invisible man standing in the middle of the road outside.

    "I like a woman with balls," he said mischievously.

    "A personal reception from Limpkin, the famous wonder Adept. I''m honored," said Raven with a overly graceful nod. "Do you meet with all new assassins the same way?"

    Limpkin''s eyes flashed for a moment before a pleasantly surprised smile crept across his face. "Only the interesting ones, my dear. Only the interesting ones," he answered with a wink before he continued down the steps.

    ''Interesting indeed,'' thought Raven, still smiling, as she watched him depart. She hadn''t forgotten his battles from yesterday, and would very much want to fight him tonight, if the opportunity came.

    A snort next to her, drew Raven''s attention away from Limpkin. The sound had come from her bench neighbor, who was a surprisingly regular looking guy with an appearance that made his age hard to guess. For an assassin, his looks were close to ideal.

    "Typical," he muttered. "Of course the girl has to start flirting the moment she gets here."

    Raven raised a bemused eyebrow. ''Flirting? Oh, poor thing. . . .'' In Raven''s book, that had barely counted as a greeting - she could flirt her way into a puritans bedroom if she wanted to. Shaking her head, Raven had intended to focus on the on going fight instead, but the average man rolled his eyes and spoke again.

    "I can''t believe I have to sit next to the girl. . ." He grunted and nudged his other neighbor. "What if her girly strength rubs off on me?" He laughed mockingly, and was too absorbed in himself to notice the temperature dropping slightly around him. "I mean, Fiscal was a dick. I bet she only won because he was to busy getting turned on by the thought of fighting a girl." He started laughing again, but this time he noticed that none around him was laughing with him. In fact, the man sitting next to him rather seemed to look at him with pity. The average man frowned. "What?"

    No one replied.

    At that moment, the gong indicating at a winner had been decided rang out and the match in the center on the arena came to an end. The entire crowd started cheering as the victor howled to the skies. Well, almost the entire crowd cheered. The area around Raven was oddly still.

    Through all the noise, a extremely girly voice rang out behind the average looking man''s ear. "Um, excuse me mister," said Raven as she used a finger to poke him insistingly on the shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact, the man twitched and tried to move out of the fingers way but to no avail. At fist the man had only seen Raven''s pitch black hood and robe but now, finally, his eyes met hers. He shivered as his face lost all its color. "Would you please tell me how I make a challenge?"

    ---------

    "Wha! Did you see that finishing move?" exclaimed Martin with more enthusiasm than he felt.

    This over dramatic amazement made Javelin chuckle slightly, although it quickly turned a bit bitter. The evening had not gone as he had hoped. Not only had they not been able to find Raven on their way to the Combat Abyss but they had run into Dunlin and his crew instead. Nothing truly worth mentioning had happened but the encounter left him and the two twins with a sour aftertaste.

    To make matters worse, the first hour of bouts in the Abyss had been particularly boring. It was as if every spiritualist who actually knew anything about fighting only sat and watched as pure amateurs had it out in the center. They might as well have been poking each other with sticks as far as Javelin was concerned; there was no finess, only brute force and bloody noses.

    "I''m getting tired," sighed Lark, as the yet another bout ended, "isn''t it about time we leave?"

    Javelin couldn''t agree more.

    "Fine," said Martin dejectedly. "I tried at least."

    "That you did!" Lark patted his brother on the shoulder and the two of them stood up to leave. As Javelin did the same commotion spread through the arena. An impromptu challenge had been made and would take place before the next bout. None of the three boys reacted to this, since it was nothing out of the ordinary here, but just as Javelin took his first steps up the exclusive stands where he and his friends had seats he nonchalantly looked over his shoulder to glance at the stage.

    There, making her way out on the battle stage, was the very vision of a fairy, clothed in a dress of shimmering blues and copper. Her dark purple hair floated behind her as if suspended in water,  her hands were pale as white jade and her face was covered by a sheer veil. The soft chiming of bells filled the air with every step she took as she moved with all the grace of heaven and earth.

    Javelin''s heart stopped beating. He gasped, but no air entered his lungs as he stared at the woman in frozen shock.

    "Raven Nightingale," he breathed so silently that not even he himself heard  it.

 Chapter 48: Familiar, yet Unfamiliar

    Author''s note: A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>! Also, as some of you know, I was a bit wishy-washy concerning Raven''s new alias and kept changing between Songstress and Singer. However, after writing this chapter (and starting on the chapters to come) it has become clear that Singer will fit my needs better - sorry for the confusion.

    <hr />

    Familiar, yet Unfamiliar

    Javelin stood frozen in place as he stared at the fighting stage - not one cell in his body moved. The only thing he could think of was that she was still alive; Raven Nightingale lives!

    All of a sudden, Javelin felt a stern tug at his arm and the world reeled around him. Before he knew it, his gaze had been forcefully torn away from the center of the arena and he was instead facing an oddly worried Martin.

    "Javelin!" shouted the red-head, "what''s wrong with you!?"

    Faced by his concerned friend, Javelin instead felt annoyed. He tried to turn back towards the fighting stage, back towards her, but Martin wouldn''t let him.

    "What are you doing? Let go of me! Can''t you see her?" Javelin used one of his arms to forcefully push Martin away, while the other extended towards the stage. "See!? It''s her! It''s . . ."

    Javelin''s words came to an abrupt end; since he was once again free from restraints, Javelin had turned to face the stage, but to his dismay, the fairy-like existence of Raven Nightingale was gone. In her place was a short-grown woman, so well-covered by her black robes and other strips of fabric that Javelin couldn''t be a hundred percent sure that she was a woman at all. Standing across from her was a very nondescript man - if one could excel in being average, this man did.

    "But, I . . ." Javelin didn''t know what to say, and while the twins were looking at him with growing concern, the crowd around them started whispering excitedly.

    "That''s her, that''s Singer!"

    "I hoped she''d show up tonight, this''ll be interesting."

    "Interesting? I saw her yesterday - this will be more than just interesting."

    Hearing the crowd''s comments, and taking note of Javelin''s dazed focus, Martin and Lark glanced at each other, seemingly coming to a silent agreement. With synchronized ease, the two twins slipped up on either side of Javelin and practically hoisted him off his feet.

    Together they half carried, half dragged, Javelin the short distance back to their seats. As far as the twins were concerned, anyone who caught Javelin''s attention to this degree should not be ignored. Especially not since this person was actually alive.

    Javelin himself barely noticed being moved back to his seat, all his attention was on the fighting stage. The average looking man and the black robed woman stood facing each other. None of them moved or spoke, but for every second that passed the man seemed increasingly less willing to remain on the stage.

    "Singer, assassin rank 50, has challenged Chen of the Anser Clan, assassin rank 45, to a bout. The winner shall retain the highest ranking and five pieces of gold." It was the Abyss Goddess that spoke. She too was seated in the exclusive section, just as Javelin and his friends, but the golden haired woman sat at the very front. When the Sky Academy had visited the Combat Abyss for the first time, Javelin had thought that woman to be pretty beyond belief. Now, however, she seemed rather dull and boring.

    The gong marking the start of the fight rang out in the arena, but none of the competitors moved. Seconds ticked by where nothing happened but, just like before, Chen grew evermore reluctant to be there. A faint murmur spread through the audience; no one understood why both parties just stood there. Finally, the woman started walking forward, causing the audience to immediately quiet down in anticipation - you would have been able to hear a pin falling to the ground.

    The woman''s movements were slow but fluid to the point of being feline - she advanced like a lioness stalking her prey - and with every step she took, the man''s face turned a shade paler. Even through the confusion, Javelin felt impressed by this woman; she was facing a blood hardened assassin, who was perhaps two heads taller than her and had stared death in the eye countless of times, and yet her mere presence was enough for him to have doubts about fighting her.

    Eventually, when the woman was only three steps away from the man, her body shifted slightly as spirit essence condensed at her feet and she disappeared.

    "I yield!" yelped the man in the same instant and, with a clang, his sword dropped to the ground. Then, silence.

    The majority of the crowd hadn''t realized what had happened yet, but at the average looking man''s average looking neck was a black blade and diagonally behind him stood the woman, as still as a statue, with her robes still moving in the wind caused by her previous movement.

    It wasn''t until the voice of the Abyss Goddess eventually broke the silence, that the black clothed woman withdrew her sword and backed away from the her bested opponent, assassin Chen.

    "The winner, and now ranked 45th among assassins, is Singer!"

    A lone drop of blood trickled down from the point where Singer''s sword had been. When Chen noticed the blood on the hand he''d used to check his neck with, his knees turned soft under him and he nearly fell to the floor.

    Even after the Goddess had declared the winner, it took a while for the crowd to react to what had happened, but gradually the arena was filled with chatter.

    "Did you see anything!? Singer moved so fast all of a sudden. . . I couldn''t even see how she ended up behind Chen!"

    "I bet only the stronger spiritualists had a chance to keep track of her. . . ."

    "But Chen''s pretty amazing too - to realize he would lose and forfeit so quickly. . . A millisecond later and Singer would have killed him!"

    Hearing the comments around them, Lark clicked his tongue. "Oh, please! Chen yielded the moment this ''Singer'' started walking towards him - it was pure luck that he said it out loud in time. . . ."

    Martin nodded firmly in agreement but Javelin said nothing. He was too busy staring at Singer. He couldn''t shake the feeling that he had seen this woman somewhere, even though his first impression was clearly off the mark.

    ''Why did I see her earlier? It can''t be her . . . right? Even if she somehow survived, she couldn''t possibly be a mid Adept - she would only be six!'' For a brief moment, Javelin''s thoughts flashed to his cold and reserved roommate - the six-year-old wonder child - but the connection made no sense to him, so he quickly pushed it aside.

    On the stage, Singer had already started moving back towards the assassin''s section. Out of nowhere a stout man seated in the mercenary section abruptly stood up and shouted out over the arena; "I, Jasper of the Stormhawk Clan, challenge Singer to a bout!"

    Martin and Lark snorted. "Figures," they grunted and when Javelin looked at them quizzically, Martin leaned in closer to explain. "The Stormhawk Clan are kind of like the Talon''s private servants. I bet they''ve been ordered to deal out some payback for yesterday, without making it seem like the Talons hold a grudge." As he whispered this, Martin nodded towards a group of people sitting in the far right section of the exclusive stands. "That would explain why there are so many high ranked Talons here tonight."

    "It''s most likely so," agreed Lark. "Do you think she''ll agree to the challenge? Jasper is a high Adept, if I remember correctly. . . ."

    Martin looked doubtful and was about to disagree when Javelin, whose attention was back at the fighting stage, cut in before him. "She will," he said.

    "What makes you so sure," asked Martin and followed Javelin''s gaze towards Singer. "It seems more like she''s ignoring him."

    Martin had a point. Singer had simply kept walking towards the assassin''s section as if nothing had happened.

    "She will," Javelin insisted again. His eyes narrowed slightly as he realized that Singer seemed to be talking to one of the other assassins, who was seated on the first row.

    The man was young, 25 at most, had blueish grey hair and, like most other assassins, he wore pliable clothes rather than armor. The beginning of a growl gathered at the back of Javelin''s throat when a smile - that was clearly up to no good - donned the young assassin''s face and his bleak blue hair swayed as he nodded in agreement to something.

    "Hey, Singer!" The shout was so loud Javelin almost jumped to his feet; he had nearly forgotten about Jasper and his challenge. "You afraid, are ya?" the stout man mocked from across the stage.

    Singer''s body stiffened and the man she''d been laughing with earlier got a bemused look on his face. Slowly, the woman turned around and, even though her face was hidden, no one doubted that this ''Singer'' was glaring viciously at Jasper.

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    "Didn''t your father teach you to not interrupt someone when they''re talking?" Singer''s voice was cold and domineering - like an ice queen addressing her subjects. "It''s very rude."

    Jasper laughed an unkind laugh, and was about to reply when Singer lifted up a gloved hand to silence him. Oddly enough, Jasper choked on his words, straining to remain silent. It only took a moment for him to realize what he had done, but by then it was too late, Singer had spoken first.

    "Sure," she said, "I''ll fight you."

    Jasper smiled triumphantly and was about to say something when the woman cut him off yet again; "only. . ." she added, as if it was a minor side note, "be careful to resign, before it''s too late."

    The disregarding tone in Singer''s voice was obvious, and as soon as Jasper registered her words he turned red with rage. He stormed to the center of the fighting stage, waiting impatiently for Singer, who flowed there with slow, predatory grace. The Abyss Goddess announced the fighters and in the very instant the bell rang out to start the fight, violent sparks erupted from Jasper''s back, propelling him forward. A huge ax materialized in his hands, no doubt from within a space ring, and as he swung the ax up high, it too was covered in electrical sparks.

    "So much brute force," breathed Martin in awe. He was a user of heavy weapons himself and truly appreciated this type of pure strength displays.

    "Ha, what''s the point of strength if it doesn''t hit the target?" snorted Lark on the other side of Javelin, just as Singer''s body flickered and disappeared from her original position only to reappear in the air behind Jasper.

    Contrary to Martin, Lark specialized in the usage of daggers and other short swords for fighting. It could actually be quite eerie to watch these two identical people dueling each other with such fundamentally different styles. However, although the two twins still looked pretty much identical, their opposing fighting styles had started to show signs of taking their physiques down different paths.

    Immediately a bickering war broke out between the two twins and, stuck in the thick of it, Javelin sighed deeply as he tried to focus on the fight in front of him. On the fighting stage, Singer had utilized her advantage-point and used her black short sword to stab down at Jaspers back. Clasping the sword with both hands, the black blade had turned momentarily golden and a thunderous *clap* rang out in the arena as she descended.

    "You want to challenge me, a Stormhawk, to a contest of using lightning? Think again!" roared Jasper as he turned around on the spot and held up his battle ax as a shield. The moment Singer''s blade came within a centimeter of the ax, the latter lit up and a yellow membrane shot out, forming a crackling shield between Jasper and his assailant. The two forces collided and Singer''s body ricocheted backwards through the air.

    The crowd drew in a deep breath as they thought that she would slam helplessly into the ground, but Singer found her balance mid-air, landing effortlessly on both feet.

    Jasper laughed, "haha! You might be impressive, for a woman, but there ain''t no way you can match up to a high Adept!"

    "He has a point," muttered someone seated behind Javelin. "Surpassing levels is not easy."

    Javelin suppressed the sudden urge to turn around and clomp the speaker in the face; had it not been for the fact that Singer was once again on the move, he might have done it anyway.

    The fight continued for what seemed like hours; Singer calmly avoided swing after swing that Jasper took at her, but Jasper''s protective membrane blocked Singer''s advances just as easily. At first the crowd figured Singer to have a snowball''s chance in hell to win this bout, after all, it would only take one slip up from her to be smashed to pieces by Jasper''s war ax. However, as time went on, Jasper''s breathing grew labored, his movements sluggish.

    "What''s going on?" wondered the annoying man behind Javelin.

    "It''s obvious, Jasper''s running low on spirit essence," answered someone next to him.

    "But shouldn''t Singer run out first? She is a lower level spiritualist, and should have less essence than Jasper."

    Javelin had to agree with the annoying man. It was odd that while Jasper was growing noticeably exhausted, Singer didn''t even seem winded in the slightest.

    Out of nowhere, Singer suddenly jumped back a few steps, efficiently disengaging from Jasper. The latter took a deep, well needed, breath as he observed the black figure standing no more than five meters away from him.

    "Tired?" asked Singer with a steady voice, "wanna give up?"

    "No," wheezed Jasper. He might be growing tired, but he still had no problems keeping up with Singer. Most likely Jasper couldn''t accept the fact that someone with a lower cultivation than him could outlast him, Singer must just be hiding it well.

    "It''s a pity," said Singer with a light sigh, "you forgot my advice."

    "Huh?" replied Jasper confused but as the word left his mouth, a sudden gust of wind flew through the arena and Singer dashed forward with twice the speed she''d utilized before. Jasper''s eyes opened wide with fear filled shock and his mouth was about to follow suit, when a ear-deafening sound wave slammed into everyone in the arena. There was no audible sound, but the extreme shift in air pressure caused everyone to look away and clutch their ears in pain.

    When the pressure subsided, people''s gazes returned to the stage where Singer stood with her sword sunk deep into Jasper''s chest, only, now there was a gaping hole around the blade where his heart used to be. It was large enough to fit a clenched fist through.

    Like a sack of potatoes, Jasper''s lifeless body slumped to the ground, dying it red with his blood. Yet again the crowd was unnaturally quiet with wonder. However, it lasted shorter this time and once the crowd started cheering there was no stopping them.

    "Was that the Whispered Blast, the fifth level of the Sonic Swords?" asked Martin in a daze.

    "Yep," answered Lark with equal wonder. It was quite rare to see cultivators who bothered to train in the Sonic Swords at all. The skill worked much like the identification stones at Sky Academy; it would naturally unlock higher levels of the skill once the lower ones were mastered to a certain degree. The only difference was that the designer of the Sonic Swords had been a lot more strict with what counted as ''mastered''. Thus, it simply took too long to gain enough insights of the higher levels for it to be worth the effort.

    "Are there anymore challengers?" asked Singer in a cold but strong voice, "I will fight any Adept here." Immediately the cheering stopped.

    The silence held for a while, and Javelin started wondering if her sudden victory made the others fear her to much. However, eventually a few hands rose to the air as roughly seven people indicated that they wanted to fight.

    "Half of them are additional Talon Clan cohorts," whispered Martin to Javelin.

    ''So they won''t give up so easily,'' though Javelin as he looked over the various challengers, frowning. ''Will she be okay? She just finished a really long fight. . . .''

    However, it turned out that Javelin''s concerns were unfounded. Singer calmly fought against one opponent after another, sometimes ending it quickly, other times drawing it out to virtual marathons. Nearly an hour later Singer fought six bouts and had yet to lose a single one, or even receive a injury for that matter. Through some odd coincidence, every person affiliated with the Talon''s had ended up dead - they hadn''t yielded in time.

    As Javelin observed Singer''s fighting, that feeling of familiarity had only grown stronger, to the point where he now was one hundred percent sure that he had met this woman before  - he just couldn''t figure out where or when.

    After the sixth victory, Singer once more returned to the center of the stage to await her next opponent. The seventh person, a dark skinned man in his late thirties, stood at the brink of the stands but seemed reluctant to take the final step onto the fighting stage. He looked up towards the Talon''s seated in the exclusive section hopefully, but whatever he was hoping for didn''t come. Instead, his face dropped. Just as he was about to step out, the Abyss Goddess got to her feet.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I''m afraid we''ve run out of time. This will have to continue tomorrow."

    The entire audience let out a disappointed sigh but no one dared complain. Slowly, the thousands of people present started to move out into the aisle, queuing up to exit the arena. Javelin and his two friends got up as well, but while the twins started moving for the exit, Javelin kept looking at Singer, who had walked over to the same scoundrel assassin who she had been talking to before.

    He wasn''t quite sure what he was waiting for, but he was waiting for something.

 Chapter 49: Recognition

    Author''s Note: Sorry this came up here a bit late - today''s been really hectic :/

    As always, a big thank you to this chapter''s sponsors!

    <hr />

    Recognition

    Javelin kept his eyes firmly fixed on Singer''s black figure.

    ''Turn,'' he found himself thinking, as his stare became increasingly intense. ''Turn and look at me. . . .''

    As if Singer had heard him, her head snapped around and locked onto Javelin. For a brief moment, an intense feeling of danger washed over him, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. Singer indifferently turned away and once again began talking to the first-row assassin standing in front of her.

    "Are you coming, Javelin?" called the twins from half-way up the stands.

    Javelin sighed and finally turned to leave. Oddly enough, he had felt less bothered by Singer''s bloodthirsty stare, than by her subsequent disregard. With Martin''s arm around his shoulders, Javelin and the twins left the Combat Abyss arena.

    The journey back to Sky Academy was a silent one; despite the two twin''s attempts to spring up some form of conversation, no subject lasted more than a few sentences. Javelin didn''t feel like sharing what he had experienced at the Abyss with his friends - too little of it made any sense - and he had little space for other thoughts. Why did Singer make him think of Raven Nightingale? And, as she couldn''t possibly be Raven Nightingale, why did the woman feel so familiar? In his brief life, Javelin had only met a handful of female martial spiritualists and even fewer fit Singer''s cultivation level and build.

    Once back in his dorm room, Javelin was still so confounded by what he had experienced that he barely registered the fact that his roommate had yet to return. With a loud *thump*, Javelin collapsed face down on his bed. In his mind, hundreds of questions floated around in circles, but no reasonable answers were found. Eventuallly, Javelin fell asleep.

    ---------

    It was winter. It had to be, cause the snow almost reached my knees and the sun''s light was too weak to give any real warmth. The sound of crunching snow caught my attention and I looked up. A woman with untamed beauty was walking towards me, wearing way too little clothes for the winter day - she always wore too little. . . .

    Usually she would be so cold towards me - colder than the snow now surrounding me - but at that moment she was smiling. I liked her smile; it made the thin scar running down her cheek seem less vicious.

    But the smile didn''t last long. The sky darkened above her and she suddenly looked sad, so very sad. I tried to embrace her, but she effortlessly slipped out of my reach. Did she always have to be so agile? Before I know it, she''s turned her back to me and left.

    In my heart I just knew that . . . that was it; it was over before it ever really began.

    ---------

    In his bed, Javelin groaned and for a brief moment his eyes flickered open. He knew he''d been dreaming, but before he could try to remember what he dreamed about, his consciousness faded and he fell asleep yet again. This time, he slumbered too deeply to dream anything at all.

    ---------

    Meanwhile, as Javelin and the twins had returned to the Academy and their waiting beds, Raven had instead accompanied the ninth ranked assassin, the oddly charming Limpkin, to the renowned Assassin Guild.

    She had approached him after her first bout at the Abyss, asking about where she might find employment for their . . . peculiar line of work, and he had merrily agreed to bring her to his guild. "If you prove yourself worthy," he had added jokingly, as if being placed 45th in the assassin''s ranking wasn''t enough.

    However, Raven didn''t mind fighting a bit more - it was after all a splendid opportunity for her to train with her entire cultivation unlocked. As it turned out, she had been quite pleasantly surprised by her own stamina. Although Raven''s spirit core was smaller and a bit weaker than her opponents'', her 373 spirit connections more than made up for it, tenacity wise. It was like a river supplying a small basin; as long as you don''t empty it all in one go, there would always plenty of water available.

    Needless to say, the bouts had been easily won. Thanks to the information gathered during the imperial banquet, Raven even took the initiative to rid the world of a few Talon supporters in the process.

    She had been startled by Javelin''s intense stare at the end though. At first, his presence had been drowned in the sea of people present, and it wasn''t until the others started leaving that Raven had sensed that someone was still observing her intently. When she turned to face her observer, Raven had for a split second worried that Javelin might recognize her, but why would he? Even if he found something about her familiar, the difference in cultivation level should be more than enough to push him off track with his deductions.

    Raven figured that her best cause of action would be to ignore Javelin and his friends completely - anything else would only cause more suspicion. Pushing her worries aside, Raven had instead argued Limpkin to take her to the Assassin Guild, something he readily agreed to.

    Now, as she stood outside the Assassin Guild Hall, Raven was rendered speechless; the building was way too extravagant! The entire thing was carved out of a smooth, deep blue stone that was by means not local to the region, and every little nook and cranny was decorated with intricate golden reliefs. No one could pass the building without stopping to gawk at its over-the-top grandeur for a moment.

    "It''s a tad old-fashioned, if you ask me," Limpkin joked with a wink when he noticed Raven''s pause.

    "Ever heard of discretion?" muttered Raven in response.

    "Why would we ever bother with something so boring?" Limpkin winked yet again before entering the building without further ado.

    ''Something is seriously wrong with the assassins in this world. . . ,'' thought Raven to herself as she followed the man in through the grand doors of the building.

    The inside of the guild hall was just as grand as the outside, with crystal chandeliers hanging from the gold-decorated ceiling and a faint whiff of acacia flowers lingering in the air. Several pearly-white counters were placed around the hall, each manned by gorgeous silver-haired women, who looked very similar to the Abyss Angels, only not in armour. Most clients wore masks to cover their faces - some used simple cloth fabrics, others donned creations fitting for a masquerade ball - and diffuse membranes enveloped every seller-client pair, efficiently sealing the sound of what was being said within.

    "You have got to be kidding me. . . ," breathed Raven; she was completely flabbergasted. The few attendants who weren''t currently preoccupied with any customers, looked up and smiled sweetly at Limpkin and Raven as the duo entered the hall.

    Limpkin looked at her with an amused smile. "You really aren''t from around here. Listen, assassination is a business, like any other, and our clients are wealthy people; we have to make sure they feel comfortable." He walked off towards a side door. "Follow me," he said, and Raven did.

    The next room was significantly more ordinary and basically only contained a single counter, a couple of additional doors and a large board with long lists of names on it.

    "This is where we guild members come to pick our targets." Limpkin stopped in front of the board. "Here you can find every available target, their rewards and difficulty level. There are six levels, A-F, ranging from hardest to easiest. The Combat Abyss ranking of 31st, that you achieved tonight, gives you clearance for levels C and below, but once you reach the top 25 you will be able to take on level B targets as well."

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    Raven looked over the list of names on the board and noted there were a lot more names present than she had expected. ''A lot of people have been offended by spiritualists, it would seem. . . .''

    Suddenly a familiar name caught her attention. "Someone has put a hit on the Headmaster of Sky Academy?" she asked.

    "Hmm?" Limpkin looked up in a daze. He had been trying to inspect Raven''s cloak-hidden body - in hopes to gain more insights to this mystery assassin, no doubt - but now sheepishly followed her gaze to the board. "Ah, yes. There are a few anti-spiritualist groups out there who would like to see the spiritualist''s place of learning ruined. The request has been up there for ages though; none of the assassins are willing to accept it," he explained.

    "Really?" Raven didn''t sound convinced. "The reward is astronomical. . . ."

    "True, but we''re all spiritualists here; killing off the man who raises the next generation doesn''t feel right." Raven tilted her head and looked at Limpkin, who then quickly added, "besides, see that star where the level should be? That means that he''s an S-level target. You have to be at least a high Champion before the guild would even consider giving you the job."

    Raven nodded to show that she understood. "Is there anymore information on the targets besides their names?" she asked. "I prefer not going in blind."

    "Of course there is information," laughed Limpkin. "The Assassin Guild has the most extensive records in the country, covering nearly every spiritualist in Sky Empire!" Limpkin sounded very proud as he spoke. "Naturally, this type of information cannot be given willy-nilly to anyone who asks. The rules are that you are only allowed access to information on targets at your own level or bellow. The records are kept through there," he said and pointed at one of the other doors in the room.

    Limpkin then returned his attention to Raven, giving her a slightly lopsided grin. "Are you gonna pick a target right now, or do you want to join me for a pre-dawn drink?"

    Raven smiled, despite herself; had it been in her old life, she wouldn''t have hesitated for a second to take Limpkin up on his offer. As it was, however, Raven shook her cloth-covered face.

    "Another time, Limpkin - I have business to attend to."

    "Very well," he sighed melodramatically, "another time." Without waiting for any response, Limpkin turned and ambled out of the room. "I''ll see you around," he called over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

    ''I bet he''ll be waiting for me outside, in his invisible mode,'' thought Raven, without being too worried about it.

    She glanced over the name lists once more before she picked three seemingly random C-level targets. None of names belonged to Talons, in fact, they weren''t even members of the so called servant clans. Something that the three of them had in common, however, was their reputation to be exceedingly generous during their interactions with the Talon Clan.

    Based on the nobles'' gossip, that she had overheard not even a week earlier, Raven had come to the conclusion that these three individuals had most likely been bribed - or otherwise convinced - to treat the Talon Clan very favorably when doing business with them. These three made sure that what ever goods the Talons were exporting, those goods would pass through customs quicker, and sell at higher prices, than their competitors. Getting rid of these three wouldn''t be a huge blow for the Talon Clan, but it would be an annoyance, which would have to do for now.

    After registering her choice of targets with the girl at the counter, and receiving a token stating her clearance level, Raven headed into the records room. The records room was actually quite similar to the first floor of Sky Academy''s Divine Library, only this one was a bit more well populated. Robed figures stood looming over various scrolls, reading up on their intended targets.

    ''This will take a while. . . ,'' sighed Raven and headed over to the C-section. She spent the remaining hours before daybreak looking through as many scrolls she could find on the Talon Clan, as well as her three current targets, and was actually quite impressed by the level of detail in the recorded information. Not only were current cultivation levels stated but there were also lists of confirmed Divine Skills, weapons of choice as well as confirmed allies and repetitive habits.

    By the time the first rays of dawn had filtered in through the windows located in the ceiling, Raven''s head was reeling with information. If the records were correct, then she had managed to skim through the information on pretty much every C-level spiritualist related to the Talon Clan that the guild had. Of course, there was no information on the more important assets of the clan - they would be in higher levels.

    As she read, Raven had noticed a few discrepancies in the records that would indicate that some people were missing, but overall the information seemed solid. Nevertheless, she would have to return for a closer look if she wished to find their hidden assets. That would, however, have to wait until another day. Classes would start soon, and if Raven had guessed right, then she would have a few tails she needed to shake off on her way back to the academy.

    Hardly surprising, Raven had guessed it right. This time, eight presences - ''invisible'' Limpkin included - started following her the moment she left the Assassin Guild Hall. But, just like the time before, she easily gave them the slip - mostly thanks to the Divine Skill that Javelin had given her years prior, the Twilight Lullaby.

    ---------

    Most of the day passed without incident. Raven cultivated through yet another war strategy lecture in the morning, spent the midday break in the library, and yet again completed all tasks given to her by Elder Willow during afternoon Spirit Control. The twins didn''t ask why or where Raven had gone the night before. Instead Martin went on and on about the new, rising star of Combat Abyss, Singer.

    "You should have been there Raven!" he whispered excitedly for the hundredth time. "She was extraordinary! Lark and I had a hard time just keeping track of her movements, even though she''s only a mid Adept. . ."

    Raven rolled her eyes and gave him a cold smile. Martin didn''t take the hint.

    "Oh, you should have seen her techniques! She basically only used level three skills or lower but she beat the shit out of everyone anyway. Oh, but she did use . . ."

    "Martin Griffin," shouted Elder Willow out of nowhere. "One more word out of you about this nighttime singer of yours and I will kick you out!"

    Martin''s eyes widened. "Oh! That''s great, Elder! She''s our Nighttime Singer . . . um, Night Singer? . . . no! Our Midnight Singer! That''s it!"

    *BANG!* Elder Willow produced a gust of spirit essence that slammed open the courtyard gates. "Out!" he bellowed.

    Still brimming with pleased joy, Martin left the courtyard. Raven shook her head and looked over at Lark sitting next to her. "Latrine cleaning duty for . . . a week or a month?" she asked jokingly but Lark only shrugged, causing Raven to instantly narrow her eyes. Something still seemed to be wrong with him.

    However, mid-lesson was not the time to dig deeper into the issue, and once the class was over, Elder Willow called out to Raven, informing her of a change in her lesson schedule. Frustrated, Raven had no choice but to rush off to the Advanced Class. Apparently, Elder Wrymouth had made an impromptu decision to start today''s lesson earlier - on account of the missing students the day before.

    Once she arrived, she barely had the chance to say hello to Javelin before they were shuffled into their respective training rooms and the grueling training commenced.

 Chapter 50: Confrontations

    Author''s note: As always, a big thank you to the sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    Confrontations

    The evening training eventually came to an end, and Raven left her Pressure Room feeling more tired than usual. It would soon be three full days since Raven had gotten any sleep and it was clearly starting to take a toll on her.

    Spreading her senses, Raven couldn''t help but breathe a sigh of relief; it would seem like Dunlin and company were still in their rooms, no doubt getting punished by Elder Wyrmouth for skipping class the day before. Someone who was out of their room, however, was Javelin. He was already on his way out of the building so Raven increased her pace to catch up to him. She did so just as they left the building.

    "How did today''s lessons go, Javelin?" she asked.

    Javelin barely looked up from the ground as he answered, "fine," and continued to walk towards the academy garden with brisk steps. Raven frowned.

    "Um, Javelin?" She grabbed his robes and tugged him to a stop. Finally, Javelin looked at Raven, but he seemed a bit . . . distant, or perhaps even annoyed. Despite herself, Raven felt her frown deepen with worry. "I''m sorry for yesterday," she said sincerely, "I too have things I''d rather not talk about, so I should have known better."

    For a moment, Javelin''s gaze softened but it didn''t last long. "Don''t worry about it," he said, "I brought it up first." He was about to turn around and leave when he paused and instead asked, "Night, how did you know that I was eight when Rav- . . . when it happened?" His stare grew intense as he waited for Raven''s reply.

    ''Shit,'' thought Raven to herself but instantly answered, "Lark told me about it after the tower thing." She looked confused, as if Javelin was asking an obvious question he already knew the answer to.

    Javelin breathed a dejected sigh. "I see," he said and actually turned to walk away.

    "Hey, Javelin, I wanted to talk with you about Lark," called Raven after him, but he shook his head. "Another time," he called back without turning around.

    Raven grunted as she watched her roommate leave. ''What''s gotten him all wound up?'' she wondered as she headed off in the same direction as Javelin, only at a slower pace. For a moment Raven felt oddly compelled to follow Javelin and see what he was up to, but she had things she needed to do herself, so it would have to wait.

    "Big brother?" Raven probed mentally, "how''s Bill doing?"

    A moments silence, and then "he''s fine." Hoatzin''s voice sounded agitated.

    ''Not you too,'' thought Raven but instead asked, with obvious concern, "Is something wrong, big brother?"

    "Oh, no, nothing is wrong," answered a clearly annoyed Hoatzin, "it''s just that my little sister left to join an assassins'' guild nearly eighteen hours ago and I haven''t heard anything from her. . . ."

    "Oops. . . . Hoatzin, I''m sorry! It slipped my mind. . . ." Not that he could see it, but Raven actually looked quite ashamed at the moment. She was too accustomed to acting alone when it came to assassin work and it had been so simple to fall back in old habits.

    "Slipped your mind? Do you have any idea how worried I was? I couldn''t even speak to you in case I might distract you! That''s it, next time I''m coming with you!"

    Raven didn''t argue. She had no intentions of introducing her brother to her assassin ways, but there was no point in arguing about it now. Instead, Raven apologized a few more times, until her brother seemed to accept it, before inquiring about Bill yet again.

    "I told you, he is fine," answered Hoatzin, "and in general that is true. When Bill surfaced, after you had left, he read your note and decided to stay for at least a couple of days - he talks quite a lot to himself, this one. Not long after that, he tried to get some sleep, but he kept breaking out in cold sweats and waking himself screaming. . . ." Hoatzin made a deliberate pause. "A few hours ago, he gave up and finally mixed the herbs you had mentioned - he is out like a light now."

    Raven nodded approvingly. She had written down the recipe for a heavy sleeping draft that could be made by the few herbs that were available at the house. If used frequently, the concoction could become quite addictive, but sometimes getting a full night''s sleep was more important.

    "What are your plans for the evening, sister, and can I come along? It''s getting a bit boring watching over a sleeping man. . . ."

    "You can come, but it won''t be very much more exciting - I need to sleep tonight too," answered Raven. "I''m just going to see if I can find out why Dunlin and Jack were absent from the afternoon classes yesterday first, and if I can find Lark in the process that would be great."

    "Lark? What for?"

    "He seemed upset today. I had hoped that my little bet with Dunlin would cheer him up, but not enough apparently."

    "Hmm. . . . Well, I should come and help you search then," replied Hoatzin with a chipper voice. Clearly he hadn''t been exaggerating when he said he was bored.

    "Then head to the building where the advanced classes are being held - if the rumors about Elder Wyrmouth are accurate, the two of them will be there for quite some time. I''ll ask around a bit - hopefully someone saw something."

    ---------

    For half an hour, Raven moved from one group of students to the next, asking about Jack and Dunlin. Of course, most students were too afraid of either Raven herself, or Dunlin''s later retribution, that asking straight out wouldn''t work. Instead, she would usually walk past the students, just close enough so that they could hear her grunting angrily; "bloody Dunlin! You just have to get the Elder pissed off by skipping class! If I found out where you went, I . . ."

    After that, it was only a question of staying within earshot from the passed students - an easy thing to pull off with Raven''s hearing - and wait for the comments to come raining in. Unfortunately, all students had themselves been in class at the time so no one seemed to know where the two had gone.

    ''This isn''t working. . . .'' Although far from every student had been ''questioned'', the fact that they would have been in class wouldn''t change. Raven figured that her only options right now were to either confront the duo directly, or try to coax it out of one of the Elders who hadn''t been busy teaching at the time. Either way, Raven would need to head back to the southern part of the academy.

    "Any movement from Dunlin and Jack?" she asked her brother as she made her way back.

    "Unfortunately no," replied Hoatzin with a sigh. "This isn''t much better than watching Bill sleep. . . ."

    Raven smiled.

    "Oh, wait! Speak of the devil, they seem to be done." He sounded thrilled as he spoke. "Haha, you should see this - they look awful!"

    "A courtesy of Elder Wyrmouth no doubt," chuckled Raven.

    "If Wyrmouth is our mystery elder, then he is at least doing a good job at keeping up appeare . . ." Hoatzin started replying before he grew silent for a moment. "Sister, you better hurry."

    Raven frowned and picked up her pace before she even asked why. "What''s wrong, brother?"

    "Well, the good news is that I''ve found Lark," Raven started running, "the bad news is, so have Dunlin and Jack."

    "Martin and Javelin?"

    "Not here, nor are there any elders in sight."

    ''Shit.''

    By now, Raven was alternating between three different Divine Skills to push her speed to the max. One for fast straight running, one for maneuverability and a third for explosive boosts after making turns and evasions. At the same time, she employed Void Tracker to counter sound, air resistance and her spirit essence. She had yet to completely master the skill but at least it partially hid her spirit essence - she didn''t need to hide it completely, since anyone that saw her would know that she was using some Divine Skill to move so fast, but she preferred it if people didn''t realize which skills she were using.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Raven dashed across campus with astonishing speed. She was so fast and silent that some didn''t even register her passing them, but as she rushed through the gates to the southern peak, the usually relaxed Elder sitting by the gates flashed open his eyes and nearly toppled off of his chair. Raven noticed his reaction but didn''t bother stopping; Hoatzin had just informed her that things weren''t going very well over at his end.

    Finally, Raven was close enough to sense the three boys, standing huddled and slightly secluded behind a building a few hundred meters away. Hoatzin was seated on the roof above them. Grinding to a halt just around the corner of the building, Raven paused to listen to what was being said.

    "So what are the flowers for, Larky?" mocked Jack.

    "I said it none of your business, now step aside!" Lark did his best to sound assured of himself but he couldn''t hide his nervousness from Raven''s ears.

    "Or what? You''ll tell your dad? I bet he''d like to hear why his oldest son is growing flowers, rather than increasing his cultivation," laughed Dunlin. "If only you were headed towards the girl''s dorms, I could kind of understand it."

    "Pointless," snickered Jack, "women are best claimed by shows of might! Flowers will only make them look down on your masculinity."

    Raven shook her head; she had heard enough. "You''d be surprised by what a mere flower might lead to," she said coldly as she stepped around the corner. Immediately she got a clear view of the three boys; apart from Lark, the other two had their backs towards Raven, and clutched in Larks arms was a medium-sized pot of exotic-looking daffodils.

    Both Dunlin and Jack spun around in surprise - they had not heard Raven''s approach at all. However, their initial shock didn''t last long. Instead, the two of them sneered as they glanced at each other.

    "I know, perhaps it isn''t a woman he''s trying to impress," suggested Jack smugly.

    Dunlin''s eyes widened in over-acted realization. "Oh, you''re right! They do say that birds of a feather stick together - if the slave boy is a pansy, then maybe this one is too." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder towards Lark, whose face had started to turn slightly green.

    "Slave boy, huh?" Raven''s insinuating tone caused Dunlin''s smile to drop, but Raven didn''t let him go so easily. "How is the Frozen Onslaught going? I''ve heard it can be quite tricky. . . ." she said with a cold smile.

    "You bastard slave!" roared Dunlin and took a hostile step towards Raven, pointing at her with a shaking finger. "You knew, didn''t you!?"

    "Knew what?" asked Raven, bursting with innocence.

    "You knew that no student has been able to master that damned skill at all!"

    Raven didn''t have to act her surprise. ''No one has mastered it? It wasn''t that impossible of a skill. . . .'' she thought to herself and suddenly had to force herself to not start smiling; ''I wonder how he would react if he knew I''d mastered it already?''

    Controlling her emotions, Raven instead looked at Dunlin with newfound awe. "I must say I''m impressed by Senior Dunlin; to be daring enough to stake your honor on learning such an impossible skill within less than two months. . . . Impressive!"

    Dunlin took another step forward, and Jack followed behind him. "Don''t you try fooling me, you dipshit! Admit it!"

    Just as Dunlin was about to move forward yet again, a shrill shriek filled the air and a white projectile shot down towards Dunlin''s head. Taken by surprise, Dunlin barely managed to jump out of the way before the spot he''d been standing in was pierced through by the white shadow. Before he had a chance to gather himself though, the white beam targeted him again.

    Raven observed her brother taking repeated shots at Dunlin with extreme attention and mixed feelings. She had preferred to not flaunt Hoatzin''s existence in front of Dunlin, but on the other hand, her cousins current expression was utterly priceless.

    However, it didn''t take long before Dunlin''s shock turned to anger and he started activating his odd spirit essence.

    "That''s enough!" called Raven to her brother so only he could hear it and, immediately, Hoatzin stopped his assault and landed on Raven''s shoulder. He would rather have picked Dunlin beyond recognition but he trusted his sister''s judgement and knew his current body''s limits.

    Seeing the white bird perched on Raven''s shoulder, Dunlin''s eyes narrowed in newfound rage. The bird had truly surprised him, and even managed to get a hit in, causing a small, bloody nick on his left cheek. "What kind of abomination is that?" he bellowed. "Kill it now, or I will!"

    Raven grew stiff.

    "Did you hear me, slave! As prefecture heir I demand that you kill it!"

    Raven said nothing. A faint, red shimmer started forming around her, but it was too diffuse for anyone to notice.

    "Suit yourself!" shouted Dunlin and dashed forward. His legs and hands were wrapped in a black glow only Raven could see, but right now she didn''t care. As Dunlin approached her, the world seemed to move in slow motion. In her mind, she saw her parents and brother surrounded by ever-burning flames, she heard the Talon family laughing as the flames consumed the only family she''d ever known. ''It would be so easy to kill him right now. . . . ''

    Without even reflecting over it, a dagger was willed out of her spacial ring and hidden in the palm of her hand. Murderous spirit essence surged towards the hand holding the dagger. ''It would be so easy to kill him right now. . . . ''

    Dunlin was only milliseconds away from reaching Raven but at that moment a huge oppressing force pushed down on everyone in the ally. The sudden pressure caused Dunlin - whose stance wasn''t stable enough to resist - immediately slammed into the ground and the weaker Lark almost followed suit, but managed to stay standing on one knee. The pot of flowers however, slipped out of his hand and clashed towards the ground, breaking on impact. At the same time, Hoatzin almost fell off Raven''s shoulder, but she managed to move her arms enough to catch him.

    "What is going on here!?" The angry voice echoed off the surrounding buildings, making it hard to pinpoint it''s origin, but Raven could, and she only hoped that its owner hadn''t noticed her murderous intentions only moments before.

    "Sorry respected Elder," grunted Jack through clenched teeth. "We were only exchanging some pointers."

    "You know the rules," boomed the voice, "if this happens again, there will be consequences! Understand?"

    "Yes Elder," answered all four students, and the pressure subsided.

    "Return to your dorms," ordered the voice, now with less anger, before Raven sensed the man walking away. She sighed a breath of relief. ''So that''s the pressure of a high Spirit Champion.'' Raven shivered. ''I doubt he even used part of it though. . . .'' The man who had intervened was same elder who usually guarded the gate to the southern peak.

    Brushing off some dust from his robes, a red faced Dunlin got to his feet. He looked at Raven viciously. "Count yourself lucky this time," he snorted, "and don''t think your little parlor tricks yesterday fooled me - I''ve got you all figured out, slave boy!" Stomping his feet loudly he finally walked away. Jack attempted to step on Lark''s flowers as he followed after Dunlin but Lark managed to scoop them up before Jack got the chance to do any damage.

    Raven made an obscene gesture with her hand towards their departing backs before she turned her attention to Lark.

    "You okay?" she asked.

    "Yeah," he answered unconvincingly.

    "Where are Martin and Javelin? It''s rare to see you alone."

    "They went to the Combat Abyss," he answered and then added, "it''s a fighting arena in the Business Tier."

    "Ah."

    Silence.

    Raven nodded towards the flowers. "Those are pretty. Will they be okay?"

    Lark sighed. "Once I get them a new pot, yes."

    "They''re Frost Bell Daffodils, right?"

    Lark''s eyes brightened slightly. "You know your flowers, alright; it''s quite rare."

    Raven only gave him a bittersweet smile. It was indeed a rare flower. Its frosted golden flowers only bloomed at high altitudes and only during a few weeks of spring. Her mother had once taken Hoatzin and her to a field full of them - it had been a magical sight and a sudden gust of wind had filled the air with the soft sound of bells.

    "I''ve been growing them as a hobby," continued Lark when no further explanation came from Raven. "I mentioned it to some of the girls at the Healing Department, but Elder Willow overheard me and asked if I could show them to him. The Frost Bell Daffodil makes good medical herbs."

    Raven continued smiling, but it was a warmer smile now. "Do you want me to escort you to him?" she asked with a wink as she extended a hand to her friend.

    "Haha, wouldn''t that be a sight?" chuckled Lark as he let Raven pull him to his feet. "But I think I should head back and replant these first; I don''t want them dying on me."

 Chapter 51: The Plot Thickens

    Author''s note: As always, a big thank you to the chapter sponsors!</a>

    <hr />

    Raven watched the red-headed Lark, and his handfull of flowers, disappear between the white, wooden buildings of the southern peak and sighed. "Daffodils, huh?" she muttered.

    "Did you say something, sister?" asked Hoatzin, who once more sat perched on her shoulder.

    "Nothing of importance," she replied and started walking towards the houses where the Elders lived.

    "Weren''t you going to ask Lark why he was acting weirdly today?" Hoatzin was surprised that his sister had let the twin leave so easily.

    "I don''t think I need to anymore. . . ." was her only remark and no matter how Hoatzin pried, Raven would say no more on the subject.

    It didn''t take long before Raven reached the Elders'' dormitory, located on the far-southern side of the mountain peak. As she approached the building a lopsided smile surfaced for a moment, before being suppressed back to her normal cold expression. She had noticed that on the other side of the dorm gates waited a familiar presence, who was on the verge of pacing. When the sound of Raven''s footsteps reached the him, he stirred and briskly moved to open the gates.

    However, Raven was closer to the gate doors than expected, and he started back a few steps to avoid banging into her.

    "Greetings, Elder Willow," said Raven with a courteous bow.

    "Junior Night?" Willow''s disappointment wasn''t very well hid as he looked around outside expectantly. "Is it only you today?"

    "Yes, Elder Willow, only me." Raven''s eyes locked onto the young man. "Elder Willow must be really eager to see those daffodils. . . ."

    "Huh? Ah, yes! They are great for medical brews, after all."

    "And poisonous ones too," thought Raven to her brother. Outwardly she simply grunted, seemingly unconvinced. "M-hmm. . . Unfortunately, there was a small incident on the way here, so Lark had to head back to his dorms; Lark is fine, but the plants require a new pot."

    "I see. . . ."

    Both were silent for a while, before Raven cleared her throat.

    "I''ve heard that it can take up to seven years for Frost Bell Daffodils to mature completely." Her blood-red eyes suddenly turned very serious as her intense gaze drilled into those dazzlingly green eyes of his. "Surely, Elder Willow would never even attempt to harvest anything before it matures, lest it might turn . . . poisonous."

    Momentarily the young elder was completely stunned. He first looked confused, then shocked - and somewhat scared - but eventually he sobered and met Raven''s gaze with matching intensity. "I wouldn''t dream of it."

    With that, the serious flare in Raven''s eyes died down and she bowed deeply. "This junior apologizes! Naturally, a teenage genius-teacher like yourself already knows about this. Please forgive this one''s insolence!"

    Now Willow looked confused again, and slightly disturbed too. He reached out a hand to force Raven up-right again. "Please Junior Night, no need to be so formal out of class - I''m not that much older than you. . . ."

    "I''m six."

    Willow''s otherwise ivory face turned cherry blossom pink. "Haha, of course - I forgot. You really don''t look your age, Junior Night," he laughed nervously and looked around again. "Um, may I help you with something?"

    "As a matter of fact yes," said Raven as if nothing had happened. "Yesterday, Dunlin Talon and Jack Tanuki were missing from the Advanced Class and Elder Wyrmouth took it out on all of us. I would like to know what the punishment for these two will be for violating school rules." Raven knew the usual punishment for skipping class - no new Divine Skills for a month and a 100 point deduction from the merit points - but that was not why she asked.

    Willow sighed. "I''m sorry to hear that Elder Wyrmouth punished all of you, but Juniors Talon and Tanuki will not receive any additional punishment - they were given a free pass."

    Raven frowned. "Free pass? By whom?"

    "Like all free passes it was only signed by the Headmaster''s office - the requesting teacher isn''t listed."

    "Great," thought Raven dejectedly to Hoatzin, who was still perched on her shoulder, "yet another issue to be solved by gaining access to that office. . . ."

    "I see," she said out loud. "Then I thank Elder for his assistance." Raven bowed yet again and then walked of. Behind her, Elder Willow stared at her departing figure with a complex gaze.

    "Now what?" asked Hoatzin.

    "Now I sleep."

    ---------

    Time flies when there are too many things that need to be done. Over the next few weeks, all of Raven''s waking hours were spent either in class, in the Divine Library or in the Assassin Guild''s record rooms. While Raven took classes and researched the Talon spiritualists, Hoatzin flew around the city, checking up on various leads they unearthed, concerning everything from Empress Nene''s supposed treason to the mystery ''Elder W''. Hoatzin needed no sleep in his current state but Raven also only slept a few hours every three days or so. She couldn''t help herself - the thought of her aunt and cousin, living their pompous lives, unfazed by their betrayal kept Raven pushing herself forward.

    Needless to say, this tight schedule limited the time Raven spent with her younger friends to class-time only. This would have seemed odd to Javelin and the twins, if they also hadn''t been so preoccupied with their own businesses. Javelin was determined to find out more about Singer, and had convinced the other two to help him, under the pretext that it would be beneficial for their fighting prowess to get some pointers from such a skilled fighter. Raven wasn''t sure if the twins actually believed his lie, but they were good friends and supported Javelin nonetheless. Not that Martin was of much help the first week - he had gotten clean-up duties as punishment for his prior behavior during Spirit Control Class.

    Unfortunately, neither Raven nor the other youths made any significant progress with their objectives over these five weeks. Raven had been busy reading up on spiritualists, and had therefore not shown up for any more matches. Seeing Javelin''s frustration, the twins had hired someone to tail ''Singer'' as she came and left the Assassin Guild Hall, but to no avail.

    On the other hand, Raven too grew evermore frustrated at the web of intrigue surrounding both the Talons and the Imperial household. Additionally, as she studied the spiritualist records more closely, she realized that there were quite a few spiritualists who had made the same sudden growth in their cultivation as many key members of the Talon Clan had, but Raven couldn''t find any real connections between them. To make matters worse, every lead she and Hoatzin had managed to dig up about the Empress, just led to another dead end.

    Currently, Raven was leaning over a bunch of papers, spread out over the living room table in the house owned by Hog and her other mercenary uncles. The house had become somewhat of a base of operations over the past few weeks and Bill would frequently help her sort through the information she had gathered over the night. He had chosen to remain and serve the last living Nightingale without hesitation, but Bill held a sort of reverent fear towards Raven now, and refused to call her anything but ''mam''.

    "Gah!" exclaimed Raven, tossing a bunch of papers into the air with frustration. The sudden movement caused poor Bill to jump in fright, dropping the tray of food he was carrying. Hearing the clashing of plates behind her, Raven sighed. "I''m sorry, Bill," she said as she slumped down in an armchair, rubbing her temples.

    "No worries, mam; the mistake was mine." Bill shook his head and started picking up the things that he had dropped. "Have you made no progress?" he asked as he moved on to gathering together the papers Raven had flung about her.

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    Raven snorted. "Made no progress? I''ve made plenty of progress, but the more I find out, the less I seem to know. . . . Take for example the strange bursts in cultivation I''ve found among a few clans in the records, at first it looked like it was only the Talon''s and their supporters, but the other day I found other cases, which appear to have no connection to the Talons, besides a shared interest in substantial trading with the other empires! If they preferred one of the two empires then that would be something to go on, but they don''t. Even the Talon''s aren''t solely increasing their export to one of them. . . .

    "And then we have the mess with the Empress! The deeper we look, the more well-executed all of it seems; they even knew about the Empress''s secret outings, to who-knows-where - outings that the Emperor seems to have taken up instead, by the way - but they missed something as huge as a meeting between all three emperors?" Raven shook her head. "Everything is just a big mess. . . . It''s almost as if someone is deliberately leading us in circles!"

    Bill placed the gathered documents on the table next to Raven. "Perhaps someone is, mam."

    Raven popped open her eyes and stared at the man in front of her. When she''d first seen him, he had looked very much like the forty five year old warrior he was; his build had been muscular, his skin leathery brown from exposure to sun and weather, and his hair had been dark and wild. Now, his body felt . . . smaller somehow, and his dark hair was turning whiter with every passing day. Raven''s memories had hit him hard.

    Granted, he didn''t zone out as much these days, but he had taken to sleeping in the basement; "so as to not risk someone seeing me through a window," he''d said, but Raven suspected he was more afraid someone might hear him, screaming out in his sleep.

    "What?" asked Bill, squirming slightly under Raven''s intense stare. It unnerved him, sending shivers down his spine and causing bloody images to flash by his eyes.

    Raven looked away. "Could that be it?" she murmured. "Could it be that the point is simply to cause disorder and distrust?" Suddenly Raven looked up at Bill again. "Bill, do you know what''s been bugging me all this time?" The grey-haired man shook his head. "Motive. Why would a foreign force help the Talons take over Nightingale prefecture? Why would, presumably the same force, frame Empress Nene for treason?"

    "Perhaps they want to get the Emperor dethroned? For being too weak, or something?" suggested Bill.

    "I considered that, and it wouldn''t be too far fetched. Since the people of Sky Empire are very fond of the Imperial family, it would be hard to bring about a shift in power without first discrediting them, but if that''s the case, then why hasn''t the rumors about the treason been spread more violently? Why hasn''t the Empress been slandered at every street corner in the city?" Raven got up and walked over to the small tinted window in the room.

    "Although most people know by now that the Empress has been accused of treason, almost no one believes it to be true, even without any clear statements from the Imperial Court. So then, what was the point behind it all? Clearly it wasn''t to entice the masses. Besides, a coup d''��tat doesn''t explain all this," said Raven and turned to gesture at the papers on the table.

    "A what?" Bill looked confused.

    Raven sighed. "Forcefully seizing the throne," she explained, and as Bill nodded in understanding, she continued; "if they wanted to remove the emperor, then strengthening the Talon Clan, as their substitute, would be a viable course of action. Even strengthening your own country''s supporters in general would make perfect sense. However, if these conspirators are the source behind these sudden increases in cultivation levels, why give the boon to both Earth and Sea supporters? The treaty between these three empires states that if one breaks the peace, then the other two would join forces in retaliation. If you mean to side-step that agreement, all the two empires need to do is attack; Sky Empire wouldn''t stand a chance."

    "To cover their tracks perhaps? Make it seem like it''s the other empire that''s planning an uprising?"

    "Possibly, but then they would want to hide their own advances, and if I can find out about both sides being strengthened, simply by looking at these - low level - records and listening in on a couple of secret conversations, then I''m certain that the Emperor''s Spy Masters can do the same." Raven looked out the window again. "Rather, it''s . . . as if they''re trying to be discovered, at least to some degree."

    "What could they hope to achieve with that?"

    Raven was silent for a moment. She had seen a similar tactic been used before, in fact, she had used it herself; divide and conquer. It focused on destabilizing one or more countries by sowing seeds of mistrust and paranoia in their governments. It would be a slow process, but with time it would gain momentum and eventually mere whispers could set off a chain reaction of chaos.

    When Raven spoke, her voice was grave and foreboding; "In the long run? Full on war."

    The room once more fell into silence. Outside, the soft patter of rain could be heard as the dark clouds in the equally dark night sky started to release their pent up water.

    After a long while, Bill asked; "then, who''s behind it, mam?"

    Raven sighed and looked gazed towards the sky. "I don''t know, Bill."

    ---------

    The rain kept falling with growing intensity, and by midnight the heavy rain fell like spears towards the ground, drenching whoever was desperate enough to venture outside.

    In a house located very close to the base of the central peak of Sky City lived a small family of six. There were three children, ranging from the ages of five to nine, their two parents, as well as the father''s own mother. As far as a commoner''s family goes, this sextet was fairly well off; the father had a stable job managing accounts for Soul Ore trades made between Sky Empire and its two neighbors. It was perhaps not a glamorous job, but it kept a mid Spirit Novice like himself, and his family, living in quiet luxury, with no worries in the world. Of course, the bribe he had accepted from the Talon''s did help.

    At the moment, the father of the house was the only person still awake as he sat by the fireplace reviewing this months ledgers. It had been a hectic month, made even worse be the sudden disappearance of one of his colleagues.

    The heavy rain outside drowned out the crackling of the flames, but also the silent footsteps behind him. Out of nowhere, a flash of lightning lit up the night sky, tightly followed by the rumbling noise of nearby thunder. In that sudden light the father happened to glance up at the wall next to him, and his eyes widened in shock; the shadow of a person was standing next to his.

    Immediately, the man started circulating the little spirit essence he had, readying his defenses. However, before he even has the opportunity to stand up, a small but firm hand pushed down on his shoulder with a thumb pressing heavily at the point right above his collarbone. Foreign and murderous spirit essence flowed into him like a flood, forcefully repressing his own. As the man felt his body stiffen against his will, a surprisingly small female figure leaned around his chair, and her two blood-red eyes met his own and in that instant, all notions of fighting back left the father of three for good.

    The girl raised her slender other hand and held a pale finger to her lips.

    "Shh. . . ." she hushed. "We have some things to talk about, you and I." The girl''s voice was uncannily soft and in stark contrast to the overwhelming blood-lust in her calm eyes. "I''d absolutely hate for us to disturb your sleeping family. . . . You''ll keep it down, right?"

    The father could only stare at the cloaked girl in fear. Before his eyes flashed images of his two sons, playing with wooden swords in the summer heat, while his youngest and only daughter sang songs with his wife.

    "Well?" The girl asked again as the already abundant killing intent she displayed increased, as did the pressure below his neck. With a whimper, the accountant father nodded frantically.

    A devilish smile spread on the girl''s face.

    "Excellent."

 Chapter 52: Nailing It

    Author''s note: Woop Woop for the sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    Nailing It

    Raven wiped off the blood on her dagger, using the robes of the dead man in front of her.

    "Another dead end," she muttered to herself as she pulled out a small piece of paper from the folds of her robes. It had gotten damp due to the rain but the slightly smudged writing was still legible. Using a cheese knife that she had found lying around, Raven pinned the note to the man''s chest, grabbed the ledgers he''d been reading not even twenty minutes earlier, and left the house.

    Although the night''s exploits had yielded little new information, Raven was at least relieved that she had managed to convince Hoatzin to not come along. She didn''t mind preforming the additional requests that the Assassin Guild''s clients often had - in fact, these personal touches made it less obvious who''d actually done the killing so she almost welcomed them - but Raven suspected that her brother wouldn''t approve.

    The reason was that, hours later, when the early-rising firstborn son of the Featherborn household wakes up and sneaks out towards the kitchen for a morning snack, he would come to find the eyeless corpse of his father, propped over the kitchen table with the words "Who''s lacking vision now?" stabbed to his bloodied chest, and the latter''s gorged out eyes staring back at the boy from a plate on said table.

    Raven was no saint, far from it. In her past life she was singlehandedly responsible for more assassinations then anyone in that ancient world''s recorded history; her death toll was in fact comparable to some of the more extreme natural disasters. The time she had spent with her new family at Nightingale Palace had been her first, and only true reprieve from all that bloodshed. Those four years had changed her greatly, but at the moment, her old persona fit her needs better and she effortlessly slipped back into it.

    As Raven made her way back to towards the outskirts of town, she sent a mental message to her brother; "It''s done." she said. "Anything new on your side?"

    Just through their connection, Raven could almost feel how Hoatzin sighed heavily. Over the past few days Hoatzin had been tailing one of the Talon Clan''s Elders, in hopes of catching him making contact with someone interesting. However, so far, the Elder had made no suspicious moves at all.

    "It is like watching paint dry. . . ." grunted Hoatzin.

    "We knew this would take time, big brother. They are being extremely cautious, but they will slip up eventually," assured Raven.

    "Yeah, yeah," muttered Hoatzin, causing Raven to raise a thin eyebrow in surprise. Her brother rarely used such informal language; this fruitless spying was clearly bothering him.

    "Keep up the good work, big brother. If we don''t get anything useful in the next couple of days, we''ll consider other options. Starting tomorrow I''ll go back to the Abyss to raise my rank above 25th. It''s high time we get access to the B-level spiritualist records at the Assassin Guild Hall."

    "Then what about the Lunar Trials?" asked Hoatzin.

    "What about them?"

    "Well, they start tomorrow, do they not? Practically the entire academy will be shipped off into the wilderness for three days."

    Raven stopped walking and swore under her breath; the upcoming exam period had totally slipped her mind - an impressive deed since it was all any of the students would talk about these last few days. That, and Raven''s challenge to Dunlin of course.

    When Raven gave him no reply, Hoatzin sent another question; "also, what are you going to do about Dunlin, and can I come and watch?" There was a hint of excitement in his voice.

    Raven shook her head. Lately she had almost started regretting how she let her emotions get the better of her and caused her to challenge Dunlin. When she considered the various scenarios that could unfold tomorrow, few of them allowed Raven to keep as many secrets about her abilities as she wished. She had very much enjoyed seeing the growing desperation that her cousin failed to hide whenever they met. Raven likewise had no intentions of letting him off easy, but she knew that the price to pay for it might be higher than she initially intended.

    "I will push him down a notch," she answered her brother, "but I''m sorry brother, you should keep following the Talon Elder - perhaps the Lunar Trials will cause a change his routines somehow."

    ". . . Fine." Hoatzin did not sound pleased.

    Because of the change of plans, Raven increased her pace, rushing back through the rain to the house where Bill waited. Since all students would be expected to rise early on the first day of the Trials, Javelin would most likely not spend as much time at the Abyss tonight as usual, and Raven would like to be in their dorm room by the time he got back. But first she needed to give Bill instructions on what to do if her uncles were to return while she was gone.

    ---------

    Later that night, when an oddly dry but tired Javelin returned back from yet another Singer-free excursion to Combat Abyss, he glanced over at his roommate''s bed and found the boy in question sleeping there, deeply, and snoring like a bear. With a lopsided grin, Javelin walked over and gave the kid a soft shove, efficiently shifting the latter''s sleeping position and ending the snores. It would seem like he was used to the procedure.

    Silently Javelin slipped into his own bed and for a while his head faced the other side of the room and his sleeping companion. As he looked at the fair-skinned boy, all of Javelin''s frustration seemed to melt away. At that point, Javelin no longer felt so annoyed by the fact that he would miss a few nights at the Abyss, in fact, a few days in the wilderness might do him some good.

    ---------

    As the very first strands of daylight started to brighten the northern sky above the imperial city, the two youths in room 207 stirred from their sleep almost simultaneously - or rather, Javelin stirred from his sleep and Raven felt it, so she stopped pretending that she was asleep.

    Together they got ready to leave for the main auditorium, where all students would gather before the Lunar Trials. Despite this being a rare moment, when both of them were present at the same time, very little was said between them, aside from the general pleasantries, such as "good morning," and "did you sleep well?". Nonetheless, the silence didn''t feel awkward to either of them. Quite the opposite, actually.

    They made their way to the auditorium, where most students had yet to arrive. However, even if the hall had been packed with people, the wild fires that were the Griffin twins'' hair would still had made them stand out from the crowd. As it was, Raven and Javelin had no problem whatsoever to find the pair and take their seats next to them.

    As the minutes passed, more students kept arriving. Once the appointed meeting time was only minutes away, Dunlin, and the other pro-noble students who kept following him around, arrived. To Raven''s surprise Dunlin no longer looked as desperate as he had before. Instead, he rather looked a bit smug as his eyes met Raven''s for a brief moment.

    ''He must have something planed,'' thought Raven while she refrained from frowning.

    "He looks pleased with himself," noted Javelin next to her and indicated his head towards Dunlin. "Will you be okay?"

    "I''ll manage." The corner of Raven''s mouth twitched into a small smile causing Javelin relax a bit. Martin, who sat on the other side of Raven, chuckled. "You better show him what real talent is, Night!" he encouraged and nudged Raven firmly in the ribs with his elbow.

    Raven didn''t bother replying because at that moment roughly a dozen Elders walked out onto the stage. Apart from Elder Willow, all her other teachers were present, and so were the first three Elders who Raven had come in contact with when she first entered the academy - Elder Kagu, Vice Headmaster Gadwall and Headmaster Swan. The other Elders bowed deeply as the Headmaster moved to the front of the stage. His shimmering white robe, and equally white hair, swayed softly with every step he took.

    He gazed over all the students seated below with eyes that held what felt like unfathomable knowledge. "Dear students," he said with a soft voice that still managed to reach every soul in the hall. "For those of you who have yet had the chance to meet me, I am Headmaster Eider Swan, and I welcome all of you to a my Sky Academy. As you all know, Sky Academy is unquestionably the best spiritualist academy throughout the empire, and has nurtured many outstanding spiritualists over the years. Part of that is due to the bimonthly Lunar Trials."

    "During the next three days, all of you will be sent into the wilderness outside the city. You will have no protection from us elders and can only rely on yourself and your fellow students to survive."

    He placed his hands behind his back and as if on a given sign, all doors to the auditorium swung open in unison. Seconds later, neat rows of girls dressed in gold-rimmed, deep grey robes filed in quietly. They were led by a handful of female Elders in lighter robes. Within this sea of women, Elder Willow was the only male, but his good looks prevented him from sticking out like a thistle among roses..

    The boys of the martial department stared at the over a hundred elegant girls with wide eyes. Slowly murmurs started spreading, but before they became too strong the headmaster spoke again. His soft voice immediately brought silence to the hall.

    "This year we have decided to send both the Martial Department Students and the Healing Department Students to the same place." Raven could almost taste the boys'' excitement in the air. "However, do not think that this will make things easier for you." He paused briefly. "This year, the Lunar Trials will take place in the Beast''s Cradle."

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    The excitement died out at once. The Beast''s Cradle was a valley, slightly north of Sky City, that was infamous for the vicious spirit beasts that roamed there. Surviving there for three days would indeed be a challenge.

    Noticing the change in atmosphere, Headmaster Swan smiled slightly and started going over the details for the following days. "Any questions?" he finally asked, and for a while no one spoke out but suddenly Raven''s face darkened. Moments later Dunlin coughed lightly and stood up.

    "Honorable Headmaster, this one would like to take the opportunity to settle a disagreement with a junior, if Headmaster Swan would be so kind as to act as our witness."

    Swan wasn''t the only Elder on stage who frowned slightly at Dunlin''s request, but the headmaster quickly recovered. "Is this perhaps related to the skill-challenge that was given in the Divine Library, just over a month ago?" he asked calmly.

    At first Dunlin looked a bit surprised but he soon bowed respectfully. "Headmaster is indeed wise."

    The white clothed headmaster looked over at Raven, who returned his gaze calmly. Behind him, Elder Kagu stepped forward to object but Swan lifted a hand to stop him. "Very well," he said. "Both of you, come up on stage."

    Dunlin shot Raven a vicious snicker and walked up on stage devoid of hesitation. Her cousin''s odd confidence baffled Raven. She had assumed that Dunlin would want to push it all off as long as possible, but here he was, rearing to go, and in front of practically the entire school.

    ''I don''t believe he''s actually mastered it. . . .'' she thought as she too stood up and headed over to the stage. ''Not much I can do about it now though.''

    Once both were on the stage Dunlin started to give a very biased description of what had happened in the library, weeks before. Some of the Elders, who clearly hadn''t heard the story before, widened their eyes in shock when they heard which skill Dunlin had agreed to learn; all of them knew how impossible the Frozen Onslaught was to master.

    Finally Dunlin turned to Raven. "I''ll give you one last opportunity, Junior Night; admit your mistakes and we shall put this behind us," he offered with well-faked sincerity, but Raven''s only response was a cold stare.

    "Very well," sighed Dunlin, but bright glee filled his eyes. "I gave you a way out. Perhaps you will regret it after you''ve seen this." He waved his hand theatrically and a thick brick appeared in it. "Would an Elder be so kind as to assist this one by holding this?" Dunlin bowed deeply. All the Elders furrowed their brows; none of them felt inclined to get involved in a what they saw as a squabble between students. They were however equally surprised when Vice Headmaster Gadwall suddenly stepped forward, his eyes curious and alert as always.

    Dunlin bowed once more, gave the brick to Gadwall and then turned to talk to the other students. "The Divine Skill I''ve been learning is perhaps not a very strong one, but it very profound. The principle behind it is to produce maximum strength with minimum movement. Observe."

    He turned back to towards the Vice Headmaster and let his clenched fist hover barely a decimeter from the stone brick. Suddenly wild currents of spirit essence surged through his body and condensed at his fist. With a loud shout, Dunlin lashed out and punched the brick. With a click, the brick split evenly in two.

    The students and elders looked at Dunlin with equal shock. He had just executed the Frozen Onslaught!

    "How is that possible?" breathed an Elder baffled.

    "A genius! An utter genius!"

    The Headmaster shook his head slightly. "It is indeed impressive to have gained such understanding towards the Frozen Onslaught in this short time, but the skill is not yet mastered. Nonetheless, well done Junior Student Talon.

    A dark shadow flashed across Dunlin''s eyes but it disappeared before anyone noticed it. He lifted up one of the broken pieces of the brick and tossed it towards Raven.

    "It is true that I have yet to fully master it, but I will get there soon." His eyes drilled into Raven''s. "Can Junior Night say the same for your skill?" he mocked.

    Raven blinked a few times while she stood, seemingly dumbfounded, with the broken brick piece in on hand. Her friends in the crowd even started to worry something might have gone wrong.

    While her friends worried, Raven bit down on her tongue to stop herself from laughing. ''You call that a Frozen Onslaught?'' she thought to herself. ''Oh, Dunlin. . . .''

    "Something wrong?" jeered Dunlin, snapping Raven back to the matter at hand.

    "Not at all," she said with a cold smile. "I was simply considering who I should ask to aid me in my demonstration. I require someone to attack me, with a sword preferably. Perhaps, Senior Talon would do me the honor?"

    As expected, Dunlin happily agreed. It would seem like he truly believed that Raven had made no progress at all with her Thunder Lock. Moments later, the two cousins stood face to face, both armed with double-handed swords. Dunlin didn''t wait for Raven to ask and instead swung at Raven''s head without warning. He used no spirit essence, but Raven was sure that it was only due to the presence of so many witnesses.

    Dunlin had expected Raven to freak out at his sudden attack, but her face was as unmoved as a mask. Her body, however, was not so motionless. As Dunlin''s heavy blade approached her head, Raven swung up an arm, covered in electrical sparks, and wrapped it around the sword. At the same time, she used her other hand to stab the two-handed sword towards Dunlin''s heart. A thunderclap rang out in the air as thousands of sparks flowed from Raven''s arms and hands, through the two swords and directly at Dunlin.

    Dunlin''s eyes barely had the time to widen in shock before Raven''s blade and thunder reached him. Her response had been too quick and too unexpected for Dunlin to be able to muster up any kind of defense. A murderous flare lit up Raven''s deep red eyes.

    "Enough." Headmaster Swan''s voice was still as soft as before, but everyone in the auditorium could feel the oppressive force behind it.

    Raven immediately froze, her blade only a hair away from stabbing into Dunlin''s chest, but while her body stopped moving, she made no attempts to stop the electrical current from blasting into Dunlin''s body. The sudden impact flung him backwards a few meters where his body twitched violently a couple of times in intense seizures. About half of the students in the crowd, burst out laughing at the sight.

    Hiding her glee masterfully, Raven quickly bowed so low she might as well have kowtowed. "This one is deeply sorry, Headmaster Snow. The Thunder Lock is still new to me and there are a few control issues remaining."

    "Control issues, my ass!" bellowed Dunlin, who had managed to get back up on his feet. "You did it on purpose!"

    "Junior Talon," Vice Headmaster Gadwall cut in with a stern tone, "mind your words."

    Amazingly enough, Dunlin managed to rein in his rage after only a few breaths. After a last glare, he instead turned to the headmaster. "What is Headmaster Swan''s ruling?"

    The headmaster seemed to consider it for a while. "Well, even though it is an impressive feat to have learned the Thunder Lock in such a short time, I must say that Junior Student Talon''s understanding of the Frozen Onslaught is more impressive. . . ." As he spoke white haired man glanced over at Raven. The look in his eyes caused Raven to frown.

    ''Does he know something?''

    "Well," continued the headmaster, "if no one has anything more to add . . ."

    Now Raven was certain; Swan knew she was holding back.

    ''They must keep records of what skills students learn,'' realized Raven. A cold smile spread on her face. ''No point in hiding it any longer then,'' she decided and took a step forward. "Actually," she said, stepping forward a few steps, "I was wondering if Headmaster could give me some pointers."

    "Oh?"

    "You see, I have also been studying the Frozen Onslaught, but my understanding seems to be quite different from Senior Talon''s. . . ."

    Dunlin stared at Raven in shock, but it quickly turned to contempt. "You shouldn''t waste the headmasters time with your little tricks, Junior Night. We all know that there is no way you could have understood anything at all about that skill. Don''t be such a sore loser and just admit your defeat." Skillfully hiding his mouth from the Elders, Dunlin continued to spell out the word ''slave'' for only Raven to see.

    The headmaster on the other hand smiled warmly. "Now, now, I''m always happy to give advice to my students. Show us what you have learned."

    Raven bowed and questioningly held out the half of the brick Dunlin had lobbed to her earlier in front of her. She didn''t need to ask before Gadwall stepped forward to hold up the brick for her.

    Raven took a deep calming breath and held up her fist, just like Dunlin had, the only apparent difference was that Raven placed her fist directly on the brick. Dunlin couldn''t help but snort at the sight, but Raven took no notice. She stood like this, with her fist to the rock, for perhaps two breaths time before suddenly she exhaled forcefully. Within her spirit essence exploded, forward, but there was an overwhelming sense of structure to it, with so little spirit essence leaking out that most students didn''t even notice the Divine Skill being activated.

    With a soft *click* the brick, held between Gadwall''s hands and Raven''s fist, shattered into a thousand pieces.

 Chapter 53: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    Almost every person in the auditorium drew a collective breath of shock as they witnessed the fine powder of the crushed stone falling to the ground, like a small river of dust. They could simply not believe their eyes.

    Raven''s lips twitched slightly while she lowered her gaze towards the newly formed dust pile below her hand. Although the Frozen Onslaught was based on a martial technique very similar to one she already knew, without the added benefits of the spirit essence, the destructive force had never been that great. Nor could it be executed while in actual contact with the target - one would have needed at least an inch to gather some momentum for the strike to have effect.

    ''Spirit essence is truly wondrous,'' Raven thought, pleased, to herself and relaxed her body.

    Only now did Raven take note of the oppressing silence in the hall. As she lifted her head, her eyes met with Gadwall''s and, for a brief moment, Raven thought she saw a shimmer of black light flashing across his otherwise golden eyes. However, the vice headmaster soon looked at her with same refreshed curiosity as always, only perhaps more intently now.

    Off to the side, Dunlin stared at the spot where the stone had previously been held in unbelieving shock. He, more than any of the other students, could clearly tell that what Raven had just pulled off was a perfectly performed Frozen Onslaught. Almost subconsciously, Dunlin''s eyes shifted to size up the reactions of the various Elders gathered on stage. To his malcontent, he noticed that the previous looks of quiet approval towards him, had been replaced with wondrous awe for Raven. Even the headmaster seemed genuinely impressed by Raven''s performance.

    As for the other students, none of them had even had the chance to process what they just witnessed before Raven turned to the Headmaster and gave a shallow bow, with that same motionlessly cold look she always wore. "I ask for the Headmaster''s guidance," she said as she straightened out.

    Swan blinked a few times; for a moment he seemed to have forgotten the reason behind Raven''s words, but his grey eyes soon soon cleared and he smiled warmly at her. Slowly he shook his head. "Most impressive, Junior Student Night, but I''m afraid I have no further advice to give; that Frozen Onslaught was perfectly executed."

    With their headmaster''s statement, the rest of the students finally accepted what they had previously thought impossible; Raven had mastered the infamously impossible skill. This caused an uproar of murmurs to explode in the auditorium but they were, however, quickly surpassed by Dunlin''s angry voice.

    "How is that even possible?" he shouted. "Clearly he must have cheated somehow!"

    Headmaster Swan frowned but before he could say anything Raven spoke first; "and how do you propose I cheated?" she asked giving Dunlin a cold glare. "You can''t get away from the fact that I just performed a mastered Frozen Onslaught, or do you doubt the Headmasters judgement as well?"

    Dunlin swallowed. "Of course not, but you . . . you must have learned it before enrolling at Sky Academy! It shouldn''t count to our bet!"

    Raven was about to speak again when, this time, the headmaster stepped forward instead. "Now, now, students, let''s not argue about details. As I understand it, the bet was regarding whether or not Student Night could master the Thunder Lock before Student Talon mastered the Frozen Onslaught, correct?" Apparently Swan thought the question rhetorical, because he continued speaking without waiting for a reply; "I think we all can agree that Student Night succeeded in this."

    The other Elders nodded in agreement, and yet Dunlin wasn''t willing to give up. "But Headmaster," he shouted. "This sla-. . . I mean, Student Night must have learned the Frozen Onslaught before coming here, what''s to say he didn''t . . ."

    "Enough," Swan''s soft, yet oddly firm voice cut Dunlin off mid-sentence, his grey eyes fixing themselves intently on the latter. "Even if student Night picked up one, or even both, skills before coming here, fact remains that he mastered them before you did. Considering his age, that is an impressive deed in itself. My ruling is final, Raven Night is the winner."

    Roughly half the students in the audience started cheering wildly, with the two twins'' cheers almost drowning out the rest on their own. Javelin had a quiet smile on his face as he too clapped loudly. Slowly the students'' cheers turned into a chant; "Senior Night! Senior Night!" they called excitedly. Evidently they had heard what the stakes were for the bet.

    Dunlin looked almost nauseous up on stage. He looked from the Elders to the students, and finally resting his eyes on Raven, who seemed as emotionless and unfazed as ever. He knew what he had agreed to, but to actually have to do it - call the little slave his senior, and before the entire Academy to boot - would be his greatest humiliation yet.

    However, instead of cursing himself for picking such a public stage, his contempt towards Raven only grew as he blamed her for his predicament. He clenched his fists. He was frantically thinking of a way out of this bargain when Raven moved towards the edge of the stage, causing the students to quiet down.

    "Although I won this bet, having someone nearly six years my senior referring to me as their Senior . . . just doesn''t seem right." Through the corner of her eyes, Raven shot Dunlin a cold glare that no one else noticed. "I would be more than satisfied if he simply refrain from slandering me and my friends by giving us nicknames in the future. Referring to me as your fellow student is more than enough." Raven flashed the crowd a rare smile before she turned her attention towards Dunlin.

    While Raven spoke, Dunlin''s face had grown increasingly purple. Although it might seem to others like Raven was giving him an easy way out, for Dunlin, she was actually only making it worse. Before it had only been part of a bet - he could have called her Senior Night once and been done with it - but now the slave was showing mercy to him, the noble.

    Not only that, the fact was that removing the seniority part from the prefix was generally something nobles only did for other nobles. It was fine as long as people were ''Junior Student'' or ''Senior Student'', since that was simply a question of age, but just ''Student'' was a sign of equality.

    At the same time, if Dunlin now chose to ignore Raven''s supposed olive branch and instead called her ''Senior Student'' anyway, he would have to explain his actions by admitting Raven''s superior talents. Dunlin really couldn''t say which option was worse.

    Eventually, Vice Headmaster Gadwall gave a slight cough. "What are you waiting for, Junior Student Talon?" he asked impatiently.

    If looks could kill, Raven would have died on the spot but under Gadwall''s urging, Dunlin finally grunted out "it''s your win, Student Night," and stalked off of stage. The students went wild yet again.

    With a hidden smile, Raven started following Dunlin off the stage, but she stopped when the headmaster stepped in the way of her path. Facing the other students, he quieted them down and instructed them to gather at the landing platform allocated for the Academy''s main entrance, in one hour. As the students started filing out of the room, Swan instead turned to Raven.

    "Come with me," he said with a smile and left without waiting for a reply. Raven glanced out towards Javelin and the twins before she obediently trailed off after the headmaster.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ---------

    Headmaster Swan led Raven down practically the same path as Elder Kagu had, almost two months prior, finally ending up in the spirit essence isolated office that Raven had been having so much trouble getting into.

    This time Headmaster Swan didn''t head for the seat behind the large desk and instead sat down in one of the lavish arm chairs in the room, indicating for Raven to do the same. Swan watched Raven sit down with warm eyes - until now, neither of them had said a word.

    Raven couldn''t help but feel a bit nervous, subconsciously tensing her body in preparation to flee if things turned bad. She didn''t like that Swan had known she was holding back her abilities, and fact was that he was way too strong for Raven to be able to put up a fight if he turned out to be an enemy; just sitting this close to him and the brilliantly yellow presence of a Spirit Master made her feel slightly dizzy. Raven could only hope that the Twilight Lullaby would buy her whatever time she needed to get away, if need be.

    As if sensing her discomfort, Swan''s smile widened. "Don''t worry Night, you''re not in trouble," he said and produced a white paper scroll, seemingly from the spacial ring on his finger. "I just wanted to talk to you about this."

    Raven accepted the outstretched parchment and started unrolling it. Immediately her eyes widened unnoticeably before she, amazingly enough, genuinely started blushing.

    ''Of course,'' she thought to herself, ''I should have guessed!''

    Within the scroll was, listed in neat rows, hundreds of Divine Skills, and Raven recognized them all; it was the 487 skills she had managed to find and imprint with since she started at the Academy. Even Raven had been quite pleased with her haul, and had recently considered moving up to the second floor, only there were too many people there for her to work unnoticed.

    "That is quite an impressive accomplishment," said Swan, his thoughts unfathomable behind that warm smile of his.

    For once, Raven wasn''t sure what to do. It didn''t really matter that the headmaster knew how many skills she had learned, what mattered was whether or not this would cause him to investigate her past more closely or start restraining her moves. Especially the latter would be . . . problematic.

    ''I''ll have to wait and see where Swan is going with this,'' she decided and gave the headmaster a simple nod as her reply.

    "From today''s display I assume you have an affinity for learning Divine Skills, rather than having found some kind of loop hole to the system, am I right?"

    Raven nodded again and she could see a flash of excitement in Swan''s eyes. "Could you walk me trough what happens when you make an imprint with a Divine Skill?" he asked.

    Raven pondered this for a moment. "There''s nothing to it really," she eventually said, pensively, "I make the imprint and images of how I should move both my body and my spirit essence flow through my mind. Then I just need to mimic it."

    More excitement flashed behind Swan''s grey eyes as he sat, silently observing Raven for a while. His gaze made Raven feel slightly uncomfortable, but she showed none of it to the white haired man in front of her. Finally, the headmaster flicked his wrist and three new scrolls appeared, landing on the small coffee table between them.

    The very second the three scrolls appeared, strong fluctuations of spirit essence accompanied them, and Raven couldn''t help but stare at the scrolls in absolute awe.

    "Th . . . these are . . ." she stuttered.

    "These are three of Sky Academy''s most legendary Divine Skills," said the headmaster proudly. "They are legendary not only because of their levels, but also because of how hard they are to learn."

    Raven kept looking at the scrolls. In her eyes they shined so brightly that not even the thousands of scrolls on the first floor of the Divine Library combined could rival their luminescence. She felt her mouth go dry, her breathing more rapid.

    "Seeing how you have a knack for learning Divine Skills, I will let you pick one of them. If you can master it before you graduate, you may pick a second one."

    Only now did Raven''s head snap back up. "Are you for real?" she asked, her blood red eyes meeting Swan''s grey. Her previous apprehension towards the man was gone without a trace. The presence of the scrolls was too enticing.

    The headmaster nodded and got up from his chair. "Take your time, Night, I will give you some privacy." Swan walked over to a second door which Raven had barely noticed last time she was here. "When you''ve decided, let me know." He walked into the next room, but before he closed the door behind him her popped out his head again and added; "Oh, and don''t worry about the Lunar Trials, I will have someone bring you to the Beast''s Cradle once you are done."

    With that the door closed and Raven was left alone in the headmaster''s office with the three brightly shining Divine Scrolls.

    ---------

    In another small and secluded room, with walls well guarded against uninvited ears, stood three figures in what seemed like heated argument. The first, and largest figure stood leaning against an unlit, open fireplace - his face was partially hidden by shadows but dark eyes gleamed in the dim light. The other two figures were considerably smaller, but were teeming with anger. This was especially the case for one of them, whose hair and skin was noticeably lighter than the other one''s. With a raised fist the brown haired boy shouted loudly at the taller figure.

    "You said it was only a trick! You assured me that the little prick was simply mimicking the ability superficially and that it would be enough for me to do the same!" Dunlin slammed his fist into a nearby cabinet. "Do you realize that I''ll be forced to call that little slave my fellow student from now on?"

    The taller figure said nothing.

    "Dunlin has a point," added the third person with the voice belonging to Jack Tanuki, "this will weaken our position here at the school. . . ."

    Still, the figure by the fireplace said nothing.

    Dunlin''s already red face turned even redder. "Need I remind you of your agreement with the Talon Clan, Elder W?" There was a tone of mockery in his voice when he spoke the name.

    Finally, there was some reaction from the figure, but perhaps not the one Dunlin had expected; holding out a pale hand, the mysterious Elder W simply snapped his fingers. At once hot flames appeared in the fireplace, without so much as a trace of detectable spirit essence reaching the two youths behind him. Jack and Dunlin stared wide-eyed at the flames as a gravelly voice, which seemed almost otherworldly, filled the room.

    "You don''t need to remind me of our agreement, young master Talon," said the figure with repressed anger, "but I warned you about that child, and recommended you befriend him. When you didn''t, I still helped you gain some insights to that so called Divine Skill of yours. It was your choice to act as you did, and you will have to deal with the consequences."

    Dunlin snorted, but said nothing more. However, the figure continued speaking; "Leave the Night child alone for now - I may have use for him." At this, Dunlin''s eyes narrowed, he was about to object when the flames in the fireplace shuddered once and turned from orange to dark black. Suddenly both Jack and Dunlin found it hard to breathe - instinctively, they took a few steps back.

    "Go, you have a Lunar Trial to attend to," the gravelly voice spoke once more and not surprisingly both of the youths left without a fuss.

    In front of the fire, the figure muttered quietly to himself - whatever he said, no one was there to hear him.

 Chapter 54: The Lunar Trials

    A big thank you to my sponsors</a> for this chapter!

    <hr />

    The Lunar Trials

    As dozens of Everest Hawks spread their blue-tipped wings and took flight - carrying the vast majority of students enrolled at the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts towards the trial grounds - Raven was still seated in the armchair that the headmaster had left her in. She had yet to even touch any of the Divine Scrolls in front of her; the spirit essence fluctuations around them were just too mesmerizing.

    Judging by her prior experience with scrolls of lower level Divine Skills, she guessed that of the three skills before her, two were amazingly enough level eight skills! The lay next to each other, radiating equally dazzling aqua green light that would put any gem to shame. However, the scroll that caught Raven''s attention the most was the third, slightly dimmer scroll. The Divine Skill stored within seemed to be a level lower than the other two - its essence fluctuations were a bit less oppressive - but what made it unique was the color of said fluctuations.

    Contrariety to any other scroll Raven had laid her eyes on, this one was shrouded in pulsating, pitch black flames that, every now and then, shimmered with purple light.

    Hesitating for only a moment longer, Raven took a deep breath and picked up the black scroll. The moment it came in contact with her skin, Raven felt the familiar sensation of foreign spirit essence flowing into her, probing her, only it was more intense now than it had been with the Twilight Lullaby.

    ''How peculiar.'' Raven suddenly got the feeling that the scroll was almost sentient, and if it didn''t approve of her, she would never truly unlock its secrets.

    Carefully, Raven unrolled the part of scroll that wasn''t sealed to read the skill description within. The first thing she saw the skill name, written in golden letters at the beginning of the scroll: ''Retribution''. A sudden shudder Raven down Raven''s spine.

    Oddly enough, there was no further description of what the Divine Skill actually did, there was only a small verse:

    If they can''t be forgiven,

    then let them be burned.

    For that which is given,

    must be tenfold returned.

    A second shudder ran through Raven as she finished reading, only this time it reached her very soul causing her spirit essence to stir involuntarily. Subconsciously, Raven retrieved her identification stone from within her spatial ring. She was about to unlock the seal on the imprint when her hand paused.

    ''What am I doing?'' she thought, ''I don''t even know what this skill is. . . .''  Her gaze was almost frightened as she stared at the scroll in her hands. Quickly, Raven returned it to the table, but even as it left her hands, that probing sensation stayed with her.

    "What I''m lacking most right now is a powerful finishing blow," she muttered to herself, shaking her head in hopes of clearing it. "I should look at the other skills first. . . ."

    Before Raven had a chance to finish her train of thought however, the purplish black flames around the Retribution scroll intensified and searing pain stabbed at Raven''s mind. Instinctively, Raven cradled her head and tried to activate her spirit essence to block out the sudden assault on her Soul Prism, but to no avail.

    Raven could only helplessly observe as the foreign spirit essence from the scroll pierced her soul prism like a hot knife through butter. A connection between her Soul Prism and the scroll was established, causing the latter to once again intensify its glow. As if aided by invisible hands, the scroll hovered above the table and slowly unrolled itself, completely ignoring the seal that had been placed on its imprint.

    Raven felt the words of the verse being imprinted on her soul prism, together with two more verses she couldn''t quite make out. A few minutes later, the pain subsided together with the foreign spirit essence. The scroll, now dull and lifeless, fell back down on the table with a hollow *clunk*; the imprint was done.

    For a couple of minutes Raven sat in a daze. She had no idea what had just happened, and more importantly, she didn''t know how it even could happen. Raven had never heard of a Divine Skill that forced a imprint with a spiritualist before. In her soul, she could sense the insights from the imprint slightly altering the structure of her soul prism; it felt sturdier somehow, her spirit connections seemed more resilient.

    As for the Divine Skill itself, the instructions were unusually vague. Raven could tell that there were stages for mastering Retribution, which all revolved around reflecting an opponents attack and returning the damage tenfold. The higher her stage of understanding, the stronger attacks would she be able to return. But apart from that, not much guidance was provided. It was more like the imprint showed Raven the destination but she had to find the right path on her own.

    "Such a profound skill," she breathed. Without bothering about her location, Raven started playing through all the Divine Skills she had already mastered, as well as the countless martial techniques she had learned to perfection in her past life. Every now and then she would come across a technique or skill that the Retribution imprint seemed to resonate with, giving Raven some indication of which direction she should continue in.

    It wasn''t until a soft cough sounded out next to Raven''s ear that her concentration was shattered and she realized that she was no longer alone in the office anymore; the headmaster had returned. Raven frowned slightly, she didn''t expect him to return so soon, and certainly not without her noticing him entering.

    Swan smiled apologetically. "I''m sorry, Student Night, but I need my office back." Noting Raven''s confusion he quickly added, "it''s been almost a day. . . ."

    "An entire day?" Raven''s eyes widened. ''That''s impossible!''

    "Indeed." Headmaster Swan held up the drained scroll that had held the Retribution imprint. "I see you''ve made your choice."

    "That . . ." started Raven but Swan stopped her. "Don''t worry," he said, "these are all one-use scrolls." He sank down in the armchair across from hers. "So, what do you think about the Divine Skill Retribution, will you be able to learn it?"

    For a moment Raven considered telling the headmaster what she had experienced, but opted against it in the end. Her gut told her that being chosen by a Divine Skill was something best kept to herself. Instead she sighed and answered the question she''d been asked.

    "I''m not sure . . ." Raven said, "it''s so different from what I expected."

    "Give it time, Student Night. With Divine Skills like this, it''s sometimes best to not force it." The headmaster held out his hand and a brown bag appeared in it. "Here, take this. I have arranged for someone to take you to the Beast''s Cradle - you will have missed half the trials but the adventure might do you good."

    Raven took the bag that, her senses told her, was filled with dried fruits and meat. After a slightly dejected glance around the office Raven left. She now regretted not having the presence of mind to look around a bit before examining the scrolls.

    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

    Once the door closed behind Raven, Headmaster Swan''s warm smile faded slightly as he looked out the rooms only window. Intermingled with his smile was now an odd mixture of excitement and pity.

    In the next breath, the door headmaster Swan had previously left through opened and a seemingly ordinary elder walked in. He looked very relaxed in his movements, and had Raven still been inside she would immediately recognized the man who usually dozed by the gateway to the southern peak campus.

    "I thought you were going to tell the boy about the other realms, big brother," said the man.

    "I was, but then I saw this." The headmaster tossed the now empty scroll to his brother, whose eyes instantly widened in shock when he realized what he had caught.

    "Retribution," he breathed, "and he drained it fully. . . ."

    "Not only that, the kid started gaining insights right away - he didn''t even notice when I entered the room."

    Now the headmaster''s excitement was mirrored in his brother. "Do you think he is . . ."

    "Perhaps, but what''s important now is that we help him grow. We should know more in a few years."

    The brother nodded before a gave a small sigh. "It''s a pity that he is not yet an Adept or we could have started right away."

    "Aves, do not get over excited. The child is barely six - even by their standards, that isn''t considered slow," reprimanded Headmaster Swan. "Let us be patient. And not a word about this to anyone."

    His brother nodded in agreement.

    ---------

    Meanwhile, a still slightly bewildered Raven had made her way out of the building and was now seated on the back of an Everest Hawk, headed straight for the Beast''s Cradle. She had been asked if she wanted the Elder to follow her all the way to her destination but had declined. She wanted time to think and the Everest Hawk would have no problems flying the fairly short distance without constant supervision.

    The Everest Hawk soared through the sky, while Raven tried to analyze what she had just experienced but not much could be deduced apart from the vague direction her new skill wanted her to train in. Her lips twitched slightly. ''It would seem like I have found myself a challenge. . . .'' The thought made Raven feel a sort of excitement she hadn''t felt in a long while.

    The journey to the Beast''s cradle by Everest Hawk was truly not a long one. Less than an hour had passed when Raven and the glacier blue bird she was riding passed over the outer rim of an exceptionally vicious looking mountain range. This mountain range formed a large ellipse, filled with dense forests. At its very center grew an enormous tree that stretched up above the others with a couple of hundred meters. Raven was still a kilometer away, but she could easily tell how monstrously big that tree was.

    Supposedly, the academy students should have made their camp in a small alcove at the foot of the tree. From there, the stronger, or perhaps simply bolder, students would venture out into the surrounding forest to hunt for spirit beasts and other things that would give them merit points.

    Currently Raven was heading straight for that large tree, but before she could get even half way there, cold killing intent burst out from her, causing the large bird under her to noticeably quiver in fear. Without bothering to attempt overriding the instructions that the bird had been given by the elder that had sent her off, Raven simply took a step to the right, letting herself slip off of the birds back and plummet towards the ground.

    She had been barely one hundred meters above the tree line and by the time the bird realized what she had done Raven was more than half-way down. With a shriek the Hawk dove after her, desperately flapping its wings to catch up, but it was too late; Raven small body crashed into the tree line causing a whirlwind of leaves to swirl up into the air. The Everest Hawk had no other choice than to forcefully halt its decent - the branches were simply too densely packed for it to be able to follow Raven down. Worried, the big bird started circulating above the trees.

    Down below, Raven hit the ground running with gusts of wind blowing around her feet. She had utilized the trees and a couple movement skills to slow her decent to an impact speed her body could handle. At some later point she would reflect over the fact that she had managed a free fall of over a hundred meters without as much as a scratch but now was not the time.

    Three hundred meters further east of her current position Raven felt the familiar presence of Javelin and the two Griffin twins, but the reason for her haste was not their presence, rather it was the dozen spirit beasts that surrounded them.

    The three boys were fighting valiantly against their opponents, especially Javelin, who used a long metal staff to fight off multiple attacking beasts at the same time. However, even from the air Raven had been able to tell that it was a losing battle for the boys. Although they were individually as strong as - or in Javelin''s case, stronger than - their opponents, the numbers were simply against them. Raven could clearly smell the tang of human blood in the air growing thicker by the second.

    Running at full speed, it didn''t take Raven long to come within line of sight of the battle ground. Even between the trees, Raven saw how twelve Panthera Drakes took turns attacking her friends. Their swift leopard dotted bodies would blur and reappear next to one of the boys, where they used spirit essence covered talons - reminiscent of a dragon''s - to swipe down at their target with amazing force and speed.

    However, the claws were far from the most dangerous aspect of these beasts; they possessed two sharp horns, growing where their ears should have been, and their tails were long, whip-like things with spikes at the tip. Seeing the beasts in person, it became clear to Raven that they were only toying with the boys - they wanted to make a sport out of their kill.

    By the looks of things, they were not far off from succeeding.

    The killing intent within Raven surged and, even though she was unsure of how its effects would be on multiple targets, she didn''t hesitate before activating the Ode of Woe. A barely tangible red mist shot out towards the pack of Panthera Drakes. For a moment they shuddered as a sudden sense of peril rolled over them, but their fear didn''t last long; their primal nature kicked in to set them free from the thin-spread effects of Raven''s attack. However, that heartbeat of frozen fear was all Raven needed to arrive among them.

    Like a angel of death, Raven descended on the group and crouched down low to plunge a black short-sword into the belly of the closest beast, piercing its spirit core with steadfast precision. Even before the beast''s corpse hit the ground, Raven had moved on to the next one, making a similarly easy target of it. By now, however, the rest of the beasts had shrugged off the initial fear induced by the Ode of Woe and realizing that a new enemy had arrived. Veteran killers, the beasts immediately shifted their attention to Raven - the three boys had been pushed too far to pose any real danger to them anyway.

    As one, the remaining ten Panthera Drakes roared and charged at Raven; they weren''t playing around anymore.

 Chapter 55: Combined Assault

    Combined Assault

    Under the combined assault of ten Panthera Drakes, all with similar strengths as the sealed Raven, the pressure on the latter increased tremendously. The beasts'' pack instincts shone through as they expertly covered each others weaknesses, making in increasingly hard for Raven to find an opening.

    Nonetheless, in the flurry of tail lashes, claw swipes and charging headbutts, Raven managed to avoid injury by relying mainly on movement skills such as Shadow Walk and Illusive Step - one of her newer skill additions that employed a peculiar type of footwork to fake her own trajectories. Simultaneously, whenever she found the opportunity, Raven lashed out with her sword, faster than the eye could follow, and although she had yet to bring down a third Panthera Drake, all of them had vicious lacerations criss-crossing across their bodies within seconds.

    Realizing that they were having a hard time pinning down their new attacker, the ten beasts growled angrily. Vicious streams of spirit essence surged through their bodies, collecting at the back of their throats.

    "Watch out!" called three boys who sensed the rising essence in the Panthera Drakes, but Raven had already reacted.

    As the feline creatures opened their fanged maws, raging blue flames were breathed out towards their opponent, an almost serene calm descended on Raven''s face. When the flame breath of the closest Drake was merely a inch away from slamming into her upper body, the twins could help but look away. Only Javelin, who had already lost the strength to even stand and yet forced himself watch, saw his roommate''s back bending flexibly out of the flames path to the point where Raven''s unarmed hand actually touched the ground behind her.

    The same instant as her hand made contact with the ground, the soft chime of bells rang out in the forest and a subtle yet undeniable tremor ran through the ground, causing the leaves in the nearby trees to slightly rustle as the minute vibrations spread up their trunks. But Raven''s movements didn''t stop there. Her body continued its motion and, for a moment, ended up standing on one arm, before she pivoted around - avoiding another three fire blasts in the process - and got back on her feet, causing yet another chime of bells to ring out.

    At this point the intensity of the battle increased dramatically; blue streams of flames attacked Raven from every angle but she swiftly avoided them all, bells chiming out every time she made contact with the ground. For Javelin, it looked more like a nymph dancing in a sea of blue fire, than a boy fighting for his life.

    Suddenly, Raven saw an opening and lashed out with her sword. Needless to say, she had judged correctly and the blade hit its mark. It wasn''t a very powerful stab, and Raven barely pierced an inch into the Panthera Drakes thick skin, but as the black blade sunk an inch into the beast, and that same bell noise rang, the following vibrations were a lot more intense than before.

    The beast''s body shook violently and immense pain could be seen in the animal''s eyes. It did it''s best to resist but it didn''t take long before it spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

    For a brief moment, the remaining nine Panthera Drakes halted their assaults as they stared disbelievingly at their fallen comrade. They too had witnessed how Raven''s strike barely penetrated the skin, and yet, the results were almost an instant knock out!

    ''Tch, I got it wrong,'' thought Raven as she observed her handiwork. The Divine Skill she had been utilizing during these last couple of exchanges was the sixth level Sonic Sword skill, Dance of Bells that she had gained her first insights to a while back. When executed perfectly, Raven''s hands, feet and blade would induce a subtle shock-wave upon contact that, if tuned correctly to its targets body and mass, would resonate with the various internal organs, leading to self-destruction. The beast in front of her had been severely wounded, but not to the maximal degree.

    Although taken aback, the Panthera Drakes only hesitated for a moment before they resumed their attacks with bloodshot eyes and blind rage. However, Raven was not an opponent who could be defeated by someone who had let their emotions get the better of them - five minutes later, the eleventh beast fell, unconscious, to the ground. The final creature finally realized that it would undoubtedly die if it stayed around, so it turned to flee.

    The sight of the fleeing spirit beast caused the three boys to release a collective sigh of relief - the battle was over at last.  Raven on the other hand didn''t relax quite yet. She retrieved a set of daggers from within her spatial ring and launched them after the fleeing beast. Sparks of lightning trailed after the daggers as they blasted through the forest with incredible speed. Before the lone Panthera Drake even realized what was happening, the daggers had already penetrated its back, sending paralyzing electrical shocks throughout the already wounded beast''s body.

    Only when the last spirit beast hit the leafy ground did Raven seem to relax her body a bit. With hurried steps she approached her three friends - even without touching them, she could tell that they had some serious internal injuries, especially Javelin. Despite this, all three of them were doing their best to stay conscious.

    Raven''s hands started glowing with a warm light as she crouched down next to them. She placed one hand over Javelin''s abdomen, where a large gash oozed fresh blood, and the other on Martin''s thigh, which was severely burnt. The healing energy from her Blessed Hand skill seeped into the two boys and the pain in their faces lessened significantly, but as for actually healing their wounds, the process was slow and ineffective; it was after all only a level two Divine Skill and Raven was far from adept at using it.

    "Do any of you know a stronger healing skill?" she asked.

    Lark, who was slightly better off than the other two glanced at Javelin before he sighed deeply, causing himself to wince at the sudden stabbing pain in his chest. "Javelin does," he wheezed, "but . . ."

    He didn''t need to finish the sentence, Raven knew that Javelin was in no condition to use any Divine Skills at the moment. She looked down on the bleeding wounds she was treating and frowned, her healing was simply not effective enough. If it continued like this, the damages might have permanent consequences.

    "We have this though." Lark''s voice interrupted Raven''s silent contemplation. In his outstretched was a small glass vial with a opaque red liquid within. Raven''s eyes widened. ''Philosopher''s Blood!''

    She paused her healing and quickly snatched up the bottle. She poured a third of its content into Javelin''s mouth, another third into Martin''s, but when she held up the bottle to Lark he refused. "Give it to Javelin, he can heal me once he''s fixed."

    Raven hesitated for a moment. She cold tell that Lark''s wounds were not as simple as he would have her believe, but eventually she poured the rest of the red liquid into Javelin''s mouth, gently tilting his head to help him swallow. She then moved next to Lark and once more activated her Blessed Hand and started healing him best she could. As for the other two boys, Raven didn''t feel worried anymore. The moment the red liquid made contact with their lips, the amazing restorative qualities of a the Philosopher''s Blood already started having effect and by the time Raven had returned to give Javelin his second dose, the gaping wound in his abdomen had already stopped bleeding.

    "Impressive stuff," said Lark absentmindedly as he stared at his brother and friend. "I need to thank Father later. . . ."

    Raven didn''t reply. The Philosopher''s Blood was one of the most high level healing drafts in existence and it was exorbitantly expensive; even the families of prefecture lords would be hard pressed to afford buying more than one bottle every decade or so. It was a life saving draft that could bring you back from the brink of death if you had enough of it.

    It didn''t take long before both Martin and Javelin were healed enough to sit up on their own, the sickly pale tone of their skin replaced by a healthy glow. The two of them glanced at each other and Martin gave a short laugh. "Ha, well that was close!"

    "That''s one way to put it," muttered Raven. "Why would you go this far from the campsite?"

    The face of the three boys darkened.

    "We didn''t," answered Javelin with a grunt, "we were tracking a peak mid level spirit beast that had clearly been wounded in battle, but when we found it Dunlin and his snob crew appeared."

    "I bet you they had been following us. . . ." Martin chipped in and Lark nodded, slowly on account of his own injuries.

    "We argued for a while but surprisingly enough the snobs backed off and left," continued Javelin. "But before we had the chance to finish collecting up the valuable parts of the beast, the Panthera Drakes arrived. They must have been the ones hunting the other beast from the beginning and since we knew we couldn''t win, we figured it was best to simply run away. . . ."

    "But they pursued you instead of dealing with the corpse?" asked Raven with a frown. Peak mid level beast had strengths approaching the Spirit Champion level of cultivators - for other beasts, with lower strengths, their bodies would be a priceless cultivation resource. It made no sense for them to abandon their initial prey for three weaker humans.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    "They sure did! We tried everything to shake them off, and even succeeded a few times, but they always found us." Martin shook his head, dispirited.

    "We tried to run towards the campsite but the Panthera Drakes cut us off. It was almost as if they wanted to push us further away from the great tree."

    Raven was silent for a moment. "Did you get anything from the first beast?" she finally asked.

    The other three shook their heads. "Nothing," said Javelin, "but Dunlin got the beast''s heart though."

    "Dunlin got it?" Raven frowned.

    "It was the only thing he really wanted from the corpse and he offered us this chunk of high grade soul ore as payment." A silvery rock appeared in Martin''s hand and a pungent smell that Raven had only barely noticed before practically exploded out. Raven couldn''t help but cover her mouth, braking her healing contact with Lark.

    "What is it?" asked Javelin confused.

    "You can''t smell that!?" exclaimed Raven. Suddenly her eyes widened; she could feel the closer spirit beasts stirring, sniffing the air hungrily. Before the youths had a chance to react, Raven was on her feet and had already grabbed the lump of soul ore from Martin''s hand. In the next instant, she pulled her arm back and hurled the stone into the air with all her might.

    A thunderous bang rang out as the stone broke the treeline above them and continued several hundred meters into the air. Just as it reached its apex, there was high pitched scree followed by the overwhelming sound of swooping wings. A vicious-looking flying beast, twice the size of an average Everest Hawk, dove down out of nowhere, swallowing the lump of ore in one go before flying off again.

    Down below, the three boys sat frozen drenched in cold-sweat.

    "That . . . it . . ." they stuttered.

    "You''ve been fooled," said Raven coldly, as killing intent seethed behind her red eyes. "I don''t know how they did it, but that piece of ore was covered in something that would lure beasts to you. It is fortunate that it was only the Panthera Drakes that had picked up on it, or you would have been killed long before I arrived."

    "That bastard!" exclaimed Martin. "I''ll kill him! I swear, I''ll kill him!"

    Both him and Javelin sprung to their feet, ready to storm off into the forest in frenzied rage.

    "Calm down," Raven''s steady voice cut through their anger, "Lark still needs treatment!"

    "Ah!" the boys'' faces turned red in shame.

    "Sorry, Lark," said Javelin apologetically as he sat down next to his friend. While Javelin''s entire body was enveloped in a sea green glow, Martin too sank down to the ground again. He said nothing but Raven noticed the Twins giving each other silent stares.

    "Besides," continued Raven, "what are you going to do once you find them? Dunlin has plenty of followers stronger than you three, and even if you could harm him, the result would only be your own undoing; we have no real proof of what Dunlin did."

    Silence; only after a considerable time passed and Lark''s wounds were sufficiently treated, was the silence broken.

    "We should have known something was off the moment he proposed a trade. . . ." sighed Javelin bitterly. "That jerk never does anything he doesn''t win on."

    "Win on? He nearly killed us! Had it not been for Night arriving when he did we would likely be dead by now. . . ." Lark''s voice was once again strong as he uttered his complaints.

    The other two boys nodded their heads. Suddenly Martin stretched out an arm and punched Raven on her shoulder. "Dude, you''ve been holding out on us! You fight like a demon!"

    It was Lark''s turn to nod. "Truly! Had I not seen it my self I would never believe a lone Spirit Novice could take out twelve Panthera Drakes, without even a scratch. . . ."

    The two twins looked at each other and spoke in perfect unison: "We have to train more!"

    The two twins kept praising Raven''s fighting skills for a while and even started to joke around a bit, their moods clearly improved, and Raven just smiled slightly while avoiding most direct questions about her strength.

    Eventually though, Javelin spoke up, causing Raven to instantly stiffen.

    "Singer," he said with a firm voice and for what felt like an eternity, no one said anything. Just as Raven was about to assume that Javelin had seen through her charade, the blond boy spoke again. "The assassin Singer, you know her, don''t you?"

    Both twins drew in a sharp breath of air and they fixed their eyes on Raven. They had felt that there was something familiar about Raven''s fighting style, and even though they had not been able to identify all the Divine Skills that had been used, there was still a sense of d��j�� vu over it.

    Raven swallowed down her relief. ''At least he hasn''t figured out we are the same person,'' she thought, but then frowned slightly. ''What excuse should I give?''

    Taking her silence as a reluctance to share, Javelin prompted her once more; "how do you know her? Has she trained you or something?"

    Raven made up her mind. Outwardly, her gaze wavered slightly and she looked away from Javelin and the twins. "I . . ." she said hesitantly.

    "Whatever secret you''ve promised to keep, you can trust that we won''t spread it," said Lark reassuringly, but he couldn''t hide the excitement in his voice; finally, they might have a link to the mysterious assassin.

    When Raven still hesitated, Javelin got something almost desperate in his eyes. "Please Raven, I need to know."

    Hearing Javelin use her first name, Raven was slightly startled - he had only used it once before, when she "fell" from the Spirit Hall Tower - but she kept her charade. "Well, I . . . I wouldn''t say I know her . . . she traveled with us for a brief while on our way to Sky City. I was inspired by her fighting style so she gave me a few pointers."

    Javelin looked at her disbelievingly. "Your fighting style is so close after only a few pointers, before you even got that many Divine Skills to work with?"

    Raven''s eyes widened a bit, while she smiled inwardly - Javelin had a sharp mind for his age. She squirmed uncomfortably. "I might have been getting some more pointers from her lately. . . ."

    "You little bugger!" Martin gave her an other punch on the shoulder. "We''ve been looking for the Midnight Singer . . ." he gave Javelin an meaningful stare, ". . . for over a month, and you haven''t said a word!"

    "I wanted to!" Raven lifted her shoulders defensively. "She forbid me!"

    Both twins threw their hands into the air, growling in defeat. Javelin, however kept his focus on Raven.

    "Can I meet her?" he asked.

    ''You already have,'' she thought with an silent laugh, but outwardly Raven looked troubled. "I can ask her," she said, "but it''s not likely she will agree. . . ."

    Javelin looked a bit disappointed but he nodded in understanding. "That''s all I can ask for," he said solemnly.

    "Awesome!" cried Martin excitedly and put his arm over Raven''s shoulders. "Even if Sing- . . . I mean, even if the Midnight Singer says no, we can still turn to our little fighting demon here for pointers." He rubbed the top of Raven''s head so hard that the top knot in her hair started to come undone. "I guess we should do what Dunlin wouldn''t and start calling you senior, shorty!"

    "I''ll have you know that I''m considered tall for my age," protested Raven and slipped out from under Martin with ease.

    All four of them laughed heartily.

    "Speaking of Dunlin," said Lark once the laughing died down, "what are we going to do about him?"

    "Separate him from his followers and beat him up?" suggested Martin happily but Lark shook his head. "You know as well as I do that it would only lead to more trouble than it''s worth. . . . Especially as long as Auk Wren is on Dunlin''s side."

    "Lark is right," agreed Javelin, "but we have to do something!"

    The three boys started brainstorming ideas while Raven sat silently and listened. Sometimes Raven found it hard not to smile; though these young nobles were very mature for their age, their youth shined through in their suggestions - many of which were akin to high school pranks, only with spirit essence involved. After a while Raven interrupted what had grown into heated bickering.

    "I have a suggestion," she said, causing the other three to quiet down immediately. "We have already concluded that anything we do to Dunlin directly will likely only cause us backlash, so let''s do nothing."

    "What?" cried the boys in unison but Raven held up a hand to quite them.

    "Hear me out first. We will do nothing to Dunlin directly, in fact we will even thank him for the favorable exchange," she wave towards the twelve corpses behind her. "Dunlin enjoys seeing us squirm so we take that away from him."

    "Makes sense. . . ." said Javelin pensively, "but it''s still feels a bit meek."

    "Well that''s only step one. Tell me, as the heirs of the Red Griffin Prefecture, you must have quite a few connections in the city, right?" Raven looked at the two twins, who nodded with confusion. "There is more than one way to hurt someone so obsessed with status." Raven smiled coldly. "We have a lot to discuss once these trials are over, but for now, let us take care of these Panthera Drakes and head back to the campsite - I bet the Everest Hawk that brought me here is still circling nervously above us."

 Chapter 56: A Spoke in the Wheel

    Author''s note: A big thank you to this week''s sponsors</a>!

    I''m also glad to see a shared detest for Dunlin in the comments. Hopefully you will eventually be pleased with how Raven deals with him.

    <hr />

    A Spoke in the Wheel

    Apart from the near death experience with the Panthera Drakes, the rest of the Lunar Trials passed relatively uneventfully.

    Raven and the boys had harvested everything of use from the twelve spirit beasts before climbing a tall tree where the Everest Hawk had picked them up and taken them to the campsite by the gigantic tree in the middle of the valley. The look on Dunlin''s face when they arrived, torn and bloodied but seemingly unscathed, had been utterly priceless - and it had only improved when their haul was presented in exchange for merit points. Then again, Dunlin hadn''t been alone in being shocked beyond belief by that haul. . . .

    Following their display of hunting prowess, the four youths had happily remained at the large tree, spending the final thirty hours of the Lunar Trial quietly cultivating. There had been no need to bother about the actual trial anymore; for the first grader Raven, the merit points from only one Panthera Drake would be more than enough to guarantee a solid first place in her grade and, no matter how much they insisted, she took no more than that. The remaining points were split evenly between the three boys and although Dunlin managed to engage his friends from higher grades to help him win in the end, it made little difference to Javelin and the Twins; they were much too curious about Raven''s plan.

    Once the three moon-lit nights had come to pass, all students were flown back to the Academy where a small award ceremony for the best achieving students was held - surprisingly enough, Regulus, the smallest and weakest boy in Raven''s Spirit Control Class, received an honorary award for saving the life of one of his classmates by performing a - for a martial student - fairly advanced healing skill in the nick of time.

    After the ceremony was over, all students were given a day off before classes would start up again. Raven and the boys left the academy, heading for the Griffin Clan''s local dwellings on the noble''s Mansion Tier. As they expected the Griffin estate was mostly empty, except for a handful of servants; there was a council meeting up at the imperial palace so not only the Griffin''s own council member but also all other nobles had taken the opportunity to visit Indigo Cloud Palace, if only for the food and view.

    As instructed by Raven, the twins harshly ordered all the servants to leave the second the four of them arrived, barging in fuming with anger. They made a show of barricading themselves in the estate''s library, slamming the doors so hard that it could be heard even by the servants who had already left the premises.

    Since both Lark and Martin were generally very considerate of their servants and rarely threw any kind of tantrums, their current behavior really stood out and the servants quickly started talking among themselves.

    "Something must have happened. . . ." said one servant to an other, who in turn nodded solemnly. "We''d better inform Lord Griffin''s aid about this."

    Inside the library, Raven smiled mysteriously; she had been listening for the servant''s reactions, and it had turned out just like she expected it to.

    "What was that for?" asked Lark, displeased, as he slumped down in a large armchair. Acting angry wasn''t hard for him, he just had to think of Dunlin and it would flare up uncontrollably, but he didn''t like taking it out on the staff.

    Raven was silent for a moment as she waited for the last few servants'' presences to move out of earshot before she gave her reply. "It''s to give us an unknowing ally," she said, smiling mischievously.

    "An unknowing ally?" echoed the twins.

    "We have agreed to make things hard for Dunlin by undermining the Talon Clan, right? Well, we won''t be able to do that on our own - we''re only children after all - but let me ask you this: if your father, Prefecture Lord Griffin, learns that Dunlin knowingly almost had you killed, what would he do?"

    The eyes of the three boys widened.

    The Red Griffin Prefecture was, area-wise, smaller than the other two Prefectures and had very few mines, but when it came to the empire''s defenses it was undeniably considered the most vital one. The reason was that out of all the soldiers in the army, nearly eighty percent of them originated from the Red Griffin Prefecture. It was a prefecture made of fighters, and as such they were perhaps not known for their patience. Lord Griffin was infamously short tempered, especially when it concerned the safety of his family.

    "Father would kill him," concluded Martin.

    "Indeed," agreed Javelin.

    "So . . . why aren''t we telling father directly?" wondered Lark and the other boys seemed to share his confusion.

    "While I would love seeing Dunlin smashed to death by Lord Griffin in a fit of rage, we have no actual proof of Dunlin''s intentions . . ." Raven started to explain but Martin cut her off before she could finish.

    "So what? Father would believe us over that bastard!"

    "I know he would, Martin, that''s the problem. If your father, a prefecture lord, attacks the only heir of another prefecture, without proper cause, it would likely be the beginning of a civil war. Possibly worse, if Javelin''s father gets involved as well. . . ."

    Realization filled the youth''s eyes but it quickly returned to confusion. "Then why the charade at all?" asked Javelin.

    "Arousing suspicion; as long as all of your parents only suspect that something vile happened during the trials, I doubt they would act so rashly as to run off killing people. Instead, they ought to try investigating the matter on their own. The Talons being who they are, this will undoubtedly cause the former''s opinions of the latter to drop over time."

    "Talon Clan?" Martin cut in again, "I know Dunlin is a psycho prick but that can''t be blamed on his clan, can it?"

    Raven gave Martin a pointed stare. "Where do you think he got that pheromone coated piece of ore from, if not from his clan? Besides, let''s face it, if nothing big happens, the Talon Clan will be Dunlin''s not too far off in the future. . . ."

    The three boys sat in silence for a moment before finally Javelin spoke up. "Are you suggesting that we should try to topple the Talon Clan?" he asked in a steady voice.

    "In due time, yes. Or do you prefer a third of this empire to be controlled by Dunlin?"

    The silence descended once more. This time it lasted for several minutes and Raven watched the boys around her intently for any signs of wavering; having them help her bring down the Talon''s, although for other reasons than her own, would be a great help to her, but she had to be certain of their state-off-mind. They were after all still young, and even with the maturity gained by being raised as future rulers had brought them, taking on an entire clan was no playing matter; if they hesitated too much or agreed too readily, Raven would break off their involvement immediately.

    Eventually the boys seemed to have come to some sort of conclusion. They looked up at each other and simultaneously nodded their heads in agreement.

    "Let''s do this!" they said with conviction while Raven smiled slightly; she could tell that although they still had some reservations, they would be unlikely to back down anytime soon.

    "Then let me walk you through what I have in mind," said Raven and motioned for the boys to come closer.

    ---------

    The time went on and in the blink of an eye, early summer had turned to autumn, and autumn had turned to winter. In the mountain capital city of Sky Empire the winter snow lay like a thick blanket over every inch of surface.

    In the lavishly ornamented tea-parlor of the Talon Clan''s Sky City mansion sat two elderly men, sipping tea. The two of them were so old that their skin looked like dried up raisins but, despite their age, and air of authority around them; no one would doubt that these two men were men of power.

    They sipped their tea in contemplative silence as they watched the plentiful snowflakes slowly falling to the ground of the garden outside the window. It was so quiet that their heart beats could almost be heard.

    Suddenly, a light knock disturbed the silence. The sound could not be considered more than a whisper, but in comparison to the previous soundlessness of the room, the knock became almost deafening.

    The two men twitched, anger filling their faces.

    "You better have a very good reason for this," said one, his voice incredibly raspy, as a young man walked into the room nervously. The youth bowed deeply.

    "This one humbly apologizes for the interruption, Councilor Talon, Clan Elder, but Clan Elder wished to be informed the moment this arrived." The youth placed a rolled up piece of parchment on the low table between the two men and hurriedly left; he had since long learned that it was best to be far away when the letters like this one were delivered.

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    The shriveled up faces of the two men darkened. The Clan Elder gave his companion a questioning look and the latter nodded. The scroll was unrolled and the Elder read its content.

    "The trade failed again!" he spat and slammed his fist down, causing the fragile table to instantly crumble. "This is the third time our offer has been refused!"

    The tea cup in the councilor''s hand shattered. "So it is definite now, someone is working against us!"

    For months now, the Talon Clan''s economy and social standing in Sky City had been doing increasingly bad. It had all started with the unfortunate deaths and disappearances of some of their key partners within the government. This had been considered unfortunate at the time - especially considering how much money had been spent on winning these over - but considering the Assassin Guild''s activities, it was not unheard of.

    After that, things were quiet for a while, and the matter was practically forgotten, when out of nowhere one business partner after the other started backing out of their bargains - even to the point where they would pay back the Talon Clan any money they owed them on the spot.

    However, even this could be considered a stroke of bad luck since, as it was, this all coincided with the Emperor''s announcement that it was proven that Empress Nene had been framed and an extensive manhunt for the culprit was commenced. Naturally, this watchful eye meant that state officials would be less willing to have skeletons in their closets, so to speak. The Talon Clan had no other choice but to try and make the best of the situation, but found comfort in knowing that the situation would at least be the same for every clan trying to make . . . more favorable deals at the moment.

    The last couple of weeks though, had been an utter nightmare. The Talon''s Sky City branch had been asked to find someone willing to transport a large shipment of soul ore that the head family had sold to an eager buyer, outside of the empire.

    Initially, the Talons had assumed that the hardest part would be finding someone willing to basically smuggle thousands of golds worth of Soul Ore to another empire, but it hadn''t been. Unfortunately, every merchant group they had spoken to so far had changed their minds when they realized who their employers were. According to the reports, the merchants "turned pale with fear and ushered us out without another word".

    To make matters worse, it would seem like the Griffin Clan had somehow picked up on their activities and were now asking questions about why the merchants kept refusing the Talons; worst case scenario, the Griffins might learn from the merchants what - and more importantly where - the Talon Clan were trading.

    "Now what?" growled the Clan Elder as he crumpled up the scroll and tossed it onto the smoldering embers of the open fire place behind him - the flames had long since burnt out, but the dry parchment gave them new life and the flames burst up, swallowing the ball of paper in the blink of an eye. "Our Lady will be arriving in a few days and she will be expecting results!"

    "We have no choice," rasped the councilor, "if we have found no information regarding this by the Day of Light, we must request assistance from him."

    "Is that really necessary?" The clan elder did not seem to like the idea; "he . . . will not be pleased. . . ."

    "Then let us make sure we find something out before that."

    The two elderly men shared a oddly honest look with each other, fear apparent in both their eyes, before they got up from the floor and left the tea-parlor.

    What neither of them cared to notice was the little white bird, perched on their windowsill, who had observed them with unusually keen eyes the entire time. As the pair left, the white bird spread its small wings and flew off to another window.

    ----------

    A few hundred meters above, and to the south of the former Nightingale estate on the Mansion Tier, sat a small but lean youth in the snow-covered garden of the Sky Academy. Despite the deep snow, various flowers defied the cold weather and stretched crystalline petals towards the meek sun rays that were making a brief mid-day appearance.

    Seemingly as unaffected by the cold as the flowers, the youth had been meditating here for almost two hours now, dressed in nothing but the flimsy dark grey student uniform. Oddly enough, even with the rather heavy snowfall, not a single flake could be seen on the youth''s robes.

    Further down the garden, a second youth was approaching, only this one was clothed to the teeth with thick grey pelts to keep the cold out; only two striking eyes of varying blues were barely visible through the long stands of fur.

    "Night!" he called once close enough. "I should have figured I''d find you here. . . . You''re insane man!"

    Raven opened her blood red eyes and gave the furred youth a bemused look. "You know, Javelin, as a spiritualist who prefers water based Divine Skills this type of body tempering would be extremely beneficial for you. Why do you keep refusing to let me teach it to you?"

    Javelin snorted. "And spend hours in temperatures that would freeze even Fire Water within five minutes? No thank you."

    Raven almost giggled, almost.

    "Javelin! You exaggerate - it would take at least ten minutes!" she accused with a straight face. Javelin stared at her, mouth agape, for a moment before he burst out laughing.

    "Haha, when you put it that way . . ." Javelin rolled his eyes melodramatically.

    "Suit yourself," sighed Raven. She was well aware of Javelin''s distaste for the cold weather - it was too big a difference from the tropic climate more common in his homeland - but she wasn''t lying about the technique being useful. It was a pure martial arts technique from her old world and was designed to refine the body''s muscles to become tougher and leaner. Raven had tried to find a Divine Skill or breathing technique in the academy''s library that built on the same principals but had yet to find one, and considering how many scrolls she had read by now, it was unlikely she ever would. Instead Raven had chosen to experiment a bit with it on her own, and had to her delight gotten some insights - not to the point where it could be considered a new Divine Skill, but still.

    "So, why have you braved the weather to find me?" she asked Javelin, "I thought we were all going to meet up for dinner."

    "Yeah, but the twins received a letter from their father. Apparently he''s coming for the festivities after the Day of Light so they need to prepare some stuff at their mansion. I figured I might as well help. Will you join us?"

    Raven considered this for a moment. Since the boys had started working with her to make things a bit rougher for the Talons, Raven had grown increasingly fond of them. They were young, yes, but surprisingly mature for their age - especially Javelin, whose actual age kept slipping her mind. Although Raven hadn''t asked them to do anything truly dangerous, rather focusing their efforts towards spreading the right rumors at the right moments, the boys had performed their part wonderfully. As a result, the "dirty work" Raven performed behind the scenes had become a lot easier. Especially when it came to convincing the Emperor to publicly announce the Empress'' innocence before they knew who did it - that would never have worked as smoothly if not for Lord Griffin''s insistence that it might be an inside job, and being public about it might minimize the damage.

    The only problems had risen with regards to Javelin''s near obsession with meeting Singer. Ever since Raven admitted to "knowing" Singer, Javelin had kept asking about meeting her. So far Raven had managed to push it off to the future, but she knew that wouldn''t work forever. On the plus side, whenever her suggestions were questioned, Raven would claim that it originated as advice from Singer and the boys would agree right away.

    "Sorry, Javelin. I actually got a message from my uncles - they are back from their mission, so I should visit them first," lied Raven. While it was true that the four mercenaries who had taken her to Sky City had returned, they had done so days ago and Raven had already visited them once.

    For a moment, an odd light seemed to flash across Javelin''s eyes, but it was gone so fast that Raven assumed she''d imagined it. "Okay," he said and started turning to walk away. "Then I''ll see you tomorrow."

    ''Tomorrow . . .'' thought Raven as he left, her mind trailing off, ''soon Brother will be able to stabilize his body! Only a few more days. . . .''

 Chapter 57: Darkness Descends

    Author''s note: Thank you to this chapter''s lovely sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    Darkness Descends

    As Javelin walked away from the frozen wonderland that was the academy''s grand garden, a cold wind swept over him, causing him to shiver and instinctively tighten the animal pelts around him. He steadily made his way towards the nearest outpost of transporter birds that would take him to the Mansion Tier where his friends were waiting.

    Since the Day of Light was around the corner, all classes had been cancelled for self-cultivation and not a soul was out and about in the freezing winter weather. However, it was unlikely that Javelin would have noticed them even if there had been any around; all he could think about as he pulsed through the snow was his latest conversation with his roommate, Rave Night.

    ''He lied,'' Javelin thought over and over again. ''Why is he still keeping secrets from me?''

    At first, Javelin had been convinced that while Raven surely didn''t tell him everything, what was told had been truthful. After years at sea with his father, hunting bandits, Javelin had grown fairly skilled at spotting lies and Raven had never come across as deceitful to him before.

    However, as the two of them spent more time together, Javelin would sometimes get the feeling that his roommate wasn''t always telling the truth. He couldn''t put his finger on what it was - outwardly Raven seemed just as forthcoming as ever - and yet, every now and then, Javelin somehow just knew something was wrong. For a long time he thought he was simply imagining things, but now he knew that this wasn''t the case.

    It so happened that a friend of his father''s had come to Sky City, about a week back, and had wanted to meet. Coincidentally, that friend had been traveling with a group of mercenaries who kept bragging about the six-year-old boy genius they had taken in under their wings and helped enroll at Sky Academy. The friend had been very curious to know if the rumors were true and Javelin had quickly realized that it was Raven''s uncles who had been the traveling companions in question.

    "According to my father''s friend, Night''s uncles returned days ago. . . ." muttered Javelin as he just barely brushed past a lamppost he wasn''t paying attention to. ''What didn''t he want to tell me about? Could it be related to Singer somehow. . . ?''

    In a momentary burst of anger, Javelin kicked his foot deep into a nearby snowdrift, causing the snow to explode in every direction. "Argh! Doesn''t he understand that I get how impossible it is to force Singer to meet me? Why lie about it!" Javelin shouted out into the air with frustration, but no one was there to hear him.

    Grumpily he continued his journey. There was a growing knot in Javelin''s chest and he wasn''t sure what was bothering him more: the fact that whatever secrets Raven kept most likely had to do with Singer, or that Raven felt the need to keep them at all.

    ---------

    Meanwhile, Raven hadn''t moved from her spot in the snowy garden. She had once more entered into her meditative state, slowly filling her lungs with the piercingly cold air and using her spirit essence to rotate this cold sensation throughout her body. Every cell in her body quivered - nearly freezing beyond repair - before they relaxed again, revitalized and slightly more taut than before.

    Part of the reason Raven had declined Javelin''s invitation was because she expected her brother to report back from his spying within the next couple of hours - they had been putting a lot of pressure on the Talons'' financial endeavors as of late, and it could only be a matter of time before they would have no choice but to turn to their hidden allies for help.

    The other reason Raven opted to stay behind was that, recently, Raven had felt a few changes in her spirit core. When she fought with her full strength, as Singer, she sensed a slight pulsating vibration in the spiraling red vortex at her center; she was close to stepping over the line and becoming a high Adept. If not for the fact that Raven would be giving her spot in the Spirit Hall Tower room to her brother, she was certain that the ceremony of the Day of Light would have advanced her firmly into the high Spirit Adept level. As it was, Raven was instead eager to push her cultivation along with the aid of the cold weather.

    The brief hours of sunlight had already passed and yet Raven remained outside, submerged in the darkness and ice, for several hours. At some point a few students, who had come to the garden for a bit of fresh air, caught sight of Raven amidst the snow. The students had glanced at each other briefly before they too sat down, keeping a respectful distance. Letting their coats fall off of their shoulders, they also started to meditate, trying their best to replicate Raven''s breathing.

    Ever since Raven arrived at Sky Academy, she had been constantly breaking one record after the other. By now, some of the other students had come to idolize Raven and would use any opportunity they could find to get closer to her - perhaps they figured her genius might rub off on them too, just as it seemed to be doing with her three friends, who had been improving noticeably faster lately.

    Barely half an hour after the other students had joined in, their skin had already turned blue with frost and their bodies were shivering uncontrollably. Yet, they refused to give up and stubbornly attempted to mimic the flow of Raven''s spirit essence and breathing.

    "You know," Raven''s voice suddenly broke the silence, "you''re going to die if you continue like that."

    Her words were stated matter-of-factly. Her eyes remained closed. Hearing her, one would feel like she was more inconvenienced by the possibility of the students freezing to death so close to her, rather than the actual freezing-to-death part.

    The surrounding youths shuddered - a motion that caused their faces to distort in pain; many of them had been too focused on replicating Raven to even notice how close they were coming to loosing their lives.

    "Fe-fellow . . . s-student Night," stuttered a young man through frozen teeth. He was a fifth-year who was yet stuck in the Novice realm, "pl-please give us guidance."

    Raven resisted a sigh. She partially admired these kids for their tenacity - and that fifth-year actually risked getting expelled if he didn''t advance his cultivation soon - but she was neither their teacher nor their friend, and now was not the time for her to lose focus.

    Raven was just about to refuse the students when every one of them grit their teeth and forced themselves into a low bow - something that ought to be very painful for their frozen bodies.

    "Please!" they chanted.

    Finally, Raven opened her eyes to look at them. There were seven students seated around her, all covered in a layer of frost. She shook her head. "Put on your coats - my training is not beneficial for you," she said calmly. When they looked up to protest, Raven simply brought out a piece of paper from her spacial ring and started scribbling.

    The others looked on in confusion. Finally, Raven stopped writing and handed the note over to the fifth-year boy. "Here," she said, "these breathing techniques can all be found on the first floor of the Divine Library. They will fit you better than the ones you''re currently using."

    Before the boy had a chance to respond, Raven had already gotten up and departed without a trace. The students couldn''t help but to feel a bit disappointed; breathing techniques were different from most other Divine Skills and acquiring one of a higher level was not very hard - whatever techniques Raven had recommended from the first floor, those would no doubt be less advanced than the ones they already used.

    The only one that wasn''t disappointed was the boy who had received the note. He stared down at it with wide eyes. Noticing his shock, the other six shuffled closer only to share his amazement.

    Raven didn''t share classes with even one of them nor had they been introduced to the academy''s new prodigy, and yet there, on that small piece of paper, were seven neatly written lines, each one containing three things: the name of one of the students, that student''s current breathing technique and finally the recommended new technique. As far as they were concerned, the fact that Raven knew their names was impressive enough, but their breathing techniques? Perhaps even their own teachers would have to ask about those!

    The seven students swallowed, and though they said nothing out loud, they all decided to give Raven''s suggestions a shot.

    ---------

    "Go ahead," thought Raven to her brother, as she left the seven students behind her, "I am alone now."

    Hoatzin had contacted her just as she was about to give her advice, causing her to opt for the swifter note.

    "Do you want the good news, or the bad, sister?" asked Hoatzin a bit mischievously.

    "Both," replied Raven with a slight smile; Hoatzin''s mood had been improving considerably as of late - this despite the fact that his bird body had been growing increasingly uncooperative as the two year mark grew closer.

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    "Well then, the good news is that the Talon''s treasurer estimates their monetary losses over the last month alone to be roughly a million gold."

    Raven whistled, impressed. For a prefecture clan, one million gold was not a big deal - at least not in comparison to the whole clan''s fortunes - but it was still an amount comparable to buying a mid sized house close to the city center. It was definitely a step in the right direction.

    "They are starting to get really annoyed and are suspecting that someone is acting against them - though they don''t seem to have any guesses as to who it might be yet," continued Hoatzin.

    Raven nodded - this was as she had expected. "Have they made any contact with their foreign friend?" she asked.

    "Well, that is partially the bad news. They said they would make contact if they made no progress before the Day of Light, so . . . I might not be able to catch them in the act. . . ."

    It was imperative that Hoatzin got the night alone in her appointed Spirit Hall, or the stability of his current body would crumble, most likely permanently this time. Raven considered their options for a moment before she lifted her shoulders in a shrug.

    "Well, we don''t really have a choice about what we do that night so there is no point pondering over it now. If we miss them making contact with Elder W this time around then we will only have to force them to make contact yet again."

    "Okay. . . ." Although he didn''t shout his approval, Hoatzin nonetheless seemed relieved by Raven''s approach.

    "You said this was partially the bad news, what is the rest?"

    "Our dear Aunt is coming to the capital," answered Hoatzin after a moments pause, his voice ripe with loathing.

    Raven stopped in her tracks. "Aunt Anhinga?"

    "Indeed. She will be leaving Black Talon Prefecture right after the Day of Light ceremonies are done."

    "Do you know why?"

    "The official version is that she wants to meet her son for the holidays, but the elders are afraid she might be coming to stay - so she can keep an eye on the failing business, so to speak."

    A hungry look flashed across Raven''s eyes. She hadn''t seen her aunt since she watched I''iwi''s recording of the woman: seated around a lavishly filled dining table and laughing at the death of Raven''s entire family.

    ''Good,'' thought Raven to herself as she started walking again, ''I hope she stays - it will make killing her all the more simple.''

    ---------

    The darkest day of the year arrived. For nearly forty hours not a single ray of sunlight would reach Sky Empire''s capital city. During this day, millions of lanterns would be lit, turning the dark mountain city into a sea of small flames.

    While the average citizen spent this day enjoying themselves at various festival-sites throughout the city, for the students of the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts - and any other spiritualist who could afford access to a Spirit Hall for that matter - the hours leading up to midnight were quiet and calm ones.

    Many had chosen to spend the majority of the day in meditation, and Raven and her friends were no exception. Together with most other students, they sat cross-legged a few hundred meters away from the Spirit Hall Tower. They faced north and looked out over the city below, where the distant lights were mesmerizingly pretty to behold. A barely visible membrane enclosed all of the students, protecting them from the biting cold of the mid-winter night. In only a few hours, the large doors to the Spirit Hall Tower would open, and the students and Elders would flood inside.

    "I''ve never seen a bird so still before," commented Martin out of nowhere. His gaze was fixed on Hoatzin''s small bird body. He was perched on Raven''s shoulder and was so motionless that he seemed almost stuffed. "It''s like he''s meditating too," joked Martin laughingly.

    "You should try it some time." Raven had opened one eye to give the twin a pointed glare. The boy had been fidgeting for a while now and it was starting to get on her nerves - which was an accomplishment in of itself.

    "Ha ha," muttered Martin sarcastically, "you''re only calm because you''ve never been through a Day of Light ceremony in a Spirit Hall before. If you had, you would have a hard time sitting still too."

    Raven closed both her eyes again. "Your brother seems to be doing fine."

    Martin snorted, but couldn''t retort - Lark really seemed to be doing just fine. Martin quieted down for a few moments, but soon started fidgeting again. "Seriously though, Night, aren''t you nervous - or at least curious - about what''s going to happened in there? Let me tell you, it''s an experience unlike anything else!"

    Raven sighed. Briefly she considered knocking the boy unconscious for the last remaining hours - so she could get some peace - but eventually decided against it; Raven was aware that she was strung a bit tightly because of how important this night was for her brother, taking it out on Martin wouldn''t help.

    "I''m not nervous," she said with a voice filled with strained patience. "All I have to do is go in there and sit still in a room for a few minutes - no matter how much I fret, I won''t be able to change that. Now calm down, or you might actually lose out on your cut of the spirit essence."

    At this Martin paled a bit. He knew that what Raven said was only a rumor that the Elders had been spreading to make the students meditate diligently. They claimed that your share would decrease if you weren''t in a peaceful state of mind during the ceremony - something utterly untrue - but the thought of not getting his fair share still made Martin uncomfortable. He forced himself to calm down right away.

    Raven''s mouth twitched slightly at the sudden peace. However, instead of employing any breathing techniques to resume her meditation, Raven chose to focus her senses on the hundreds of students seated around her. By now, every single student was present, both from the Martial and Healing Departments, and the same could almost be said for the elders. Only the headmaster and the vice headmaster, as well as the matron in charge of the Healing Department had yet to arrive.

    Despite the large crowd, barely anyone spoke, and if they did, their voices were hushed, as if out of respect for the darkness of this special night. Even Dunlin and the other, usually obnoxious, nobles he hung out with were oddly quiet.

    The minutes ticked by. Soon, only half an hour remained before the stroke of midnight. At this point Raven felt the approaching presences of the three missing Elders.

    "It''s time," she thought softly to her brother. Stirring from his tranquil state, Hoatzin furrowed himself deep into the rather fluffy scarf Raven was wearing solely for that purpose. They weren''t sure if the Elders would object to her bringing ''a pet'' along, but they weren''t about to take any chances.

    Headmaster Swan walked up to the very edge of the Academy Tier''s ledge, where he stood still for a moment, observing the faintly shifting lights - some over a kilometer below them. It really was a sight worth seeing. Eventually he turned to face the students.

    "The darkest night of the year has descended upon us," he spoke in his soft but domineering voice. "Today, the world grieves a year that is dying - a period that has brought changes, good and bad, but that now must come to an end. . . . However, in death, there is also life, so tonight the world also celebrates a new year that is about to be born, which will bring new changes to us all. Who knows what the next year will challenge us with, but only by embracing the unknown can we truly make progress." He paused and looked out over everyone in the crowd.

    "It is time." With his snow white robes sweeping about him, Headmaster Swan started moving towards the large black tower that was the Spirit Hall Tower.

    In a very orderly manner, every student and Elder got up and followed after the headmaster. The Elders went first, followed by the fourteen Advanced Martial Students, and then every class in descending order from oldest to youngest. As for the Healing Department, they had a floor dedicated for them alone, so they walked separately from the rest.

    As Raven approached the tower, an uncanny feeling swelled up in her; once more she felt her spirit senses gradually being swept away, her other senses dulled. The notion of spending a few hours in this area, seemingly devoid of spirit essence, suddenly made her tense up anxiously; there were so many possible enemies around and the uncertainty surrounding her brother only made things worse.

    ''Tonight is going to be a long night. . . .'' she thought to herself as the last strands of surrounding spirit essence faded together with the presence of every person around her.

 Chapter 58: Spirit Hall Tower

    Spirit Hall Tower

    The great doors made of pitch black wood swung open as Headmaster Swan approached the Spirit Hall Tower, revealing a long corridor that disappeared into the darkness within the tower.

    With a calm pace, the headmaster passed through the open doors, his white robes and hair standing out in stark contrast against the black marble walls of the building. For every step he took, a small globe of light lit up above him, slowly lighting up a path to the staircase which was now visible in the far end of the corridor.

    By the time Raven reached the tower''s entrance, the headmaster had already started ascending the first set of stairs, closely followed by the other elders - however, some stayed behind, most likely to guide the students who were supposed to stay at the first floor.

    The moment Raven passed through the black doors and entered the tower, she felt an abrupt change in the air around her. Just like before, Raven could not rely on her spirit connections to sense anything of the world around her, but the reason was the absolute opposite of what it had been before. Instead of a total lack of spirit essence in the air, there was simply too much of it here. For Raven, the narrow corridor that had seemed black and lifeless from the outside, turned into a sea of color as abundant spirit essence spiraled uncontrollably in every possible direction.

    Raven couldn''t help but stop and gasp in astonishment; the transformation was just too big; like finding an oasis after days of dehydration in a desert, only to slip and fall into the water - drowning.

    "Night?" asked Javelin, confused.

    "Nothing," said Raven with a shrug and started moving again. "Just surprised by the density of the spirit essence in here."

    Hesitating a bit, Javelin nodded. He too could feel that there was a lot of spirit essence present in the tower, but without the contrast provided by Raven''s superior senses he didn''t find it that breathtaking. Yet, he could think of no reason justifying his doubts.

    Together with the other advanced students, they followed after the elders, climbing up the staircases. More students joined in behind them, but their numbers dwindled with every floor as the others reached their designated floor. Eventually even the elders started dropping off to enter rooms of their own.

    But the advanced students continued climbing. The further they ascended, the denser the spirit essence around them grew and by the time they had reached the 21st floor - which marked the beginning of the five octagonal floors dedicated for them - even the others were being overwhelmed by the copious amounts of spirit essence present.

    "Okay then," said an elder who had been waiting for them at 21st floor. "All of you know your allocated Spirit Halls. Go to them and meditate until midnight." The students bowed and walked off towards their rooms, most of which were on next couple of floors. Javelin however glanced at Raven and was about to say something when the elder cut him off with a stern voice. "Junior Student Hake, head to your room. Junior Student Night, follow me."

    The two of them looked at each other and Javelin mouthed the words "good luck" before he walked over to a door near by and disappeared inside.

    Raven instead followed the elder up the stairs to the next level. There, her eyes happened to meet with Dunlin''s, who was just about to enter his own Spirit Hall room. When the latter noticed that Raven was being led up even the next flight of stairs, his eyes first widened in shock and then narrowing in anger. Dunlin looked like he wanted nothing more than to attack Raven, right then and there. However, he restrained himself and Raven continued up the stairs and moved out of his line of sight.

    The Elder kept leading Raven upwards - something that surprised more people than just Dunlin - until they reached the the 25th floor, the top floor of the octagonal section. All that remained above them were the final five, nine-sided floors, which were reserved for the headmaster and four other core members of the academy. Raven''s guide stopped and pointed at a black door situated just to the left of the next staircase. "Headmaster Swan wishes that you use that room. If you have any problems, you are not to hesitate and head directly for the headmaster''s floor for assistance. He is at the very top." With that, the elder turned and left, heading back down the stairs.

    ''They really nurture their young talents at this academy,'' thought Raven as she looked around. The further up you went in the tower, the stronger would the benefits of the Day of Light ceremony be for the spiritualist''s cultivation. Many schools might reserve those benefits for its elders.

    Delaying no further, Raven opened the door to her Spirit Hall room and entered. Inside, the spirit essence density was more normal, letting Raven draw a breath of relief. The room itself was practically shaped like a triangle, and large decorative windows filled the wall opposite the entrance.

    On the ground, in the very center of the room, was the familiar Spirit Star, the symbol for all spiritualists. Just like it had been in the Nightingale''s Spirit Hall, the symbol consisted of three overlapped and interlocked triangles, made with nine different precious stones - the black one barely discernible against the marble floor.

    Hoatzin nudged his way up from under the scarf around Raven''s neck. He let out an impressed whistle when he saw his surroundings.

    "It is very similar to our old Spirit Hall," he said mentally and Raven nodded in agreement.

    "There are not many minutes left until midnight," she noted as she walked over to check if the windows could be opened - they could not. "Brother, you should take your place by the Spirit Star. I''ll wait in the corridor."

    "Is that safe? Would it not be better if you stayed in here - what if someone comes?" Hoatzin sounded a bit nervous, but Raven shook her head.

    "Fenris said you needed to be alone in here. Besides, who would be moving around outside the Spirit Halls at this time?"

    Finding no reason to really object, Hoatzin left Raven''s shoulder and landed on the black marble floor. Raven looked at her brother''s tiny white form and suddenly felt a bit nauseous. She had been trying to not think too much about what would happen tonight if things didn''t go well, but now, as she was about to leave her brother alone in the Spirit Hall, reality caught up with her and she knew this was a make-or-brake moment; either it worked, or Hoatzin would perhaps never regain his human form.

    Raven kneeled down in front of her brother, causing him to raise up his little bird head towards her. "I''ll be right outside," she said. "If there are any problems, call out and I will be in here before you know it." She tried to keep her voice calm and steady but there was a slight quiver to it - it was so small that no one else would have noticed it, but Hoatzin did. His little bird body straitened and his eyes got a warm glow to them.

    "Don not worry, little sister," he said, without any trace of nervousness left. "I will be fine."

    Raven blinked in surprise a few times before she used a finger to ruffle up the feathers on the top of Hoatzin''s white head. With a large, genuine smile on her face, she got up and quietly left the triangular Spirit Hall.

    Once back in the corridor Raven couldn''t help but chuckle. ''Did I seem that worried? That was the first time since our parents died that he called me his little sister. . . . I must be slipping.''

    Sighing, Raven sank down outside her brother''s door and closed her eyes. The unruly spirit essence that overwhelmed her senses had now grown almost frantic, storming back and forth in the narrow corridor as if desperately searching for something. Raven made some attempts at using breathing techniques to absorb that spirit essence, for her own cultivation, but the essence resisted her and she soon gave up the notion.

    The minutes ticked by. Suddenly Raven''s eyes popped open. Without hesitating, or making a sound, she scurried up from her place on the floor and ducked in behind the staircase leading up towards the next floor. Just as her body melded with the darkness under the stairs, a familiar head emerged above the other entrance.

    ''Dunlin?'' Raven frowned. ''Why would he abandon his room now?''

    Dunlin hurried up the last couple of stairs and was soon joined by Jack. The two of them moved quickly towards Raven, clearly heading for the levels above them.

    "Are you sure it''s okay for me to join you?" asked Jack, his hushed voice filled with anticipation.

    "Stop fretting," grumbled Dunlin, "he told me to bring you. If you don''t want to come, go back to your room and let me take all of it!"

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    "No, I just . . ." the sentence continued but the pair had already moved up to the next floor and the surging spirit essence drowned out the words.

    Raven sat frozen in the darkness. Her eyes glided over towards Hoatzin''s door before she swore and left her hiding place. Slowly she followed the two boys up the stairs. ''I''ll see where they''re headed and then come back,'' she thought to herself. ''There are still a few minutes before midnight. . . .''

    Even before Raven reached the top of the stairs, she could tell that there was a fundamental difference in the layout of the next, nine-sided, floor of the Spirit Hall Tower. For one, the staircase didn''t seem to end at the next floor. Instead it turned into a spiral-staircase, which quickly disappeared into the darkness of the higher levels. A thin membrane blocked the entrance to the 26th floor. Tentatively stretching out her hand Raven was relieved to find that it passed through the membrane unobstructed.

    Carefully, Raven climbed the last couple of stairs and let her head pass through the membrane so she could peek in on the 26th floor. Instantly, the incomparably high pressure from disorderly spirit essence slammed into her, almost causing her to gasp in pain. There was significantly more of it here and even though the spirit essence wasn''t actually trying to hurt her, Raven''s high sensitivity to it made its mere presence painful. Forcing herself to ignore the ache in her mind, Raven tried to focus on what she could actually see using her eyes.

    Contrary to the other floors, there was no narrow corridor here. Rather, the entire floor was empty except for a barely transparent glass structure that stood at the center of the room. Raven''s gaze fell on this structure just in time to see Dunlin''s and Jack''s figures slip through a well obscured glass door that was facing her.

    Raven frowned and strained her eyes; the glass walls were thick, and even though there was a dim light glowing inside, it wasn''t enough for her to get a clear view of who was inside. All she could tell was that apart from the two youths, there seemed to be a third, possibly white-robed, person inside.

    ''Should I move closer?'' Raven hesitated. There was nowhere for her to hide up there, and she couldn''t be sure that the glass wasn''t more transparent from the other side. ''It''s dangerous, but for them to skip out on the Day of Light ceremony . . . it must be important.''

    As Raven was considering what to do, a sudden tremor ran through the building. Instantly the abundant spirit essence in the air stopped its hectic movements, as if time itself had been ground to a halt.

    ''It''s midnight!'' thought Raven and was just about to turn back down the stairs when the dim light within the central structure intensified. Raven paused. With the added light, the three figures had become a bit clearer - only a bit more and she would likely be able to see what was going on inside. ''Brother. . . .'' She bit her lip and glanced down the stairs, but ultimately chose to stay.

    A second, slightly stronger, tremor shook the tower. The light increased again and Raven could now tell that the third person was definitely wearing white robes. A third tremor came and this time the spirit essence in the air vibrated too. ''Who is that?'' Raven squinted her eyes to no avail. However, when the forth tremor - or rather quake - hit, her jaw dropped. ''Is that . . . Gadwall?''

    Raven''s mind reeled. This didn''t make any sense! Why would the vice headmaster of the academy bring those two to his own Spirit Hall? Surely it would be more beneficial for everyone if Dunlin and Jack stayed in their own rooms. . . . ''Could he be the Talon''s partner at the academy? But then what about Elder W?'' Raven had spoken to Gadwall several times, about many different things, and he had shown no signs of deception whatsoever. Every sing pointed towards him being a caring elder, born and raised in Sky Empire.

    While Raven was trying to make sense of what she was seeing, increasingly powerful quakes shook the Spirit Hall Tower and by the time the sixth one hit, the light within the glass structure was almost blinding. Now clearly visible, vice headmaster Gadwall could be seen, sitting cross-legged on the floor inside the structure. Opposite him, with their backs to Raven, sat the two boys.

    Between the three men, rose a vibrantly colorful stream of spirit essence, whose full splendor was visible even to the naked eye. At the seventh quake that stream split up in two equal strands and, after hesitating for a heartbeat, they shot towards Dunlin and Jack.

    ''What the . . ?'' Raven''s confusion grew; ''why didn''t Gadwall receive any?''

    Usually, the spirit essence arriving in a Spirit Hall during a Day of Light ceremony would split up in accordance with the spiritualist''s soul levels. This was an indisputable fact, and the main reason Hoatzin needed to be alone tonight; for the two boys to get all of it was simply unthinkable.

    However, before Raven had a chance to reflect too much over this, an eighth quake reverberated though both her and the tower. To Raven''s bewilderment, two new strands of spirit essence now started pouring out of the boys - heading towards the vice headmaster instead - only, while the initial strands had been vibrant and full of life, the new ones were pitch black and reeked heavily of death.

    Raven shuddered; she had been around a lot of death in her lives, but there was something sinister and otherworldly about those two black strands. Her instincts told her to run away - they screamed at her that this was not an opponent she could handle. Subconsciously, Raven started backing down the stairs, out of danger''s way, but then the ninth quake hit.

    In that moment, the previously frozen spirit essence in the air sprang to life again. Like a hungry beast, the stored essence rushed towards the central structure, ready to swallow it whole. Just before it could reach its target, however, the enormous mass of essence abruptly came to a halt.

    For a moment Raven thought she actually saw the shape of a vicious beast, submerged deep in that spirit essence. The beast slowly turned around, it''s eyes locking with Raven''s, and before she had a chance to react, the beast pounced towards her dragging all the spirit essence with it.

    In the next instant, searing pain filled Raven''s mind as endless spirit essence slammed into her, forcing it''s way to her Soul Prism. Within fractions of a second, the sea green prism was filled to the point of braking, and more was coming. Desperately, Raven tried to control the new spirit essence within her soul, forcing it out and down towards her spirit core, but no matter how hard she tried, Raven just couldn''t keep up with the rushed inflow. If this continued, her Soul Prism would shatter under the pressure.

    Partially collapsing, Raven had no choice but to let her body fall down the stairs  she stood in - she just couldn''t focus on anything but controlling the practically rogue spirit essence within her. As her head dropped bellow the protective membrane of between the 25th and 26th floor, Raven felt the immense influx of spirit essence being cut off; apparently the spirit essence above couldn''t follow her through that membrane.

    Unfortunately, her rest would be short lived.

    Raven''s body slammed uncontrollably against the marble landing - she was still too preoccupied by her overfilled Soul Prism to care about anything else. Without moving from where she had fallen, Raven started to get the situation in her soul under control. Thinking that the worst was over, Raven felt shaken but relieved, however at that point, the free spirit essence on the 25th floor repeated that same pause in its movements, stopping it''s original path towards the surrounding Spirit Halls.

    The tenth quake came, and with it the spirit essence that charged at her.

    Now Raven grew truly concerned. There was a lot less spirit essence on the 25th floor, but her own strength was leaving her, and fast. She wasn''t sure how much longer she could keep her soul prism from shattering. Raven looked up at the door leading to where her brother was; she didn''t fear death, she hadn''t for a long time, but leaving her brother behind . . . no way.

    ''I must make it!''

    Raven grit her teeth and forced herself to stand up - unfortunately, yet another quake caused her to stumble so she had to catch herself against Hoatzin''s door not to topple over again. Feeling the last of her powers leaving her, Raven rested her head against the door.

    "Be well, brother," she whispered, before she used a final burst of strength to throw herself in behind the staircase she had previously hid under - she never registered her head hitting the marble floor.

 Chapter 59: Desperate Decisions

    Author''s note: Thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>! The next one is sponsored as well ^.^

    <hr />

    Desperate Decisions

    Inside the triangular Spirit Hall room where Raven had left him, sat Hoatzin, as still as a statue, on the black marble floor. He waited patiently for the stroke of midnight, feeling oddly calm, all things considered.

    Ever since his sister had taken on the persona of Singer, he had felt as if an invisible wall had been raised between the two of them. Although he knew it was a necessary evil, Hoatzin couldn''t help but be a bit taken aback by how easily Raven adapted to the role of a heartless killer. At times, she almost seemed to take pleasure in it.

    Eventually, Hoatzin had concluded that his sister must indeed remember a lot more of her past life than she would admit to, and if Bill''s nightmares were anything to go by, those memories weren''t pleasant ones.

    Feeling concerned, Hoatzin had tried countless times to get Raven to open up to him about it, but she refused - something that only strengthened the wall between them. He knew her well enough to be able to see when she was being honest and when not - lately the latter had been dominant. It had gotten to the point where Hoatzin actually started to have doubts about his sister''s emotions.

    However, all of that was as if blown away now. Thinking back to the look Raven had given him before she left the room, Hoatzin felt his heart warm; he had never seen her so anxious before. Sad, yes, but not anxious.

    While Hoatzin was reminiscing, midnight came and with it the first of twelve powerful vibrations that would shake the tower throughout the ceremony of the Day of Light. When Hoatzin felt the ground shake beneath him, he wasn''t surprised; he had been in the Spirit Hall Tower for this particular ceremony before, and was well aware of the procedure.

    Calming his state of mind, Hoatzin closed his eyes and focused on the gathering lump of spirit essence that was condensing at the center of the Spirit Star in front of him. As more tremors ran through the building, the concentration of spirit essence grew and by the time the sixth quake hit, a glowing orb nearly twice the size of Hoatzin himself hovered above the Spirit Star.

    ''This is several times more than last time,'' concluded Hoatzin as he felt the immense amount of energy in the room. ''There really is a big difference between the common rooms further down, and the Spirit Halls reserved for the advanced students. . . .''

    Just as he finished his thought, the orb of spirit essence shot towards him and to Hoatzin''s surprise, he a felt a searing stab of pain in his mind.

    ''Why does it hurt so much?'' He couldn''t help but feel a bit panicked, and for a moment he considered to call out for his sister, but in the end he resisted; he didn''t want to worry her. Either this would work, or it wouldn''t - Raven''s presence would make no difference.

    Tensing every muscle in his body, Hoatzin tried to brace against the pain and slowly his efforts had effect. As the brunt of the pain lessened, Hoatzin was struck by how much of the world around him he could sense. During previous Day of Light ceremonies he had participated in, Hoatzin had experienced a similar sensation - where the world grew unnaturally clear around him - but this was something beyond that. It seemed as if the space around him become a mere extension of himself; the air around him was his breath, the stone beneath him his true skin.

    The sensation didn''t last very long though and before the ninth quake arrived, his connection with the world faded. Hoatzin breathed a heavy sigh of relief. ''It looks like it has successful. . . .''

    The first wave of spirit essence had passed and even without checking he could feel how much stronger he had become. Yet, the ceremony was far from over.

    In normal Spirit Halls there would be only one surge of natural spirit essence that would spill out from the Spirit Star that was the rooms foundation. However, the Sky Academy''s Spirit Hall Tower was different. On top of the spirit essence granted to all Spirit Halls on the Day of Light by the world itself, this tower spent the entire year collecting the natural spirit essence in the space around it, storing it for this very moment. After all the Day of Light essence was spent, the tower would convert its stored essence into the same, kindly molding spirit essence that helped spiritualists make cultivation breakthroughs.

    Suddenly Hoatzin frowned. The second wave of spirit essence was supposed to come between the ninth and the tenth quake - which it did - but for some reason Hoatzin felt very uncomfortable; he couldn''t shake the feeling that something was about to go seriously wrong.

    While the new batch of spirit essence started flowing out from the Spirit Star, Hoatzin barely registered it. Even as it rushed into him, causing a slight prickly sensation to fill every inch of his body, Hoatzin ignored it. He felt . . . afraid, but he couldn''t pinpoint why.

    Sooner than expected, the flow of new spirit essence dwindled and by the time the eleventh quake came, not a single drop came through the formation on the ground. Yet, once more, Hoaztin didn''t care and instead shot towards the rooms door like an arrow; he hadn''t realized what he was feeling until it was almost gone - his connection with Raven.

    "Sister!" he bellowed in his mind but there was no response.

    His little body was instantly covered in smoldering embers as it slammed into the wooden door. With a loud *bang* the doors swung open - chipping slightly at its hinges - and, had it not been for the cover of the twelfth and final quake, everyone on the floor would have heard it.

    Hoatzin didn''t need to look around to know where is sister was. Within tens of a second, he was by her side. Quickly he poured some of his spirit essence into her to check her condition. Immediately, Hoatzin sighed a breath of relief - at least she was alive - but his brown, bird eyes quickly narrowed in concern.

    ''This is bad. . . .'' he thought.

    For a moment Hoatzin was at a loss of what to do. His sister was completely unconscious and her internal systems were in a mess; she would not wake up any time soon. However, because of this, her control over the Limiters she wore and her spirit essence was gone, even the effect of the Fox''s Veil had lessened somewhat; if anyone found her now, all her secrets would be easily uncovered.

    Desperately, Hoatzin tried to use his small talons to pull his sister towards the Spirit Hall room he had been in, but while he had enough explosive strength to burst open a door, he had neither the stamina nor the body shape to be able to move Raven''s listless body more than a few centimeters at the time.

    ''What should I do?''

    The Day of Light ceremony was over, and although most would spend at least half an hour stabilizing the changes within them, it was only a matter of minutes before someone was likely to come by here.

    ''I have no choice. . . .''

    Making up his mind, Hoatzin gave his sister a firm shove to hide her further behind the stairs before quickly flying off.

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    ---------

    Further below, in yet another private Spirit Hall room, sat Javelin cross-legged on the floor. Despite having made a fairly great progress with his cultivation during this night''s ceremony, Javelin wasn''t happy. His mind kept wandering to his roommate, wondering if the boy had managed to handle the ceremony alright.

    Frustrated, Javelin shook his head. There was nothing to be worried about. The boy would get his fair share of spirit essence and the Spirit Hall would make sure it was an amount he could deal with.

    ''Focus, Javelin! There has never been any negative effects of a Day of Light ceremony,'' he chided himself. His self-berating was almost successful and Javelin calmed down a bit, but it didn''t take long before he was biting his lower lip again; ''. . . as soon as I stabilize my cultivation I could go and check on him. . . . Yeah, I''ll do that.''

    Finding new motivation, Javelin managed to gather the majority of his attention inwards, but before he could start doing anything useful, a series of frenetic ticking noises could be heard from his door. Javelin frowned; he had finally managed to gain some measure of concentration and now that was gone. He waited for the ticking to stop, but it didn''t. Instead it just grew more intense.

    Annoyed to the point of being angry, Javelin''s eyes popped open and he sprung up from the floor. With as big strides as his legs could manage, Javelin marched over to his door and firmly swung it open. He was just about to yell out his discontent at whomever it was that had found it amusing to tap at his door, when he came face to face with, not a person, but a bird.

    Confused, Javelin blinked a few times while the bird fanatically flapped its wings in front of him. "Tzin?" he asked, still confused. The bird did indeed look a lot like his roommate''s pet, only this bird''s wings were not the pure white Javelin remembered them to be. This specimen''s wings had tips that instead shifted into a deep red, almost as if it had dipped them into bowls of blood.

    The bird''s flapping around only grew more agitated, even turning to pulling on Javelin''s robes with its talons and beak.

    *Okay, okay, I get it," Javelin held up his hands to keep the bird at bay, "I''ll follow you!"

    Even before the last words had left his mouth, the bird had swirled around and headed for the stairs leading upwards. Javelin had no choice but to run at full speed if he hoped to keep up. Like a lightning bolt, man and bird hurried up staircase after staircase, quickly reaching the stairs that led to the top 25th and last floor of the octagonal section of the advanced student.

    Javelin started to follow the bird up even this set of stairs when the little creature suddenly stopped halfway up and turned back. Which immense speed, swished by Javelin''s ear grabbing a hold of the collar of the latter''s robes. The bird yanked him down and backwards with impressive strength and precision; it was not enough to make Javelin fall, but just enough to make him step back down from the stairs.

    Not resisting too much, Javelin let himself get pulled in under the stairs he had been about to ascend. Puzzled by these turns of events, Javelin opened his mouth to speak, but a red tipped wing quickly touched his lips, urging him not to speak. Javelin was slightly dazzled by the humanness of the gesture and said nothing. Instead he inspected the bird more carefully. This close he was convinced that the bird on his shoulder was indeed the pet of his roommate, and he couldn''t help but wonder why its wings had changed color. As he observed the bird he was also shocked to notice that its very human eyes were overflowing with concern and perhaps even some fear.

    ''Has something actually happened to Night?'' The notion of it struck Javelin harder than he wanted to admit.

    Suddenly very worried, Javelin was about to step out from the shadows of the stairs when Tzin''s grip on his shoulder tightened. At the same time, Javelin realized why the two of them had hid, because just then the hushed voices of Jack and Dunlin seeped down from above.

    "That was amazing," whispered Jack, "so much spirit essence . . ."

    "Sch!" Dunlin hushed him. "We must hurry back to our rooms before someone notices that we''ve been gone. Save your praise for later."

    The two boys ran silently down the stairs from the floor above and disappeared down the next set just as quickly, but Tzin kept firm his grip on Javelin''s shoulder for few more heartbeats before eventually letting go. The moment he did, the two of them dashed up the final set of stairs to the 25th floor; by now Javelin was too worried about what might have happened to hold anything back.

    When he first arrived at the 25th floor, Javelin saw nothing amiss; only four doors and a staircase, but he followed Tzin''s flight with his eyes and saw the bird dive in behind that very staircase. With his heart in his mouth, Javelin approached the darkness the bird had disappeared into and once his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light he froze in place. In his mind, it was as if an explosion had gone off.

    There, huddled in the limited space under the stairs, lied his roommate, Raven Night, unconscious and with a face so pale it seemed more fitting for a ghost than a human. Night''s motionless body looked so small and frail that people would perhaps have doubted if it truly was Night, but Javelin never did.

    ''It''s him. What happened? What do I do? It''s really him!'' A thousand thoughts started swirling around Javelin''s mind, until finally a clear thought emerged. ''He . . . he needs a healer!''

    When he started to move, Javelin for a moment felt his legs go soft underneath him, but he forced himself to step forward. Ignoring Tzin''s obvious protests, Javelin grabbed his roommate''s wrist and, as he started hoisting the boy up from the ground, he simultaneously poured his own spirit essence into his friend to ascertain the damage.

    Halfway through his lifting motion, Javelin''s eyes widened in shock and he almost stumbled forward. His eyes dashed from the body in his arms to Tzin flying anxiously around them. Their eyes met and without having to use any words both knew that the other one was aware of what Javelin had just learned. The disbelief in Javelin''s eyes quickly turned to determination. He straightened, pulling the unconscious body tighter in his arms, and gave the bird a level stare.

    "Where to?" he asked, all notions of seeing one of the Academy''s healers gone.

    Briefly, the bird seemed to hesitate but soon Javelin''s determination was mirrored in its eyes. Without further ado, it once more flew towards the opposite staircase.

    ---------

    The first thing Raven noticed was the smell of newly baked bread. The fresh aroma slipped into her subconsciousness and slowly made itself known to the slumbering girl. The second thing Raven noticed was a stabbing headache. Her mind felt worn and stretched, like muscles after a too intense work out. Instinctively, she hissed at the pain, and when she did, there was a sudden shift in the room.

    Stunned, Raven realized that she wasn''t alone, and judging by the presences that she finally started paying attention to again, there were three people close by. What stunned her even more was the trio''s combination: Hoatzin, Bill and Javelin.

 Chapter 60: Revelations

    Author''s Note: Sorry for the delay - today has been. . . hectic. As always, a big thank you to my lovely sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    Revelations

    Feigning sleep, Raven remained motionless in the bed, thinking.

    ''I was at the Spirit Hall Tower . . . waiting for Hoatzin. All the spirit essence stormed at me . . . and I passed out. Brother must have noticed something and then turned to Javelin for help.'' Raven felt her headache worsen, but for other reasons than overexposure to spirit essence.

    Judging by the sounds and people around her, Raven could tell that she had been brought to her uncles'' house on the outskirts of Sky City. Bill was moving around in the kitchen bellow, Hoatzin sat perched on her bedpost and a few meter away, leaning against the window frame and staring intently at her, was Javelin. The two latter''s presences had changed quite a lot - especially her brother''s, whose had gone from a dull white-ish tone to a vibrant pink - but there was still no doubt about who they were.

    Without opening her eyes, Raven sent a mental thought to her brother. "How much does he know?" she asked, and immediately Raven felt Hoatzin taking flight and landing right next to her head.

    "Sister!" his concerned voice echoed in Raven''s mind, poking at her headache. "Are you alright?"

    "I think so," answered Raven, but in all honesty she was afraid to check - Raven could tell that something had changed within her, but remembering that beastly figure within the spirit essence, she wasn''t sure the changes were for the better.

    "Oh thank the Skies!" Hoaztin nudged his small body against Raven''s face. "When I felt our connection fading I didn''t know what to do. . . . I couldn''t move you by myself, so I had no other choice . . ." his sentence trailed off.

    "How much?" Raven repeated her question from before just as Javelin leaned off from the window and started walking towards her, pausing at the foot of the bed.

    Hoatzin hesitated. "He knows your a girl, and your cultivation. I don''t think he checked your soul prism but he seems to suspects something else. He hasn''t spoken much though, so I don''t know what. He asked Bill a few questions about how he knew you, but Bill would not answer any of them. After that, Javelin has been quiet."

    Raven was about to ask her brother how long she''d been unconscious when Javelin spoke first. "You''re awake, aren''t you?" he asked. There was both relief and irritation in his voice, and when Raven showed no signs of admittance he added, "Tzin has been like a statue for the past eighty hours, yet suddenly jumps to your side? I''m not that stupid."

    "Eighty hours!" Raven''s eyes popped open as she tried to sit up, but every muscle in her body burned with pain at the sudden movement. The pain caught Raven off guard and she drew in a sharp breath.

    Javelin dashed forward, gently placing a hand behind Raven''s back to support her. "Careful," he sounded almost chiding, "your body was in a mess when I found you and although I have some Divine Healing Skills, they were not meant to deal with your kind of damages. I wanted to bring you a healer, but Bill refused. . . ."

    Javelin was clearly upset about Bill''s choice, but Raven smiled wryly. "No point in getting mad at him, Javelin, he was only following orders." At this point, the door to Raven''s room burst open and Bill rushed in.

    "Mam!" he howled and fell to his knees next to the bed. Raven couldn''t help but blink in surprise - the man looked absolutely awful. His eyes were red and sunken, from prolonged lack of sleep no doubt, and his skin was sickly pail. "I . . . I was afraid . . ." he started, but the rest of the words wouldn''t come.

    Raven braved the pain and placed a hand on the man''s shoulder. "I know, Bill, but I''m going to be fine. You did as you were told - thank you."

    Hearing Raven''s voice, Bill seemed to regain some of his spirit. He got on his feet again and when he noticed Raven''s awkward sitting position, he quickly arranged some pillows for her to lean against. "I''ll bring some soup and bread, mam," he said and then left the room without waiting for any confirmation.

    Javelin followed the departing man with his gaze, some of his anger towards the latter had clearly lessened.

    Silence descended over the room and it remained until Bill returned, holding a tray that was filled with a lot more than just soup and bread. After placing the tray next to Raven, Bill glanced at Javelin - who had returned to his position by the window - before giving Raven a questioning look. Raven just shook her head.

    "I''ll be outside if you need me, mam," he replied, with a slight bow. As Bill left, Raven smiled softly at his back. Over the last couple months, Raven had been spending a lot of time with Bill, often helping him cope with the memories he had inherited from her. As a result, the man''s mind had started to grow more stable. It was still some way to go before Bill could start cultivating again, but Raven could tell that it was only a matter of time. At least, once that time came, he was likely to gain quite a bit from those memories.

    "He''s a good servant."

    Raven turned her head to look at Javelin. "He is," she agreed.

    "Why did you save him?"

    Raven''s eyes narrowed; did he know, or was he fishing for more information?

    "You mean, why did Singer save him?" she asked, but Javelin tilted his head to the side and gave her a pointed stare. "Is that not the same thing?"

    She sighed. From his demeanor, Raven already had her answer - he wasn''t fishing. ''So he knows about Singer. . . .'' She couldn''t help but wonder how much more he had figured out.

    "I guess there is no point in hiding it anymore," she gave Javelin a helpless smile. "Yes, I saved him. It was mostly on a whim, though."

    "It was not because he was a former clan member of yours, Raven Nightingale?"

    Raven blinked and she could feel Hoatzin''s body tensing up next to her.

    "It''s you, isn''t it?" Javelin impatiently prompted. In his face was a myriad of complicated emotions, ranging from anger to hope. "I mean, I can''t believe I didn''t see it! You are the same age, have practically the same names - even your pet is named after your brother! You might move and act like a boy but taking a closer look, it''s just so obvious that you''re a girl. . . . I''m surprised anyone fell for it to begin with!"

    Raven kept starting at Javelin, for once, at a loss of words. She had to give the boy credit; he might only be a few months away from eleven, but his deduction skills were a lot more advanced than what you would expect form a preteen boy. Then again, he was both a talented spiritualist and a general''s son who had spent a considerable amount with his father at sea.

    Both of these qualities had helped him mature faster and just like his body seemed to belong to someone who had lived past at least fifteen winters, his mind was equally advanced. Nonetheless, Raven had to admit that she should perhaps have ignored old sentiments and chosen another alias. . . .

    Javelin took a few steps away from the window, his eyes filled with hurt bordering on betrayal. "Why didn''t you tell me, Raven? Don''t you trust me?" When no reply came, he slammed his fist into the supporting pillar in the center of the room. "By the Seas, Raven, I told you that I had loved you! That I still . . ." His voice trailed off as pained tears filled his eyes.

    Raven felt a lump gathering in her throat. Love. It was something always had found hard to deal with. In her past life it was trained out off her. In this life it was yanked from under her. Looking at the young Javelin, who despite his young age held so much passion for her in his heart, Raven couldn''t help but feel her own heart thawing.

    In that moment, Raven wished nothing more than to confess everything to Javelin; to hold him in her arms and tell him she was sorry, tell him about her life - past and present - and try to help him understand why she had done what she did.

    Before she knew it, Raven had opened her mouth to speak, but even as the words started to come fear gripped her. Suddenly the vision of Vice Headmaster Gadwall absorbing that odd black essence from Dunlin and Jack flashed across her mind, causing Raven to hesitate and glance down at her brother''s bird body sitting next to her. She barely registered the changes with his plumage and instead envisioned how the then ten-year-old Hoatzin collapsed, lifeless, on the reddish marble floor of the Nightingale mansion.

    Looking back up at Javelin - the young and innocent boy whose eyes contained galaxies and who always put his friends first, even to the point of risking his own life - Raven felt a stab of pain in her chest that resonated with her very soul.

    She couldn''t do it.

    With moist eyes, Raven shook her head. "Javelin, I''m sorry . . . you''ve got it wrong." Her voice sounded weak and sorrowful.

    "What do you mean I got it wrong? You are Raven Nightingale, daughter of Maleo and Besra Nightingale, aren''t you?"

    A set of tears streaked down Raven cheeks but she continued to shake her head in denial.

    "Then who are you!?" Javelin roared - he was brimming with anger and clearly didn''t believe her.

    Raven swallowed. Who was she?

    Restricted by her fears, Raven told herself that until she figured out what was going on with Gadwall and the true reason behind her family''s death, Raven should keep Javelin out of it all. However, she also knew that it was too late for that; he was already involved, and she only had herself to blame.

    Before, she had assumed that they boys'' backgrounds would keep them relatively safe but not anymore. Whatever Gadwall was doing, it felt . . . otherworldly; she had never head of read about anything like it. As a result, the events at the Spirit Hall Tower might have given Raven more information, but it had given her even more questions, and the thickening plot made her apprehensive of what else might be hiding behind the scenes.

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    She silently cursed herself for having acted too quickly when she asked Javelin and the twins to help her with repressing the Talons. Knowing them, they wouldn''t back down even if she asked them to now, and truth be told, she was aware that she couldn''t do without them either; their family connections were too vital.

    "Well?" Javelin almost shouted and Raven made a show of flinching, something which quickly became very real due to the intense pain it set of in her body. Once more, concern overshadowed Javelin''s anger and he took another set of hurried steps towards her.

    "I''m truly no one," Raven blurted out and looked away shamefully before Javelin could reach her. Inside, Raven decided that while she wouldn''t tell him the truth, she didn''t really want to lie either. "Javelin, earlier than I can really remember, I was sold to a group of vicious people for mere pocket change. Those people took me to their base and what followed was seemingly endless torture, or ''training'' as they called it; it was nothing but constant pain and fear. Most of my friends couldn''t take it, and one after one they either died or grew insane. I don''t know why I survived it really . . . but eventually, I was rescued."

    Javelin froze in his tracks as he looked at Raven with confusion in his eyes.

    "I don''t remember my original name, but I was given a name by my rescuers. They decided to called me Raven - said my eyes held too much wisdom for my age." Raven chuckled weakly at the memory of her loving father, Lord Maleo, as he held her in his arms and gave her the very same name she had gone by in her previous life.

    Raven wiped her tears and looked up at Javelin, who stood less then a meter from her bed by now. He still seemed confused. What Raven didn''t notice was that next to her, Hoatzin watched her intently with deep agony in his eyes.

    "But . . . your last name . . ." Javelin faltered.

    "I had to pick something, right? What is more fitting for a broken assassin that belongs in the darkness." Raven averted her eyes again - she really looked broken.

    Javelin took the last few steps to once more crouch down at Raven''s side, now gabbing her hand. "You don''t belong in the darkness, Raven," he said as he flashed her a halfhearted smile. With his free hand, Javelin brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. "You are more than an assassin too." Javelin''s smile grew warmer and yet another memory surfaced within Raven.

    ---------

    He stood in front of me, bravely blocking my path. As always, he radiated warmth and life, but his eyes were held a seriousness I''d only seen in him when he worked.

    "Raven," he said with his husky voice. I didn''t want to admit it, but that voice sent chills down my spine, and not in a bad way.

    I attempted to step around him, but he moved to block me. If it had been anyone else, such actions would impossibly be enough to stop me but not for him.

    "Raven I am serious, run away with me."

    I shook my head and was about to list everything that made such silly notions insurmountable, but he knew what I was going to say before I said it. "Don''t tell me it can''t be done," he intervened, "I know you''ve helped others do it."

    "That was different," I almost yelled. "You don''t know what I''ve done, what I am."

    He refused to back down, just like I knew he would. "I now more than you think, Raven, but I also know that what you do is not who you are! You are so much more than that!"

    Looking into his passionate eyes, I so desperately wanted to believe him. But I didn''t. I never would.

    ---------

    Uninvited, a genuine tear ran down Raven''s cheek and landed on the hand Javelin still held by her chin.

    As if the sudden moisture made him realize the intimacy of his actions, Javelin''s face reddened and he backed away from the bed. His hand instinctively went to the back of his head, scratching it nervously. "Ah, um, sorry for yelling at you before. I shouldn''t have assumed . . ."

    Stuck in old memories, Raven briefly didn''t understand what he was referring to but her mind quickly cleared. Once more wiping away her tears, she shook her head. "No, you have every right to be upset. I did lie to you after all."

    "Why would you lie about it though? I mean, a seven years old high Adept is world-shattering in itself, if the school knew you were a girl they would fawn over you endlessly - heck, the entire continent would!"

    "I didn''t want to . . ." Raven stopped mid-sentence, shocked. "High Adept?''"Javelin''s statement caused her to do what she''d been putting off the entire time since she regained consciousness; she turned her attention inwards.

    Raven almost gasped in shock. Within her, spinning at an incredible speed, was a large red vortex of spirit essence - judging by it''s size, there was no doubt that Raven was a high Adept. ''I''m almost halfway to the Champion bottleneck!'' This was a conclusion she simply couldn''t believe - even for an advanced student, the transition from peak mid Adept to peak high Adept was one that should take roughly six years!

    Subtle bursts of essence pulsated out of it every now and then, sending waves of strengthening energy throughout her body. ''It''s still unstable. . .'' When a spirit core made qualitative leaps, it would enter a period of instability, where it tried to hold more spirit essence than it actually could handle. Like an overfilled glass, this essence would spill over, in turn strengthening the spiritualist''s body further.

    Usually, these effects would only last about an hour or so after the initial breakthrough. The fact that it was still going on, indicated how big Raven''s leap actually was.

    Despite her newfound strength, Raven still felt a bit apprehensive. Her current aches could be attributed to the rapid changes of her body, but what about that beast she had seen? Tentatively, Raven started examining every inch of her body but found nothing wrong. Even her soul prism was relatively unchanged - she had gain yet another spirit connection but what was one connection more when you already had 373 of them?

    ''Why can''t I shake the feeling that something is a bit off with my soul prism?'' Raven pondered. ''Is it the imprints?''

    Before she could investigate further though, Javelin''s confused voice broke the silence. "Raven?" he asked confused - she had, after all, just stopped talking out of nowhere.

    The boy''s voice brought Raven''s focus back outside. "Ah, sorry, got distracted by the improvement in my cultivation," she smiled apologetically. "I didn''t want anyone to know because I like my freedom. Prodigies tend to die young and while I would perhaps be protected by my sex, that would likely only work as long as I agreed to be married off into the right family."

    Javelin''s eyes narrowed a bit, but he slowly nodded in agreement. What Raven said wasn''t wrong. Everywhere on the Trinity continent, strength ruled the world. Those who held the power would not approve of such a powerful free agent as a former slave. While fewer would be inclined to act against a woman, strong spiritualist women were considered prime mating material. As the youngest high Adept Javelin had even heard of, Raven would not have a free day in her life.

    The two of them continued talking for a while. Javelin had a few more questions, mostly about what had happened to Raven to make her pass out in the hallway - something she honestly explained as being overwhelmed by the spirit essence from the Day of Light, supposedly fainting on her way to get help from the headmaster. In turn, Raven was eager to learn how Javelin had explained her absence over the last three days - closed door cultivation after a big breakthrough, apparently.

    As they talked, Raven would notice Javelin growing quiet every once in a while. It was like he suddenly thought of something that he''d like to ask but ultimately deciding against it. Still, Raven was impressed by how easily Javelin seemed to adjust to her being a girl. ''Perhaps he sensed it before'' she wondered.

    Eventually though, Javelin left. He had been watching over Raven almost around the clock ever since he brought her out from the tower but later that evening he was expected to take part in an event at the Sea Empire embassy, so he needed sleep.

    "Thank you for helping me, Javelin." Raven had called out to him as he left. Javelin had paused at the door and given her a smiling nod. Just as he walked out the room he had stopped again.

    "I nearly forgot. Headmaster Swan wishes to see you once you get out of your ''closed door cultivation''."

    "Okay, thank you," replied Raven but Javelin had already walked out of her line of sight.

    "Well, that went better than I expected," said Hoatzin as he flew down and landed in Raven''s lap. "He seemed to believe you - he''s even stopped calling you ''Night''."

    Raven nodded pensively.

    "So it would seem. . . ."

    "Then again, you didn''t really lie, did you?"

    Raven looked down at her brother and when he saw the defeat in her face, Hoatzin held up a red-tipped wing and shook his head. "Nevermind, sister, nevermind," he said and changed subject; "at least my Day of Light experience went well - look, what do you think of my new feathers?" Hoatzin spread the feathers wide to give Raven a better look. Immediately her face softened.

    "Very handsome," she said, a mischievous glint appearing in her eyes. "I bet all the other birds will swoon at the very sight of you."

 Chapter 61: Meeting Again

    Author''s note: Apparently I messed up when I tried to add this chapter six days ago and it ended up in the side stories instead... Sorry for the mistake!

    A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    Meeting Again

    While Raven and Hoatzin went over what they had experienced during the Day of Light, Javelin trekked through the knee-deep snow that covered every nook and cranny of the winter-white Sky City. At a steady pace he made his way towards the city''s center, but contrary to his walking, Javelin''s mind was far from steady.

    As he walked, Javelin thought back on the conversations he had just had with Raven - his shockingly female roommate - and couldn''t help but grow confused. As far as he could tell, Raven had been honest with him about her past. She had perhaps withheld some information here and there, but that gut-feeling - the one that had been helping him spot Raven''s lies as of late - didn''t stir more than once or twice.

    ''Then they can''t be the same Raven. . . .'' he thought, ''their childhoods don''t match.'' However, as he thought this, Javelin felt that very same gut-feeling warning him that something was wrong with his conclusions. ''If they are not the same person, then why do I keep seeing . . .'' he couldn''t make himself finish the thought.

    Javelin continued his silent walk, opting to take the longer path rather than heading straight for the nearest transporter outpost. After nearly an hour of walking and then flying, Javelin finally arrived at the Sea Empire''s embassy - one of the few businesses located on the Mansion Tier - but his thoughts were still a mess.

    He sighed; Javelin could understand why Raven would want to keep her gender a secret. He himself had been betrothed to a promising spiritualist girl since before he could remember, and even without his heart yearning for someone already dead, Javelin would not hesitate to break off the engagement if opportunity arose.

    ''Perhaps it''s just wishful thinking on my part. . . .''

    Ironically, this Raven was perhaps unique enough for even his strictly loyal father to agree to backing out of the arrangement with his fiance''s family.

    ---------

    It took another two days for Raven to fully stabilize her core, but even then her muscles still felt sore - stronger than ever, but very sore. Nonetheless, her cultivation had kept improving, solidifying her as a high Spirit Adept. Over these two days Raven had also tried to figure out what had changed within her soul prism - she was certain something was different but no matter how hard she looked, Raven couldn''t pinpoint what had changed.

    While Raven recuperated, Hoatzin had refused to leave her side, no matter how hard she insisted that they needed to look into what the Talon''s were up to. "Not until you are better," he would repeat resolutely every time the subject was raised.

    Meanwhile, Javelin had returned to the house several times, but he would always stop about a hundred meters away, pace back and forth a few times and then leave. Raven found this behavior a bit amusing at first but after a while she started to wish that Javelin would find the courage to simply ask whatever it was that he had on his mind.

    "He''s come again," noted Hoatzin out off nowhere.

    "I know," sighed Raven. She wondered briefly if she should go out and confront the boy, when her thoughts suddenly froze. Raven stared at her brother. He sat nestled deep within the fibers of a fluffy carpet in front of the living room''s open fireplace - there was no window nearby that could possibly allow Hoatzin a view of the street outside. "Brother, how come you know that Javelin has returned?"

    Hoatzin didn''t look away from the flames as he lazily answered, "who else would be walking back and forth at that same spot in the middle of the day? Everyone else is at home with their families."

    Raven raised a surprised eyebrow but said nothing. As if sensing his sister''s gaze, Hoatzin lifted his still white feathered head. "What?"

    His apparent confusion caused Raven to chuckle lightly. "Javelin is nearly a hundred meters down the road, big brother - don''t you find it odd that you know he''s there?" she said with a crooked smile.

    "He''s not a hun-. . ." Hoatzin''s brown eyes widened. Immediately he spread his wings and flew over to the window facing the street where Javelin could be glanced further down. "I''ll be damned, he really is a hundred meters away! How come I can tell he is there?"

    Raven got up and joined her brother by the window. Outside was an exceptionally quiet street, covered in muffling snow. Even with Raven''s hearing not a lot of sounds could be heard. ''That must be it,'' she thought as she held out a hand for her brother to land on.

    "Big brother, how many spirit connections do you have right now?"

    "54," snorted Hoatzin, a bit dejectedly. "You know, it''s not fair that you, my little sister, gained over a hundred new connections for nearly dying while I, who actually died, only gained fifty!"

    Raven blinked a few times before she burst out laughing.

    "Brother, haven''t you noticed that you can see, hear and feel a lot more than before?" Hoatzin tilted his head in confusion, so Raven in turn inclined hers towards an ice tap hanging over a window across the street. "See that? Tell me, can you not hear the drops hitting the small ice patch below the tap?"

    Hoatzin was about to declare his sister crazy when his little eyes widened yet again. "How is that possible?"

    "It''s your spirit connections. Once you pass fifty there is a huge leap in your senses'' quality. I''m surprised you didn''t notice, but perhaps the lack of activity around here has made it harder to pick up." Raven was still smiling. Before, her brother''s soul prism, or rather soul shard, had barely been strong enough to sustain the few spirit connections she had given up so that Hoatzin could gain a physical body. Now, he had over fifty connections and a cultivation equivalent to a brand new Spirit Adept. Clearly he had made huge progress towards his goal.

    "It''s from my spirit connections?" Hoatzin didn''t seem to understand.

    "You will see what I mean once we get to a more crowded area - it might overwhelm you at first, but you''ll get used to it."

    With Hoatzin still in a daze, Raven scooped him up and started walking towards the front door. It was about time for Raven and her brother to return to reality - they needed to start finding the answers to all their newfound questions.

    --------

    Outside, Javelin paced back and forth in a dim alleyway. It was the fifth time in two days that he had made it this far, but every time the actual house came in sight, his determination would falter.

    "By the seagull''s cry, just ask her!" Javelin shouted out in frustration as he kicked the house wall next to him.

    "Ask whom what?" an amused voice rang out behind him.

    Javelin spun around only to see Raven standing no more than a meter away from him. "Ah, Ra-Raven!" he stammered but just as the words left his mouth, the grey robed Raven took a small step backwards. Javelin barely managed to register this shift before a heap of cold snow flopped down on top of him.

    Like an avalanche, practically all of the snow that had been on the roof, slid down from above. By the time the downpour stopped, Javelin was chest high in snow, with a lump of the cold stuff stacked like a cone on his head.

    For a brief moment there was silence, but it didn''t take long before Javelin noticed how Raven''s slender shoulders shook violently, as if she was trying he best not to laugh. Javelin felt his cheeks heat up. He was so embarrassed - and the fact that even Tzin, the bird, seemed to be holding back a laugh didn''t make it better.

    "You could have warned me too," he grunted.

    He tried to move out of the snow but it was harder to lift his legs than Javelin had expected, nearly causing him to fall over.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    *Pfft* Raven couldn''t hold it in any longer and a small laugh escaped her. Tzin on the other hand was wheezing with what Javelin assumed to be a bird''s heavy laughter.

    "It''s not funny."

    In flustered frustration Javelin activated his spirit essence to force the snow away from him. He had expected some of it to slam into the now giggling Raven, but the snow just skid past her. Tzin, on the other hand got hit, causing him to instantly go tumbling off of Raven''s shoulder, disappearing into the deep snow behind her.

    This in turn led to Raven laughing even more and Javelin could feel his cheeks warm up yet again, although, not with embarrassment this time. ''Laughing suits her. . . .'' he thought in a daze.

    Steam rose from the hole Tzin had made with his body and soon an ember covered bird popped out of it, heading straight for Javelin''s face with impressive speed. Wide eyed, Javelin was about to defend himself when the still laughing Raven intervened by moving in between them.

    "Now, now, Tzin, don''t blame him. I could have blocked it for you too." Raven turned and smiled warmly at Javelin. "Sorry, Jav, I couldn''t resist."

    Javelin just stared. For three days he had watched over the unconscious Raven. For three days, Javelin had been reevaluating everything he knew about Raven''s appearance but it was perhaps first now that it truly hit him; Raven was a girl, and beneath those icy cold eyes, she was beautiful.

    As if realizing his thoughts, Raven''s smile dropped, only to be replaced by the harsher expression he had grown accustomed with. Instantly, Raven grew more masculine - Javelin could hardly believe the transformation.

    "Did you want to ask me something?" she prompted and the distance in her voice was like a bucket of cold water over his head.

    "Well, um . . . I just wondered . . ." Javelin floundered about. The question he had wanted to ask didn''t seem right anymore. "I just wondered, you being Singer and all . . . will you help me, um, train. . . ?"

    Raven looked at him disbelievingly for a while and Javelin thought his heart would stop, but eventually Raven gave one of her signature cold smiles and nodded. "Sure," she said, "but I doubt you''ll like it."

    Without waiting for a reply, Raven started walking down the street and Javelin breathed a sigh of relief. ''Why does her stare seem even intenser now?''

    At this point Javelin could have sworn he heard a snort. When he looked around, his eyes met with Tzin''s. ''Is the bird sneering at me?''

    "Coming?" called Raven further down the road.

    "Coming?" Javelin was confused.

    "You wanted to get help with your training, right?" Raven glanced over her shoulder and Javelin didn''t miss the mischievous glint in her eyes. She raised a pale hand and pointed towards the Academy Tier. "Guess who has an appointment with the cold air in Sky Academy''s garden."

    Javelin''s face fell.

    ---------

    A few hours later, darkness had already descended over Sky City. After giving Javelin the necessary instructions to begin his sub-zero meditation, Raven headed towards the headmaster''s office, while Hoatzin finally agreed to take a flight around the city to find out what the Talon''s were up to.

    Just like before, Raven could sense nothing through the isolating walls and door that surrounded the isolated office. Double-checking the control on her Limiters, Raven knocked on the door. There was a brief silence before the large door swung open.

    "Come in," called the familiarly soft voice of Headmaster Swan. Raven did as she was told but had to bite her tongue not to freeze up on the doorstep. Seated in the armchairs by the fireplace was not only the headmaster but also Vice Headmaster Gadwall, cousin Dunlin and also a pale-haired woman in her forties.

    It might have been thirty months since Raven saw her last but even if her senses were reduced to a non-spiritaulist''s, Raven would still have recognized that woman right away.

    It was Aunt Anhinga.

    "My apologies, Headmaster," said Raven with a bow. "I was not aware that Headmaster had company."

    Raven''s body and voice was acting entirely on reflex. She barely registered what she had said, nor how she now straightened and was about to leave the room all together. The only thing Raven could think of was the ghastly sight of her collapsing family members and aunt Anhinga''s harrowing laugh.

    "By all means, Student Night, stay," urged Headmaster Swan and instead looked regrettably towards the rest of his guests. "As I warned, my next appointment has arrived. I will, however, be delighted to resume our discussion at a later time."

    Anhinga smiled warmly at the headmaster as she got up from her armchair. "It must be hard, taking care of so many students; making men out of mice. . . ." She gave Raven a cold glance, but the latter wasn''t looking her way so the two didn''t make eye contact. When neither the headmaster nor Raven reacted, Anhinga curtsied lightly towards the former. "Until later then," she said and left, closely followed by Dunlin who glared angrily at Raven as he passed her.

    Apart from Raven and the headmaster, only Gadwall remained in the office. For a moment Raven thought the man would remain, but before the doors had completely closed behind the departing Talons, Swan cleared his throat; "Smew, you have preparations for the next term to see to, I believe. Don''t let my small whims keep you." Swan''s smile was warm and genuine, and although Gadwall seemed a bit disappointed, he too smiled warmly. "Thank you, Headmaster," he said and left.

    As the door clicked shut behind her, Raven could feel cold sweat running down her spine. ''Mid Champion. . . . aunt Anhinga is a mid Champion!'' This had truly shocked her. Although Raven had known that her aunt was a spiritualist, the last time she heard her father speak of it, her aunt hadn''t even matched up to Raven''s mother, a mid Adept.

    ''What is going on with the Talons'' cultivation levels? Is it perhaps Gadwall''s doing?'' Raven''s mind spun with images of the dark essence flowing from Dunlin and Jack to the vice headmaster. ''Was I imagining things or had Dunlin''s presence faded a bit?''

    "Junior Student Night?"

    Raven reacted to her name being called, only to realize that the headmaster had actually called to her at least two times already, without Raven truly registering it.

    "My apologies, Headmaster!" Raven bowed deeply, but Swan only chuckled.

    "Don''t worry about it, young Night. Have a seat," he gestured towards the armchairs that had just been vacated. Raven didn''t really feel like sitting in those chairs but she took a seat nonetheless.

    "How was your first Spirit Hall experience?" Swan asked after a moments silence. "I heard from Student Hake that you gained quite a few benefits."

    Raven was already prepared for this question. "It was a very thrilling experience," she said with awe-filled eyes, "the moment that first batch of spirit essence entered my soul prism it was as if the world and I was one being. Truly marvelous! I even managed to break through to the Adept realm!" Raven blurted out one sentence of praise after the other, being every inch an excited seven-year-old. When she mentioned her new cultivation, shock flashed across the headmaster''s eyes, quickly followed by immense joy.

    "I only wish that the sensation could have lasted longer. . ." Raven hurriedly continued but at this point she shuddered slightly, as if afraid. Internally, she hesitated a bit - after Gadwall''s odd display and the earlier meeting with the Talons, Raven wasn''t sure she trusted the headmaster either, but she needed to start somewhere.

    Picking up on Raven''s portrayed fear, Swan frowned slightly. "Did something go wrong during the ceremony?" he asked.

    "Not wrong, exactly. It''s just . . . I thought I saw a beast within the spirit essence at the end. . . ." Raven''s voice trialed off.

    This was a gamble. All of Raven''s senses were prone on Headmaster Swan as the last words left her mouth. The reaction from the white-haired man was more instant and dramatic than Raven had expected.

    Swan stood up from his armchair so fast that it fell backwards and slammed into the marble floor. His face was filled with utter shock and disbelief as he dashed forward and grabbed Raven''s arm before the latter had a chance to even react.

    "What did you just say!?" Headmaster Swan''s voice was anything but its usual calm as his fingers clutched Raven so tightly it actually hurt.

 Chapter 62: Deep in the Mountain

    Deep in the Mountain

    The grip on Raven''s arm tightened even further - had she been a normal person, her bones would likely have cracked under the immense force.

    "Tell me!" the headmaster prompted yet again.

    In this situation, a serene calm descended upon Raven, gained after countless life and death experiences. The world around her seemed to move slower as Raven observed the white haired man grabbing her. Every little twitch his muscles made were noticed by her, and so was the spirit essence he was gathering in his palms - no doubt he would soon force his way to her soul prism to find the answers he was looking for.

    ''He looks more excited than angry. . . .''

    Letting pain and fear show on her face, Raven used all her physical strength to attempt twisting out of the headmaster''s grip and yet, at first, nothing happened - her arm wouldn''t budge. Swan did however notice her struggle. With a flash of realization, he let go of Raven''s arm and took a few steps back. Held up is hands, as if to ensure her that he would grab at her again.

    "Excuse this old man," he said, and even when so far as to lower his knees to the ground, putting his face at the same level as Raven''s. "But it is very important that you tell me what you saw." The look he gave her was calmer now, but the excitement was still there.

    Raven glanced down at the arm the headmaster had been holding. Only know did she realize exactly how dangerous her gamble had been; if the headmaster had gripped her neck instead and used his full force, spirit essence and all, Raven wouldn''t even have had the time to realize she was dying. Additionally, this was most likely nothing more than a reflex reaction done subconsciously - if Swan tried his best. . . .

    Raven swallowed. ''Too late to back out now, though,'' she thought as she kept her frighted gaze at the headmaster. "I . . . I don''t know . . ." Raven stuttered, "when more spirit essence came I opened my eyes, and . . . I didn''t see much. . . ."

    "It''s okay, Raven, just describe what you saw."

    Raven almost raised an eyebrow in surprise at the headmaster''s sudden use of her first name, but suppressed it by closing her eyes. She thought back on that scene on the 26th floor of the Spirit Hall Tower. She saw the frozen spirit essence spring to life and charge towards the central structure, only to halt its movements. A beast seemed to take shape within the essence, slowly turning its large head towards Raven. The body of the creature was blurry and indistinct, but its eyes. . . . Raven felt a shiver run down her spine at the very thought of them.

    Apprehensively, Raven started describing what she had seen to the now silent headmaster. She told it best she could, only leaving out the fact that she hadn''t actually been in her room at the time. Once she was done, Headmaster Swan sat silently for over a minute. The flames from the open fireplace caused light to dance across his pensive eyes.

    Eventually he stood up from the floor and walked over towards the door Raven had assumed led deeper into the headmaster''s office.

    "I had intended to tell you about this later, but I think you should hear it now." Raven stared at the man with confusion, causing the latter to chuckle. "Come along, Student Night, there is something I wish to show you."

    Not really seeing any other options, Raven followed the headmaster into what surprisingly enough was very narrow corridor. Just like in the Spirit Hall Tower, glowing orbs would ignite themselves over Swan''s head every few meters, giving light to an otherwise dark place.

    The corridor continued for nearly two hundred meters - straight towards the center of the mountain if Raven''s estimations were correct - before the walls finally started to part, growing the corridor into a large hall. As Raven turned around a bend, her eyes immediately fell on the left-hand wall in front of her. That patch of wall, which was easily twenty by twenty meters large, was covered in an exquisitely painted map. Wide eyed, Raven studied the landmasses portrayed but couldn''t find a single one she recognized.

    "Headmaster, this is . . ." Raven didn''t take her eyes of the wall.

    "Impressive, isn''t it? This is a map of our world," he said and pointed to a small head-sized landmass in the middle of the painting. "See that one? That is our Trinity continent."

    ''What!?'' Raven was at a loss of words. ''But that''s so small!'' Compared to the other landmasses, the pointed out Trinity continent couldn''t be considered more than an island.

    Noting Raven''s shock, Swan chuckled before he too stared up at the great map. "It brings out the urge for adventure, doesn''t it?" The man sighed. "Unfortunately, the map is a simplified version of reality, and this old man will never be able to reach any of the other places shown here. . . ."

    "Why not? It doesn''t seem to be very far to that one," said Raven and pointed to the landmass that was closest to their own.

    Swan gave her a weary smile. "Although this map would have us believe that, there is more than just distance separating the different lands from each other. No matter how far you travel in any given direction from our borders, you will never reach anything but open seas and a few scattered islands."

    "But the map . . ."

    The headmaster smiled and put his hands behind his back, swaying slightly on the back of his heals as he gazed up on the painted wall.

    "Let me tell you a story," he said, completely ignoring Raven''s confused expression. "Many thousands of years ago, three brother lived deep in a mountain forest, far from any other villages or towns. The forest was a dangerous place and they rarely saw any other humans, but one day they came across a severely injured young man, lying unconscious and close to death on the forest ground.

    "Taking pity on the man, the three brothers carried him back to their home and tended to his wounds best they could. Now, the three brothers were ordinary people, with no knowledge what so ever about spirit essence of Divine Skills, so needless to say the young man healed very slowly. Eventually however, the man stirred from his unconscious state and, to the wonder of the three brothers, he immediately started glowing. Within hours, every wound and broken bone was healed.

    "You can understand the shock and wonder of grown men who see spirit essence at work for the first time - they thought the young man was a god! However, when the brothers wanted to bow down in religious veneration, the young man stopped them. He told them that they too could do what he had done and offered to teach them." Swan turned his head to face Raven, "Thus, the first spiritualists of the Trinity continent were made."

    Raven frowned. "I thought the first spiritualists were the Three Great Emperors who gained enlightenment by meditation."

    "Ah, the Three Great Emperors who became one with the world - one whilst staring out over the sea, one secluded in a deep cave and one gazing up at the endless skies?" Swan asked and Raven nodded. "No, my boy, those stories came much later, after a bloody war left the continent divided. The people in power needed a reason to stay there and at the time, the three ancient institutes were too weak to resist." A melancholy look flashed across his golden eyes. "No, the true origin of spiritualist were those three brothers in the forest, or perhaps more accurately, the true origin was that wounded young man."

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "And he came from one of the other continents?" Raven asked.

    "You catch on quick," laughed Swan. "Fact is, these continents are rather separate realms; they cannot be reached by any normal means and as far as we know, not one person from our realm has made it out and back again. The young man was an heir to the throne of Novum," said the headmaster and pointed at one of the large landmasses on the painted wall. "There was war there at the time, and the man managed to flee here by accident." As the words left his mouth, the headmaster started walking deeper into the grand hall, heading for a were it once more narrowed down to a tight passage.

    "Then, how did he get back - if he got back?" Raven asked curiously as she hurried after him.

    "We don''t know how exactly, but from what records remain we do know that the man''s way of handling spirit essence was on a fundamentally different level than ours. He could use spirit essence to fly freely in the air and it is said that the four peaks of Sky City grew out of the ground with but a thought."

    Raven faltered in her steps.

    "How is that even possible?" she asked but the headmaster shrugged.

    "How does a frog raised at the bottom of a well know that there is more to the world?" he answered rhetorically while he continued to walk deeper into the mountain.

    The two of them wandered in silence after that, but Raven kept wondering about the mysterious wounded man and his abilities. The headmaster had implied that there was more to this world - and perhaps spiritualism - than they could possibly know and both Fenris'' and Gadwall''s displays came to mind as she considered other odd uses of spirit essence she had come across so far.

    Raven was so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered the sound of rushing water that echoed against the stone walls of the corridor. However, as they continued deeper the sound became too overbearing for Raven''s sensitive ears for her to ignore it.

    Just as she was about to ask if they perhaps were underneath the waterfall, Raven''s eyes widened and she almost stopped in her tracks. At the edges of her senses, Raven''s spirit connections picked up the presence of an enormous body of rapidly flowing water surrounded by a barely detectable membrane of spirit essence. This in itself would however not be enough to catch Raven''s attention.

    It didn''t take long before there was a bend in the corridor and, walking around it, Raven''s eyes confirmed what her other senses had already told her. There, in the center of a huge and otherwise empty cylinder was a free standing column of water, only, the water wasn''t falling - it was rising.

    "It''s the waterfall. . . ." Raven mumbled absentmindedly as she stared at the marvel in front of her.

    "Indeed, young Night, this is the source of the city''s waterfall," confirmed Swan and Raven noticed how his previous excitement had returned to his voice. "Tell me, when you look at the ground underneath your feet, do you notice anything sticking out."

    Raven turned her head to look down, but she didn''t really need to. She had already noticed a Spirit Start made only of spirit essence branded into the stone floor. It was faint and oddly colorless, but nonetheless there.

    "What am I looking for, Headmaster?" she probed, a bit unwilling to admit to what she had found.

    The headmaster''s excitement faded a little but there was still hope in his eyes. "I''m not entirely sure myself. . . . All I know is that there should be a seal of some sort that, if you can find it, will open a path to deeper understanding of the spirit essence."

    "What makes you think I should be able to see it?"

    "To see the seal one must see the true nature of spirit essence," answered Swan as if reading from a book. "If the truth is hidden, so is the path." He gave Raven a meaningful look. "Basically, if that beast you saw has anything to do with the true nature of spirit essence then you should see the seal and be able to walk the path to deeper enlightenment. With that, it would perhaps not be impossible for you to become a high Champion in time!"

    Raven gave him a innocent look of curiosity. "In time?"

    "Ah," the headmaster realized his mistake too late. "Well, no need to worry about that now. Do you see the seal?" However, Raven would not let him off so easily.

    "I don''t like doing things without knowing the end game, Headmaster. You''ve already shared this much with me, why not share the rest."

    The headmaster''s golden eyes met Raven''s and for a moment Raven thought he would refuse, but eventually Swan sighed. "Very well, I didn''t want to tell you if it would risk hindering your cultivation but there just happens to be one way for us to travel to the other realms."

    "I thought Headmaster said no one knew how to do it?"

    "I don''t how it is done, but I do know it can be done. You see, every three years, the other realms hold a tournament to compare the abilities of their younger generations. Our realm is also invited, but the minimum requirements to attend are simply too outrageous; one must be under twenty but at least an upper high Spirit Champion!"

    Raven''s eyebrows twitched. ''That is indeed a bit steep. . . .'' Even an Advanced Student graduate from Sky Academy would at best be 25 or 26 when they reached the point between mid and high Champion, but it would likely take an additional ten or even twenty years for them to be considered in the upper region of high Champions. ''But wait. . . .'' Raven frowned.

    "Headmaster, how come you know so much about this? I take it the Novum heir left a long time ago."

    Headmaster Swan''s face darkened. "Invitations are delivered before every tournament."

    "Delivered? You mean someone from the other realms come here personally?"

    Swan''s face grew even darker. He clutched his fists and although he gave Raven no direct answer Swan started mumbling words under his breath. "Bloody snobs! Dropping in, out of nowhere, whenever they please, treating us like ants. . . . No, like flees on ants!"

    Raven didn''t need more to realize that whoever is was that delivered those invitations didn''t give any respect towards the headmaster. Considering the fact that Swan was a Spirit Master - the supposed pinnacle for spiritualist - one had to wonder what level those people had attained.

    While Raven was considering this, the headmaster muttered something that caught her attention particularly. "If at least they''d stop with all the comments about us only being good as some sort of food supply - it''s so unsettling. . . ." his words were barely a whisper, but who was Raven?

    As she heard those words, that scene in the Spirit Hall Tower flashed by her eyes yet again, replaying how the blackened spirit essence flowed from the two boys and into Gadwall.

    The image was then replaced by her cousin in Headmaster Swan''s office - his already pale pink presence now even paler.

    "Food supply. . . ." she whispered absentmindedly.

 Chapter 63: Foes and Allies

    Author''s Note: Thank you to my dear sponsors</a> - your contributions push me to write more and better ^.^

    <hr />

    Foes and Allies

    Raven''s mind reeled. Many questions that had been hard to grasp before started to get reasonable answers as she considered the possibilities that these outer-realm people brought. There was for example the supposedly mythical Phoenix Death Lotus that had been used to kill her family; it was a flower that only existed in legends yet somehow the Talons had gotten a hold of it. It should be impossible, but who knew what could be found in all the other realms?

    Raven also couldn''t help but remember the rumors that Dunlin and his gang had spread concerning her supposedly stolen cultivation. It had seemed like a preposterous thing to claim at the time - there were simply no records of any stolen or transferred cultivation ever taking place - but perhaps it had not been as random an accusation as Raven had first assumed. If Gadwall was the original instigator, then perhaps he was speaking from his own experience.

    She needed to know more.

    "I take it they do not like us very much," Raven half stated, half asked, the still mumbling Headmaster. The man blinked and looked at Raven. "The people from the other realms I mean," she continued.

    Swan sighed, finally relaxing his fists a bit. "To say that they don''t like us, would imply that they cared enough to form an opinion." He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe, leaning back on his heels. "And why would they? From what I gather, even twenty year old Spirit Masters aren''t unheard of in some of the other realms. . . ." A trace of melancholy filled the man''s golden eyes as he stared off at the central pillar of water. "No, it''s more like they find it wasteful to leave so many resources in the hands of us weaklings."

    "Then why do they?"

    "Huh?" The question had caught the headmaster off guard.

    "If they do not approve of us being here, why don''t they just take over? Surely one man''s saved life would not be enough to keep all of them at bay forever."

    "Ah, I see your point, Student Night, but you don''t need to worry about any invasions." He gave Raven a reassuring smile. "They might not be polite towards us, but neither will they harm us."

    From his expression, Raven could tell that the headmaster intended to leave it at that, but Raven persisted; "but why not?"

    Swan seemed to grow a bit frustrated at her insistence but he chose to reply nonetheless. "Because those are the rules; no realm is allowed to make moves to seize control over a . . . less developed realm. Doing so would cause the other realms to unite in exterminating the initiator. This is done to protect the variation in the realms."

    Raven frowned. ''Then what is Gadwall doing?'' If her new theory was correct then Gadwall was likely the mysterious foreigner referred to as ''Elder W'', only he wasn''t simply from another empire but rather from one of the other realms. However, he must have a motivation for coming to this specific realm and stirring up trouble. While Raven pondered this, Headmaster Swan casually gave her another piece of information.

    "Of course, for that same reason, they would have no choice but to intervene if a lesser realm was on the brink of self destruction, though I doubt that happens very often."

    Raven''s eyes widened and she almost jumped up and down on the spot. ''That''s it!''

    "That''s what?" asked the slightly confused Swan, and only then did Raven realize that she had spoken out loud. Raven quickly raised her hands to cover her mouth, but as countless possible lies - with all their pros and cons - were being constructed in her mind, Raven recognized that perhaps this was the time to come clean and gain a powerful ally in the process.

    ''While I am confident to be able to handle the Talon Clan in a few years time, if Gadwall is truly from another realm. . . . Even if I get strong enough to handle him, who knows how much damage he will have done to the political situation in the three realms by then!''

    Raven made up her mind.

    She lowered her hands from her mouth, all her faked youth gone. "Headmaster, if I open the seal and swear on my soul prism that I will do everything in my power to reach the requirements for entering the multi-realm tournament, will you hear me out regarding something else?"

    Taken aback by the sudden maturity and seriousness in his student, headmaster Swan simply stared at Raven, flabbergasted. She held his gaze and eventually the headmaster''s long white hair shook as he nodded his agreement.

    "Headmaster, you must promise me that you will listen to everything I have to say, including a rather selfish request." Raven pushed the matter once more, her red eyes glowing with intensity, and despite himself, Swan - the Spirit Master - felt a shiver run down his spine. For a moment he forgot that the person in front of him was a barely seven years old youth, who was so far from in terms of power that it was like comparing a mountain to a pebble. He swallowed.

    "I, Eider Swan, swear on my soul prism that I will listen to everything you wish to tell me today and will likewise take your request under serious consideration, or let the Spirit Star forever turn its back on me." As the last words left his mouth, a pure white spirit star appeared on his forehead. Slowly its light faded, as it was absorbed into the skin.

    Raven was pleasantly surprised; she had not expected the headmaster to so far as to swear a soul-oath to her, and that even before she had made hers. Soul-oaths were powerful things. Nobody really knew why they worked, but any spiritualist could do it - no imprint required. It was a way to bind your own soul to a specific task, failure to comply would cause the soul prism to seal itself permanently from further influence from the outside world. Choosing the words for the oath carefully was vital though; a single poorly chosen word and one might, unintentionally, put oneself in an impossible situation.

    Noticing Raven''s surprise, Swan too seemed to realize that his actions had perhaps been a tad rushed. He thought back on what he had just said and couldn''t help but sigh a breath of relief; at least he hadn''t promised anything impossible.

    "Since Headmaster has already made an oath, I might as well speak first." Raven sat down, cross-legged, on the ground and indicated for Swan to do the same. "You told me the true story of Sky Academy''s founder. Now let me tell you the true story of the small girl who, on a warm autumn day seven years ago, was born into the loving and devoted head family of the Nightingale Clan."

    Raven relaxed her muscles and released the shrouding effect of the Fox''s Veil arm-guard she always wore under her robes. Headmaster Swan gasped as he witnessed the transformation, but Raven ignored his outburst and calmly started telling her story.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ---------

    For nearly three hours Raven and Swan sat on the cold stone floor next to the abyss surrounding the reverse waterfall, at the very heart of the central peak. Raven retold the events that had transpired since her birth with as much accuracy as she dared. She left out her former memories and her instant cultivation success, instead attributing her rapid influx in spirit connections to the near-death experience brought on by the Phoenix Death Lotus.

    Raven also made no mention of her brother''s nigh escape from death. She was aware that doing so might convince Swan to give her an extra Spirit Hall room during the Day of Light, but the benefits of that were far outstripped by the risks. Until Hoatzin regained a human body, Raven wouldn''t tell a soul about his existence even if her life depended on it.

    As Raven spoke, she would bring out the relevant evidence that she had gathered to support her claims, showing everything from I''iwi''s recording of the Talons'' conversation to the documents and statistics Raven had compiled together with Bill and her friends over the last few months. The only tricky part had been to explain what she had been doing outside her Spirit Hall room without bringing Hoatzin into it, but she managed to rather elegantly shift the focus to the two boy passing by on their way to Gadwall.

    All this time Headmaster Swan had said nothing. As per his oath, he listened patiently, but his eyes and his breathing clearly gave away his emotions. At first he had been very skeptical - angry even - but as Raven continued to talk the anger had turned to reluctant realization and eventually pain.

    Finally Raven came to the end of her speech.

    "I can come to no other conclusion than that Vice Headmaster Smew Gadwall is likely a person from one of the other realms, who has come here with the intention of pushing the three empires to the point of self-destruction, thus giving his realm a reason to intervene and take over the control of the continent."

    She folded her hands in her lap to show that she was done and waited.

    For a very long time, Swan continued to say nothing. Raven could tell the inner conflict going on within him. From what she knew, Gadwall and Swan were fairly close, not sworn brother''s or anything like that, but the two of them had spent a lot of time together and appreciated each others company. Whether those memories were as false as the ones Fenris had given her mercenary uncles or if the real Gadwall had been killed and replaced, Raven didn''t know, but either way it would be a harsh reality to accept. However, the silence did not last forever.

    "You have been very thorough in your investigations," he might have intended it as a compliment, but Swan''s voice held none of its usual warmth and it didn''t feel very endorsing. "I can''t believe . . . no, I don''t want to believe that Gadwall is anyone but the kindhearted scholar I got to know all those years ago, and yet . . . when I listen to you, young Lady Nightingale, I can''t help but remember quite a few inconsistencies that further strengthen your claim."

    Swan closed his eyes and started massaging his temples - he seemed so much older all of a sudden. Drained, the headmaster got to his feet. "I must inform the emperor of this."

    "Wait," called Raven as Swan turned to leave. "You have not heard my request yet."

    Swan stopped. It looked like he wanted to object, but his oath still bound him. "What is it?" he asked.

    "Gadwall''s schemes have led to the eradication of my clan and no doubt puts many more at risk. I want justice for my family, but we were strangers to begin with so I do not really care what form it takes in Gadwall''s case. However," Raven paused as a a bloodthirsty glint flared in her eyes and thick killing intent filled the air around her, "my shrew of an aunt and her opportunistic family chose to kill their relatives for the sake of power. I will never forgive their sins, and I ask of you to be patient enough to let me deal with them personally."

    Cold sweat formed on the headmaster''s forehead. He was a proud Spirit Master - one of less then ten on the entire continent - who had spent nearly a hundred years striving for higher cultivation though battles and near-death situations, but in front of this scrawny, one-and-a-half meter tall girl he felt as helpless as a newborn infant. In his mind Swan knew that his reaction was ridiculous, but his body acted on its own.

    However, intellect and reason pushed through. He gave Raven an pitying look. "Lady Nightingale, I . . ."

    "Student Night, or simply Raven is fine, Headmaster," Raven interrupted.

    "Raven then, you must realize that we can''t put this off for too long. If we don''t act quickly, who knows who much damage Gadwall and his associated will do. With your cultivation . . ." He didn''t finish is sentence because at that moment the two Limiters around Raven''s ankles finally fell to the ground with a heavy thud. In her hand appeared a glowing orb of spirit essence, and while Swan couldn''t sense the quality of Raven''s spirit essence while it was in her body, he had no problem with doing so once it materialized outside her body.

    "Hi-high Spirit Adept?" Swan didn''t believe his senses. "That''s just not . . ."

    "Possible?" Raven filled in. "Perhaps so, but it is what it is. Additionally, I can see the seal that the Novum heir left behind as well." The headmaster was panting heavily now, his youthful excitement covering up the exhaustion he had felt only moments before. "I don''t need a lot of time, nor do ask that you do nothing while I grow stronger" continued Raven, "but I will personally bring retribution to the Talons, whether it is now - when I''m too weak - or a few years from now. It is your choice."

    Both Raven and Swan stood in silence, looking at each other. Whereas Raven''s eyes were steady with ruthless determination, Swan''s oscillated between extreme joy and deep worry. He could tell that Raven was serious; she would fight to the death if need be to get her will through, but a genius like her was not one Sky Empire, or even the Trinity continent, could afford to loose.

    "Four years," Swan said eventually, "Four year from now, the invitation for another tournament will arrive and with it outer-realmers. If you can open the seal, you have until then before we must use those visitors to make our move against Gadwall." Noting Raven''s pleased smile, Swan lifted a hand in caution; "but, if you cannot open it, then I cannot wait, and will use their visit next year instead. Also, if something unforeseen happens, I might have to act sooner."

    "That is all I ask for," said Raven with a predatory smile.

    She turned over the hand in which she held the glowing orb of spirit essence and slammed it down on the translucent, essence-made Spirit Star on the floor.

    - End of Volume 3 -

 Chapter 64: The Passage of Time

    It was barely past noon, but the low rising sun of early spring had already started its descent, shrouding most of the northern Sky Empire in a premature darkness. However, not all parts of the vast mountain-range empire was as strongly effected.

    Deep within the seemingly unending mountain forest located in the far south-west of the Rock Wren Prefecture, some defiant rays of sunlight trickled its way through patches in the heavy leaf-work. One such opening was above a small and well-hidden waterfall.

    Usually only wild animals and spirit beasts would be seen here, carefully drinking of the cool water that gathered beneath it, but not today. Today, a young girl had submerged herself in the crystal clear pool with a serene look on her twilight lit face. Her eyes were closed as she floated with her head just above the surface of the water.

    Dark, shoulder-long hair spread out like flower around her pale face as the transparent water did little to hide the maturing body of a girl in her mid to late teens. While she could not yet be considered truly alluring, every muscle in her body was toned to perfection and there was an air of grace about her that would put an empresses to shame.

    Suddenly, roughly fifty meters away from the waterfall, there was a slight rustle in the leaves, followed by a muffled groan. Any normal girl would have panicked at the sound and hurried to cover herself up, but not this one. A amused smile crossed her face, and without opening her eyes she called out into the forest.

    "Getting tired?" she asked, her voice soft like summer rain, but there was only another grunt for a reply. "I warned you that I would take my time. . . ."

    Once more there was no proper reply but begrudged mumbling still reached the girl''s ears; "why do girls love to bathe so much?"

    The girl''s smile widened and fortunately no one was there to see it, for they would have been spellbound by it.

    "Although I find your wish to protect my secret charming, you know as well as I do that my senses are stronger than yours," as the girl spoke her smile twitched slightly, becoming more mischievous in nature. "If you insist on keeping me company, you might as well join me in the water. You''re a great swimmer, after all."

    Before the last words even left her mouth a loud cracking noise with a subsequent crash rang out through the forest - her guardian had snapped a branch, tumbling to the ground. The girl started giggling uncontrollably, forcing her to steady her feet against the rocks at the bottom of the pool.

    "D-Don''t be ridiculous!" the other person finally called back, his male voice oddly high pitched. The girl''s giggles turned into hearty laughter and the boy in the woods cleared his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was deeper, manlier. "Ehem, I like my eyes where they are, thank you very much, and I will not have your bird poking them out over a mere waterfall dip."

    "A mere dip, huh?"

    Without the boy noticing, the girl had already left the cool waters and moved to stand behind her companion. The boy jumped up from the ground in a start, revealing the broken branch he had accidentally broken off earlier.

    Now standing, the boy - or rather young man - was approaching two meters tall, and even through the multilayered robes he wore, his impressive muscular structure was apparent. Unruly blonde hair framed his slightly sun tanned face. He seemed to be around eighteen and he was refreshingly handsome.

    "Ra-Raven!" he stuttered, his eyes widening as they fell upon the hip-long grey robe jacket that clung tightly to Raven''s still dripping body. Quickly he averted his gaze and backed away a few steps, causing him to slam into the tree behind him.

    Raven''s deep red eyes twinkled with amusement at the boy''s reaction. "I''d think you''ve never seen a woman before, Jav," she teased and Javelin''s ears turned bright red. "Of course I have!" he retorted with a glare but his face reddened even further so he quickly looked away again.

    Raven chuckled but chose to not entice the boy ans more. "Anyway, I''m done now. You might as well go get the others while I change. I''ll need five minutes."

    Javelin opened his mouth to protest but decided against it. Instead he nodded and rushed off into the forest. Raven smiled at the disappearing back of her friend. It had been a bit over three years since Javelin had learned that Raven was actually a girl, and he had made it his mission to protect her secret at all costs.

    Raven couldn''t help but chuckle as she thought back on some of the more peculiar situations this protectiveness of his had put them in.

    ''So much has changed since then,'' thought Raven as she returned to the water''s edge and glanced down at her reflection. What met her was undoubtedly a young woman rather then a boy. Her lifelong cultivation had sped up her body''s development more than Raven had expected so even though she was technically only ten, she had the height and body of a fairly well-developed sixteen-year-old. ''It won''t be long now before wrapping my chest won''t be enough....'' she concluded with a sigh.

    Nonetheless, Raven picked up some long linen straps from the ground and started molding herself to a manlier form. She put on the rest of her robes, activated the Fox''s Veil, and once she was done with her transformation, few would ever suspect her as anything but a tawny teenage boy.

    Not long after she was done, Javelin''s voice called out to her in attempt to warn her that he and the other students he had picked up were approaching - not that his warning was necessary since none of them had ever left the range on Raven''s senses. Raven met up with the group, consisting of Javelin and three older, last year students - one of which was a low Spirit Champion from the advanced martial class who acted as the leader for their little group of five.

    It was not only Raven''s body that had changed over time, the political situation within the three empires had changed a lot too. Nothing so drastic as an empress accused for treason, but a steadily increasing unrest among the people had started to cause significant tension on the continent. The unrest didn''t have one specific cause and was rather a complex construction of many different things, which made it very hard to deal with.

    One of the problems stemmed from an increasing amount of rogue spiritualists who had been making a habit of robbing traveling merchants. The robberies made the already harsh roads down right deadly and these five students, together with several other similar groups, had been sent out by Sky Academy with orders to help lessen the rogues'' hold on the land routes. They had been at it for over a week, breaking up several bandit crews in the process, and it was now time for them to head back to the Academy.

    "We''ve wasted enough time," said the low Champion begrudgingly. He had a very strict personality and had not approved of the group''s wish to take a longer break here on their way back to Sky City - had it not been the wish of the group''s healer, and only openly female member, he would likely have refused outright. "If any one even mentions the word rest to me again I will beat them into a pulp. Got it?"

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    He didn''t wait for the others to reply before he strode off towards their Everest Hawk that waited in a tree top about hundred meters away. Javelin''s gaze met Raven''s and they both rolled their eyes theatrically. That older student acted so harshly because he believed he was the strongest in the group, which otherwise consisted of mid and high Adepts, but Javelin knew that he wasn''t - far from it actually.

    It looked like Javelin was going to say something but before he had the chance, a pair of pale hands wrapped themselves around his arm. Lady Cara Nestor, the team''s extremely talented healer, nestled up against Javelin with a seductive smile. "Shall we go?" she asked in a soft voice, her plump chest nearly barring his arm. Javelin''s face flushed pink and without really realizing it he was already being lead after the group leader. He shot Raven an apologetic smile over his shoulder, but didn''t resist.

    Raven shook her head. Javelin was soon to be fourteen and even though his cultivation and upbringing had matured both his body and mind ahead of time, puberty was after all puberty; it would be stranger if he didn''t react to a girl''s advances. Nonetheless, Raven couldn''t help click her tongue disapprovingly at Cara''s behavior. Initially Raven had been quite fond of the girl since she had shown consideration to Hoatzin during his acceptance banquet all those years ago, but now Cara only annoyed her.

    ''The girl is over eighteen - can''t she hunt someone her own age?'' Raven thought bitterly as she followed the pair towards the waiting Hawk.

    <hr />

    Meanwhile, further north in Sky City - which that low rising sun had long since abandoned - a tawny man ran for his life. In clothes more akin to rags the man weaved in and out through dark alleyways of the Business Tier, doing his best to shake his pursuers.

    Although the man''s attire pegged him as a nothing more than a beggar, his spirit essence boosted running revealed him as something more. Most likely, he had been sent to spy on someone in an area where his normal clothes would catch too much attention. Unfortunately for him, the subterfuge had only been partially successful.

    As he ran, his eyes were wrought with fear but also determination; ''I must bring this information to my mistress!'' he vowed to himself as he tightened his grip on the small orb in his hand. ''Only a little bit further. . . .''

    Not too far away was the messenger outpost that was the man''s destination and safe haven - just two more turns and he would be there - but as he headed down his next passageway, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end.

    In the nick of time, the man in rags managed to grind to a halt and throw himself backwards, narrowly avoiding the silvery blade that otherwise would have logged itself deep in his head.

    Realizing that he could run no more, the man readied his spirit essence for a fight and called out into the darkness defiantly. "Show yourself, you bastard!" he spat.

    At first there was no response, but slowly a dark figure emerged from the shadows. The newcomer wore tight-fitting black robes that allowed free movement and small daggers were lodged between his gloved fingers. He wore a hood too but as he stepped out into the dim light of the street lanterns he used the tip of one of his daggers to pull it back, revealing his well-trimmed blue-grey hair and similarly colored eyes.

    "You!" the man in rags gasped, his fighting spirit gone.

    "Yes, me." The reply was calm and unfeeling. "But I don''t appreciate being called a bastard - only my parents can call me that."

    "But . . . but why? We''ve paid you . . ." There had been more the man had wanted to say but it never got out as a dagger suddenly pierced his throat.

    Lifeless, the posing beggar slumped to the ground and from his hand rolled the jade green orb he had died trying to protect. It came to a halt next to the killer''s feet.

    "Sorry man," the one left standing said as he bent down to pick up the orb. "but some things weigh heavier than gold, and you poked your nose where it doesn''t belong."

    With a flick of his wrist, the orb disappeared as it instead was stored inside a spacial ring. He sighed. "Seriously though, how many people has that woman pissed off? I thought this favor of hers would be . . . simpler."

    Without further comment, and without bothering to hide the corpse, the man and his blue-grey also disappeared, melding with the shadows once more.

    <hr />

    A few days later, and many miles away, an exclusive and obscenely expensive porcelain vase was flung across a vast room, shattering into a million pieces as it hit the brown-red marble floor. A frustrated shout followed that could easily be heard even outside the room''s thick stone walls.

    Lady Anhinga paced angrily back and forth with the fabric of blue, velvet gown billowing about her. "Say it again!" she bellowed at the poor messenger who had spurred this reaction with his news.

    Sitting on his knees, drenched in cold-sweat, the boy didn''t dare do anything but comply. "The . . . the Clan Elder has reported that we have lost another two spies. They still don''t know who is behind it."

    "Incompetent fools!" Lady Anhinga grabbed another priceless vase a threw it across the room in rage. This time it landed fairly close to the messenger boy and some of the shards hit him. He winced in pain but knew better than to complain. Fortunately Anhinga felt no need to keep the boy any longer. "Get out!" she ordered while flicking a third and substantially smaller pot in his direction, but the boy managed to dodge it.

    Once alone, Lady Anhinga slumped down in the large, throne-like armchair at the center of the room. For a moment she seemed old, so very old, and her eyes drifted off into the distance. A barely audible "brother. . . ." escaped her lips as her eyes turned misty.

    Out of nowhere, she suddenly slammed her hand down on the armrest with full force, causing the chair to vibrate noticeably under her. "No! It was my right!" she yelled firmly, perhaps to convince herself. She shook of her melancholy and the earlier anger returned to her face.

    "I can''t believe those old geezers - how many times must they fail before they start bringing results! Ever since this mess started, they have only grown more useless. . . ." She grunted angrily and started ranting to herself about everything that had gone wrong lately, and everything she wanted - no needed - to go right in the near future.

    She ranted to let off some steam, believing she was alone and safe from prying ears. What she didn''t notice was a small red and white bird perched on a beam high above her head. The birds eyes were full of even more anger and resentment than Anhinga''s as it quietly listened to everything that was said below.

 Chapter 65: Jealous, Are We?

    Author''s note: A big thank you to this chapter''s anonymous sponsor!

    <hr />

    Jealous, Are We?

    It took nearly a week for the Everest Hawk to fly Raven and the other four students back to Sky City and the academy. When they arrived, the group''s leader dismissed the rest of them, graciously offering to take care of the tedious task of reporting their results to the headmaster alone.

    Raven shook her head as she watched the boy walk away. He might have the highest cultivation of the group but his tactical planning had been dismal; had it not been for Javelin''s and her own inputs, they wouldn''t have found even half as many rogue spiritualists. In fact, the boy''s rash actions had almost cost them their healer at one point - not that he would ever admit it though.

    "All that flying has made me quite hungry," said Cara suddenly and once more moved to snuggle up next to Javelin. "Need I remind you that you promised to let me fix you dinner once we returned?"

    Raven rolled her eyes. Cara had coaxed that promise out of Javelin after the leader''s mistake had almost gotten her killed by a rampaging spirit beast. Raven had been the one who intervened in the last second and saved her by chasing off the beast, but to hide her strength Javelin had been given the credit. Ever since Cara seemed absolutely smitten by Javelin and was very persistent in her advances. ''Maybe I shouldn''t have rescued her. . . .''

    Even after over a week of this type of attention Javelin couldn''t help but become a bit flustered by Cara''s closeness. He glanced up at Raven, instinctively swallowing when their eyes met. He cleared his throat and tried to pry away from the clingy girl, which was nigh impossible without pushing harder against her chest. "Ah, I''m not sure now is a good time. . . ."

    "Why not?" pouted Cara and tightened her grip around Javelin''s arm, sinking it deeper into her bosom.

    Javelin gave Raven a helpless look and for some reason it annoyed her immensely. "I''m visiting my uncle," she said coldly, "so don''t mind me." With a final pointed glare towards Javelin, Raven turned and remounted the Everest Hawk. Before Javelin had a chance to protest, the great bird had taken flight, heading for the lower levels.

    ''Don''t feel like rejecting her on your own? Well I''m not going to help you!''

    Left behind was Javelin, completely at a loss for what to do.

    <hr />

    A still annoyed Raven slammed open the door to her uncle''s house less than half an hour later. With unnecessarily loud steps she strode into the kitchen and sunk down on the closest chair. She lay back her head and sighed heavily.

    "Welcome back, sir." Bill''s polite voice was quick to greet her but Raven only waved her hand grudgingly in return, however the motion froze mid-air and her eyes popped open. ''Did he say sir?''

    A familiar voice filled the kitchen. "The little brat didn''t notice us, how unusual. Let me guess: it''s because of a girl?"

    The sharp noise of slap rung out. "Not everyone thinks with his pants, Saltmarsh."

    ''I''m getting rusty,'' thought Raven and smiled wearily. She had let her emotions get the better of her and hadn''t even registered that there were three people in the house rather than one - something she should have known nearly a third of a mile away.

    Raven chuckled and straightened in her chair. "Actually, he''s about half right this time, Uncle Dove."

    "Haha, see? I told you the brat''s growing up!" Saltmarsh jabbed an elbow into Dove''s ribs. "Tell me all about her! Is she . . ." he held up his hands to his chest to illustrate his point, causing Dove to shake his head disapprovingly.

    Raven didn''t honor Saltmarsh''s question with an answer and instead asked one of her own; "I thought your mercenary corps was given a long time assignment at the Earth Empire''s border until next winter - how come you''re back already?"

    Saltmarsh snorted at the change of subject but answered before Dove could nonetheless. "We were - and still are - but we were asked by the boss to escort an old man from the border. We arrived just a few hours ago and figured we might find you here."

    "Escort?" Raven was confused. The assignment her uncle''s mercenary corp had agreed to was a difficult but very well paying one - coming from the Imperial Palace itself - so for their boss to agree to a separate escort mission at the same time just didn''t make sense.

    "Yeah, the fellow was apparently afraid of flying; weak-minded old fart," explained Saltmarsh but Dove didn''t seem to agree. "I''m not so sure. . . ." he said pensively and actually shuddered; "I felt very uncomfortable around him all the way."

    "Ha! You just don''t like riding!" jeered Saltmarsh with a laugh. Dove grimaced towards his friend but said nothing.

    "Did the man have a name? An occupation?" Raven asked, unconvinced by Saltmarsh''s explanation.

    "We weren''t told. We just referred to him as mister Hound. As for what he does for a living I haven''t the faintest," Saltmarsh said with a shrug and the room grew silent. Raven kept observing Dove who still seemed perturbed by his reaction to the man.

    Noticing the pause in the conversation, Bill stepped forward and gave Raven a cup of warm broth, before facing the other two. "Will you, sirs, be staying for dinner?" His tone was that of a polite servant; as far as Raven''s mercenary uncles were concerned, Bill was a ex-slave that Raven had taken pity on and given a proper, payed job as a housekeeper.

    "Unfortunately not," replied Dove. "We have orders to return right away - by Hawk this time." He gave Raven a loving look. "I''m glad to see you''re warming up to your friends." Raven frowned and Dove smiled in response. Saltmarsh walked over and placed a heavy arm on Raven''s shoulder. "Yeah, when we left you here, brat, you wouldn''t have bothered with - let alone become frustrated by - the ladies." He reached up to ruffle Raven''s hair but she stomped down on his foot causing him to yelp in pain and jump away.

    Raven and the others talked only a little while longer before Saltmarsh and Dove had to leave. Once alone, Bill went over everything that had happened during the couple of weeks while Raven had been away which, for once, was fairly little.

    "That Limpkin left a message for you though - said he had something to give you. Something important."

    Raven raised her eyebrows in surprise. Limpkin, one of the top ten assassins in the Combat Abyss'' ranking, had put himself in the precarious situation where he owed Raven a favor. He, much like Saltmarsh, was the flirtatious sort. In itself this wasn''t really a problem but when you try wooing the wife of the number one assassin things can go downwards quickly and bloodily.

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    "If he has something for me then it must be concerning either the twins or Javelin. . . ." Getting Limpkin out of his predicament, with both his life and job intact, had not been easy and ever since then Limpkin had been helping ''Singer'' keep an eye out for people targeting her friends. Raven got up from her chair. "I better go at once. No need to prepare dinner for me - I''ll head back to the academy afterwards."

    "Yes, mam."

    <hr />

    With most of her face covered by a black veil, Raven made her way to the one place she knew could always lead her to Limpkin, the Hidden Pearl. The Hidden Pearl was a small but lusciously decorated bar at the southern outskirts of the Mansion Tier. It was one of the few non-residential buildings on that tier and, in theory, only noble women were welcome as guests.

    However, there were of course exceptions, and Limpkin was one of them.

    Raven paused outside the building, carefully checking her surroundings, before she kicked off from the ground and leaped up to a windowsill on the second floor. The move looked effortless and not even a creak could be heard as she balanced on the narrow ledge.

    At the tip of one of her index fingers, a small sliver of spirit essence poured out, shaping itself into a tiny blade. The amount of spirit essence was so minuscule that few would notice it, but as Raven ran her finger along a spring in the window the soft click of an opening lock could be heard. She pushed open the window and slipped into the dimly lit room within. Then she simply picked a chair and waited.

    Barely ten seconds later, the intoxicated giggling of an older woman approached the room, occasionally joined by manlier laughter. Moments later the door to the room swung open and the joyous pair entered the room. Neither of them seemed to notice Raven as they stumbled towards the bed.

    "Seriously, Limpkin, how you''ve made it to the top ten as an assassin is beyond me." Raven sudden voice caused the male to look up at her, his grey-blue eyes a lot clearer than one would expect from a drunkard. The female on the other hand reacted more slowly and by the time she had realized that there was an intruder in the room Raven had already moved to her side. Raven''s essence laced thumb pushed down right above the woman''s bare collar bone, causing her to instantly lose what little consciousness she had left.

    "Spoil sport," Limpkin grunted, but his eyes twinkled with mischief as he looked at Raven''s half-veiled face. "Here I thought you had finally agreed to join the world of the living and have some fun with us."

    "Only in your dreams, Limpkin."

    "Ai," sighed Limpkin, "those are arduous enough for the both of us." He gave Raven a wink and she snorted, but there was no malice in it.

    "You had something for me?" she asked, moving on to the point at hand.

    "Indeed I do." Limpkin held up his hand and a jade colored orb appeared in it. "They got close this time."

    Raven stretched out a hand to grab it, but Limpkin pulled his hand back. "Not even a thank you? At least let me see that pretty face of yours."

    "How do you know it''s pretty if you haven''t ever seen it?"

    "Male intuition," answered Limpkin proudly but since he closed his eyes slightly in the process Raven used the opportunity to snatch the orb away from him.

    "Hey!" called Limpkin but Raven ignored him, instead focusing on the images and other information recorded in the orb. She frowned. The evidence gathered wasn''t very solid but it revealed some correct facts about Martin and Lark''s involvement in instigating Griffin Clan members to disfavor the Talon Clan whenever the opportunity arose.

    "This isn''t good."

    "No," agreed Limpkin solemnly, his flirtatious attitude gone.

    "Think any of it made it to the Talons?"

    "Not sure, but I don''t think so."

    "Alright then." Raven moved towards the window she had entered through. Before she reached it though, Limpkin called out behind her. "I''ve known you for three years now and all you do is train and work. How come you care so much about these three kids?"

    Raven paused at the window and looked over her shoulder. "You''re not the only one who needs to repay a debt, Limpkin," Raven said with a soft smile that she knew he couldn''t see. She then climbed out the window and left.

    Inside the dim room Limpkin stared at the open window for a while before returning his attention to the now snoring woman on the floor. He lifted her limp body and placed it on the bed. He looked her over, almost hungrily, but then suddenly frowned.

    "How odd. How come Singer wasn''t shorter than this woman? I could have sworn she was when I first met her. . . ."

    <hr />

    Back in the southern dorms of Sky Academy a thoroughly exhausted Javelin lay sprawled over his bed. In the end he had been left with no choice but to accompany Lady Cara for her self cooked meal.

    At first he thought that it perhaps wouldn''t be so bad. Surely a nice, home cooked dinner with an admittedly pretty girl would be enjoyable at least, but as the hours ticked on Javelin had grown evermore suffocated.

    He couldn''t really figure out why though. Lady Cara was nice, pretty and he had to admit that his body reacted when she moved in close - which she tended to do regularly - and yet, something felt wrong. Forced.

    Javelin sighed. ''No point dwelling on it,'' he thought and was just about to prepare for bed when the dorm-room door opened and the familiar figure of his roommate entered.

    "So you''re still awake. How was Lady Cara''s cooking?" asked Raven, her voice shifting from her faked male tone to her natural one as she spoke. Javelin couldn''t help but shudder; he still hadn''t gotten quite used to how extreme Raven''s transformation was as a boy. "Well?" she asked again and only now did Javelin pick up on the annoyance in her voice.

    "Fine," was all he got out and he silently cursed himself for not saying more. ''It wasn''t fine - it was a drag!''

    "I see."

    Raven walked over to her bed without further comment.

    "Um, how was Bill?" Javelin fished for a subject.

    "Fine."

    Javelin winced. ''Guess I should have seen that one coming. . . .''

 Chapter 66: Determination to Catch Up

    Author''s note: Thank you, my awesome annonymous sponsor for sponsoring this chapter too!

    <hr />

    Determination to Catch Up

    Javelin felt awkward in the silence that followed his and Raven''s terse exchange. He felt the need to explain himself regarding Cara but he wasn''t sure what it was he actually had to explain. Not knowing what to say, Javelin picked the easier route. "Did Bill have anything new to report? Did anything happen while we were gone?" he asked.

    Raven removed the outer layer of her robes and flopped down on her own bed with a sigh - it was a relaxed and normally sloppy gesture, but in Javelin''s eyes, Raven still managed to do it with grace. "There was nothing major," she said, staring up at the ceiling.

    "That''s a welcome change," said Javelin and in a way he was right. Ever since Raven had returned from her meeting with Sky Academy''s headmaster three years ago, telling him about how the Talon''s were likely attempting to start a war, there hadn''t been many peaceful moments.

    Every month there would be signs of ill deeds preformed by the Talons - or people associated with them - all with the goal of destabilizing the empire. It would be small things, things that could be attributed to simple bad luck, but that when added together the consequences were potentially catastrophic. For example, about a year back, Sky Empire''s already meager rice production took a great hit due to an unusually intense bug infestation.

    Since the Sky Empire consists mostly of mountains, farming has never been a big food source and most such produce would be imported from the plains of the neighboring Earth Empire. Consequentially, one years failed crops wouldn''t normally make such a big difference for the empire as a whole . . . had it not been for the centuries old conflict, between the two main merchant guilds that trade across the border, bubbling up to the surface again - efficiently halting all trade between the two empires for months.

    After further investigation, they had managed to learn that the Talons had played a part in bringing about both ''mishaps''.

    ''It''s fortunate that at least the headmaster believes us,'' thought Javelin. He and the twins had been happy to plot against the Talons for the sake of teaching Dunlin a lesson, but stopping a war was a bit beyond them. So since Headmaster Swan became involved, Javelin and the Griffin twins had mostly helped out by keeping their eyes and ears open, as well as discreetly spreading discontent with the Talon Clan in their own circles. The three of them had wanted to tell their parents about everything they had found out, but the headmaster had been afraid that do so before they knew why the Talon Clan was so brazen might not be a good thing. Who knew how deeply their vines had spread?

    "I''m not so sure. . . ."

    "Huh?" Raven''s voice had snapped Javelin out from his thinking, but he didn''t understand what she was referring to.

    "I''m not so sure that it is good news, Javelin. If our information is correct, the Talon Clan started of this little uprising with something so grand as framing the Empress for treason - even the Nightingale Clan''s downfall might have been instigated by them - but since then, they''ve been much more discrete."

    "You call starving an entire nation for half a year discrete?"

    "Relatively, yes." Raven propped herself up on her bed and her eyes met Javelin''s. Her gaze sent shivers down his spine, but not necessarily bad ones. "Think about it Javelin. Framing an Empress, possibly killing her as a result, is something a country would go to war over if the culprit was found. Hunger on the other hand is less direct. I''m not saying that people wouldn''t go to war over food - it is done all the time - but usually it would only be an underlying cause. Where is the spark that will set it off?"

    Javelin frowned. She had a point.

    "Then what do we do?"

    "There is not much we can do but wait - sooner or later they''ll reveal what they''re up to."

    Javelin grew silent. ''Is that really all we can do? What if we find out too late?''

    "Which reminds me," continued Raven, "you, but particularly the twins, need to stop interfering for a while."

    "What? Why!?" Javelin nearly jumped up from his bed in a start but Raven remained as calm and unaffected as always.

    "Because you were spotted," she said and tossed him a jade colored glass orb. Javelin viewed what was recorded inside and sighed. "Fine," he reluctantly agreed. "The Lunar Trials are coming up anyway, might as well focus on our cultivation for a while."

    Raven gave him a crooked smile and this time the shivers were undoubtedly of the bad kind.

    "Want me to update your regime?" she asked, way too merrily for comfort. Javelin had always known that there is no such thing as a genius cultivator who doesn''t put in effort, but Raven put that statement into new light. These past three years Javelin had been guided in his cultivation by Raven and what she put him, and herself, through was training many times harder than what his father had put Javelin through when he was younger. He couldn''t help but be constantly amazed by the martial prowess this preteen girl possessed.

    "Ah! Actually, I''m not quite done with the last one you gave me yet. . . ." Javelin felt an itch at the back of his neck and instinctively lifted his empty hand to scratch it.

    "You really are a lot like him. . . ." Raven said softly as if to herself.

    "Like whom?"

    Raven''s eyes widened in surprise but then she smiled sadly. "No one," she said and turned over in her bed to look once look up in the ceiling. "An old . . . friend."

    Javelin felt a stab of pain. "Sorry," he whispered before he knew why.

    Raven chuckled but the sound was hollow. "For what?" she asked, glancing over at him.

    ''For your loss,'' Javelin thought but his voice failed him.

    When no reply came Raven turned over to lie on her side with her back towards him. "Get some sleep, Javelin," she said with a voice that suddenly sounded much older than usual. "I''ll help you prepare for the Trials tomorrow."

    That last sentence made Javelin gulp. He was about to put down the jade colored orb and crawl into bed when his hand paused. He looked at the orb. "Raven?" he called and got a soft hum in reply. "Where did you get this orb? Bill shouldn''t be recovered enough to fight of the spiritualist that made this without causing a ruckus."

    "Limpkin collected it for me."

    Her reply was nonchalant, sleepy even, but Javelin''s grip on the orb instantly tightened. For more than three years Javelin had been sparing with Raven and during all that time together had he not once been able to force her to fight him seriously - not even when her limiters kept her at a lower cultivation then his own. There was always an air of effortless ease around her that had grown increasingly frustrating for Javelin to accept, even more so after he had witnessed a spar between her and Limpkin.

    Raven, or rather Singer, has since long stopped attending the completions at the Combat Abyss - much due to the fact that her body had grown too quickly so people would suspect her age if she came - but before she had stopped going, Raven had challenged Limpkin to a closed bout, meaning no viewers were allowed and only the results would be announced. Javelin had pleaded persistently and eventually Raven, and Limpkin, had agreed to let him watch, under the pretense that he was Singer''s student and observing would be a good experience for him.

    At the time Limpkin had just advanced into a low Spirit Champion, while Raven had been a peak Spirit Adept, ready to advance into the Champion realm at any time, but the battle the followed would have shocked even mid Spirit Champions.

    Closing his eyes, Javelin could see all of it, replaying vividly in his mind.

    <hr />

    The two of them stood, motionless, at the far ends of the fighting arena, surrounded by thousands of abandoned metal seats and an eerie silence. I claimed the empty honorary seat for the best view and could almost taste the tension in the air.

    Without warning, both parties suddenly dashed forward, spraying dust behind them, before they collided in a cloud of wild spirit essence at the center of the stage. At first none of them used any weapons, but their attacks were so fast that I was hard pressed just to follow them with my eyes.

    As they fought it slowly became clear that while Limpkin had the upper hand in pure strength, he couldn''t quite match Raven''s speed and flexibility, making it hard for him to deliver any real finishing moves. I couldn''t help but think that it must have been a hard blow to handle for Limpkin, who usually specialized in speed.

    Eventually weapons came out and the battle intensified even further. The staggering amount of Divine Skills being activated filled the air with residue spirit essence to the point where it grew hard for me to breathe - even with the protective barrier around the fighting stage absorbing most of it - but . . . perhaps it wasn''t actually the spirit essence that made it hard for me to breathe. . . .

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    My eyes had grown transfixed on Raven. As she spun in and out of her attacks, every fiber of her body radiating with spirit essence, something in her demeanor had changed. She fought like in a trance, her normally cold blood-red eyes were absent of any emotion except one - joy. Even with the lower part of her face covered, I just knew that beneath that black piece of fabric was a splendid smile.

    One that I have never seen; before, or since.

    <hr />

    Javelin''s grip on the orb tightened even further, to the point where small cracks started forming on the orb.

    "Don''t break it," muttered Raven, half asleep, and Javelin instantly relaxed his grip. From his bed he looked over at Raven''s slender back, following her spine down to her ankles, where the bed''s blanket covered her two Limiters.

    There was no doubt that Raven''s cultivation advanced at a frightening speed that he had little hope to catch up with. It had been well over a year since she successfully broke the barrier between Adept and Chapmion - becoming the youngest Spirit Champion the continent had ever seen at the mind blowing age of eight - whereas Javelin still remained a that bottleneck between the two cultivation realms.

    He rolled over on the bed, ending up with his back towards Raven. His teeth clenched as he stared intently at the wall. He wasn''t jealous of Raven''s cultivation, quite the contrary, but he didn''t like the feeling of being left behind.

    ''I will catch up!'' he vowed resolutely to himself.

    <hr />

    Days passed and soon the starting time for the bimonthly Lunar Trials was just a day away.

    Raven had spent most of her time since she returned from hunting down bandits on training with both Javelin and the Twins, leaving only the night hours to slip away and survey what was going on in the town. Since Hoatzin had gone back home - or rather back to what used to be their home - so that he could keep an eye on what their aunt was planning, this meant that Raven had one less pair of eyes in the city.

    However, with her superb senses and Limpkin keeping an eye out for anyone looking into her friends, Raven still did an okay job at keeping track of the city. Of course, the headmaster and Bill were helping too.

    "Argh, no more!" wheezed Martin as he collapsed on the ground. Seconds later, he was drenched by a bucket of ice cold water. He yelped, sounding a lot more feminine than he looked.

    Next to him, a second bucket slowly descended before an equally exhausted Lark also collapsed on the ground. "That''s what . . . you get . . . for neglecting your spirit control . . . twin."

    Raven smiled slightly at the two boys. When she had first seen them they had been absolutely identical, but with time and very different fighting styles, their bodies had matured in different ways. By now, only their height and hair were identical. They were fifteen soon, but just like all spiritualists they looked a lot older than their age. Martin, who specialized in the two-handed broad sword, had a stout body build of pure muscles. Lark was leaner, with a body more akin to a dancer''s and could challenge even Raven in terms of flexibility and you would be hard pressed to find another mid Adept that could match his speed with dual short swords.

    "Giving up already?" teased Raven.

    "What do you mean already!?" groaned Martin. "We''ve been doing this for an hour!"

    Raven raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Oh, then how about him?" she asked, shifting her body to be able to point towards Javelin. The boy was drenched in sweat as he stood on his hands, a huge bucket hovering above him. The task had been for them to keep standing on their hands while focusing all your spirit essence on keeping the bucket in the air. The size of the bucket had been determined by their cultivation level but the other exercise was purely based on physical strength. "He''s been at it for two hours now."

    "Javelin doesn''t count - he''s become obsessed with cultivation. . . ." protested Lark weakly.

    "Perhaps, but he is also almost two years younger than you two yet is already a peak Adept - how do you plan to catch up if don''t put in the effort?"

    "You''re one to talk," grunted Martin, "you''re just a mid Adept too."

    Raven gave him an amused look. "You really want to compare my cultivation to yours, Senior Martin?"

    Martin swallowed. "No."

    Raven''s mouth twitched unnoticeably; As far as the twins - and basically everyone else - were concerned, Raven''s cultivation level was that of a mid Spirit Adept who was likely to move into the high Adept range soon. As a ten-year-old, that was unheard of. ''Imagine if they knew that it''s not the Adept realm I''m a ''mid'' in. . . .''

    "Bah," Martin suddenly breathed out heavily, and struggled to get to his feet. Water dripped from his robes, forming a small puddle underneath him. "Javelin is likely going to be at it for another hour. Lark, we might as well go buy the stuff we will need for the Trials."

    Lark didn''t seem too fond of the idea of moving - as a concept - right now, but he still nodded. "Do you want to join us?" he asked Raven. "I know you don''t need to buy anything but it must be more fun than watching mister cultivation over there."

    The reason that she didn''t need to buy anything in preparation for the Trials was simple; she didn''t partake in them anymore. When Raven infused that hidden Spirit Star seal with her spirit essence three years ago, it had opened up a path that she alone could see. That path had led straight into the reverse flowing waterfall where an odd spherical space had been created. The second she entered that space the world around her had grown clearer, much like it would become during the Day of Light ceremony only much stronger. Sitting cross-legged in that sphere Raven could feel everything, down to a cellular level, and she could easily tell how strings of spirit essence seemed to tie every little cell together.

    The sensation had brought instant results to Raven''s understanding and control of spirit essence and the headmaster had insisted that Raven should be meditating in there whenever possible. As it turned out, the wonders of the sphere only lasted for three days before it had to be replenished, which it was at every full moon. Thus, Raven could get three days of meditation in every month, and so as to not miss to many classes, she was given a leave of absence from the Lunar Trials.

    The headmaster had also insisted that she became his disciple. He said it was to not raise suspicion about her absences but Raven got the feeling he just wanted to keep her close so he could nurture her to the best of his abilities. Nonetheless, he had proven to be a more fitting master than Raven had anticipated, giving her very helpful advice when it came to things related to spirit essence control and spiritualists in general. In fact, today''s somewhat steep exercise with the buckets had been his idea.

    Raven glanced over at Javelin before returning her gaze to the two twins. While it was true that Raven didn''t need to buy anything she didn''t like the rumors she had been hearing around town. Even though Limpkin had caught and disposed of the spy that was looking into the twin''s involvement against the Talons, it still seemed like there were suspicions concerning them.

    "I''ll go," she said and instantly heavy thuds rang out in the courtyard as the three metal balls, which had been spinning rapidly around her, fell from the air. Gracefully Raven lowered her feet to ground and straightened out her body so she stood upright. "To the market," she said with a smile and walked towards the exit.

    Martin and Lark glanced at each other as they watched Raven''s departing figure.

    "How long had he been here before we came?" asked Martin.

    "Elder Willow told me Raven asked to borrow the courtyard right after lunch. . . . He said wanted to get some training in since there were no afternoon classes today."

    "Four hours!?" Martin couldn''t help but gasp. He bent to pick up one of the balls, expecting it to be light, but surprisingly it weighed at least two kilos. The three balls together would weigh just as much as the buckets they had been straining to just keep floating for one hour.

    The two twins looked at each other and without saying anything they knew what the other was thinking; ''the boy is a monster!''

    "Are you coming?" called Raven over her shoulder. Prompted by her call, both boys glanced at each other once more before big smiles broke out on their faces.

    They hurried to catch up with Raven, both throwing their arms around her shoulders, while Martin ruffled up her hair. She could have avoided them, of course, but chose not to.

    Together, the three of them left the courtyard, leaving Javelin to his training.

 Chapter 67: Hunted Hunter

    Author''s note: Sorry for the delay on this one - didn''t have access to my computer over the weekend and making this update via my phone was just not an option.

    Anyway, yet another big thank you to this chapter''s anonymous sponsor!

    <hr />

    Hunted Hunter

    It didn''t take long for Raven and the twins to reach the lantern lit streets of the Business Tier. Although the sun had already set, many hours remained before the various stores and stalls would close up for the day so the streets were still bustling with activity.

    As the trio walked down these streets, many people would stop and stare at their passing figures, taking in their grey academy uniforms with awe - some even gave them a slight bow out of respect. Very few spiritualists were skilled enough to enter Sky Academy and most would graduate to hold very prominent positions in the empire, thus people wished to stay on their good side. All Sky Academy students could expect such reactions when in public and were used to ignoring it.

    "So, what is it the two of you need to get for the Trials?" asked Raven.

    Lark started to answer but Martin cut him off. "Nevermind that! Let''s head for the main market - we''re going to be submerged in harsh training the next couple of days so we should have some fun first!"

    He strode off with determined steps while Lark and Raven exchanged a look. Both shrugged their shoulders indifferently, but their eyes showed excitement. Hurrying after Martin, they made their way north. Soon the noise level rose to new heights as the northern peak grew closer. Finally, Martin stopped. Broad-chested and with his hands on his hips, Martin basked in his own excitement as he gazed out over the enormous open area in front of him. Without warning he drew a deep breath.

    "Aaah. . . ." he exhaled loudly, causing surrounding passersby to look up in a start. "I just love this place!" he bellowed merrily.

    Spread out in the area before him were hundreds upon hundreds of tents and stalls, each peddling their own unique wares. Little of what was sold here had any real value, and most of the buyers were ordinary humans, but a greater variation of goods would be hard to find anywhere else in the empire.

    Here one would find anything from ordinary food to odd, crafted contraptions that would allow non-spiritaulists to perform such things that otherwise required spirit essence - nothing beyond what a low Spirit Novice could pull off though, but it was impressive enough anyway.

    Despite the fact that most spiritualists would find little of use here, Raven and the twins were not alone in visiting this place. In fact, Raven detected quite a few spiritualists among the crowd. Perhaps they, just like many before them, had once stumbled upon some hidden treasure within the sea of stuff that made the search worthwhile and enticed them to come back. Perhaps they were like Martin and simply enjoyed the atmosphere.

    "Stop scaring the civilians, Martin," chided Lark as he moved up next to his brother and gave him a crisp slap to the back of his head. Lark didn''t put in even a fraction of his full strength and Martin''s head barely moved at all from it, but the sound caused by the impact rang out like a hammer striking a metal. The few pedestrians who hadn''t reacted to Martin''s bear-like exhale definitely reacted now.

    Lark met their gazes with wide eyes, his face reddening faster than a shrimp in hot water. "Oops. . . ."

    Behind them Raven snorted as she failed to hold back her laughter. Lark twirled around and glared at her. "It''s not that funny, Raven!"

    "Oh, but it is," she disagreed and flicked her thumb off to the side. Both Lark and Martin looked over and suddenly Martin too couldn''t help but snort and burst out laughing. Lark on the other hand paled.

    Standing a few meters away was Elder Willow, only, his usually pale-grey elder''s robes had now been colored black by what looked like ink of some sort. The young teacher had a look of annoyed helplessness on his face, for while he had spotted his students arrival and therefore anticipated the noise from the slap, the poor salesman next to him had not.

    Raven had seen it all go down. The sudden bang had caused the salesman to jump in fright, effectively lunging the open ink bottle right at his intended customer, Elder Willow. Normally, a spiritualist of Elder Willow''s capacity should have been able to dodge the bottle or just block the ink''s approach with spirit essence, but Elder Willow had been watching his students with keen interest and had noticed the incoming missile too late.

    "Myr-. . . Elder Willow," stuttered Lark, nervously rushing forward to inspect the sullied robes. Meanwhile, the salesman looked ready to have a stroke. "I am terribly sorry, my lord customer!" he pleaded and was seconds from groveling on the ground when Willow held out a hand to grip the man''s elbow, keeping him upright.

    "No need for that," he said, smiling his dashing smile, "it was an accident." Willow leaned around the fretting Lark and gave both Raven and Martin a pointed look. "But I would appreciate it if you stopped laughing nonetheless."

    Martin''s eyes widened and he forced himself to stop laughing at once - nearly choking himself in the process. Raven simply let her laughter fade, but traces of amusement remained in her eyes.

    Looking at the now 22 years old teacher Raven couldn''t help but sigh inwardly; the man truly was handsome. His overall appearance hadn''t changed much over these three years but his originally already handsome face had matured a bit more, giving it an almost elven air.

    Willow traced his pale hand over the stain on his clothes, stimulating his spirit essence to remove any traces of the black liquid as it passed. Once it was all gone, both Lark and the salesman seemed to relax a bit.

    Still smiling, Willow''s eyes met Lark''s. "Are you here for some pre-Trial resupplying?" he asked him, but quickly expanded his gaze to include both Raven and Martin. Before Lark had the chance to reply Martin stepped up next to his brother, wrapping his muscular arm over Lark''s shoulder.

    "That''s the idea, Elder Willow, and we have detained you long enough already. Let''s go!" Martin forcefully turned Lark away from the young teacher, pushing the former towards the center of the market. Raven just observed in silent amusement.

    "Wait!" called Willow and took a step forward. He was about to grab Lark''s elbow but stopped himself in the last second. Even without the grip though, Lark danced out of his brother''s embrace so he could face Willow.

    "Yes, Elder?" he asked with glowing eyes.

    "I, eh, just thought I''d let you know that the seeds you provided me with before, the Amber Ambrosia, have taken root. I''m expecting my first batch of the medicinal flowers in a week or so. . . . So, if you want to learn what I do with them, you may come join me in harvesting them later."

    "Really? That would be great!" Lark''s response was instant and enthusiastic; he would have taken a step forward if not for Martin''s arm once more latching on to his shoulder and pulling him back.

    "Later then," said Martin curtly, "Elder."

    This time Willow didn''t call out again and Martin succeeded in leading away his twin brother. As the two of them moved deeper into the crowd Raven remained behind briefly. She looked over at her teacher. "Elder, Lark''s Frost Bell Daffodils are still too immature for harvesting, right?" Raven''s voice and smile seemed friendly, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes that Willow didn''t fail to miss.

    "Correct," he answered carefully. "Why?"

    Raven shrugged and started walking away. "Just curious," she called nonchalantly over her shoulder as she left the pensive Willow behind. Raven could hear the ink salesman grunt disapprovingly as she left. "Too much arrogance in that one," he muttered, perhaps more to himself than to Willow, "even prodigies should show respect to their elders."

    "I wonder about that. . . ."

    Hearing Willow''s reply, Raven''s smile grew a bit more genuine, but she had only taken a few steps before her smile twitched, nearly turning into a frown.

    ''That presence. . . .''

    For a while now Raven had sensed several people following her and the twins. This was nothing out of the ordinary - as heirs to a prefecture, it was only natural that Lark and Martin would have someone keeping an eye on them when they moved around in such a crowded city. As for the others that hovered around them, they had their own reasons to follow three prominent students from the Sky Academy who would greatly influence the empire in the future.

    Over the years Raven had grown familiar with all these presences, even removing some of the more ill-natured spies and nonchalantly inviting others to join them for, say, dinner when they came too close. However, what Raven reacted to now was a new person whom she hadn''t sensed before. It was a male low Champion who had been keeping an impressive distance to Raven and the twins. She had noticed this man''s presence before but hadn''t noted any indication that it was actually them that was the target.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    However, when Raven had moved to catch up with Martin and Lark a faint sliver of killing intent had seeped out from the man, and Raven clearly got the feeling that whoever this person was, he was not too pleased with the fact that she had chosen to stick with the twins.

    ''Interesting.''

    Picking up her pace a bit, Raven caught up with the twins, who were eagerly arguing about Martin''s curt behavior towards Willow. At first, Raven didn''t say anything and simply let the boys decide where they should go. For a few hours, the trio aimlessly drifted through the market, mostly buying food and random curiosities but also taking part in various contests spread throughout the area. Finally, the twins started to grow bored and decided it was about time to fix the things that they had set out to do in first place.

    "Did you want to get your long-sword sharpened?" Raven asked Martin as they payed for the last of their supplies.

    "Yeah, but I thought I''d do it myself this time - Father says it''s the best way to get to know your weapon."

    ''Perhaps,'' agreed Raven silently, but that wouldn''t suit her purposes this time. "Before dawn tomorrow?" she asked skeptically, "you need a bit more time than that if you''re not used to it."

    "He has a point, twin. It''s a bad habit of yours; you always save things to the too-late minute," joked Lark.

    "I know a good place," said Raven and strode off without giving Martin a chance to protest.

    As she walked Raven focused most of her attention on the presence of the low Spirit Champion she still sensed in the distance. Raven had tried luring that murderous presence away from the twins but it stuck with them like a band-aid.

    Normally she would just send the twins back to campus and then chase after any unwanted follower on her own, but tomorrow the twins would leave for the Lunar Trials and Raven feared that if she failed in catching this particular stalker this time, he might lash out against the twins when she wasn''t around. Thus, Raven needed to change her approach if she wanted to definitely flush him out, without fear of the man escaping.

    Raven led the boys off the more well trafficked streets. It didn''t take long until the three youths were alone, apart from their persistent followers.

    "Are you sure this is the right way?" asked Martin. "I''ve never heard of a blacksmith around here."

    "It''s a tip from our friend," answered Raven with a wink and Martin quickly grew excited - he figured the famed Singer, or Night Singer as people had started calling Raven''s female persona - had given Raven the tip.

    The trio had to keep walking a bit further before that presence Raven was concerned about made it''s move.  To Raven''s pleased surprise, the man started off by silently eliminating all the other people who had been keeping track on Raven and her friends. He worked quickly, removing even the twin''s low Champion guard silently - Raven felt a bit bad for the Griffin attendant, but she too required an observer free environment for what she had intended to do.

    ''He left one mid Adept alone though. . . . Interesting.''

    Finally, Raven and her friends turned a corner and there he was, standing dead center in the middle of the road, a viscous aura of death surrounding him.

    Both twins reacted in an instant at the sight of the man and halted their steps. Raven on the other hand observed the likely assassin with calm eyes. He wore dark green robes but the hood that would normally hide his face was pulled back, revealing a beastly smile.

    "You are most unfortunate," his voice was raspy and mean sounding, "to have me, the Blood Hound, sent after your lives."

    He started walking towards them, hungry killing intent burning in his eyes. instinctively both twins retrieved their weapons, moving closer to Raven in a ready-to-fight formation.

    ��No point in putting up a fight, brats. Had it been anyone else you might have had a chance but now that you''re met me, your death is certain. " His spirit essence surged, revealing his cultivation to the twins as well. "Since I was five I''ve been to training to become an assassin and I killed my first target at the age of six. By the age of seven I had killed off all my companions who had been training with me and became a full-fledged assassin. There are many assassins in this world but no one can match me in hit-count; with you three I will have killed a total of 198,553 people! I live in the darkness with death as my servant."

    Raven just stared at the man in front of her, flabbergasted. ''Is this really happening?''

    Another hungry smile flashed across the man''s face as his killing intent started seeping out of him in wisps of red smoke. Raven was actually slightly impressed by the pressure his killing intent unleashed - it was the first time she had come across an assassin who managed to manifest it, besides herself of course.

    ''For a low Champion he''s actually done quite well for himself,'' she thought as she continued to stare blankly at the man, completely unfazed by the pressure he exhibited.

    The Griffin twins on the other hand were shaking in fear. Nonetheless they kept their wits about themselves and frantically circulating their spirit essence, preparing to fight.

    "You can at least take pride in being slayed by my, the Blood Hound''s, hand." A silvery blade was revealed from within his robes and without a word both Martin and Lark tensed their bodies, ready to fight for their lives.

    Looking at the scene in front of her, Raven rolled her eyes. Swiftly, she placed her hands on the shoulders of the two twins and pressed down; her own spirit essence seeped into the them and, together with the pin-pointed pressure from her thumbs, the two boys lost consciousness in less then a second.

    Now it was the assassins turn to stare blankly.

    "...I''ve been hired to kill those two and leave no witnesses, putting them to sleep won''t change anything," he said, confused.

    Raven smiled sweetly and started walking over to the man.

    "I would like you to tell me who hired you." Her voice was polite, almost cute, as she spoke.

    "You''re joking right?" Amused disbelief filled the assassin''s face. In the shadows, the last remaining observer seemed just as confused, even accidentally making some noise when the person chose to move closer.

    "Not really, no," said Raven, ignoring the sound. "Was it our infamous Elder W, perhaps?"

    The assassin''s eyes narrowed.

    "I don''t have time for this, kid." His knife flashed as he dashed forward, dark orange spirit essence circling within him.

    Raven sighed.

    "How you managed to kill nearly 200 000 people, is absolutely beyond me." Effortlessly, Raven activated her Ode of Woe, releasing incomparably dense killing intent that bellowed out like thick mist that easily enveloped both the assassin and the second person in the shadows. "What assassin with self-respect walks up to his targets and introduces himself?"

    Instantly the man froze; absolute horror was on his face, and he started shaking like a leaf in the wind. A foul smell filled the air as the weaker man in the shadows soiled himself and collapsed, unconscious, to the ground.

    "Well then, now that you seem to have found the time, I''ll ask again: who hired you?"

    "How...?" The man stuttered, still not willing, or perhaps not capable to answer Raven''s question.

    Calmly Raven took the knife from the man''s outstretched hand. There was no resistance as soul shattering fear kept him from moving. She leaned in closer, so she could whisper in his ear: "the problem with living in the darkness is that there is always someone bigger and darker living further in."

    Killing intent and spirit essence slipped through the man''s ear, penetrating into his mind. His senses reeled; his nose filled with the metallic tang of blood, his eyes saw nothing but an endless sea of blood, and in his ears he heard the pained wails of thousands of tormented souls, pleading for salvation.

    Every fiber of his body helplessly accepted what his very soul knew was an absolute truth: he was going to die

 Chapter 68: Fighting Nocebo

    A human''s mind is a powerful thing; through sheer conviction a person may push their body way beyond what is biologically possible. This held true even in Raven''s old world - they had even had a name for it there - but here, where spiritualists are more in-tuned with the essence of the world, it was even more so. In fact, one could argue that it was precisely the conviction that Divine Skill imprints gave that allowed spiritualists to push themselves even further and manipulate spirit essence as a power of their own.

    But this aspect of the human mind is a double edged sword.

    As the killing intent laced spirit essence of Raven''s Ode of Woe bombarded the mind of the man calling himself the Blood Hound, the would-be assassin hadn''t reacted in time to put up any kind of defense, and the second Raven''s attack touched his soul prism it was already too late.

    By then he didn''t just believe he was going to die, he knew it.

    Instantly his body responded and started to shut itself down on its own. It happened faster than Raven had expected and before she managed to pull back her attack the man had fainted, or perhaps more accurately died to the point where his consciousness left him.

    Raven stared blankly at the dying man in front of her. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

    ''I guess I haven''t really gotten the hang of it yet, after my latest breakthrough. . . .'' Although Raven trained relentlessly, it was still rather rare for her to find the opportunity for Raven to use her powerful mental attack to its fullest and with every jump in her cultivation, the effectiveness of her Divine Skills would increase as well, making it harder to control.

    For three years Raven had been cultivating regularly in that mysterious space provided by the academy founder''s benefactor and although Raven hadn''t dared repeat her Day of Light experience in the Spirit Hall Tower, she had still improved by leaps and bounds.

    Over these years, Raven didn''t make even a single new spirit connection, keeping her at 374 connections, but those connections had changed greatly; if they, in the beginning, could have been considered as frail threads, they had now swelled into robust ropes, all of which absorbed spirit essence from the world at an astounding pace. With this improved absorption pace, it had only taken a year for Raven to step into the Champion realm and not too long ago her cultivation had soared to the point of being considered a mid Champion.

    As such, Raven was the first ever nine-year-old to enter the ranks of the top 1% of elite spiritualists on the Trinity continent who managed to raise their cultivation so far - much to Headmaster Swan''s elated delight. At first he had been a bit reluctant to agree to Raven''s request for personal revenge, but as he learned how quickly she had been improving Headmaster Swan had immediately changed his mind. For him, the most important thing was now to make sure Raven survived - if that meant putting the nation in a tricky situation for a few years, so be it.

    Raven looked back at the two sleeping twins not far from her before she glanced at the other man she had knocked unconscious with the Ode of Woe earlier. Although he was weaker than the Blood Hound, Raven hadn''t hit him with the skill straight on so he was still better off.

    ''Four people, huh. . . . How annoying,'' she sighed, but despite her inner thoughts Raven hoisted the two strangers over her shoulders with ease. As for the twins a softly glowing membrane of spirit essence appeared underneath them, lifting them gently from the ground. She used no Divine Skill to pull this off and instead relied on her own ability to manifest her own spirit essence outside of her body. It had started with a small ring in Elder Willow''s class nearly four years ago, but since Raven''s Spacial Dash relied on this concept to work at all Raven had trained the technique to completely new heights.

    ''At least the Hound made it a little bit simpler to get back to the house undetected. . . .'' thought Raven as she silently moved through the night, hauling the unconscious boys with her.

    <hr />

    Barely an hour later an extremely flushed Javelin slammed open the front door to the mercenary house where Bill lived in the outskirts of the city.

    Javelin was about to call out for Raven when her calm but cold voice stopped him. "Why so flustered, Javelin? I''m sure Bill told you there was no need to rush."

    "Raven!" Javelin dashed the few meters separating himself from Raven. "Are you unharmed?"

    Seeing the frantic look in his eyes, Raven couldn''t help but soften a bit. "I''m fine, Jav," she said and stretched out a hand to pat his head - even though Raven had grown a lot, so had Javelin, and he was still nearly a head taller than her. "How could a mere low Champion harm me?"

    Javelin at first seemed relieved but he quickly turned mad. "Stop that," he grunted as he took an annoyed step back, moving out of Raven''s reach. "I''m not a kid anymore! Do you even hear what you''re saying? What ''mere low Champion''? You yourself was ''only'' a low Champion two weeks ago!"

    Raven waved a hand dismissively. "Nevermind that. I need you to help me with a couple of things, Javelin."

    Immediately the anger within Javelin subsided a bit. It had been a while since Raven asked him for a favor, often turning to that Limpkin assassin instead.

    "What can I do?" he asked solemnly.

    "I need your help with some healing," was the reply he got and once more Javelin couldn''t stop himself from running forwards to Raven, fear gripping his heart.

    "I thought you said you weren''t hurt! Where is it? Let me see."

    "Not me, silly!" Raven chuckled and used her arms to push Javelin away.

    "Then who . . ." Javelin was confused.

    "You didn''t listen to a word Bill had to say, did you?" she asked and Javelin looked down on the ground, absentmindedly scratching the back of his neck.

    At that point Bill came in through the front door. "You''re right, mam, he did not," he said, wheezing and out of breath, "the moment I told him there had been an assassination attempt and that you needed his help, this young one took off running." Bill flicked his thumb towards Javelin.

    "Well, it''s your fault for putting it like that!" Javelin snapped back, awash with embarrassment. "You made it sound like she was dying!"

    "Don''t flatter yourself, kid! Do you really think I would have turned to you for help if madam herself was injured?"

    Javelin and Bill glared at each other, sparks flying.

    "Enough." Raven''s voice wasn''t loud but it carried an oppressive aura that caused both the teenager and the middle aged man to shudder and stop their bickering at once. "Bill, tend to the Griffin twins, the Heavenly Slumber Grip might wear off soon but I don''t want them awake just yet."

    "Yes, mam." Bill bowed and left the hallway without even a glance towards Javelin. Raven on the other hand beckoned for Javelin to follow her. They headed towards the house''s cellar.

    "Heavenly Slumber Grip?" asked Javelin as they walked - he hadn''t heard of such a skill before.

    "It''s a Divine Skill that puts people to sleep for up to two hours. It is quite useful, but easy to defend against if you''re expecting it."

    Javelin shook his head. "Seriously, Raven, how many Divine Skills do you actually know? If I didn''t know better I''d think you''ve read every skill in the Divine Library."

    "I have."

    "Huh?"

    "I have read every scroll in the library."

    Javelin stumbled over a doorstep, only barely catching himself on the frame. "But that''s got to be ten thousands scrolls!"

    "There are 36 919 of them, to be exact." Raven didn''t even bother to look back at Javelin as she started descending the stairs to the cellar, leaving him stunned on the stair landing.

    ''I knew she had been looking through the scrolls at the library, but all of them?'' Javelin couldn''t help but be impressed. ''Wait, if she read them all how many has she mastered?''

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Um, Raven . . ." he started but she seemed to know what he was about to ask, so she answered him before he finished speaking; "1109."

    "Holy sh-" Javelin couldn''t help but cry out in shock but his loud outburst was cut short as he found his mouth suddenly covered by Raven''s hand. Javelin''s eyes widened and his pulse quickened at the feel of her cool hand.

    "Keep it down, Javelin," hushed Raven, her face so close to his that Javelin would feel the warmth of her breath. "I told you that we don''t want to wake the twins so keep it down until we''re within the sound barrier."

    Javelin somehow managed to swallow and nod obediently, so Raven lowered her hand and backed away, continuing down the steps. For a few seconds Javelin couldn''t say anything, or even move - his heart was beating too violently - but when Raven had reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to give him a questioning look, Javelin forced himself to move forward.

    Raven opened the bottom door to the cellar and allowed Javelin to walk in first. The moment he passed through the doorway, high pitched wails filled his ears.

    "Let me go!" called a desperate voice. "I have done nothing wrong, so let me go!"

    Javelin looked around the cellar room, only to find that it didn''t look even one bit like the food cellar it was supposed to be. It was more like a dungeon. There were plenty of chains adorning the walls and various odd looking tools were neatly arranged on a bench to the side. On the wall opposite to the entrance, two men were chained up with tightly. One of the men was the source of the wailing - his eyes were filled with fear and Javelin couldn''t help but feel like the man was ready to pass out any second. The other man hung, slumped in his chains, already knocked out.

    Javelin glanced back at the door behind him. "A dungeon?"

    Raven nodded and was about to say something when the still conscious man wailed yet again. "Please young man, tell this crazy boy to let me go - I have done nothing wrong!"

    With a flash, Raven was next to the man, her hand gripping his throat. "Don''t speak to him," she warned, sternly before she leaned in closer and whispered something that Javelin couldn''t hear. Whatever it was she said, it had effect; immediately the man paled and clammed his mouth shut.

    Javelin frowned slightly. He had known for a while now that Raven was a masterful assassin, who no doubt had killed plenty of people before, but somehow this dungeon made Javelin feel a bit uneasy. It was one thing to be a killer - few spiritualists would go their entire lives without killing someone - but it was a different thing being cruel about it.

    "Raven?" Javelin''s voice revealed his discomfort more than he had intended but if she noticed it, Raven ignored it.

    "I need your help healing this man," she said instead and pointed towards the unconscious one. "My limited skills with healing are not enough."

    "Your limited skills?" The statement let Javelin forget his uneasiness for a moment. "I thought you had learned over a thousand Divine Skills, surely you posses a better Healing Skill than I do."

    Raven shook her head. "They don''t seem compatible with me. Even after I''ve learned how to use them, their effects are always dismal - and they''re getting worse too. . . ." For a moment Raven''s gaze turned distant and a little sad, as if she was thinking about something that pained her.

    Javelin felt a lump forming in the back of his throat but before he could say anything, Raven''s eyes turned back to their normal expressionless state. "You better hurry," she said and indicated her head towards the man in need of assistance.

    "Right." Javelin walked forward and placed his hands on his patient, letting his own spirit essence pour into the man. Instantly his widened in shock. Outwardly there hadn''t seemed to be anything wrong with the man, but inside it was more like nothing was right; every single organ showed signs of failing. Normally such a process would cause the body to react violently, desperately trying to reboot itself, but here there was nothing - the man was just slowly slipping away.

    "I can''t heal something like this - you need a true healer!" exclaimed Javelin, giving Raven a helpless look. "How did this even happen to him?"

    Raven shrugged. "He did it to himself . . . in a sense."

    "How could he possibly . . ."

    "It''s hard to explain, but the important part is that he isn''t actually hurt anywhere, even his soul prism is intact - although it too was showing signs of breaking when I last checked. If you could just revitalize him a bit I bet he would snap out of it."

    "You caused this?" Javelin was silently amazed, but he sounded more accusing than impressed.

    Raven''s face hardened. "He, the so called Blood Hound, was going to kill Martin and Lark, was I supposed to just sit back and let it happen?"

    Javelin was quick to deny it. "Of course not! That''s not what I meant, Raven. I just have never even heard of anything like this and only wondered how you did it. Am not so naive that I''d ask you to fight a low Champion without harming him - I would likely have killed him on the spot."

    Raven seemed to soften a bit, even giving Javelin a weary smile. "He has information I want."

    "Very well then," said Javelin and turned his attention back to the dying man. "Let''s see what can be done." A brilliant, yet oddly not blinding light spread out from his hands as he placed one of them on the man''s forehead and the other on his abdomen. Gushes of nurturing spirit essence flowed from Javelin into the man, causing the latter''s body to shake violently with every pulse.

    Of to the side, the second still conscious man seemed to push through his fears for a moment as he stared intently at Javelin''s hands, or perhaps the man underneath them. It was hard to say if he was eager or apprehensive towards the man regaining his consciousness.

    At first there was no reaction what so ever from Javelin''s healing, as the man continued to die at a steady pace, but eventually the soul prism that had been showing signs of breaking seem to stabilize itself. Like coming up for air after a long dive, the man suddenly stirred, breathing in a huge breath of air.

    Javelin only felt a cool hand gripping at the back of his neck before he found himself standing at the other end of the room, with Raven between him and the chained up man, also know as the Blood Hound.

    Javelin looked over Raven''s shoulder, and for the first time he actually took in the features of the captured assassin; the man''s hair was short and ill-kept but the dark brown locks still framed his paled face quiet nicely, his skin was pale and his eyes were a striking light green. A couple of gruesome scars across his cheek were the only things that actually prevented the man from being considered handsome. That and his terrified expression.

    Javelin frowned; the man looked familiar somehow. Javelin wanted to move closer to take a better look but Raven held out an arm to stop him. "Even with the Limiters in his chains, the physical strength of a low Champion is not something you should underestimate," she warned him. Javelin shook his head. "I know, but he looks so familiar. . . ."

    Raven spun around and fixed her gaze on the man. Without Javelin being able to catch her movements, she suddenly appeared in front of the would-be assassin, tilting the latter''s head to face her. Raven''s eyes seemed to peer into the very soul of the man, causing even Javelin to shudder while the man himself let out a soft whimper - he might have been jerked out of the state where his fear convinced himself to death, but Raven clearly still scared him.

    Javelin almost couldn''t help himself from chuckling at the sight of a full-grown man whimpering in front of his female nine-year-old roommate, but Raven''s next sentence stopped Javelin''s laughter dead in his throat.

    "How do you know Myrtus Willow, Mr. Blood Hound?" she asked with narrowed eyes. "Or should I call you by your clan name, Mr. Willow Hound?"

 Chapter 69: Interrogation

    Author''s note: Thank you anonymous for sponsoring this chapter!

    <hr />

    Interrogation

    As Raven''s accusation left her lips, the already shaking man shook so hard it rattled his chains loudly. His clear light-green eyes were wide in shock.

    "H-how . . ?" the man seemed incapable of saying more but Raven''s mouth curled into a cold half-smile. Her suspicions were confirmed. Looking into those frightened eyes of her would-be assassin, Raven had to admit that they were so similar to Elder Willow''s that she was almost ashamed she hadn''t see the connection sooner.

    Ever since she brought the man back here, Raven had been having the nagging sensation that she was missing something important. She hadn''t been able to put her finger on it, but when Javelin had pointed out that he recognized the so called Blood Hound from somewhere, Raven suddenly realized what it was that had been bugging her; the assassin''s presence, although a lot more murderous, still had the same core characteristics as Elder Willow''s.

    Much like Raven could tell that Martin and Lark were closely related simply by their spirit essence, she could also tell that there had to be some sort of family connection between Myrtus Willow and the Blood Hound.

    "It doesn''t matter how I know, the point is that I do know." Raven tightened the grip she already had around the man''s chin. "Now, tell me how the two of you are related."

    Despite his fear, the chained assassin managed a snort. "That meek little healer sissy ain''t no relation of mine!" He spat the last words but it quickly turned into a pained moan as the bones in his jaw started cracking under Raven''s grip.

    "Don''t fool around, Mr. Hound," warned Raven. "I don''t appreciate it." Killing intent flashed in her blood red eyes and the man desperately tried to nod his consent, even with the extra pain it brought. Raven loosened her grip again. "Your name and relation to Elder Myrtus Willow."

    "I . . . my birth name is Rooter Willow. Myrtus is my cousin."

    Raven narrowed her eyes and behind her she could hear Javelin''s sharp intake of air. He moved up closer to Raven and the prisoner, Rooter. "Was it him who asked you to kill Lark and Martin?" he asked, anger overflowing in his eyes. Rooter opened his mouth to speak but Javelin was too impatient, and punched the former in the gut. "Speak, dammit!"

    Raven let go of Rooter''s jaw and swiftly pulled Javelin away. "What are you doing!" she chided, carefully inspecting the boy''s hand - there were several fractures in its bones.

    "He tried to kill them Raven! If Elder Willow is his cousin then . . ."

    Raven held up a finger to Javelin''s mouth to silence him, causing the boy to twitch slightly under her touch. "I know, Javelin, but let me do it, okay?" As she spoke, the hand that still held Javelin''s fractured ones started to glow warmly. The light was weak, to the point were it likely wouldn''t even be visible in daylight, but slowly the several fractures in Javelin''s hand started heal. Seeing that Javelin wasn''t about to protest, Raven''s second hand also started glowing and was placed above the Javelin''s.

    As she felt the bones healing, Raven couldn''t help but sigh. ''It''s too slow. . . . The path of healing really is closed for me, huh?''

    Ever since Raven got her hands on her first Divine Healing Skill, Raven had been having a comparatively hard time learning them. At first it had just been in relation to how fast she would learn other skills but gradually it had grown worse, to the point where even the healing skills she had already mastered started to loose their efficiency. She didn''t know why, but since she had started cultivating in the reversed waterfall, Raven had gotten the feeling that perhaps there was something blocking her from using the more nurturing aspects of spirit essence, at least in any other regard than strengthening her own body.

    A few breaths later, the glow around Raven''s hand dimmed; Javelin''s hands were restored.

    "Thanks," he muttered but Raven shook her head.

    "It would have been faster if you did it yourself, sorry."

    Now it was Javelin''s time to protest. "No! If I had done it myself then . . ." His sentence died out, as if he didn''t really know what to say. Javelin looked away, his face slightly redder then before.

    Raven couldn''t help but smile softly at his behavior but said nothing. Instead she turned her attention back to Elder Willow''s cousin. She casually glanced at his stomach, where Javelin had hit him, before once more locking eyes with the man. "While my friends fists might not harm you, we both know that mine will," she said calmly.

    At this point, the second prisoner couldn''t hold it back anymore and yet again started wailing uncontrollably. "Please!" he begged. "Please let me go! I have nothing to do with this. . . . I-I''ll tell no one of you, or this place, I promise!"

    Raven flicked her wrist and a small dagger shot out, lodging itself in the stone wall next to the man''s ear. "I''ve already warned you once already, don''t speak until spoken to." He clammed his mouth shut.

    "Who''s he?" asked Javelin.

    "I don''t know yet," answered Raven with a shrug. "But our friend Rooter is bound to have an answer for us."

    For a brief moment, the fear in the unknown prisoner''s eyes vanished and was replaced with intense anger as dared a sideways glare at Rooter. Javelin didn''t catch it, but how could Raven miss it.

    ''So the weaker one is the employer, or perhaps the go-between?'' she thought to herself while she once more focused her attention on Rooter. "Let''s not make this too complicated; I''ll tell you what I know and you will be kind enough to fill in the details I miss, okay?"

    Raven let her killing intent run wild in her gaze and Rooter shuddered and slumped in his chains. The memory of what Raven had made him witness resurfaced in his mind and it was impressive that he didn''t lapse back into his self-destructive coma on the spot.

    "So, your name is Rooter Willow, cousin of Myrtus Willow - but you have little love for the latter - and have been sent here to assassinate Lark and Martin Griffin and leave no witnesses alive, correct?" Rooter nodded. "By whom?"

    "I don''t know. . . ." Raven''s gaze intensified and Rooter almost panicked. "I swear I don''t know! It was a order from the Head but who asked it of him I don''t know!"

    "Could it have been for personal reasons?"

    "I don''t think so - I was told to make it a clean kill."

    Raven raised an eyebrow. ''How could confronting three youths in a dark alleyway, clearly hoping to scare them senseless, be considered a clean kill?'' She didn''t raise her concerns though and instead continued her questioning. "Then why send for you, rather than someone who actually operates in Sky Empire?"

    Rooter shrugged. "You have harsher rules for using the Assassin Guild here, I suppose. The whole only non-spiritualists thing."

    Raven''s upper lip twitched and a dagger soared through the air - stabbing through Rooter''s hand. He wailed just as lightning shot out from the blade, causing his entire body to convulse.

    "Don''t lie to me, Rooter," said Raven calmly as the twitches in his muscles died down. "I can tell."

    "Okay, Okay! The Head said it had to be me, but why I truly don''t know!"

    "What were your instructions exactly?"

    "I was sent to Sky Empire with the explicit order to assassinate the two Griffin heirs. No need to be too discreet but make it clean and no witnesses of the actual deed. Then I''d lay low for a week before heading back home."

    Raven listen carefully as Rooter spoke, looking out for any signs of falsehood, but the man seemed to believe his words. Still, there were some things he clearly left out. "Then why did you spare this guy?" Raven pointed a thumb towards the other prisoner and while she had her back to the man and couldn''t see him, all her other senses noticed how he twitched slightly when Raven brought him up.

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    Rooter hesitated briefly, but when Raven held up a second dagger and glared at him with her bloodthirsty eyes, Rooter yielded. "He''s my contact here, he calls himself Spa-"

    "Lies!" howled the other man, drowning out Rooter''s words. "Preposterous lies!"

    *Bang!*

    In a flash Raven had turned around and slammed the protesting man''s head back into the stone wall. Instantly, his eyes went blank and his body limp. As if enjoying the sudden calm Raven took a deep breath that she released a sigh. She then turned back to Rooter, who was staring at her with wide eyes; he was a low Champion and while he could tell from his captor''s spirit essence that Raven was indeed of a higher cultivation than himself, it wasn''t by several realms, and yet, he had been unable to follow her movements at all.

    "Well?" prompted Raven. "Continue."

    "Uh, as I said, he calls himself Sparv and I was to meet him at the Black Eagle. He would be the only one but me to walk away from the assassination alive."

    ''That doesn''t make sense. . . . Why be so adamant of having no witnesses only to provide one yourself?'' Raven frowned. ''The death of two prefecture heirs would never go unnoticed anyway, and if they wanted to spread false rumors there would be no reason to be there in person. . . .'' As Raven pondered over the possibilities in her head, Sparv was slowly coming to from the blow Raven had given him to the head. ''If the client truly wanted no witnesses then only one person can walk away from it, but Sparv is not strong enough too . . .''

    Before Raven had the chance to finish her train of thoughts the man called Sparv had regained his consciousness completely. Without hesitating, he bit down on his own teeth so hard that one of them shattered and in that same instant, a pitch black energy surged out from said tooth and into the man. Like flipping a switch, Sparv''s cultivation to sky rocketed; in less than a second he went from a high Adept to a mid Champion, yet it continued to rise.

    Despite the fact that his strength was still growing, Sparv didn''t waste anytime and lunged himself towards Javelin, his arms covered in a jade like haze that filled the room with a putrid smell. It all happened so fast that Javelin hadn''t even realized that the man was loose, let alone charging towards him. Needless to say, even without the disparity in cultivation level, Javelin could do nothing to defend himself.

    There was no time to hesitate.

    <hr />

    Javelin only felt a sudden tug at his collar that yanked him backwards with incredible force. There was a large bang, originating from where he had previously been standing, and the entire cellar was shrouded in a cloud of green smoke and dust. Several seconds after the impact, the house was still shaking violently.

    For a moment Javelin was too dazed to do anything, but his mind quickly cleared. "Raven!" he called into the obscuring mist, but there was no reply. From the still activated spirit essence in front of him, Javelin could tell that only one person was still conscious but he couldn''t tell which one.

    He wanted desperately to run forward, but his legs failed him. All he could do was stare helplessly as the smoke and dust slowly settled to the ground. As it did, it revealed Raven, hunched over the listless Sparv. Stabbed through his head was a magnificently forged blade, whose intricate markings shimmered with slight purple hues in the dim light and whose hilt was formed like two wings, ready for flight.

    Mesmerized by the blade, Javelin strained his eyes to see it more clearly. He could have sworn that the markings on the blade formed out words, but as he started to read, the sword was yanked out of the fallen man''s head and disappeared. With the blade gone, Javelin blinked a few times before he shook his head and focused his gaze on Raven, who was slowly getting up from the ground.

    "Are you okay?" he asked but when Raven turned to face him, he noticed, to his horror, a trail of blood running down from her mouth. "Raven!" he called, but yet again his legs wouldn''t move.

    Raven''s eyes met his, but she only held his gaze for a second before she rushed forward, almost tumbling to her feet in front of him.

    "Ra-. . ." Javelin''s eyes widened and it felt like his heart stopped beating for good. He froze in place, his mind blank. The only thing he could think of was the feeling of Raven''s cool but soft lips pushing down on the nape of his neck and her warmer tongue traveling across his skin.

    Suddenly his heart started beating again and, as if trying to compensate, it beat faster than ever. Despite the cold sensation of Raven''s lips, warmth radiated out from her touch, filling every inch of his body. He found himself raising an arm to cup the back of Raven''s neck, and relished in the tactile sensation of her soft skin.

    Quickly the heat in him became close to unbearable. He felt like every fiber of his body was burning; with desire, but also something more. Javelin frowned slightly as he realized that the arm he was embracing Raven with was too heavy for him, and he had to let it fall to his side.

    "What''s . . ." before he could finish the question, Javelin''s mind went dark.

    <hr />

    Wiping her mouth, Raven backed away from the unconscious Javelin and slumped against the wall next to him. Within her, her spirit essence was frantically circling as it worked on repairing the injuries she had sustained as well as combating the poison the had removed from Javelin.

    As soon as she had noticed Sparv''s sudden and extreme rise in cultivation, Raven came to the split conclusion that it was a kill or be killed moment. The dark energy she had sensed had been very similar to the one she could feel within her cousin and many other members of the Talon Clan only even more sinister. Since there was no way for Raven to know how strong Sparv would become, she couldn''t take any chances.

    Raven had projected her spirit essence next to Javelin''s and activated her Spacial Dash, shifting her position in the blink of an eye. Using one hand to grab Javelin''s collar of the way and the other to take hold of Sparv''s poison coated arm, Raven had managed to pull Javelin out of the way in the last second. Without wasting Sparv''s forward motion, Raven had then moved to flip the former on to his back and deliver a killing strike to his head before he had the chance to retaliate.

    She hadn''t expected it to go as well as it did - the man had after all already forced his way into a high Champion - but the oddest thing had occurred as Raven activated her the series of four Divine Skills she had needed to do what she wanted while at the same time avoid being poisoned by Sparv''s own skill.

    For a brief moment, the spirit essence she deployed had partially merged with Sparv''s. This in itself wasn''t so rare, it was practically unavoidable when two spiritualists fought, only normally those apposing spirit essences would reject each other and both would either be mutually destroyed or one would outclass the other. The odd part was that this time, it was more like Raven''s spirit essence, nestled its way into Sparv''s coaxing it to aid her attack by lending her its strength and making it her own.

    Suddenly a familiar verse popped into her mind.

    If they can''t be forgiven,

    then let them be burned.

    For that which is given,

    must be tenfold returned.

 Chapter 70: Winds of War

    Author''s Note: The anonymous sponsor strikes again and has sponsored this chapter too! Thank you!!

    <hr />

    Winds of War

    As Raven sat on the cellar floor in an enlightened daze, loud steps could be heard from above. Moments later, Bill came running down the stairs with a short pike in one hand and what looked like a teacup in the other.

    His eyes darted around the room, widening as they fell on Raven. "Mam!" he shouted and rushed forward, dropping the pike to the ground as he ran. "Are you alright, mam?"

    Raven blinked. The strain of thoughts that had started to form in her mind faded before she could completely grasp it.With a tired sigh, she met Bill''s gaze.

    "I''m fine Bill, and so is Javelin." She inclined her head towards the now dead man a few steps away. "I was just a bit careless - he was hiding his strength, or perhaps . . . had a way to significantly raise his cultivation level. . . . I''ve never seen anything like it. Although, the odd spirit essence was similar to the one around Gadwall and the Talons."

    "So this was their doing as well?" Bill asked.

    Raven glanced over at the still living assassin that was chained to the far end wall. "Most likely. That one doesn''t seem to know much though, and this one," she used a foot to poke at the corpse, "won''t be admitting anytime soon."

    Bill nodded gravely. He knew that, with the attacker dead, it was unlikely that they would get anymore insights into this."And Mister Hake?" he asked instead.

    Raven thought she felt her heart skip a beat, but surely she was imagining things. "Ah, he got cut by a Hemlock Blade strike," she explained and saw Bill''s eyes grow wide yet again; the Hemlock Blade was a fifth level Divine Skill that coated any weapon, be it blade or hand, with an deadly poison, condensed from the air itself - if not treated immediately, it would lead to a quick but painful death. "Don''t worry, I got out most of it out - he should be fine after some rest. Will you take him up one of the beds?"

    Bill looked from Raven to the cut on Javelin''s throat to Javelin''s oddly happy face and for a brief moment there was amusement in his eyes, but as he felt Raven''s stern glare it quickly faded. "Yes, mam!" he complied with a cough and quickly moved to pick up the boy.

    "Oh, and Bill," inserted Raven as the former started up the stairs, "the next time you come to my rescue, may I suggest you pick something sturdier than a porcelain cup as your shield?"

    With one foot already on the staircase, Bill twitched, his ears turning bright red. "Yes, mam. . . ." he muttered, embarrassed, and disappeared up the steps. Raven couldn''t help but chuckle softly at the sight.

    Her humor was, however, short lived. Stone faced, Raven turned her head back to the corpse on the ground before she looked up at Rooter. "Did you know?" she asked, but she didn''t really need to wait for the reply to know the answer.

    "No . . ." his voice sounded frail more than anything, "he . . . he was a peak Champion?"

    "So it would seem."

    Raven grunted as she pushed off from her place by the wall and moved in close enough tug at the various rings the man wore. None of them looked like a spacial ring, but considering all the strange things Raven had been experiencing as of late it was best to make sure. While she carefully probed the man''s jewelry with her spirit essence, Rooter continued mumbling to himself.

    "If he was a peak Champion, why hire me? Why follow m-. . . ." Suddenly Rooter seemed to have come to a understanding. His face turned red with rage. "He wasn''t sent to observe me, he was sent to kill me once the deed was done!"

    "So there is a bit of brain in that hollow head of yours after all," mocked Raven.

    "Let me out," he bellowed. "Let me out and I''ll make those bastards pay!"

    With a cold smile, Raven removed an inconspicuous-looking ring from Sparv''s left pinky and lifted her head to face Rooter. "Which bastards are you referring to?"

    Rooter blinked in realization - he didn''t actually know who hired him, apart from the fact that the order came from his clan head. However, his shock quickly turned to anger. "Who cares? I''ll find out who did it - let me out!" He started struggling against the chains that bound him but to no avail. Raven chose to ignore him.

    She instead focused on the small ring in her hand. It had none of the usual signs of a spacial ring - such as the copper-like hue the soul ore would get during crafting - but when she probed it with her spirit essence, she could feel a great depth within it. Raven glanced down at the corpse. ''If it is a spacial ring, or any other spiritualist artifact for that matter, the death of its previous owner should have removed the seal on it.''

    Raven only hesitated for a moment more before letting a drop of her blood fall on the ring. Instantly, her eyes lit up; it was a spacial ring, and with a lot more space than normal, summing up to roughly five cubic meters rather than one.

    However, despite the space, the ring was mostly empty. Apart from a few hundred silver coins - which could at most buy you a well-used sword - there was only a small piece of parchment, no larger than a page in a book. Without removing the paper from within the ring, Raven used her spirit essence to read what was written on it and at once her brow creased into a frown.

    ''So that''s it. . . . This is bad.''

    "Hey! Are you listening?" Rooter called for perhaps the tenth time. Whatever fear he had for Raven seemed to have been dampened by his rage at being double-crossed. "Heeeey!"

    Raven''s body swayed and in the next instant she stood face to face with Rooter. No traces of her frown could be seen, in fact, she looked almost sweet as her big red eyes stared into Rooter''s. An uncontrollable shudder ran through him at the sudden sight.

    "It''s your lucky day mister Hound, I know who ordered the assassination, and your subsequent murder - wanna know?" She placed her hands behind her back and leaned in closer, her face merely inches away from Rooter''s. She loosened her facial muscles slightly, letting her femininity shine through more.

    "Tell me." Rooter wanted to yell it, but it came out more like a whisper.

    "Oh, I will," Raven smiled, "only, I wondered if you could tell me something first. . . ." She leaned in even closer and Rooter was nodding obediently before he even knew it. "You see, Myrtus Willow, he''s my so called ''Elder'' at the Academy. I haven''t known him for very long, but I would like to know why you seem to detest him so much."

    "That wimp?" Despite having grown quite flustered, Rooter spat the words. "To think that Myrtus has the nerve to call himself a Willow, after abandoning the Clan. . . . He deserves the end I''ll give him!"

    "End?"

    "Yes, end. Any Willow who strays from the path of blood is no Willow! There has never been one, and there shall never be one in the future."

    Raven took a step back, her eyes flashing with coldness. "So, the Willow Clan is a clan for warriors and assassins and since Myrtus chose to become a healer, you will have him killed?"

    Rooter laughed, seemingly oblivious to the murderous glare Raven was giving him. "He would have died long ago, had he not kept himself huddled up at one imperial academy after the other!"

    "I see."

    "So, I''ve answered your question, now tell me who hired me and let me go kill the bastard!"

    *Cling!* The clear sound of metal meeting stone echoed softly in the small cellar and Rooter looked down at his chest, confused. An ornately engraved blade was sunk straight through his heart, all the way out his back where it had hit the stone wall.

    "Wh-"

    "Why?" Raven filled out the question Rooter was incapable of asking. "You are no longer useful to me."

    "Bu-"

    "But then why not let you go so you can hunt down our common enemy? You tried to kill my friends, Rooter, that can''t be forgiven." Raven pulled out her blade with ease, flicking away the blood in the same motion. "Besides, I can''t have you running off and killing Elder Willow simply because he''s not what you want him to be."

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    Raven turned to leave, but paused and looked down at her sword, a touch of sadness filling her eyes. ''For five years I haven''t used this sword, yet today I used it twice. . . . I bet Father wouldn''t approve.''

    Shimmering in the torchlight that fought against the darkness in the cellar, Raven''s sword flickered and disappeared.

    <hr />

    We were, as always, alone in the cabin and, also as always, heavy snow was falling outside. However everything wasn''t as it always was.

    She - the most intriguing woman I had ever met - was staring at me intently but, for once, her eyes weren''t cold and distant. For once, I saw something else in those pitch black gems that seemed to see right through you.

    "You''re beautiful, Ra-. . ." I tried to speak but I was silenced by her lips, pushing down on mine with fiery passion. As the kiss deepened my mind went blank, and all I could manage to think was: please don''t let this be a dream.

    <hr />

    "Raven!"

    With a start, Javelin sat up straight in his bed, but immediately he felt his head spinning and he had to push down the urge to vomit.

    "Easy there, boy" snickered Bill''s familiar voice. "Or I''ll have to tell madam Night that you got sick in her bed."

    "Shut it, will you," moaned Javelin, clutching his head.

    "Suit yourself." Steps could be heard as Bill moved away from the bed, stopping in front of the open fireplace further down the room.

    His eyes still closed, Javelin let himself fall back into the bed. ''What was that . . . dream?'' he wondered, still muddleheaded. ''It felt so real.''

    In his mind, the dream slowly changed, superimposing on Raven''s forceful kiss in the cellar; Javelin could feel his body heating up at the mere thought of it. ''Does this mean she actually likes me?'' he wondered to himself as his hand instinctively reached for where Raven''s lips had touched his skin earlier.

    What he found there, however made him frown. ''A bandage? I''m hurt?'' As he thought this, memories of the prisoner breaking free flooded his mind. He saw the green covered hands stabbing at him and felt Raven pull him out of the way just in time. Javelin lifted the fabric around his neck only to find a small cut underneath. ''I was . . . poisoned?'' The realization stabbed at his heart and Javelin clenched his fists hard, ignoring the pain it caused in his palms.

    ''I thought she. . . .'' he didn''t let himself finish the sentence. ''Stop it. I have a fiance anyway. Raven should . . .''

    Suddenly, Javelin''s eyes flashed open and he sat back up again, forcefully ignoring how awful it made him feel. "Bill!" he shouted, "where is Raven?"

    "I thought you wanted me to shut up," said Bill over his shoulder, but before Javelin could protest, he answered the question properly. "Madam Night is back at the Academy. She had to speak with the Headmaster about something urgent. You and the twins are in my care until she returns or you are fit to leave on your own."

    "Then the assassin . . ."

    "Dead. Both of them."

    Javelin blinked and tried to think back on what he could remember from the cellar; things had changed so fast that he couldn''t quite follow it. In one moment they had been interrogating Rooter, Elder Willow''s cousin, and in the next Javelin had been flung across the room, only to see Raven, on the floor with her sword stabbed through the other prisoner''s head.

    "The second prisoner, Sparv, he was a peak Champion." Javelin said it more like a statement then a question but Bill confirmed it with a nod anyway. "Raven really is amazing," mused Javelin quietly. In his mind he could see her slim figure and her dazzling sword, moving as one, as she fought with predatory grace on a bloody battle field.

    ''She was born for battle, that one. . . . Wait, that sword . . . wasn''t there something written on it?'' Javelin strained his mind to remember and all of a sudden his eyes popped open.

    "Nightingale''s Blessing. . . ." he whispered.

    <hr />

    Hundreds of meters above the house where Javelin and the twins were still recuperating Raven walked through a damp and narrow corridor, a small orb of light hovering above her as she moved.

    Soon she reached her destination and the corridor widened to a great hall, with one wall completely covered by a huge painted map. In the center of the room burned a small fire and three plush armchairs were pushed up close to the flames. Seated in one of them was the familiar white figure of Headmaster Swan. In his hands was a large scroll that he had been reading intently but when Raven entered, he looked up at her with a smile.

    "You''re a late," he said sternly but his facial expression gave away his true feelings.

    "Apologies, Headmaster," said Raven with a bow, causing the white-robed man to frown slightly.

    "Come now, Raven, I thought we agreed to skip the formalities - or do you wish for me to start referring to you as Lady Nightingale?" A cold glint flashed across Raven''s eyes at the headmaster''s mention of her actual title but the old man ignored it. "So, why the delay, Raven?" he asked instead.

    "There was a assassination attempt," said Raven but the headmaster didn''t seem fazed. "On the Griffin twins," she continued and this time Swan reacted. He dropped the scroll he''d been reading and it nearly rolled into the fire.

    "What!?" He was truly shocked. Both of them had been working hard to make sure that the twin''s, and Javelin''s, involvement would be kept a secret - and that the price required by the Assassin Guild for their assassination was kept high. No one should want or agree to have them killed.

    Raven started retelling what had happened to the headmaster, leaving nothing out, and by the time she had told of Sparv''s sudden leap in cultivation - and quick defeat - Headmaster Swan had turned almost as pale as his hair. So many things could have gone wrong that evening and just one of them would have been catastrophic.

    "Is there any chance that Elder Willow is actually involved in this?" he asked with a slightly unsteady voice.

    "There is no such thing as absolute certainty, but I don''t think so." Raven held out her hand, revealing the piece of parchment that she had found within Sparv''s spacial ring.

    Swan looked picked up the paper. There, in very elegant handwriting were the words: "Thank you, dear cousin, for agreeing to help me get rid of those little pests - with them gone I can truly make a difference in the course of this Sky Empire. I will make father proud."

    The headmaster''s eyes widened; he, more than anyone, knew how bad the situation was between Elder Willow and his clan - Swan was actually part of the reason Willow had managed to leave Earth Empire. Needless to say, he knew that what this letter implied, was simply not probable. "So they wished to frame him for the prefecture heirs murder? That''s insane!"

    "Perhaps," conceded Raven, "but remember, during Empress Nene''s so called treason, there were multiple signs pointing towards Elder Willow then too, simply there was nothing truly substantial. It would start being hard to ignore it after the death of Martin and Lark. Since we have no way to actually prove Gadwall or the Talon''s involvement, it would be hard to shift the blame back where it belongs."

    The headmaster looked up from his armchair with serious eyes. "We are running out of time, Raven," he said and Raven had to agree - assassinating a neighboring empire''s prefecture heirs would no doubt cause a war to blossom out.

 Chapter 71: Dealing With . . . Stuff

    Author''s Note: A big thank you to the anonymous sponsor of this chapter!

    <hr />

    Dealing With . . . Stuff

    Nestled in their armchairs around the fire pit, Raven and Headmaster Swan sat in silence for quite some time. Their thoughts were immersed in the problem at hand, reviewing it from different angles.

    Eventually, Raven broke the silence, bringing up a subject she had been concerned about for quite some time. "Headmaster, is there anything we could do to hinder Gadwall from attempting similar assassination plots in the other empires? If he put together something like this here, there is no reason to think he wouldn''t attempt it elsewhere."

    Headmaster Swan looked up from the flames and gave Raven a wry smile. "Under these circumstances? Nothing really. . . ." he sighed. "I''ve been in contact with my counterparts at the other imperial academies - don''t worry, I haven''t said anything too directly, but I have warned them that someone is acting behind the scenes, trying to push our three empires into war. I am confident they will keep an eye on things on their ends; the three of us have known each other for as long as I can remember and I would trust both them with my life."

    Raven gave the headmaster a scrutinizing look. "Like you would have with Gadwall, three years ago?"

    The headmaster sighed again. "That''s why I haven''t told them anything straight out. . . ."

    The two of them once more sat in silence, but it didn''t take long before Swan stood up with a frustrated grunt. "This is so vexing!" He started pacing behind his chair. "If it was only the Talon Clan stirring up trouble it would be no large issue to deal with them - taxing, perhaps, but doable - yet with Gadwall . . ."  Swan stopped in his tracks; he had caught sight of Raven, who looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

    Raven shook her head. "Nothing. It''s just so rare to see Headm-. . . Senior Swan get so emotional."

    "Ah." Swan coughed and reclaimed his seat in the armchair. His checks flushed a bit - an odd look for such a refined man, seemingly in his sixties. "Regardless, Gadwall is a problem. Although his cultivation level appears to be that of a peak Champion, who knows if that is truly it. Considering all this dark spirit essence you have been witnessing I doubt that''s the case.

    "There is also the issue with why he is here. If Gadwall has come on his own volition then simply informing the representatives of the multi-realm tournament should be enough to have him removed. However, if he is sent here on someone else''s mission, then it''s important that we tell the right people of his presence."

    The headmaster continued to list all the problems surrounding their main enemy while Raven listen quietly. Everything the Headmaster Swan brought up were things she had already considered and, just like him, she was not sure of how to get around them. As for how she wanted to deal with the Talon Clan, that plan had been formulated years back, but all the mysteries and hidden dangers around Gadwall kept her from acting too freely on them.

    "It shames me to admit it, but our insight into the other realms is simply too lacking," Swan leaned back in his chair. "Additionally they don''t even care to answer simple questions. . . ." He glanced over at Raven, and a sense of excitement was burning deep within his eyes.

    Two years ago, when the representatives of the Multi-Realm Tournament had arrived at Sky Academy to make their mandatory delivery of the invitation, Headmaster Swan had met their conventional disregard with unconventional politeness, all in hopes of learning something more about them and the realms they came from. It had, however, failed.

    It had been just after five in the morning when two middle aged men popped out of nowhere in the headmaster''s chambers. They had been slightly surprised when they found the former not asleep but wide awake, with a minor feast set out on his dining table.

    Swan had no way of telling exactly when they would be coming - except that, from experience, they would likely pick an inconvenient hour - so, for over a month the headmaster had sat vigil every night, prepared for their arrival, with a meal that would make even an emperor''s mouth water.

    When they finally arrived they had indeed been surprised, but unfortunately not to the point where they were impressed. Instead they had barely glanced at the food before they flicked out a jade slip and left. The only thing the headmaster had managed to learn - through an offhand comment made by one of the men - was that the duty of delivering invitations seemed to alter each tournament.

    "As it stands, I''m not even sure they would bother to hear me out when the new representatives arrive ten months from now. . . ." Swan stared off into the flames in front of him, lost in thought.

    ''It is indeed a problem,'' thought Raven. ''If they had a tendency to stir up trouble, rather than just come and go, we would at least have the opportunity to speak with them.''

    Suddenly Raven had a thought. "Senior Swan, do you remember the mysterious spirit beast Fenris whose grandchild I saved - is it not likely that he is from one of the other realms, or at least know of them?"

    Swan looked up from the fire pit. "How does that help? I assume you have no way of contacting him."

    ''I don''t, but my brother might,'' thought Raven. Just like her, Fenris had been capable of speaking directly into Hoatzin''s mind due to his connection with the Life Link Ring. Even now, when Hoatzin was halfway across the country and too far away for her to actually speak to him, Raven could still sense his general location and it was something that worked both ways; Hoatzin could tell where she was too. ''If the same thing applies for Fenris, then perhaps . . .''

    "It might not be impossible for me to find him again," Raven said pensively - she had still not revealed that her brother had survived - not to anyone - and would not do so now. "Perhaps after this moon''s Lunar Trials I could get some time off from my classes to go look for him? I would only make a short attempt and be back before the next trials if I fail. . . ."

    She tried her best to not sound too decisive in her suggestion, letting the headmaster consider the option on his own. Ever since she broke through to Champion realm two years back, Swan had grown increasingly protective of her. It wasn''t a fatherly type of protectiveness, one that wishes for no harm to ever befall his child, but rather the protectiveness a sea captain might feel for his vessel; naturally he wants to travel her safely home through every journey, but he would be most proud of his ship when she returns after a great storm, battered but whole.

    Nonetheless, a good captain would not chose routes he figured too dangerous, and Swan was the same; he gave Raven rather free reign but still kept a close eye on her, sometimes even objecting to her more risky endeavors.

    Swan sat silently for a while, clearly considering Raven''s suggestion. "Where would you go?" he eventually asked.

    Raven shrugged. "I figure I''d start with where I first met him - perhaps he and his grandchild is still in the area. I think the important thing is to let him know I''m looking for him - I doubt Fenris is the kind of creature you find simply because you want to."

    Silence once more.

    "Very well, you may go." Raven smiled at him warmly but she knew it wouldn''t be that easy. "However," Swan continued, "you will bring a bodyguard with you."

    "Who? It''s not like you can leave the city right now, even if a trip with your disciple would be a good enough excuse to do so."

    "You will bring my brother," said Swan as if it was the most matter-of-fact thing in the world.

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    "Your brother . . ." Raven looked confused for a moment but her eyes quickly widened in realization. "The guardsman to the southern peak campus."

    "You guessed it?" The headmaster was truly surprised. "Everyone always say we look nothing alike."

    "It''s not how you look, but how you feel. . . . I should have known ages ago!" Swan still looked confused but Raven ignored him. "So he knows - about Gadwall and everything?"

    The bewildered expression on the headmaster''s face faded and he gave Raven a profound look. "We cannot do everything entirely on our own, Raven. Sometimes we must trust in others."

    "I know the importance of working together with a team," offered Raven but the headmaster shook his head.

    "I am sure you do, but I''m not talking about teamwork, child, I''m talking of trust; real trust, where you truly let someone in." Noting Raven''s unconvinced scowl, Swan gave her a soft smile. "Can you imagine trusting someone to the degree where if they asked for permission to stab you through your heart, you would agree?"

    "Well , I . . ." Raven about to answer that she thought so when she was interrupted by Swan''s calm voice. "Don''t lie to yourself, Raven. It will do you no good."

    The headmaster got up from his chair and dusted off his already pristine white robes. "The moon rises soon - you might as well head directly for the waterfall to cultivate. I shall speak to your friends." He patted Raven lightly on her shoulder before he turned to leave. Right before he reached the corridor that led back to his office, Swan paused. "Now that I think about it, you might as well bring those three friends of yours with you on the search for this Fenris fellow. It might do all of you some good, and we both know you would only be worried if you can''t keep an eye on them."

    With that, the headmaster left. Raven sat, silent, in her armchair; first staring into the dark corridor Swan had left through and then into the slowly dancing flames of the fire in front of her. In her mind several faces surfaced from her memories - some from this life, but most from her previous one.

    There were perhaps not many people Raven would claimed that she trusted, but there were still a handful, and every single one of them she would gladly fight together with, even in the face of imminent death. But what Swan had talked about, trusting to the point where she would literally hand over her life to that person . . . "What idiocy," she mumbled.

    One face, however, lingered a bit longer in her mind than the rest, but in the end she shrugged it off as well. ''It was guilt you were feeling, nothing more.''

    Without brooding over it any longer, Raven got to her feet and head off deeper into the grand hall, taking the corridor that led to the very center of the mountain.

    <hr />

    Javelin and the other seven students of the seventh grade were seated in a modestly furnished cabin, being flown by one of the academy''s Everest Hawks deep into the mountain range. They were headed for the location where the Lunar Trials would be held this time around - the Crimson Caves, not far from the prefecture border closest to Sky Academy.

    While most of the other boys were chatting merrily among themselves, both Javelin and the two twins sat in silence. The twins were, understandably, still a bit shaken up over their encounter with the Blood Hound and didn''t feel like talking at all. They had been told that Headmaster Swan had been looking for his disciple and had been lucky enough to reach them right before the assassin managed to harm them, but the notion of being so close to death - and particularly all that killing intent - was still vivid in their minds.

    Javelin on the other hand was immersed in thoughts about Raven. He hadn''t seen her since he fainted in Bill''s cellar, but at the moment he wasn''t so sure that was a bad thing.

    ''How am I going to treat her after this?'' he wondered helplessly. ''For her that . . . kiss . . . might have been a means to an end, but for me. . . .'' He sighed heavily, causing some of the other guys to shoot him questioning glances, but Javelin ignored them. ''No matter what she says, she must be Raven Nightingale - there are simply too many coincidences for her not to be!''

    Subconsciously, Javelin started fiddling with the blue and coppery bracelet around his wrist.

    ''Even if I don''t count her age as well as hers and her pet''s similar names, there is still that sword. . . . Although I haven''t seen it myself before, Hoatzin often talked about his kid sister''s odd love for an oversized and ornate blade called the Nightingale''s Blessing. Surely that too can''t be mere coincidence?''

    Where Javelin would normally feel that something was off when he considered Raven''s background, his current conclusions felt extremely . . . right, and more so than just wishful thinking.

    ''She survived . . . she actually survived!'' The mere thought of it made Javelin want to jump out the cabin window and shout his elation to the mountain tops. He figured he should feel betrayed; so many times had Raven had the opportunity to tell him, but had chosen not to. She had even lied to him when he first figured out her identity - although, while it confused him, Javelin still felt that there had been truth to her words even then. However, regardless of all her lies, Javelin couldn''t get mad at her.

    ''She must have had her reasons. Her entire family had just been murdered and . . .'' Suddenly Javelin froze. ''Her family . . .''

    At once so much made sense. That was her reason. Ever since they had started their campaign against the Talon Clan, Javelin had felt that Raven''s investment was perhaps a bit extreme. Although she hid it well, Javelin could still sense the nearly boundless hate Raven felt towards the clan. It wasn''t so much her actions that told her off, but rather her eyes; sometimes those crimson jewels would turn so unbelievably cold and vicious, becoming like windows to hell itself. It had scared him.

    ''How many indications have we not found that it was in fact the Talon Clan that staged the fire and caused the death of the Nightingales? No wonder she wants them gone.''

    Javelin clenched his fists until they turned pale white. As he imagined the then four year old Raven, curled up in the forest somewhere, with all her family members murdered - by her own relatives no less - Javelin could feel his rage building.

    ''How dare they do something so heartless?'' By now his nails had pierced into the soft tissue of his palm. ''I won''t let them get away with this!''

    Eventually noticing the stinging pain in his palm, Javelin forced himself to calm down. He was mature enough to know that simply getting angry would solve nothing. Raven had no doubt been planing her revenge for years; the best thing he could do was intensify his efforts to help her.

    He vowed to himself that he would make it his mission to help Raven in any way he could. ''I must support her, she is after all my . . .'' Javelin''s train of thoughts ended. What was Raven to him now? Raven Nightingale had been his first love; a childish crush on a fairy princess from another empire that was bound to fail. Raven Night on the other hand was a . . . friend? More than a friend?

    Javelin couldn''t deny that he enjoyed her company, missed it even, whenever she wasn''t around. He felt more at ease with her close. Javelin''s mind couldn''t help but go back to the incident in the cellar and right away he could feel his body heating up, tingling even.

    He swallowed.

 Chapter 72: Impatience

    Author''s Note: A warm thank you to this chapter''s anonymous sponsor!

    <hr />

    Impatience

    The thundering sound of rushing water was deafening as Raven knelt down on the damp cave floor in front of the faintly flickering Spirit Star seal at the cave ledge''s edge. It was roughly sixty meters to the actual water that flowed in reverse straight up but stray water drops would, every now and then, find their way to Raven. Despite the spray of drops, Raven remained motionless, her eyes closed.

    Suddenly, the flickering stopped and the Spirit Star seal stabilized. Noticing the change, Raven opened her eyes. ''It is time.''

    Pouring her own spirit essence into her hand, Raven reached out and pushed down on the faint seal. The minute the two made contact a tingling sensation spread through Raven''s palm and she could feel the cave floor vibrating slightly beneath her. The vibrations grew more intense before finally a dense stream of translucent spirit essence surged out from the rock and shot straight for the water stream at the center of the abysmal crater. As soon as that stream reached its destination, slamming into the waterfall, the water changed its flow, revealing a passageway to its depths.

    Taking a deep breath, Raven got up and stepped out on the oddly colorless spirit essence bridge that had formed between her ledge and the waterfall. While she walked, Raven couldn''t help but look down and shudder. Raven was by no means uncomfortable with heights but even with her extraordinary eyes, Raven could not see or otherwise sense the bottom at all - a fall would undoubtedly lead to death.

    Raising her gaze, Raven focused on her destination. A faint smile appeared on her lips as she thought back on her first visit to this place. While the stream of spirit essence was extremely dense, it was a still quite allusive and hard to sense, even for Raven. When she had unlocked the seal for the first time, the Headmaster had not been able to sense its arrival at all and had thought that the unsealing was perhaps a failure - what use is a hollow in the waterfall if you have no way of getting, or staying, there? Imagine his surprise when Raven had gotten up and simply walked off the edge, seemingly on thin air!

    It didn''t take long for Raven to reach the opening in the waterfall. Taking another deep breath, Raven readied herself for the sensory overload she would soon receive and stepped forward. The moment she walked inside the path behind her started to close up, sealing off her exit, but Raven wasn''t worried. Instead she continued deeper in and after ten paces, she reached the center of the column. Around her, the water formed a spherical bubble, encasing her in a nautical world.

    Calmly, Raven sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes, and like flipping a switch, the entire world went from night to day. Clear spirit essence swirled into her, body and soul, and instantaneously every little speck within well over a hundred meters from Raven became like an extension of her body. She could feel the water molecules rushing past her, and the air particles drifting around outside; she could sense life within them and, vaguely, her possibility to control them as her own - though she was not there yet.

    Raven started circling her own spirit essence, adapting to the paths the foreign spirit essence took as it moved through her body and the space around her. As it moved, Raven felt the strength hidden within those patterns and like every other time she had been here, she started to comprehend where that strength came from. She couldn''t shake the feeling that if she managed to learn these patterns and adapt her Divine Skills to it, their effects would skyrocket.

    For three days Raven would sit like this, without rest, before the sensation of the translucent spirit essence would pass and the path out of the waterfall would appear again. Once out, the world would seem dull and grey for her, leaving her with an odd feeling of loneliness. It was not an emotion Raven was accustomed to - she had almost always considered herself alone, but never felt lonely because of it - and Raven didn''t like it. In fact, had it not been for her pressing need to grow stronger, she would perhaps not have returned.

    As it was, Raven had returned - every day - until the seal once more had given a steady glow and it was possible to reenter the waterfall. Her numerous visits over the years had contributed greatly to her progress, both in cultivation and essence control, and Raven found herself growing quite fond of the time she got to spend cultivating here.

    The three days went by in a flash, and eventually Raven had no choice but to leave the waterfall space for this time. When she did, that now familiar feeling of loneliness swept over her as the world grew dimmer around her, her senses returning to her own. She walked back to the ledge, but as she was about to leave, Raven had the sudden urge to turn around. She compelled but, looking back, everything seemed the same, with nothing out of the ordinary.

    ''Did I imagine it?'' she wondered, puzzled, but in the end she still left.

    While Raven''s figure disappeared behind the bend in the corridor, two vicious looking eyes made of pure spirit essence shimmered in the midst of the waterfall. Even through the stone walls, their gaze seemed to follow Raven as she walked further away.

    "Soon. . . ." breathed an archaic voice that no one could hear.

    <hr />

    A few hours later, Raven finally exited Headmaster Swan''s office, giving a respectful bow before she closed the door behind her. The other students had just returned from the Lunar Trials and a handful of them had, as always, been sent to the headmaster''s office to give a report of how the three days had gone. When they saw Raven walking out from the office, the gathered students all showed various reactions on their faces. Some were afraid, others awestruck, but one thing they all of had in common was some measure of jealousy.

    For them, getting accepted into Sky Academy had felt like the greatest achievement. It had been instant proof of how talented they were and even the most kindhearted among them couldn''t help but feel a sense of superiority because of it. Once enrolled, they had learned of the even more amazing students, the Advanced Students, whose genius made them feel small and insignificant again.

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    However, although hard, it was not impossible to strive for that role themselves so everyone quickly came to accept the arrangement. Raven, however, had changed everything. Not only had she been unbelievably young when she enrolled, she had quickly gained the favor of the headmaster, even to the point of becoming his disciple - something that almost never happened.

    Ever since, Raven''s cultivation had kept increasing steadily and although all students believed her to be simply a high Adept, this was still the cultivation level that the majority of the student body had when they graduated! Needless to say, many attributed this incredible growth to the headmaster''s guidance, causing the jealousy to grow.

    With her normal cold face, Raven totally ignored all the students who were waiting outside the headmaster''s office, only giving a slight nod to a guy she recognized from her own forth grade class. The boy nodded back with pride in his eyes. For him, the fact that Raven even bothered to notice him felt like a great honor, something he could brag about later. However, had someone told this boy, four years ago, that once he enrolled at Sky Academy he would come to practically worship a young boy of common birth, he would have either collapsed in laughter or given the person a beating for slandering his name. The boy was none other than Brolga Sarus, the snobbish noble child who had caused trouble during the academies registration all those years ago.

    While Brolga relished in the brief greeting, Raven continued down the corridor, unfazed, but just as she was about to reach the end of the hallway, her face face stiffened slightly. The change was so subtle and short lived that no one had a chance to notice it and Raven simply kept walking as if nothing had happened. She turned around the corner, heading for the nearest staircase and, as she took the first steps downwards, a familiar voice greeted her.

    "Well, if it isn''t Junior Student Night - good afternoon!"

    "Good afternoon, Vice Headmaster," replied Raven, pausing her descent to give a respectful bow to none other than Gadwall, who was approaching from below.

    "How was your personal training, these past days?" asked Gadwall in a friendly tone, his grey eyes flashing with the perky curiosity that always seemed present within the man.

    "Challenging," said Raven matter-of-factually. "As always."

    Gadwall smiled warmly and Raven couldn''t help but admit that the man was a masterful actor for his heartfelt interest seemed truly genuine - it always did. In fact, had it not been for her coincidental witnessing of Gadwall''s interaction with Dunlin and Jack back in the Spirit Tower, Raven would perhaps have second guessed her conclusion about Gadwall''s involvement all together.

    "That is training at its best. One of these days, you and Swan will have to tell me what it is the two of you do during you training sessions - I''m impressed by how effective it is!"

    "If Master Swan wishes it," was Raven''s reply, just as it had been every other time Gadwall had made inquiries about the matter before. Although the reverse waterfall was no great secret, the cultivation space within it was, and Raven was not about to tell her enemy about it. Then again, for a man like Gadwall, Raven had no doubt that he wouldn''t find it too challenging to figure out more details about Raven''s training, he fortunately didn''t seemed too interested.

    "Next time then." Gadwall kept smiling. "Well then, I shall keep you no longer, Junior Student Night. See you tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow?" asked Raven, genuinely confused. It was after all rather rare to run into the vice headmaster on a regular day.

    "Yes, I''ll be taking over the Advanced Classes for the unforeseeable future so we shall be seeing a lot more of each other from now on. The Emperor had been trying to get the regular Elder to assist with the army for years, and today he finally agreed."

    "The empire is most fortunate," replied Raven as she bowed slightly. While Gadwall seemed overjoyed by this, Raven couldn''t help but feel a bit depressed about this sudden change. It would give her one more thing to think about as she trained. Raven let some of the disappointment show on her face. "Unfortunately," she said apologetically, "Master Swan has appointed me with a task that will likely take a month or so to complete. I''m afraid I will have to wait a bit longer before I can enjoy Vice Headmaster''s cultivation insights."

    For an instant, an eerie darkness flashed across Gadwall''s eyes but his smile quickly returned. Raven and Gadwall exchanged a few more pleasantries before the two of them parted ways. Raven held on until she had left the building and alone before she loosened the reigns on her emotions. Instantly, in a tree not too far away from her a dozen birds took flight as intense killing intent surged through Raven. Her already red eyes glowed with an even deeper red that seemed ready to swallow the world.

    Raven took a deep breath, steadying herself emotionally. ''It will be over soon,'' she repeated in her mind, letting the reality of this sink in. ''Soon. . . .''

    Once her emotions were somewhat in check, Raven made her way towards the Academy''s main landing area for transporter birds, such as the Everest Hawk. The headmaster had already informed Javelin and the twins that they would be accompanying Raven on a search mission for a missing man, and had stressed that time was of the essence. Therefore, despite the fact that the boys had returned only hours earlier, they had still been asked to prepare for departure immediately.

    As Raven approached the landing area, her already sour mood took a turn for the worse. ''What is she doing here?'' she thought venomously as her senses told her of an unwanted female presence, clinging closely to Javelin. Cara was there.

 Chapter 73: A Tricky Situation

    Author''s Note: A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    A Tricky Situation

    A few hours ago, when the nearly two dozen Everest Hawks that the academy used to fly all its students to and from the Lunar Trials had finally arrived back at the academy''s campus, Javelin''s mind had been in just as much disarray as it had been when he left, three days prior. Although happy to be back, he had still felt very conflicted about his pending reunion with Raven.

    On one hand, ever since his initial suspicions had been confirmed Javelin had itched to see her - his first love - again. However, on the other hand he knew that, for whatever reason, Raven didn''t want anyone to know about her true identity and Javelin wasn''t sure he would be able to act as normal around her - if he even wanted to.

    As the giant birds had lowered the cabins that Javelin and the other students were in to the ground Javelin clenched his first and told himself that everything would work out. ''I handled it fine when I learned that she is a girl . . . mostly. . . . Why should it be any different now?'' he reassured himself, but even as he thought it he knew it was a lie.

    Despite Javelin''s hesitation, the cabins came to a rest on the ground and the other seventh grades eagerly opened the door and filed out. Yet, Javelin merely sat in his seat, unmoving.

    "Let''s go." Martin''s sudden prompt jolted Javelin back into the present. He looked up to find the larger of the two Griffin twins standing right in front of him. Javelin wasn''t sure if Martin had been speaking to him or Lark, who was seated next to him, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless.

    Regardless of his own state of mind, Javelin couldn''t help but feel a bit relieved as he followed behind Lark and Martin as they exited their cabin. During these Lunar Trials the two twins had returned to their usual selves, seemingly coming to terms with their experiences with the so called Blood Hound.

    ''There''s nothing like replacing one life-or-death situation with another,'' mused Javelin as he remembered the particularly bloody fight the three of them had persevered through against a spirit beast the night before. Although progress had been made even before then, it was only after that that Marin and Lark completely snapped out of their daze.

    "We should try to find Raven," suggested Martin once outside the cabin, "we haven''t seen him since . . . that assassin came for us."

    Lark nodded. "Yeah. I''d like to apologize for getting him involved with an attempted assassination on us. . . ."

    Javelin looked around the vast plaza that functioned as the Academy''s main landing area. He didn''t think Raven would appreciate the twin''s apology but he wasn''t about to stop them either. On the contrary, his eyes couldn''t help but search for her, both hoping and not hoping that she would have come to greet him.

    Not unexpectedly though, she was nowhere in sight. Instead his eyes accidentally met with those of a far less agreeable person; Dunlin.

    Meeting his gaze Dunlin''s immediate reaction was a cold sneer, but then the latter just turned away and started laughing with Jack and his friends. Over the years, Dunlin''s group of followers had been growing consistently - gaining even more momentum when Dunlin successfully broke through to a low Champion realm last winter - and they all hovered around him like bees around a flower.

    As a result, Javelin had to admit that Dunlin and Jack''s influence over the student body now far outweighed that of the Griffin twins and himself. Despite this, Dunlin had surprisingly enough left the three of them alone most of the time and Javelin really couldn''t understand why.

    While it was true that Raven''s real strength far outstripped Dunlin''s, he didn''t know that; as far as Dunlin was concerned, he was the youngest Spirit Champion the Sky Academy had seen in years and Javelin could see the arrogance Dunlin felt over it. Whenever someone was foolish enough to utter contrary opinions, Dunlin was quick to make them regret it, but not if Javelin and his small group of friends were involved. At such times, Dunlin would just snicker and walk away.

    A sudden sense of d��j�� vu washed over Javelin. ''I have the feeling this kind of thing has happened before. . . .'' he thought, but before he could put his finger on it, an elderly voice spoke up behind him.

    "Junior Students Hake and Griffin," he said and Javelin recognized the voice as Elder Kagu''s even before he turned around. "The Headmaster has asked me to give you this." The Elder held out a scroll that Martin accepted with a bow. "Remain here - you will leave shortly," he added and then left without further explanation.

    The three boys gave each other an sideways glance before they gathered closer to Martin so they could read the message within the scroll.

    Student Mission #1709

    Duration: One Month

    Reward: 500 Merits/Student

    Type: Track Missing Spiritualist

    Details: N/A

    It was time for the youths to exchange glances yet again.

    "N/A?" wondered Lark, confused. "How can we find someone if there are no details about the person?"

    "There must be more to it," said Javelin, shaking his head. "Since we were asked to wait here we will most likely have an escort this time. They must have the rest of the information."

    "Sounds a bit suspicious if you ask me," grunted Martin and both Javelin an Lark nodded in agreement, but none of them considered disobeying their instructions.

    "What about Raven?" asked Lark, looking intently at Javelin.

    ''Raven. . . .'' Javelin felt his chest constrict. While he had been a bit hesitant to meet up with her right away, setting out for another month without seeing her was a different thing. ''I want to see her.''

    "I . . . I think I''ll-umph!" Just as he was about suggest that he could go look for her, a heavy sack slammed into Javelin''s back. The unexpected impact caused him to loose his balance and stumble forward, almost falling completely.

    "Ah, I''m so sorry!" a short girl came running up from a few meters away. "I wanted to show my sister a new Divine Skill I mastered during the Trials but . . ." Even through her veil Javelin could tell that that the girl was blushing. "Hehe, I guess I haven''t actually mastered it yet. . . ."

    Before Javelin had a chance to reply Martin answered for him. "Haha, no worries Junior Nestor!" He gave Javelin a heavy clap on his shoulder. "It''s his fault for not paying attention to a cute lady like yourself." Martin flashed the girl a big smile but she seemed oblivious to his attention.

    ''Nestor?'' Javelin looked closer at the girl, taking note of her Martial Student robes. ''Indeed. It''s Kea Nestor, Raven''s classmate, and the little sister of . . .''

    "Kea," Cara Nestor''s smooth voice called out from afar before Javelin could think it. "I warned you not to act so recklessly here!" Despite her harsh message, Cara sounded gentle and alluring. The older sister walked up to Javelin''s side, pacing her pale hands on his arm and back. Instantly Javelin felt heat gathering at her touch.

    ''A Healing Skill?'' he wondered as he felt Cara''s hand slipping down his back.

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    "I must apologize for my little sister''s behavior, Javelin," she almost whispered in his ear. "Let me make it up to you, okay? How about dinner? I''ll cook."

    For a moment Javelin''s mind went blank. It wasn''t so much that he felt aroused, rather he just didn''t know how to back out of the situation without offending Cara; according to his mother, a gentleman must never refuse a woman''s request.

    Just as Javelin remembered that he had been just been given the perfect escape route - a one month mission - a cold voice cut through the air like a knife.

    "I didn''t know you were on first names with Senior Student Nestor, Javelin. Should I congratulate the two of you?"

    Javelin froze as a shudder ran down his spine. He didn''t need to know who had arrived, nor did he need to see her to know that she was pissed.

    "Raven!" he couldn''t help but call her name as he quickly jumped away from Cara. His sudden absence caused the latter''s body to sway slightly, but she steadied herself and gave a slight nod towards Raven. "Junior Night," she said politely, showing more respect than necessary for a younger student but still putting distance between them.

    Kea on the other hand lit up like a ray of sunlight and ran up to to Raven''s side. "Night, I''ve mastered the Seven Gravities Embedding! Do you want to see it?"

    Raven barely looked down at the girl. "Not now," she said, placing a hand on Kea''s shoulder but fixing her eyes on Javelin. "We have been given a urgent mission and I can''t get side-tracked right now."

    "I . . . I didn''t . . ," started Javelin but he couldn''t get the words out. The look Raven was giving him was more colder than ever before. He could feel himself starting to panic. ''She''s misunderstanding!''

    "A mission?" Ignoring Javelin''s attempts of speaking, Cara stepped closer to him again. "So soon after the Trials? Surely Javelin should get one evenings rest before setting out again." She was about to reach out for Javelin''s arm yet again but Raven shifted her gaze from Javelin to Cara. Instantly the latter retracted her hand, even opting to back up a few steps. Javelin couldn''t see it, but underneath her veil Cara''s eyes were wide with fear.

    "Your concern is touching, but unnecessary," Raven said cooly. "We have quite a way to travel and can rest on the way. Is that not so, Elder Swan?"

    Apart from Cara - who didn''t dare look away from Raven - the others looked around in confusion. They had never even heard of an ''Elder'' Swan nor could they see any Elders near by.

    "Haha, Elder Swan is my father, or perhaps my brother; I prefer Aves, or Protector Aves if you will." Stepping out from behind the closest cabin with an amused look on his face was white haired man with yellow-ish eyes. Dispite his hair, he didn''t look very old - at most, approaching forty. Javelin immediately recognized the man as the sleepy guard usually sitting by the gate to the southern campus.

    Letting her gaze linger on Cara for a few more heartbeats Raven finally faced the Elder. "Are we ready to leave then, Protector Aves?"

    "We are," he said and indicated towards the cabin he had walked out from behind.

    Without another word Raven walked over to the cabin and disappeared inside, leaving a somewhat disappointed Kea behind. Lark looked from the cabin to Javelin, and odd light shining in his eyes, before he followed after Raven.

    Javelin felt cold sweat forming on his forehead. ''I''m doomed,'' he thought hopelessly as he too moved towards the cabin. The only person to acknowledge the two sisters before leaving was Martin who gave a quick bow to Cara before smiling sympathetically at Kea. "You can show me the Seven Gravities Embedding when I get back," he offered, ignoring the cold snort he received in reply.

    Last to enter the cabin was Aves, who closed the door behind him just as a fresh and rested Everest Hawk arrived. It was Aves'' personal Hawk and it needed no crew to guide it as its huge talons griped the handles on the top of the cabin and took off.

    Standing on the ground was a disappointed Kea and still motionless Cara. Only after the bird was several hundred meters away did Cara''s body shudder. She looked down on her shaking hands in disbelief; she couldn''t understand what had just happened.

    Not to far from the to girls stood another group, silently watching as the Everest Hawk disappeared off in the distance. Dunlin''s eyes narrowed as harsh killing intent flashed within them.

    <hr />

    The giant glacier blue Everest Hawk soared majestically through the crisp air, effortlessly carrying the large cabin containing Raven and her group forward at a steady pace. Summer had already shown its first signs but this high up the temperatures were still freezingly low. Fortunately, the cabin was protected by membranes of spirit essence - invisible to the naked eye - that kept the cold winds out.

    The atmosphere inside was, however, nonetheless rather stiff. Neither Raven nor anyone else had barely said a word since they took off, half a day ago. Aves had asked for a direction for him steer the Everest Hawk and he Raven had simply replied "northwest". After that the cabin had been silent.

    Raven sat looking out through on of the windows. She sensed that Javelin had something he wanted to tell her and she could guess that had something to do with Cara - he just hadn''t figured how to say it, or perhaps lacked the courage to say what he wanted to. Raven knew she was acting childishly; she had picked up enough of what was going on back at the academy from how the people around it had reacted but for some reason seeing Cara so close to Javelin, using healing essence on him really ticked her off.

    "Um, Raven. . . ." Finally Javelin spoke, and the other three men in the cabin couldn''t help but tense slightly - they had all been waiting for this, albeit for different reasons. "I''m glad you arrived when you did." Javelin spoke carefully, as if making sure not to say anything he''d regret. "I was looking for an excuse to refuse her so . . . thank you."

    Raven raised an eyebrow. It was a poor excuse Javelin made and instinctively her mind offered her a myriad of arguments she could use to poke a hole in Javelin''s approach. But then she remembered the boy''s age and sighed. ''No point in being mad at a teenager. . . .'' she told herself. ''Besides, it was really Gadwall that had me riled up to begin with.''

    Pushing down her irritation, Raven turned around to face Javelin. "Glad to hear it," she said and forced out a smile that perhaps wasn''t her best performance but still good enough. For a moment Raven thought she saw sadness flash across Javelin''s face but it swiftly passed. He too smiled and at once the atmosphere in the cabin eased.

    The twins glanced at each other, needing no words to say whatever was on their minds. However, they wisely chose not to voice their thoughts out loud.

    Instead, Martin took the opportunity to change the subject and asked the question that had likely been on all the boy''s minds for quite some time now. "Right then - so, who are we searching for?" he asked, looking at Aves for the answer. The man only smiled though and said nothing.

    "We''re looking for an . . . acquaintance of mine," answered Raven instead. "He goes by the name of Fenris."

    "Your acquaintance? Why?" asked Lark.

    "The headmaster is very interested in meeting him," said Raven, offering no further explanation.

    "So where can we find this Fenris?"

    "I have no idea . . . but I do know where to start."

 Chapter 74: The Jig is Up!

    Author''s Note: So sorry that my release here was so delayed but the last couple of days have been . . . harsh. Anyway, thank you to this chapter''s sponsors</a>!

    <hr />

    The Jig is Up

    Far west of Raven''s current location, a certain bird sat perched on a high beam within the so called Black Talon Manor. The former home of the main Nightingale family had once been furnished with abstemious luxury, with every installment contributing to a sense of elegance but never flaunting the family''s wealth. Now it was entirely different.

    After the fire, the Nightingale Manor had been reduced to little more than cindered rubble so naturally the estate had to be rebuilt before the Talon family could move in. They had chosen to, supposedly, honor the previous residents of the palace-like manor by rebuilding it into an exact replica of what it had been before . . . only, a bit larger in scale, and with an extra room here and there.

    Once completed, the family matriarch - that is to say Lady Anhinga - had put her own touch on the place by requesting large parts of the manor to be decorated with gold and copper inlays, quickly obscuring the original grace of the manor. Yet the changes hadn''t stopped there.

    The bird looked out over the now clustered main hall, completely overrun by things of extravagance, and an oddly human-like disdainful scorn shone in its eyes. It couldn''t help but burr up its feathers in annoyance as two servants walked in, hauling yet another addition the room''s so called splendor between the two of them - a tacky looking falcon made of gold and sparkling gems in different colors.

    ''Is there no end to this . . . gluttony?'' wondered Hoatzin with distaste as the servants carefully lowered the falcon onto a small but sturdy podium next to his aunts throne in the center of the hall. This would not be the statue''s final position; it would only stay there for a few days, until Lady Anhinga grew tired of it and replaced it with a new one.

    This wanton practice utterly enraged Hoatzin. He had been surveying the  Black Talon Manor and the surrounding city for nearly six months now and it had grown clear to him that while his aunt and uncle practically bathed in wealth, the city around it was growing poorer with every passing week.

    It couldn''t be seen on the surface - every house looked pristine and there wasn''t a shop that didn''t sell high end goods for exorbitant prices - but if you had insight to the lives of the people actually living in those houses and working in those stores, a shockingly large portion of them couldn''t afford to buy dinner most of the days.

    Rage built up within Hoatzin as he thought of the unnecessarily high taxes that the Talon Clan demanded from the city inhabitants, which was nearly twice as high as it had been before.

    Finally, the perpetrator of his anger strode in through the hall''s large double doors. As usual, Lady Anhinga wore a blue velvet dress while her pale grey-blonde hair was arranged in an intricate knot at her neck. New, however, was the golden circlet she wore over her brow like a crown. Next to her waddled her husband, the official head of the family but if there had any doubts about who truly ruled over the Talon Clan it was gone now. Uncle Gyps'' eyes were glazed over with an odd sheen and his gaze was unfocused; while he previously had the mannerisms of a successful businessman at the prime of his career, Hoatzin''s uncle now seemed almost hollow, only reacting to shiny gems and, of course, food.

    Hoatzin had gotten the distinct impression that his aunt perhaps never really loved her husband - she had been married to him for political reasons, pushed on her by her parents, but the man was too weak to match Anhinga''s ambitions. Once she took over her brother''s position, Anhinga had power in her own right and no longer needed to rely on the meeker Gyps.

    Anhinga wasn''t alone in her low opinion of him though; when Dunlin used the midwinter break to come and visit his hometown, he had disregarded his father completely.

    At the moment, Anhinga and her husband had just finished their breakfast and while Hoatzin was supposed to keep his eyes on his aunt at all times, he just couldn''t bare to watch them eat; a surplus of food would fill the dining table to the brim and Hoatzin''s uncle would turn almost savage as he gobbled down nearly half of it, all by himself. Of course, it was impossible for two people to eat all of that food, so the majority was burned as trash. A stark contrast to the situation for the people living in the city.

    Anhinga glided up to her large armchair and took a seat, barely glancing at the newest addition to the room. A servant rushed up to her and whispered in her ear; a guest had arrived. With a wave of her bejeweled hand, the servant urged Gyps away from the falcon statue that had immediately caught the man''s attention. Once he had left the room the wide doors swung open and an old man who Hoatzin recognized well walked in; the Talon Clan''s own council member, whose wrinkled face and equally rough voice made him seem absolutely ancient.

    "Lady Anhinga," he rasped and bowed respectfully. He kept his head lowered, waiting for the woman to greet him back, but no such greeting came.

    "I trust you have come to explain yourself, Councilor." Her voice was cold and filled with sarcasm as she used the man''s title.

    The Councilor''s body twitched. "My Lady, I don''t think . . . "

    "I know that already, old man. Your lack of thinking is the only reason I can see for why we are where we are." Anhinga narrowed her eyes. "How hard can it be to instigate a war between three nations who don''t even trust each other?" The man opened his mouth to speak but was cut off yet again. "And what is this I hear about the assassination of those two brats failing? Surely you are not so incompetent that you can''t get rid off two teenagers practically living under your nose...."

    "My Lady, we don''t know what happened..." the Councilor started carefully, but when he noticed the growing anger within Anhinga he was quick to continue; "but we believe the assassin Singer might have intervened. . . ."

    A deafening bang rang out in grand hall as Anhinga slammed down her hand on the armrest of her chair. In her anger she had used spirit essence in her assault on the poor chair, causing the entire hall to vibrate; had not Hoatzin been used to these kinds of outburst by now, he might have been shaken from his seat in the ceiling.

    "Explain!" Anhinga roared.

    "Well, according to the . . . two brats . . . it was Sky Academy''s headmaster who saved them from the assassination attempt, but Headmaster Swan was otherwise engaged at the time - we had made sure of that. Therefore someone else must have saved them, and gotten the headmaster''s aid to cover it up afterwards. The only person I can thi-. . . the only person who fits for this would be Singer. We haven''t managed to gather any proof yet, but it seems like . . ."

    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    "Proof? What do I care about proof? If this Singer is a threat then get rid of her!"

    Up on his beam, Hoatzin''s small but sharp talons pushed down on the hard marble stone at the mention of his sister''s alter ego.

    "That is easier said than done, my Lady. . . . The assassin''s protect their own and . . . "

    "Don''t you get it yet. you senile old oaf; I . . . don''t . . . care - get it done!" Anhinga got up from her chair, dense spirit essence storming out of her and pushing down on the old man. For a Councilor, the wrinkled man''s cultivation wasn''t half bad but compared to Hoatzin''s aunt, who somehow had advanced all the way to the border between mid and high Champion, there was little he could do to resist. "We only have seven more months before . . ." She cut herself short, calming her anger. "Anyway, just get rid of her and get that spark started - by whatever means necessary. I, and our friend, will take care of the rest."

    The Councilor stopped objecting at this point, simply nodding his head in agreement. Without further formalities, Lady Anhinga dismissed the poor old man, sending him off without any form of encouragement, besides fear of course. The aggravated Anhinga sank back down in her seat, rubbing her temples. She muttered something about getting rid of unnecessary people once everything was over but Hoatzin wasn''t really paying attention anymore.

    His body tensed, with both excitement and worry, as the very core of his being - the now substantially larger Soul Prism shard within him - informed him of an irrefutable truth; Raven was moving closer, and fast.

    Without hesitating, Hoatzin took flight and left through an open window. As he took off, he could hear his aunt swearing; "Damn birds!" behind him before she violently slammed shut the high window he had left through, rattling the glass.

    <hr />

    It was late evening when the large Everest Hawk carrying Javelin and the rest of the group finally landed in a small clearing, not far from the border between the Rock Wren Prefecture and the Black Talon Prefecture. They had been flying the poor bird hard - travelling distances that would usually take two weeks in one, only stopping when absolutely necessary.

    Tired, Javelin stumbled out of the cabin and stretched his muscles. He took a deep breath of the lukewarm air and released it with a heavy sigh. There was no denying that this journey was . . . taxing for him; he couldn''t stop glancing over at Raven every chance he got, overwhelmed by the feelings for his long lost love. At the same time, he knew that he mustn''t be too obvious or she - and more importantly the twins - would realize something had changed. Judging by the twins'' awkward attempts at starting conversations, they might already know something was amiss.

    As it was, Javelin wasn''t sure how much longer he could keep this up before he would let something slip.

    Suddenly, Javelin felt a shift in the wind and before he knew it Aves was standing by his side. The man looked down at him with warm eyes, the setting sun reflecting in his white hair. "I suggest you and Junior Students Griffin gather some wild berries for us to enjoy this evening - it is so rare for us to stop for the night . Myself and Junior Student Night will arrange the rest of the food while you are away."

    At first, Javelin was confused - Aves barely spoke and when he did so, it definitely was not concerning what they would eat - but he didn''t really have a reason to oppose so, minutes later, the three boys where slowly searching through the dense bushes that grew in forest around the clearing.

    They had been at it for perhaps half an hour when Javelin suddenly found his path blocked by none other than Lark. They boy stood, wide-legged and with his arms crossed, staring intently at Javelin.

    "So," he said, sounding very serious. "What is going on with you?"

    Nearby Martin too had stopped searching for berries and instead sat down decisively, indicating that he wasn''t going anywhere until Javelin had answered the question.

    "With me? Nothing really. . . ." Javelin couldn''t help but raise a hand to scratch the back of his neck.

    "Aha! You''re lying!" Lark called his bluff, pointing at Javelin''s raised hand. "You have been acting weird ever since we left, no, perhaps ever since the Lunar Trials. Out with it - what is going on?"

    "H- how have I been acting weird?" Javelin tired. "You two are the ones who . . ."

    "Don''t try hiding it, Hake." Martin''s calm voice cut him off. "We can tell that something has changed; you''re no fun anymore."

    "No fun?" Javelin didn''t understand.

    "To talk to," explained Lark, his arms still crossed. "We try to talk with you but all you do is give one-word replies before you lose interest."

    "Then what about Raven? Sh- uh, shouldn''t you be having this talk with him? He''s talking even less than me!"

    Both Lark and Martin raised an eyebrow and glanced at each other."Raven never talks, Javelin," said Lark matter-of-factually. "Nothing strange with that," Martin filled in.

    Javelin stared blankly at his two friends. They had a point.

    <hr />

    Back by the cabin Raven gave Aves a questioning look.

    "They needed to stretch their legs," he explained with a smile. Raven shook her head but said nothing, instead tossing some sticks in a heap and using her spirit essence to ignite it with a smoldering hand. Aves on the other hand didn''t seem to be done talking. "You like him, don''t you?" he asked and instantly the already lively flames seemed to freeze for a moment.

    "Like whom?" she asked, feigning ignorance.

    Aves initially only gave her a pointed stare but when Raven didn''t give in, he smiled crookedly. "It''s not necessarily a bad thing, you know - liking someone."

    Raven snorted.

    Aves was quiet for a while before he spoke again, pensively. "I can understand my brother fears concerning you...."

    "Oh?" said Raven, finally giving Aves her full attention.

    "You are too alone," he replied solemnly. "Power and strength like yours corrupts, Raven. Especially if you''re on your own."

    Raven blinked a few times before she, to Aves bewilderment, started laughing loudly.

    "I don''t think a friend or two can help me there, mister protector." Raven looked out into the dark forest surrounding them, her eyes distant - suddenly revealing the age and wisdom she normally hid. Aves frowned, but before he could say anything Raven''s had eyes returned to normal. "Besides," she said, smiling, "I''m not entirely alone."

    In the distance, faint wing beats could be heard.

 Chapter 75: The Importance of Finding Fenris

    The Importance of Finding Fenris

    Raven got up from the now steadily burning fire. Although she could hear her brother''s approach, he was not yet close enough for Aves to be able to do the same. Considering her options Raven glanced over at her so-called guardian before calmly walking off into the forest.

    "I''m not going far and I''ll be back soon," she called over her shoulder. "Don''t follow me Aves - we both know I can tell if you do."

    Behind Raven Aves looked at her departing back with a hard-to-read expression on his face. Finally he sighed and turned his attention back on the fire. "What a hard to protect miss she is. . . ." he muttered to himself; he did indeed know that Raven was able to tell if he chose to follow her and worse still, once she did, she would disappear without a trace. At least like this she was likely to stick to her words and not wander off too far.

    Suddenly Aves raised his head and looked off in the opposite direction Raven had left in. He seemed surprised but oddly amused. "Oh my," he chuckled and got up from the seat he''d taken by the fire. "I should perhaps help the boys instead. . . ."

    <hr />

    Meanwhile, Raven had already moved a couple hundred meters away from the encampment and effortlessly climbed to the top of one of the tallest trees in the area. It might not sound like a big achievement but trees in this mountain forest grew tall, easily surpassing most of the tall buildings in Raven''s old world.

    As her head popped out above the dense leaf-work, her eyes fell on a truly peculiar sight and although Raven had seen it once before, she couldn''t help but snort as she suppressed her laughter.

    Not far off, two birds where approaching with astounding speed, only, both birds weren''t flying. Instead the largest of the two birds - who was roughly the size of an average falcon - carried a hook-shaped twig on which the second, much smaller bird, was perched.

    "Don''t laugh, sister!" Hoaztin''s angry voice rang out in Raven''s head. "It was your idea for me to travel by Stormbird to begin with!"

    Despite the distance between them, the Stormbird arrived by Raven''s side within seconds. Without slowing down whatsoever, the notoriously fast bird swished by Raven, dropping its cargo as it passed.

    "I''m not laughing," defended Raven but her eyes betrayed her merriment as she held out her hands, allowing her brother to land on them.

    "Your acting skills are slipping," muttered Hoatzin but he didn''t seem to mind. Suddenly Raven lifted him close to her face and nuzzled him against her cheek. "Sister?" This type of behavior was rare for Raven so Hoatzin couldn''t help but be a bit surprised.

    "I''m glad to see you again, big brother." Raven lowered her hands from her face and smiled warmly at the nearly all-red bird she held in her palms. Hoatzin didn''t seem entirely convinced by Raven''s words but she didn''t let him ask about it anymore. "So how is our aunt?" she asked, coldness returning to her face.

    Immediately, Hoatzin''s eyes darkened. "Busy," he replied with clear contempt. He lifted one of his legs, around which a small metallic ring had been attached and out of nowhere a green glass orb appeared next to him on Raven''s hand. The orb was nearly larger than Hoatzin himself, so he was forced to jump further up Raven''s arm to give space for it.

    "I have recorded everything in here," he said and tapped the orb with one of his talons. "It is good that you came, sister - I was about to leave anyway."

    "Oh?"

    "There are more details in the Memory Orb but to make a long story short - the Talons are working on a deadline," Hoatzin paused and looked up at his sister with grave eyes; "seven months from now."

    Raven''s eyes widened. Seven months. That was still two months before the tournament representatives would arrive.

    ''Shit,'' Raven cursed.

    "But why did you come?" asked Hoatzin. "There is still time until our agreed regrouping."

    "Fenris."

    Hoatzin''s eyes twitched. "Fenris?"

    "Things have changed in the capital, big brother, and if what you say is correct then that is yet another reason for why we cannot put off our plans any further. However, Gadwall remains. We have no idea how strong he actually is so unless we find a way to deal with him then we''re stuck."

    "And you think Fenris might help?" Hoatzin didn''t look convinced.

    Raven sighed; she too wasn''t one hundred percent sure Fenris would agree to her request. "He has helped us before, and Fenris is most likely not from this realm; hopefully he can at least agree to giving us some more information."

    Hoatzin was silent for a while. "We do not really have a choice, have we?"

    Raven shook her head. She knew that her brother wasn''t too fond of Fenris; the man might have saved his life, two times over to boot, but Fenris'' disposition was clearly playful and rather uncaring of human life, something Hoatzin just couldn''t agree with. As far as he was concerned, the best outcome was to never see the man - or his grandchild - again.

    "Can you tell were he is?" asked Raven.

    Reluctantly Hoatzin stretched out a wing, pointing north. "That way. Not sure how far off though."

    Raven smiled and rubbed her brother''s feathery head. "Thank you, Hoatzin." She glanced down the tree, towards the campsite whose lit fire glimmered through the leaves. "I should head back. You are supposed to be with my uncles so . . ."

    "Yeah, yeah, I know - I''ll stay out of sight." Hoatzin cut her off, clearly a bit annoyed.

    Raven giggled at her brother''s sudden outburst. "Well, if you insist, I could take you with me. . . ." A mischievous glint flashed in her eyes as she started to close her hands around both her brother and the Memory Orb.

    Hoatzin''s eyes widened and he quickly kicked off from Raven''s palm; he could guess what his sister was planning and he would have none of it.

    "Pity," Raven sighed with an over-dramatized disappointed expression. "I guess mental communication will have to do." She winked at her brother before she shifted her balance, causing her to fall off the branch she had been standing on.

    Like an arrow, Raven''s body plummeted towards the ground and Hoatzin couldn''t help but shudder. Of the two of them, he was the one that could actually fly, yet his sister''s fascination with falling from high places sent shivers down his spine. From above, he watched as Raven twisted herself back and forth to avoid hitting any branches before she, just meters above the ground, sent out a powerful stream of spirit essence towards the ground to cushion her fall.

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    Soundlessly, Raven landed on the forest floor - not breaking as much as a twig under her feet. She turned and waved up to Hoatzin.

    "See you later, big brother," she called out to him mentally.

    "Hey now, just because I will be staying out of sight that does not mean you should ignore me! Your brother has not had anyone to talk to in months, you know. . . ."

    Raven was already walking away but she chuckled and answered nonetheless. "I know, big brother; speak, and I shall answer."

    <hr />

    When Raven returned to the campsite, the three boys had already arrived and where busy roasting some meat over the open fire. Judging by their relaxed conversation, things seemed back to normal between the three of them.

    Raven had of course noticed Javelin''s odd behavior these past few days but wasn''t quite sure what to make of it. He had kept glancing at her nervously and whenever the twins tried talking to him, his answers would be unusually short. Javelin was anxious and Raven wondered if she might have spooked him back in the cellar.

    "You''re back," called Lark happily when he noticed Raven stepping out into the clearing. Javelin, whose back had been towards her, twitched slightly but didn''t turn around.

    Raven approached the fire and sat down between Javelin and Aves. She was just about to start discussing tomorrow''s journey northward when she looked up at Javelin''s face. Raven''s eyebrows rose in surprise and instantly Martin burst out laughing.

    The left side of Javelin''s face was swollen to the point where his eye could barely be seen and although it must be recent the area around the eye had already turned purple.

    "What happened?" she asked, although Martin''s laughter, Javelin''s embarrassment and Lark''s silence said a lot.

    "I . . . said something I shouldn''t have," mumbled Javelin, giving Lark a sidelong glance.

    Raven looked over the three boys carefully before catching Aves amused gaze. The latter shrugged; "boys," he said, as if that explained everything.

    "Haha, he looks hilarious!" Hoatzin''s very pleased voice rang out in Raven''s mind.

    "I told you to stay hidden, big brother," chided Raven.

    "I am out of sight, am I not? That''s hidden enough."

    Raven rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

    <hr />

    Later that night, while everyone else was either sleeping or quietly meditating, Raven lay in her makeshift bed clutching the jade green orb her brother had handed to her.

    Systematically she was going through all the memories Hoatzin had stored within. It was months worth of findings; anything he had found even remotely pertinent he had recorded. If viewed normally, it would take Raven up to a week to look through all of it, but thanks to her strong mind she could speed it up and still catch all of the content.

    Still, it wasn''t until the first light of dawn found its way into the clearing that Raven stirred from her submerged state, lightly rubbing her temples.

    ''Brother has been busy too,'' praised Raven.

    Judging from the material she had look through, there could not have been many moments when Hoatzin wasn''t keeping a very close eye on their aunt or her accomplices.

    Raven rolled over on her back and let out a heavy sigh. ''We really are in a hurry. . . .''

    The gathered information was clear. The Talon Clan had managed to secure a large personal army by recruiting as many rogue spiritualists they could find and arming them with weapons mined from the prefecture''s Soul Ore. As soon as they had a reason to, that army would surge out from their scattered hiding places and fight to ensure maximum chaos. All they needed was a spark - something that would push the neighboring empires into war.

    As for the seven month deadline it wasn''t clearly stated why that time limit had been set but it seemed to be Gadwall''s demand so Raven guessed that it had something to do with the representatives that would be arriving shortly after.

    Raven sat up, her eyes filled with determination.

    The Talon Clan had various plans in motion with regards to setting off that required spark - some of which Raven already knew about and was working against, others were new - but something they all had in common was that it would be hard to thwart them without being too obvious and if that happened, Gadwall would surly find a way to interfere.

    ''Fenris must be found!''

    Raven clenched her fists and was just about to get up when her body suddenly froze. She only paused for an instant before she dashed out of the tent she had been sleeping in, a sword already in her hands.

    "Aves!" she shouted with her voice strengthened by spirit essence. "Call your Hawk now!"

    Aves reaction was instant; he appeared next to Raven as if out of thin air, also with his sword drawn. "What is it?" he asked as Javelin and the twins made their way towards them.

    "High level spirit beasts. Five of them headed our way and fast." Raven''s voice was grim. A single high level spirit beast would be hard for a regular mid Champion to handle on his own, and while Raven and Aves would have no real problem dealing with two, or perhaps even three if they worked together, five was likely beyond them.

    "To the cabin!" called Aves. He immediately understood the severity of the situation; the best cause of action was definitely to escape. Unfortunately, the Everest Hawk had been given permission to hunt during the night so although Aves had summoned it, the large bird was still a quite far off.

    Raven''s senses were impeccable; if anything big was making a lot of noise within a kilometer from Raven she was likely to hear it. Despite this, she had barely had the time to register the crashing sounds of the five raging beasts before they had come close enough for her to sense their spirit essence. In other words, in just over half a minute, the beasts had traveled nearly 500 meters!

    The Everest Hawk wouldn''t make it.

    "There is not enough time!" warned Raven, but that didn''t stop her from grabbing Javelin, who was closest to her, by his collar and flinging him towards the open cabin a few meters away. The cabin was protected by a wide assortment of spirit essence formations and while it wouldn''t hold out in the long run, it would at least offer some protection.

    Realizing Raven''s intention, Aves moved up to the twins, intending to do the same, but before he had the chance the ground underneath them shook violently as the beasts came into view.

    "Shadow Blood Raptors!" hissed Aves in shock; he could scarcely believe his eyes. Shadow Blood Raptors, with their powerful legs and fang-filled yaws were infamous for two things: speed and bloodshed.

    Defeating them with just him and Raven was improbable, but outrunning them on the ground was impossible.

 Chapter 76: Acting Without Thinking

    Autor''s Note: For the second time, my release here on RR was a bit slow - sorry about that... A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsor</a> though - you''re awesome!

    <hr />

    Acting Without Thinking

    Within a tenth of a second, the five Shadow Blood Raptors burst out into the clearing, savage blood-thirst raging in their eyes. They barely slowed their charge as all five of them focused in on Aves and the twins; they were master predators and instinctively understood the concept of removing the biggest threat first - the high Champion.

    While Aves couldn''t help but be momentarily indecisive over his course of action, Raven was not; even as the beasts left the forest treeline, Raven was already running to meet them, her normally hidden cultivation skyrocketing from a high Adept to a mid Champion as her Limiters were released. Raven knew escaping from these creatures was not going to happen - not unless the Everest Hawk returned - so the only option left was to fight, without holding back.

    As she ran forward she screamed loudly and raised her sword, enshrouded in electrical sparks and an overbearing murderous aura. Any lesser creature would likely have frozen in fear when faced with such thick killing intent but, as is was, the sudden burst of power and noise only caused the five Shadow Blood Raptors to flinch slightly in surprise before their vicious eyes narrowed in renewed rage.

    Instantly, the two beasts closest to Raven changed their course and snapped at her with their strong jaws and razor sharp teeth, but Raven''s body only seemed to flicker once before disappearing completely; the two mighty jaws clenched down on nothing but air. At the same time, the space above one of the three raptors, who had kept heading for Aves and the twins, darkened rapidly before a fast flash of steel appeared, seemingly out of nowhere; using the Spacial Dash, Raven had launched her attack from above, heading straight for the creatures blind spot.

    The sword sparkled with electricity as it sank itself deep into the Shadow Blood Raptor, slipping in between two ribs and piercing its heart. Simultaneously, the electrical sparks surged out from the blade, frying the beasts insides.

    With a pained roar the wounded beast collapsed on the ground, dead, and for a moment, time seemed to grind to a halt.

    The four remaining Shadow Blood Raptors abruptly stopped their charge, their large heads jerking around to stare intently at Raven. Aves, who was halfway through the motion of throwing the twins into the cabin, blanked out, unsure of what had just transpired. Were his eyes deceiving him or had Raven just managed to kill a high level spirit beast, with one strike? Impossible!

    Pulling out her sword from the corpse, Raven used the momentary pause to take a deep breath, glancing down at her hands. Although it might have seemed like a simple deed, the amount of spirit essence she had just used to achieve her one-hit kill was far from small yet despite this, both her arms now felt numb from the force needed to piece through the Shadow Blood Raptor''s thick skin. In that moment Raven knew that while she might have been able to kill the first beast, she had caught it off-guard; the next four were not likely to go down so easily.

    As if to confirm her suspicions, the mad gaze of the four beast exploded with ferocity and their previously black skin squirmed, instantly turning red with a bloody mist oozing out of every pore. Roaring, the four beasts charged at Raven.

    Raven''s mouth twitch into a crooked smile. ''Took you long enough,'' she thought, not needing to look to know that she had successfully removed their attention from Aves and the twins. ''Now let''s put some distance between us.''

    Spirit essence flowed through Raven''s spirit core like water from a dam, propelling her forward - and away from the others - with immense speed. Despite the beasts'' frenzied onslaught, Raven moved between the raptors like a dancing nymph, faint bells ringing out with every step she took.

    It looked effortless, but yet again, appearances were deceiving as Raven couldn''t help but feel pressured; the Shadow Blood Raptors lived up to their reputation. Once enraged, the raptors'' movements had become extremely fast and every attack they launched was swift and lethal - it didn''t matter if it was trees or mountain rocks, if the raptors bit down on it the result would only be a fine powder. One misstep from Raven and she would be done for. To make matters worse, as the raptors'' red mist filled the air around them, Raven felt her own movements grow sluggish, making dodging increasingly difficult.

    An almost beastly smile emerged on Raven''s face as her killing intent grew to new heights.

    ''It been a while since I had a real challenge. . . .''

    <hr />

    Back by the cabin, Javelin had just regained his footing from being thrown over by Raven when the heavy bodies of Lark and Martin slammed into him from behind.

    "Stay there!" he heard Aves yell before the latter rushed away, following after Raven and the four spirit beasts deeper into the terrain.

    It only took a few heartbeats for the three boys to untangle themselves and get back on their feet, but by then the battle with the Shadow Blood Raptors had already moved away from the cabin and far into the mountain forest. The three youths stared blankly at the large corpse lying only a few meters away from the cabin, dazed; everything had just happened too quickly.

    Javelin was the first to regain his wits and was just about to rush out of the cabin when Martin stepped in his way.

    "Move!" Javelin yelled but Martin shook his head. Javelin moved to step around the boy but Lark joined his brother, completely blocking the way out.

    "Move!" Javelin repeated, growing frantic.

    "They put us in here for a reason, Javelin," Lark pointed out as calmly as he could. "Those spirit beasts are not opponents we three can handle!"

    "I don''t care!" shouted Javelin, "Raven might need help!"

    "Don''t you get it?" Martin shouted back, clenching his fists until they were white. "We would only be in the way!"

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    Javelin''s body shook, his movements freezing.

    "As long as we stay in here, those two don''t have to think about keeping us safe and can focus on fighting." Lark placed a hand on Javelin''s shoulder. "I don''t know what is going on with Raven''s cultivation level . . . but if he''s a mid Champion he can handle himself. Have faith in him."

    Looking a bit pale Javelin slowly nodded his head. Seeing his body relaxing a bit, the two twins gave each other relieved glances; they had not thought that Javelin would agree so easily.

    The three friends stood in silence. Underneath them they could feel the ground shaking from the intense battle raging further and further away. Every now and then powerful bursts of spirit essence swept over them, indicating how powerful the attacks being executed were. Even this far away, the sheer residue of it was suffocating.

    Suddenly, Javelin''s eyes brightened. "Did you hear that?" he asked, once more shifting towards the door. Unconvinced, the twins moved to block him again. "Can''t you hear it? Wings - large wings!" Javelin urged and, straining their ears, the twins'' faces also lit up.

    "It''s the Everest Hawk!" Martin called after leaning his out of the cabin to check the sky above them.

    Aves'' Everest Hawk who had been summoned back from its hunting had finally arrived. With its aid the boys would be able to move the cabin over to where the fight was and perhaps allow the group to escape the Shadow Blood Raptors altogether.

    The big bird landed on top of the cabin and even without further instructions from the boys the Hawk seemed to know what it should do. It grabbed on to the hooks on top of the cabin and prepared to lift it into the sky. However, before the bird had the chance, Javelin and the twins saw a black a red streak rushing towards the cabin, then leaping over it.

    "Another one?" shouted Martin, alarmed.

    All three of them expected to hear the Everest Hawk cry out as the surprise attack claimed its life, but the cry never came. Instead an ear deafening bang rang out above the cabin, followed by a loud crash and frenzied wing-beats. Peering out of the cabin door, the boys saw the new Shadow Blood Raptor get to its feet as it faced of against none other then Aves. Above them the Everest Hawk was circling, seemingly unharmed, glaring angrily at its attacker.

    The twins breathed a sigh of relief; if the Hawk had been killed then even if the raptors were defeated their group would have be forced to travel to the nearest city by foot - a dangerous journey that would take several mounts, at best. Javelin on the other hand wasted no time on feeling relieved. He looked from Aves'' broad back, off to the distant place in the mountain were the thunderous clashes of a fight were still echoing out.

    At this point Javelin''s mind blanked out. All he could think about was how Raven had to be fighting those other four Shadow Blood Raptors on her own, and undoubtedly failing to defeat them all in the end. Before he - or anyone else for that matter - knew it, Javelin was running. He ran like his life depended on it, straight into the mountain forest and towards the sounds of the other battle. Behind him the twins shouted for him to come back but he ignored it.

    Javelin ran for what felt like hours before he finally caught sight of Raven.

    The battle had moved out on a barren cliff, sprouting out over a vast ravine. Raven''s petite figure was swirling in and out of attacks between two raptors - the other two, or rather three, were nowhere in sight - moving with a speed Javelin had a hard time following. Red mist floated around her and the two beasts, surrounding them in a bloody halo.

    All three fighters were wounded, to varying degrees, but none of them seemed to care. They fought viciously, clearly to the death, but there was a peculiar purity about it; it was as if it was no longer simply bloodthirsty hunting - it was a piece of art, preformed by equally vicious killers who were rapped up in the joy of a good fight.

    ''What a sight. . . .'' Javelin found himself thinking in a daze, not noticing the branch he was about to step on. His foot landed and a clear crack escaped from under his foot. The sound wasn''t loud, but instantly the two raptors twitched slightly before they roared angrily and rushed for him, as if offended by the disturbance he had caused them.

    It all happened without warning.

    Javelin barely registered the two beasts turning towards him before he saw Raven''s figure flicker and appear in front of his own. Spreading her arms wide, the sword she had been holding disappeared and was replaced by a long metal staff. No sooner had the staff appeared then the beasts were upon them, their mighty maws attempting to bite down on Javelin.

    Raven held up her staff horizontally, a silvery light surrounding it and, as if pulled by a heavy gravitational force, both bites landed on the staff rather than Javelin behind it. Resisting the heavy force of the two attacks that regular mid Champions would find challenging, Raven stood like a statue between the raptors and Javelin.

    "Back off!" she bellowed and finally Javelin snapped out of his daze. Quickly he moved out of the way, scurrying off to the side. Once he had moved, the silvery light on the staff faded and the two raptors let go. Immediately they charged at Raven again, and yet again, she fended them off. This process repeated itself several times, but Javelin could tell that the dynamic of the battle had changed; Raven no longer attacked and was instead focused solely on defending, making sure the two beasts wouldn''t get too close to Javelin. Yet, the more she defended the more ticked off did the beasts seemed to grow.

    Suddenly, both raptors roared louder than ever before and the red mist around them instantly intensified, nearly blocking Javelin''s view of Raven who was enveloped by it. To his horror, Raven''s body froze up, mid attack, only to be slammed away by one of the raptors'' tail. Javelin watched as Raven''s listless body curved through the air, passing over his own head, and then disappeared out of view - over the edge of the cliff.

    For the second time that day, Javelin''s body acted before his mind knew what he was doing. Completely ignoring the raptors or how far it was to the ground below, Javelin threw himself after Raven.

 Chapter 77: Falling

    Author''s Note: To this chapter''s sponsor</a> - Thank You!

    <hr />

    Falling

    The moment the two remaining Shadow Blood Raptors released even more of their mysterious red mist, Raven felt her own blood act as if frozen; she couldn''t move an inch.

    Raven frantically circled spirit essence through her body to dispel the effects but the process was too slow so she could do nothing as the hard tail of the closest raptor whammed into Raven''s side and sent her flying through the air. Searing pain shot through her practically undefended body but Raven forced herself to ignore it; she could tell right away that the raptor''s attack would send her off the cliff and since she couldn''t sense the ground below it was bound to be a long fall.

    As she flew through the air Raven''s eyes caught site of Javelin, who stared at her with terrified eyes. ''Run to Aves, nitwit!'' she thought, but since Raven''s body still wasn''t responding, the words never left her mouth.

    Her line of site to Javelin was broken but that didn''t stop her from suddenly widening her eyes in surprise; he had actually jumped after her.

    "Raven!" she heard him calling as he dove towards her.

    At this point Raven didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand, jumping after her was pure insanity - while Raven had fairly good chances of surviving most free falls as long as she was conscious, Javelin was not the same, any fall beyond two hundred meters would definitely kill him. On the other hand, the likelihood of Javelin managing to outrun the Shadow Blood Raptors, even only to the cabin - was perhaps even smaller.

    ''At least this way, I should be able to help him. . . .''

    Movement was returning to Raven''s body so she spread herself out let Javelin catch up quicker. It took barely a second before he reached her, his strong arms wrapping themselves around Raven tightly. She forced down a wince at the sudden pain as he inadvertently put pressure on her injury from the tail.

    "Raven!" he shouted again, "are you okay?" Javelin''s own spirit essence poured into her as he activated a healing skill - right away his grip loosened a bit as he realized where Raven was hurt.

    "Shut up," muttered Raven and shifted her body so she was holding Javelin with one arm and her staff in the other - by the time Javelin had caught up with her, Raven''s ability to move was almost completely restored and with the aid of Javelin''s healing she was pretty much back to normal, in that aspect at least.

    Raven looked downwards. She could still not sense the bottom of the ravine, but her eyes told her what she wanted to know: roughly 600 meters remained before they would slam into the river that was flowing rapidly beneath them.

    "Raven, I-"

    "Shut up and stay still."

    There was no time to hesitate. Using the wind resistance Raven moved herself and Javelin closer to the flat mountain wall while spirit essence flowed from Raven''s spirit core out into the arm holding the staff. A copper-like glow spread over the weapon before she thrust it diagonally downwards and into the mountain. One would expect the shrieking sound of metal on stone, but no noise was made as the staff penetrated a few centimeters into the stone and started grinding its way downwards.

    Raven winced as the sudden friction slowed their decent considerably, at a high cost; inside her, Raven''s injuries were put under immense pressure as seemingly boundless spirit essence poured through her in order to keep the right pressure and angle on the staff.

    ''Just a bit further. . . .'' Raven gritted her teeth and persevered.

    However, just over two hundred meters from the ground, the mountain wall changed, growing more ragged and inconsistent, so Raven had no choice but to push away from it or risk hitting some protruding rock. Instead Raven held the staff beneath her and Javelin, spinning it at a steady pace. A thin membrane of spirit essence formed in front of the spinning staff, substantially increasing their wind resistance and preventing the speed from picking up as much as it should have. Nonetheless, they still plummeted towards the wild surface of the river too fast for comfort.

    ''It''s not enough,'' thought Raven and, just as the two of them passed the five meter mark from the surface, Raven wrenched Javelin away from her and used the last remaining spirit essence in her body to throw the unsuspecting boy straight up in the air. Instantly Javelin''s fall slowed considerably, putting him well within the speeds his body could handle, but consequentially Raven smacked into to river even faster.

    She had little to no spirit essence left to defend herself with so Raven only felt like her body hit a concrete wall before the world around her turned black.

    <hr />

    A burning hot sensation filled Raven''s entire body, forcing her back to consciousness. She moaned slightly as her eyes opened to take in what her other senses had already told her; she was lying by the side of the river with Javelin leaning over her, treating her injuries. Raven was unsure how much time had passed, judging by the dim sky it was a few hours at most, but something she was certain of was that the river had taken them quite far from where they had landed.

    Noticing that Raven was awake, Javelin''s face overflowed with relief as he embraced her tightly. "I was afraid I''d lost you . . . again," he whispered if Raven realized what he had just implied, she didn''t react to it. Instead she shoved him off her angrily.

    "You idiot!" she yelled, grabbing Javelin by his still damp collar. "Why did you come? Why did you leave the cabin?"

    "I . . ." started Javelin, but Raven cut him off before he could say anything else. "You should know my strength better than most - if I couldn''t handle it, what could you possibly contribute with!?"

    "I know!" Javelin shouted back, his fists slamming against the sandy bank beneath them. "I know that I''m too weak, but I can''t help it. . . ."

    "Ha! Can''t help it?" Raven laughed sarcastically. "For fucks sake, all you had to do was to stay put - for less than five minutes, by the way - how bloody hard can it be?" She practically spat the words and was about to say more when it instead was Javelin who cut her off.

    "Damn it!" he cursed and, to Raven''s surprise, Javelin''s hands grabbed her wet robes, pulling her in for a kiss. It was a clumsy kiss; forceful and short-lived, but Raven immediately felt her rage subsiding, her wild emotions stilling. Javelin broke off the kiss. "I love you, Raven! How can I stand by and just watch as you fight for your life?"

    Raven stared blankly at the boy. In his galaxy-like eyes Javelin''s passion was clear as day.

    ''He loves me?'' she thought absentmindedly, nearly forgetting the matter at hand; "but he''s so . . . young.'' While she had to admit that she enjoyed Javelin''s company - it seemed to have an oddly calming effect on her - she couldn''t love him. Not like his eyes told her he wanted her to. He was after all barely a teenager, a child.

    As Raven was considering how to answer Javelin''s sudden confession the boy spoke again. "I know I can''t be of much help to you, but at least . . . at least let me be your shield when you need it!"

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    Raven''s body twitched. In her mind the image of a young man, who desperately threw himself in front of her as a loud gunshot rang out in her ears, flashed by. Instantly, Raven''s rage erupted like a volcano; putting way more strength into her fist than advisable, Raven''s free hand punched Javelin in the stomach, sending him flying several meters before he collapsed on the ground in a miserable heap, sand flying everywhere.

    Clutching his abdomen, Javelin coughed up several mouthfuls of blood but Raven ignored his pain. "I don''t need a fucking shield!" she roared, her voice reverberating between the steep mountain walls like thunder. "And even if I did, it sure as hell wouldn''t be you!"

    With that, Raven turned and stormed off.

    Pale faced Javelin tried to get to his feet so he could follow her, but he barely got on his knees before once more collapsing to the ground, new blood filling his mouth.

    "Shit," he groaned between coughs. Javelin tried activating his spirit essence to heal the damage Raven had done but her punch had landed right on top of his spirit core and for some reason his spirit essence seemed momentarily sealed within.

    All he could do was wait, wait and think.

    Suddenly Javelin could hear the faint sound of a small bird landing not far from him. He glanced up from the ground and noticed a mostly red bird perched on a large stone only a meter away.

    "Tzin?" Javelin''s voice was rough as he spoke to the bird, who seemed to tilt his head in confirmation. "I really wish your namesake was here," Javelin laughed hoarsely, causing him to cough again. "At least Hoatzin would be able to advice me about his sister. . . ."

    Had Javelin been paying attention to the bird at this point, he would have seen its eyes go from confusion to apparent surprise, but Javelin had rolled over to lie on his back, staring up at the distant sky instead.

    He lay there in silence for a long while.

    "I really screwed up this time," Javelin said eventually, his voice filled with self-scorn. "I''ve done some stupid things before this. . . . I could have gotten her killed."

    "Ever since I realized who she was . . ." Javelin paused. "No, perhaps even before then, the mere thought of her getting hurt makes my heart stop." His fists clenched.

    "I want to protect her!" he said with burning passion, but he quickly cooled down, his fists relaxing. "I want to, but I know I can''t. . . ."

    Javelin couldn''t help but feel depressed. He knew that he was unlikely to ever catch up to Raven''s insane cultivation speed, leaving him permanently weaker than her, but that didn''t stop him from wanting to protect her.

    "I should probably just keep my distance, as she asked me to. . . ."

    While lost in his thoughts, Javelin didn''t notice his feathered company taking flight so the stabbing pain in his arm came as a complete surprise. He yelped in pain and glared angrily at the bird.

    "What was that for?" he grunted, rubbing his arm, but it didn''t take long before he smiled warily at his assailant; it had been ages since Raven''s bird had attacked him. "I thought you didn''t like me hanging around your master - why get mad now when I''m admitting that I should stay away?"

    Javelin reached out a hand to rub the head of the bird, expecting it to move aside like it always did, but this time the creature didn''t even flinch. Instead it stared at Javelin, its deep brown eyes piercing into him.

    That stare caused Javelin to pull back his hand, meeting the birds gaze pensively. "What''s with you?" he asked again, more to himself than to the bird but to his surprise the bird reacted. It extended a small talon and amazingly enough started writing in the sand. Once done, the bird glared at Javelin once more before it flew off, leaving the boy staring at the word in the sand.

    Coward.

    <hr />

    Further down the river, Raven had stopped and made up a small fire. She was still angry but that didn''t mean she would actually run off and leave Javelin behind.

    "Took you long enough," she muttered as Hoatzin''s red body landed on her shoulder.

    "I know when it''s best to give you some space," answered her brother calmly. "Are you sure you don''t want me to lead Aves and the twins here? They were awfully worried about you two."

    Hoatzin had seen the entire fight with the raptors and had, on Raven''s insistence, stayed with the twins until Raven called for him. Therefore, he had seen Aves defeat the raptor that attacked the cabin and also observed them take flight with the Everest Hawk, thereby avoiding the remaining raptors that hadn''t been killed when Raven and Javelin fell off the cliff. When Hoatzin left them, Aves and the twins were circling the area above the ravine, looking for them.

    Raven looked up. The river had indeed taken them quite far down stream, well over a kilometer at least, and here the mountain walls were too close together for the Everest Hawk to be able to descend.

    "Yeah, they would have a hard time getting here anyway." With but a thought from Raven, a piece of paper appeared in her hand together with a charcoal pen. She scribbled down a message and handed it to her brother. "Might as well give them this though, to calm them down."

    Hoatzin, who had been looking as she wrote, gave her a sidelong glace. "You really think Aves will accept just waiting for you?"

    "He doesn''t have much choice, now does he?"

    If Hoatzin would have had eyebrows they would have been raised at Raven''s short comment - clearly, she was still not in a good mood. Hoatzin was just about to take flight when his ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps.

    "Be kind," he urged his sister; "he meant well."

    "Such intentions will only get him killed faster," Raven snapped back mentally and Hoatzin said no more. Shaking his head, he instead flew off towards where he had last spotted Aves and the twins.

    At that point, Javelin walked around the last bend in the river, giving him a direct view of Raven and the fire she had started. He moved slowly, clearly still a bit bothered by Raven''s punch, but there was determination in every step he took.

    Raven chose to ignore him as she poked at the embers in the fire with a long stick.

    Finally, Javelin reached her side. He stopped almost exactly a meter away from her, where he simply waited until Raven looked up at him. She couldn''t help but feel apprehensive of what he was about to say.

    In her heart she knew that if Javelin couldn''t get to terms with the fact that she was not someone he could, or even should, hope to protect, Raven would be forced to distance herself from him completely. Her adult mind told her to do so regardless - on account of his feelings for her - but the notion unsettled Raven more than she cared to admit.

    "I won''t bring it up again," the boy said with cold determination in his eyes. Raven looked carefully at Javelin as he spoke - something within him seemed to have changed, but it was hard to say what exactly. "You are stronger than me - I accept that," he continued; "I swear that from now on I''ll do exactly as you tell me to, no matter how I feel about it.

    "I can''t protect you, I can''t even fight alongside you, but I can keep you company when the fighting is over." Unexpectedly, Javelin suddenly bowed deeply. "So please, don''t push me away, Raven."

 Chapter 78: Being Found

    Author''s Note: A big Thank You to this chapter''s anonymous sponsor!

    <hr />

    Being Found

    At the bottom of the ravine, nothing but the rushing water of the river could be heard as Javelin stood, bent over in a respectful bow in front of Raven. Although his body seemed relaxed, Raven could see the tension in Javelin''s jaw - he was determined but anxious, very anxious.

    Raven blinked, a bit taken aback by Javelin''s resolve, but then she sighed. "Swearing by it and living up to it are two different things, Javelin." Her gaze trailed off into the flames. "You might think you can control yourself now but. . . ."

    "I, Javelin Dory Hake, swear on my soul prism tha-"

    Before he could finish his sentence Raven was on her feet, covering his mouth with her hand. "Hot headed fool! What kind of a soul-oath do you think you''re making?"

    Javelin tried to pry away Raven''s hand with his own but she held fast; she could still feel the faint makings of a soul-oath within the boy''s spirit essence and she was afraid he would complete the oath of she let go.

    "Let me guess, you were about to bind yourself to never acting against my direct commands, or something like that - right?" Javelin didn''t have to answer in words for Raven to know that she had been spot on. Raven sighed, suddenly feeling older. "Don''t go making oaths like that, Javelin. . . . What if I ordered you to kill yourself?"

    Raven had expected Javelin to get angry, or at least in some way react to her statement, but instead he calmed down, his mesmerizing eyes growing steady as they looked at her intently. A shudder ran down Raven''s spine. She could tell Javelin''s eyes wanted to say to her; "I know."

    Startled by her realization, Raven instinctively let go of Javelin and backed away.

    The moment he was free, Javelin resumed his oath-making; "I, Javelin Dory Hake, swear on my soul prism . . ."

    "Don''t . . ." Raven wanted to move forward again but for once her body didn''t obey her.

    ". . . that, if you ask it of me, I will stay away from you and your battles." The familiar, pure-white spirit star that marked a new soul-oath appeared over Javelin''s forehead before slowly being absorbed into his skin.

    "You . . ." Raven stared blankly at Javelin; "you changed it?"

    Javelin smiled warmly but there was a bit of melancholy in his eyes. "How can I make an oath to obey you against your will?" He shrugged. "But this should be enough right - you will let me be around you?"

    For a moment Raven remained a bit dazed but as she thought about it, she couldn''t help but give a defeated laugh. Her eyes met Javelin''s.

    "You might regret it, you know."

    "I do."

    "And, although flattered, I do not . . . reciprocate your feelings."

    Briefly, Javelin looked down, pain apparent in his eyes, but it soon disappeared.

    ". . . I know."

    He faced Raven again and she could only sigh. ''More likely I''m the one who will regret this. . . .'' she thought, but she had already given in.

    "Very well then." Raven tossed him the stick she had been using to poke at the fire earlier. "Then why don''t you get useful and show off those Sea Empire fishing skills of yours - I''m starving."

    Javelin''s eyes brightened. He nodded happily and walked over to the river. Raven watched him squat down, discarding the stick she had given him and instead producing a serious fishing rod from within his own spacial ring. Interested, Raven moved up next to Javelin for a better view.

    While Raven knew the basics of fishing in her old world, it was quite different when Javelin did it; he didn''t use any bait and instead relied on his own spirit essence and his special rod to lure in the fish. The principal was simple enough but although Raven had tried it she had never succeeded; just like taming spirit beast birds was one of Sky Empire''s secret skills, the way Sea Empire caught nautical creatures was one of theirs.

    Despite knowing this, the fact that Raven had never managed to catch a single fish in this world vexed her. As silence descended, Raven watched how several fish swam towards the hook Javelin had lowed into the water. Just as the largest of the fishes was making its way in for a bite Raven gave Javelin a side long glance. "So . . ." she said and the fish bit down on the hook; "Dory, huh?"

    In that instant, Javelin''s face and ears turned bright red. Simultaneously, the large river fish yanked hard on the hook, catching the distracted boy off guard; with a loud splash, Javelin was pulled head-first into the water.

    Raven''s upper lip twitched as she held back her laughter.

    Javelin scrambled to his feet in the waist deep river. "Why you. . . !" His arm swooshed through the water, sending a large amount of it flying towards Raven. Amused, Raven hadn''t intended to dodge but the oddest thing happened; mid-air, the water froze.

    "Who''s there?" demanded Raven as she swirled around, her sword appearing in her hand. She hadn''t sensed anyone approaching, but she could feel the oppressive spirit essence that locked, not only the air-born water but even Javelin, in place.

    *Clap*, *clap*, *clap*.

    "You''ve improved more than I expected, my curious human friend."

    Walking out from a shadow by the mountain wall was a young man in light green robes, whose average appearance was made so striking by the white vulpine ears and tail, that proved he was anything but an average human.

    "This Junior greets Senior Fenris," said Raven respectfully as she retrieved her sword and bowed deeply.

    Although Raven had her suspicions about his sudden appearance, she still knew that regardless of why Fenris was there, she was powerless to stop him.

    She had perhaps not been able to sense Fenris'' strength the last time they met, but considering the state of her soul prism at the time, that was only to be expected. However, things had changed since then and Raven''s senses were nowhere near what they had been then. Nonetheless, the man standing in front off her still seemed none existent to Raven - if not for the extreme pressure she felt weighing down on her, she would have thought her eyes were playing a trick on her.

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    Fenris looked at her with an amused smile on his face.

    "No need to be so reserved, young Raven, I meant you no harm before and that has not changed now."

    Raven''s eyes twitched; she had a hard time reading this man. "Might I ask what Senior Fenris is doing here?"

    Fenris chuckled, clearly noting Raven''s distrust. "I thought you would tell me that, she-human. I sensed your brother searching for me a few times and figured I might as well see what you wanted. Watching over a little brat training day in and day out is only so entertaining." Fenris winked at Raven and glanced knowingly over at Javelin who was still stuck in the river.

    Suddenly his eyes widened and before Raven could register him moving, Fenris appeared in front of Javelin, his hand reaching out to touch the latter''s forehead. "Curious, indeed," he muttered, just loud enough for Raven to hear.

    "What is it?" she asked, suddenly feeling a bit anxious. "Is something wrong?"

    Fenris turned to face her, a mischievous glow in his eyes. "How badly do you want to know?"

    Raven frowned; she had almost forgotten this playful side of Fenris. She was about to answer him when he waved his hand dismissively. "Nevermind - you might learn of it on your own, in due time." He seemingly floated out of the water. "But I suggest you look after this one more carefully, lest you regret it again."

    Raven''s frown deepened. ''What is he talking about?''

    "That aside," continued Fenris, not giving Raven an opportunity to speak, "what was it you wanted to find me for?"

    Forcing herself to focus, Raven pushed aside her questions about Javelin and took a deep breath; a lot was hanging on her getting Fenris'' help dealing with Gadwall.

    "Senior Fenris, is the reason you yourself didn''t save your own grandchild, all those years ago, because you two are not from this realm?"

    A surprised eyebrow lifted on the man''s brow. "Oh, I see you have grown in more than just strength, young Raven, for you to know of the existence of the other realms." Raven didn''t give an explanation and just held his gaze, so Fenris continued; "Indeed, we are not from this realm, and part of the reason I didn''t save my grandchild myself that time was that I would then still not be allowed to harm the men responsible. Better let someone else deal with them."

    At this moment, Raven was a bit glad Hoatzin wasn''t around; he was already not very fond of Fenris and if he learned that the latter would rather let his own flesh and blood suffer for a while - in hopes that someone would come along and kill the kidnappers - rather than simply fetch the child, Hoatzin would go ballistic. Raven herself on the other hand could kind of find logic in his reasoning.

    "As I understand it, this realm is fairly primitive, why would you come here of all places to train your grandchild?"

    Fenris smiled, crookedly. "There are more realms out there than you can imagine, young one, and while it is true that this ones connection with the spirits is fairly weak, there are other things that make the trip worth while for us."

    Raven couldn''t help but wonder what that might be, but it was clear from Fenris'' body language that he was not willing to say more on the matter.

    "Then, might I ask which realm Senior is from?"

    The carefree air around Fenris fluctuated as he for a moment grew serious. The sensation disappeared as quickly as it had come but when he spoke, Fenris didn''t answer Raven''s question and instead asked one of his own.

    "Why this sudden interest in the other realms? If you have learned of their existence, you should also know that they are out of your reach." He paused, and then added; "at least for now."

    Raven steeled herself; this was it. She had no way of knowing that Fenris and Gadwall weren''t allies, apart from the fact that their approach to spirit essence seemed fundamentally different. Nonetheless, time was running out and if she didn''t find a way to deal with Gadwall soon, it would be to late.

    "The thing is. . . ." Raven started telling Fenris about what had been going on in the empire and Gadwall''s involvement in it all. When she described what she had seen in the Spirit Hall Tower, Raven could feel the the very air around her shake, causing the suspended water next to Javelin to fall back down into the river.

    Once she was done speaking, Raven waited in silence. She had of course noticed Fenris'' reaction to her story but knew that there was no point in forcing the man.

    For a long while, Fenris said nothing. When he finally spoke, his voice was solemn and more serious than Raven had ever heard him before.

    "As I have already told you, there exists countless realms in the universe, and each one has a different . . . relationship, if you will, with the spirit essence that builds them. Naturally, the inhabitants of these realms will have different approaches to their cultivation. While some things are universal - such as the requirement of a soul prism and spirit connections if you wish to cultivate spirit essence - how you would go about achieving these vary greatly."

    Fenris paused to see that Raven was keeping up with what he was saying. She nodded slowly and thought back on her old world where, as far as she knew, no one was able to cultivate spirit essence. Suddenly wondered if that world too was one of these realms.

    "As you know, realms are categorized by their strength - that is to say how easy it is to cultivate there - and stronger realms are forbidden from disrupting the weaker ones. Most of the stronger realms are fine with this; why crave a bronze plate when you already have a golden one?"

    Raven couldn''t help but see some flaws in Fenris'' arguments; he had, after all, himself just admitted that there was something special about Trinity that caused him to come here with his grandchild. For the moment, however, Raven chose to keep this to herself since she could clearly tell that now was not the time to interrupt.

    If Fenris noticed her doubts, he ignored them. "If what you have told me of this Gadwall is true," he continued, "then I''m afraid it is likely that he is from Trivia. . . ."

    "Trivian?" Raven thought back to the large map on the mountain hall at the academy. She couldn''t remember any of the realms being marked up as ''Trivia''.

 Chapter 79: At What Cost?

    At What Cost

    Fenris chuckled when he saw Raven trying to remember if she had heard of a place called Trivia before. "Not familiar with the name? I would be more surprised if you were. . . . A realm''s strength has to do with its cultivation, not its size. Whereas this Trinity continent of yours could barely be considered medium-sized, Trivia is among the smallest - perhaps not even a tenth of a thousandth of the size of Trinity."

    Raven''s eyes twitched slightly. Although scarcely populated, Trinity was several times larger than Raven''s old world, and yet, by Fenris'' words Trivia would still be significantly smaller than that.

    "Although small, every single being who is born there has an innate aptitude for cultivating spirit essence that allows them to start forming their spirit core almost after birth," continued Fenris.

    What had been ''slight surprise'' turned into apparent shock as Raven considered this. ''That would make them all like me?''

    "Normally, such aptitude would put Trivia in the top ten echelons of cultivation realms, but there is one fundamental drawback in Trivian''s constitution that limits their growth."

    Fenris paused and gave Raven a long stare. Feeling that he wanted Raven to speak, she offered her guess; "The black spirit essence?"

    Her answer caused Fenris to smile, seemingly pleased at her deductions. "Partially," he said and tilted his head to the side. "But the black spirit essence is more like the consequence of the original problem; on their own, Trivian''s are unable to form spirit connections."

    "What?" Raven couldn''t believe it. "How can they cultivate without spirit connections?"

    "I never said they could."

    "But you . . ." Raven''s retort trailed off; Fenris'' words were true. Calming herself, Raven altered her question. "If they can''t cultivate without spirit connections, yet they can''t form them, what do they do?"

    "Steal them, generally. Trivians can latch on to other beings'' soul prisms and take over that persons spirit connections and even cultivation, but since the spirit essence isn''t actually theirs it looses its purity - seemingly turning black."

    ''So that''s it. . . .'' Raven thought back on the scene she had seen in the Spirit Hall Tower and Dunlin''s subsequently paler spirit essence, and suddenly it all made sense; Gadwall had been stealing from the boys. Suddenly Raven frowned.

    "But it doesn''t make sense. . . . If Gadwall is stealing spirit connections and cultivation from people in the Talon clan, how come their strengths have been increasing?"

    "While Trivians can take true cultivation, they can simultaneously give false cultivation back. For the target, the false spirit essence will act and seem just like their own spirit essence, but if the Trivian wills it, it will disappear or even attack the host from within."

    For a long time after that, neither Fenris or Raven said anything. Raven was considering the information she had been given about Trivians and she had to admit that Gadwall fit the bill. With all likelihood his own realm knew, or at least didn''t object, to him stirring trouble here since Fenris was right; while other realms might not care about their lesser counterparts, for Trivia it would be the perfect harvesting grounds for their cultivation.

    On many levels this made Raven even more apprehensive towards the man; not only might he not be a rogue actor, his strength could be limitless. Raven had a hard time sensing this dark spirit essence when it was hidden within a body, but considering how many people in the Talon clan that had gotten a sudden boost in strength, Gadwall must have absorbed enormous amounts of spirit essence; who knew how strong he was now?

    Still, the notion of the Talon Clan basically having sold their souls without them even knowing it greatly amused her.

    Pushing that thought aside and taking a deep breath Raven fixed her gaze on Fenris. Their eyes met.

    "How do I handle him?"

    "You can''t, young Raven" said Fenris as his smile turned almost wolfish. "But I could. . . ."

    Raven''s body stiffened slightly; how could she not understand what Fenris was implying.

    Images of her doting parents flashed by in Raven''s mind. Unyielding determination filled her eyes.

    "What does Senior Fenris want?"

    "A favor, young Raven - I want a favor."

    Raven frowned. This request seemed a bit odd to her; why would someone so strong as Fenris need to ask her for help with anything at all? However she got the answer right away.

    "Sometimes being too strong isn''t a good thing. . . . You and I both know that this realm will not be able to contain you forever. There will come a time when you leave for other realms, and at that time I will ask something of you and you must comply. Naturally, I won''t ask you to harm any of those you hold dear nor will I ask anything beyond your reach.

    "I must warn you though; while I indeed can help you handle Gadwall, I cannot kill him - that would have consequences beyond my capacities - I can however stop him from interfering further, even chasing him away from this realm if need be.

    "I also remind you that I am forbidden from taking any action against natives of Trinity. If this is still enough, you have a deal."

    "That is adequate." Raven replied without pause.

    She was quick to agree - she could guess that whatever favor it was Fenris wanted of her, it would most likely not be an easy one, but why would she care? With Gadwall out of the way, Raven could finally move in on her ''dear relatives''. After that, she couldn''t care less what happened to her as long as Hoatzin was safe.

    The already wolfish grin on Fenris'' face widened even further, his eyes glistening hungrily and when he spoke is sounded beastlier than ever.

    "Then let us make an oath. . . ."

    <hr />

    Javelin habitually stretched and flexed his muscles as he woke up. His body was stiff from lying on the ground and his mind felt muddled. He wasn''t quite sure when he fell asleep but judging by the smell of roasting fish he must have dozed of while Raven cooked the fish he had caught.

    Javelin frowned. ''Did I catch any fish?''

    Before he could sort through his memories, Raven''s cold voice called out to him. "If you''re done sleeping, you might as well give me a hand."

    Javelin''s eyes popped open, directly spotting Raven''s lean figure leaning over the fire only a few meters away. In her hands were four sticks of skewered fishes that she somehow managed to rotate slowly above the flames.

    "Ah! Sorry. . . ." Javelin scrambled to his feet and took over two of the sticks.

    Although Raven had asked for help, the fishes were practically done. They removed them from the fire and then both Javelin and Raven ate in silence. It wasn''t an awkward silence though, far from it.

    Javelin''s heart felt oddly calm as he watched Raven absentmindedly eat her fishes. Clearly her mind was elsewhere but he could tell that her previously foul mood had been replaced  by a much merrier one. If he had to guess, Javelin would say that it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

    Secretly, Javelin wished that he was the cause of this sudden change, but his mind told him that it was unlikely. Nonetheless, Raven''s good spirits made him happier too, almost to the point where he didn''t feel the aching pain in his jaw every time he chewed his food. It had been less than half a day since Lark had given him a well deserved punch and the swelling had yet to settle down. Of course, if Javelin wanted to he could use his healing skill to remove it completely but he had no intention of doing so; not only had he promised not to, but Javelin truly felt he deserved it.

    ''Not telling them the the truth about Raven is one thing, but I should have just admitted my feelings for her when they confronted me about it! Bringing Lark into it . . .''

    Javelin''s train of thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement from Raven; she was on her feet and running towards the ravine''s mountain wall so fast that Javelin almost thought she had vanished in thin air before he realized what was actually going on.

    "Don''t follow me unless called for!" shouted Raven over her shoulder as she kicked off from the ground and jumped well over five meters up the mountain wall.

    The second she made contact Raven kicked off again, heading for the opposite side. With wide eyes Javelin watched as Raven, like a grasshopper, scaled upwards with immense speed. It didn''t take many seconds before she was out of sight.

    Javelin clenched his fists to the point where blood trickled down from his palms. He was no idiot. The only reason Raven would leave in such a hurry was if some danger was approaching. A danger he couldn''t handle.

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    <hr />

    While Raven had been preoccupied with talking to Fenris about Gadwall, Hoatzin had managed to locate the other three of their group and deliver Raven''s letter.

    Aves had not been happy when he read the content - simply telling him that both Raven and Javelin were fine and they would rejoin them at a location a few miles north - but, as Raven had said, there was nothing he could do about it but head for the mentioned meeting point.

    Nonetheless Aves had tried to follow Hoatzin as the latter made his way back to Raven but Hoatzin hadn''t been hanging around Raven for nothing. Ever since Hoatzin''s temporary body had stabilized, he had been able to once again learn Divine Skills and his sister had naturally picked out a few suitable skills for concealing himself. Long story short, Hoatzin had slipped away from Aves within seconds.

    Still, Aves'' trio had flown off in the wrong direction when they first searched for Raven so the round trip was long and it had been quite a bit for Hoatzin to fly back to his sister. By the time the ravine opening above Raven and Javelin became visible, the first rays of dawn were making their way over the surrounding mountains.

    ''I''m glad he is gone,'' thought Hoatzin as he approached the ravine; even without Raven telling him about it Hoatzin could tell that Fenris had already left.

    He had been surprised when his connection with Fenris had let him know that the former had suddenly arrived - after all, moments earlier, Fenris had been so far away that Hoatzin couldn''t even tell exactly how far off he was. Now however, the man beast was just as gone, so Hoatzin could only marvel at the speed Fenris could travel with.

    Just as Hoatzin was about to dive down the ravine, Raven''s panicked voice rang out in his head. "DIVE NOW, BROTHER!"

    For half a heartbeat, Hoatzin was stunned by the sudden outburst, but he still reacted quickly and dove downwards without hesitation. His body had barely moved an inch when he felt a powerful air current swoosh by above him, literally missing him by the tip of his feathers.

    If birds could sweat, Hoatzin would have produced a bucket of it on the spot. ''So close!''

    He didn''t bother turning to look for the source of the attack and instead aimed for the ravine, doing his best to fly erratically but still at his top speed. Unfortunately, his attacker wasn''t alone. Soundlessly and as swift as lightning a second projectile came flying towards him but from the side. This time what came soaring through the air was a net, weaved of soul ore and spirit essence. Once again Raven called out for him to dodge but this time Hoatzin reacted too slowly; the net wrapped itself around him, instantly tightening around him as if molded for his body. No matter how he struggled, Hoatzin couldn''t move an inch - even his spirit essence was locked down.

    "Haha, I got it!" Laughed an ever so familiar voice.

    "Well done, Jack! Catching the little beast alive is more fun after all," chuckled another familiar voice.

    The net was pulled back and dangling from the pale hand of Jack Tanuki, Hoatzin could see him and Dunlin - both respectively mounted on seemingly tame Shadow Blood Raptors - glaring at him with obvious glee.

    At this moment a black figure flashed out from within the depths of the ravine. Cold eyes surveyed the situation and as Hoatzin saw the look in his sister''s eyes he couldn''t help but shudder. Others might not be able to tell, but how could he not? Raven was ragingly mad - more so than ever before.

    <hr />

    "Let him go," demanded Raven as she glared calmly at Dunlin and Jack.

    She did of course take in the mounts they were sitting on and could guess that the previous Shadow Blood Raptor attack was most likely their doing; she didn''t know how they had done it, and frankly she didn''t care. At the moment nothing mattered more than getting Hoatzin away from them.

    Both boys laughed. "Why would we?" asked Dunlin jeeringly.

    A dangerous glint flashed deep in Raven''s eyes, but it only made the boys laugh even harder.

    "Let him go," she repeated. "Let him go or I will take him back by force."

    Dunlin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You and what army? By some odd fluke you managed to get away yesterday but don''t think Aves will come to your rescue today, he doesn''t have the time." Dunlin patted a quirky-looking horn that hung at his hip and Raven''s eyes narrowed in recognition.

    ''A beast taming horn?'' She had read of them before; they were extremely rare but once activated one could control spirit beasts for up to twelve hours. Well, ''control'' is perhaps a bit of a stretch, more like . . . strongly suggest; the beasts wouldn''t do anything directly against their nature, but convincing violent beasts like Shadow Blood Raptors to hunt a specific prey would be no problem. The only draw back was that it was a one-use item and once the control period was over, any beast left alive would go berserk and attack the controller relentlessly.

    When Raven didn''t reply right away, Jack broke out laughing yet again. He dangled the net containing Hoatzin''s helplessly locked up body in front of his face.

    "We have simply caught our dinner, no reason for you to get so worked up, Mr. Slave Genius."

    Dunlin joined in the laughter. "Haha, well spoken! I know, since it''s your nasty little pet, why don''t you decide - roasted or boiled?"

    Both boys rolled with laughter while their mounts kept looking at Raven with hungry eyes, but what neither Dunlin nor Jack had expected was that a third laughter suddenly joined theirs.

    Perplexed the two of them looked down at Raven who was laughing to her hearts content.

    "Scared into stupidity?" suggested Jack.

    Dunlin was about to agree when Raven, still laughing, wiped a tear from her eyes. "Scared?" she chuckled. "By what? Two idiot corpses riding on overgrown pups? How absurd."

    "What!?" Dunlin''s face turned red with rage but suddenly he noticed how the two Limiters around Raven''s ankles fell to the ground with dull thuds. Instantly an extremely oppressive aura surged towards them.

    "M-mid Champion?" Jack stuttered, utterly shocked.

    Dunlin was equally shocked but he was quicker to recover. "So what?" he spat. "The two of us might only be low Champions but don''t forget our mounts! There is no way you can defeat us in a fight!"

    "Really now?" Raven gave Dunlin a murderous stare and without knowing why, the latter broke out in cold sweats.

    To calm himself, Dunlin laughed - albeit a bit nervously. "Ha! I don''t care how strong you are - kneel down and apologize for insulting me or your bird pest of a pet is dead."

    "Apologize?" The freezing anger in Raven''s eyes turned even colder. "Apologize!? I am not the one who needs to apologize!"

    Every word she spoke was emphasized to the point where they cut though the air like knives. Raven had reached her limit; for years she had put up with Dunlin''s existence. Time and time again she had refrained from killing him, never harming as much as a hair on his head, but things were different now - now she had no more reasons to hold back.

    With a low growl Raven grabbed a hold of every pent up emotion she had repressed inside her for the past five years and used them to urge on her anger. For the first time, Raven released all of her killing intent to utilize the Ode of Woe to its fullest extent; like a whirlwind of blood and death, Raven''s killing intent exploded out from within, forming a deep red mist that swirled and twisted around her like a living entity. Her nearly 400 spirit connections latched on to the world and, as if commanded by the Gods themselves, the light from rising sun faded, returning the dawning day to the deepest night.

    Powerful winds whipped at Raven''s hair and the midnight purple strands stretched out behind her, growing longer every second. It didn''t take long before her hair was long enough to lash out at the ground beneath her, leaving visible marks as it did.

    The sky above her darkened even further and in the distance thunder roared, coming closer at an alarming pace. Never before had the Trinity continent experienced so vicious a killing intent and never before had it being so merged with the spirit essence of this realm.

    All around her, every living thing froze in place as if petrified - the grass didn''t dare to sway with the wind in fear of offending; the beasts didn''t dare to howl in fear of offending; the humans didn''t dare to breathe in fear of offending.

    A goddess of death had descended and she demanded obedience.

    "Silence," she whispered, and the world obeyed.

 Chapter 80: Deaths Door

    Author''s Note: Thank you my dear Patreon''s</a> for sponsoring this chapter!

    <hr />

    Death''s Door

    One word.

    That was all it took.

    In that instant, all sound in Raven''s vicinity was gone. The sky was still pitch black and the blood tainted air currents that swirled around Raven were still as violent but now moved as if in slow-motion, and not a single sound was heard.

    The image of how that soundless wind caused Raven''s clothes and midnight purple hair to sway around her, while those blood-red eyes of hers shined like two embers from hell, would give even the most hard-skinned and coldblooded of men nightmares for the rest of their lives - and that was not counting the supreme aura of death that surrounded her, seemingly forbidding life itself to exist in her presence.

    <hr />

    Meanwhile, further north - almost at the very top of the continent - Fenris had already returned to his grandchild''s side when he suddenly felt a tremor in his soul.

    Without hesitating, Fenris scooped up his grandchild and deployed his strongest protective barrier around them both, thoroughly sealing them inside. Intently, Fenris looked out over the surrounding area, trying to locate the source of his reaction.

    Noting his grandfather''s behavior, the white, fox-like creature in the former''s arms looked up at him with clear-blue eyes, clearly confused by what was going on.

    "Is something wrong, grandfather?"

    Fenris shook his head and didn''t reply.

    ''Did I just feel . . . afraid?'' he questioned himself in shock as his gaze drifted towards the south.

    <hr />

    Hundreds of miles away, at the very heart of Sky City, two vicious eyes flashed open amidst the flowing water stream within the central peak. The eyes fixed their gaze north with a profound stare that seemed to pierce through the numerous mountains in their path.

    They looked on, intrigued by what they saw, but no words were spoken.

    <hr />

    Not many were close enough to feel the actual force of Raven''s unprecedented killing intent but a few were.

    At the bottom of the ravine, Javelin felt a sudden deathly presence weighing down on him, suffocating him to the point where even his heart had a hard time beating.

    Images of blood and carnage flooded his mind as more dead souls than he could count seemed to swarm him; pulling and clawing at his soul, as they called for him to join them, to die with them.

    Minute fissures started to spread over the surface of his normally red soul prism which now seemed to grow duller by the second. In agonizing pain Javelin collapsed on the ground, wailing a soundless howl.

    Oddly enough he wasn''t afraid, not in the least, but he was in pain. It was a pain that surpassed anything he had felt previously and before he knew it, Javelin was hoping - begging even - with all his heart that those dead souls would get their wish; that he would die.

    Suddenly, just as Javelin''s soul was at its uttermost limit, a soft light spread around him, encasing him within. At once, Javelin''s vision cleared as the overbearing feeling of death withdrew itself from him. That soft, nurturing light filled his soul with warmth and a sense of security, and it didn''t take long before Javelin''s soul prism was once more bright red.

    Collecting himself from the shock Javelin glanced down at his wrist. There, a blue and gold bracelet was humming softly as wave after wave of light pulsed out to strengthen the membrane around him.

    "Raven. . . ." he whispered before abruptly snapping his head upwards, facing the top of the ravine. "Raven!" he said again, shouting it in panic this time, but as he got up on his feet and took a step towards the mountain wall a burning sensation seared at his forehead, forcing Javelin''s body to stop in place.

    "The soul-oath!" he exclaimed and swore to himself; there was nothing he could do, except helplessly stare up at the place where he had last seen Raven disappear out of his sight.

    <hr />

    While what Javelin had received at the bottom of the ravine was merely a stray remnant of Raven''s Ode of Woe, the people and spirit beasts in front of her were not as lucky.

    Although still standing, the souls of the two Shadow Blood Raptors had long since been shattered leaving them as dead shells. Yet, even in death they were too afraid to move so they remained standing, locked in place.

    The same fate would have befallen the essentially weaker Dunlin and Jack even faster, had it not been for Raven''s meticulous control of her killing intent. As far as she was concerned, such a swift death - even if it was fear induced - would be far too kind an end for her wretched cousin. No, she had other plans for them.

    Hoatzin watched as Death incarnate slowly walked towards him. A snow-white hand stretched out towards him and, by reflex, he called out in fear. "Don''t kill me!" he shrieked, not caring if anyone could hear him.

    For a moment Death seemed to pause before gently removing the net that bound him.

    "Eh?" Surprised, Hoatzin looked up at Death''s glowing eyes only to see boundless sadness reflected back at him - or perhaps, loneliness would be more fitting. . . . He blinked. "Sister?"

    Only now did Hoatzin''s mind clear enough to realize who he was looking at. It wasn''t Death, sent to claim him, it was his beloved younger sister!

    Raven said nothing as she backed away from him, the sad loneliness in her eyes once more frosted over by the purest killing intent imaginable to man, and Hoatzin couldn''t help but feel regret; even without any killing intent actually reaching him, he had feared her! In that moment he knew that something had broken between between him and his sister, and he had been the one to break it.

    Returning her attention to the other two boys, Raven withdrew most of the pressure she had been putting on Dunlin, letting his mind surface from the sea of death she had plunged it into.

    Immediately the boy started hyperventilating and Raven unceremoniously slapped him a few times before Dunlin calmed down just enough for him to be able to focus on anything but his overbearing fear. Dunlin''s eyes nervously darted around, trying to make ends meet of what had just happened to him. He quickly noticed Jack, locked in place on his Shadow Blood Raptor; the boy''s muscles were twitching endlessly - as if he was having a seizure but still unable to move - while white froth was forming at his mouth.

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    "Amusing sight, isn''t it?" A soft yet unbelievably vicious voice filled his ears, agonizing his very soul. Slowly, as if unwilling to look, Dunlin turned his head around and his eyes immediately met two glowing embers which were like windows to hell itself.

    Dunlin yelped in fear. Instinctively he pushed his body backwards and away, causing himself to tumble off from his mount, but before his body could hit the ground a cold hand reached out and grabbed his neck, halting him mid-fall. Dunlin desperately tried to activate his spirit essence, thinking that his low Champion cultivation would be enough for him to wrestle free, but nothing happened. Only then did he notice the heavy weight of two Limiters around his ankles.

    ''When-. . .''

    "Now, now, dear cousin, is that the reaction you should have when you meet your long lost relative?" Before he could finish his thought that same voice spoke to him. This time the words were whispered right by his ear and with them came the stabbing pain of a rupturing eardrum.

    "Who . . . Wha-what are y-you!?" Even through the pain Dunlin could feel blood trickling down the side of his cheek, but he somehow managed to stutter out his question by sheer willpower.

    "Oh? You don''t recognize your own cousin? How depressing. . . ."

    "I don''t . . ." started Dunlin but as his fearful gaze studied Raven a little closer his eyes widened in shock. "N-Nightingale?"

    "Pin pon!" Raven smiled coldly. "I knew you wouldn''t forget your dear little cousin."

    "Bu-but . . . you d-d-" he tried, but the words wouldn''t come.

    "Died?" Raven offered. "Look at me, do I seem dead to you?"

    Dunlin did look at her. The clearly male air that Raven Night usually exhibited was gone without a trace. Instead, the person in front of him had a surreal elegance about her that was only intensified by the wisps of bloody smoke that twisted themselves around her body. Her ground-long midnight hair floated eerily around her jade-white face, giving her an even more mythical appearance. Although scared out of his wits, Dunlin still had to admit that the girl before him was a mesmerizing beauty. As for whether she was alive or not . . . it was honestly hard to tell, considering how much death surrounded her.

    However, admitting that this Raven was his long-dead cousin was not something Dunlin was willing to do. She, along with the rest of her family, had been killed and burned beyond recognition; there was no way anyone of them had survived. Besides, his cousin had only been four at the time, how the heck would such a small child have made it all the way to Sky City?

    Suddenly feeling the cold tip of a blade pushing through his clothes and stabbing at his stomach, Dunlin''s gaze fell on the shimmering blade Raven held in her other hand and his eyes widened in more shock. Finally he had no choice but to accept that Raven was who she claimed she was, for Dunlin recognized the fine sword that had gone missing after the Nightingale''s death, the ''Nightingale''s Blessing''.

    "You''ve accepted it now?" Raven said it like a question but didn''t wait for a reply. "Good - then you know that you and I have some unfinished business, dear cousin." Slowly Raven pushed the blade tip further into Dunlin''s abdomen.

    Dunlin wailed in pain but feeling Raven''s killing intent he braced himself against the pain and forced himself to speak. "Please," he begged, "we didn''t mean to-" The blade moved a bit faster. "Argh! I mean it wasn''t my fault! I was only nine!"

    Raven''s hand paused, as her eyes latched on to Dunlin''s. He tried to look away but Raven tightened her grip around his neck and forced his head back to face her.

    "Indeed," she said, her voice sounding a bit kinder. "I do guess it''s a bit much to blame you for your parents'' decisions. . . ."

    Dunlin sighed a breath of relief as the blade of the ''Nightingale''s Blessing'' was pulled out slightly.

    "But," added Raven, her hand pausing yet again; "tell me, have you not enjoyed being the prefecture heir?"

    Dunlin blinked, startled.

    "Have you not, time and time again, misused the authority you''ve been given to bully those weaker than you?"

    Dunlin paled. "That''s . . ."

    "Have you not repeatedly tried to bully, maim, or even kill, people like Javelin and the Griffin twins who might challenge your self-professed superiority?"

    "I-"

    "And did you not, only minutes ago, threaten to kill my dear Hoatzin for a second time!?"

    Raven''s voice had gradually grown from a soft whisper to a thundering roar with every new accusation. The air around her grew violent again as the first claps of lightning smacked down in the horizon. At the same time, the pressure from the Ode of Woe became too strong, finally collapsing the two already dead Shadow Blood Raptors to the ground taking Jack with them.

    Noticing the change, Raven calmed herself down a notch or two - she didn''t want to accidentally kill Jack - before once more speaking to Dunlin.

    "Besides," she said, and this time her words were calm, cheery almost; "your mother is definitely fully responsible for heartlessly killing off her own flesh and blood. Since I want her to suffer, and even more so than we have, I really have no choice but to kill you in the most painful way I can imagine, right?"

    Raven finished her reasoning with a smile and a playful wink that fooled no one, before effortlessly stabbing her sword right through her cousin''s abdomen. By design, not a single vital organ or artery was severed by the razor sharp blade.

    "Look on the bright side, Hell will be a walk in the park after this."

    With that, Raven twisted her sword and Dunlin screamed; he screamed like he had never screamed before, but that would only be the beginning.

 Chapter 81: Lone Executioner

    Author''s Note: Thank you my awesome sponsors of this chapter</a>!

    <hr />

    Lone Executioner

    "You should leave."

    That''s what his sister had told him as she pulled the sword that their father had given her out of Dunlin and plunged it into the ground in front of Jack. The latter had stopped seizing for the moment, and had instead been staring absentmindedly at the Sky knows what.

    Raven''s manner of speaking had been guarded and distant, and at first Hoatzin had wanted to stay, desperate to close the gap he could feel his sister putting up between them. He considered what he should say but as he started to voice his opinion, Raven cut him of.

    "I know, brother. . . . Leave for now, okay?" she said as she looked up at him with an oddly warm smile which didn''t really reach her eyes.

    Hoatzin was stumped. Raven''s voice was neither mad nor sad, or even pleading - she might as well have been asking him what time it was.

    Unemotional.

    The two siblings stared at each other for a few moments before Hoatzin eventually did as he was told, his red wings shaking slightly as he took to the air and headed down into ravine Raven had come out from.

    Left alone with the two boys, Raven''s mouth twitched slightly, an unreadable expression on her face.

    ''I''ve scared you enough, brother mine,'' she thought to herself before turning her attention to Dunlin who lay, bleeding, behind her. She ignored Jack completely; even though Raven had retrieved her killing intent, the boy was too far gone to be a threat to anyone any time soon. ''I might as well vent some of it on this one, while I''m at it.''

    A devilish grin adorned Raven''s beautiful face and, with a flash, a handful of different silvery tools appeared in her left hand. She crouched down in front of Dunlin and used her free right hand to grab a hold of the latter''s chin. Two terrified and pained eyes met hers, causing her grin to turn even more devilish.

    "You know," said Raven absentmindedly as she fiddled a long silver needle in one hand and moved Dunlin''s head left and right with the other, as if examining something. "I read this amazing article once upon a time about a taxidermist wh-. . ." Raven paused and tilted her head to the side. "Oh, that''s right, there is no such thing here. . . . Well, a taxidermist is a person who takes the fur and skin of dead animals and then props them up with wood, wool and wire to make a lifelike statue of the real thing. These stuffed creatures can then be used to decorate homes and the like - neat, huh?"

    Raven didn''t bother to wait for an answer as she continued examining Dunlin''s paling face. "Anyway, there was this one taxidermist who made it his life work to make extremely life-like human dolls, using real human skin. Most importantly, he was really adamant about the fact that his victims had to see the finished product before they passed away. Now, simply flaying someone without killing them right away isn''t that complicated but if you want to use the skin for a doll. . . ."

    With adoration in her eyes Raven let go of Dunlin''s face and leaned back - as if daydreaming of past times - but then suddenly she sighed, looking a bit dejected. "I''ve tried to replicate his methods a couple of times in the past but every single time the person ended up dying on me before I got the doll done!"

    Had anybody, who still had their wits about them, heard Raven''s monologue they might have taken her words for an outright lie - how could a preteen girl possibly have experimented with such horrendous acts? - but Dunlin believed her; heart, body and soul, he believed her!

    "P-Please. . . ," he tried, pleading, but Raven ignored him. "Fortunately," she chimed instead, smiling sweetly; "I''ve recently learned that a combination of torture and Divine Healing Skills produce quite favorable effects - I''m quite confident I''ll succeed this time."

    Perhaps the realization of what was to come managed to scare Dunlin more than Raven did because he managed to force his legs to push him back away from Raven, but he didn''t get far. "Oops, nearly forgot!" she chuckled as she, with a well practiced flick of her wrist, stabbed the silvery needle she had been fiddling with into the back of Dunlin''s neck. Immediately his body slumped helplessly to the ground.

    "Wha-?" Dunlin didn''t understand what had happened but he could feel cold pulses of spirit essence flowing out from the needle and into his spinal cord, rendering him unable to move anything below his neck.

    "I can''t have you thrashing about as I work on you, can I?" Raven kept smiling as she bent down and picked up a set of pliers and a sharp knife. "Well then, it''s a bit unconventional and it will require a few extra incisions, but I think I''ll start with the feet."

    "No! Please!" Dunlin begged, his eyes overflowing with tears, but no amount of begging could save him now.

    Seconds later, the real screaming started.

    <hr />

    Hours passed.

    Dawn had turned to mid-day but the clouds above the ravine had yet to disperse so no sunlight reached the bottom where Javelin sat, cross-legged and looking a bit pale. On a large boulder in front of him sat Raven''s red bird who kept glancing up towards the top of the ravine. Although Javelin had learned that this bird was capable of human communication, the two of them made no conversation beyond Javelin asking what was wrong and getting the word Dunlin as a reply.

    It might have been hours since the screaming had started, but that did not mean it had stopped. Amplified by the cold stone walls around them, neither man nor bird had any problem hearing Dunlin''s pained wails that came and went like waves on an ocean.

    Javelin sat there, on the sand, and felt sick to his stomach, yet oddly enough, it wasn''t the screaming that was the cause of it; after the first hour of screaming Javelin had felt that perhaps Dunlin had already got what he deserved, but, since he knew how personal it was for Raven, he didn''t really mind that it continued.

    However, as time went on without the screaming coming to an end Javelin started to grow anxious. He felt anger, fear and sadness all at once - not because of what Raven was likely doing to Dunlin, but because she felt the need to do it and he wasn''t there to help her pick up the pieces!

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    On an intellectual level Javelin knew that this was an immoral standpoint to have - however nasty, over four hours of brutal torture was a bit uncalled for when dealing with a teenager - but in his heart, Javelin only cared about what Raven must be going through right now.

    Suddenly the bracelet around Javelin''s wrist, which had been inactive ever since Raven stopped using the Ode of Woe, started to vibrate erratically. It wasn''t a strong vibration, but to Javelin it felt as if it was about to break.

    "Raven. . . ." he breathed and got to his feet, but before he could take a step forward, his forehead heated up as the soul-oath blocked him from moving forward. "Argh!" Javelin screamed in frustration and kicked a nearby rock with all his might.

    At the same time, Raven''s red bird shot of from his stone, flapping its wings anxiously in Javelin''s face.

    "I know something has gone wrong!" he yelled and swatted at the bird; "but I can''t do anything about it!" Javelin jabbed a finger at his own forehead. "I''m oath bound to stay here!" Javelin kicked another stone, this one exploding the moment it got in contact with his foot.

    Above, the screaming intensified and so did the red bird''s desperation. As Javelin watched it, it seemed torn between going to its master and staying with him.

    "Go," urged Javelin, but the bird seemed even more hesitant; "she needs one of us and I can''t follow her until I''m asked to. . ."

    The bird''s brown eyes widened with sudden realization. Not hesitating anymore, it dove down to the ground and, under Javelin''s confused gaze, started scribbling something in the sand. It didn''t take long before Javelin''s eyes widened aswell, while the burning pressure in his head lessened. At once he turned around and ran towards the ravine wall, copying Raven''s movements to make his way to the top.

    On the ground below, one sentence was written with poor penmanship in the sand: I order you to follow her.

    <hr />

    Although skilled at climbing, Javelin could not match Raven''s speed. It took him ten times as long to reach the top and by then the screaming had finally stopped. What met Javelin as he finally landed above the ravine was a truly gruesome scene.

    There was blood everywhere.

    Suspended in the air was the body of who Javelin could only assume to be Dunlin, his arms stretched out wide like a cross. It was hard to tell if it was him or not since every single scrap of skin was gone, but his lid-less eyes were somewhat familiar as he did nothing but stare, dazed, at the figure hunched over on the ground in front of him. Amazingly enough, Dunlin was still alive.

    Not too far away, two Shadow Blood Raptors lay dead next to Jack, who also stared mindlessly at the figure in front of the flayed Dunlin. Constant muttering could be heard, as Jack endlessly repeated "Nightingale kills . . . Nightingale comes . . ." as if in a trance.

    All this was indeed very gruesome, but Javelin barely took it in. His eyes were likewise focused on the figure on the ground, who was covered in almost as much blood as Dunlin. Only her long, midnight-purple hair seemed to have passed the ordeal without being tainted by the color of blood.

    As he watched her, Raven slowly stood up, leaving what looked like a pile of flesh on the ground. She was still facing Dunlin but as soon as Javelin saw her straight back, another image flashed by in his mind. It was vague and diffuse - a woman, perhaps . . . covered in scars, both inside and out - and suddenly Javelin felt even more upset; why did someone so caring have to be forced to do something so cruel?

    Without reflecting over the oddity of this sudden thought, Javelin dashed forward, determination burning in his eyes.

    The second he moved, Raven''s body twitched and she slowly turned towards him, glaring viciously, but Javelin ignored the look of pure hate that radiated towards him from her now pitch-black eyes and kept moving forward.

    When he was less than three meters away, Javelin felt as if his body had hit a brick wall; an incredibly oppressive aura blocked his path forward. It was overflowing with savage rage; unbridled and wild.

    For a moment, Javelin''s progress was halted and no matter how much spirit essence he put in to it Javelin barely moved an inch. However, out of nowhere, the bracelet at Javelin''s wrist - which had been on the verge of breaking completely only moments before - suddenly became still. Seconds later, that same nurturing, soft light surged out of it, encasing Javelin in a protective halo. Instantly the resistance was gone.

    There was a slight look of surprise in Raven''s pitch black eyes but her reaction was too slow, so before she could move out of the way, Javelin had already reached her, his arms spread wide.

    The moment Javelin made contact with Raven, two vicious and beastly eyes flashed by in his mind, accompanied with a roaring pain, but Javelin ignored it all. He embraced Raven firmly, refusing to let go even as she struggled in his arms.

    "It''s okay," he whispered in her ear. "It''s okay now."

    Raven kept struggling but she didn''t manage to break loose. If she really used all her strength, there would be no chance that Javelin would be able to restrain her, but Raven seemed to be struggling more with herself than with Javelin.

    "No matter what you do, I''ll be here, okay? You are not alone, Raven."

    A shudder ran through Raven''s body. With a sigh, that savage aura that had been surrounding her disappeared and Javelin watched as the darkness in her eyes withdrew - to his surprise, what met him was not the normal blood-red eyes he had come to know, but rather two forest-green emeralds, shining with unexpected warmth.

    "Thanks. . . ." Javelin heard her whisper just before Raven''s legs buckled and she grew limp in his arms.

    <hr />

    Far south, the two vicious eyes, located deep in Sky City''s reverse waterfall, were still unblinkingly trained north.

    A heavy sigh rang out in the cave around the waterfall, causing loose stones to vibrate erratically, as if in a strong storm.

    "Both paths have been revealed. . . ." said an archaic voice which no one was there to hear. The voice was neither happy nor sad, neither bored nor excited - it simply was.

    For a while nothing more happened until, with a second sigh, those sinister eyes slowly started to close, returning the cave and the waterfall to their normal states.

 Chapter 82: Sending a Gift

    Author''s Note: Thank you sponsors for sponsoring this chapter</a>!

    <hr />

    Sending a Gift

    Warm spirit essence flowed through Raven, slowly bringing her back to consciousness. She opened her eyes and looked up at Javelin; he had laid her down on the ground, using his own lap to support her head, and was gently pouring nurturing spirit essence into Raven as he massaged her temples gently.

    "How long was I out?" Raven asked, brushing aside Javelin''s hands so she could sit up.

    If Javelin was upset by her actions, he didn''t show it. "Just over a quarter of an hour."

    ". . . Dunlin?" Raven didn''t really need to ask this but she did anyway.

    "He stopped breathing perhaps five minutes ago. . . ."

    Raven nodded but said nothing.

    "I''m sorry," continued Javelin when she remained silent; "I know you wanted to do it but I could only help one of you."

    "It''s okay." Raven shook her head. "Thank you."

    Both of them sat in reticence for a while, the silence only interrupted by Jack''s hushed ranting about a murderous nightingale.

    "Aren''t you going to ask what happened?" Raven finally spoke as she stared at the ground.

    "Not if you don''t want me to."

    Raven felt a bit relieved by that. She herself didn''t really know what had happened. One minute she had been meticulously pulling out Dunlin''s finger nails - so she could more easily peal back the skin of his hands - and the next a savage rage had welled up within her.

    She had been upset even before that - not only because of what Dunlin''s family had done to hers but also because, as Raven was flaying the boy, memories of her old life started to crawl to the surface, making her recall things even she would rather forget - but that rage had been . . . foreign.

    ''It was as if the natural spirit essence around me suddenly got angry too and used me as its outlet. . . .''

    Raven was puzzled. She had felt the anger welling up within her, fueling her with more power than she had ever felt before, but she hadn''t been able to control it. If Javelin hadn''t stopped her. . . . Suddenly Raven frowned.

    "Javelin?"

    "Yes?"

    "How come you are here?"

    "Sorry?" Javelin didn''t seem to understand the question.

    "How were you able to follow me? The soul oath should have blocked you."

    "Ah, it did." It was Raven''s turn to look confused, but Javelin was quick to explain; "The oath worked, but you only told me not to follow you until told otherwise." Raven nodded solemnly in agreement and Javelin smiled weakly. "Your pet bird told me otherwise."

    "He spoke to you?" This shocked Raven greatly; as far as she knew Hoatzin could only speak with herself and Fenris.

    "Yeah it did - why didn''t you tell me Tzin can write? That''s awesome!"

    Raven blinked a few times. ''Write? . . . Oh, I get it - brother must have written in the sand or something.'' She sighed; a spirit beast being able of any type of human communication, outside a spirit connection, was practically unheard of on Trinity continent. . . . Raven was about to call out to her brother to reprimand him when she halted herself, her eyes downcast.

    ''I guess it doesn''t matter right now,'' she told herself, turning her attention to the gore around her instead.

    The bloody remains of her cousin lay sprawled out not too far away but without his skin it was quite hard to tell that Dunlin was even human. Next to him was his pile of flesh which was surprisingly clean, compared to the rest of the area.

    Off to the side was Jack, rolled up in a ball and rocking slightly, back and forth, as he repeated the same thing over and over: "Nightingale kills. . . . Nightingale comes. . . ."

    ''Poor sod,'' thought Raven as she spared him a glance. Apart from him being a jerk, Raven didn''t really have any personal qualms with the boy, at least not to the point where she would kill him willy-nilly. Then again, he had picked the wrong friends and that alone was enough for Raven to lean towards killing him. In fact, she would already have done just that, had not his background made it a bit tricky; Raven had prevented one war by saving the Griffin twins, she wasn''t about to start another one by killing Jack. Having him "go crazy over a horrifying encounter in the wilds" on the other hand, would be manageable.

    "So, what now?" Javelin suddenly asked.

    Raven looked back at the blonde youth next to her pensively; she hadn''t expected him to still be so casual with her, not after seeing her . . . handiwork. "This doesn''t bother you?" she asked, jabbing a thumb towards her flayed cousin.

    "Hehe," Javelin chuckled nervously, one of his hands instinctively reaching for the back of his neck. "Well, I would lie if I said it didn''t, but . . . how should I put it? I''m more bothered by the fact that you know how to do it than by the fact that you did it. How you take revenge for your family is none of my business."

    As soon as the last words were spoken, Javelin''s eyes went wide and his hands quickly clammed down over his mouth, but it was too late - how could Raven possible miss such a slip-up?

    "Oh," she said and raised a quizzical eyebrow. "How long have you known?"

    Javelin swallowed, not daring to lie; "um . . . since the assassination attempt - I recognized your sword."

    This revelation surprised Raven a bit, but as she thought about it more closely, she rather felt ashamed that she hadn''t guessed it earlier; Javelin had been acting a bit odd ever since that sudden attack in the basement, but Raven had assumed it was either due to nerves after a near-death experience or perhaps because of the "kiss" she had given him to suck out the poison he had been inflicted with. Javelin figuring out the truth explained a lot.

    A crooked smile spread across Raven''s face - something that looked a lot more vicious than normal due to the specks of dried blood still on her face. "Let me guess, the twins noticed something and confronted you about it but you panicked, shouting something like ''don''t compare me to yourself, Lark!'', thus that eye of yours?"

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    Judging from Javelin''s facial expression Raven knew she was pretty much spot on. She laughed. Hard.

    "Don''t laugh!" Javelin half commanded, half pleaded; "I ''confessed'' to being gay for you!"

    Raven''s laughing only intensified at this, her heartfelt merriment a stark contrast to bloodied appearance. It took a while before Raven calmed down enough to talk. "Sorry, Jav," she said, still half giggling, as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye; "but this is just too hilarious!"

    Javelin grunted. "I don''t see the humor in it."

    Forcing down her giggles, Raven cleared her throat and met Javelin''s gaze. Immediately she became serious. "I really am sorry; I never intended to put this on you." Raven placed a hand on Javelin''s head. "It must have been hard."

    For a moment, Javelin''s body stiffened under her touch but he quickly grew annoyed and swatted away Raven''s hand. "I''m not a kid anymore!"

    ''Really?'' thought Raven, making no attempts to hide it from her face.

    "Well, I''m at least significantly older than you! So don''t treat me as your junior."

    ''You''re not the older one, Javelin,'' mused Raven to herself but she could tell that Javelin was truly vexed by it so she let the matter drop.

    "In that case," she said, changing the subject, "would you carry our newly insane friend over there?" Raven pointed at Jack. "I think he will freak out if I do it."

    "Sure, where to?"

    "Not sure yet. I need to stow him away somewhere safe for now and have the headmaster pick him up later. Normally the cave two hundred meters east of here would do, but there is too much blood here; my previous show of killing intent will keep spirit beasts at bay for a while however it won''t take long before this scent drives them to come here anyway."

    If Javelin found Raven''s comment about the cave odd, he didn''t show it. Instead he nodded and went to collect the boy without complaint.

    "Hoatzin?" Raven called tentatively as she walked up to the Shadow Blood Raptors, picking up her ''Nightingale''s Blessing'' on the way.

    "Sister! Are you okay?"

    Raven could hear her brother''s anxiety in his voice. It would seem like he had been wanting to contact her for quite some time but perhaps didn''t dare to.

    "I am fine, brother," she answered reassuringly as she used her sword to cut open the beast''s guts, letting their oozing intestines gush out on the ground. Immediately the smell in the area intensified greatly, making the site even more attractive to hungry, wild animals."Do you still have a connection with that Stormbird that brought you here?"

    "I do, I do."

    "Could you send it over to me? I have something I want delivered to our aunt."

    "I am on it!" Hoatzin replied eagerly. He was the quite for a while before he carefully asked, "um, sister, can I join you?"

    Raven was about to agree right away but as she looked at the beasts in front of her and her cousin behind her, she shook her head ever so slightly. "It would be better if you could head for the meeting point we gave Aves. If I remember correctly, Dunlin mentioned something about keeping them ''preoccupied'', so I''d like to know that they are okay."

    ". . . yes, sister."

    A bit dejected by her talk with her brother, Raven could feel Javelin''s eyes on her as she then headed for the pile of skin next to Dunlin. From within her spacial ring, Raven retrieved a fine box made of smooth, black wood. It was roughly the size of a large watermelon and, after removing the content in the box, Raven gathered up her cousin''s skin and lowered it into the black container.

    She carefully made sure that Dunlin''s face was the first thing one would see when opening the box, but even then most people would not be able to recognize who it was so Raven rummaged around Dunlin''s own spacial ring, pulling out a stamp with the Talon emblem on. It would be proof enough of his identity.

    ''As for a message. . . .'' Raven considered what she wanted to leave her aunt when a soft breeze shifted her now floor-long hair, causing it to dangle in front of her eyes. ''I guess I can''t keep this anyway.'' Pulling out a dagger, Raven gathered up her hair and swiftly chopped it off just below shoulder-length. A sharp intake of breath could be heard behind her but Raven ignored it as she tied up the cut off hair and placed it in the box as well. With the dagger Raven then etched in a small bird on the inside of the lid - it wasn''t necessarily a nightingale, but Anhinga''s thoughts would undoubtedly go there if she recognized the hair.

    Closing the box, Raven turned to face Javelin and was surprised to see that he still didn''t seem too bothered by her actions. Unhappy perhaps, but not condemning. She didn''t know why she cared, but this made Raven feel . . . really relieved.

    At this point the high-pitched sound of fast beating wings indicated the arrival of Hoatzin''s Stormbird. Using some soul ore strengthened rope, Raven fastened the box to the birds legs and sent it on its way. The box was large and perhaps a bit too heavy for it so its flight would be slower than usual; by the time it reaches the former Nightingale manor, Aves'' Everest Hawk would already have returned Raven to Sky City.

    Seeing the Stormbird fly off, Raven once more turned her attention to Javelin. "Let''s go," she said and started moving west, leaving nothing but three corpses behind - the two raptors and her dear cousin Dunlin were abandoned to whatever predator found them first.[url=http://snowy.pub/chapter-83][/url]

 Chapter 83: A Pleasant Surprise

    A Pleasant Surprise

    It wasn''t until right before dawn the next morning that Raven and Javelin turned up at the meeting site which Raven had described to Aves the day before; the two of them had spent most of the night searching for a sheltered cave where they could leave Jack without fear of any wild animal stumbling across the defenseless boy and it had taken longer than expected to find a suitable one.

    They had left some food and water with him, but whether Jack would actually eat anything though was a bit unclear but his superior constitution should at least keep him alive up towards a month anyway. They had then craftily sealed the boy inside the cave - if anyone else were to stumble upon it, it would look like the cave entrance had been collapsed from within.

    At the meeting site, seeing that both Raven and Javelin arrived unscathed, the three men who had been waiting for them were overjoyed. This was especially true for Aves; he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he would no longer have to explain to his elder brother how he had managed to lose not only a foreign student, but their brightest hope in advancing past this realm''s borders.

    Immediately all sides started asking questions and while Raven and Javelin chose not to divulge what had happened to them - claiming to have simply passed out in that massive phenomenon of nature - the other three were more than happy to speak of their experiences.

    It turned out that the hold up, which Dunlin had mentioned, had been a smaller hoard of Flame Eye Bats - individually weak, but notoriously hard to deal with in larger numbers. The bats had swarmed the then airborne cabin shortly after Hoatzin had left them, starting a very tricky battle in the air. Things had been looking rather grim when suddenly the sky darkened and storm-clouds rushed by them. Instantly, the entire hoard of Flame Eye Bats had frozen, mid-air, before fleeing as fast as their wings could carry them.

    Aves'' Everest Hawk had also freaked out and no matter what orders Aves had given it, the bird had refused to fly in any direction but away from the center of the storm - not that Aves had tried very hard. . . . The menacing atmosphere brewing in the storm had sent shivers down his spine while the younger and less experienced twins had actually fainted - something they were very reluctant to admit.

    "I have never sensed killing intent so strong. . . ." muttered Aves, giving Raven a sidelong glance as he remembered that sinister aura he had felt deep within the storm. He himself had been too far away to be able to ascertain who, or what, had been the source of it, but his instincts told him that the little Raven was somehow involved. If nothing else, he definitely did not believe that she had simply passed out and held no idea about what had happened.

    Despite his suspicions, however, Aves never even considered that Raven might actually have been the cause of it all. Few knew exactly how killing intent worked, but what was known, was that the amount of killing intent one could manifest was directly linked to how many people one had killed; the amount of kills required to actually cause the very weather to change was simply beyond imagination.

    "Well then," Raven said, suddenly changing the subject as she brushed off some dry leaves from her robes. "We might as well return to the Academy."

    "The Academy? What about our mission?" Martin asked and by the looks of it, both Lark and Aves shared his confusion.

    "Our mission isn''t really relevant anymore," said Raven, shaking her head; "it was unlikely to succeed in the first place and I believe reporting to the headmaster about yesterday''s incident should take precedence. Do you agree, Protector Aves?" Raven looked pointedly at Aves who was quick to catch the hidden message in her words.

    "Ah, yes, Student Night is indeed correct. We shall postpone this mission for now and return to campus." The man must have picked up on the twin''s disappointment because he quickly added, "don''t worry, while no merit points will be awarded for the original mission, all of you handled yourself well in the face of grave danger; you will be rewarded accordingly."

    The twins smiled smugly and Raven couldn''t help but chuckle silently at the sight of it. As prefecture heirs, neither Lark nor Martin even had to worry about using merit points to buy weapons or cultivation resources, but having the highest amount of merit points had become a not-so-silent competition between the three prefectures. Before they left for this mission the twins had been neck and neck with Dunlin, so any addition would put them in the lead; little did they know that the lead was already theirs.

    With Javelin right behind her, Raven headed for the cabin parked nearby. Her eyes fell on the beast in charge of carrying it and, as their gazes met, Raven didn''t miss the subtle shudder that ran through the Everest Hawk''s giant body as the bird quickly looked away.

    ''You too, huh?'' thought Raven, bemused. Before she had the time to dwell on the beast''s attitude any further, however, Raven felt two arms landing heavily on her shoulders.

    Both Martin and Lark leaned in close to her face, smirking, and Raven could guess what they wanted to talk about, so she had chosen not to avoid their embrace.

    "So," said Lark.

    "You''re a mid Champion, are you?" asked Martin.

    "I am." Raven''s reply was as short and matter-of-factually as always and she could almost feel Javelin rolling his eyes behind her.

    "Well isn''t that awesome!" beamed Martin and rubbed the top of Raven''s head, efficiently ruining the low knot she had tied up her once more short hair in. "How many more epic secrets are you hiding in that small body of yours?"

    Martin laughed and Lark laughed, their heartfelt joy for a good friend apparent, but all Raven could do was smile weakly.

    "If they only knew the half of it . . . right?" Hoatzin''s amused voice rang out in Raven''s head as he stole the words right out of her mouth. His small, red body flew down from a nearby tree and headed straight for the comforts of the cabin, winking at her as he passed.

    ''Indeed,'' thought Raven as she followed in behind her brother, paying more attention to him than the two friends still clinging to her. ''Indeed. . . .''

    <hr />

    For the return trip, Raven had Aves push the Everest Hawk even harder and in just under a week the iconic mountain peaks of Sky City came into view from the cabin''s windows.

    As soon as the cabin touched ground, Raven swiftly made her way to Headmaster Swan''s office, making sure not to run into any of the people she knew were associated with Gadwall or the Talon Clan. It wasn''t so much that she feared they would learn anything from meeting her, but at the moment she couldn''t be bothered to deal with them.

    By Raven''s estimate, it would be less than two days before the Stormbird was bound to arrive at the so called Talon Mansion with her ''gift'' to dear aunt Anhinga. Before then, Raven had a few things she needed to get into motion.

    "Back so soon?" wondered Headmaster Swan, confused, as Raven walked in through his office door. "Did you give up on finding Fenris?"

    "In a way," chuckled Raven, "but not in the way you think."

    Raven then continued to tell about what had happened over the past few weeks, starting with her brother''s report and the Shadow Blood Raptor''s attacks, all the way up to her killing Dunlin. Of course, there were some bits she left out - like explaining where she had gotten the report or why Fenris had come looking for her, neither did she mention the torture of Dunlin nor her subsequent loss of control - but Swan seemed too shocked by everything else she was telling him to even notice that it didn''t exactly add up.

    "So Fenris will help us?" he asked again, not really believing how easily they had removed their largest problem.

    "He will, but he can only stop Gadwall if he catches him in the act."

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Swan frowned. "Is the proof we already have not enough?"

    "Almost. . . . The problem is if Gadwall claims that he didn''t do it himself; Gadwall is not forbidden from being on Trinity and could perhaps claim that someone else is acting behind the scenes." Raven held out her hand, and five translucent rocks appeared in her palm. "He gave me these. Once we get Gadwall to act personally, we are to crush one of these and Fenris will come to our aid right away."

    Swan looked a bit skeptically at the stones but in the end he nodded his head and picked out two of the rocks.

    "Then what are your thoughts on drawing Gadwall out, Raven? Surely simply confronting him won''t do the trick."

    Raven had been considering this for a long time now and quickly gave her opinion; "It is clear that the majority of Gadwall''s influence has been focused on, or is tied to, the Talon Clan. I think that it is time we took our evidence against the Talon Clan to the Emperor - at least everything regarding their planned coup - and move to force them from their power. I doubt Gadwall would allow over five years of planing to go down the drain, especially so close before his supposed dead-line; he will have no choice but to act directly."

    For a while Swan said nothing. Although he had long since promised to let Raven deal with her treacherous family however she saw fit, he couldn''t help but worry about what it would do to her. However, thinking about the immense progress her cultivation had been making since he first met her, he really had no room for complaints.

    "Very well," he said finally; "I shall bring our evidence to the Empress."

    Raven smiled slightly; she had long since learned how strong Empress Nene''s influence was over the Emperor and considering the woman''s love for Raven''s mother, it would indeed be easier to convince her of the Talon Clan''s evil deeds.

    "Do you wish for me to tell them about your survival?" Swan asked.

    For a moment Raven hesitated but eventually she shook her head. "I still have some things to do that require discretion. You may show them what I''iwi recorded though."

    "Very well," agreed Swan.

    "I''ll be spending the next couple of days setting somethings in motion but if there is anything you need me to know, tell my bird." Raven nodded towards the window where Hoatzin''s red body could be seen on the other side of the glass. Swan looked a bit confused but before he could ask about it Raven had already started to leave. Once she reached the door, Raven paused.

    "Oh right, within the next thirty hours or so Lady Talon will learn of her son''s death. I don''t know under what pretext Dunlin and Jack were out in the wilderness, but there is a chance they will start looking for Jack, as well as demanding answers from the academy." Raven turned and tossed a small spacial ring to the headmaster. "It might be a good idea to be a bit proactive and use their own framing skills against them."

    With that, Raven left, leaving Swan staring down on the ring in his hand. Using his spirit essence to examine its context Swan''s eyes widened in shock. For a moment his didn''t know whether to laugh or cry; inside the ring was seemingly impeccable proof that Dunlin had tried attacking Jack, using a beast taming horn, while in the wilderness. According to the information within the ring, Jack had managed to get away briefly and had sent a Strombird with this distress call before planning to hide out in a cave.

    This truly was a case of fighting fire with fire.

    Without further ado, Swan got up from behind his desk and swiftly exited his office. Time was of the essence now.

    <hr />

    Exactly twenty seven hours later, Lady Anhinga Talon was sitting by her bedroom table, enjoying her extremely lavish breakfast. Her silk sleeping gown glistened in the soft sunlight, as did the superfluous golden etchings that decorated every inch in her room.

    She was alone; by now she had already arranged separate bedrooms for her and her lump of a husband, giving her the breathing space she so desired.

    As tradition had it, breakfasts were a time of peace; no reports were allowed to be delivered - unless the news was exceptionally good - and the entire mansion was under strict orders to keep noise levels to an absolute minimum.

    Unexpectedly, the quiet atmosphere was suddenly broken by the labored sound of beating wings, approaching her window from outside. Vexed, Anhinga raised her gaze only to see a Stormbird headed straight for her. The bird was carrying a box that was clearly too big for it so its flight was rather slow, yet relentless.

    ''Who would use a Stormbird for such a large delivery?'' she wondered.

    With her curiosity raised, Anhinga stretched out a hand and sent out a gust of spirit essence to open the window. The sound from the Stormbird''s wings instantly intensified and seconds later the exhausted bird whizzed into the bedroom, dropping its heavy cargo unceremoniously on the floor. Anhing had expected the bird to stick around for a moment, if nothing else to catch its breath, but the Stormbird quickly turned around and darted off the way it had come. It seemed oddly keen to get away as fast as possible, pushing its already tired body to its max.

    Anhinga watched the bird disappear out of sight before she turned her attention to the box on the floor. Examining it more closely, Anhinga was slightly impressed by the craftsmanship of this black wooden box, but it was a bit too bland for her taste. The familiar combination of bored expectation that always filled Anhinga when she received various gifts and bribes welled over her.

    ''I wasn''t expecting any deliveries today,'' she thought to herself as she bent down to pick up the black box. ''But then again, it is no secret that I love a good surprise.''

    A smug and content smile spread across Anhinga''s face.

    In her mind, this gift was proof that her power and influence had finally taken root. It had been hard; surprisingly many seemed to oppose her taking over after her brother, but she had battled on - using any means at her disposal to strengthen her position - and finally people were starting to give her respect even without her demanding it.

    Still smiling, Anhinga removed the strings around the box and moved to crack open the lid, her eyes beaming triumphantly, but as soon as even the smallest gap appeared between the lid and the rest of the box, an extremely vile smell flooded her bedroom. Anhinga''s face of victory instantly turned into that of repulsion as she quickly held the box at arm''s length.

    "What is this!?" she growled, and with a face nearly black with rage, Anhinga flung the lid open completely and stared inside the box.

    At first she couldn''t understand what she saw. Her eyes registered a coil of dark purple hair lying on top of something that looked like unprocessed leather, stained with dry blood. Anhinga frowned.

    "What kind of gi-" the words got stuck in her mouth as Anhinga finally caught site of the metal emblem that lay at the center of the hair coil. Instantly all color in her face drained as she instinctively let go of the box and jumped back. "I-it can''t be. . . ." she stuttered, unwilling to look but unable to avert her gaze as she watched how, seemingly in slow motion, the black box tilted and fell towards the marble floor. With the lid ajar, the metal emblem toppled out of the box even before the latter made contact, but as the box bounced against the hard floor the rest of its content was flung out.

    Eyes filled with horror, Anhinga saw her son''s deflated face sliding across the floor towards her, and next to it, the round metal emblem that proved his identity as her son and heir, spun unceasingly on its point, taunting her with every turn: your son is dead.

    Finally everything slowed to a halt and the emblem came to rest on the floor with the soft but clear clink of metal against stone.

    A deathly silence filled the room, but the peace didn''t last long; it was now Anhinga who screamed, shrieking like she never had before.

 Chapter 84: Heads Start Rolling

    Author Notes: Thank you dear anonymous sponsor for sponsoring this chapter!

    <hr />

    Heads Start Rolling

    Five minutes.

    For five minutes Anhinga''s wailing continued unceasingly. It might not seem like a long time, but one can do a lot in five minutes and for the robbed mother it felt like an eternity; losing a child is an unimaginable sorrow for anyone, but for Anhinga - who basically only cared for herself and her son - the pain became even more acute.

    The shock of her son''s death was simply too much and somewhere along the way Anhinga''s mind grew muddled; she kept screaming without truly comprehending why.

    Naturally, several servants heard their lady''s wailing and the braver of them rushed to the bedroom, but when they saw the leathery shell of their young master sprawled over the floor, most of them either joined in the screaming or fainted on the spot.

    Eventually the Talon Mansion''s head steward arrived. He was an elderly fellow who had served the Talon head family for over fifty years and he had seen enough in his life to, although slightly pale faced, do what had to be done; with resolute steps he walked up to his mistress and gave her a firm slap.

    The crisp sound of hand-hitting-cheek rang out in the room and instantly all the wailing stopped.

    For a moment Anhinga looked confused, blinking awkwardly as she tried to wrap her head around what had just happened. The steward said nothing, waiting patiently for what he knew would follow. Barely a heartbeat later, immense rage boiled up within Anhinga and - without so much as a word - she lashed out with a spirit essence infused arm.

    As if made by sharpened steel, Anhinga''s arm passed effortlessly through the stewards neck, beheading him in one fell sweep.

    Blood sprayed everywhere as the devoted steward''s decapitated body collapsed on the floor, his head rolling off into a corner of the room.

    Silence held the room for only half a second before the no longer shell-shocked Anhinga started barking out commands. Servants were sent to do everything from contacting the elders in Sky City to catching the Stormbird that had delivered the black box moments ago.

    Forcing themselves into action, none of the servants dared to disobey or be the least bit careless in fulfilling Angina''s requests so they quickly scurried off in every direction possible. Left completely unattended to, the corpse of the loyal steward - who had silently gone to his death - remained, slowly seeping out blood on the red marble floor.

    Not capable of looking further at her son''s empty sack of peeled skin, Anhinga had some servants cover it with a blanket, instead turning her attention to the black box and the other items that had been within it.

    Despite her boundless rage, Anhinga did a surprisingly thorough job of it and after confirming the authenticity of her son''s medallion, Anhinga inspected the silky bundle of hair but, although it felt familiar to her, she couldn''t place it. When she looked over the actual box though, Anhinga''s face - which had reddened with hate - suddenly paled as if she had seen a ghost.

    Her eyes darted from the inside of the lid the bundle of midnight purple hair and her lips started to tremble in dread and disbelief; she now knew where she recognized it from...

    "Nightingale..." she breathed, her voice no more than a whisper, before collapsing to the floor.

    <hr />

    Meanwhile, in an elegantly decorated chamber, deep within the Indigo Cloud Palace of Sky City, Empress Nene leaned on her husband''s arm as she patiently waited for him to read through the reports she had given him.

    It had been less than two days since she had finally gotten the confirmation of what she had since long suspected: the Talon Clan had been involved in the death of her dear childhood friend, Bersa, and her family. What she hadn''t expected was that Eider Swan had then continued to stack several other accusations against the clan in question to the point where, had it been anyone else who brought the news, Nene would have scarcely believed them. However, the old headmaster was someone the empress trusted with her life, so she had believed him right away.

    Nonetheless, just because Empress Nene had complete faith in the information Eider brought her, wouldn''t mean her husband would. Thus, Nene had spent the past thirty hours mobilizing her entire spy network to help consolidate what she had already been told.

    Surprisingly enough, it hadn''t been very hard; it was as if hundreds of people had simultaneously felt the complete weight of their consciousness bear down on them and, after only a few casual questions, were more that happy to confess the various ways they had assisted the Talon Clan in their nefarious ways.

    Once again, Empress Nene had felt as if the situation was a bit too extreme to be true, but the evidence provided could not be refuted.

    As her beloved husband and Emperor, slowly flipped through the hefty report on his desk, Nene was watching him closely; she had always been able to tell what Mallard was thinking simply by the movement of his facial muscles but perhaps her current anxiousness clouded her judgment because at the moment she couldn''t tell at all.

    Nene waited, but while she might look patient and calm on the outside, her true emotions were far from it and she was eager for answers. Besra had been Nene''s best, perhaps even only, friend and her death had taken the empress hard. Now, knowing the truth, Nene''s previous sorrow had transformed and she was seething with anger; she wanted justice for her friend!

    With a heavy sigh, Mallard put down the report. He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.

    Eventually Nene''s patience ran out, so she called out to her husband tentatively. "Honey?"

    "Mmm," Mallard stared at the ceiling, a thick atmosphere surrounding him.

    "What are your thoughts?"

    At this Mallard gave his wife a sidelong glance with a weak smile on his lips. "You can''t tell?" Nene only held her gaze, ignoring his half-hearted jeers. Mallard sighed again.

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    "I doubt everything in this report is true," he said and tapped the bundle of papers in front of him; "but even if more than half of it is false, it would still be enough to charge the Talon Clan with high treason."

    A expectant glimmer filled Nene''s eyes. "Then..?"

    Mallard sighed a third time. "They must be dealt with. Did old man Eider give any suggestions?"

    Nene smiled warmly. "He wouldn''t dare," she said, but at the same time she pulled out a second bundle of papers, this one noticeably slimmer than the first. "We did however spend some time brainstorming the possible courses of action."

    Briefly, a doting smile flashed across the Emperor''s face; he knew as well as Nene did that the so called list of options only contained plans Eider approved of. The smile was however short lived. Mallard accepted the papers but before he even started looking over them yet another sigh escaped him.

    "Am I such a hopeless emperor?" he asked no one in particular. "Am I so weak that my country would collapse, not from without, but from within?"

    Nene gave her husband a sympathetic look. From what Eider Swan had said, or rather had not said, Nene could guess that there had perhaps been more going on behind the scenes this time around - that there were forces beyond their control at large - but since he hadn''t said it outright, Nene also knew that there must to be a reason for his secrecy.

    Nene placed a loving hand on Mallard''s arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You are not weak, Mallard, you are strong." The Empress'' voice was steady and earnest as she spoke candidly. "For five years they''ve been planning this, yet the people of your empire are still on your side; they still love and support you wholeheartedly. That is not weakness."

    Mallard gazed down on his wife, his previous depression already somewhat sedated. With a gentle hand he lifted her chin off his shoulder and gave her a loving kiss.

    Suddenly the doors to the Emperor''s chamber slammed open and an extremely hurried servant rushed in.

    "Your Imperial Excellency!" he called and fell down on one knee immediately, seemingly oblivious to the intimate moment he had ruined. "There is an urgent message from Lady Anhinga Talon; it concerns her son!"

    Breaking off the kiss, Emperor Mallard glanced from his wife to the servant and back again.

    He didn''t say anything but inwardly Mallard couldn''t help but be a bit curious; Dunlin had been mentioned on several accounts in the report, the last occasion being in a distress call from Jack Tanuki claiming that the former was trying to kill him. The Headmaster assured that he had already sent Elders to go search for the missing boys, but due to the distances being so large and it would be some time before they would learn anything about what exactly happened.

    Yet currently Lady Talon had pressing information regarding her son - was this only a coincidence?

    "This should be interesting," Mallard muttered.

    <hr />

    The days that followed where odd, to say the least; on the surface very little in Sky Empire seemed to have changed, but underneath that quiet surface nothing was the same.

    The message Anhinga had sent the Emperor had informed him of the Talon prefecture heir''s death in the wilderness. Not unsurprisingly the exact details about Dunlin''s demise were not disclosed, but Anhinga made very clear that she would do anything in her power to find the culprit as fast as possible - demanding a promise that the Emperor won''t interfere.

    Although truly surprised by the young heir''s death, the Emperor had still played the role of oblivious ruler masterfully and had sent a reassuring message back right away, offering to aid in anyway possible to find out what had happened to the poor boy.

    The Emperor had also taken the opportunity to graciously announced that he would personally lead a memorial for the deceased on the first day of mourning which, by Sky Empire standards, was six weeks after a person''s death.

    Although insisting that the whole thing should be kept quiet Anhinga had still jumped at the offer and was already making her way to the capital, no doubt with ulterior motives in mind.

    While the manor of Dunlin''s death - and in fact even the death itself - was a well kept secret that few knew about, the secret about the Talon Clan''s betrayal was even more well kept.

    The Imperial couple, on the other hand, where buried in preparation to deal with the treacherous clan and secretly mobilizing their army to prepare against the growing bandit threat that could boil over at any minute.

    Headmaster Swan had, long since, sent trusted elders off to the cave where Raven and Javelin had left Jack while he himself contacted his counterparts in the other Imperial academies so he could warn them about what was to come to unfold in the near future, advising them to take any news from the Sky Empire with a pinch of salt.

    However, as all of the above were doing their best to move covertly in the darkness, someone else was moving even further in the darkness, below everyone''s radars.

    Day in and day out, Raven used every bit of intelligence she had gathered over the years to manipulate what was happening to the extreme. She killed, bribed or threatened her way through the imperial capital - whichever brought the best result - while leaving small tell-tale signs of the Nightingale Clan''s insignias as she went along.

    For more reasons than one, Raven wanted the Talon Clan to fall fast and hard, and no one could do a better job at it than her.

    <hr />

    Two weeks later, Javelin sat on his own, meditating in the Academy''s grand garden. It had been almost fourteen days since he even saw Raven, but while he couldn''t help but feel a bit powerless, Javelin had still accepted that there was nothing he could do - not until he was stronger.

    Thus, Javelin trained.

    "Student Hake," a calm voice interrupted Javelin''s concentration.

    "Elder Gadwall," Javelin replied respectfully to the teacher standing in front of him.

 Chapter 85: The Beginning of the End

    The Beginning of the End

    Quickly Javelin moved with intention to stand up and give proper respect to his teacher, but Elder Gadwall motioned for him to remain seated.

    "There is no need for formality," smiled Gadwall, his eyes sparkling with his usual jovial curiosity. "I see you are training as hard as ever - do you never rest?"

    "Not if I can help it, Elder," replied Javelin with earnest determination.

    Gadwall chuckled softly. "It is good that you are ambitious, Student Hake, but remember that rest and recuperation are important aspects of cultivation as well."

    "Yes, Elder."

    Pleased by Javelin''s response Elder Gadwall was about to leave when he stopped, seemingly remembering something. "Oh right! Student Hake," he called offhandedly with an inquisitive voice, "I have noticed that Student Night has been absent from class the last couple of days - the headmaster has told me not to fret about it and let him train on his own for a while, but I can''t help but worry for the boy. . . ." Elder Gadwall looked quite concerned as he spoke. "Do you know how he is doing?"

    Elder Gadwall was not the first to ask this of Javelin over the past few days so he neither found it odd nor caught him off-guard. He simply gave the answer he had given all the others who asked: "Apologies, Elder Gadwall, but I don''t know much about it either. . . . All I know is that his uncles came to visit a while back and Raven left with them. Supposedly for some sort of intense training."

    Gadwall raised a surprised eyebrow. "His uncles? What could they teach him that can''t be taught here at the Academy?"

    "I don''t know, Elder, but they left the city last week." As he said this Javelin carefully observed Elder Gadwall''s reactions. Raven had told Javelin to only disclose the ''fact'' that she had left the city if an Elder asked him about it, but so far only other students had been curious enough to ask. Surprisingly, Elder Gadwall didn''t seem too shocked by the news. Instead, it seemed more like he had gotten his suspicions confirmed.

    "I see," he said, holding up his hands helplessly. "Well, I suppose it''s okay since Headmaster Swan doesn''t seem to have any objections." Gadwall smiled. "I didn''t mean to drill you about it, Student Hake, it''s just that with both Student Talon and Student Tanuki also away on their own, I can''t help but feel like the Advanced Classes are a bit empty."

    Gadwall winked playfully at Javelin and the latter couldn''t help but feel that the gesture was a bit inappropriate; there was no way that the vice headmaster of the academy would not have been informed of Dunlin''s death and Jack''s subsequent disappearance, and while the student body remained blissfully unawares of the situation, joking about it was more than Javelin would have been able to do if their situation had been reversed.

    "I won''t bother your meditation any further, Student Hake," Gadwall said, still smiling warmly; "But speaking of the Advanced Class, I have something special planned for all of you this afternoon so make sure your on time."

    "I will, Elder Gadwall." Javelin lowered his head respectfully as Gadwall turned on his heal and walked off. When the latter''s footsteps faded into the distance, Javelin raised his head and look pensively at the departing Elder.

    ''Raven explicitly told me not to trust anyone but herself and the Headmaster, especially when it comes to other elders at the school. . . . Does that include Elder Gadwall?'' he wondered quietly to himself before resuming his meditation with steadfast determination.

    <hr />

    When the man known as Gadwall walked away from the young, so called genius from the Sea Empire, he couldn''t help but sneer slightly as he considered the latter''s futile attempts at cultivation; while this Javelin Hake could indeed be considered to have quite a decent amount of talent in this realm, it was mere scraps compared to other places he��d been to.

    ''I just don''t get why the Council of Realms insist on preserving places like this one - there are no true talents on this continent. . . .'' he thought mockingly, but his smug feelings quickly dissipated. ''That Night kid though . . . he ain''t half bad; his talent could be considered mediocre at least.''

    Gadwall kept walking through the campus grounds, his inner thoughts still focused on the peculiar youth he had been trying to keep track of over the past couple of years. The little bugger had been slipperier than usual, and Gadwall couldn''t shake the feeling that everything he knew about the Raven Night was odd somehow - orchestrated almost.

    He frowned. ''The Hake brat''s story adds up with what my spies are telling me - Night left the city eight days ago and has since then been traveling and training with his mercenary uncles in the wilderness. Meanwhile the strategic attacks on all my assets keep escalating. . . . Does this mean my theory was incorrect - does Night truly have no connection to the Talon Clan''s recent bad luck?''

    A dangerous glint flashed deep in the vice headmaster''s silvery eyes, momentarily turning them black. Lately all of his carefully constructed plans had started to unravel and yet he couldn''t figure out why; it was as if every guild and institution in the nation had started making decisions that were disadvantageous for him and the Talon Clan. Clearly someone else was working behind the scenes, but who?

    ''Could there be another High Realm Native on Trinity continent who is working against me?'' The sudden notion startled Gadwall, but he quickly dismissed it. ''If there was, surly they would have stopped me more directly by now, right?''

    Nonetheless a sense of urgency filled him and Gadwall''s pace grew more steadfast.

    ''I will need a few precautions - just in case. As for the Talon Clan''s involvement. . . .'' Had any of the students or faculty seen Gadwall now, they would perhaps not even have recognized who he was; his usually amiable eyes were filled with an almost savage hunger, a hunger only more power could sate.

    <hr />

    That night Javelin returned to the house owned by Raven''s uncles for the first time since before they set out in search for Fenris. Ever since they had returned to Sky City, Raven had basically taken a leave of absence from the school, allowing her to focus on putting all her plans into motion against the Talon Clan, so Javelin hadn''t seen very much of her.

    The uncles'' house was the only place he was sure to run into Raven. It wasn''t that he hadn''t wished to come earlier, nor that he wasn''t allowed to, but he knew his presence might endanger her so he opted to keep his distance until needed.

    Tonight, however, was a bit different. Raven had asked to be notified when Elders started asking questions about either her location or Dunlin''s disappearance. Naturally, Javelin didn''t really need to go in person, but he had to admit that he really wanted to see Raven and she had given him permission to visit the house occasionally.

    As soon as he arrived, Javelin knew that Raven was in, the reason being the sweet aroma of newly cooked meat that could be smelled even outside the door. Bill never cooked anything extravagant when he was alone.

    Filled with both nervousness and anticipation, Javelin hurried into the house and the kitchen, his eyes immediately falling on the lean figure standing, barefooted, by the kitchen counter.

    Raven only had a loose black shirt on that extended down to her bare knees, doing nothing to hide her elegant, pale legs and a sash around her waist helped emphasize the subtle curves of her figure. Her movements were smooth and unhurried as she stirred a large pot standing over the fire on the stove.

    "Hungry?" she asked in a unusually gentle voice and for a very brief moment Javelin felt an acute sense of deja vu. He quickly brushed it off though because he knew for a fact that he had never seen Raven like this before; not in this type of clothing and definitely not cooking.

    "Javelin?"

    It was not until his name was called that Javelin realized that he had been staring. Instantly he could feel his cheeks flushing red with perhaps more than just embarrassment. "Um, where is Bill?" he asked, grasping the first conversation topic he could think about.

    A slight twitch at the corner of Raven''s lips told Javelin that she was finding his reaction amusing, but thankfully she didn''t push the matter. "Out," she answered instead, pulling out two bowls from a nearby cupboard. She filled them both with the sweet smelling meat stew that she had been stirring just moments before and hands one of them to Javelin.

    Not sure what else to do, Javelin accepted the bowl and quickly started eating. The instant the food entered his mouth, Javelin''s eyes widened in surprise. "So delicious!" he exclaimed, slightly shocked by the richness of the flavor.

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    Raven raised an eyebrow at him, and Javelin chuckled nervously. He could tell that she had picked up on his surprise but there wasn''t really anything he could say to his defense; Javelin really hadn''t expected that Raven could cook this well. Out of habit, Javelin''s hand reached for his neck but, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of yet another suppressed smile on Raven''s lips.

    It felt rather odd to see Raven like this; she seemed so . . . relaxed.

    "Did an Elder start asking questions?" Once more Raven chose to not push the matter further and instead changed the subject.

    Javelin gladly accepted the free-pass and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Vice Headmaster Gadwall wondered if you were alright," he explained and then stuffed his mouth with yet another spoonful of stew.

    Raven didn''t seem too surprised by this an only nodded quietly. "Anyone else?"

    "Nhm," Javelin mumbled a ''no'' without taking a pause in his eating.

    Seemingly satisfied with his response, Raven asked no further and instead focused on her own food as well. Soon, the two  of them had finished both one and two bowls each.

    "Congratulations on your advancement, by the way," Raven suddenly said as she filled up a third bowl for Javelin. "You are not far from breaking through to the Champion realm now."

    "You can tell?" Javelin was a bit surprised at first but he had since long come to terms with that Raven always knew more than she put on, so he quickly brushed it off. He shook his head, slightly dejected; "it''s nothing worthy of congratulating though; almost all of us made great improvement today."

    Raven frowned. "All of us?"

    "Yeah, all the Advanced Students. It''s a pity you weren''t there - Gadwall has managed to get a hold of some first rate cultivation medicine that helps your spirit core collect essence more freely if you eat it. It was really an am-. . ."

    Javelin didn''t have time to finish the sentence before Raven appeared right next to him, her jade white hand softly placed on his abdomen. Moments later, Raven''s other hand cupped his cheek, turning Javelin''s face towards her. In that instant, Javelin''s mind went blank. All he could think of was the cool but soft sensation of Raven''s hands against his skin, and the sweet scent that suddenly enveloped him.

    ''Has she always smelled this good?'' he wondered absentmindedly, barely noticing how Raven sent strand after stand of her spirit essence into his body, carefully examining every inch of him.

    The contact between the two of them held for perhaps five minutes and, for Javelin, the refreshing, cool touch started to spur on a deeper, burning sensation. Just as Javelin felt his breathing grow a bit jagged, Raven pulled away, her face awash with relief.

    Javelin felt very confused about what had happened but, before he had a chance to gather his thoughts and ask, Raven was already yelling at him.

    "Didn''t I tell you to be cautious around the Elders? What are you doing stuffing random medicine in your mouth!?"

    Javelin swallowed, the growing heat within him instantly stifled.

    ''Oops. . . .''

    Javelin knew all too well what Raven''s current expression meant; he had screwed up and this was going to be a long night.

    <hr />

    Three weeks - on the day - after Anhinga learned of Dunlin''s death, two particularly large Everest Hawks swooped down in the open courtyard of the Talon Clan''s city manor in Sky City. The two birds were exhausted to the point of fainting and as soon as their cargo touched the ground both of them did just that - they fainted.

    Swarming out from one of the cabins came several well armed spiritualist soldiers, all of them low Spirit Champions. Despite their heavy armor and strong cultivation, the entire group shot nervous glances at the second cabin, seemingly afraid of what - or rather who - would emerge from inside it. Fortunately for them, the soldiers had things they needed to - such as take care of the two knocked out birds - so they only lingered for a moment before scurrying of to their respective tasks.

    The regular servants were not as lucky, but it still took less than a second before a brave servant hurried up towards the closed door, preparing to open it and quickly get out of the way; all of them knew their mistress'' temper well and while being in her way when she was angry might be fatal for a few of them, staying away would have far greater consequences. However, before the jittery servant even reached the cabin, its metallic door swung open and a large, grease-covered man flew out like a cannon ball.

    The people present watched, wide-eyed, as their lord and master tumbled and rolled several meters across the courtyard before his large body ground to a halt. The city manor''s servants didn''t manage to stop themselves from drawing in a sharp breath and staring at the open cabin door in shock; they could guess what had just happened but while very few of them were unaware of Anhinga''s disdain for her husband, the former had never so blatantly mistreated her spouse as she did now.

    Half a heartbeat later, Anhinga''s figure strode out of the cabin which her husband had just been shot out from. She seemed noticeably older; her body and hair was thinner and her eye-sockets more hollow, but the eyes themselves burned with an impressive rage.

    "Councillor!" she roared and stormed into the house without sparing so much as a glance at the people around her. As she disappeared into the manor, the nervous servant who had first approached the cabin Anhinga had been in breathed a sigh of relief.

    Not so lucky was the old shriveled up man who Anhinga had just called out for. When she reached the innermost room of the manor where the man was, he stood leaned over a table filled with documents and greenish glass orbs. If the man had looked old before, he now seemed more like a corpse who had lost his coffin, but while a more kindhearted person would be concerned for their relative, Anhinga couldn''t care less.

    "Any news?" she demanded, her voice clearly indicating that she was doing her best not to lash out and kill the old man on the spot.

    The Councillor listlessly gathered up a handful of reports and held them up to Anhinga. "Plenty."

    For a brief moment Anhinga''s rage was replaced by shock; it had only been tree days since Anhinga got her last Stormbird delivery and yet there where so many new cases?

    While it had taken the Everest Hawks nearly three weeks of extremely hard flying to make it from the Black Talon Prefecture to Sky City, several Stormbirds had flown back and forth between the capital and the advancing Hawks, bringing summaries of what was going on. At first all attention had been on discovering what happened to Dunlin and trying to locate the missing Jack, but eventually the abnormal events regarding the Talon Clan''s assents couldn''t be hidden by chaos surrounding the dead heir anymore.

    "How is this possible?" Anhinga''s rage was resurfacing yet again as she demanded answers, but the old Councillor only shook his head; if he was afraid of Anhinga letting her anger out on him, he didn''t show it.

    Anhinga slammed down the pile of papers on the nearby table. "Leave!" she shouted, amazingly enough keeping her emotions somewhat in check long enough for the elderly man to leave her alone in the room. Just as she was about to go on a minor rampage, a cold and detached voice spoke out behind her.

    "Good evening, Lady Talon."

    Anhinga spun around, coming face to face with none other than the Sky Academy''s own Vice Headmaster Gadwall. Briefly, Anhinga was too stunned to even react at the man''s sudden appearance but it didn''t last long. Ignoring reason, she jabbed her finger at Gadwall and shouted accusingly; "You! You have some nerve showing up here after letting my son get killed! How dare you!?"

    To Anhinga''s ire, Gadwall looked more amused than anything else at her berating and smiled a smile that wasn''t really a smile. "Letting him die? I don''t remember promising to protect him. I gave him strength beyond his talents - it''s not my fault he still couldn''t handle it."

    Enraged, Anhinga violently circulated her spirit essence and lifted her hand to give Gadwall a full-on slap, but half-way through the motion, Anhinga felt a cold shudder run down her spine. As her eyes met Gadwall''s she could feel her own rage melting away, whimpering like a puppy in front of a wolf.

    "Good girl," mocked Gadwall as he saw the fear in her eyes. "Now, you are obviously mourning so I will get straight to the point; I came to tell you that your deadline has changed."

    Anhinga swallowed nervously and glanced down on the heaps of documents on the table next to her. Even though she knew it was futile, Anhinga couldn''t help but pray that the change meant more time, not less. Unfortunately, her no gods seemed to be listening, because in the next breath Gadwall continued; "Two months - two months until this continent is plunged in war or bear the consequences."

 Chapter 86: Haunted

    Author''s Note: A big ''Thank You!!!'' to my anonymous sponsor ^.^

    <hr />

    Haunted

    Left alone in the dark, candlelit study, Anhinga sat in a daze. Every once in a while a shudder ran down her spine as a menacing figure flashed by in her mind. Most knew him as Smew Gadwall, vice headmaster of the Imperial Sky Academy of Divine Arts, but she knew better; Gadwall, or Elder W as he was referred to in secret, was far from the always kind and curious teacher everyone thought he was.

    "Did I make a mistake. . . ?" Anhinga murmured softly to herself.

    Without prompting, her memories returned to that first meeting, six years ago.

    <hr />

    It had been an unusually warm summer day with no cool breezes to help against the smoldering heat. It was so warm that some citizens actually opted to disregard their robes, instead walking around in only the white linens of their undergarments. In most places such brazen behavior might cause people to frown or grow upset, but Nightingale City was, despite its size, a very accepting place so nobody seemed to care.

    Well, almost nobody; Anhinga absolutely detested such boorish attitudes.

    Nonetheless, apart from the heat and the consequences there of, the day was like any other; Anhinga''s pliable husband was away from the house - off to inspect the day''s ore mine transactions - while she herself planned to spend the day visiting the finer merchant stores of Nightingale City.

    Walking down the tidy city streets, Anhinga basked in the jealous stares she got from the general public as she passed them by and, even more so, she loved the unconditional reverence every single shopkeeper met her with as she entered a new store. The attention confirmed what Anhinga already knew; she was someone above all else, someone of importance.

    The day had progressed just fine for Anhinga until she reached her favorite dress maker''s store. When she entered, the store had been empty of customers and as usual Anhinga asked to see every new fabric that had arrived while the shop attendants fawned over her every word. Half way through the fabrics the stores door opened and, just as Anhinga was about to order her personal maid to shoo away the newcomers, a familiar voice caused her perky mood to instantly sour.

    "Why, if it isn''t my dear sister! I wondered if I might meet you here."

    Even before turning to look, Anhinga knew what she would see; her brother, Maleo, most likely accompanied by either his wife or his daughter, or both.

    "Brother," she said with a faked smile as she turned her body slightly so she could see the man standing in the doorway. Anhinga''s eyes then fell on the small girl standing by her brother''s legs and couldn''t help but be amazed by how quickly the child was growing; Raven Nightingale was only three years old but her height was already closer to that of a six-year-old and her temperament seemed even more mature.

    Secretly Anhinga sneered. She didn''t like her young niece and was just about to ignore the child and return her attention to the fabrics that had been laid out for her when the shop attendants, who had been attending her, smiled widely and swarmed to the door.

    "Young mistress Nightingale," they greeted, eagerly bending down to the little imps level. "How nice it is to see you again!"

    With that, Anhinga''s presence in the shop was completely forgotten; the shop keepers were so busy fussing her brother''s child that they didn''t even notice Anhinga leaving, her face dark.

    "Blast it all," hissed Anhinga as she stormed down the street outside, forcing several citizens on the street to hurry out of her way. "The bloody toddler gets more face than I do!"

    Fuming and frustrated, Anhinga turned a corner, momentarily separating herself from the entourage of servants behind her, when suddenly the temperature around her dropped drastically. Shocked by the change, Anhinga almost slammed into the dark figure who stood right in the middle of the road.

    Normally, Anhinga would go ballistic over such behavior, but something about this man''s presence told her that it would be more wise for her to be quiet. For a moment, none of them said anything and it wasn''t until the figure shifted his stance slightly that Anhinga snapped out of her trance. At once she wondered why her servants hadn''t caught up with her yet. She got the urge to look over her shoulder to look for them but before she could act on it the figure spoke, his voice distorted and otherworldly.

    "You desire power and status," he said, not asking for any confirmation. "I can help you gain both, if you are willing to help me in return."

    <hr />

    Thinking back on it now, Anhinga was a bit amazed by how quickly she had accepted the stranger''s offer. Perhaps she had thought that is was nothing more than a joke on his part, but when the requests and rewards had started coming, Anhinga had been quick to accept them both.

    At first it had been small things, like spreading a false rumor here and there, something she did everyday anyway, but somewhere along the way, Anhinga had gone from instigating petty slander to planning full-out rebellion, without even really realizing it.

    The strong silhouette of her protective brother surfaced once more in her mind. When they were small, really small, Anhinga and Maleo had been very close. Despite being a couple of years younger, her brother had always stood up for Anhinga, determined to protect her from all harm. Initially, Anhinga had found this trait endearing, but as the years passed and she noticed how differently her parents treated her and Maleo, that feeling turned into resentment.

    By the time Maleo was fully grown, with a family of his own, and that family became a hindrance for Anhinga''s plans, she hadn''t even hesitated before having them killed, permanently removing the issue. She hadn''t regretted it then, and in a way she still didn''t, but things hadn''t been going Anhinga''s way for a very long time now and she was starting to feel tired. So very tired.

    Anhinga thought of her lost son and suddenly she missed her brother, she missed the once small but always steady arms that insisted on protecting her.

    "Brother. . . ." she breathed, but as soon as the word left her, Anhinga clicked her tongue angrily. What was the point of thinking of the past now? She was on the way of becoming the supreme ruler of an entire continent!

    Two months. As long as total war broke out within two months, Gadwall would be able to act directly and the world be hers!

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Filled with determination, the woman turned her attention to the plentiful piles of documents and memory orbs on the study table. If she wanted to achieve her goal, Anhinga needed to find out why everything was suddenly falling apart.

    Meticulously, Anhinga started to go through every piece of information that had been gathered, but as she worked her newfound vigor slowly faded, her face growing paler with every new case she looked into.

    "Why . . ." Anhinga''s hands were shaking violently and the last memory orb slipped out of her unsteady grip, crashing into a million pieces on the marble floor. "It . . . it must be my imagination, right?"

    When the purple hair had arrived together with her son''s ''remains'', and when Anhinga had seen the crude bird carved into the box''s lid, her mind had instantly traveled to the Nightingale Clan''s little treasure, Raven Nightingale, whose unique hair color was hard to find anywhere else. Still, the notion had only stayed with her for a moment because there were simply too few who knew about Anhinga''s involvement in the ordeal - in fact, her family and Gadwall excepted, everyone else who knew anything at all had been killed to keep them silent!

    Since then, Anhinga had told herself that the hair and the bird could be nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence, but could she still do that? Every single file on the clamored table seemed to have something that would pull Anhinga''s mind to the Nightingale family and their demise.

    Sometimes the connection was in the target itself - like with the previously very Nightingale-loyal merchant family who had all been slaughtered in their beds by a ''random robber''. That family''s so called loyalty had quite easily been bought by Anhinga long before the Nightingale''s demise, and they had then played a large part in quickly changing the ''Nightingale Prefecture'' into the ''Black Talon Prefecture''.

    Other times, the scene of the crime itself was the catalyst - like in the Rapesco family house, where Anhinga''s bandit leaders would come to do business. The entire house was stripped bare and, on the door facing the street, a wounded nightingale-like bird was painted with pig''s blood, marking the house as a place of greed and ill-fortune.

    For others, all of these things might seem random and irrelevant, causing the Talon Clan investigators to mark them down as mere oddities, but for Anhinga it was different. For her every detail screamed at her budding conscience, forcing her to remember what she had done.

    "S-someone knows?" The woman couldn''t help but anxiously dart her eyes across the room, half expecting someone to be watching her - it had essentially only been a nervous tic but, in the corner of her eyes, Anhinga caught sight of a small piece of paper slipping in through the crack at the bottom of the room''s only door.

    Anhinga stared blankly at the note for a while, within her an inexplicably foreboding sensation welled up, lodging itself in her throat; she didn''t want to take a closer look at that piece of paper. . . .

    Nonetheless, she eventually got to her feet and walked over to the door. When she picked up the note and flipped it over only one word was written on it with fine, curvy letters: Yes.

    White as a ghost, Anhinga slammed open the door, but the corridor outside was empty, save for a faint echo of a young girl''s playful laughter disappearing into the distance.

    <hr />

    In the darkness outside the Talon''s city mansion a few leaves fell to the ground as a black figure soundlessly appeared in the dense foliage of an old tree.

    Raven glanced back at the house she had just left with a cold grin.

    ''It''s too late to regret your actions now, aunt. . . . You made your bed long ago - it''s time for you to sleep in it.''

    With a powerful yet silent burst of spirit essence, Raven''s body flickered and disappeared into the night.

    <hr />

    Barely three days later, about a dozen or so people were gathering in the grand Audience Hall of the deep-blue Indigo Cloud Palace, high above the layered Sky City. Today was the day Emperor Mallard and Anhinga had agreed to meet and discuss the matter concerning the murder of young Dunlin.

    Originally it had been stipulated that the meeting should be a rather private affair - kept mostly between the two people previously mentioned - but, on Anhinga''s request, it had been expanded and more people were requested to attend, last-minute.

    If one was not aware of the situation, this development would seem a bit odd, but it did however suit Raven''s intentions just perfectly. Initially she had been hard pressed to figure out a way, to not only be present today, but also have the opportunity to speak if need be. That little problem was swiftly solved when the group expanded.

    Naturally, even as the sole disciple of headmaster Swan, Raven was not qualified to attend such a meeting - regardless of its size - but Empress Nene was, and where Empress Nene went, at least one trusted maid would always follow.

    Today that ''maid'' was Raven.

    Wearing the traditional maids uniform - that for Raven looked like a fusion between a nun''s habit and a french maid costume - Raven stayed constantly five steps behind the Empress as the two of them entered the Audience Hall. Raven kept her head lowered as her other senses painstakingly mapped out the situation in the room.

    At the moment, neither the Emperor nor Anhinga had arrived, but Raven knew it wouldn''t be long until they showed up. With graceful movements, Empress Nene headed for one of the people who had already arrived and Raven smiled secretly to herself.

    "Uncle," the empress greeted with a warm smile. "It''s been too long."

    "Silly girl," the other responded with much love in his voice; "we saw each other only yesterday!"

    The smile on Empress Nene''s face didn''t waver. "Isn''t that too long ago, Uncle Eider?"

    Headmaster Swan chuckled. "Indeed," he replied and gave Raven a quick glance.

    Before she had met her mother''s childhood friend again, Raven had found it a bit odd that Swan had managed to persuade the Empress to bring in a total stranger as her trusted maid, and to such an important meeting at that, but the instant Raven sensed the latter''s presence she had realized the truth; the two of them were blood related.

    ''It would seem like the prematurely snow-white is a Swan family trait,'' Raven mused as she stole a sidelong glance at the uncle-niece pair, but her relaxed attitude faded in very next second; Anhinga was about to arrive.

 Chapter 87: Intrigues

    Intrigues

    The muscles in Raven''s hands twitched slightly as she glanced over towards the hall''s main doorway. Striding in with an entourage of three solemn-looking clan elders, Anhinga passed through the open doors solemnly. She was dressed from head-to-toe in black velvet, even wearing a thin black veil over her face; clearly, she wanted to show that she was in mourning.

    When Anhinga entered, Empress Nene''s face overflowed with pity and sadness as she hurried to greet the now childless mother.

    "My dear Lady Talon," she called out even before she had reached Anhinga''s side. Once within reach, Nene threw royalty and titles out the window as she instantly pulled the woman into a tight embrace, wholeheartedly hugging Anhinga.

    "I am so, so very sorry for your loss! Just the thought of anything happening to my son . . . and in such a ghastly way. . . ." Nene''s voice was slightly unsteady as warm tears ran down her cheek. Five steps behind her, Raven was silently impressed by the Empress'' display of compassion; she had heard Nene speaking her mind about Raven''s aunt and it was clear that there was no true sympathy for the woman.

    Anhinga seemed to be slightly taken aback by the Empress'' sudden show of affection, but she adapted quickly and actually chose to return the embrace, seemingly letting go of some of her pent-up sorrow in Nene''s arms. Those present who knew both sides of the story, couldn''t help but find the pair''s act rather comical.

    The hug didn''t last very long and once the two backed away from each other, the remaining people in the audience hall made their way forward to express their condolences - this included Gadwall, who was officially present as a representative for Sky Academy.

    Of course, the servants in the room made no attempts to speak with the grieving Prefecture Lord and Anhinga didn''t even glance at them, so Raven had no problem hiding her identity. Not that Raven''s disguise would fall under scrutiny; the maid uniforms shawl covered all her hair and as long she kept her eyes - and killing intent - down, no one was likely to notice her unique eye color, thus hiding her most prominent features.

    Eventually most had said what they wanted to say to Anhinga and the audience hall grew quiet. This was the moment the attendants had been waiting for, so it didn''t take long before the emperor''s doors were swung open and Emperor Mallard entered. Just like always, he was wearing golden robes that made him look very regal, but with more black details this time - also a sign of respect for the dead.

    "Emperor," the collected greeting towards Mallard rang out in unison as everyone bowed respectfully to their ruler, Anhinga and Gadwall included.

    "Rise," he answered sounding a bit sad, "I''ll have none of this today." Mallard''s gaze landed on Anhinga and her group. "You have my deepest condolences for your loss, Lady Talon."

    Anhinga only nodded in return.

    Mallard took a seat in the large throne close by the door he had entered through and Nene was quick to join him, standing beautifully on his right side. "Well, then," he said and looked out over the people present, most of which were members of Sky Empire''s Council. "Myself and Lady Talon have called you here to discuss the matters concerning the death of Black Talon Prefecture''s heir, Dunlin Talon. As all of you are aware, Dunlin was killed in the wilderness a few weeks back and while the body has yet to be recovered, we can no longer put off informing the public. It is my op-"

    "Emperor Mallard," Anhinga suddenly interrupted.

    "Lady Talon?" Mallard didn''t seem very upset by being interjected.

    "Although the public announcement of my son''s death is indeed important, it is something the Emperor and myself could have decided on our own. It is not why I wished for the esteemed members of the Council to be present today."

    ''Here we go,'' thought Raven as Mallard raised an eyebrow in surprised, indicating for Anhinga to elaborate.

    "What I wish to discuss is how we will act against his killer," Anhinga said with a firm voice which indicated that she had a specific person in mind.

    "Lady Talon, you know who killed your son?" Empress Nene sounded both amazed and happy at the news. "That is wonderful! Tell us and we shall bring them to justice!"

    "Indeed - I do know, but matters are not that straightforward." Anhinga looked away, seemingly reluctant to speak further, but before she could be prompted to do so, Anhinga''s face snapped back up again. "Emperor, Councillors, I ask you: if someone plotted against our kingdom, worked against us and even went as far as targeting our next generation of leaders, what would your response be?"

    "Retaliation, naturally!" answered one of the Council members without hesitation. He was a seasoned man who acted as the army''s representative in the Council; he was not one to back down from a fight.

    Noticing several people nodding in agreement, Anhinga continued; "And if the person plotting against us wasn''t a person at all, but rather a nation, what then?"

    The same man was about to answer again when the emperor slammed down his fist on his armrest, effectively halting the man''s response. To the side, Raven''s eyes narrowed.

    "What is this about, Lady Talon?" Mallard asked, gravely.

    "The Emperor knows that I have been looking into my son''s death, as any mother would, but what I uncovered is far beyond me, or even my Talon Clan. . . ." Anhinga paused, and this time she really needed urging along before she continued. "I believe the Earth Empire is behind my son''s death."

    "What!?" several Council members expressed their shock immediately. "Preposterous!"

    "I know it is hard to digest - I felt the same - but the evidence doesn''t lie."

    At once, numerous voices started speaking their opinions but Mallard raised his hand and silence spread once more.

    "These are serious accusations, Lady Talon." The Emperor stared intently at Anhinga, but she remained composed.

    "I know, your Majesty," she answered.

    "What is this evidence you speak of?"

    "As your Majesty knows, Jack Tanuki often kept company with my son and was last seen leaving the academy together with Dunlin. His location has not been confirmed since."

    The Emperor gave neither denial nor confirmation for this but Anhinga clearly took his silence as the latter and continued her story.

    "When I visited the room my Dunlin shared with that vile boy, I found this." Upset, Anhinga pulled out a bunch of papers and threw them on the ground. "Letters! Letters with detailed instructions for Jack to lure my poor son out into the wilderness and . . ." Anhinga''s voice faltered and one of the clan members she had arrived with hurried to her side - comforting her.

    At the emperors command, a servant stepped forward and picked up the letters handed them to him. Mallard flipped through the papers while the other people present watched with anticipation, eager to learn if what Anhinga said was true.

    "This is indeed serious," the emperor said eventually, leaning back in his throne. "Here I have letters which really do suggest that Jack Tanuki was asked to use his friendship with Dunlin to secretly kill him while away from the city. . ."

    Several shocked gasps rang out in the hall and, even with Anhinga''s face hidden, Raven could feel the woman''s glee. ''Too soon, aunt,'' Raven snickered privately.

    "And yet," the emperor continued as he withdrew a new piece of paper from within a spacial ring; "here is another letter - or distress call rather - sent by Jack Tanuki himself, claiming that Dunlin was the one trying to kill him." As the last words left his mouth the Mallard focused his eyes intently on Raven''s aunt.

    There was an even larger intake of air in the room but the noise was drowned out by Anhinga''s shouting.

    "Lies!" she bellowed, stomping her feet on the marble floor. "My son would never do such a thing! Clearly that is only a murderer''s attempt to shift blame elsewhere!"

    "Perhaps, but I''m afraid it is word against word at the moment; both sets of evidence are equally hard to prove."

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    "How can you say that, your Majesty? My son is dead! If he was trying to kill the Tanuki boy, how come it''s my son that died while the other has fled the country?" In rage Anhinga tore off her black veil, revealing tear-soaked makeup. It looked quite dramatic but Mallard seemed unfazed.

    "Now you are making hasty assumptions, Lady Talon," he said. "Jack Tanuki has been found, hiding in a collapsed cave."

    Both Anhinga and Gadwall failed to hide their surprise at this piece of news, but only Raven took note off the confusion in the vice headmaster''s eyes.

    ''He really expected Jack to be dead?'' Raven pondered in her mind. ''Does he have a reason for this?''

    "Where is he?" Anhinga asked as soon as she recovered her wits, skillfully hiding the panic she was starting to feel. "I want to look my son''s killer in the eyes and demand some answers!"

    Mallard shook his head. "That will be hard; the boy has yet to arrive back in the city but my understanding is that he is far from lucid. Whatever he experienced out there seems to have broken him."

    Both relief and disappointment flashed across Anhinga''s eyes, no doubt conflicted between the need to prove Jack guilty and the will to actually find out what happened to her son.

    "Emperor," a stout man suddenly spoke out, asking if he could speak. He was one of the nation''s nine Councillors and Anhinga looked pleased by his wish to voice his opinion, but Raven knew it wouldn''t last long. The man''s loyalty had originally been bought by her aunt, but Raven had recently bought it back, adding some additional ''incentive'' as well.

    "Emperor, there is something that strikes me as a bit odd," said the man once he had gotten the approval to speak. "I''ve been informed that Lady Talon learned of her son''s death due to a certain . . . delivery to her house. If young Tanuki has gone mad, for whatever reason, how would he have been able to arrange such a . . . package?"

    "You . . !" Anhinga was about to explode with rage at the man''s mention of her son''s remains but managed to contain it. "He had help, obviously!" she argued instead, grasping at straws.

    The Councillor shook his head. "I do not doubt that a third-party was involved - after all, if young Tanuki didn''t kill Dunlin, someone else must have - but abandoning a mentally broken companion while running away himself? It doesn''t seem likely."

    "I agree," said another Councillor. "Especially considering that distress letter and the sk-. . . ehem, delivery; if they wished to shift the blame on Dunlin himself, wouldn''t it have been better if both Jack and Dunlin disappeared at the same time?"

    Almost everyone present nodded in agreement and Raven''s lips twitched slightly. Although few on her side knew the entire story surrounding Dunlin''s death and the Talon Clan''s betrayal, Raven had made sure that they had just the right amount of information and incentive they needed to speak up against Anhinga. The woman would find it hard to convince them of anything.

    "There is also the matter of the documents in the boy''s dorm room," the stout Councillor spoke once more. "Wouldn''t someone skilled enough to fake a friendship to kill someone, not also be smart enough to not keep such sensitive material lying around in their combined room? Do not take this the wrong way Lady Talon, but I would be more inclined to believe that you are trying to frame Jack than the other way around." He then laughed and quickly added, "not that I''m saying that Lady Talon would ever stoop so low."

    Hearing this Raven almost started laughing. Part of the reason why her aunt had managed to buy that man''s loyalty had been due to a false accusation Anhinga had made about his family. Clearly he knew exactly how low ''Lady Talon'' was capable of stooping.

    Containing her laughter, Raven glanced over at Gadwall. Apart from his surprise at Jack''s survival, the man hadn''t been reacting in any way that wasn''t expected of Sky Academy''s Vice Headmaster.

    ''How long will he stay neutral, I wonder. . . ?''

    The conversations about pushing blame about grew more intense as those still loyal to Anhinga started voicing their opinions but most of their arguments were quickly shot down. Eventually the Emperor sighed heavily, causing all others to quiet down.

    "I do not know what happened to the two boys in the wilderness, and it is apparent that both sides are trying to blame the other. This is a very important matter and must be investigated closely before a verdict can be made." The emperor looked at Anhinga with some measure of sympathy. "If Lady Talon has provided false evidence, then now is the time to say it. I am sure that it was only done in the heat of the moment, by a mother grieving her lost son."

    When Mallard had mentioned the need of a thorough investigation, Raven heard Anhinga''s pulse shoot through the roof. Since there were no sane witnesses to her cousin''s death it was likely that any investigations would take quite some time to complete, time Anhinga didn''t have. Besides, there was no guarantee that the results would help her achieve her goal. However, when presented with the opportunity to come clean, Anhinga was still quick to reject it. In fact, she rather seemed to have found her footing again.

    Slightly bowing her head, Anhinga spoke solemnly; "Indeed, there is a possibility that the papers in my son''s room are just as fake as Jack''s accusations against my boy. I apologize for being hasty in my conclusions. However," Anhinga straightened her back and faced the emperor; "I can assure you it was not done by me. Truth be told, I have kept a close eye on what has been going on in the Sky Empire ever since I took over after my brother and I have noticed several occasions where innocent people have been framed for crimes they didn''t commit. My son''s death is perhaps only another case of this."

    "What do you mean, Lady Talon?" one of the secretly Talon-loyal Councillors asked, playing his role as confused official masterfully.

    ''Ugh, this is why I hate politicians. . . .'' sulked Raven. She was a manipulative person herself but for an assassin of her caliber that was a necessary feature, for political leaders it was rather a bug.

    Unaware of Raven''s internal monologue, Anhinga had no qualms with answering the Councillor''s question. "There has been quite a few times when high officials have been accused of crimes they didn''t commit. Like the merchant accused of smuggling soul ore to the Earth Empire, only to later have it proven that he had been home sick the entire time. There is also the marshal accused of stealing military plans and selling them on the black market, who was later freed when a servant was caught with them. Also, we cannot forget how our own Empress Nene was framed for treason a few years back. . . ."

    Once more Raven found herself pushing back laughter. ''Those were all accusations stemming from you that I resolved. To think that my aunt would try to use them to her favor now!'' Raven shook her head mentally. ''Well, it''s actually not that bad of a plan on her part. However. . . .'' The corner of Raven''s lips curled into a small smile, but her smile quickly froze because of what Anhinga had to say next.

    "Clearly someone is trying to bring chaos to our empire and break us from within!" Anhinga''s eyes grew moist yet again. "Actually, I have reason to believe that perhaps the death of my poor brother and his family was the first step. . . ."

    Intense killing intent flashed in Raven''s eyes and instantly it seemed as if the temperature in the entire room dropped several degrees. Almost as quickly as it had come, Raven managed to suppress her emotions and the cold chill dissipated. Few registered the event as anything more than a shudder, but not everyone was fooled. A handful of them were now staring intently at the Empress'' maid in waiting with disbelief, but Raven didn''t care.

    She was boiling with rage.

    ''How dare that bitch use and lie about my family''s death, yet again!?''

    Raven would not let this pass. Not this time.

 Chapter 88: Fatal Consequences

    With narrowed eyes, Gadwall observed the petite woman who was standing quietly a few steps away from her mistress, the Empress Nene. A few seconds ago, Gadwall could have sworn that he felt a bone-chilling killing intent surge out from the maid''s small body, to the point were even he himself felt threatened. However, looking at her now, Gadwall couldn''t help but believe that he was mistaken.

    ''How could such a weak little thing possibly shake me?'' he tried to convince himself and yet, as he looked closer at the girl, Gadwall felt an odd sense of familiarity. ''Have I seen this girl before?''

    "What do you mean by ''first step'', Lady Talon? Are you saying that the deaths of the Nightingale Clan''s head family wasn''t an accident?" Emperor Mallard''s stern voice pulled Gadwall''s attention back to the scene in front of him.

    "I am, your Majesty." Anhinga sounded extremely sad as she reminisced on the past. "Until recently, I too thought my brother had perished due to a careless mistake on his part but, when I went through my son''s possessions I found something that he must have been too afraid to share with anyone. . . ."

    <hr />

    With anger still boiling within her, Raven watched as Anhinga pulled out a small glass-like green orb and a larger metallic bowl from within her spacial ring. Slipping the orb into the bowl, Anhinga placed them both on the ground and took a few steps back. Seconds later, the orb started to glow softly before a beam of light shot out, projecting images onto the nearby wall.

    Initially, Raven had only intended to glance at whatever nonsense her cousin has supposedly recorded but as she saw the proud deep-green eyes of her father staring back at her, Raven''s head snapped up, his gaze locked on the projected image.

    There, in the all-too familiar main hall of the Nightingale Manor, Lord Maleo smiled warmly at her as he lovingly held his wife - Raven''s mother - in a tight embrace. The graceful figure of Besra Nightingale leaned into Maleo''s arms as she too smiled at Raven. Seconds later, a young boy ran into the picture and happily jumped into the pair''s now outstretched arms.

    It was her brother.

    A lone tear escaped Raven''s eyes. Her family. How long had it been since she had seen them like this? Happy and united. Alive.

    For a moment the world around Raven seemed to disappear - there was nothing but her and her family, looking lovingly at each other - but suddenly a fourth figure entered the frame. Raven saw herself rush in. She was younger and dressed in fine silks, with her dark hair nearly scraping against the floor, and she was giggling happily. The young Raven turned to face her, beckoning the older Raven to come closer.

    "Come on, cousin!" the young Raven called; "let''s play together!"

    Only now did Raven''s mind snap out of the daze that seeing her family alive again had put her in. She wasn''t at home with her family - she was only watching a recording!

    Raven''s awareness was pulled back into the audience hall at Indigo Cloud Palace, were a quick glance over at the now crying Anhinga caused Raven''s fists to cramp in rage. Raven''s memory was excellent; she had never treated her cousin so warmly. The memory recording was faked.

    Returning her attention to the false memory, Raven''s fists turned even whiter and it didn''t take long before red drops escaped from within, tainting her white apron. She could guess what was coming, but she couldn''t look away.

    On the projected image, the younger versions of Hoatzin and Raven could be seen playing happily with the recording Dunlin, eventually opting for a game of hide-and-seek. The young Raven had insisted on doing the searching and Dunlin had quickly hid himself in a large cupboard, leaving a small crack open in the door so he could see outside. He watched as the young girl counted down.

    "13, 12, 8, 11, 10, 7 . . ." The few mistakes she made in the number sequence caused not only her recorded parents, but also some of the Councillors, to chuckle softly.

    It was an idyllic scene, but just as the young Raven finally reached zero that peaceful atmosphere was instantly shattered. With a loud bang, the large doors to the room were shattered open and five black-dressed individuals stormed in.

    What followed was nothing short of a bloodbath.

    Caught unawares, Maleo did his best to defend his family but the opponents seemed to have the same cultivation level as he did, so in the end there was nothing he could do but watch as two of his opponents rushed past him and swung at the defenseless and terrified little Raven. The sword came down but before it could reach its mark Besra''s anguished voice called out as she threw herself in front of her daughter.

    The strike was instantly fatal.

    Maleo seemed to go mad with grief and somehow he managed to strike down one of the men he was fighting, but before he could reach his daughter''s side, a second attack was made against little Raven. Once more the blade descended, but once more it fell short of its mark. This time around it was Hoatzin that had miraculously managed to deflect the incoming sword just enough to be able shove his sister out of the way. "Run!" he shouted as he bravely stood between Raven and her assailants, but the young girl''s legs wouldn''t move.

    Even though Maleo desperately fought to reach his children, the result was unavoidable; what could Hoatzin, a mere Spirit Novice, do to delay two mid Champions? The boy was rammed through by a jade-green blade within milliseconds and the young Raven was scooped up, a second blade held against her throat.

    "Stop fighting, or the girl is dead," the man holding Raven shouted and instantly her father froze.

    At this point the real Raven closed her eyes. Somewhere along the way every muscle in her body had tensed to their max before suddenly relaxing completely. When Raven reopened her eyes, not even a whiff of killing intent could be seen in what were now two obsidian-black holes.

    In fact, no emotions whatsoever were present on Raven''s face as her entire being seemed to melt into the surroundings; it was like she was there and yet not there at the same time.

    She was calm. Deadly calm.

    <hr />

    Another shudder ran through Gadwall''s body. This time there was no oppressive killing intent in the room, it was rather a question of instincts. He looked around the room, but he couldn''t find anything out of the ordinary. Gadwall''s eyes finally landed on the Empress'' small serving-girl and was surprise to find her pitch black eyes staring apathetically at the memory being projected on the opposite wall.

    Previously the girl had kept her gaze lowered so hadn''t seen her eyes, but now that he could see them, Gadwall felt himself unable to look away. He had never seen such lifeless and cold eyes before.

    By now, every Nightingale in the projected memory had been killed and a sixth black-robed individual had arrived in the room. The several Councillors who were watching suddenly drew in a deep breath as the hood slipped off from that last individual, only to reveal the stunningly handsome face of one of Sky Academy''s more famous Elders, Elder Willow.

    The image faded, seemingly due to Dunlin fainting, and the audience hall descended in silence, only disturbed by Anhinga''s quiet sobbing. Glancing about the room, Gadwall noticed with glee that shock was apparent on everyone''s faces. Well almost everyone''s; the servant girl was as cold and apathetic as before.

    "Your Majesty," wept Anhinga, "please! While your Majesty might not believe in Jack''s involvement in my Dunlin''s death, please believe in this record left by my son! Elder Willow clearly ordered my poor brother''s death! Just think how afraid my son must have been, attending the same academy as that monster!"

    Anhinga''s crying intensified as she collapsed on the floor and Gadwall had to admit that the woman was fairly quick-witted. Directly pushing the responsibility of everything her clan had done onto the other empires, had only been a back-up plan, should all else fail, and yet she had prepared it with so much detail. Even he was impressed by her ability to manipulate memory orbs.

    Looking up at the Emperor and his wife, Gadwall finally saw some doubt. Until now it had seemed as if they already had an opinion about what was going on, but now they were starting to have doubts. Just a bit more and war would be inevitable.

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    "Emperor, if I may?" Gadwall decided to provide the last nail in the coffin himself. "A thorough investigation into the orbs authenticity must be made but that will take time. I suggest we capture and interrogate Elder Willow at once. I have always liked the man and if this is indeed true then I would like to think that he is likely only working under someone else''s command."

    Several Councillors murmured their consent but the Emperor looked confused. He kept glancing up at his wife, who seemed equally unsure of what to do. More opinions and suggestions were given and Gadwall was just about to speak again when a cold and detached voice cut him off.

    "There is no need."

    It was a simple sentence, spoke without shouting, but at once the growing buzz in the audience hall quieted down. Everyone''s eyes fell on the Empress'' maid-in-waiting who slowly stepped forward.

    It wasn''t until the girl stood a mere meter away from Anhinga that the latter reacted. "Why are you even talking, servant girl!?" she shouted and was about to get to her feet when the girl''s black eyes locked on her. Immediately, Anhinga faltered, choosing to remain on the ground. "Th-this doesn''t involve you. . . ." Anhinga managed to stutter out.

    "Doesn''t involve me?" the girl''s mouth twitched into a smile that wasn''t really a smile. "You are spewing lies about the death of my family and you say it doesn''t involve me?"

    "What the. . . ?" Anhinga started but before she could finish her sentence a silvery flash stabbed down in front of her. A beautifully etched sword sunk into the marble floor like butter, its finely vibrating blade producing a soft hum that filled the audience hall.

    "Recognize this?" the girl asked and Anhinga''s eyes widened in shock, her face paling. Gadwall''s eyes narrowed; this didn''t look good.

    Despite her reaction stating otherwise, Anhinga still shook her head, denying to recognize the sword.

    "You don''t recognize it? Then how about this?" the girl yanked at her clothes, swiftly ripping off the concealing shawl around her head. As she straightened out Anhinga wasn''t the only one to stare in shock. Shoulder-long midnight-purple hair framed the porcelain face of the young girl, whose previously boring appearance now bore a startling resemblance to the late Lady Besra Nightingale. Only the girl''s black eyes and emotionless expression made her seem a bit out-of-place.

    "Well?" she prompted. "Do you recognize the face of your beloved brother''s daughter?"

    Anhinga was incapable of answering. She stared at the girl as if she had seen a ghost and that was all Gadwall needed to know that the servant girl was indeed Raven Nightingale.

    ''Wait, Raven Nightingale?'' Gadwall looked closer at the girl. ''It is him; Raven Night is actually Raven Nightingale! I knew I''d seen that face somewhere!''

    The realization made Gadwall extremely frustrated. With the real Raven showing up, it was unlikely that Anhinga''s plan today would succeed. If anything, it was more likely that everything he had striven so hard to disrupt would be resolved, just because one little girl escaped. Seeing how such a young child had survived it was also apparent that she must have had some sort of help - perhaps they were the ones behind his other plans falling apart as well?

    Gadwall sighed. Had he not been so greedy and wished for Raven Night to grow stronger before he stole the kids cultivation, things would most likely have gone much smoother.

    Now he would have to do things a bit differently after all.

    <hr />

    Raven''s mind zeroed in on her aunt but despite her focus, Raven still picked up every little movement within the audience hall. It hadn''t been her initial plan to confront her aunt like this, but she had been left no choice. Not only would Raven''s rage not let Anhinga''s false testimony slip by, but the recorded images had sowed a seed of doubt within both Nene and Mallard; unless she revealed herself the pair might actually start believing her aunt''s story.

    "You have no words for me, aunt?" Raven sneered. "You kill my family, plot against not only your own empire, but the other two as well, and not even a sorry?"

    For a while now a seething and viscous anger not entirely her own had been seeping through Raven, threatening to push her out of control any minute. She wanted nothing more than to charge at her aunt, barehanded, and tear her to pieces. It was perhaps only the wish to see the despair in Anhinga''s eyes when she realized her doom was near that kept Raven sane. There was also the issue with Gadwall. . . .

    Raven felt a growl growing in the back of her throat. ''Fuck it,'' she thought as she looked at the pale and shaking Anhinga. ''I might as well kill her now and see what Gadwall has to say about it!''

    "Emperor Mallard," Raven boomed and tossed a jade seal over her shoulder without taking her eyes of Anhinga. "That is proof of my identity. Your Majesty has seen the evidence that the headmaster and I have collected. I am claiming justice for my family here and now and only ask not to be interfered with. I will bear the consequences of my actions."

    Without waiting Raven grabbed the hilt of her sword and closed the last meter between her and her aunt. She noticed Mallard moving to protest but Empress Nene placed a hand on his shoulder, casting meaningful glares at the present palace guards. The meaning was clear; don''t interfere.

    Pleased, Raven leaned in to her aunts ear. "Dear aunt," she whispered in a killing-intent laced voice that only Anhinga could hear. "Send my regards to Dunlin. Hopefully the heat of Hell keeps him warm enough, even without his skin." Anhinga''s eyes widened in fear and shock, and while she wanted to move the thick killing intent locked her in place.

    "Oh, right," added Raven, "you better enjoy Hell while you can, auntie dear - it won''t be pleasant for you once I get there."

    Feeling her control slipping further, Raven let out a low growl as red and black spirit essence condensed around her sword. With a stab so fast that even headmaster Swan couldn''t quite catch it, Raven''s sword sliced clean through Anhinga''s throat. However, the expected stream of blood never came.

    Raven swirled around and glared viciously at the white-robed figure that was hovering mid-air, holding her barely conscious aunt by the neck of her robes. Streams of black, semi-translucent spirit essence swirled around them both as Gadwall looked at those bellow arrogantly.

    "Gadwall!" Raven bellowed but even through the raging anger, she couldn''t help but feel a bit dumbfounded. ''He can fly!?'' Strong spiritualists could jump incredibly high and, once you reached the Spirit Master level, controlling spirit essence to slow ones decent wasn''t impossible, but flying? No way.

    Before Raven had any time considering this further, Gadwall turned his gaze to the ceiling and pointed. The instant his finger stopped moving, an incredible gale of pitch-black spirit essence surged out from him directly blasting a hole through the roof. Raven''s eyes widened as she sensed the presence of an approaching Spirit Beast outside and even before Gadwall had started moving, Raven kicked off from the ground.

    Below her, Headmaster Swan''s face paled, but there was nothing he could do; Gadwall had already acted. With a casual flick of his wrist Gadwall tossed Anhinga out of the opening in the roof and even though his movement had started after Raven, Anhinga was long gone by the time Raven reached him. At the same time, a transparent membrane had spread out beneath Gadwall, which didn''t even flinch when Raven slammed into it with all the strength she could muster.

    Like a shooting star, Raven slammed back down on the ground, creating a minor crater in the hard stone.

    "Not so fast, little one," Gadwall chuckled, his voice sounding nothing like it had before. "I''m afraid time''s up."

 Chapter 89: A Losing Battle

    A Losing Battle

    Struggling to get on her hands and knees, Raven glared up at Gadwall, her irises even blacker than before and with blood seeping from her snarling mouth. Wild spirit essence surged within her and as she clenched her fingers, groves were left in the marble tiles.

    Raven was not pleased at being stopped. ''Kill. . . .''

    By now, the other people in the audience hall had overcome their initial shock and confusion. Two black-robed guards materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, next to the imperial couple. They spread out their spirit essence like a protective cocoon around themselves and the two they were protecting; shockingly, they were both low Spirit Masters. Headmaster Snow had in turn moved to stand in front of Raven, while the people who had arrived with Anhinga, or were otherwise loyal to the Talon Clan, rushed over to stand in formation underneath Gadwall.

    The new arrangements meant that Raven''s line-of-sight of the airborne Trivian was blocked, but she didn''t care. She could still feel him - the obstacle between Raven and her prey - hovering only a few meters away. Boundless killing intent threatened to break free from Raven at any moment. She didn''t even realize that Headmaster Swan was trying to speak with her.

    ''Kill. . . .''

    "What''s the meaning of this, Vice Headmaster Gadwall!?" demanded the Emperor with as much regal aplomb as he could muster under the circumstances.

    Gadwall barely glanced at Emperor Mallard before he started laughing.

    "Vice Headmaster Gadwall!" Mallard shouted once more.

    "Now, now, Emperor, no need to get so riled up on my account," Gadwall smiled condescendingly at the middle-aged ruler before ignoring him completely. "I had intended to be a bit more discrete about all this but the survival of one little brat changed things," Gadwall sighed, to himself more than anyone else. "Anhinga''s attempts at world war were . . . commendable, but I suppose what they say is right: if you want something done, you should do it yourself."

    Black smoke of condensed spirit essence poured out of Gadwall like a flood, instantly filling the air below him. The black spirit essence fog swallowed everyone. Even the Talon loyalists weren''t spared; the black strands of smoke forced its way into their bodies as well.

    For everyone with a cultivation level below high Spirit Champion, resistance was futile. No matter what they did, the black spirit essence couldn''t be stopped and once it entered a person''s body, they immediately collapsed, drained of all life force.

    However, while the rest were able to put up a fight, it was clear that they too were fighting a losing battle. Even the Spirit Masters in the room were finding it hard to resist the black smoke''s invasion - although this was partially due to the fact that the majority of them were busy protecting someone next to them.

    In all the chaos, no one noticed how the natural spirit essence in the audience hall slowly started to move, as if pulled by a great gravitational force. ''Kill. . . .''

    Within seconds, two-thirds of everyone in the room had been killed by Gadwall''s smoke. As more people died, the dark spirit essence refocused its efforts, putting even more pressure on the few survivors. Above, Gadwall laughed manically at the sight.

    "You can''t do this Gadwall; it''s against the treaty!" Finally Headmaster Swan spoke up. He had long since crushed the jade talisman that would alert Fenris, but since their savior had yet to show up, all he could do was stall for time.

    Gadwall''s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Oh, so there is someone on this measly little continent who still remembers - how amusing! However, what the Realm Council doesn''t know won''t upset them, right? With all of you dead, who is going to prove that it wasn''t one of the other nations that attacked you?" Gadwall smiled smugly. "Lady Talon will be so brave, avenging all of you."

    ''Kill. . . .'' Minuscule cracks started spreading through the marble tiles, forming a spiderweb on the floor.

    Sweat was forming on Swan''s brow now; he was finding it increasingly hard to protect both himself and Raven behind him. "Don''t be ridiculous, Gadwall! The other Empires would not be capable of killing us like this - no one will believe it!"

    "Not even with one of these?" A small, exotic-looking, yellow flower appeared in Gadwall''s hand.

    Swan was not the only one to gasp in shock. "The Phoenix Death Lotus!" breathed the Empress, no doubt thinking back on the report she had read about her childhood friend''s death. Anger suddenly overshadowed the anxiety she was feeling and she glared up at Gadwall. "It was you, wasn''t it! You ba-. . ."

    Nene''s sentence was suddenly cut short by what could only be describes as an explosion of silence; Nene didn''t speak, Gadwall didn''t laugh and the strained breathing of the still-fighting spiritualists quieted down. With pale faces everyone turned to look at the crouched figure behind Headmaster Swan. They couldn''t explain why, but, just by looking at this small person, they - who had just been fighting for their lives - were first now truly afraid. Even Gadwall couldn''t help but gulp instinctively.

    ''Kill. . . .'' Slowly the figure lifted its head.

    "Ra-. . ." Swan started, but at this point Raven''s eyes flashed open, revealing nothing but an abyss of black. Dense spirit essence and killing intent exploded out of her body, forming a swirling orb of deep red mist around her.

    With a growl that quickly turned into a roar, Raven pounced forward. Terrified, Swan tried to stop her, but, when he came in contact with the red mist around Raven, his vision blurred and he found himself in a sea of blood and despair. The scene only lasted for a second before Swan managed to use his spirit essence to break the illusion and stabilize his mind, but that was all the time Raven needed.

    She dashed past Swan and, shockingly, there was no sign of Gadwall''s black smoke blocking the red mist around her. In fact, it was rather as if the two were merging into one, rapidly growing the sphere around Raven.

    With a flash, Raven arrived under Gadwall and kicked off from the ground, causing large cracks to appear in the flooring.

    All on Raven''s mind was to rip that man apart!

    <hr />

    "Kill!"

    Dazed, Gadwall watched as the Nightingale brat roared and struck at him, barehanded. The now black and red sphere of killing intent and spirit essence wrapped itself around her arm, forming a deadly spear that headed straight for Gadwall''s heart.

    Gadwall, who still hadn''t really gotten over the initial shock of Raven''s transformation and sudden control over his spirit essence, failed to put up the proper defenses. He only felt how he, body and soul, was suddenly submerged in pain and death; the red spirit essence assaulted his mind, while the black - which was originally his own - attacked his flesh.

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    In his mind, Gadwall found himself in the deepest depths of Hell where countless souls screamed at him, clung to him and clawed at him, desperate to have him join them in the land of torturous death. Gadwall screamed in distressed agony.

    Due to the constitution of Trivians, their souls were relatively weak compared to their cultivation, so the fatal weakness for Gadwall and any other Trivian was usually their mental defense. Therefore, ignoring the physical attack on his body, Gadwall focused all his spirit essence on countering Raven''s Ode of Woe, but by the time he finally managed to counter the attack, minute fissures already covered Gadwall''s soul prism.

    With his mind his own again - and a firm mental block in place - Gadwall assessed the state of his body. It was clear that he had taken several hits from the little brat while he was preoccupied dealing with the mental attack, but even with she used the spirit essence Gadwall had deployed earlier, Raven''s attack power at most reached mid Master level. He didn''t know how the kid had taken control over his spirit essence, but, even then, it was still only enough to leave superficial wounds on him, nothing too severe. No, the only damage Gadwall really cared about were the ones done to his soul prism. Those would hamper him for decades to come!

    "How dare you harm me!?" Gadwall howled and stretched out a hand to grab his attacker''s neck, but, to his surprise, all he got was air. "Why you. . . !"

    Gadwall repeated his attempts to grab the Nightingale kid several times, but every time he came up short. With all that killing intent surrounding him and his already damaged soul prism, Gadwall found it too hard to track Raven as she instantly moved from one place to the next. At the same time, no matter how many times she managed to land a hit, the damage was minimal. In fact, it was likely that the brat was harming herself more than him.

    "Bloody wasp!" Gadwall nonetheless finally lost his temper. At first he had wanted to catch Raven and torment her a bit, but now he didn''t care anymore. In rapid succession, Gadwall performed three hand-seals, causing a powerful surge of spirit essence to storm out from him in every direction like rampaging horses; even a high Spirit Master wouldn''t survive a hit from this attack of his.

    "Die!" he shouted and watched in glee at what he expected to be the total annihilation of every person in the room.

    But the bloodbath didn''t come. Instead, the raging spirit essence Gadwall had sent out thinned, eventually diluting into nothing before ever reaching a target. Gadwall frowned.

    "Well, well, well, if it isn''t Young Lord Wutu - fancy meeting you here." A crisp voice rang out above Gadwall, causing him to look up. Immediately a shudder ran down his spine.

    Hovering in the middle of the gaping hole in the roof, with the still struggling Raven tucked under his arm, was a young man in simple light-green robes. The man looked young and ordinary, but Gadwall knew that neither of those words could be used to describe the man in question.

    "Spirit Legend Fenris," Gadwall answered with a curt nod, doing his best to keep his composure. "What are you doing here?"

    Fenris smiled a crocked smile. "I could ask you the same. If I didn''t know better, I would think the young lord was interfering with a lower realm."

    "I wouldn''t dare," Gadwall said humbly but he secretly sneered. ''This Fenris might be strong, but with my backing what can he do?''

    "Right?" Fenris nodded in agreement. "I''ve always thought you lacked the spine for such things."

    "You-. . !" Gadwall was about to lash out after being insulted, but he held back in the end.

    "Hmm?" Fenris gave Gadwall a quizzical look. "Did you say something?"

    Clenching his teeth, Gadwall kept quiet. Noticing his silence Fenris'' smile widened. It looked like he was about to say something when the wildly thrashing girl in his arms actually grabbed Fenris'' hand and bit down on it with her teeth! Seeing this Gadwall momentarily felt very smug; there was no way the aloof Fenris would tolerate such behavior. The brat''s death should be swift, but to Gadwall''s surprise Fenris only chuckled softly.

    "Ah, excuse me, young lord; I''d like to talk more with you in a bit, but first I need to calm this one down."

    Fenris grabbed Raven by her collar, easily pulling her off his arm and turning the struggling youth to face him. A deep blue glint flashed across his eyes.

    <hr />

    "Raven?"

    Through the haze of anger and hate, Raven heard someone calling her name. The voice was very soothing, and it traveled all the way to her soul, urging her to calm down. However, Raven didn''t want to calm down. She was too angry and there were too many people who needed to be killed!

    "Raven, either you claim control of this on your own or I will force it out of you," the voice warned. "This state won''t be helpful to you now."

    ''Control?'' Raven frowned.

    The realization dawned on her that she wasn''t really sure who it was she wanted to kill just moments before. Memories of what had transpired in the audience hall slipped back to her and Raven realized that, somewhere along the way, her emotions had gotten the better of her. She had chucked reason out the window and acted irrationally. She had lost control. Raven, the master assassin, had let her emotions get the better of her!

    Suddenly Raven again felt very angry, but this time the anger was directed at herself. Her proudest characteristic was her calm mind; she would not lose that now.

    Forcing down the rage she felt over her aunt''s betrayal and Gadwall''s actions, Raven couldn''t help but feel that there were more emotions bubbling around within her than she could logically account for.

    ''Is this how pregnant women feel?'' she wondered as she calmed her breathing and stilled her mind. After a while she frowned. As the emotions settled, Raven had also noted that, together with the foreign emotions, a lot of foreign spirit essence flowing through her veins.

    It wasn''t rare to have someone else''s spirit essence within you, that would happened every time you failed to block an attack or during healing, but this was different. Normally in these situations, the foreign spirit essence would have an owner who controlled it so the only way to handle it would be to fight fire with fire and force it out. This spirit essence, on the other hand, felt owner-less and Raven found that she could control its movement to some degree - although that meager control was slipping as she calmed down.

    When her emotions settled, the last strands of foreign spirit essence left her. Raven felt confused over the changes in her body but also knew that now was not the time to deal with it.

    She had other, more important things to do.

 Chapter 90: Leave!

    Leave!

    "You have arrived, Senior Fenris," Raven said with a shallow smile, completely ignoring the fact that Fenris was holding her by the collar of her robes, much like a mother-cat would hold her cubs by their neck-skin. "It took longer than I expected."

    "When there was such an interesting show to watch, why rush?"

    Raven snickered contemptuously inside, but let none of it show on her face. ''I''m starting to agree with brother about this ones personality. . . .''

    She glanced across the room below. It seemed like Fenris hadn''t bothered to freeze anyone this time because everyone except Gadwall and Swan were staring up at them with shocked confusion, not daring to move. Raven ignored them all, instead flashing a cold glare at Gadwall.

    "Does Senior Fenris have the proof he needs?" she asked without looking away from the white-gowned man hovering beneath her. She could see the latter narrowing his eyes at her words.

    "I was getting there when you decided to make an attempt at taking a chomp out of my arm."

    ''Ah'', thought Raven as she glanced down at Fenris'' unblemished sleeve; ''that explains why even my teeth are hurting.''

    Even through the dazed anger, Raven knew that she had been striking Gadwall with every bit of force she could muster. Unfortunately, the difference in cultivation level between the two off the was simply too large; if you punch a mountain wall with all you''ve got, will the mountain or your hand get the most damage? Currently, Raven was hurting and bleeding all over with several serious injuries, both external and internal.

    That was, however, yet another thing she ignored at the moment.

    "Then I''ll leave it to you, Senior," Raven said and lowered her head in a bow, which looked very comical considering how Fenris was holding her.

    Fenris only smiled and turned his attention to Gadwall, but in her head Raven heard Fenris'' playful voice reminding her; "You owe me one, young Raven." She suddenly got the distinct feeling that the favor in question would come to give her plenty of headaches in the future.

    "You know this brat?" asked Gadwall, his question snapping Raven back to the present.

    "Not really," answered Fenris nonchalantly and actually tossed Raven to the side, letting Headmaster Swan catch her injured body. "But I believe that''s beside the point at the moment, don''t you agree?"

    From Swan''s arms, Raven noticed Gadwall''s muscles tensing in frustration and anger but in the end he restrained himself, opting for a different path. "I have done nothing wrong, Spirit Legend Fenris," he said; "she attacked me first so my actions were in self-defense."

    Fenris raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Oh, so altering the events of a realm by blocking an execution is self-defense in your eyes? Interesting. Does that mean the woman from before was actually you?"

    Both Gadwall''s and Raven''s eyes twitched at Fenris'' words, but for very different reasons.

    ''A good show, huh?'' mused Raven bitterly. ''Bloody old fox - only doing what was agreed on! He could at least have stopped Anhinga from fleeing. . . .''

    "I wonder," continued Fenris when Gadwall didn''t respond. "If I looked into this matter a bit more carefully, would I find traces of Trivian spirit essence anywhere? The Council would be very interested in my findings, I''m sure."

    "You wouldn''t dare!" shouted Gadwall, finally unable to suppress his rage. "You might be strong, but one word from me and my family wou-. . ."

    "Would cause all kind of trouble for me? Yes, I am well aware how the Wutu family handles things," smiled Fenris; "but you have to be alive to utter that word, no?"

    Deep blue spirit essence billowed out from Fenris, surrounding him like an awe-inspiring halo. Down on the floor, the oppressive force of that spirit essence wasn''t too hard to handle but, judging by his pale face, the same did not apply for Gadwall. The spirit pressure alone was enough to force him - who was way stronger than the low Spirit Masters Sky Empire had present - down several feet. In fact, Gadwall seemed to be struggling hard just to keep himself airborne at all.

    "Besides, even your family wouldn''t survive the full wrath of the Council."

    Raven observed the two men closely, paying little attention to the healing spirit essence Headmaster Swan was pouring into her. It was clear that while Gadwall was still utterly enraged, he was nonetheless afraid.

    "So, what do you say; do I kill you now and deal with the consequences, or will you leave this realm peacefully and let bygones be bygones?" A hungry glint flashed by Fenris'' eyes as he stared at Gadwall, as if hoping the latter would pick the first option.

    Gadwall''s face practically turned black. Clearly he didn''t like any of his options. His eyes scanned the floor beneath him, his eyes finally landing on Raven. A vicious grin appeared on his lips. Gadwall once more faced Fenris.

    "Fine," he spat; "I will leave. This realm doesn''t really have anything worthwhile anyway. However," Gadwall added and pointed at Raven; "the fact that this brat attacked me remains. I will deliver justice on her before I leave."

    It all happened so fast that not even Raven could keep up. One second, both Gadwall and Fenris had been hovering in the air, talking. The next second, Fenris stood in front of Raven, his green robes fluttering softly, with his hand stretched up. Between his thumb and index finger was a grey-black blade, stopped dead in its tracks, aiming for Raven''s neck. Everyone was busy staring in shock when, like an afterthought, a massive pressure wave blasted out, instantly shattering every window in the room and knocking even the Spirit Masters off their feet.

    "Why do you block my path?" shouted Gadwall, livid with anger. "It is my right to kill that brat - she wounded me!"

    Fenris laughed. "Wounded your pride, you mean? Or are you seriously implying that a mere mid Spirit Champion actually managed to hurt you, a Sage? Such juicy gossip; the young lord and heir to the esteemed Wutu family, hurt by a Champion of a lower realm!"

    Raven stifled a laugh as she watched Gadwall''s face turn from black, to red, to white and then back to black again.

    "Naturally not!" he protested vehemently. "But she still attacked me - that is crime enough. Move aside!"

    Raven couldn''t see Fenris'' face but she could feel his body stiffen. ''The old fox is losing his patience?'' she wondered, curious.

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    "You feel like killing her, I feel like protecting her." Fenris answered curtly. "Leave."

    Not noticing Fenris'' change in temper, Gadwall pushed on; "Why are you blocking me anyway? It''s only one little brat."

    "I said leave!" This time strong spirit essence accompanied Fenris'' voice, causing Gadwall to be thrown back like a kite.

    Looking at Gadwall''s sorry state as he got back on his feet, Raven couldn''t help but smile coldly. If possible, she would like to Gadwall to die, here and now, but she knew that was not going to happen. She was too weak to do it herself and Fenris had made clear to her that he had no intentions of killing him off for her. However, seeing the man being miserably defeated like this was undoubtedly second-best.

    ''But he won''t escape me forever,'' she thought as dark killing intent flashed across her eyes.

    <hr />

    Gadwall glared angrily at the white-eared man in front of him. He couldn''t belive his bad luck right now; not only had his carefully laid out plans, seven years in the making, been uprooted by Fenris, the damnable man wouldn''t even let him vent his anger!

    ''Why did he even turn up here!?'' Gadwall lamented; he had been so close! Or had he?

    Thinking about it, a lot of things had gone bad recently and while a man like Fenris would jump on the occasion to make trouble for Gadwall, he was not the kind to get involved in politics.

    Meeting Fenris'' now cold stare, Gadwall knew that he had lost. If he didn''t leave soon, Fenris might not bother keeping his temper in check anymore. But to leave without knowing why he had failed? No way!

    Getting back on his feet slower than necessary, Gadwall gave everyone in the room a good look-over. ''The mastermind behind it must be here,'' he thought and as his eyes fell on that the cross-dressing ex-student of his, Gadwall paused.

    ''She had called him Senior, so they must know each other from before. Could she be. . . ?'' Gadwall shook his head. It was more likely that Fenris was impressed by her cultivation and just talked to her randomly at some point. How could Raven Nightingale, the nine-year-old do anything against him at all, except oddly survive all the time? ''But. . . .'' No matter how illogical it seemed, Gadwall''s gut told him otherwise. His eyes narrowed slightly.

    "Very well," Gadwall said, as he brushed off his robes and stretched his body. "I will leave." He made a show of moving towards his man-made exit, but then paused. "I''d just like to know this: who is the mastermind that blocked the Talon Clan''s every move the last couple of years?"

    The room fell silent. Gadwall didn''t expect anyone to speak out - why would they? No, Gadwall used his eyes rather than ears to get his answer. Practically everyone gave each other confused looks - even Fenris looked at those around him with interest, not staying too long on any particular person - but not everyone feigned their ignorance that well. The Emperor and Empress looked at everyone but the academy headmaster, who in turn had initially looked at his student only to quickly look away, never to look again.

    The verdict was in and Gadwall''s anger reached new heights. He had been one-upped by a nine-year-old, female toddler!?

    "You!" he howled and jabbed a finger at the little brat. "I don''t know how you did it, brat, but you will pay for this!" Gadwall was about to dash forward to attack the girl yet again but he then remembered who was standing in his way.

    Gadwall growled in frustrated rage. Then he started laughing. "Haha, hide behind your guardian all you want, brat, but he won''t be there forever!" Vicious killing intent surged out of him, almost tangible. Gadwall glared at Raven, wanting to scare the child to death here and now. "One day, I''ll come for your life, little brat, mark my words!"

    He was expecting to see her shake with fear, but, to his surprise, she just stood there - looking at him with cold, red eyes. "No need," she said calmly. "I will come for yours."

    Despite himself, Gadwall shuddered, making him even angrier. Why was he afraid of this girl? Bloody images filled with despair and suffering flashed by in Gadwall''s memories, bringing him back to that land of death that Raven''s mental attack had plunged him into. He felt cold sweat forming on his back, his soul prism shivering slightly, but quickly the fear turned into more anger.

    "Very well, brat! I welcome you, if you have the guts, but since you''re so fond of death I think I''ll give you a little parting gift! Finally, you will truly be the sole genius at the Sky Academy."

    Gadwall smiled maliciously and before even Fenris could stop him, Gadwall used a special Divine Skill to pull at the dormant spirit essence he had left within some of the students at the school. Instantly the spirit essence burned up without a trace. There wasn''t a lot of his spirit essence within these people so it would only sting a bit. For now.

    Laughing Gadwall pulled out a black rock from within his spacial ring and crushed it beneath his feet. A formless black smog spread out, quickly enveloping him. "Bye!" he laughed as the smog warped and disappeared, taking him with it.

    <hr />

    Raven stared blankly at the spot where Gadwall had just been standing only seconds before.

    "A teleportation talisman," explained Fenris when he noticed her daze. "It''s a one-way-ticket to a preordained place."

    "So he''s left the continent?" she asked.

    "Yes."

    "Do you know what gift he was talking about?"

    Fenris shrugged indifferently and Raven sighed. She didn''t believe him and for some reason she was feeling really uneasy.

    Raven glanced around at the half amazed, half terrified, people around her and was just about to ask Fenris if he could do something about their memories when a flustered voice rang out in her head.

    "Sister!" Hoatzin called, "So-something is wrong with Javelin!"

    Raven froze as Gadwall''s parting words echoed in her mind: "Finally, you will truly be the sole genius at the Sky Academy. . . ."

    Before she knew it, Raven was running. Running as fast as her legs could carry her.

    ''It can''t be. . . ,''  she told herself. ''I checked him every day; there was no black spirit essence within him!''

    Raven kept running. ''It can''t be. . . ,'' she repeated, but her gut told her otherwise.

 Chapter 91: An Old Nemesis

    Author''s Note: Thank you, sponsor-sama</a> for sponsoring this and nine other chapters!

    <hr />

    An Old Nemesis

    Raven had no clear memory how she got there, but, ten minutes later, she stormed into her and Javelin''s dorm room. There, collapsed on the floor between their two beds, lay Javelin, unconscious.

    "Javelin!" she called as she rushed forward.

    Hoatzin - who had been using his talons to shake Javelin''s shoulders - flew out of the way and Raven crouched down next to the unconscious boy. Javelin looked peaceful; if not for the fading light of his spirit presence, Raven would have only thought he was only sleeping. Carefully, she sent the most gentle spirit essence she could muster into his listless body.

    Systematically Raven moved her spirit essence through Javelin, searching for what was wrong, but the second she reached his stomach, Raven felt the control over her spirit essence slipping. A strong suction force grabbed hold of it instead and stared pulling the essence out of her like a black hole.

    Startled, Raven cut off the connection to her spirit essence in Javelin''s body.

    "What the . . ?" Raven didn''t finish her sentence before realization flashed by her eyes. She had felt this sensation before.

    Five years ago, when she found a suspicious flower in an exotic bouquet that was gifted to her family by Anhinga, Raven had used her spirit essence to probe it. The sensation she got back then was the exact same as the one she had felt just now.

    Raven frowned and glanced up at Hoatzin. ''If this is the work of a Phoenix Death Lotus, how come brother is fine?''

    "It was in a pill."

    Snapping her head around, Raven saw Fenris leaning against the door frame. His eyes were a lot more serious than she was used to.

    "What?"

    "The Phoenix Death Lotus. You''ve dealt with it before, right?" Fenris spoke calmly. "It can be ground into a powder and turned into a medical pill. When ingested, the powder dissolves harmlessly and even gives some complementing effects to essence-cultivation."

    "Then why . . ?" Raven felt like her head was moving in slow-motion.

    "There exists a Divine Skill that allows spirit essence to be fused with medical pills. If activated, the ingredients are burned."

    Raven''s eyes widened. "Burned?" she mumbled as she stared down on Javelin, her mind blank. She knew all to well what a burned Phoenix Death Lotus meant.

    "So he is dying!?" Hoaztin''s panicked voice rang out in Raven''s head.

    "Yes," answered Fenris matter-of-factually; "he has too few spirit connections."

    "But you can save him, right?" insisted Hoatzin. "Like I was, by one of your rings."

    "Those rings can''t help him now. The link must be in place before he loses control over his spirit essence."

    "But . . ." Hoatzin kept arguing with Fenris, but Raven was no longer listening. Looking down at the young man in front of her, Raven felt her heart breaking.

    ''He''s so young,'' she thought, stretching out a hand to brush away a golden lock of hair from Javelin''s handsome face. She leaned in closer and suddenly a drop landed on her outstretched hand.

    ''Huh?'' Confused, Raven touched her own cheek. ''I''m crying?''

    "Dammit! Bastard, there must be something you can do!" The loud shout caused Raven to lift her head. Still slightly dazed, she looked over at Fenris, expecting him to be focused on Hoatzin, but he was instead staring intently at her.

    "Do you want to save him?" he asked solemnly.

    "Yes." Raven''s voice sounded weak and distant even to her.

    "Why?"

    The question caught her of guard. Raven didn''t know what to answer.

    "I . . ." she started but Hoatzin didn''t wait for her to gather her thoughts. "Because they are friends, of course!" he shouted, cutting her off.

    There was a moment of silence before Fenris spoke again. "Is that so, she-human?" he asked, his gaze ever so attentive.

    Raven could only nod.

    Fenris'' eyes narrowed slightly, but at the moment no one was observant enough to notice it.

    "There is a way," he eventually said; "but it is not without risks."

    "What risks?" Hoatzin asked suspiciously.

    "Normally, there is only a one in a million chance it will work."

    "Normally?"

    "Well, under the circumstances the odds are significantly better, fifty-fifty perhaps." Fenris smiled nonchalantly.

    "And if it doesn''t work?" Hoatzin pushed.

    "Mutual death."

    Hoatzin gasped in shock, but Raven only frowned and looked down on Javelin.

    ''Death?'' she pondered. ''He is a friend but . . .''

    Raven didn''t fear death - she hadn''t for a long, long time - but to give it freely for someone else?

    No. Especially not with her brother in need of support and a certain aunt in need of dying.

    She sighed and shook her head. ''I''m sorry Jav. . . .''

    "You won''t do it?"

    Fenris question brought her attention back to him and she noticed that his gaze had yet to leave her even once since he entered the room.

    "Not even when he has given his life to save yours before?"

    Raven blinked.

    "What are you talking about?" Hoatzin asked, equally confused. "Javelin is alive right now - how could he have died to save my sister?"

    "Think about it, young Raven. It should have happened less than four years before you . . . passed on."

    At first Raven didn''t understand, but it didn''t take long before she realized what Fenris was talking about. A shudder ran through her body.

    "Eric," she whispered, not daring to believe it. Her hands grabbed hold of Javelin''s robes, but her eyes never left Fenris; desperate for a confirmation, yet afraid of getting it at the same time.

    Fenris shrugged. "How could I know what his name was? But you are soul-touched by that boy and I have already told you what that means."

    Indeed he had. The words which Fenris spoke, all those years ago, echoed through her mind; "Listen, she-human, being soul-touched by someone is very rare. It only has a chance at happening when someone - who cares very dearly for you - dies while trying to protect you."

    Like a crack in a dam, hundreds of memories flooded Raven. Her first meeting with the introverted man who cared for nothing but his research; his reaction when he accidentally saw her skinny-dipping in a hot spring; her unwelcome reactions to his clumpy courtship; his quickly cooling body in her arms, bleeding so profusely that he dyed the snow red.

    Raven looked down at Javelin, her hands shaking. Now, just like then, she could feel his temperature dropping fast; he didn''t have much time left.

    "I have to save him. . . ." she thought, but, either by design or mistake, the sentence was carried over to Hoatzin as well.

    "Sister?"

    Raising her head again, Raven saw her brother''s brown eyes staring back at her with endless worry.

    "Big brother, I''m sorry, but I must. . . ."

    "Great!" Fenris called out before either of the siblings could say anything more. With big strides, Fenris finally entered the room completely and sat down, cross-legged, opposite Raven. Strong, yet extremely gentle, spirit essence flowed out from his hands, enveloping Javelin in a deep-blue cocoon.

    "I can sustain this boy''s life force for seven days by feeding my own spirit essence to the Phoenix Death Lotus within him. I suggest you use that time to put your affairs in order, young Raven; if there are any regrets within your soul, then the chances of success will drastically decline."

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    At this point Raven felt immense gratitude. If she died right now there would be too many strings left unattached: her aunt would still be at large; her brother wouldn''t have anyone to look after him. A week would give her some time to change that.

    "I understand," Raven said with a nod and got to her feet. "I''ll deal with aunt Anhinga first. Brother, you should stay here while I-. . ."

    "I am coming with you," Hoatzin curtailed her.

    "Brother . . ."

    "I will not stay behind this time, sister; it is my revenge too."

    Raven didn''t want to agree, but seeing the resolution in her brother''s eyes, she had no choice but to give in. "Fine," she said with a sigh before turning her attention back to Fenris. "Do we need to prepare anything for Javelin?"

    Fenris shook his head, an enigmatic smile on his lips. "You have everything he needs already." Noticing that Raven was about to ask something more, he was quick to add; "Questions later, young Raven. Your mind is made nonetheless, no?"

    Raven held Fenris'' gaze for a moment. Eventually she glanced down at Javelin.

    "Let''s go, brother," she said and left without looking back.

    Hoatzin hesitated for a moment, his eyes no longer as resolute as they had before, but in the next breath he too hurried out of the dorm room.

    Unexpectedly, he found that Raven hadn''t disappeared down the hallway as he had first thought. Instead she was standing just outside the door, looking off into the distance. Looking at her small figure, her back slightly hunched, Hoatzin couldn''t push down the worry he felt for her.

    "Sister?" he called tentatively. His voice caused her body to twitch slightly. "What are you looking at?"

    Raven eyed him over her shoulder, flashing him a insincere smile. "Nothing, but it seems like Javelin isn''t the only Advanced Student affected by the Phoenix Death Lotus." She indicated towards an open door not too far ahead - frantic pleads could be heard from within. It sounded like an Elder trying to wake a student. "Come on, I need to find the Headmaster before we can follow after Anhinga."

    Hoatzin followed Raven as she ignored the open dorm room and started making her way out of the building. For a long time, neither of them spoke but in the end Hoatzin couldn''t resist anymore. "Who is Eric?" he asked his sister, half expecting her to lash out at him for invading her privacy. She never did like talking about her past life.

    To his surprise, Raven only glanced at him briefly before continuing her journey. At first Hoatzin thought that she had chosen to ignore his question, but, yet again, things didn''t go as Hoatzin had expected.

    "You are a smart boy, Hoatzin," she said after a moment''s silence. "I know that you - since long - realized that I was lying when I said that I couldn''t remember my past life." Hoatzin was so surprised by Raven''s comment that stopped flapping his wings, nearly falling out of the sky. Raven just kept moving forward tough, ignoring his reaction.

    "Fact is, there are few things I don''t remember about my past life, only . . . those memories are not the type you share."

    A lot of questions surfaced in Hoatzin''s mind but he kept silent. He was afraid that if he asked Raven might stop speaking all together.

    "By all accounts, it was a harsh and bloody life, but I would be lying if I said that I didn''t enjoy it; I was well-trained that way." A lonely yet vicious smile crept across Raven''s face. "Five years before my death, I was sent to the arctic pole - a place of constant winter and snow. Eric was my client." Raven paused. "In a way."

    After this, Raven fell silent.

    The next time she spoke, the two of them were seated on a transporter bird, headed for the imperial palace. Hoatzin was perched on her shoulder. "There aren''t many things I regret with my past life, except, perhaps following orders too easily, and . . . Eric."

    "He was a very honest man, to the point of naivety even. We . . ." Raven''s voice trailed off before she shook her head. "I have no misconceptions; Eric and I could never have survived together. Ending it early was the right thing to do, but. . . ."

    Once more Raven became silent. This time she didn''t speak again. Up ahead, the blue stones of the Indigo Cloud Palace marked the end of their current travels.

    <hr />

    Deep in the mountain forests of Rock Wren Prefecture, Anhinga stood at a haphazardly constructed table covered with maps and documents. Also at the table were six rough-looking men. They were as riddled with scars as the table was hidden by the papers; it was doubtful if the six men together could add up to one unblemished body.

    "Our spies at court confirm: none of the people who Lady Talon said were present in the audience hall three days ago survived." One of the slightly less scarred men spoke.

    "Good, good," Anhinga nodded approvingly without looking up from the document in front of her. "Then we can go on with the plan. Two days from now Podic and Cico will ambush the Sky Empire garrison at the border. Falc, Kite and Hamerkop, you will head for the west side of Sky City while Pittas . . . your group is the largest so you''ll take the east side on your own. Do not forget the uniforms. Dismissed."

    The six men looked at each other, seemingly uncertain about what to do next.

    "Why are you still standing here? I said you''re dismissed!"

    The men squirmed. "Ah, well. . . ." started one but Anhinga cut him off. "What!?" she shouted, clearly impatient.

    "T-the men are talking," the man called Pittas finally mustered the courage to speak, nervously fiddling with his axe as he spoke. "They . . . eh, they say these mountain forests are haunted."

    Anhinga snorted, clearly dismissing the tale.

    "It''s true, Lady Talon," interjected Podic, "there is talk of a fathom spirit, moving through the night and luring men away with her song."

    "Her song?"

    "Yes!" The others nodded vigorously to support Podic''s claim.

    "In fact, some of my patrols have gone missing since yesterday night," Pittas added. "Perhaps we should change our location a bit earlier?"

    Anhinga started laughing and just as the six men joined in her  laughter, Anhinga slammed her hand down on the makeshift table so hard that it shattered. "Idiots! How can fully grown men like yourselves spew nonsense about spirits this and haunted that!? If your men are going missing, then they are either too stupid to find their way back, or someone is killing them off! If it''s the former, then good riddance. If it''s the latter, stop standing here and go find the person responsible!"

    "But. . ."

    "No buts! If they are corporeal enough to kill, then they are corporeal enough to be killed! Why don''t you spend the night hunting down the person or persons responsible rather than telling ghost stories?"

    "Yes, Lady Talon!" the six men called in unison and quickly departed.

    Anhinga sighed in frustration and leaned against what remained of the table. She raised her head, looking up at the pale white moon hanging high in the sky.

    "Ghost stories, ha!" she snorted, but deep down Anhinga felt uneasy. She had heard nothing from Gadwall since she left the capital and while she had faith in her spies, something felt off. "Don''t worry," she told herself; "only a little more, and this world will be mine."

    A cold breeze swept past her and Anhinga shuddered even though she shouldn''t have. "Everything will be fine," she insisted, but even as she said the words a distant scream caught Anhinga''s attention. She spun around in the direction of the voice but it was too far off for her to be entirely sure of its origin.

    Silence.

    Anhinga strained her ears.

    No, not silence. Somewhere, far away, there was something; a sweet voice singing a melancholic tune; "Oh, Master mine, where are you roaming . . ."

 Chapter 92: Settling a Score

    Author''s Note: Thank you, oh magnanimous sponsor</a>, for sponsoring this chapter!

    <hr />

    Settling a Score

    An almost perfectly round moon shone brightly in the sky above Rock Wren Prefecture, illuminating the chill night. Despite the clear night, most of the region''s forests were nonetheless shrouded in darkness; the foliage was too dense to let more than a few slivers of the moon''s silvery light reach the forest floor.

    However, everything wasn''t black. Hundreds of torches and fire pits created dancing shadows throughout a few acres of a mountain forest only a few days march from Sky Capital. This was where the largest part of Anhinga''s bandit army was camping for the night. There were nearly a thousand people in the area, but they were not a united bunch so they sat in smaller groups with plenty of space in between.

    On a normal night, these campsites would be lively places, filled with laughter and burly discourse, but tonight the bandits felt anything but spirited. Instead they talked in hushed voices, as if nervous that someone might hear them and take offense.

    A cold breeze moved through the forest, causing the flames to flicker erratically in the wind. Carried with the wind came a soft, hummed tune - sweet and melancholic. No one noticed it at first, but as the melody reached more ears, the faint conversations started dying down. Even then, the bandits didn''t really realize what they were listening to.

    Somewhere, someone suddenly screamed. It was a horrifying wail and all those who had yet to hear the bittersweet humming, winced in shock and fear before nervously looking around the, peering into the black forest. Those closest to the source of the scream, however, didn''t react at all. They were too busy contemplating that odd and alluring tune.

    At the edge of the bandit encampments a dark figure moved through the undergrowth with silent steps. Still wearing the plain black under-dress of the Indigo Cloud Palace maids, and with the masterfully forged Nightingale''s Blessing in her hand, Raven didn''t bother hiding herself as she walked forward at a casual pace. Far above her Hoatzin was circling, observing.

    Raven hummed as she walked and barely noticeable strands of spirit essence stretched out from her like a spiderweb, reaching everyone close enough to hear her. Fifty meters in front of her sat a dazed group of seven bandits around an fire-pit. A cold smile flashed across her face.

    ''The nightmare begins,'' she mused to herself and finally opened her mouth, giving words to the melody she had been humming.

    Oh dearest mine, where are you roaming?

    Immediately, the full force of the Twilight Lullaby came into effect, completely transfixing everyone within a few hundred meters. Raven was a lot stronger now - both in body and soul - than she had been the last time she used this Divine Skill to kill off bandits in the wilderness; this time around only peak Spirit Champions would be unaffected, while high Champions should be able to put up some resistance - if they realized what was going on in time. Judging by Raven''s senses, this meant that out of the hundreds of people present, only eight would be able to resist her mental assault - one of which was her aunt.

    With an indifferent smile and still singing, Raven''s sword flashed as she passed by the group of mesmerized bandits. Six out of the seven had their heads severed in one fell swoop, instantly dyeing the small campsite red with blood. The last remaining bandit showed no signs of reacting though, not until Raven eventually moved out of the man''s hearing range. His muddled eyes then cleared, but as he caught sight of the headless bodies around him, he couldn''t help but scream in shocked terror.

    Deeper in the forest, Raven''s smile twisted into a pleased grin. A more compassionate person might feel conflicted about the lives and mental state of these hired men who were simply following the money, but Raven did not. She wanted them to scream - because every time they did, Anhinga would hear it.

    That can sing both high and low.

    Raven''s singing and killing continued. At a steady pace Raven made her way through the roughly three acres worth of forest were Anhinga''s bandit army was camping, slowly moving closer and closer to her aunt.

    She made no attempts at killing every bandit Anhinga had gathered, but when morning eventually comes, there will nonetheless be a lot less bandits in Sky Empire.

    <hr />

    Under the unnoticed observation of a certain red bird, Anhinga was pacing back and forth by her crumbled table in the forest. Uneasy cold sweat ran down her back but at the same time kept clenching and underclothing her hands in anger. For over two hours, she had heard occasional shouts in the forest and by now she was starting to wonder if not the rumor about this place being haunted was true after all.

    Anhinga had initially assumed that someone, an enemy from the court perhaps, had found them and were fighting their way through the encampments, but the shouts were always alone and short - definitely not typical for an out-drawn battle. Naturally, she had sent people to investigate what was going on, but when no one from the first batch returned, Anhinga''s suspicions, and discomfort, grew. Eventually she had instead been forced to rely on the six bandit leaders to gather information.

    Out of the six that were sent out, only four returned. With pale faces unfitting for thick-skinned bandits, the four of them talked about the over a hundred bloody campsites they had found, empty and abandoned. Shocked, Anhinga had quickly ordered the bandit leaders to gather their men and prepare for an immediate relocation - no matter what was going on, she couldn''t afford loosing anymore of her fighters.

    "What''s taking them so long?" hissed Anhinga. It had been nearly an hour since she gave the order but none of the bandits leaders had returned with their men.

    "Having problems?" a soft yet bone-chillingly cold voice broke the silence.

    Anhinga spun around in fight but there was no one but her present - not even the servant who should have been there. However, Anhinga knew that just because she couldn''t see them, it didn''t mean they weren''t there. She readied herself for battle, carefully scanning her surroundings, but no attack came.

    After fifteen minutes, Anhinga frowned. ''Did I imagined it?'' For a heart-beat, Anhinga lowered her guard. It was only a millisecond of distraction, but that enough for her to miss the flash of silver shooting towards her from the left.

    Searing pain turned Anhinga''s attention to her thigh, where a small dagger had been lodged deep into her flesh. She reached down to pull it out, but before she had the chance, a second silvery flash headed towards her - this time aiming at her chest.

    Spirit essence surged within her as Anhinga held out her hand, maneging to catch the incoming dagger, mid-flight and only centimeters from her own chest; a split second slower and the blade would have pierced her heart.

    "Who dares sneak-attack me!?" she howled in rage, shouting aimlessly at the darkness between the trees. "Show yourself! Or are you not man enough to fight me face-to-face!"

    "What does my gender have to do with my bravery?" The cold voice spoke again, but this time it came from just behind Anhinga''s back. Shocked, Anhinga twisted around on the spot; she could not understand how anyone could have gotten so close without her noticing it. However, this initial shock was quickly overpowered by the sheer horror Anhinga felt when she saw who the voice belonged to - it was the palace maid, the one claiming to be Raven Nightingale.

    Anhinga jumped back, the movement causing the wound in her leg to ache, but she ignored it. Instead she observed to pale little girl in front of her more closely, carefully taking in everything from the girl''s familiar hair and facial features to the numerous spatters of blood that covered her like raindrops after a storm. A stay ray of moon light hit the beautiful sword in the girl''s hand, drawing Anhinga''s attention. Surprisingly, she noticed that the blade was the only thing not covered with blood-spatter.

    "It . . . it really is you," Anhinga breathed, still unwilling to accept the truth.

    Over the last three days, Anhinga had managed to talk herself into believing that the maid was nothing but an imposter who had spun a lie in order to turn the Councillors in favor of the Nightingales. This, in addition to the reports she had been given - which all stated that everyone who had been present in the audience hall had perished - had caused Anhinga to write off Raven''s supposed survival.

    So now Anhinga was doubly shocked because, one, there was no denying that the girl in front of her was the off-spring off her dead brother and, two, the girl was very much still alive.

    "What is it, aunt? You don''t look very happy to see me. . . ."

    Raven fiddled with a third dagger as she spoke, handling it with such casual grace that it seemed like a mere extension of her fingers.

    Anhinga was momentarily dazed; ''how can a child handle the dagger like that?'' She swallowed nervously, half forgetting that she was the one with the higher cultivation level.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.What was this foreboding feeling trying to tell her?

    <hr />

    Raven watched with glee as Anhinga''s facial expressions danced back and forth between confusion, sad and anger. Looking closely, it seemed as if her aunt''s face had grown older than before and more hollow; clearly she had neither been eating nor sleeping well lately.

    Eventually the woman came over her initial shock. "How did you survive?" she asked with narrowed eyes, as if hoping to intimidate an answer out of Raven.

    ''Wouldn''t you like to know,'' thought Raven but out loud she instead replied; "three days or five years ago?"

    Anhinga''s face turned slightly blue and Raven almost laughed at the change but she suppressed it into an evil sneer. Treating her own question as a rhetorical one, Raven continued without waiting for a reply. "How I survived a few days ago isn''t really relevant, and how I survived five years ago is none of your business."

    "Insolent brat!" shouted Anhinga. "Answer my question or I''ll beat it out of you - there is no one here to protect you this time!"

    "Protect?" the dagger in Raven''s hand paused for a moment. ''Is my aunt really that stupid? If I needed protecting, how could I even have made it here on my own?'' She didn''t hold back her laughter this time. "Why would I need protection from you?" Raven released her spirit essence, letting Anhinga feel the full force of her mid Champion cultivation.

    As expected, Anhinga only snorted. "Such an ignorant child. You might be a genius, but it doesn''t matter how impressive you are - the strong rule supreme!" As she spoke, Anhinga''s own spirit essence surged, putting Raven under the blunt pressure of a genuine high Champion. It was a lot of force to bear, but Raven didn''t flinch; how could this possibly compare to what the had felt when she face Gadwall?

    Anhinga, on the other hand, misinterpreted Raven''s lack of reaction and laughed disdainfully. "Haha, see! You truly are your father''s daughter; only now do you realize you''re too stupid to know what''s best for you!"

    Intense blood-lust flashed by Raven''s eyes, but Anhinga missed it. "S-sorry, aunt." Raven said with down-cast eyes, only half trying to sound scared. "I''ll tell you everything I''ve done, okay? It''s just . . ."

    She let the sentence trail off.

    After a moment''s silence Raven lifted gaze, her eyes meeting with Anhinga''s. Instantly the smug-look on her aunt''s face froze, shaken by the intense blood-lust in Raven''s stare. "It''s just," she said, her voice stabbing like a knife; "I don''t know if I should start by listing all the Talon clan-members whom I''ve killed over the years, or the in-depth description of how I flayed your whimpering son alive. . . . Which would you prefer?"

    Raven could almost hear something snapping within her aunt''s mind.

    "Oh, that look. . . ."

    For the first time in many hours Hoatzin spoke and Raven had to agree with him; the expression on Anhinga''s face was a masterpiece. In a matter of seconds she went from confusion to despair - via disbelief and rage - as she realized what Raven was implying. Her son had not only been skinned, he had been skinned alive.

    Suddenly, Anhinga screamed in anguish and pounced at Raven, chilling frost quickly covering the former''s hands as she used all her might to make a grab for Raven''s neck. Unfortunately, her niece''s body flickered and disappeared without a trace - leaving only the Raven''s dagger behind, right where her neck had been. Anhinga''s hand clenched down on the dagger before she could react to what had happened, effectively stabbing through her own palm.

    Blood and frost spurted everywhere, but Anhinga didn''t seem to notice.

    "Why so violent, aunt? I thought you wanted answers. . . ." Raven taunted from her new position a few meters away. Immediately, Anhinga swirled around and charged at her again, but the result was the same - this time a smaller dagger had been left on the ground for her to step on.

    "It''s a bit ironic though," commented Raven from the top of a nearby tree; "you kill my family to gain power for you and your son, then I kill your son - and soon you - to get justice for my family." Raven jumped from the tree, which was quickly being encased in a thick layer of ice. "I guess this is what they call ''what goes around, comes around'', isn''t is?"

    "You little bitch!" screamed Anhinga, her voice hysterical and her eyes bloodshot with torment. "I''ll kill you! I swear, I''ll kill!"

    At this point Anhinga''s cultivation surged - adding that familiar black spirit essence to the mix and pushing her all the way to the very peak of the Champion realm. Under normal circumstances this might have posed somewhat of a challenge for Raven - at least if she didn''t manage to enter that enraged state she had when facing Gadwall - but Anhinga''s mind was in a disarray. She she started attacking blindly, ice spears and blizzards shooting out from her in every direction.

    With an indifferent expression, Raven swiftly dodged around or blocked the attacks. With Anhinga attacking so madly, Raven had no problem finding weak points in the woman''s offense.

    In the air, however, Hoatzin was forced to back off a bit. A battle between Spirit Champions, at any level of cultivation, was nothing short of a natural disaster. Getting caught in the cross-fire when a peak Champion was involved was a sure way for a Adept-level creature like Hoatzin to get himself killed.

    The cat-and-mouse battle between Anhinga and Raven dragged on. As the minutes passed, Anhinga''s body slowly became just as cover in blood as Raven''s, only it was her own. She didn''t seem to notice it herself, but Anhinga''s movements were slowly becoming more laboured, her face distorting with pain with every step she took.

    ''The nerve toxin is setting in,'' thought Raven as she calmly observed her aunt who had gone ballistic with rage-filled grief. She had covered her daggers with an old favorite, a natural toxin that heightened nerve sensitivity; soon even a light breeze would be painful for her aunt.

    Dodging Anhinga''s attacks quickly became a laughing matter and even Hoatzin dared move in closer again.

    ''Is this good enough?'' The thought suddenly appeared in Raven''s mind as she watched her aunt''s maddend attacks. Would the only mother and father she had ever known have felt that this was revenge enough?

    She had stopped Anhinga from gaining what she wanted most; she had removed he whom Anhinga loved most from her side, and in the cruelest way possible; she could grant Anhinga an even crueller death, but would it be enough?

    "Was it worth it?" Raven found herself asking out loud; "was it worth killing your own flesh and blood for a few years of wealth and power?"

    "It should have been, you bitch!" Anhinga roared, launching another blizzard which blasted away several tens of trees in the vicinity. This time Raven didn''t even have to move out of the way - Anhinga missed her anyway. "I''ll kill you! I''ll kill you and use your blood to defile your parents'' grave, you devil spawn!"

    "No, you won''t." No more than a whisper, Raven''s cold voice suddenly rang out behind Anhinga''s ear.

    Before the latter had any chance to react, a spark-covered hand grabbed Anhinga by the back of her neck, pulling her diagonally backwards. For a split second, Anhinga felt her entire body go numb as an electric current ran through her and by the time she had mustered her own spirit essence to fight it off, Anhinga was already on the ground, her back and abdomen burning with pain. Looming over her was Raven, staring down at her cold blood-red eyes.

    Only now did Anhinga realize that no matter how much she tried to activate her spirit essence, it no longer complied. In fact, it hurt even trying. Glancing down at her own abdomen, Anhinga''s eyes widened in shock. Raven''s sword, the famous Nightingale''s Blessing, was stabbed right through her, piercing both Anhinga''s spirit core and her spinal cord.

    Her madness had blocked it out before, but now that she was finally unable to move, mind-boggling pain flooded Anhinga''s body, threatening to knock her unconscious right away. She gasped for breath, but even the air hurt her.

    Confused and afraid, Anhinga looked up at Raven but the gaze that met her - completely devoid of any emotion - only plunged her into deeper fear.

    "If I got it my way," Raven said with a voice that matched her eyes; "I would leave you as a mute cripple for life for what you''ve done to my . . . our family. . . . But, there are too many ways to get back what is lost in this world, so I won''t take any chances; I guess it''s your lucky day."

    Anhinga didn''t feel very lucky - she only felt pain.

    Raven raised her head, looking up into the sky and her eyes met Hoatzin''s. He gave a slight nod and Raven once more faced Anhinga. She leaned in close enough for only her aunt to hear her; "it''s going to take a while, but say hello to dear Dunlin once you get to Hell. I''ll join you sooner or later, so enjoy it while you can."

    With that, Raven straightened and urged her spirit essence to flow down her sword like a waterfall of electrical sparks. Anhinga managed a moan before her muscles started thrashing around under the strong electrical current that ran through her body. It didn''t take long until the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, but it did take quite a while before the light faded from Anhinga''s eyes.

 Chapter 93: Returning the Favor

    Author''s note: Thank you, sponsor-sama</a> for sponsoring this chapter!

    <hr />

    Returning the Favor

    Raven stood in silence, watching the charred body by her feet. Hoatzin was perched on his sister''s shoulder since a while back.

    "So it is done," he said eventually, but Raven just nodded slowly in response. "I feel . . ." Hoatzin''s voice trailed off, unsure of what to say.

    ''Tired. . . ,'' thought Raven with a sigh, but she kept her sentiments to herself.

    "Lieutenant," she called out into the darkness.

    After a moment''s pause, a well-toned man in his forties walked out from behind a tree. "You knew I was here," said the man, half disbelieving, half impressed.

    The corner of Raven''s lips twitched slightly. How could she not have known? She had noticed him following her the moment she left Sky City and recognized his spirit presence from the palace.

    Raven glanced over her shoulder before gazing up towards the partially hidden moon above her. "Empress Nene would never have let me go if you weren''t," she said, only half honest. "I must thank you and your men for gathering up the loose ends behind me - it benefited my cause."

    The lieutenant blinked, thoroughly surprised this time. "You-. . ."

    "Knew? Yes." Giving no further explanation, Raven''s eyes eventually abandoned the white moon that she couldn''t really see and turned to leave. "Let''s go, Lieutenant, people are awaiting our return."

    She walked off without waiting for a response, leaving the speechless lieutenant behind. He glanced down at the disfigured corpse on the ground and thought back on the trail of selective carnage that Raven had left behind her as she moved through the bandit campsites.

    The battle-hardened lieutenant couldn''t help but shudder; were these really the actions of a small, preteen girl?

    <hr />

    Two days later, Raven once more stood in silence - watching her feet - but the reason was very different this time. Hoatzin sat on her shoulder and kept shooting glances between his sister and the furious woman who faced her; Empress Nene.

    "How could you do something so dangerous?" Nene reprimanded angrily.

    Raven knew that it wasn''t this that was the problem but she still said, "Empress Nene, it wasn''t that dangerous; your personal guard was accompanying me. . . ."

    "Aunt Nene!" shouted the empress, slightly veering off topic. "But I am not talking about that! Why did you not contact me from the start? I would have helped you - I would have kept you safe!"

    Nene''s rage subsided and she sank down on her knees in front of Raven, putting her eye-level slightly below the latter''s. She looked up at Raven with eyes filled with both pity and guilt.

    While Raven had been hunting down Anhinga, Headmaster Swan had told his niece almost everything he knew about Raven''s narrow escape from her first encounter with the Phoenix Death Lotus and her subsequent journey to the capital. He even told the empress about Raven''s hidden actions against the Talon clan.

    Whenever Nene considered the frightened four-year-old setting off on her own into the wilderness, she couldn''t help but feel both bewildered and depressed. Bewildered that the four-year-old Raven had been mature and strong enough to not only attempt it, but also pull it off. Depressed that she had needed to do it.

    Raven didn''t answer. "I wanted to kill those bastards myself" didn''t seem like the right thing to say at this point and Raven knew that as long as she kept quiet, Empress Nene would come to her own conclusions about her reasons.

    Faced by Raven''s silence, Nene''s face twisted with sorrow. She forcefully pulled Raven into her embrace, forcing Hoatzin to take flight or risk being crushed. Warm tears flowing down the empress'' cheeks.

    "S-sorry . . ." she wept, her voice half swallowed by her tears and Raven''s eyes widened slightly in surprise. She hadn''t expected her mother''s childhood friend to care for her so strongly. Feeling a bit awkward in the woman''s embrace, Raven was, for once, unsure of what she should do next.

    "I am so sorry, little Raven!" Nene continued and a slight shudder ran through Raven''s body. "I am sorry you felt alone - that you could not trust anyone! I-I should have journeyed to the Nightingale prefecture the moment I . . ." Nene''s voice trailed off.

    Raven stared blankly into the distance. How long had it been since someone called her ''little Raven'' with so much love? Raven clenched her fists. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes but not before a streak of tears could escape them.

    "Sister. . . ?" Hoatzin''s concerned voice brought her back to her senses.

    "I''m okay, big brother," she assured him with a weak smile. "It just dawned on me that it''s really over. . ."

    Suddenly a dark flash crossed Raven''s eyes as she remember the departed Gadwall. ''Almost, at least,'' she thought, but said nothing. After all, who knew if she would be alive to do anything about it.

    Wiping away her tears, Raven patted the still crying empress on her back. "It''s okay, Aunt Nene, I''m not alone now."

    Nene looked up at Raven, the woman''s pale and beautiful face by no means ruined by her tears. "You are right," she said, forcing a smile. "You are not alone anymore! I shall speak with Mallard and have you adopted into the family . . . or better yet, you could marry my son - I know you haven''t met him, but he is only ten years older than you and he is very kind - and handsome. What do you think?"

    It is fortunate that Hoatzin didn''t have anything in his mouth or he would have spit it out in shock. Raven on the other hand blinked in surprise a few times before she started laughing heartily.

    ''What a straightforward woman!'' she thought. ''I''m impressed!''

    "Do you not like the idea?" Nene asked, pouting slightly.

    Raven suppressed her laughter. "Empr-. . . Aunt Nene, it''s not that I don''t like the idea, but I already have a family; I will always be a Nightingale. As for marrying your son, I have lost too many loved ones . . . I would like my marriage to be out of love," she answered but secretly added, ''as if I''d ever marry willingly.''

    Nene seemed to mull over Raven''s words for a while before she nodded in agreement. She then looked over the bland clothes Raven were wearing. "At least let me get you some clothes fitting for a lady - you are a prefecture heiress after all."

    Despite her personal preferences, Raven didn''t bother putting up a fight; she had to let the empress win on some points. "As long as I don''t have to wear the veil. . . ." she conceded, but Nene obviously didn''t feel like compromising.

    "Of course you have to wear a veil," the woman countered; "you are an unmarried noblewoman!"

    Raven gave the empress a sidelong glance. "It''s not like my face is a secret anymore, Aunt Nene. I haven''t been wearing one at the Academy, for example." She didn''t point out that the Fox''s Veil she usually used would have changed people''s perception of her face and appearance quite a lot.

    "That-. . ." Empress Nene wasn''t sure how to respond. She couldn''t deny that the purpose of the veil had been turned somewhat obsolete after three years of living in a dorm with others, not to mention that Raven had shared her room with a boy. . . . Nene''s skin turned ghostly pale. A boy! "Um, Raven, tell me: that Javelin, he . . . he hasn''t . . ."

    Raven started laughing again, but Nene didn''t relax because of it. "No, Aunt Nene, he has been a perfect gentleman," Raven added to assure the worried empress.

    "He knew?" Nene asked with wide eyes.

    "After a while, yes. He has helped me out on numerous occasions."

    Only now did Nene breathe a sigh of relief, but her face quickly turned grave again. "How is he now?" she asked.

    "Alive, for the time being. Senior Fenris says he might be able to save him, but it will be hard."

    Nene nodded slowly, a complicated look in her eyes. She had heard the reports; soon after the imposter known as Vice Headmaster Smew Gadwall had been chased away by the mysterious ''Spirit Legend Fenris'', almost every child in the Advanced Martial Classes at Sky Academy had suddenly fallen ill.

    The best healers in the country had been sent to find the cause, but even when they learned that it was the Phoenix Death Lotus that was behind it all, there was nothing they could do. Half a day later, fourteen of the nation''s brightest hopes for the future were dead. It was a huge blow for Sky Empire and Emperor Mallard was naturally beside himself with rage, but what difference did it make?

    Of the infected children, only Javelin remained alive - somehow sustained by Fenris. Naturally, several pleas had been made for him to give the same treatment to the other children but he had blatantly refused. "I can only save this one," he had said, pointing at Javelin, and then ignored any further attempts at conversation altogether.

    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Do you know what he will do?"

    "No," Raven replied truthfully. She was not about to tell the Empress about the risks involved; if she did, Nene was likely to stop her from trying.

    At this point, there was a light knock on the double doors to the Empress'' chamber before they slowly crept open. "May we enter, Nene?"

    "Of course," Nene answered, finally smiling as she looked over at the door. Seconds later the Emperor walked in, closely followed by the Empress'' uncle, Headmaster Swan.

    Raven gave the pair a polite bow. "Emperor Mallard, Master Swan."

    "No need for that, young Lady Nightingale. From what Eider has been telling me, we owe you for saving not only my Sky Empire but potentially the entire continent; we should be the ones bowing." With that he gave Raven a respectful nod that wasn''t quite a bow, but still more than an emperor would give anyone but his ancestors.

    "Thank you for indulging in my selfish request, Emperor Mallard," Raven started but Nene cut her off. "Uncle Mallard," she corrected.

    Both the Emperor and Raven gave Nene a sidelong glance, clearly not quite resigned to such an intimate address. Seeing the Empress determined gaze, Mallard sighed lovingly.

    "Right," said Raven, understanding that the Emperor had given in. "Thank you, Uncle Mallard, for following my lead on dealing with the Talon clan."

    Mallard could only smile weakly. What reason had there been for him to refuse? The things which Raven had asked him to do had far better results than any of the strategies his council had suggested at the time. With only a bit of false information and a handful of well-timed raids, Mallard had subdued the entire Talon rebellion in less than four days. It was like Raven had given him all the right strings and simply tugging at them caused the net to constrict around his enemies.

    At first he had thought that Headmaster Swan must have been behind it, but the latter had practically denied all involvement, putting all the credit in Raven''s lap.

    "Speaking of the Talon clan; the Nightingale prefecture will naturally be reinstated and returned to its rightful master," Mallard said, opting for a change of subject.

    "Thank you, Uncle Mallard," Raven replied with another bow. "My father would be glad to know that his prefecture is restored. However, I am young, and not fit for ruling a prefecture."

    Mallard frowned. Normally, an emperor might feel hesitant about handing over the leadership of a third of his lands to a soon to be ten-year-old, but hadn''t Raven already proven that her tactical mind was way beyond her years?

    "You are the rightful heir," the Empress urged. "You will grow into it, Raven."

    "Perhaps," Raven neither agreed or disagreed.

    "Sister, what are you doing? The Empress is right - Nightingale Prefecture is rightfully yours!"

    Raven glanced at her brother, who once more sat perched on her shoulder. "You mean it''s yours, right?" she said to him with a smile and before he could object, Raven turned her attention back to the Emperor. "It is not that I object, it''s just that I would like to focus on my cultivation and schooling at the moment. I think you all would agree that a prefecture is better kept in the hands of a trusted warden until its true heir is ready for the responsibilities, am I right?"

    Naturally, no one objected. The Emperor had already been thinking of appointing a warden to handle daily matters unofficially, so making it official wasn''t that big a change. None of them caught the second meaning in Raven''s words.

    "Do you have anyone in mind, " Mallard asked more out of courtesy than anything else.

    "In fact, I do," said Raven and fished out a file of documents from within her spacial ring. She handed the file to the Emperor with an enigmatic smile.

    "I wonder if he will feel honored or discarded by this," she heard Hoatzin question in her mind when he recognized the file.

    "Both, I suspect."

    <hr />

    The last days of the week after the incident in Indigo Cloud Palace''s audience hall passed surprisingly peacefully in Sky City, especially considering the major rebellion that had been stifled.Plenty of rumors about the whole affair where circling, but thanks to the Emperor''s quick and assertive reaction, little was actually known about what had happened.

    The Talon clan had rebelled, that much was known. They had claimed power by killing their own relatives and then tried to kill the Emperor to gain even more power. Their plot had failed miserably, but not before they managed to murder most of the nation''s most promising spiritualist talents.

    It was not strange that the general public turned against the Talon Clan, condemning them to the deepest parts of Hell.

    The Nightingale Clan''s head family, on the other hand, quickly turned into a saintly existence. They were martyrs, who had sacrificed themselves to save the nation, and the rumor that the daughter had managed to survive was the most discussed topic in the city.

    Some said she was saved by a passing group of mercenaries. Others said she was kidnapped by slave-traders just before the Talon''s executed their plans, thereby saving her and condemning her at the same time. There were even those who claimed that young Lady Nightingale wasn''t young at all, but rather estranged older daughter who had returned as a seasoned assassin only to find her family slaughtered and vowing revenge.

    Most found these rumors ridiculous, but much information about the young Lady Nightingale was traded on the streets of Sky City; who knew what was true and not?

    The most widely accepted rumor, however, was that the young heiress had somehow managed to enroll at Sky Academy in secret, and many wanted to visit the academy to learn if it was true. Unfortunately, they were all barred at the entrance.

    Supposedly out of respect for the dead Sky Academy students, the entire academy had closed down and all students were sent home for a month of closed mourning - whether they wanted to or not.

    Most students had welcomed this order wholeheartedly. Sky Academy was not a large institution; loosing fourteen youths at once meant more than 10 percent decease in students for the Martial Division and there wasn''t a single child who hadn''t lost a class mate or friend in the process.

    There were however two students who had to be forcefully removed from the school grounds; the Griffin twins.

    On Raven''s request, both her own and Javelin''s status had not been announced, so no one knew if they were alive or dead. Naturally, the Griffin twins had been reluctant to leave with so little information, but Raven still felt it was for the best.

    "Better give them a few days of uncertainty, rather than false hope," Raven had answered Hoatzin when he asked why she wouldn''t just tell them the truth.

    Now Hoatzin watched as Raven stood in the hallway outside her and Javelin''s dorm room. Her hand was on the handle, but she was hesitating to open the door.

    "You don''t have to do this, sister," he finally pleaded. "I''m sure Javelin would understand."

    Raven glanced down at him and smiled an unusually warm smile.

    "If he is anything like the man I knew, forget understanding - he would demand that I don''t do it. It''s only . . ." Raven paused and retracted her hand from the door. Carefully, she lifted down her brother from her shoulder and held him in front of her face. "I''m sorry, Hoatzin. It is not fair to you that I insist on doing this."

    Hoatzin blinked, slightly surprised at what she said, but he didn''t disagree with her.

    "This is something I must do - I owe him that much - but it is only because I know that you are strong enough that I can do it," Raven continued, her eyes so full of certainty that Hoatzin almost believed her. Almost.

    Raven raised Hoatzin to her mouth and kissed him on the head. "Thank you, Hoatzin," she whispered, only barely keeping her voice steady.

    "What for?" he grunted, unwilling to let his sister do what she wanted.

    "For loving me."

    The words stabbed at him like a knife and in his soul Hoatzin did what his body could not; he cried.

    Raven must have noticed his distress because she chuckled lightly and rubbed his feathery head. "Don''t look at me like that, big brother. I''m not so easily killed."

    Hoatzin could only manage a light nod.

    His sister smiled back at him in response. "Well then, let''s get this over with," she said and opened the door.

    "Are you ready?" Fenris voice greeted them on the other side.

    "No!" Hoatzin wanted to yell, but he didn''t.

    "I am," replied Raven, "but for what?"

    A mysterious smile crept across Fenris'' face.

    "To become Soul Bound."

 Chapter 94: Soul Bound

    Author''s Note: A big thank you to this chapter''s sponsor</a>!

    <hr />

    Soul Bound

    Raven stared at Fenris who still sat cross-legged on the floor with Javelin in front of him.

    "Soul Bound?" Raven''s face distorted slightly. ''Like some type of soul marriage?'' She didn''t say the last part out loud, but Fenris seemed to be reading her mind; noting her reaction, he chuckled.

    "Don''t give me that look, young Raven, it is not some sappy romance thing. Although, it is not uncommon that the Soul Bound end up that way."

    Raven wasn''t convinced. "Then what is it?"

    "It is actually rather straight forward; once Soul Bound, you and the boy will have your soul prisms linked together, allowing you to share each others spirit connections. Naturally, this will have an extremely beneficial effect on your future development since whenever one of you gains another spirit connection, the other one will too."

    Raven raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

    "Yes. It is considered one of the best cultivation aids within the Realms, but, due to the risks and the harsh prerequisites, it is still very rare," Fenris explained, a small spark of excitement in his eyes. "If this succeeds, both of your cultivation levels should soar, given enough time."

    It sounded like a miracle cure, but Raven didn''t believe in miracles. Her eyes narrowed. "You say our soul prisms will be bound together - I doubt spirit connections will be the only things we will share."

    "Well, no. Your souls will be linked, so naturally there will be a few other consequences." A mischievous smile flashed across Fenris'' face. "Do you want the short list, or the long?"

    "The long," Raven answered with a deadpan expression. The answer wasn''t likely to change her mind, but she needed to know what she was getting herself - and Eric''s reincarnation - into.

    "Very well," Fenris said, his mouth twitching slightly. "Since your souls will be linked, you will both be able to sense the other''s emotions and location at all times. You will also be able to communicate mentally, much like you already can with your brother, only there will be no distance limitations for you and the boy."

    Raven nodded in understanding. So far there wasn''t anything too hard to handle - although the emotions thing sounded like a major headache, in the long-run.

    "Also, with your spirit connections shared, it will give you an additional defense against attacks like the one the boy is under right now - as long as one of you still have your spirit connections, the other''s soul will prevail. However, if one of you has your soul prism shattered, the other one will suffer the same fate."

    "So if he dies, I die?" Raven asked.

    "Generally, yes, but that is no different from the risk you are taking right now, right?"

    "Just asking," Raven replied, shaking her head. "What else? My memories . . ."

    "Will remain your own," Fenris answered before Raven could finish the question. "However, once bound, the mark from his soul touch will have left you and returned to the boy; it is not impossible that he will have regained his own memories by then."

    Now Raven''s body froze, her face paling. ''He would remember?'' Raven wasn''t sure she wanted him to. Subconsciously, she clenched her fists, but soon relaxed again. ''I guess he deserves to remember, as for what he thinks of it . . .''

    "Apart from this," Fenris continued, "I am sure that there are plenty of other consequences - good and bad - but I myself am not Soul Bound, so I only know what others have told me." Fenris gaze grew more intense. "So, young Raven, are you still willing to save this boy?"

    "Sister. . ." Hoatzin called, his worry apparent.

    Raven looked over at her brother, sitting nervously on Javelin''s bedpost. She gave him a warm smile before she tugged at the spacial ring on her finger. Wiggling it loose, Raven placed the coppery ring on her bedside table. "If something happens, all you need is in here." She stretched out a hand to pat her brother''s head. "I''m proud of you, Hoatzin. I hope you know that," Raven said, for only him to hear, but Hoatzin gave no response.

    She then turned to face Fenris. "What should I do?"

    With a face that clearly indicated how pleased he was with her actions, Fenris indicated to the space next to Javelin. "Lie down, close your eyes, and don''t resist me - I will guide you through it."

    Raven did as she was told, but before she shut her eyes, she looked up at Fenris - her gaze so intense that it sent an involuntary shiver down his spine. "Why are you helping us, Fenris?" she asked, not bothering with the normal honorifics. "You have asked for no favors for this."

    Fenris smile enigmatically. "Boredom?" he asked more than stated. "Don''t worry, young Raven, I swear on my soul prism that I will do nothing but help you be Soul Bound to this boy, not asking for anything in return."

    Raven''s eyes twitched slightly, but she saw the tell-tale sign of a soul oath appearing on Fenris'' forehead. She considered the man''s words carefully but could think of no loop-holes that might come back and bite her, so she finally gave in and closed her eyes.

    It didn''t take long before she felt Fenris sending his spirit essence into her, enveloping her soul prism in a deep blue mist. Raven sensed him slowly drawing up a complicated diagram on the surface of the prism, guiding her to follow suit with her own spirit essence.

    Suddenly, the entire diagram shuddered violently, immediately expanding to twice its size and completely covering the prism. In the next instant, Raven felt a searing sensation run through her mind as all her spirit connections simultaneously twisted and started merging with the diagram.

    As her connections changed, Raven felt her consciousness slowly slipping. She barely noticed Fenris grabbing her hand and the sharp stab in her palm that followed. She did, however, notice the gentle warmth that started spreading through her body, originating from her hand. Entirely by reflex, Raven''s hand clenched and only then did she realize that she was holding something.

    ''Javelin?'' she wondered in a daze.

    "Oh right, I forgot to mention th-. . ."

    Raven thought she heard Fenris say something, but the pain in her head increased yet again, and Raven''s mind faded into darkness before she could register what was said.

    Next to her, Javelin''s body fiercely convulsed once, before growing still yet again.

    <hr />

    Cold. That was all I could feel, and around me there was nothing but darkness.

    Where am I?

    "Eric!" a distant woman''s voice called.

    Who is it? Who is she calling?

    I forced my eyes open but was immediately blinded by how white the world was beyond my eyelids. A blurry figure was leaning over me, shielding me from what seemed like heavy snowfall. I couldn''t see her face clearly, but, even though she did so quietly, I could still tell that she was crying.

    Why is she crying?

    For some reason, the woman''s tears felt wrong to me, misplaced. I tried lifting my hand, wanting to touch her face, but my arm was so heavy that I could barely move it. The woman must have noticed my attempt, because she quickly caught my weak hand and pulled it to her chest.

    My vision cleared momentarily and I could see two beautifully black eyes staring down at me, filled with both confusion and grief. I didn''t like seeing her so sad. I forced a smile but in the next moment the world started turning black again.

    I could feel the woman pulling me closer to her. I wanted to speak to her, tell her not to be sad on my account, but I couldn''t move my mouth. Soon, I was once more alone in the cold darkness.

    Am I dying?

    Just as I was about to give in to the inevitable and let go, the voice called again - closer now and with more determination.

    "Javelin!"

    <hr />

    With a jolt, both Javelin''s and Raven''s eyes snapped open. Sometime during the binding ritual their bodies had been turned to face each other, so their gazes instantly met.

    At once, a myriad of complicated emotions swept over the two of them, some their own, some belonging to the person they faced. Raven could feel Javelin''s confusion as if it was her own, while Javelin, on the other hand, sensed Raven''s relieved apprehension - making him feel even more confused.

    For a moment, the two of them stared at each other and just like before, Raven felt herself get lost in Javelin''s wondrous eyes, swept away by the various blues and golden sparks within. Or was it Eric''s eyes? It was strange; no matter how she tried, Raven couldn''t remember what color they had been in his past life.

    Javelin smiled weakly at her and opened his mouth to speak, but before a word could leave him, the light in his eyes faded as he grew limp yet again.

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    "Javelin!" Raven called, worried that something had gone wrong.

    "He is fine, young Raven," Fenris explained, his voice sounding close to exhaustion. "I have simply withdrawn my spirit essence from him, letting the Phoenix Death Lotus run its course."

    Raven sat up on the floor and looked at Fenris, immediately noticing how pale he looked; a great deal of effort must have been required from him to pull off the soul binding. Nonetheless, Raven''s first question still concerned Javelin. "I thought the plant would be dealt with by now?" she asked.

    "The Phoenix Death Lotus cannot be removed, but once it consumes all of the boy''s spirit essence and connections, it will still be unable to take residence in the Soul Bound soul prism." Fenris coughed twice before he continued. "Once it runs out of sustenance, it will only take a few days before the Phoenix Death Lotus withers and dies."

    Raven nodded in understanding and was about to ask more when Hoatzin''s small body suddenly slammed into Raven, burrowing himself deep in Raven''s robes.

    "Hoatzin?" Raven asked, but no reply came. She smiled softly and gently patted her brothers back. "I''m fine now," she comforted, "sorry for worrying you." At this moment, Raven couldn''t help but feel that even if her brother might not approve of her and her means, at least he still cared for her.

    When Hoatzin still remained silent, Raven turned her attention back to Fenris. "Thank you," she said, not needing to ask if the process had succeeded or not.

    Fenris only shrugged in response as he leaned back and started recuperating his spirit essence.

    Curious to examine what had changed, Raven closed her eyes and sent her awareness inward. When she reached the location of her soul prism Raven paused in shock. Where there before had been only one crystallized prism, there were now two - slowly rotating around each other. One was clear green with some light blue hues in it, which was Raven''s own soul prism. The other was on the borderline between red and orange - which had to be Javelin''s - only this one was practically transparent, as if it rather was a hologram.

    Looking more closely, Raven noticed that while the now 409 spirit connections her own soul prism had, where substantial and completely under her control, the 24 which belonged to Javelin''s, where significantly less corporal and utterly unresponsive to her commands. Additionally, Javelin''s spirit connections did little to help Raven''s perception of the world around her, as her own would.

    They did, however, supply her with spirit essence, which traveled via Javelin''s soul prism, into her own, and then throughout her body in a pulsating fashion. With every new pulse of spirit essence, Javelin''s prism seemed to grow infinitesimally less transparent in her mind.

    Raven also noticed that there was a sense of purity over the spirit essence that she received via Javelin''s soul prism, which seemed to have a calming effect on the killing intent that had been almost permanently merged with her own. She guessed that, with a bit of practice, she should be able to use this feature to more adeptly control the nature of her spirit essence.

    ''Perhaps healing skills won''t be as hard for me in the future,'' she wondered.

    As Raven was contemplating all this, she suddenly realized that only 24 out of Javelin''s 25 spirit connections remained. Raven frowned, but she understood what was happening; the Phoenix Death Lotus was destroying Javelin''s established spirit connections.

    "It''s beginning," she said and opened her eyes to look down at the boy next to her. Raven wanted to inspect what was going on within Javelin, but the moment her spirit essence entered his body, the Phoenix Death Lotus grabbed hold of it and started absorbing it. She could only helplessly retract her spirit essence and wait.

    A few hours passed before the last of Javelin''s spirit connections faded from the transparent soul prism in Raven''s mind. The world seemed to slow down as Raven nervously observed Javelin''s prism. She was worried that the crystal''s red-orange color would fade, indicating that his soul was leaving him, but it didn''t.

    "Very well then," Fenris suddenly said and got to his feet. Raven raised her head to look at him, finding his complexion significantly improved. "I shall be taking my leave, young Raven." Fenris stretched his spine and yawned, revealing sharp fangs in his mouth, his movements causing him to suddenly seem a lot more wild and animistic.

    "Don''t forget the favor you owe me from before," he reminded with a wolfish grin and started walking towards the door. "Oh, and I expect my grandchild will be coming by sometime soon; his training is almost over."

    Without waiting for a response from Raven, Fenris walked out the door and disappeared completely.

    "Seriously," Raven wondered out loud, "what level of cultivation is that man at?" She could feel the movement of the particles in the air outside her room, but still had no idea how Fenris had left; what did that tell her about his abilities?

    "Gadwall called him Spirit Legend Fenris. Perhaps ''Spirit Legend'' is his cultivation level? Like ''Spirit Master'', only higher?" offered Hoatzin. His voice was calm and collected, making no mention of what Raven had just risked.

    "Possibly, but the title alone doesn''t say much." Raven looked pensively at the door Fenris had left through for a while and then looked away. "I just know we should be happy he''s not our enemy."

    "I am not so sure we should be happy to be his friends either," added Hoatzin grudgingly. "Hey, where are you going?"

    While Hoatzin was talking, Raven had gotten up, lifted Javelin to his bed and was currently headed for the door when her brother''s call stopped her. "To get a bath - why, do you wish to join me, big brother?" she teased, but Hoatzin gave her a questioning look.

    "Then what about him?" he asked and pointed at the unconscious Javelin.

    "What about him? Fenris said it would take a few days before the Phoenix Death Lotus'' effects ware off; it''s not like he''ll be waking up any time soon," said Raven and inwardly added; ''and I''m not so sure I want to be here when he does. . . .''

    "But you cannot leave him behind. . . . Did you not hear what Fenris said?"

    Raven frowned and, noting her confusion, Hoatzin continued to explain; "Fenris said that as long as the soul binding is unstable, you can''t leave his side. Within a few meters at first."

    "He said what!?" Raven paled.

    "Fenris said that you have to stay within the stable radius of his soul prism; a distance that will increase quickly as your two soul prisms adapt to one another. It is also only when this process is complete that you two will be fully Soul Bound."

    Ignoring Raven''s shock, Hoatzin happily repeated himself. She got the distinct feeling that he was feeling a bit smug about all this, as if it was just deserts for Raven''s reckless risk taking.

    "Did he say how long this ''stabilizing'' would take?" Raven asked, afraid of the answer.

    "Until both parts are equally real," Hoatzin said, doing his best to imitate Fenris'' mischievous voice.

    Raven winced.

    ''Damn.''

    She got up and tentatively walked to the door. Just as she passed through the door frame, Raven felt a stabbing pain in her mind, as if something was tearing it apart. Quickly she stepped back into the room and immediately the pain faded.

    ''Shit.''

    Raven looked back at Javelin, lying unconscious on his bed. In a few days time, he would wake up and Raven would have to face him and, more importantly, his past memories.

    ''Fuck.''

    <hr />

    Deep in the central mountain peak, a green-clothed figure appeared with a flicker in the air in front of the large reverse-flowing water fall. Quickly, the figure lowered itself to one knee, revealing a fluffy white tail that then reached below his suspended feet.

    "Spirit Legend Fenris greets Spi-. . ."

    "You interfered," an archaic voice interrupted Fenris before he could finish his greeting.

    Fenris chuckled slightly and stood up. "I do what my master tells me to," he replied with a shrug. "Surely you have no complaints about that?"

    "Your master?" Two great eyes appeared in the depths of the waterfall, glaring at Fenris as if trying to bore holes into him. "What is your master''s interest in a child from a minor realm like mine?"

    Fenris shrugged again, causing the owner of the two vicious eyes to snort disdainfully. Nonetheless, the latter still conceded; "fine," he said begrudgingly, "I shall allow it."

    This time, Fenris'' amusement didn''t stop at a mere chuckle and he laughed out loud. "Call it what you will, but you should do your best to help that child rather than leading her astray."

    The two eyes in the waterfall narrowed. "Or what?" the archaic voice challenged.

    "Or it won''t be me who interferes next time."

    With that, Fenris'' body flickered yet again as he disappeared into thin air. Left behind were only the two eyes, whose previous viciousness had been muddled by a tinge of fear.

 Chapter 95: Young Lady Nightingale

    Young Lady Nightingale

    Ten days passed without any major changes in Javelin''s condition. Raven had felt how the consuming force of the Phoenix Death Lotus had slowly faded, day by day, until its presence was gone. Still, Javelin had still to regain his consciousness.

    Raven suspected that it was because his own soul prism had yet to reform any of his spirit connections, but she knew it wouldn''t be long before the boy woke up. Raven felt very conflicted about it.

    Something she didn''t feel conflicted about, however, was the sea of people who were gathered not too far from her current position.

    Thousands of people had arrived in the large ceremonial courtyard at Cloud Indigo Palace and were waiting eagerly for what was to come. Anyone who was anything in Sky City was there - including everyone from the two current Prefecture Lords down to the higher ranking members of the city''s more outstanding Guilds.

    Raven glanced out a window indifferently. Ever since her spirit connections exceeded 350 and she started sensing people''s spirit presence, Raven didn''t really care for large groups of people; there was simply too much sensory stimuli around. She was however aware of her duties as Raven Nightingale and would not shy away from today''s event simply out of discomfort.

    In fact, she had to admit that there were a couple of people whose reactions she was quite looking forward to. A sly smile crept across her face.

    <hr />

    Outside, a strong summer breeze swept across the waiting crowds. The sun stood high in the sky, but at these altitudes even the brightest rays had to struggle to bring heat to the gathered people on the palace courtyard.

    "I''m leaving!" grunted Martin disapprovingly for the hundredth time, earning him yet another slap at the back of his head before he could even attempt to move. He and Lark were standing next to their father, the Prefecture Lord of Blood Griffin Prefecture, who had dished out the punishment for acting out of line.

    No further comments were made by the middle-aged Prefecture Lord, but Martin clicked his tongue begrudgingly. "Who cares about a long-lost pampered little sissy?" he whispered into his twin''s ear and ducked before his father could smack him over the head again. When no swing came he straightened and continued his monologue to Lark. "We should sneak out of here and find out what''s going on with Javelin and Raven!"

    "Shh," Lark hissed to his brother. Nervously, he scanned the crowd, looking for a familiar face.

    "Don''t shush me!" retorted Martin, barely remembering to keep his voice down. "It''s been almost three weeks and we still don''t know what''s happened to them! How can you be so calm!?"

    Only now did Lark stop his searching, giving Martin a steady glare. "I''m not calm, brother - you know I''m not." Martin lowered his head slightly and Lark turned his attention back to the crowd. "You know I want new information about those two as much as you do, but this is the first public announcement since the staged rebellion. It isn''t likely it will all be about the Nightingale heiress - perhaps we will learn something here."

    Martin only snorted as a reply, but stopped arguing about leaving, nevertheless.

    Lark''s gaze continued to scan the gathered crowed, but he couldn''t find who he was looking for, no matter how hard he tried. Just as he was about to give up, a small flash of silver pulled Lark''s attention to a lean man leaning against one of the pillar at the other end of the courtyard. He was quite far off, but even at this distance Lark recognized the man''s silver-blue hair.

    ''Limpkin?'' he wondered and frowned; the Assassin Guild usually never bothered with events like this. Lark''s gaze shifted slightly to take in the people standing next to the famous assassin and got an even bigger surprise. Lark nudged his brother with his elbow and indicated for him to look across the courtyard. "Twin, look! Aren''t they Raven''s uncles - standing there, next to Limpkin the assassin?"

    Martin followed his brother''s gaze and after narrowing his eyes to see better, he blinked in shock. Lark was right - it was Uncle Hog and the other three mercenaries who had raised Raven - but how come they were here? They neither had the lineage nor the social status to attend.

    Suddenly, a bugle''s monotone sound called everyone''s attention to the stage at the far end of the courtyard. A plump man in his late fifties walked up to the podium that had been erected at the center of the stage and cleared his throat.

    "Your Royal Highness'', ladies and gentlemen, I present his Majesty, Sky Emperor Mallard Bateleur, and her Majesty, Sky Empress Nene."

    "Long live the Sky Emperor! Long live the Sky Empress!" everyone called and bowed deeply. Normally, these people wouldn''t be quite this formal around their otherwise lenient Emperor-pair, but, in light of recent events, no one dared to be lax in their show of respect.

    There was a ruffle of fabric on the stage and a moment later the Emperor''s warm voice filled the large courtyard with ease.

    "Please rise," he urged and waited until the crowd had complied. Standing next to his empress, Emperor Mallard looked out at his subjects with air of regal benevolence. Both monarchs were draped in lavish golden fabrics, signifying the importance of today''s events.

    Finally, the Emperor started speaking again; "as you know, much has happened in our great empire as of late . . . and even more has been speculated about." Mallard paused for a moment, his eyes showing a hint of his disapproval. "However," he continued, once more seemingly content with the crowd, "let us not wallow in the past. If this Emperor had to concern himself with every person who believes he knows better than us, when would we find the time to rule?"

    Everyone in the courtyard drew in a sharp breath of air and both Griffin twins couldn''t help but glance up at their father, whose forehead had turned moist with cold sweat. The Emperor might seem fairly happy at the moment, but he never refereed to himself in third person, unless he was seriously upset.

    The warning was clear: know your place, or bear the consequences.

    Emperor Mallard hadn''t said much, but the underlying meanings of his words were not missed. With this one sentence he not only reproved the people for spreading rumors they had no base for, but also took a swipe at those whose conscience wasn''t entirely clear with regards to the Talon rebellion.

    There was silence in the courtyard. No one dared speak and while the Emperor was smiling happily, the oppressive feeling in the air was anything but jovial.

    Lord Griffin couldn''t help but shift his balance slightly. He had done nothing wrong lately, in fact, due to his sons, Lord Griffin had been one of those who had actively worked against the Talon Clan - although he didn''t realize its importance at the time. Nonetheless, under the stifling atmosphere in the palace courtyard, he still felt a bit guilty - imagine how those who''d actually done something were feeling at this moment. . . .

    It only took a few second before a handful people in the crowd bowed so deeply their heads almost hit their knees. "The Emperor is wise!" they shouted, almost in unison. "Forgive our ignorance!"

    Everyone else in the courtyard were quick to follow suit so no one noticed the cold flash in the Emperor''s eyes when he saw the behavior of the first people. His eyes darted to the side, meeting the gaze of one of his aids, before he happily spoke to the crowd again. "What''s this? I believe I said that we should put all this behind us?"

    A sigh of relief spread through the gathered people - the emperor had stopped referring to himself in third person - but as they straightened out again, some couldn''t help but notice that those who had been quickest to apologize were no longer among them.

    "Now," continued the Emperor as if nothing had happened, "while I wish for us to put our past behind us, we must never forget it. Many brave and loyal souls have perished by the nefarious deeds of the Talon Clan, the worst of which no doubt being the deaths of this nation''s brightest students. . . ." Mallard''s speech trailed off a bit, but he soon regained his composure, his voice becoming more grand and imposing with every word that followed. "However," he said, "even in these times, our future is far from lost!"

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    The Emperor looked out over the courtyard, seemingly getting eye contact with every single person present. "Every one of you here, has a vital role in this nation''s future. You are Sky Empire''s backbone and, together, I know we are strong!"

    "Hear, hear!" someone shouted and several cheers rang from within the crowd.

    "Together, we can conquer any enemy!" Mallard shouted.

    "Hear, hear!" the crowd answered.

    "Together, we can make this nation greater than ever before!" the Emperor shouted once more, this time clasping his wife''s hand in his and raising them both to the skies.

    Empowered cheers exploded throughout the entire courtyard and Emperor Mallard watched the elated people in front of him with a pleased smile on his face. It was perhaps not his most well-polished speech, but sometimes that was to be preferred; sometimes, you had to be a bit corny.

    Eventually, the Emperor raised his free hand to silence the crowd.

    "Many scars remain among us," he said, his voice sounding grave. "The first challenge we face will be dealing with the damage done to the once stable prefecture, that the traitors stole from a noble and loyal family - the Nightingale Clan!"

    "It will be a long and hard road; the Talon Clan seized the Nightingale Prefecture by murder and deception, and, once theirs, the prefecture''s state was gravely neglected by its false rulers. Returning prosperity to the region will not be easy."

    "Yet, I wish - no, I demand to see the Nightingale Prefecture re-formed and, with your aid, returned back to its former glory! Will you help?" The Emperor bellowed his question and crowd replied with affirmative cheers. It was a hollow promise, naturally, but at least the intention was there.

    "By now, you all know that not all of the Nightingale''s head family fell to the Talon Clan''s vicious plans. The youngest heir survived, and - through miraculous effort and the intervention of four brave men - she made her way to the capital. For over three years, she has escaped the watchful eye of the Talons and can, today, finally reclaim her title as heir to the Nightingale Prefecture!"

    "Huzzah!" the crowd cheered and the Emperor had to wait a while before he could continue his speech.

    "Although young, Lady Nightingale''s cultivation and intellect is far beyond her years. She will continue her studies for a while longer, but I hope you won''t be clouded by her age and that you will work hard with both her and her chosen representative. Together we can restore the Nightingale Prefecture. Together we can restore our nation!"

    While the crowd cheered loudly, the Emperor looked over at his wife with a loving smile. Empress Nene returned the gesture with a smile of her own before she took a step forward, causing the courtyard to instantly quiet down. When she spoke her voice was sweet yet assertive.

    "We know that you are all eager to meet the young heiress. However, bear in mind that the past few years have been very hard on her and she has been forced to take drastic measures to survive. . . . Because of what she has been through, the Emperor has waived young Lady Nightingales requirement to wear a veil - I only ask that if you recognize her from somewhere else, please don''t put it against her."

    The Empress paused, her eyes moist with emotion. "Her . . . her mother, Lady Besra Nightingale, was a dear friend of mine. . . . With her gone, both the Emperor and I feel for the young Lady Nightingale''s well-being as if she was our own. I hope you will do the same."

    Quiet murmurs spread through the crowd and the Griffin twins'' father raised a surprised eyebrow. What was the Empress actually implying? After a moments contemplation, Lord Griffin''s large hands clasped Martin and Lark''s shoulders firmly. "Hear that? You better be kind to the young lady!" he ordered and then, mostly to himself, quietly mumbled, "she is a good candidate. . . ."

    Martin and Lark glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. They knew what their father was hinting at, but that didn''t mean they approved.

    Noticing the crowds reaction, the Empress laughed sweetly. "We shall not keep you waiting any longer," she said with a smile. "I present to you young Lady Raven Nightingale, daughter and heiress to Lord Maleo Nightingale."

    The Empress gracefully lifted her hand, indicating to the side of the stage where a double-door led to the inner confinements of the palace. Moments later the doors were pulled open by the two servants standing next to them, revealing the darkness within.

    The entire courtyard plummeted into silence, expectantly observing the opening. No matter how the Emperor disapproved, the rumors surrounding the young heiress had already been circulated and if it was one thing that united almost all of the people in the crowd, it was their curiosity. Would she be a young beauty like her mother or had the flames disfigured her? Was she cold and vicious or sweet and benevolent? Everyone wanted to know and even Martin found himself staring at the dark hallway behind the stage doors.

    At first, nothing happened, but just as people started fidgeting a bit, the rhythmic sound of soft bells seeped out from within the darkness. The clang wasn''t loud, but it echoed throughout the courtyard, creating a very mystical effect. The sound grew clearer and clearer until, finally, a figure emerged from within the shadows.

    Walking with regal grace, a roughly one and a half meter tall girl stepped out on the stage. She wore the traditional light blue dress with copper embroideries that was reserved for the nobility of Nightingale Prefecture and her midnight purple hair was arranged in intricate braids, partially hidden by the lavish ornament that donned her head.

    Several bells adorned that ornament, but if anyone would have paid close enough attention, they would have noticed that the bells weren''t actually moving - the bell clang came from somewhere else. As it were, no one was paying attention to her hair. Instead, every pair of eyes instead focused on the girl''s face.

    Her complexion was pale and her features elegant, albeit a bit frail due to her age, but what drew everyone''s attention were her eyes. Deep red and with a cold, yet not directly dismissive look, the girl''s eyes were like rubies in a field of snow.

    She was young alright - seemingly in her mid to late teens - but she still had the entire audience mesmerized to the point of folly. The Griffin twins were no exception. They stared, dumbfounded, at the girl and didn''t even realize that, a few steps behind her, a young man - who they ought to have recognized - was rolled out, unconscious in a wheelchair.

    As the Nightingale heiress gracefully moved to the center of the stage, her gaze traveled through the gathered crowd in the courtyard, pausing momentarily every now and then. Suddenly, the girl''s eyes met Martin and Lark''s and the two twins could have sworn that they saw an amused smile flash across the girl''s face momentarily. They blinked in surprise. Why did this girl feel so familiar? They had only met her briefly once before and at that time she had been veiled.

    The girl reached the center of the stage, bowed to the Emperor-pair, and then turned, with stoic elegance, to face the crowd. She opened her mouth to speak, but she only managed to say one word before a loud scream cut her off.

    At once, everyone turned to face the source of the sound and found two wide-eyed twins, staring up at Raven Nightingale with their jaws dropped. Martin''s trembling hand was pointing towards the stage as he struggled to form any kind of sentence; "R-Raven . . . he . . . y-you . . !"

    On stage, a mischievous glint glowed in Raven''s eyes and on a nearby roof, a small red bird seemed to be having a fit as it wheezed with laughter.

 Chapter 96: Fuzzy Feelings

    Author''s Note: Many thanks to this chapter''s sponsor</a>!

    <hr />

    Fuzzy Feelings

    Overflowing with secret amusement, Raven watched as the two Griffin twins tried to wrap their head around what they had obviously figured out by now. She had expected their reaction to be comical, but this was better than anticipated.

    Out of the two, Lark was clearly handling the revelation best - he was shocked, but still seemed to have his wits about him. Martin, on the other hand. . . . His face was turning blue from lack of breathing.

    "Haha, this is priceless!" Hoatzin''s laughing voice echoed in her mind.

    "Indeed," Raven agreed with a faint smile and stepped forward to speak. Her clear voice easily reaching everyone in the crowd; "What my eloquent friend is so accurately pointing out is that I, Raven Nightingale, have spent the last couple of years at Sky Academy - disguised as the male student Raven Night."

    Shocked gasps came from the crowd. There might have been rumors of the Nightingale heiress studying at Sky Academy, but to hear it confirmed was something else. Add to the mix that Raven Night was somewhat of a celebrity at Sky Academy - the wondrous preteen prodigy who had managed to become the Headmaster''s disciple - and everyone was beyond flabbergasted. Yet, even more shocking, Raven Night was supposed to be a boy!

    "She cross-dressed as a boy - for nearly four years!?"

    "How is that even possible? She must have had roommates. . . ."

    Murmurs spread through the crowd and, as if hearing other''s reactions made it more real, Martin''s face turned from blue to green and then white. Even Lark looked a bit pale. Raven could only assume that they were thinking back on their years together and all the things they had done under the assumption that Raven was a boy. Things like trying to get her to swim, naked, in grand garden''s pond at Sky Academy, whining about how annoying all girls were and a bunch of pranks most women would find highly offensive.

    "Perhaps they knew?" someone suddenly whispered, unsuccessfully, to his neighbor, who was standing fairly close to the Griffin twins. "Tsk, tsk, an unmarried noblewoman sharing a room with men. . . . Outrageous!"

    "I understand she had to lay low," the neighbor answered, shaking his head; "but who would want to marr-. . ."

    The sentence was never finished; a sharp slap had landed on the speaker''s cheek, quickly followed by a heavy punch to his gut. The man toppled over in pain, gasping for air.

    "Watch your mouth! That is our friend you''re talking about!" Martin roared, his face still a bit sickly.

    "I''m only . . ." the man started, but Lark cut him off; ". . . slandering a future Prefecture Lord?"

    On stage Raven''s lips curled into a slight smile. She had to hand it to the twins; they might have been shaken by the revelation of Raven''s true identity, but they were loyal friends and had acted quickly in her defense nonetheless.

    Not that she needed defending.

    The man was about attempt to refute again when Raven''s cold voice cut trough the air like a knife. "So much for not wallowing in the past. . . ."

    Instantly the floored man turned deathly pale, together with some of the others who had spoken rashly just moments earlier. Raven''s single sentence instantly brought them back to the Emperor''s speech - those had been his words!

    Had not the Emperor and Empress explicitly told them to not talk badly about Raven''s past? What would they do if the Emperor took their offhanded remarks as disobeying an imperial decree?

    Noticing the crowds reaction, Raven didn''t bother to push harder; today was about building bridges, not burning them. "I do not blame your skepticism," she said, her voice significantly softer. "I agree that my methods were slightly unorthodox, but, at the time, my survival took priority. I hope all of you can forgive this one for acting rashly.

    Raven curtsied deeply on stage, causing the bells in her hair to jingle. The sound was slightly different from when she had entered, but no one noticed; they were too busy watching Raven''s elegant movements. How could someone so young, who could only have had a few years of training with her mother, move so smoothly? And why did it seem like Raven was sparkling?

    "If I didn''t know better, I would think my sister was a vain person," Hoatzin commented smugly. "What would the creators of your Divine Skills think if they knew you where using them for such parlor tricks?"

    "They''d be impressed by my ingenuity?" Raven offered without really believing it. She had been using a combination of Divine Skills ever since she walked on stage to make herself seem more mysterious. As a martial artist herself, Raven did indeed feel a bit conflicted about using high-level martial skills the way she did at the moment, but, as they say, all is fair in war.

    Nevertheless, it hurt a bit to use skills like the Sonic Sword''s sixth level skill, the Dance of Bells, and the fifth level defense skill Thunder Breath - two otherwise deadly moves - simply for some added sound effects and visual aids. . . .

    Raven kept her posture bent for quite a while before the Emperor impatiently stomped his foot in the ground, snapping people out their daze. The crowed hurried to assure Raven that there was noting for them to forgive. Pleased, Raven straightened out and smiled. It was a smile that could topple nations. Instantly the last remaining critics forgot their reservations and felt that the young Lady Nightingale was the sweetest thing alive - definitely someone you should protect rather than gossip about.

    Sweeping her gaze over the courtyard Raven''s eyes landed on Limpkin and her four adopted mercenary uncles, and couldn''t help but suppress a snicker. Limpkin hid it better than the twins had but not well enough; Raven could clearly see his surprise.

    ''Judging by his expression, I guess he figured out the Singer connection,'' she concluded. ''Not surprising considering our practice spars; he should recognize the Dance of Bells.''

    As for the four mercenaries, they were beaming with pride, looking up at her with wide smiles on their faces. Raven had spoken with them about her true identity a few days ago - including what she had asked Fenris to do to them. It was safe to say that they had been shocked by it all, but, surprisingly enough, they hadn''t gotten mad at her.

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    "No matter how it began, those two years we traveled together were real," Hog had explained when she asked why.

    "Yeah, it was only two years worth of memories you added - what''s the harm?" Dove had added with a smile. "Ain''t it worth it to gain a niece as awesome as you?"

    At that point Saltmarsh had reached out and grabbed Raven around her neck, rubbing down on her scalp. "To think that the little brat was a little lass! I''m ashamed of my girl-sniffing sensor!"

    "You should be. . . ." Emu had reprimanded while shaking his head. "It is totally okay for you to give him a kick, Raven," he added. And she had.

    Raven felt her smile momentarily becoming a real one as she thought back on the conversation. She had to admit - she was quite fond of her adopted uncles. They were neither the strongest nor the smartest, but they were entertaining.

    Suddenly, an all too familiar prickling sensation filled Raven''s mind. It was over almost as fast as it had come, but she knew without even checking that Javelin had finally reformed his first spirit connection. She could also feel vitality returning to his soul prism. He was waking up, and soon.

    ''Now this is the crappy timing Eric had. . . .'' Raven mused and glanced over her shoulder at the boy in the wheelchair. She had no idea what he would be like when he woke up, but she sure as hell wouldn''t let it be on a stage in front of thousands of people.

    "Thank you for your understanding." Raven curtsied to the crowd again, although quickly this time. No more beating around the bush. "I think we can all agree that, considering my age and experience, I am currently unfit to rule a Prefecture. As such, a warden has been appointed to care for the Nightingale Prefecture for now. Let me introduce you to Warden Bill, a long time Nightingale loyalist who has aided me greatly ever since I arrived in this city."

    A somewhat confused Bill stepped away from the wheelchair with Javelin, which he had been pushing, and approached Raven. It wasn''t that he was unprepared for this, but he had expected Raven to speak a bit longer.

    "He''s waking up," Raven whispered so Bill could hear it. For a split second Bill didn''t understand who ''he'' was but realization quickly stepped in. Bill''s expression quickly turned serious.

    "Go," he whispered back, "I''ll handle the rest."

    Raven smiled softly. Bill had come a long way from the terrified wreck he had been when she saved him. After over two years of rehabilitation and constant counseling from Raven concerning the memories he had gotten from her, Bill had emerged stronger than ever. His soul prism had strengthened greatly and his mentality improved. Even his cultivation had been rocketing upwards - it was likely Bill would become a Spirit Champion sometime soon.

    "Stay with Bill, brother," Raven urged Hoatzin as Bill stepped forward to address the crowd. Meanwhile, Raven gave the required bows to the Emperor and Empress, indicating that she was about to leave. They, just like Bill, were initially confused by Raven''s behavior, but when they saw her starting to leave with the wheelchair they could guess what was going on - they had been after all warned it might happen.

    Needless to say, the crowd was not as understanding about Raven''s sudden departure, but even as she left the stage, Raven could hear Bill handling the situation.

    Raven upped her pace. For the first time in days, she could sense the emotions within Javelin stirring. She felt his confusion and fear, but also a strange fuzzy feeling she couldn''t quite place. Underneath Javelin''s closed eyelids his eyes were moving back and forth as if he was watching a movie.

    ''He''s dreaming?'' Raven speculated as she hurried toward the guest room that had been prepared for them. ''About what, I wonder. . . .''

    <hr />

    I was dreaming. I knew I was because my arms were thin like twigs and no matter how hard I ran, I didn''t seem to get very far. I knew I was dreaming, and yet, it felt so real.

    Moments earlier, I had been in some odd corridor, made of white steel, when I suddenly heard a loud bang and something whizzed past my left ear so quickly I couldn''t even register what it was. Normally I would want to stay and fight, but this time, my instincts had told me to run - so I did. Now I was running through deep snow, in the darkness, as fast as my too weak legs would carry me.

    Behind me, constant bangs threatened to shatter my eardrums and those unbelievably fast . . . things kept flying past me. Clearly someone was trying to hit me and even though I didn''t know with what, I could tell that a hit would be fatal.

    Why was this happening to me? I didn''t know. Even in all that chaos, I kept getting the feeling that there was something I should be protecting, but I couldn''t figure out what.

    Suddenly an uncharacteristically large bang echoed out behind me and I knew in my heart that, whatever it was that was coming for me, I was now done for. I expected the impact to hit me in the back, but it didn''t. Instead, something hard yet soft slammed into my side, pushing my to the ground. In the same instant, a flurry of snow and fire exploded a few meters away, clearly just missing me.

    "Professor Solar, I take it?"

    An inappropriately calm voice drew my attention away from the blast. Lying above me, shielding me, was a woman. Her hair and eyes were black as night, her skin was almost as white as the snow around us. I blinked. I knew I had never seen this woman before, but somehow her gaze still seemed so familiar.

    More explosions forced the woman to duck in closer, pressing herself tighter to me. I felt the ground vibrating beneath us, or was it my imagination?

    "Are you professor Eric Solar?" she asked again and I found myself nodding yes although I shouldn''t.

    An almost savage smile formed on her slightly blue lips. She pulled out an oddly shaped, long, lump of metal from a strap on her thigh and pointed it out into the darkness of the surrounding trees. Suddenly flashes of fire spurts from front of the shape, accompanied by three silent: *pop*, *pop*, *pop*. After that, no more explosions came. The woman looked down on me again, still close enough for me to feel her warm breath on my cheek.

    "Hello, professor Solar," she said, the nearby flames reflecting in her still smiling eyes. "I''m Raven Night, and I''m your new bodyguard."

 Chapter 97: Awakening

    Author''s note: Many thanks to this chapter''s sponsor</a>!

    <hr />

    Awakening

    With a start, Javelin sat up, wide awake. He opened his eyes and was instantly blinded by bright sunlight.

    ''Where . . .''

    Confused and squinting, Javelin looked around the blue-stoned room he was in, his eyes falling on a dark silhouette standing by the window. Her lonely figure was clearly outlined against the outside sky, but the contrast was too great, so Javelin couldn''t see her face.

    "Raven Night?" he found himself asking, thinking of the woman in his dreams, and the silhouette twitched. Suddenly Javelin''s mind was over-flooded with emotions - the strongest of which was apprehension, but there was joy too.

    "Eric?" her voice was soft and slightly unstable when she spoke, but Javelin recognized it right away.

    "Raven?" he corrected himself and used the back of his hand to rub his eyes. "Why do y-. . ."

    Javelin stopped mid-sentence. When he had opened his eyes for the second time, the light wasn''t as blinding and Raven had stepped away from the window. He saw her blue silk dress and the intricate ornaments in her hair, but, most importantly, Javelin saw her deep green eyes, staring at him without any of the calm coldness he was used to.

    "Wow. . . ." Javelin was at a loss for words but his reaction caused some of that coldness to flash by in the forests of Raven''s eyes. At once, the apprehension left him, but so did the sense of happiness.

    Raven sighed and muttered something Javelin didn''t quite catch. She sat down on a nearby chair, the bells in her hair ringing as she moved.

    "Um, what happened?" he asked nervously when Raven only stared at him, a hard-to-read look on her face.

    "What happened?" Raven repeated his question and a tinge of anger ran through Javelin. "You ate a supposed miracle pill - given to you by a power-hungry, homicidal maniac - practically died, and were then brought back to life by me. That''s what happened."

    Javelin''s  jaw dropped in shock.

    "Oh, and the Talon clan has been eradicated and I''ve been reinstated as the heiress of the Nightingale Prefecture."

    Blinking, Javelin''s mouth open and closed like a goldfish''s. There was too much for him to process in those two sentences and the rising anger within him didn''t help.

    ''Why am I angry?''

    Raven sighed again, heavier this time. "Seriously Javelin, I know you''re a kid and all, but you''ve gone through freakin'' military training! Use your head a bit and stop making me feel like I''m a babysitter. . . ."

    Something within Javelin snapped. "Sorry for the inconvenience! I''ll leave you alone from now on!" he shouted and prepared to storm out of the room, but, just as he reached the door, a sharp pain tore through his mind. Instantly, Javelin collapsed on the floor, clutching his head.

    However, the pain quickly subsided and he looked up to see that Raven had moved closer to him. "I''m afraid that won''t happen any time soon," she said and hunched down in front of him. She took a deep breath - calming herself - and, strangely enough, Javelin''s anger calmed down with her. "My apologies, Jav," Raven said with a halfhearted smile. "I let my anger get the better of me and it spilled over into you."

    Javelin frowned, not understanding what she was talking about.

    "Confusing? I know." Without regard for her delicate dress, Raven pulled Javelin to his feet and led him back to the sofa he had been lying on. "I have a few things to explain. . . ." she said and it was the understatement of the year.

    Slowly, and seemingly without holding anything back, Raven started explaining what had happened since Javelin passed out from the Phoenix Death Lotus. The main focus was naturally on the Soul Bond which Fenris had helped form between them.

    "So, you''re telling me that we are linked for life through our souls?" Javelin asked after nearly half an hour of quiet listening.

    "Yes." Raven nodded and Javelin suppressed a smile; he quite liked the idea.

    Looking within himself, Javelin could see the changes: he saw the additional, albeit translucent, soul prism which was linked to hundreds of equally incorporeal spirit connections; he saw his own soul prism, now orange but with only a single spirit connection. With only one connection of his own, Javelin felt a bit disconnected from the world, but he understood it was only temporary and he could feel the immense amount of spirit essence flowing through Raven''s connections. She was forcefully holding it back for now, but the moment she loosened her control, Javelin would be flooded with more spirit essence than he could handle.

    "Gaining the extra spirit essence from each other''s spirit connections without stealing from each other . . . what an amazing benefit!" Just thinking about it made Javelin excited. Sure, he wasn''t contributing so much to Raven right now, but every drop counts and at least he doubled Raven''s growth-rate, connection-wise. "I''m surprised not more people get Soul Bound. Was it hard to do?"

    Hesitation flashed by Raven''s eyes for a moment as if she was considering what she was going to say, but it quickly passed. "Well, the requirement are supposedly rather high. . . ."

    "Requirements?"

    "Fenris didn''t really go into the details, but I got the distinct impression that one has to be soul touched for it to work." Javelin made no attempts to hide the confusion he was feeling and Raven continued; "Being soul touched means that someone gave his or her life to protect you. That strong emotion causes a part of the dying person''s soul to linger, imprinting on the one left behind."

    Javelin frowned; this explanation wasn''t helping much. After all, they were both alive!

    "Javelin, you . . ." Raven halted and drew a deep breath, steeling herself, ". . . or rather the previous you, gave his life to save me. You don''t remember it now, but you will - eventually."

    "But you already do?" Javelin asked, not really believing what Raven was telling him.

    "I do - I always have. How else could I possibly have been born with such an odd soul prism? Since it''s only a matter of time, I might as well tell you. . . ." Raven seemed a bit distant as she spoke, her mind clearly somewhere else. " You, then known as Eric Solar, took a bullet for me, Raven Night, while I was working as your bodyguard." She laughed bitterly. "Not one of the finest moments in my career."

    Javelin had no idea what a ''bullet'' was, but it didn''t matter. "Those dreams!" he gasped, finally accepting Raven''s words. "They were real!?"

    "You remember?"

    "Yes! Well, no . . . I''ve been having these dreams. . . . There was a woman, my bodyguard she said, and her name was Raven Night, just like you. I thought I was just making things up, but . . ." Javelin''s eyes widened. "Hey, if I remember everything, will my soul prism become like yours?"

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    Raven stiffened slightly but quickly shrugged her shoulders. "I don''t know, but it should at least get stronger than it is now."

    Javelin felt himself smiling broadly. This was it. This was the only way he would ever stand a chance at catching up to Raven. Her head start was enormous, but at least the gap wouldn''t keep increasing forever.

    ''I have to remember!'' he vowed.

    An odd emotion suddenly washed over Javelin and he looked over at Raven. She was staring at him calmly, but the feelings that reached Javelin through their bond told him otherwise.

    "What''s wrong?" he asked. "It would seem like you don''t want me to remember?"

    "What I want doesn''t matter," Raven said and smiled back at him, the merriment not reaching her eyes. "They are your memories - you deserve to know. . . ."

    Listening to her words and feeling her emotions, a sudden thought struck Javelin. "Hey, we weren''t perhaps lovers in our past life?" he asked before he had a chance to get embarrassed. It just made too much sense! If they had been lovers before, then that might explain why he had fallen for Raven so quickly when he was younger, and why he got so hot-headed whenever she was in danger. He had already been willing to die for her once, naturally he should still be willing. Javelin didn''t really need an answer, he knew he was right, but . . .

    "No, we were not."

    Raven''s reply came like bucket of cold water. Her tone was emotionless and all he sensed from her was icy rejection. She wasn''t lying. Not completely anyway. Unwilling to accept it, Javelin was about to refute her claim when a familiar red bird landed on the windowsill and Raven walked over to let him in.

    The bird took one long look at Javelin.

    "So the life-and-death risk paid off - he is up and running."

    The sudden voice in Javelin''s mind almost caused him to jump in his seat.

    "He''s indeed," Javelin heard Raven reply moments later while giving him a quizzical look. "And I suspect he just heard you, brother."

    For the second time that day, Javelin blinked in confusion and shock as he stared at Raven and her pet bird.

    "He can hear me?" the second voice spoke again. This time Javelin could hear the familiarities with Hoatzin, Raven''s dead big brother, but that made no sense at all!

    "So it would seem. Fenris did mention that we should be able to speak mentally once the Soul Bound was in place. Perhaps you''re on the same frequency?"

    Raven clearly had no qualms about discussing the elephant in the room, even in front of the elephant. Had Javelin not been so shocked by it all, then he would perhaps have realized that she had simply jumped on the change of subject.

    "Y-you. . ." Javelin stuttered.

    "Wow, he is almost as well-spoken as Martin," Hoatzin laughed, before flying over and landing in Javelin''s lap. "Hello Javelin."

    "You survived? Like this?" Javelin couldn''t believe what he was hearing.

    "Yes, well, I apologize for my appearance, but desperate times call for desperate means." There was a tinge of amusement in his friend''s voice that Javelin couldn''t miss, but something about it made it sound awfully fake. Hoatzin''s next sentence explained why. "I am glad to see that you failed to drag my sister down with your carelessness."

    "Brother!" Raven reprimanded out loud, but the cat''s head was already out of the bag - no point in pushing it back in now.

    "What do you mean?" Javelin asked, even though he feared that he already knew the answer.

    "Oh, my little sister didn''t tell you? She risked her life to save your reckless ass - and the odds were not in her favor."

    As he spoke, Hoatzin kept jabbing his peak into Javelin''s thigh, but it was the concerned brother''s words which hurt the most. Every sentence stabbed, like a dagger, at Javelin''s heart.

    "What odds? That should be your next question!" Hoatzin continued, ignoring Javelin''s paling face. "A million to one, mister Hake - a million to one chance of success or you would both die!"

    "Oh come on, brother! Fenris was exaggerating. . . ."

    "I would not bet my life on that," Hoatzin muttered back.

    Javelin was at a loss of words. Although he had promised himself not to, he had done it again - Javelin had put Raven''s life in danger because of his own silly actions.

    "Why . . ." was all he managed to squeeze out after a long period of silence. In his mind he couldn''t help but feel like his lover-theory got even more credit. Surely you would only risk your life for someone you cared about?

    Yet Raven only shrugged. "You used your life to save mine - it is only natural that I repay the favor."

    "But what about your own life? If you hadn''t done anything, then at least you would be guaranteed a longer life."

    "I wouldn''t really mind if I had died, Javelin. If it ends, it ends - no point in getting worked up about it. I''ll admit, it would be a boring ending and, naturally, I don''t like the consequences it would have for my brother. . . . However, the two of us will have to go our separate ways eventually anyway, and I had made adequate preparations for my him. All in all, my death would have been of little consequence."

    Both Javelin and Hoatzin stared blankly at the girl for a while before the former finally spoke. "You''re really selfish sometimes, Raven," Javelin said, feeling both sad and angry at her indignation.

    "Perhaps," Raven answered, smiling weakly, "but at least like this our score is settled."

    ''Like hell it is!'' thought Javelin, the determination to recall his previous life growing even stronger. He couldn''t help but wonder what Raven had been through to get such an outlook on life.

    Even more than before, Javelin found himself yearning to support Raven, but he knew that - as a weak youth - there was little to nothing he could do for her at the moment. However, if Javelin remembered, then they should be on more equal footing. At that time, Raven would be forced to stop seeing him as the kid he, begrudgingly, admitted he still was.

    Perhaps then she would start relying on him a bit more - perhaps then her outlook on life would change.

    ''I must remember. . . .''

 Chapter 98: Trouble at the Horizon

    Author''s Note: Thank you, awesome-chapter-sponsor!

    <hr />

    Trouble at the Horizon

    A few days passed and it didn''t take long for Raven and Javelin to learn more about their now conjoint souls. Just as expected, Javelin''s spirit connections were returning to him at a steady pace that was even slightly faster than after Raven had lost hers. In four days, six spirit connections were reestablished and as for Javelin''s cultivation, it was already halfway restored, much thanks to the enormous amount of spirit essence Javelin received through Raven''s translucent soul prism.

    At first, Javelin had a hard time controlling the spirit essence he got from Raven - it was too violent, too bloodthirsty. In fact, had Raven not had some time to adapt her own soul to Javelin''s purer spirit essence, it was highly likely that the killing intent she had spent so much time merging with her spirit essence could have seriously wounded Javelin, if not killed him.

    However, Javelin had prevailed in the end, and every day his control got better. No doubt partially improved by his own strengthening soul.

    As more and more spirit essence passed through the translucent soul prisms, the two crystals slowly grew more corporeal and as they did, the distance Raven and Javelin could have between them slowly increased - initially by one meter a day, then by two.

    To Javelin''s disappointment, no further memories had resurfaced, but he was dreaming a lot more. On several occasions he would wake up with a start, sometimes covered in cold sweat, sometimes with a splitting headache, but whatever dreams he had been having disappeared from his memory as soon as he opened his eyes.

    On the other hand, Javelin had quickly learned how to use his mind to speak with both Raven and Hoatzin. After some practice, all three of them could be more selective in who they spoke to, allowing for private conversations. All in all, things were progressing rather well.

    The hardest thing to deal with, not surprisingly, turned out to be the pair''s shared emotions. Raven was good at controlling hers, but, even then, some of it spilled over. At one point she had been walking through the central gardens, talking to Headmaster Swan about Gadwall, and her killing intent had flared up a bit. She herself had no problem handling it, but Javelin had been overwhelmed, instantly lashing out at a nearby tree. The tree had been blasted into smithereens.

    However, Javelin wasn''t the only one affected by the transferred emotions. Since the youth wasn''t as adept at controlling his feelings, Raven had to take the full force of them. Needless to say, the chaotic emotions of a preteen boy entering puberty were not something Raven was used to handling. She never got quite as overpowered by them though, and managed to not act on any of them.

    Raven had, however, decided to keep her interactions with Limpkin to a minimum as long as Javelin had to stay so close to her. The fellow assassin had come to visit them while they were still at the imperial palace. He had made a few comments about how he felt bad for flirting with a kid and Raven had, more by reflex than anything else, winked at him and told him not to let appearance fool him. Both of them had started laughing at that point, but Raven''s laughs quickly grew strained. Javelin had naturally been there and the flood of envy, resentment and frustration that had washed over Raven, had shocked even her.

    Since the Talon''s were no longer around, Hoatzin had no one to monitor, so he rarely left Raven''s shoulder now. He carefully observed his friend and sister''s reactions to each other and found it all very amusing. Hoatzin didn''t voice his thoughts, but he couldn''t help but wish that this Soul Bound-thing would let Raven open up a bit more. He knew his sister better than anyone else, for the moment at least, and was well aware of how little he truly knew about her.

    While Raven and Javelin started to get used to their new situation, the city around them also started returning to its daily routines. Bill left for the Nightingale Prefecture, taking Raven''s four mercenary uncles with him. For Raven''s sake, they had agreed to join the Nightingale clan and help with the restorations, leaving their wanderer-lifestyles behind.

    In the city itself, news about Raven''s survival had spread like wild-fire and it didn''t take long before hundreds of former Nightingale Clan members crawled out of hiding, returning to serve the clan. They were survivors themselves; refugees who had hidden when they realized what was going on. Naturally, some of them had ulterior motives, but they were quickly rooted out and before long the Nightingale Mansion was once more bustling with Nightingale loyalists.

    Sky Academy also resumed its activities, although neither Raven nor Javelin had yet to attend a lecture - mostly because the headmaster had yet to decide how to deal with the fact that the two of them still couldn''t be more than roughly fifteen meters apart. While the rest of the city had adapted fairly quickly, Sky Academy still felt the aftermath of Gadwall''s betrayal heavily.

    Almost every student had lost someone close to them and the martial department had lost over ten percent of its students. Classes had resumed but the mood was clearly dampened. News of Raven''s true identity helped a bit to keep the students preoccupied, but since they had yet to see her, the buzz quickly died down.

    "You need to motivate them, Master Swan," Raven said one day when she and Javelin arrived at the headmaster''s office and found the man staring out over the academy grounds, a forlorn look on his face.

    "Raven is right," Javelin added when the headmaster didn''t turn away from the window. "I''ve heard from Martin and Lark that people are finding it hard to practice their cultivation."

    Swan sighed heavily. "I know . . ." he replied, "I know, but I''m not sure how. I considered putting together a tournament to select the new Advanced Students, but. . . . There are many things I could try, but if I choose the wrong approach it might have the opposite effect."

    Raven was quiet for a moment. "The tournament isn''t such a bad idea, but why not just tell them the truth?"

    Headmaster Swan chuckled sarcastically. "Hehe, tell them the truth? Tell them that Gadwall wasn''t only allied with the Talon Clan, he was an arrogant outer-realmer with powers so strong that he could kill us all? They would panic."

    "Well, I''m not sure I would describe it exactly like that, but yes, something along those lines. Fear and anger are strong motivators, if handled correctly. These student are this nation''s future hope -  what will they do if some other realm decides to ignore regulation and attacks us in a few years? Even before, most students in this Academy weren''t giving their best. They were too excited about simply being accepted. It''s about time they realize that there are always bigger fish in the sea."

    Finally, Headmaster Swan looked away from his window, giving Raven a long, level stare. Her hair was longer now, easily reaching her hips; since everyone already knew her identity, Raven made no attempts to hide her budding femininity. Looking at her now, Headmaster Swan saw an elegant girl - seemingly in her early teens - who had a refined air about her that was way beyond her years. Her eyes seemed to contain eons of knowledge, putting even him - the soon ninety years old man - to shame.

    After a while, Swan averted his gaze. "I think you are right, Raven. . . . It is perhaps time we all fought back a bit more." The headmaster headed for his desk and sat down behind it. He fetched some papers from a drawer and started scribbling. "Don''t let me keep you," he added without looking up from his paper. "You were headed for the caves, weren''t you? You haven''t been since before the mess at the palace."

    "Yes, master Swan," Raven responded and gave a short curtsy before leading Javelin to the door that led to the central caves. The two of them, joined by Hoatzin, disappeared into the hallway, but before the door closed behind them, Raven''s mouth twitched into a faint smile. From within his office she had heard Swan''s muffled mutter. "Master, huh?" he said, self-mockingly.

    "Headmaster Swan seems uncomfortable with you calling him master now, little sister," Hoatzin pointed out to both Raven and Javelin.

    "You heard him?" Raven glanced at her brother who was perched on her shoulder. "Your hearing has improved again."

    Hoatzin nodded proudly while Javelin looked at them with curiosity. He knew that both Raven and her brother had significantly better hearing than himself, so he understood that they had heard something he hadn''t.

    "It isn''t strange that he feels that way," Raven replied. "He is a perceptive man."

    "I thought you had chosen not to tell him about your reincarnation?"

    "I haven''t, but he must have his suspicions by now. After everything that''s happened, he knows my way of thinking better than most. He has to know that it would be impossible for a ten-year-old to act like I have, even with my well-developed soul."

    Both Javelin and Hoatzin nodded their heads in agreement. "Well, it does feel a bit odd to hear you calling him Master." Javelin admitted. "I mean, you''ve been reincarnated. Technically you could be older than him, right?"

    Javelin only felt a sharp pain stinging the back of his head before he lost his balance and stumbled forward, nearly slamming into the corridor wall.

    "I''m not that old!" Raven reprimanded sternly, her gaze vicious. "Besides, I''ll have you know that if we count both lifetimes, you are well over a decade older than me!"

    Instantly a sense of joy filled Raven, and she stomped off, ignoring the smiling Javelin that she left behind. She wasn''t really angry, but it still irked her how easily Javelin had gotten happy.

    ''He can''t even remember anything yet. . . .''

    Taking the lead, Raven and the other two quickly reached the center of the mountain. However, just as she was about to round the last bend, she stopped dead in her tracks.

    "Stop," she ordered Javelin and his soul oath took immediate effect, forcing him to a halt. "Go join him, brother," Raven added and, after hesitating briefly, Hoatzin did as he was told.

    "What''s wrong?" Javelin asked mentally.

    Raven didn''t answer. Her senses were completely focused on the cavity around the corner. As before, Raven could sense the spirit star on the cave floor, pulsating with spirit essence - an indication that the odd space in the waterfall was yet again ready for use. However, there was something else there too. A strange presence she couldn''t quite put her finger on. All she knew was that whoever, or whatever, it was - it was stronger than her. Significantly stronger.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Raven''s mind reeled. Had it always been there, without her noticing it? Or was it something new? She could feel that the presence had already locked on to them, but apart from a sense of being an ant in front of a mountain, Raven felt no real malice coming from the source.

    Just as Raven was considering whether or not she should turn around and leave, an archaic voice rang out in her mind.

    "No need to leave - I have been here from the start."

    The voice seemed infinite and just hearing it caused all the spirit essence within Raven to churn uncontrollably. She glanced behind her, but the other two showed no signs of being affected. In fact, they rather seemed frozen in place, in the same manner as when Fenris was around.

    "I am speaking to you alone," the voice spoke again, answering Raven''s unspoken question.

    Suddenly, as Raven did her best to contend against the havoc those two sentences had caused to her spirit essence, an odd thought popped up in her head: ''if the mythical dragon''s of her old world had existed, surely their voice would sound like this.''

    A chuckle sounded out in her mind and Raven got an ominous feeling.

    ''It can read my thoughts?'' Raven''s eyes narrowed as she forced herself to keep calm.

    "In a sense," the voice confirmed, "but it is of little relevance. Come, I have things to tell you."

    Before Raven had a chance to react, she felt her muscles moving of their own accord, walking her around the bend in the tunnel. Right away, Raven''s gaze landed on the large waterfall she had grown used to over the years. Only, this time, two large and vicious looking eyes were vaguely discernible on the water''s erratically moving surface.

    The two eyes stared intently at Raven and she was sure that all her secrets were laid bare in front of the being''s glare. For a long while nothing was said and Raven felt it wise not to speak unless spoken to, all things considered.

    Eventually the voice in her mind snorted, seemingly disappointed, and in that moment Raven felt as if her life was about to slip through her fingers. Her soul prism quivered painfully, but just as cracks were about to appear, the pressure faded.

    "I have some advice for you," the voice finally spoke again, but there was a sense of disinterest in it now. "Nothing in this world is free. The strongest of Divine Skills are double-edged swords; if you are not careful, the skill will control you rather than the other way around."

    Raven frowned. She was about to ask more details when the force that had been holding her in place suddenly disappeared.

    "I have done my part," the voice said as the eyes in the water blurred. "Do what you will with it."

    Within seconds the eyes were gone without a trace, and so were all other signs of the mysterious presence.

    "Raven?" she heard Javelin''s surprised and anxious voice in her mind. Air shifted as Hoatzin''s wings propelled him towards Raven. Clearly the power binding them had let them go.

    "I''m fine," Raven called out to both boys. "Everything is fine," she repeated, but she wasn''t sure she believed it herself. Raven had long since learned that there were existences far beyond her imagination when it came to strength - both Fenris and Gadwall had proven that - but this . . . entity was something completely different.

    There had been no noticeable changes in the spirit essence around her, yet she had been unable to even blink without permission. At least with Fenris she could still sense what he was doing.

    ''Was that thing related to the person who the academy founders saved?'' she wondered, but her gut told her no.

    Raven glanced at the still pulsating spirit star on the ground.

    ''Well, if it wanted me dead, I would already be dead by now. I might as well do what I came for.''

    <hr />

    It was early morning and Raven stirred from her meditative position on her bed. She and Javelin had returned from the cave the evening before and Raven had been contemplating the words of the mysterious entity in the waterfall, but couldn''t really make any sense of them yet. Nor could she figure out what or who the being that had spoken to her was.

    She had remained in the water fall for twenty-four hours, cultivating, but the entity hadn''t shown itself again.

    ''I will figure it out with time,'' Raven thought as she yawned widely.

    Opening her eyes, Raven glanced around the dorm room. Hoatzin was nowhere to be seen, but her gaze quickly found Javelin who, uncharacteristically, was already awake. He was leaning over his desk, frantically writing something on a piece of parchment.

    Raven smiled bitter-sweetly. ''I guess Eric is starting to rub off on him. . . .'' Early mornings weren''t standard for Javelin, but Eric had always been awake before the sun rose. Although admittedly, more often than not, it was rather a question of him not yet going to bed.

    Curious, Raven quietly got up and walked over to Javelin''s side. Careful not to disturb him, she leaned over his shoulder so she could look at what he was writing and instantly her eyes widened in shock. Tens of papers were sprawled out over the desk, and every inch of them were covered with symbols completely foreign for this world. They belonged in their old world, but, even there, few would understand what Javelin was writing. Raven sure didn''t - she only knew what it was because she recognized it from her time with Eric. Because it was his research.

    Tentatively, Raven stretched out her hand to touch Javelin''s shoulder, but she paused right before she made contact. "Jav?" she called softly, but Javelin didn''t react. After repeated attempt with the same result, Raven switched her approach. "Eric?"

    Javelin''s body twitched and to Raven''s surprise, the boy twirled around on his chair and hoisted her into the air.

    "I did it Raven, I did it!" he called, only the words were spoken in a language just as foreign to this world as the scribblings on his paper.

    Raven had a feeling d��j�� vu and she suddenly recalled the day when Eric had a major breakthrough in his research. Just like now, he had thrown propriety out the window and embraced Raven without reservation.

    "Eric?" Raven asked again as she looked down at Javelin. Their gazes met and Raven saw the vacant look in the boy''s eyes. Realization dawned on her; Javelin was reliving a memory but he wasn''t even aware of it.

    Cupping her hand around Javelin''s face, she called his name, but he didn''t seem to hear her. She could force him to let her go, but Raven feared that abruptly ending his recollection might be harmful. Biting her lip, Raven thought back on her own memory from that time. She chuckled - she clearly remembered how she had gotten him to let her go then.

    ''It''s worth a shot,'' she thought and bent down her head closer. With Javelin''s face still cupped in her hands, Raven pushed her lips to his. It wasn''t a very gentle kiss - it was task oriented rather than sweet - but as their lips touched, Raven could feel Javelin''s body first stiffen and then grow lax. His grip around her waist loosen slightly, and Raven slid down until she stood on the floor again.

    Confusion and elation washed over from Javelin into Raven, seemingly intensified by the direct contact of their lips. At first the confusion had been strongest, but the elation quickly took over and before Raven realized what was going on, she found herself drowning in it.

    She could feel Javelin''s arms tightening once more, pulling her towards him, but just as Raven was about to resist, the door to their room swung open and Martin stormed in, his face flushed from running.

    The very first thing he saw was Javelin, tenderly embracing the slightly shorter Raven in his arms, kissing her.

    Martin gasped, his already flushed face turning several shades redder. The sharp breath was enough to snap Javelin back to reality. He hurriedly let go of Raven and backed away a few steps.

    "I . . . Um, that was . . ." Javelin was too embarrassed to look at Raven as he tried to think of an excuse for what had just happened.

    "Way to go, Mister Hake!" Martin congratulated with false bravado - his facial expression tattled on his true innocence though.

    Javelin glared at him, but Raven only shook her head. "Don''t worry about it, Jav. I did it to help you out," she said out loud and then added, for Javelin alone, "which I think it did. You remembered something more, no?"

    In the doorway, Martin''s yaw dropped. From what he was hearing, it was Raven who had initiated the kiss. He simply couldn''t imagine the cold yet elegant Raven Nightingale initiating anything like that.

    Javelin nodded, still a bit embarrassed. He would like to discuss it more, but not when they had company. Javelin turned his attention to Martin at the door.

    "Well," he asked, sounding rather annoyed, "why did you barge in here?"

    "Ah, right!" Martin cleared his throat, but his face was still as red as a tomato. "Javelin, there is trouble - your mom is here."

    "Mother is here?" Javelin''s annoyance disappeared at once, replaced by first excitement and then confusion. "Why would you say that''s trouble?"

    "Well, she''s really mad. . . . She stormed into the headmaster''s office and even from outside the door people could hear her shouting. She . . ." Martin squirmed a bit, hesitating if he should continue.

    "She is demanding to bring you home," Lark finished for his brother as he too appeared in the door opening.

    Right away, Javelin and Raven''s eyes met, both of them reflecting the same sentiment: now that might be a problem. . . .

    - End of Volume 4 -

 Chapter 99: Across the Plains

    Across the Plains

    Trinity Continent. A vast mass of land, ranging from kilometers of beaches in the south to the equally widespread mountain-ranges in the north. In between these extremes were seemingly endless grasslands, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

    Throughout these green plains, thousands of minor settlements existed, scattered out; far enough from each other to give enough room for cattle and crops, yet close enough to allow commerce. Area-wise, these grasslands represented the largest part of the Trinity continent''s surface area, and all of it was Earth Empire''s territory.

    Due to the changing seasons and the strong dependability on live-stock, the Earth Empire''s population was almost constantly moving. Because of this nomadic lifestyle, there were few larger cities in the empire. In fact, apart from the nation''s capitol, which was located at it''s very core, there weren''t any permanent cities at all in Earth Empire.

    It was high summer, and weeks of scorching sunlight and little rain had practically turned the entire empire into a box of tinder, waiting to be lit by the tiniest spark. Everyday, the officials in the capital were kept busy, tracking all fire-outbreaks and managing resources to minimize the damage done by the raging flames.

    This was, by far, the busiest time of the year for the Earth Empire officials, leaving little room for idling. Yet, at this moment, one of the highest officials in the nation was taking the time to visit his son. The room was dark and the usually bare stone walls had been covered by layers upon layers of fabric. Seated in a corner, the son rocked back and forth, mumbling gibberish to himself. No matter how the father tried, the son wouldn''t look at him.

    "There have been no changes?" the father asked an elderly woman who had followed him into the room.

    "He has stopped banging his head against the walls," the woman answered after some hesitation. "That is something, at least."

    The father clenched his fists and, giving his son a last look, left the padded room. Outside waited an anxious attendant.

    "Councillor," he greeted with a bow, but the father stormed by without giving him a glance. The attendant had to run to catch up. "Councillor, what is your plan of action? Both the Emperor and Headmaster Redwolf . . ."

    "Shut up!" the father and Councillor barked back, "I don''t care what those two say - I will find out exactly what happened to my son!"

    As he spoke, a powerful surge of spirit essence welled out from the man, causing nearby windows to shatter and the attendant''s face to pale - even as a low Spirit Champion he had a hard time handling the pressure.

    "Yes, Councillor Tanuki," the attendant said, bowing even deeper this time.

    <hr />

    Meanwhile, not that far away, a medium-sized caravan was making its way south across the dry steppe, the horses kicking up dirt as they trotted at a moderate pace.

    There were four covered wagons, each pulled by two horses, that were surrounded by eight mounted guards. At a first glance, there was nothing remarkable about this caravan at all; both the wagons themselves and the guards'' clothes were of low quality and frayed from years of use, and, although they were clearly there to protect, none of the guards were equipped with swords. All in all, an easy but equally uninteresting target for highway robbers.

    However, for the trained eye, this caravan gave a very different impression.

    "It''s another dud, Tails," grumbled a wiry-looking man to his partner - both men hiding behind one of the few bushes in the area. The rare bush was located on an even rarer hill, and the two men were using the slight height advantage to scout the miles of open grasslands around them.

    "What do you know!?" the man referred to as Tails reprimanded his friend, smacking the latter on his shoulder. "Don''t you see how they are moving?" When the only response he got was a confused glare, Tails elaborated, "Look, ever since they came into view two hours ago, the formation of those guards and wagon''s hasn''t changed at all."

    "So?"

    "What do you mean ''so''? Do you think it''s easy to ride so precisely for over two hours, without making a single mistake? That kind of riding is some real high-level shit!" Tails rolled his eyes. "I''m telling you: this is why the chief''s never gonna give you a raise, Mezu - you think too simply. Come on, we better report this."

    Silently, the two men scurried off without sparing the caravan a second glance. In the distance, a pale hand lifted a small flap on the second wagon from the front. Within its obscure darkness, a faint smile spread on peach-red lips before the hand withdrew, letting the fabric fall back into place.

    "Something wrong?" a soft yet majestic woman''s voice asked within the wagon. From her tone, it was hard to say if the woman was concerned or annoyed.

    "Not at all, madam," the owner of those peach-red replied, her voice colder and less majestic, but nonetheless compelling. "I was just thinking it would be nice with some change of pace."

    Later that evening, the caravan approached a small grove of trees, clustered around an even smaller lake, or pond. It was one of many waterholes one the Earth Empire plains and, during the colder seasons, they would all be linked up by a network of rivers that crisscrossed their way from the mountains out into the sea.

    When they finally reached the grove, all horses stopped as one unit. Immediately, the eight guards swung down from their mounts and, with short staffs in hand and still in a tight formation, searched the grove to make sure it was safe.

    A few kilometers away, the two men had returned, standing on either side of a third, significantly taller man. The taller man held a pair of binoculars to his eyes as he observed the eight guards clearing the grove of trees of dangers.

    "What do you think, chief?" asked Mezu, eagerly. "They''re good, right? I knew they were good."

    "You little. . . !" There was the crisp sound of hand hitting flesh as Tails leaned over to smack his friend on the back of his head.

    The chief, however, ignored their squabbling. "They are clearly trying to hide their importance. . . . It makes one wonder what they are protecting," he said, a hungry smile growing on his face. "Prepare the Burrowers, I want to take a closer look at their cargo."

    "Yes, chief!"

    The two men were quick to act on their instructions, leaving the still observing chief behind. As he watched, the wagon''s drivers disembarked and were starting to put up tents for the night when suddenly a flap was pulled back on one of the carriages and a nymph stepped out. There was no other way to describe the young woman who gracefully landed on the dry grass; her long midnight-purple hair cascading down her back like a water fall; her jade-white skin a stark contrast to her peach-red lips. Even in the simple clothes she was wearing, no one would doubt her beauty.

    As soon as the men realized that the girl had stepped out, they all hurried to usher her back into the wagon, but the damage had already been done. The chief had seen her, and how could he let such a fine pearl go?

    Not lingering any longer, the chief turned and left, jumping down in a man-sized hole not far from his location. Once underground, the chief made his way through dark tunnels until finally reaching a larger cave, nearly thirty meters below the surface. There, over a hundred men were gathered. They had divided themselves into three groups and at the center of each cluster lay a huge, slime-covered slug. Their bodies heaved up and down slowly, as if breathing heavily, and every time it would reveal a small line of spikes along their backs.

    The men kept a respectable distance from these creatures, careful not to miss any sudden movements.

    As he entered, everyone turned their attention to the chief, ready for instructions.

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    "The target is two kilometers south from here, by the waterhole. You know the drill - move out!"

    At once, every man in the cave activated their spirit essence, which ranged in quality from low to peak Spirit Adepts - there was even a low Spirit Champion among them. The powerful surge of spirit essence caused the enormous slugs to stir; they opened they gigantic maws, filled with rows upon rows of saber-sharp teeth and chomped down on the ground beneath them. Immediately, the earth gave way and the slugs moved further into the ground, moving surprisingly fast for their size.

    Behind them they left a nearly two meter wide tunnel and, without hesitating, the men in the cave jumped in after the slugs, following them through the tunnels they made.

    <hr />

    By the waterhole, the wagon drivers and guards had just finished putting up their tents when the ground underneath them started shaking. There was a moment of confusion before one of the guards, who was clearly the oldest one, paled slightly and shouted, "It''s Backridge Earthworms - get in formation!"

    Instantly the men gathered around two of the wagons, preparing for a hard fight. Backridge Earthworms were fearsome spirit beasts who lived deep under the Earth Empire plains. As individuals their strength was perhaps not so terrifying, but they tended to move in large flocks, sometimes consisting of over a thousand beasts. If they were faced with such an army of spirit beasts, even this group of people would find it hard to escape.

    Seconds later, the ground around them burst apart. In three separate locations, surrounding the caravan, the massive bodies of three giant slugs propelled out of the ground. Their huge teeth kept vibrating, as if still underground.

    The guards swallowed, steeling themselves for what was to come, but what followed was not a swarm of Earthworms. Instead tens of dirt-covered men jumped out of the holes in the ground. In seconds, the entire caravan had been surrounded by over a hundred people, all of them spiritualists, all of them armed to the teeth.

    "Bandits?" one of the guards mumbled, his stance relaxing undetectably.

    "So it would seem," the older guard replied with a similar reaction.

    Unfortunately for the bandits, they didn''t seem to catch the change in the guards'' posture; they were too busy gloating in their successful ambush.

    "Lay down your weapons and hand over your cargo - all your cargo - and we shall spare your lives!" shouted one of the bandits; a tall man who was clearly their leader.

    "No," answered the seasoned guard, leaving no room for debate.

    "Then you shall die!" the bandit chief shouted and pointed forward with his entire arm. "Attack! Leave none of the men alive!"

    At once, the hundred plus bandits pushed their spirit essence to the max and rushed forward but they had only gotten a few feet when a deafening voice thundered out from within one of the wagons.

    "Stop!" The sudden command caused the bandits to subconsciously freeze in their tracks. There was movement in one of the wagons and the bandits watched, wide-eyes, as the wagon''s flap was moved aside and a woman stepped out with graceful agility.

    She was tall, definitely approaching the two meter mark, but by no means massive - quite the opposite, in fact. Her thick, pale-blond hair was braided into a tight braid that hung over her shoulders and instead of a dress, she wore a tight-fitting leather armor, covered selectively with aquamarine scales. She might have been a woman, but her aura screamed of war.

    The woman looked out over the surrounding bandits, her clear eyes so light-blue they seemed almost white. Finally her gaze landed on the man who had given the attack order, causing the former to shiver noticeably. The bandit chief couldn''t believe his luck - two gorgeous woman in one caravan! Even under the unlikely circumstance that there where no other treasures on these wagons, this evening''s raid would still be worth it.

    "You are their leader?" the woman asked without taking her gaze of the chief.

    "I am, madam," the chief answered and smiled wolfishly. "It''s unfortunate that you ran into us on your travels, but I assure you we will treat you and your friend well. As long as you don''t resist, of course."

    "Leave, I don''t wish to see bloodshed his evening."

    For a moment the bandit chief was taken aback by her words. The woman had said them with so much nonchalant confidence that he was almost convinced to leave, but the feeling didn''t last.

    "I''m afraid we can''t do that, madam. You see, my men and I have a . . . itch to scratch." The bandits cheered when they heard their chief''s words. "And I think you, and your companion, are just the right women for the job."

    As the chief spoke, one of the wagons shook violently, a brief burst of spirit essence spilling out from within, but the commotion quickly died down. The woman glanced at the wagon, a slight smile on her lips, before she turned her attention back to her supposed capture.

    "Two women for all of you? Surely we won''t be enough to scratch that itch of yours. Why not find a larger caravan to sedate you?"

    The chief laughed. "Are you telling me there are no other riches hidden in those wagons of yours? Sorry, madam, hiding behind that worn and unarmed facade might have worked on normal bandits, but not on us. Your guards'' behavior blew your cover, and now you have no weapons to defend with." A vicious glint flashed across the chief''s eyes. "So I''m afraid we won''t be going anywhere, madam."

    "I see."

    Seemingly unconcerned, the woman turned to her guards and only now did the bandit chief realize that something was wrong - none of them looked worried.

    "You heard him, Colonel," the woman said. "They are not leaving, understand?"

    "Yes, ma''am," the eldest guard answered with a salute. At once, awe-inspiring spirit essence welled out of the man, instantly pressing down on all the bandits.

    "P-peak Ch-champion?" stuttered the bandit chief, not believing his senses. His group of bandits was one of the strongest in the empire, yet he only had one low Champion in his ranks - two, if he counted himself - but even he had twenty low Champions, they would still be a far cry from matching up against a peak one.

    "How . . ."

    Before he could finish, the other guards all activated their spirit essence too and the sudden pressure of seven more high Champions made it hard for the Spirit Adept bandits to even remain standing. Stricken with fear, the bandits attempted a mass exodus, but before they could move an inch, the eight guards had already acted, efficiently cutting off their escape routes.

    Now ignoring the bandits, the leather-donned woman turned around, heading back for her wagon. Just as she reached its opening, she paused, as if a thought had struck her. "Oh, right. Colonel, we have been traveling for quite a while and I fear the children''s cultivation might be hampered by their lack of exercise. Why not let them use their muscles a bit?"

    "It''s a good idea, ma''am," the colonel replied without hesitation.

    "Very well. Javelin dear, Lady Nightingale, would you join me out here? I have an assignment for you."

    "Yes, mother," a male voice called out from within the wagon that had shaken violently before and seconds later a young man was kneeling in front of the armored woman. The family resemblance between the two was clear, as was his eagerness to punish the bandits for their statements.

    Only a heartbeat later, the flap in the wagon the mother had been headed for parted yet again. Out stepped the pale skinned beauty who the bandit chief had admired from afar and, seeing her up close, he wasn''t alone in momentarily forgetting the peril they were in.

    The young woman positioned herself next to the male youth, curtsying deeply. Her eyes were downcast, respectful, but a flash of excitement hid within them.

    "As you wish, madam Hake."

 Chapter 100: First Impressions

    A slight breeze ruffled the dry, knee-high grass; in the distance a spirit beast howled eerily; soft chirps from some cricket-like bug filled the still warm night air. All in all, a fairly scenic moment in the Earth Empire grasslands. However, around the small grove of trees where a caravan headed for Sea Empire had been ambushed, the scene was anything but idyllic.

    A wide area of grass had been flattened to the ground, leaving only a dark-red muck of leaves, mud and blood. More than a hundred corpses lay, slain, in small piles all over the place; the distinct tang of blood overpowering the scent of summer grass. It had taken just over an hour to reduce this once green area into its current state.

    Raven bent down to pick up a dagger she had thrown moments earlier - wiping it clean on the dead man''s trousers before storing it in her dress'' right sleeve.

    "What''s the meaning of this?" the sharp voice of Javelin''s mother turned Raven''s attention from the corpse to the blond woman. She was standing by her wagon with her arms crossed - her gaze firm and slightly disapproving.

    "I''m sorry, mother," Javelin replied without asking how he had disappointed her.

    "I asked you to kill thirty of them together, not fifteen each! Your teamwork is practically non-existent. . . ."

    Raven couldn''t help but roll her eyes slightly; Javelin''s mother hadn''t been exactly clear when she gave the instructions. Still, Raven agreed that she and Javelin weren''t displaying any high-level cooperation, but why would they?

    When battling the bandits, Javelin had been fighting all out, doing his best to utilize his high Adept cultivation to face off against numerous spiritualist, at similar cultivation levels, without dying. Meanwhile, Raven split her attention between toying with the bandits and subtly intervening whenever Javelin was close to getting injured. How was that the basis for any kind of teamwork?

    Nonetheless, Raven bowed her head in apology. "I acknowledge my mistake, madam."

    The woman''s pale-blue eyes narrowed slightly, clearly unconvinced, but let the matter go. "As long as you know. Your connection should give you an advantage - use it," she reprimanded and then turned her attention to the oldest guard. Raven had come to know his as Colonel Shiner; a commander of over 2,000 troupes and one of madam Hake''s closest subordinates. From what Javelin had told her, Colonel Shiner''s track-record in the Sea Empire''s army was extraordinary, and it was only due to his personal wish to serve madam Hake that the man hadn''t made general by now.

    "This campsite is no longer appropriate - continue to the next waterhole." Madam Hake''s instructions were short and to the point.

    "Yes, mam," answered the middle-aged man, giving a quick salute.

    "Javelin," the woman continued.

    "Yes, mother?"

    "You may return to your wagon."

    Raven noticed Javelin''s body tensing slightly and then he looked over at her. Javelin hesitated and Raven could feel his conflicted emotions seeping into her via their connected souls. Reluctance. Worry. Remorse.

    "Don''t worry, Jav, I can handle your mother," Raven reassured the boy through their mental bond.

    "I know, it''s just . . ." Javelin paused and glanced down at the bandits on the ground. "Sorry."

    Without waiting for a reply, Javelin bowed to his mother had headed back to his wagon, quickly disappearing inside. The corner of Raven''s mouth twitched slightly. She knew that Javelin didn''t like holding her back and was desperate to catch up to her in strength. It was one thing he didn''t have in common with Eric.

    Eric had also been significantly weaker than her, physically at least, but he had accepted that. However, thinking back on it, that was perhaps only because Eric already had another strong weapon to rely on then; his intellect.

    Raven sighed.

    Roughly two months had passed since Javelin woke up. By now, not only his cultivation but also his spirit connections had been restored, increased even, landing him as a peak Adept with 48 connections - an impressive feat in itself for a thirteen-year-old. The only thing that still hadn''t had very much progress was with regards to Javelin regaining his past life''s memories.

    Bits and pieces had returned to him - like some of the physics formulas Eric had used and the fact that Eric had once owned a dog called Pepper''s - but nothing truly substantial. Regardless, Raven couldn''t help but feel a bit anxious about what he might remember next.

    ''Will he regret his decision when he remembers it all?''

    "Lady Nightingale?"

    Madam Hake''s voice called Raven back to the present. She looked up at the tall woman''s face, her eyes meeting those clear ice-blue irises whose cold color was still unable to hide the warmth within. Raven smiled secretly to herself. This woman might be a well-drilled military woman, but her care and devotion still shined through.

    Others might not be able to see it, but Raven could. She had seen it the moment they met.

    <hr />

    Ten weeks earlier, at Sky Academy.

    The news of madam Hake''s sudden arrival, and subsequent demand to retrieve Javelin back to his home nation had come as a huge shock. Especially so for Raven, who had spent quite a lot of resources on building up an extensive information network in the capital; how could she not have heard that Javelin''s mother - also known as Saint Major Tetra Hake, the legendary healer warrior - had come to Sky Capital?

    Despite how strange it was, reality had to be dealt with, and by the time Raven and Javelin had made their way to the headmaster''s office, the poor Spirit Master had practically been shouted pale.

    "How could I possibly leave my son in a school where his own teachers try to kill him!?"

    Just as the youths had opened the door, madam Hake''s irate voice slammed into them. It wasn''t necessarily loud, but there was a force behind it that impressed even Raven.

    No sooner had angry the words left the woman''s mouth when she suddenly spun around, her face stern. As soon as she saw Javelin though, her expression turned surprisingly blissful. Within seconds she was by Javelin''s side, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "My sweet boy," she whispered so softly only Javelin and Raven could hear it.

    "Mom. . . ." There was a slight quiver in Javelin''s voice as he answered his mother''s embrace.

    Normally, Raven would have secretly chided him for acting like the boy he was, but the overwhelming feelings of joy that Javelin had transmitted at that point had caught Raven off guard. In the end, she had simply smiled, genuinely happy for their mutual affections.

    However, the hug had turned out to be only a short reprieve from the storm. Suddenly, madam Hake''s body froze. She pulled back from Javelin and held him at arm''s length, a mix of confusion and horror on her face.

    "My son . . . your cultivation . . . your soul prism . . !?"

    Javelin habitually raised a hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously. There had been several messages sent back home about his conditions, both about his coma and his survival, but for various reasons, most details had been kept back. Headmaster Swan might know all the details, but what had he already told Javelin''s mother?

    "Mother, I . . . um, Raven, she . . ." Javelin had faltered, unsure of where to start, but as soon as she was mentioned, his mother''s attention snapped to Raven.

    "You are Raven Nightingale?" she demanded more than asked.

    "Raven Nightingale greets madam Tetra Hake," Raven responded with a respectful curtsy.

    "Headmaster Swan tells me you saved my boy, but these changes. . . . Explain."

    Madam Hake''s demeanor had been overbearing, but Raven saw the underlying worry in her eyes.

    "What is there to explain beyond what the letters and your probing hasn''t already explained?" Raven replied calmly, completely unfazed by the woman''s attempts to make her feel cornered. "Your son was infected by the Phoenix Death Lotus, causing him to lose his cultivation and all his spirit connections - I saved him by sharing mine with him. Don''t worry about Javelin''s cultivation level, it will be restored in-full shortly."

    "Sharing? You are referring to Soul Bound business. The headmaster told me a great deal about that too. . . ." Madam Hake''s eyes narrowed harshly. "You have chained my son to you for life, how can you call that saving him!?" She was shouting now, seemingly enraged, but Raven still noticed an underlying calm in the woman''s eyes. Madam Hake wasn''t as angry as she wanted them to believe.

    ''Interesting,'' thought Raven. Outwardly, she smiled and said, "the boy''s still has a life, no?"

    "Raven!" Headmaster Swan reproved, shocked by her disrespectful attitude, but Raven noticed madam Hake''s eyes twitching with something completely opposite of disapproval.

    Javelin on the other hand missed it; he hurried to step between Raven and his mother. "She saved my life, mother. I do not mind staying close to her as payment. . . ."

    For an instant, the same tinge of amusement flashed by both Raven and madam Hake''s eyes. Javelin''s mother had carefully looked over her son, glancing between him and Raven. "You don''t mind, eh?" she finally said, not hiding the her suspicions from her voice.

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    Instantly, Javelin''s cheeks had flushed red but he stood his ground as he faced off against his mother''s scrutiny. At this point, Headmaster Swan had used the moment''s silence to return the discussion to the issue at hand.

    "Madam Hake, you have now confirmed it. Surely you understand why Student Hake can''t leave Sky Empire - until their Soul Bond is stable, these two cannot be apart."

    Tetra Hake had only paused for a moment before she declared her solution; "then Lady Nightingale will return with us. She can finish her studies at our imperial academy just as well as here."

    Headmaster Swan''s jaw had dropped to the ground at madam Hake''s words. She had said it with so much determination that it left no room for argument, but how could the headmaster let his genius disciple go just like that?

    Raven had been sure that a fierce argument would have ensued after that, but, just as the headmaster had been about to speak his mind, there was a subtle knock on the door and, before any response was made, the wooden door had swung open.

    The new arrival had been none other than Empress Nene. As it turned out, Tetra Hake was, much like Raven''s own mother, a childhood friend of the Empress'' and she had hurried over to the Academy the moment she heard the news. Supposedly, the Empress had been eager to meet an old schoolmate, but Raven suspected that Nene had come with ulterior moments. She had been right.

    "Well then," the Empress had said once the pleasantries were out of the way, "what is this about you taking your son and our little Raven back with you to Sea Empire?"

    "You knew?" madam Hake asked, looking genuinely surprised. She had after all come to that decision herself just moments earlier.

    "Bringing an injured son back home is what every concerned mother would do, and considering how young Javelin''s recovery is tightly linked to his proximity to Raven, what else could you want to do?"

    "Then you agree with me?"

    "She didn''t say that . . ." Headmaster Swan had started but was cut off when the Empress surprised everyone by saying, "I do.

    Swan''s jaw dropped. "What!? Nene, Raven is invaluable to us! She is the cho-. . ." Swan coughed, "she is my disciple and also a future Prefecture Lord - how can you agree to this? She is barely ten!"

    The Empress had only sweetly smiled, causing Raven''s eyes to narrow slightly; she had grown to recognize that look - Nene was up to something.

    "It is precisely because of that I want her to see more of this world. Besides, my son is currently in the Sea Empire, improving his military tactics. With him there, who would dare bully our little Raven."

    The Empress had turned her smile at Raven and suddenly she realized what the woman''s plans were. She had already tried to get Raven to agree to marrying her son on several occasions, clearly she hoped putting them closer together would do the trick.

    After that, it hadn''t really mattered what arguments were put forth, the decision was final. Javelin was returning to Sea Empire and Raven was, at least temporarily, going with him.

    <hr />

    Back inside her and madam Hake''s wagon, Raven thought back on the moment leading up to her departure from Sky City and couldn''t help but smile. The Griffin Twins had been really upset that she and Javelin were leaving, but it had been nothing compare to Headmaster Swan. One could almost see the storm-cloud hanging over him as he waved good-bye.

    In fact, Raven was sure Swan would never have let her go if it hadn''t been for her pointing out that, unless either the Soul Bond or Javelin himself grew a lot stronger, it wouldn''t even matter how soon she became a peak Champion. Besides, there were supposedly similar closed off areas like the reverse waterfall at all the academies founded by the three brothers who saved the Novum visitor. It would be interesting to explore it.

    Raven glanced up at the fierce yet alluring woman sitting across from her in the wagon. She had to admit that she kind of liked Javelin''s mother. The woman had a very pragmatic approach to life and while her temper might at times seem short, the underlying calm could not be hidden from Raven''s discerning eyes. In many ways, Tetra Hake used her quick temper much to the same end as Raven used her cold calm; to control the people around her.

    To the rest of the world madam Hake was a strong-willed woman, famous for her unparalleled healing skills combined with her impressive mind for military strategies. Her husband was the highest ranking officer in the Sea Empire''s extensive navy, but Tetra Hake''s title - Saint Major - was certainly not just for show. The ''Saint'' was appointed to her due to her healing skills, but the ''Major'' meant just that - she was a major, commanding over fifteen thousand ground troops.

    Just judging by the eight high Champion guards that had been sent to escort her, Saint Major Hake''s importance to the Sea Empire was clear.

    "Satisfied?" madam Hake suddenly asked, drawing Raven''s attention back to the present.

    "Hmm?"

    "Are you satisfied, Lady Nightingale? My son tells me your senses are excellent, and that little stunt of yours earlier - leaving the wagon early to stretch - that was to entice the bandits into attacking, am I wrong?"

    "I''m not sure I know what madam is talking about," Raven replied, smiling wryly, ". . . but I''ve heard that Backridge Earthworm is one of Earth Empire''s delicacies; it would have been a shame to miss it now that we''re passing through."

    Tetra''s eyes twitched slightly. "You didn''t even collect the meat," she pointed out but Raven only shrugged. "Up close, they were less appetizing than I had expected."

    Raven pulled out a white handkerchief and started wiping her slightly bloodstained hands, finding a small strip of flesh stuck under one of her fingernails. She loosened it and nonchalantly flicked it out of the wagon. Normally, Raven''s fighting style wouldn''t allow even a speck of blood to reach her but she had been too bored lately and had wanted to let loose a bit. Besides, she wanted to get to know madam Hake''s temperament better so pushing the boundaries a bit was necessary.

    Not surprisingly, Raven''s actions didn''t cause madam Hake to as much as flinch. Raven did however catch the latter slightly raise her eyebrows at the ''less appetizing'' comment. Clearly the irony in the statement hadn''t gone her by.

    The wagon started moving and Raven, who was done with her grooming, leaned back and pulled up her legs under her so she sat cross-legged on the padded bench.

    "If madam Hake excuses me, I would like to meditate over the previous battle now."

    Tetra Hake gave her approval.

    <hr />

    Several hours later, the caravan finally came to a halt once more. They had arrived at the next waterhole.

    "We will set up the tents, mam," Tetra Hake heard her driver calling from outside the wagon before he disembarked.

    Sitting across from her, the still meditating Raven Nightingale mad no signs of stopping her training and Tetra wouldn''t have been surprised if the girl hadn''t even heard the driver''s call.

    Madam Hake extended her slightly sun-tanned hand to lift up the flap of fabric covering the wagon''s interior so she could glance outside. Her eyes immediately landed on the wagon her son was riding, together with the guardian Headmaster Swan had insisted join Raven on her journeys. If Tetra remembered correctly, the man was the headmaster''s younger brother.

    A soft smile spread across the mother''s face as she thought of the son she was bringing back home with her. The past five years and ten months had been hard on madam Hake; she might be used to sending her children away to train, but never had one of them been gone so long from home. It would be nice to have him back.

    Sighing, Tetra turned her gaze back to the young girl sitting in front of her and a complicated expression filled her face. Raven Nightingale was a beautiful girl and, judging by what she had been told, there was a lot more to her than just good looks. At first, madam Hake hadn''t believed everything she had heard. How could a nine-year-old play such a vital role in liberating Sky Empire? Even with her reported, heaven-defying peak Adept cultivation, she was still only a child!

    No, Tetra had assumed that the reports were exaggerated; it was more likely Headmaster Swan giving the girl credit for his work so she would get a stronger standing as the new Prefecture Lord in-training. That opinion had, however, quickly changed when she met her.

    It wasn''t so much the fact that Raven Nightingale had kept her calm, even as she was being berated, nor was it the girl''s words or actions that changed madam Hake''s opinion. It was something more abstract than that.

    Perhaps it was Javelin''s unyielding glare as he, for the first time, defied his mother wishes. Perhaps it was the way Headmaster Swan, the Spirit Master, treated Raven like some priceless treasure. Perhaps is was the girl''s eyes - those forest green eyes that looked steadily at everything and sometimes seemed to flash with a blood-red tint, so vicious it sent shivers down her spine.

    There could be no doubt that there was more to this young girl than meets the eyes. Only time could tell if it would be a good or a bad thing for her son.

    Tetra sighed once more and smiled meekly; one thing was sure and that was that her son was smitten beyond rescue. . . . Things would become complicated once they returned.

 Chapter 101: Thunderous Progress

    Author''s Note: Sorry for the lagging releases here - exams and a pending move has made things . . . chaotic.

    <hr />

    Thunderous Progress

    Another week passed by, rather uneventfully, as the nondescript caravan made its way south at a steady pace. No other bandits had tried their luck, and since the group only stopped to rest in tents once a week the sixteen horses had basically just kept up a steady  canter day in and day out - and it was by no means slow. Normal horses wouldn''t have made it from sunrise to sunset under such treatment, but these sixteen mares were different; they had been bred by mixing the best horse lineages possible with various spirit beasts, resulting in incredibly sturdy, yet fiercely loyal mounts.

    These horses were ideal for the long journey across the Earth Empire''s vast grasslands, but at the moment Javelin was cursing their existence.

    "Bloody, runaholic beasts. . . ." he grunted, almost loud enough to wake Aves Swan whom he shared his wagon with. Javelin glared angrily at the horses he could see through an opening in the wagon''s canvas.

    To be fair, Javelin knew that his anger was a tad misguided. It wasn''t so much the horses that were annoying him, but rather the travel schedule they enabled. Most days were spent almost entirely in the wagons, which was not only boring, but also frustrating since it meant he had very few moments that he could spend with Raven.

    Yet again, the horses were not the largest contributing factor for this. Javelin could have blamed his mother for insisting that Raven and him could in no way share the same wagon, but what good son would curse his own mother? Likewise, he could be upset at the centuries old laws prohibiting tamed Everest Hawks from crossing the continent, but it had been his nation who wrote that law in the first place. . . . Briefly, he considered blaming whoever formed Trinity into a tilted disk which only gave Sea Empire proper water access, but cursing god - what idiot would do something like that?

    No, the only things Javelin felt comfortable blaming were the horses and their unnatural stamina.

    Still, just because he rarely saw her, it didn''t mean that they had no contact - they were Soul Bound after all. They could feel each other - almost like you can feel when someone touches your hair - and they could talk to each other.

    They actually talked quite a lot, or rather, Javelin asked questions about their past life and Raven sidestepped answering.

    "I''ll only answer questions about details of the things you''ve already remembered," she had said when Javelin, for the hundredth time, asked how Raven had become a high-profile bodyguard at such a young age.

    Javelin didn''t really understand why Raven didn''t want to talk about it more though. He could tell that part of her really wished that Javelin would remember his past as Eric, so why keep quiet about it?

    At that moment, a familiar sound outside the wagon caught Javelin''s attention, which quickly dragged him out of his grumpy mood.

    "Welcome back, Hoatzin," Javelin called out mentally as he pulled back the wagon''s fabric to make the opening larger. In the distance, Javelin noticed a spread of pitch black clouds - whether they would bring any much-needed rain was still unclear though. Seconds later, a blazing red and slightly over-sized nightingale swooped inside, silently landing on a fluffy pillow prepared just for the bird in question. "How was the capital?"

    "Thank you," Hoatzin replied, nestling into place on the pillow. "It was smaller than I had expected, but highly organized. Very interesting."

    Javelin raised an eyebrow quizzically. He had never really seen the ''interesting'' part of city planning.

    "What!?" Hoatzin retorted defensively when he noticed Javelin''s reaction. "Do you have any idea how many hours I have spent, spying on the inner workings of Sky City? There is a lot of unnecessary ''work'' going on. . . ."

    Javelin only shrugged, and instead pulled the cork from his water-bottle, preparing to drink.

    Hoatzin snorted. "Well, what are you interested in then, Javelin? Seducing my sister?"

    A mouthful of water spurted out over the wagon''s interior, followed by Javelin''s heavy coughing. Outside, one of the horses neighed, perturbed by the sudden noise, yet inside, Aves oddly enough showed no signs of waking from his sleep.

    "I . . . I don''t want to seduce her . . ." Javelin managed to send between coughs.

    "Woo, then?" Hoatzin offered, managing the feat of looking both smug and mockingly disbelieving at once.

    "No, I . . ." Javelin started, but stopped himself, sighing. "How can I hope for anything when I''m not even her equal? I''m just a kid in her eyes. . . . A kid with a soul she felt responsible for."

    Hoatzin didn''t refute him. "You have still not remembered anything more?" he asked instead.

    Javelin turned his head to look out through the small opening in the wagon''s canvas, barely registering the quickly darkening sky. "Only vague flashes, nothing concrete. . . ."

    "Have you fi-. . ." Hoatzin started but before he could finish his question, a deafening explosion cut off any other sounds. The ground shook slightly and the otherwise hard-to-scare horses reared in sudden fear.

    Even Aves woke up.

    Just as all the adult were shocked into a confused frenzy, Javelin sat like a statue, staring distantly into space; his mind was elsewhere.

    <hr />

    *BANG*

    The explosive sound shattered the otherwise quiet night and Eric felt his entire body jerk backwards, his palms numbing.

    He looked down and saw the black metal object he was holding with both hands.

    ''A gun?''

    "Look, professor," the familiar yet unfamiliar voice of Raven Night cut through the ringing that had yet to subside from Eric''s ears. "If you wish to learn how to use a gun, I suggest you keep your eyes open - how can you ever hit something if you don''t even look where you''re aiming?"

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    "Right," Eric found himself saying in a voice he didn''t quite recognize. "Excuse me, I was just a bit shocked. Let me try again."

    "I''m the bodyguard with guns, not you," Raven replied seriously, but eventually she sighed in defeat and handed Eric the reloaded gun.

    Carefully aiming, Eric fired another couple of shots but the results were the same as before. He glanced at his bodyguard and instructor, but instead of the bored, or perhaps frustrated, look he was expecting, Eric saw something else flashing back at him from within those obsidian black eyes.

    "You are letting the loud sound and the recoil rule you, rather than the other way around. Here, let me show you."

    Eric''s heart skipped both one and two beats as Raven''s lithe body moved up behind his. Taking Eric''s hands in her own, Raven leaned in closer, her warm breath brushing against his right ear.

    "You hold like this," she murmured softly as she altered Eric''s grip.

    "Feel your breathing," she instructed, her chest pressing against Eric''s back as she took deep, steady breaths.

    "Be soft, yet unyielding in your grip, and when you are ready . . ." Raven''s free hand slowly slid down Eric''s side before pausing by on his thigh. " . . . just hug the trigger."

    *BANG*

    Another gunshot went off, but this time it hit the target plaque dead center.

    "Well, there you go," said Raven, pulling away. "You hit the target, at last." Still flustered, Eric watched as Raven turned to leave. Just as she was about to disappear out of sight, she paused. "You know, professor, when I say I''d do anything, I mean it. Don''t waste your next won bet on something like firing a gun." She glanced over her shoulder, an alluring smile on her lips. "If you manage to win again, that is."

    Raven winked, and Eric could have sworn that yet another gunshot went off.

    <hr />

    The strong scent of smoke was the first thing that Javelin noticed as his mind snapped back to the present, just as distant thunder echoed through the air. Blinking, Javelin tried to focus his eyes and it didn''t take long before he was met by two intently staring, ice-blue irises - filled with worry.

    "Javelin!" his mother''s called to him. "How are you feeling?"

    "Huh?" With his mind still a bit unclear on what had happened, it took a while for Javelin to register his mother''s question. Before he could answer it, Tetra had spoken again.

    "Are you alright, son? When the lightning hit the ground not far from us and I found you so . . . dazed, I . . ."

    "I''m alright, mother; I just had a small breakthrough, " Javelin assured her, purposefully leaving out the regaining-memories part.

    As soon as Javelin confirmed it, Tetra relaxed greatly. However, that did not stop her from insisting on giving her son a thorough check before finally sighing a breath of relief. "So Lady Nightingale was right. . . ."

    "Raven?" At the mention of her name, Javelin''s mind instantly sought out the other half of his soul, giving him the answer he was looking for way before his mother could.

    "She is fine, Javelin," Tetra said with a knowing smile. "Lady Nightingale is assisting with containing the fire caused by the sudden thunderstorm we found ourselves in."

    Watching her son''s reaction, Tetra''s smile widened, but there was also a bit of melancholy in her eyes.

    "You really like her, don''t you?"

    Surprised by the sudden question, Javelin momentarily blanked before smiling sheepishly. Tetra chuckled but then turned serious.

    "You are already engaged, Javelin."

    "I am, but can''t you . . ."

    "No." Tetra shook her head decisively. "The marriage was arranged by the emperor, only he can undo it - you know that."

    "I know, but I have to try."

    "Even though your feelings aren''t mutual?"

    ". . ."

    Tetra didn''t need a verbal reply to know her son''s sentiment.

    "Alright, I''ll help you consider your options. After all, it would hardly be fair for Lady Arowana to be wed to someone whose soul already belongs elsewhere. . . ." Tetra paused slightly, amplifying the gravity in the situation, "but listen carefully, Javelin, as long as you are engaged to Lady Arowana you must act accordingly. We do not want her father upset, understand?"

    ". . . I understand." Javelin didn''t like it, but he knew his mother''s words were true. Some people just shouldn''t be offended.

    "Good. Then go help Lady Nightingale with containing the fire until the Earth Empire''s officials arrive. Take it as your new assignment, so make sure to work on the teamwork between the two of you. The eight guards will only intervene if the fire threatens lives."

    "Yes, mother."

    Javelin bowed before he quickly got up and left the wagon. As soon as he stepped outside, the already overwhelming billows of smoke grew even stronger, accompanied by an intense heat. Despite the ominous thunder clouds above, there was no rain in the air and, not too far from the caravan, a savage fire raged, burning almost everything in sight. It was far closer to a scene from Hell than the idyllic, green plains it had been before the lightning ignited the dry grass.

    The sight was awe-inspiring yet horrendous, but Javelin''s eyes were instead instantly caught by the dark silhouette standing between him and the fire. With as much contrast as the moon against a clear night sky, the young girl moved like water, dancing almost, between the flames. Bursts of precisely directed streams of chilled spirit essence flowed from her hands every now and then, keeping the all-engulfing flames somewhat at bay.

    Moving with her, the surrounding flames seemed to dance too, turning the girl into a fire nymph of legend.

    "Weren''t you supposed to help?" Raven called, her tone of voice sounding very much like it had in his recalled memory from Eric.

    Blinking, Javelin woke from his daze and dashed forward to Raven''s side. As he ran Javelin withdrew his staff and moments later the sound of waves, crashing against a shore, joined the already thunderous clashes of lightning and fire. Streams of water materialized like snakes around the nearly two meter long staff and as Javelin struck the ground at the edge of the fire, the snakes charged at the flames, hissing violently.

    Instantly, the fire retreated a few meters, but almost just as fast, the flames returned with renewed vigor.

 Chapter 102: Familiar Faces

    Familiar Faces

    Raven and Javelin toiled on against the wild flames for nearly half a day before ten fire-officials from Earth City arrived to take over the situation. By then, even Raven was drenched in sweat and she, inelegantly, sank down on one of the few stones in the vicinity the very second as she and Javelin were relieved. Javelin himself was even worse off and didn''t bother finding a stone before directly collapsing on the ground.

    "Much better," Tetra Hake commended as she walked over from the campsite that had been put up while the two youths were dealing with the fire. "You actually worked together this time."

    Raven glanced over at the woman and gave her a nod as she secretly suppressed a chuckle. Madam Hake''s idea of effective training was very much in line with her own - if it wasn''t grueling, it wasn''t good. Then again, it was one thing putting yourself through that kind of training was one thing; forcing it on your child. . . .

    "She scares me a bit," Hoatzin muttered to Raven as he flew up and landed on her shoulder. "Why make such harsh training session out of every little misfortune we come across?"

    "It''s not a bad approach, brother; I would do the same" Raven answered, secretly adding, ''or worse,'' to herself. "Besides, she has a point; our teamwork has improved quite a bit tonight."

    "With you still repressing your true strength," Javelin, whom Raven had included in the conversation for the last sentence, retorted unsatisfied. Raven noticed him clenching his fists in frustrated determination.

    "True, but the effects of our shared spirit connections are showing; your stamina has improved greatly. You also did well in following the instructions I gave you."

    ". . ." Javelin wasn''t convinced.

    "Oh, come on," Hoatzin snorted, "even at the same level, how many spiritualists would be able to keep up with my sister? Just accept that you are improving, Javelin."

    A resigned smile crossed Javelin''s lips, and while quite a few sentences had been exchanged between the three of them, mental communication was instantaneous, so Javelin''s mother took the smile as a response to her statement.

    "Not satisfied yet?" she asked, sounding falsely impressed. "I can always ask the fire-officials to let you two managed extinguishing the fire as well. . . ."

    "No!" Javelin jumped up from the ground, instantly bending into a bow. "I-. . . I mean, no need, dear mother! We have already learned a great deal and need to digest our insights."

    Seated on her stone, Raven made no attempt to hide her giggle as she watched the suddenly very submissive Javelin doing his best in appeasing his mother.

    Tetra didn''t seem too convinced, but just as she was about to reprimand her son''s attitude, one of the ten officials from Earth City walked over. As was characteristic for most natives of Earth Empire, the officials hair was pitch black, his skin pale and his eyes and a mix of greens and browns. Raven''s eyes narrowed slightly. This man''s spirit presence was awfully familiar.

    "Well, well, what an honor! To think I would run into Saint Major Hake herself," said the man, bowing a bit too shallowly. "What an amazing coincidence."

    "Councillor Tanuki," greeted Tetra with better faked respect. "Are the fires across Earth Empire so bad that even the council-members have to act now? It must be taxing for you."

    When he heard the man''s name, Javelin stiffened slightly, before taking a few steps back toward Raven and giving space for the Councillor. Subconsciously, he shot the former a quick glance, anxious to see her reaction to the man, but Raven just remained seated on the same stone. Even her emotions were unmoved.

    "It is not that bad," Councillor Tanuki assured, smiling a slippery smile. "I had several reports of heightened bandit activity in the area and was already headed here when I heard of the fire." He then looked over at Javelin and Raven, pausing slightly over the latter, before returning his attention to Tetra. "I take it you are escorting your son back for home, for his engagement no doubt. Congratulations, by the way - it is a fine match."

    Next to Raven, Javelin clenched his first until they were white. Raven had expected him to vehemently oppose the Councillor''s statement - at least to her - but no such outbursts came.

    "Thank you," replied Tetra, her tone civil.

    "May I offer to escort Madam Hake''s group to the border? It might be close, but you never know what dangers lurk in the wilderness."

    Considering the fact that, in his group of ten officials, all but one were simply low Champions, with the last one being a budding mid Champion, Councillor Tanuki''s proposal couldn''t have been less called for; what could they possibly fight that Tetra''s guards couldn''t? Yet despite the ridiculousness in the suggestion, Tetra held her composure. Nonetheless, Madam Hake just gave a blunt bow, her face deadpan.

    "I think we can manage."

    Raven raised her eyebrows, somewhat impressed by Tetra''s behavior, and couldn''t help to add another layer of complexity to Javelin''s mother. The woman clearly knew when her temper would help her and when it wouldn''t.

    "Naturally," the Councillor replied, his slick expression slipping slightly. "Just be careful, Madam Hake; my oldest son nearly lost his life in the wilderness a while back and is still not fully restored. I would hate it for you to experience the same thing. . . ."

    A flash of cold killing intent surged in Raven''s eyes, causing Javelin to clench his fists even harder, but if Tetra Hake picked up on the underlying threat in his words, she didn''t show it.

    "Thank you for the reminder, Councillor Tanuki. Carelessness and arrogance are indeed the most dangerous traps in the wilderness," Tetra replied, still straight-faced and serious. "Well, I am afraid we have a schedule to follow so we must take our leave. I hope your son recovers from his . . . injuries. Until next time, Councillor."

    With that, Tetra Hake gave a slight bow and then turned to leave, waving for Javelin and Raven to follow her. The two youths were quick to follow but Raven didn''t miss the look of absolute rage on the Councillor''s face. She smiled slyly; Madam Hake''s off-hand comment had really sailed home.

    "Was that . . ." Hoatzin started but Raven filled in the rest of the question before he was finished; "Jack Tanuki''s father? Yes, it was and I don''t believe it was a coincidence he showed up here. It would seem he has suspicions about what happened to Jack."

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "I thought Emperor Maleo and Headmaster Swan had convinced Earth Empire''s Emperor to drop the matter. . . ." Javelin said, frowning.

    "Just because the Emperor has decided to let the whole thing slide, doesn''t mean Jack''s father would approve," said Raven with a shrug.

    Hoatzin nodded in agreement. "Think of your own parents," he added, "would they let it go if your brother was driven mad under suspicious circumstances, just because the emperor said so?"

    "If it was an order, yes," replied Javelin, without hesitation.

    Raven thought back on the stiff admiral she had seen during Javelin and Hoatzin''s entrance exams and couldn''t help but agree; that man was not one to disobey orders of any kind. Javelin''s mother though . . . Raven wasn''t as sure about her.

    On her shoulder, Hoatzin blinked a few times before finally grunting: "that''s just harsh, man."

    Both Javelin and Raven looked at her brother and started laughing, amused by Hoatzin''s sudden informal tone. "That''s the army," the two answered almost in unison, causing them to momentarily stop laughing and look at each other. After the initial surprise however, the amusement won out again - growing stronger even - and they were still chuckling as they entered their separate wagons.

    <hr />

    The remaining distance to the Earth Empire border was indeed not far. A little less than a day later, Raven could clearly smell the scent of a salty ocean, carried by a warm southern. One more day and she started hearing both the waves and the distinct calls of the Trigull - a very peculiar animal that had both wings to fly with, gills to breath with under water, and four legs to run with on land. It was one of the few birds - if one can call it that - that lived outside of Sky Empire, and due to its need for water to breed, you rarely saw it anywhere else.

    Eventually, barely three days after the incident with the fire, the four-wagon caravan finally came to a halt. Eager to see the new landscape with her eyes, Raven was just about to push aside the flap of fabric that doubled as the wagon''s window and door, when Tetra''s lightly sun-tanned hand stopped her.

    "Lady Nightingale," she said, her voice serious, "you are bound to my son, and therefore you are bound to his family. I know you do not care for him like he cares for you. . . ." Tetra paused but raised her free hand to stop Raven from interrupting. "I know, and so I''m telling you this because I have come to realize that you are a lot more mature than your age would indicate: I don''t care how you feel about my son, but if you hurt him in any way, I will kill you."

    There wasn''t a trace of killing intent in Tetra''s demeanor, but there was an oddly pure savageness about her gaze that left Raven with no doubts that the woman meant what she had said.

    For a few heartbeats Raven met Tetra''s gaze, her own eyes tranquil, when eventually Tetra took the initiative to leave without getting a response.

    Still in the wagon, Raven revealed a crooked smile. ''I wonder. . . . Was that the moment to explain that ''Soul Bound for life'' doesn''t mean ''until death'' but rather ''into death''?''

    Raven and Javelin had told Headmaster Swan about most aspects of being Soul Bound, but not all. They had both figured that it was best to leave out the more detrimental aspects of it all, so the you-die-I-die issue had sort of been glossed over.

    Raven shook her head. Regardless of his mother''s sentiments, little could be done about it now. A sly smile crept across Raven''s face. One way or another, she and Javelin were bound together for good and apart from him and his hidden memories, Raven felt little attachment to the people of Sea Empire - she might as well make the best of her likely limited stay here.

    Relaxing her face, Raven pushed aside the fabric flap and stepped out of the wagon. As soon as she lifted her gaze, her green eyes widened in amazement. It didn''t matter how many pictures she had seen of it, or how much her other senses had told her about it, seeing the endless shore and vast ocean that made up the Sea Empire was still breathtaking.

    The four wagons had stopped at the very edge of the famous whitestone cliffs that put an abrupt end  to the previously endless green fields by shifting into a plummeting mountain wall. The white of the mountain rock was a stark contrast to the lush grasslands above. Far below, pearly-white sand dunes linked the steep cliff with the ocean, providing a kilometer wide embankment that continued along the cliff-side as far as the eye could see.

    There were a couple of huts and smaller settlement on the shore, centered around long pontoons that stretched far into the ocean, but that was not where the majority of the people of Sea Empire resided. No, the Sea Empire really lived up to its name; a few kilometers out in the water several islands of closely packed whitestone houses spurted out of the ocean like pyramids in the desert. The largest island even rivaled Sky City in size, although it didn''t really seem like it from this far away.

    White specks of varying sizes moved at high speeds from one city island to the other and Raven knew they were the sailing ships that the Sea Empire was so proud of. Some would be smaller family boats, while others were large enough to carry hundreds of people.

    It was early morning, but already hundreds, if not thousands, of ships were on the move, and they were joined both by the grey-feathered Trigulls and other creatures who used the Sea as their hunting ground. Their movements and the rising early morning sun caused the entire ocean to glisten like diamonds.

    "Welcome to Sea Empire," Javelin called merrily as he walked over from his wagon. "Impressive, isn''t it?"

    "It is," agreed Raven. According to the books, the architectural design of the Sea Empire''s islands was one of the most complicated on the continent and there was even more going on below the surface.

    Javelin smiled, his mixed blue eyes sparkling like the sea itself. "See that," he suggested more than asked as he pointed to a mid-sized vessel that was docked at the closest pontoon. "That is actually my ship, and we will use it to travel to the admiral estate."

    Raven nodded in understanding. "So how do we get down there?"

    "There are several ways," he said, the smile on his face growing a bit mischievous, "but I think I know which one you''d prefer."

    "Jumping?" teased Raven, thinking back on her stunt at the Spirit Hall Tower when she was newly enrolled at Sky Academy.

    "Close," Javelin answered as the mischief in his eyes grew stronger. "Really close."

 Chapter 103: Fastest Way Down

    Fastest Way Down

    Raven saw Javelin glancing back at his mother, who was currently pointing out a couple of famous Sea Empire landmarks to Raven''s ''assigned bodyguard'', Aves.

    "Do you trust me?" Javelin asked and Raven raised a quizzical eyebrow.

    "Enough," she answered and felt a brief moment of disappointment coming from Javelin. He quickly recovered though.

    "That will have to do. Relax," Javelin said just as he closed the distance between them and grabbed Raven around her waist. Before anyone had the chance to react, Javelin had already plunged forward, dragging Raven with him as he dove off the cliff.

    "Javelin!?" Hoatzin called in shock, quickly diving after them.

    ''I thought we weren''t going to jump!'' thought Raven, slightly annoyed, and was just about to activate her spirit essence when she sensed something quickly approaching.

    Javelin shifted his free arm and a translucent rope appeared in his hands. In the next instant, he flicked out the rope and, seemingly catching on nothing, the rope-tip looped back to Javelin''s hand. Instantly, the downwards fall changed directions, quickly trailing off towards the shore-line.

    ''It''s a zip-line!'' exclaimed Raven in her heart, not bothering to be impressed by the, to the eye, invisible spirit essence chain that suspended them.

    Noticing the change, Hoatzin snorted and slowed down, not bothering to chase after them anymore. Quickly the pair''s speed increased, causing the wind to whip at their hair and clothes. Raven couldn''t help but smile as the thrill of the fall grew within both her and Javelin, their joint emotions pushing them further.

    "I thought you might like this!" Javelin called over the roaring winds. "We''ll go even faster soon!"

    Raven glanced up at the translucent rope that kept them suspended and her smile widened; she recognized the material.

    "Yes we will," she agreed and activated her spirit essence. A heartbeat later, the airflow around her and Javelin changed, no longer pushing against them but rather slipping effortlessly around the two. Instantly, the acceleration picked up even more. Soon, they shot through the air at speeds well over a hundred kilometers per hour and their speed was still increasing.

    Javelin laughed and both of he and Raven howled in exhilaration. In the distance the blue ocean and the boats on it were growing larger and larger, but the descending pair showed no signs of slowing. It wasn''t until they were only a hundred meters above ground that Javelin started to pour his spirit essence into the rope he was holding on to, intending to slow down, but to his shock nothing happened. Something, or rather someone, was blocking him.

    "Raven?" he asked, but she just kept laughing.

    Javelin frowned, his anxiety growing with every heart beat. If they continued like this, they would crash into the sea faster than their bodies could handle, but, he did trust Raven. Gritting his teeth, Javelin waited. By the time they were only thirty meters above the white sand dunes, the pair''s speed had reached an astonishing two hundred kilometers per hour and Javelin''s heart was pumping like crazy - he had never approached the end of the line this fast before!

    Just as he was about to freak out, Raven shifted her body and grabbed hold of the rope with both hands as she wrapped her legs tightly around Javelin''s waist. Suddenly, vast amounts of spirit essence gushed out of her, poring into both the translucent rope and the air around them.

    As if being dumped into a thick liquid, their speed abruptly dropped. The change was so sudden that Javelin felt dizzy; his vision darkened, his breathing stopped. The next thing he registered was the cold water enveloping him as he slashed into the sea.

    Shocked back to consciousness, Javelin burst out of the water. Enraged, he was just about to bark at Raven, when he heard her jubilant laughter. Transfixed by the melodious sound, Javelin turned to look at the source. Standing in knee-deep, crystal clear water, Raven was dripping wet. Sparkling drops of water decorated her face, making her already spectacular smile seem all the more wondrous. Still laughing, Raven gathered her wet hair and wrung it, twice, before using her fingers to comb through it.

    Calming her laughter, Raven looked up at Javelin, and smiled. A genuine, honest smile. With his mouth agape, Javelin just stared; he could think of nothing but that smile.

    "You are not the only one staring," Hoatzin pointed out once he arrived barely a minute later.

    It was only then that Javelin realized that it was oddly quiet; the several pontoon ports across the beach were always bustling with activity, especially during the early morning as it was now. Javelin tore his gaze away from Raven, only to find the dozen or so workers at the port were, indeed, also staring. Looking back at Raven and her soaked clothes, cling tightly to her slender body, Javelin''s eyes widened and he hurried to her side, throwing a dry blanket over her shoulders.

    Raven glanced around her and, noting the people''s stares, chuckled.

    "It''s not me they''re staring at, Jav, it''s us," she said in a soft voice. "I think our entrance . . . shocked them."

    "Not just them," grunted Javelin as he led Raven towards the shore, using his spirit essence to quickly dry her clothes as they went. "Did you have to wait so long before stopping?"

    Raven''s mouth widened into a grin. "Of course I did - it is more fun that way, no?" she asked and winked playfully. "Besides, I was surprised that you didn''t faint; as Eric you were terrified of heights. Some sky diving accident caused it, if I remember correctly."

    Javelin was about to protest that he did faint when Raven''s last words hit him. Suddenly, Javelin felt his stomach flip as images of him, free-falling from high up in the sky, flashed by in his mind.

    "I feel sick. . . ." Javelin backed away from Raven, bending over to gather himself.

    "Oops," said Raven, raising her shoulders apologetically. "Some memories are better not remembering, huh?"

    "Third master Hake," a slightly nervous voice called, preventing Raven from saying anything more. "Are . . . are you alright?"

    Raven looked over at the tawny man who had spoken. He had no cultivation whatsoever, but judging from his skin and muscle tone, Raven could tell that the man was an experienced sailor. Before Javelin had the chance to answer though, a young man stepped out from the ship Javelin had pointed out as his from above.

    "Of course he is fine, Goby; we Hakes have survived worse." The youth smiled, glancing briefly at Raven. "Though I must say you''ve improved your entrance - mother won''t be pleased."

    "Brother," Javelin greeted as he pushed down the queasiness he still felt and waded ashore, stopping at Raven''s side.

    "The young Lady Nightingale, I presume?" the brother asked, looking directly at Raven now.

    "Greetings, Master Hake," Raven replied with a curtsy.

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    "Please, call me Cisco, Lady Nightingale - any friend of my brother''s is a friend of mine."

    "Only if you call me Raven."

    "Fair enough," laughed Cisco with surprising mirth.

    Still standing on the pontoon, the young man carefully studied Raven and as he did, she silently observed him too. Except for his eyes, which were just as ice-blue as Tetra Hake''s, this ''Cisco'' was by all means an older version of Javelin.

    They had the same underlying facial features, skin tone and gold-shimmering hair, even their voices sounded similar. As with all spiritualists, it was hard to judge his age by appearance alone, but Raven guessed that he was in his mid to late twenties. She had to admit, the man was refreshingly gorgeous.

    Noticing their stares, Javelin was about to step in between Raven and his older brother when the light pitter-patter of running steps interrupted him. Seconds later, a whirlwind of blue fabrics and golden hair flowed out from the same ship Cisco had emerged from and, in very the next instant, a tall girl had wrapped herself around Javelin, pressing him against her tightly chest.

    "Javy!" she called, swaying Javelin back and forth in her arms. "I''ve missed you so much!"

    Muffled grunts could be heard as the poor boy struggled to get loose, but to no avail.

    "A friend of yours, Javy?" Raven asked, feigning ignorance.

    "She''s my sister!" Javelin shouted mentally, still unable to break free from his sister''s clutches. Raven could tell he was afraid that she would misunderstand. The sister, on the other hand, had no such qualms.

    "Who are you?" she barked, losing the happy smile on her face in an instant as she glared at Raven. "The bitch who enslaved my brother?"

    "Remora!" shouted both Cisco and Javelin, the latter finally managing to break free from his embrace.

    "What? It''s true, isn''t it?" Remora Hake retorted, unwilling to back down, and Raven''s eyes flashed with a cold light.

    She only needed this brief exchange to sum up this sister of Javelin''s and she didn''t like what she saw. In both appearance and temperament, this girl was the spitting image of her mother, the Saint Major of legend. Unfortunately, the younger version lacked, or had yet to learn, the point of moderation; while the mother knew how to use her temper as a sharp sword, the daughter used it like a sledgehammer. There would be no reasoning with this type of person.

    "Raven still saved our little brother, Remora - you should apologize," Cisco urged, but Remora just snorted.

    "Sister. . . ." Javelin pleaded, unwilling to see two women he cared about at odds.

    "What a hard-headed woman," commented Hoatzin from his place on Raven''s shoulder when the sister still refused to give in. Raven herself kept silent.

    "Listen to your brothers, Remora," madam Hake''s voice called out from behind. She and the other members of the caravan had finally made their way down to the shore, and where approaching on foot. "Don''t be disrespectful."

    Being chided by her mother, Remora''s attitude quickly changed and she gave Raven a grandiose curtsy. "Thank you for your benevolence, Lady Nightingale," she said, her voice sounding very magnanimous. Raven wasn''t fooled though; Remora was clearly not pleased.

    "Thank you, mother," said Javelin with a relieved sigh, but his breath was caught in his throat as he saw the sharp look his mother gave him.

    "Do not go thanking me yet, son," Tetra scolded. "What in the seas were you thinking?"

    Javelin flinched, but still managed to answer. "I just wanted to show Raven the fastest way down. . . . It''s not like I haven''t done it before."

    "What if you had dropped her? The two of you have to stay together, remember! And that ending . . ."

    "The late stop was entirely on me, madam Hake," Raven interrupted, brushing aside Aves who had rushed forward while Tetra spoke. He didn''t mind it though, since he had already used his spirit essence to check what he wanted to know: Raven was fine.

    "I wanted to try a new Divine Skill of mine," continued Raven, lying.

    Tetra flinched unnoticeably. "Try?"

    Raven nodded, ignoring Javelin''s warning glances. "Since it only works at high speeds, I haven''t had the chance to test it before," she continued to push. "I figured this was the perfect opportunity to try it out."

    Not unexpectedly, Remora glared angrily at Raven - ready to explode at anytime - but, to Raven''s surprise, Tetra kept her cool and just stared at her with narrowed eyes.

    An odd silence descended and even the port workers, who had finally resumed their labor, paused yet again, curious about what was going to happen.

    "Your father is waiting," Tetra said eventually, turning her attention to her children. "We are leaving."

    Raven watched the mother walk past her and smiled secretly to herself.

    "I thought madam was going to eat you alive for that comment," said Hoatzin to his sister. "She seems surprisingly fine with it."

    "Oh, she isn''t fine with it," Raven disagreed. It had been better hidden this time, but that pure savageness that Tetra Hake had shown Raven in back in the wagon had appeared within the woman now too. ''So luring and bloodily massacring bandits is okay, but slightly reckless playing isn''t? Interesting woman.''

    Evaporating the last drops of water from her clothes and hair, Raven followed Javelin and the other Hakes onto their, or rather Javelin''s docked ship. Despite his long absence, and his obviously young age when he left, Javelin''s crew diligently followed his commands as he reclaimed the helm of his ship.

    Quickly, the guards who had escorted the caravan through Earth Empire, separated into smaller groups, chatting and laughing freely for the first time since they left. Clearly they could finally relax.

    Standing by the railing, Raven was watching the crew setting the sails when she noticed Cisco leaving his sister''s side and approaching her instead. Behind him, Remora shot Raven several angry glares.

    "Don''t mind my little sister," Cisco said once he arrived by Raven''s side. "She is very protective of Javelin - we all are."

    "Protective enough to send him away to a foreign country without bodyguards?" Raven asked, sounding neither civil nor rude.

    Cisco chuckled, his arms folded behind his behind his back. "Remora didn''t want to let him go, but tough love is the Hake family way - it builds character. Besides, the emperor asked for it, how could we refuse?"

    "Following orders. . . ." Raven''s gaze fell on Javelin and then drifted out towards the open sea, her mind elsewhere. The ship had gained speed quickly and, every now and then, sprays of salt water washed over the railing, dampening her clothes and hair all over again.

    Cisco took Raven''s silence as a sign of disapproval towards the Emperor and was quick to explain. "It wasn''t an order exactly; the Emperor simply wished to let the nation''s younger generation see more of the word. It was an honor to be chosen, really."

    Raven smiled wryly, but said nothing.

 Chapter 104: Sea Skirmish

    Sea Skirmish

    Still on the deck of the wooden ship, Raven eventually tore her gaze from the horizon and looked up at the vessel''s two masts. She counted eight sails in action.

    "This is a schooner?" Raven asked Cisco, choosing to change the subject.

    "Indeed," answered Cisco, looking a bit surprised by Raven''s knowledge. "It''s a good compromise between size and speed."

    "And it''s Javelin''s?"

    Cisco nodded. "He received it as a gift on his sixth birthday."

    It was Raven''s turn to be surprised. ''A ship as a birthday present for a six-year-old?''

    "I got one too," Cisco added with a smile when he noticed Raven''s reaction. "The concept in it self is not that unusual actually; most kids in this nation get some sort of sea vessel on their sixth birthday, it''s just not usually such a large one."

    Raven shook her head, once again opting to remain silent.

    "You don''t say much, do you?" Cisco noted, but he didn''t seem too bothered about it. Quite the opposite actually. He remained next to Raven, observing the passing ships and distant island housings.

    It didn��t take long before Javelin��s ship reached its destination. Cisco nodded towards the front of the ship - Raven followed his gaze and saw a huge circular building, standing alone in the ocean. It was built with the a white stone very similar to the Whitestone cliff that separated the Earth Empire from the Sea Empire. The bright stone was very pretty but the building''s construction was more like a fort''s than anything else. Judging by its size, quite a few soldiers lived inside.

    Facing Raven was a large gate with metal bars suspended above it. Through this gate, several smaller ships were entering and exiting the fort, and inside Raven glanced a huge war ship, clearly built to make use of the entire opening when it came and went.

    ��This is the Admiral��s base,�� explained Cisco. ��Since the navy is largest part of Sea Empire��s military prowess, one could say that this is the core of all military operations. My father and his closest officers all live here, together with their families. Your crown prince is currently here as well.��

    Raven could feel Cisco giving her a curious glance as he mentioned Sky Empire��s future ruler, but whatever reaction he was expecting he didn��t get it. Raven was too busy inspecting the fort in front of her.

    ��An impressive construction,�� commented Hoatzin from her shoulder, and Raven agreed with him; few would make it in uninvited.

    ��Reef the sails and prepare to dock,�� shouted Javelin as the ship approached the gate. At once, all sailors on board sprang into action. The main- and mizzensails were hauled, leaving only the four foresails for maneuverability. Thick ropes were prepared at both the bow and the stern, ready to be tossed to the harbor workers who no doubt were waiting for them inside.

    Raven watched with well-hid amazement as Javelin masterfully steered his ship in through the gate and to his assigned spot in the port, using nothing but the foresails and a light aft breeze. Every now and then he would shout commands to the sailors, asking for changes to the sails.

    ��When did he have the time to learn this?�� she wondered. Javelin had after all only been seven when he left for Sky Empire, but this type of skill with maneuvering a vessel was something that should require decades of training.

    ��Still as impressive as ever,�� Cisco suddenly said, smiling. ��You might not know this, but doing what Javelin is doing now is extremely difficult. While all of us Hake siblings could be considered genius spiritualists, neither Rowena nor I come even close to his knack for reading the sea and wind and using it to his favor. After father explained the basics, Javelin only needed a few practice runs on a smaller ship before he started coming with suggestions to the quartermasters and first mates at larger warships.��

    Raven couldn��t help but smile at the image; she could easily see a toddler sized version of Javelin, happily giving advice to sea-worn sailors. How frustrated those men must have been!

    As soon as the ship came to rest at the harbor, a gangway was laid out and an attendant hurried up to the ship.

    "Major Hake!" he called loudly, saluting towards the ship.

    "Report," Tetra replied, clearly understanding the man''s intentions.

    "Yes, ma''am! Admiral Hake requests your presence in the commander hall. As for the young masters and mistress Hake should prepare skirmish boats." The soldier quickly stole a glance at Raven, who had joined the others at the port side of the ship. "The Sky Empire companion too."

    "Acknowledged." Tetra dismissed the soldier and turned to her children. "You know what to do," she said curtly before swiftly disembarking the ship.

    "Skirmish boats?" Raven asked when she noticed the glee that appeared within the eyes of all the  Hake siblings.

    "Father has prepared a mock battle for us," explained Javelin, smiling widely. He motioned for Raven to follow him ashore. "We will each pilot a smaller, spiritualist adapted boat and, in accordance with the scenario Father gives, we will fight - either together or against each other. Other spiritualist will also participate."

    Cisco who was walking ahead of them slowed his pace. "Do you think you have what it takes to beat me now, baby brother?" he asked mockingly as Javelin and Raven caught up to him.

    Javelin snorted, but Raven gave Cisco a quizzical look. "I thought you said Javelin outclassed you when it came to nautical maneuvers?"

    Cisco laughed. "He does - but that it with sailing ships. The boats we use during skirmishes are a bit different since they rely so heavily on spirit essence to move."

    "But that doesn''t mean that a main-lander like you stands a chance," hissed Remora as she cut Raven off, just as they were about to walk around a bend in the wharf.

    "Don''t mind her," Javelin sent mentally. "My sister is just not so fond of change."

    ''More like competition, if you ask me...'' Raven thought, but kept it to herself. Suddenly a lopsided smile crept across her lips; Raven''s senses had picked up on the construction of the small boats waiting just ahead. She suppressed a chuckle; while it was true that she would be worthless piloting a sailing vessel, these boats were another story entirely.

    "Don''t worry, Jav; I''ll be fine."

    <hr />

    Less than fifteen minutes later, a cluster of small boats were swaying up and down with the waves, just outside of the Admiral''s fort.

    Javelin had at first been a bit nervous for Raven; she had required several attempts just to get her boat going, and even more tries before managing to steer it out the harbor. However, there had been no traces of her showed frustration in her transferred emotions, and, just before they parted ways to their assigned positions, Raven had given him a quick wink. Whatever doubts he had, had disappeared in that moment.

    No longer worried, Javelin instead soaked in the almost palpable excitement in the air.

    "I''ve really missed this!" he thought and gazed out over the gathered vessels.

    Counting his own, their were twenty boats present, spread out evenly in a neat grid. The vessels were truly small, just large enough to barely fit one seated person, and their proportions were a lot more short-nosed than usual.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Apart from their compact and sail-less hulls, each boat only contained three crystal orbs, ranging in size from a plum to a cantaloupe. The largest orb was placed in the center - where one would normally expect to find the steering wheel - and it was by pouring spirit essence into that orb that the boats were both powered and steered.

    As Javelin made note of who and where all the participants were, the boats smallest orb started glowing and his father''s familiar voice filled the air.

    "Attention! Today''s skirmish is a double-pronged free-for-all; last remaining unmarked boat wins, but at least two boats must attack in unison to mark another boat."

    Javelin was surprised; free-for-all skirmishes weren''t rare, but the combined attacks were. He couldn''t help but glance in Raven''s direction.

    "Interesting," commented Hoatzin, who soared through the air high above all the boats. "Will people form alliances?"

    Javelin shook his head."Working in set pairs won''t be flexible enough when so many boats are participating. Then again, that is under the assumption that there is no communication between the boats. . . ."

    "Then . . ?"

    "Let''s just see what happens," interrupted Raven, sounding a bit coy.

    Javelin''s father didn''t have anymore instructions; "As for the victor''s reward," he said, pausing slightly, "I will listen to one personal request."

    Even with the distance between the boats, one could almost hear the collective intake of air. A personal request from the navy''s highest officer - what wasn''t that worth? Javelin couldn''t help but light up. ''It''s a long shot, but still. . . .''

    "The skirmish commences in 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . go!"

    At once, all participants activated their spirit essence, pouring it into the largest orb. Underneath the boats, a strong force pushed backwards against the water, instantly propelling the vessels forward.

    Javelin carefully surveilled his surroundings as he moved, careful not to end up in the line of fire between two boats at the same time. Moments later, Javelin had already managed to maneuver around a less observant sailor, efficiently boxing him in between himself and another participant.

    Javelin got eye contact with the participant opposite the trapped sailor and, in the next instant, both of them reached out and touched their third, mid-sized, orb. Bright flashes of light appeared as two streams of spirit essence lunged at the middle boat, hitting it simultaneously. Just a heartbeat later, the hit boat ground to a halt, unable to move any further.

    Javelin smiled but then paled as he, out of the corner of his eye, saw Raven''s boat, motionless and trapped between his sister and two other vessels.

    "Shit!" Javelin swore under his breath and swerved his boat sharply to the side, even though he knew he would never get to Raven in time. Just as the three boat''s were about to launch their attack, Raven looked up, seemingly startled by the pending loss, and panicked. Desperate, she chose to just pour her spirit essence into all the orbs at her disposal and, as luck would have it, the sudden burst of essence caused the boat to shoot forward, barely scraping between the two who were assisting Remora.

    Raven was free, but it didn''t end there. The three attackers had already initiated their shots, and even Raven had managed to fire off a round. The bright flashes of four simultaneous shots momentarily blinded him, but, once the light had faced, Javelin stared at the two motionless boats that now formed a small barrier between Raven and Remora.

    ''What the . . .''

    In the air, Hoatzin started laughing madly and suddenly Javelin had an odd premonition.

    <hr />

    Back in the fort, standing in front of a large stone desk, were Tetra and her husband, Admiral Devario Hake. They silently observed the movements of several small, glowing dots that swirled around on the desk''s surface - every now and then a light would go out, symbolizing yet another eliminated participant.

    Eventually Tetra glanced up at her husband. "Why would you promise such a reward?" she eventually asked. "If Javelin wins . . ."

    "He won''t," laughed Devario and pointed to two dots which were moving fairly synchronized across the board. "Look at our two oldest; they are will win."

    "And if they don''t?" Tetra pushed, unable to adapt her husband''s confidence. "You know what Javelin would request, but there is nothing you can do - the Emperor . . ."

    Devario held up his hand to silence her. He himself remained quite for a while and then sighed. "I only said I would listen."

    Tetra stared at her husband in shock. For him to use such an underhanded trick, against his own child no less, was highly unlike the man she had married. Admiral Hake wouldn''t be devious if his life depended on it.

    "Don''t worry, Tetra; it won''t come to that," Devario reassured, but his wife clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

    "I wouldn''t be so sure of that," she said and tapped one of the glowing dots, her perfect nails clicking against the stone surface.

    Devario Hake frowned. "The foreign girl? Her cultivation might be impressive for her age, but she''d been surviving this skirmish purely on luck. It won''t hold."

    Tetra shook her head. "Your own words, darling: always expect the unexpected."

    <hr />

    The sea skirmish continued for over half an hour.

    "Damn it," swore Remora not-so-quietly as she, for seemingly the hundredth time, managed to just miss Raven''s boat. She couldn''t believe the luck of this little mainland girl who clearly had no prior experience with neither boats nor the sea, yet constantly made the wrong move at the right time.

    Just like before, Remora''s initially perfect shot, missed its intended target and smacked into the vessel that had been helping her instead.

    Remora almost snarled. By now, only a handful boats remained, leaving the Hake siblings, two other sailors and, by some work of miracle, Raven Nightingale. Suddenly, the latter turned to face Remora, a sweet smile on her face.

    Remora lost it; "You cheating little brat!" she shouted loudly, pointing at Raven. "Javy must be giving you instructions, using that bond-thing!"

    "Sister!" Javelin, who had clearly overheard her, shouted back in a reprimanding tone, but Remora wasn''t listening.

    "Oh?" replied Raven, suddenly activating her spirit essence and swirling around on the spot in a turn so tight Remora didn''t think was possible. "Well, if you''re already assuming things, these cheating brats might as well go all out - don''t you think, Javy."

    "It''s Javelin," the brother corrected before Remora had a chance to bark at Raven for her insolence. She glanced back at Javelin and, for a moment, Remora didn''t see her baby brother - she saw her father, ruthless and domineering, as he commanded the nation''s navy into war.

    A shudder ran down Remora''s spine. The eyes that had met hers were nothing like the ones she was used to; these were cold and relentless.

 Chapter 105: Royally Impressed

    Royally Impressed

    Raven looked over at the now steel-eyed Javelin and honest amusement flashed across her own eyes. It was clear that Javelin had run out of patience for his sister and was very much willing to teach her a lesson.

    Taking a deep breath, Raven expanded her senses to the max. At once, the exact positions of the remaining six boats appeared in her mind, together with the fourteen immobile vessels which remained, forming a natural maze. At the moment no one was moving though; even the still participating sailor had paused to listen to the verbal confrontation between Raven and Remora.

    ��Tell me what to do,�� Javelin��s voice rang out in Raven��s mind, his determination causing the corner of her lips to twitch.

    ��I want to try something.�� Raven focused on the mental bond between their souls and, instead of words, she tried sending the information her senses were giving her about their surroundings. Javelin��s shocked gasp was all the confirmation she needed to know that she had succeed.

    ��Get to this as fast as you can on my mark, okay?�� In her mind, Raven marked out a spot at the far end of all the boats. The spot didn��t look very special but Javelin still nodded in confirmation.

    Outwardly Raven gave Remora a calm look, not that the latter noticed �C she was still staring at her brother with apparent hesitation. ��It would seem you��ve lost him,�� Raven said matter-of-factly.

    ��Shut it!�� hissed Remora, finally turning her attention back to Raven. ��I have not!��

    ��Wanna bet?�� Raven countered, her eyes mischievous. ��If one of either Javelin or myself wins this skirmish, you will st-. . .��

    ��Stop it with all the comments,�� Javelin interrupted, his glare never leaving Remora. ��You will treat Raven like a sister!��

    Raven��s eyes twitched slightly but she chose to not contradict the boy. ��If we don��t win,�� she continued instead, ��I will admit my mistakes and give a soul oath to always follow Javelin��s commands. No more of my enslaving, as you put it.��

    There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone who could hear what was going on. Remora stared, dumbfounded, at Raven, not believing she had heard her right. Suddenly, she broke out laughing.

    ��Haha, are you serious!? The two of you might have lasted this far on luck or skill �C call it what you will �C but look around you; everyone left is a Spirit Champions! There is just no way you will win in the end!��

    ��I��ve been surviving your attacks just fine so far, no?�� Raven pointed out with a sweet smile on her face. ��Will you agree or not?��

    ��I��ll agree,�� Remora snorted. ��Of course I��ll agree!��

    Without warning, Remora powered up her boat and her firing orb. A thick burst of spirit essence flew straight at Raven. ��It��s too late to regret it now, mainlander!�� Remora shouted as her attack was mirrored by a second essence stream, shooting across the water surface towards Raven��s back. The other attack had been launched by none other than Cisco Hake, who had stealthily navigated himself into a firing position while the two girls had been talking.

    Raven, however, just smiled. ��Go!�� she shouted in her mind and, grabbing the sides of her boat, Raven leaned backwards harshly. Just as the boat was about to both tip over and get hit by the two strikes, Raven poured all the burst spirit essence her Adept restricted spirit core could muster into the driving orb.

    Like a bullet, Raven��s boat shot out of the water, flipping in the air as the two attacks plowed past underneath her. While her vessel was still suspended upside down in the air, Raven shifted some of her spirit essence to the firing orb, shooting her own attack at the stunned Cisco behind her. Raven��s beam reached Cisco, just as Remora��s did, effectively disqualifying him from the skirmish.

    Before anyone had really registered what had happened, Raven��s boat had already landed back on the water, once more upright. Without pausing, Raven shot forward, whizzing past the still dazed Remora.

    ��What the hell!?�� Remora swore, woken by the spray of water hitting her face as Raven passed. She quickly turned her boat around, only to see Raven swiftly navigating through the maze of motionless vessels like a fish in water.

    ��Javelin, you have a line of sight on both of the northern participants, right?�� Raven asked, her question rhetorical more than anything. ��Now, on my mark, fire on the one furthest away. Then wait ten seconds before firing at the second one.��

    She could feel Javelin��s confusion, but he agreed to do as told nonetheless. Raven glanced behind her and smiled coldly; Remora had started to give chase, but it was too late now.

    ��Fire!�� Raven commanded, just as she was approaching the last bend she would need to take in order to come out smack between the two sailors. Javelin didn��t hesitate to do as asked, despite still not understanding what Raven had planned.

    Raven sped up her boat as she came around the last bend.

    ��Ha! You might have hidden your skills well, mainlander, but your teamwork still sucks!��

    Still far behind her, Raven could hear Remora��s mocking remark. Raven could understand the young woman��s reasoning; by the looks of things, Raven was on a collision course with Javelin��s first missile and was not at an angle to be able to attack either of the sailors she was approaching.

    Ignoring the taunt, Raven sped up even more. Several people held their breaths as they watched Raven and the glowing beam of spirit essence head for each other �C no one even noticed Javelin��s second shot. However, the expected hit between Raven��s boat and the spirit missile never came; with a last burst of speed from Raven, the beam whizzed by the boat��s tail end, not even grazing it.

    Just as the attack passed her by, Raven jerked her body firmly, causing the boat to once again leave the water��s surface. Only, this time, the vessel spun around horizontally rather than in a loop. Two shots were fired by her in quick succession and everyone present watched, wide-eyed, as they headed straight for the remaining participants. The timing was perfect; almost simultaneously, both vessels were hit by two attacks each �C they were out.

    For a long while there was absolute silence over area. No one could believe what they had just seen; even Javelin had a hard time grasping the situation.

    Twice, Raven had performed ridiculous stunts with her skirmish boat, and while the first one could perhaps be written off as luck, the second one could not. She and Javelin had managed to take out two Spirit Champions at the same time and without giving them so much as the opportunity to fight back.

    Raven steered her skirmish boat around to face Remora, who bobbed up and down in the middle of the boat-maze, her mouth ajar.

    ��Only you remain now,�� said Raven, her voice calm. ��Do you wish to go down with a fight or will you resign with dignity?��

    ��I-. . .�� Remora hesitated, clearly unwilling to accept either option, yet painfully aware of her situation.

    Javelin drove his boat over to Raven��s side and the pair of them stared calmly at Remora. There might not have been any great hostility in their eyes, but Remora still felt a cold shiver running down her spine. She grit her teeth.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    ��I know that look; she��s not giving up,�� Javelin warned, and Raven didn��t need to nod for him to know she knew it too.

    Just as Raven was about to give Javelin his next instructions, a now familiar voice disturbed the tense silence.

    ��Enough,�� said Admiral Hake, his voice sounding a bit odd. ��Javelin Hake and Raven Nightingale have won this skirmish. All participants, return to the base.��

    ��Daddy!�� Remora whined. She sounded oddly childish for her age, something she must have realized herself because in the next moment her head was lowered submissively. ��Sorry, father,�� she murmured with a flushed face.

    Under a slightly awkward silence, all the skirmish boats were powered up again and everyone headed back towards the fort they had come from. Raven noticed the other sailors shooting her curious glances, most of which were akin to adoration, but there was some confusion and even fear, too.

    Remora didn��t pay either Javelin or Raven any attention as she sped up to take the lead in returning. Cisco on the other hand steered up to Raven��s side, placing him opposite Javelin.

    ��You sure are full of surprises, Raven Nightingale!�� he laughed.

    Javelin ignored his brother completely, but Raven gave Cisco a chilly smile. ��So are you,�� she said pointedly.

    Cisco��s smile twisted, turning apologetic. ��I admit, it wasn��t the gentlemanly thing to do, but how could I walk away from the possibility of helping my brother to gain such a skilled serv-. . .�� The last words were caught in his mouth as Javelin shot Cisco a murderous glare, warning him not to speak further.

    Raven glanced at Javelin, secretly surprised. There was actually quite a lot of killing intent emanating from Javelin at the moment, and not the kind that simple anger could cause.

    ��Is my soul having the opposite effect on Javelin as his is having on mine?�� she wondered. Raven couldn��t help but think about how the pure spirit essence she was receiving from Javelin��s soul prism was making it easier for her to suppress the killing intent that was merged with her own.

    ��Well, some sins punish themselves,�� Raven said, putting herself in between the two brothers. ��Wouldn��t you agree?��

    It took only a few heartbeats for Cisco to regain his wits. ��Indeed they do,�� he laughed. ��You got me good! I have to ask though, Raven: who taught you to drive a skirmish boat like that? I��ve never seen it operated in such a way before.��

    Raven smiled mischievously at Cisco before blatantly feigning ignorance. ��What do you mean? I was simply doing my best not to fall off.��

    With that, she and Javelin sped up, leaving the older brother behind.

    ��Unbelievable,�� Javelin snorted once out of earshot.

    ��Don��t be too mad at your brother, Javelin; he saw an opportunity for you and decided to take it. I would do the same for Hoatzin.��

    As if by cue, Hoatzin��s red body came soaring down from above, landing on the bow of Raven��s boat. His eyes were almost wild with pride.

    ��Sister, you were amazing!�� he shouted, practically bouncing on his small talons. ��You were practically flying in this thing!��

    Javelin looked pensively at Raven. ��Hoatzin is right �C things you did . . . How could you possibly be so good at this?�� he finally asked, keeping the question between the three of them.

    Raven chuckled. ��There is nothing strange about it �C these boats are fundamentally very similar to something that existed in our previous world, called jet skis. I was quite skilled at handling those.��

    ��Is there anything you can��t do?�� Javelin asked, sounding a bit overwhelmed.

    ��Sew,�� Raven replied without hesitation. ��I couldn��t embroider a handkerchief even if my life depended on it.��

    The two boys stared at her, flabbergasted, until they suddenly burst out laughing; both man and bird were chipping for breath as they passed underneath the raised gate, returning to the fort.

    <hr />

    Javelin and Raven had barely stepped ashore before an attendant called out to them, urging them to visit the admiral��s office. Raven noticed Javelin instantly tensing up and could guess what he was steeling himself for.

    ��This might get interesting,�� Raven mused, thinking back on that stiff military man she had seen years ago. She didn��t know all of the details about Javelin��s engagement, but she couldn��t see that man compromising about anything.

    As Raven filed in behind Javelin, entering the office of Devario Hake, she couldn��t help but take in the entirety of the Hake family; they were an impressive bunch. The father, middle-aged Devario Hake, was impressively enough a high Champion, and had a very imposing presence. Tetra Hake was only a low Champion, but for a spiritualist focused on healing, that was already an astounding accomplishment.

    Moving on to the children, the oldest son clearly had yet to reach thirty, but he was still swiftly approaching the mid Champion realm �C judging by the fluctuations in his spirit essence, he would break through any day now. As for Remora, although very fresh, she too had a low Champion cultivation. Add Javelin to the mix and one had to admit that the Hake genes were quite astounding.

    A few pleasantries were exchanged, but before any substantial conversations could be held, the expected discussion arose.

    ��Father, you promised!�� Javelin��s upset voice rang out through the entire north wing of the admiral��s fort just moments later. He had barely greeted his father before he, not surprisingly, brought up the subject of breaking off his engagement, using his and Raven��s won skirmish as an excuse. Just as unsurprisingly, the father had refused.

    ��I said I would listen, son, and I have, but to break off an engagement ordained by the Emperor himself �C and to Lady Arowana of all people �C is simply out of the question!��

    ��That is a play at words, father, and you know it,�� Javelin snarled, his temper flaring up with a vicious aura. ��I do not believe that nothing can be done, nor do I care who her father is; I will not marry Lady Arowana!��

    ��. . . I knew you didn��t want to marry me, but I didn��t think you hated me so. . . .��

    The sudden, sweet voice caused everyone in the room to instantly tense up. Intrigued by their reaction, Raven turned her head to look at the young girl who had just walked in through the doorway. Intertwined into elaborate braids, the girl��s floor-long hair was pale grey with a clear tint of blue to it. Her big, round eyes had the same color, only bluer �C a color that was picked up perfectly by her aquamarine blue dress with silver embroideries. The girl was cute to the point where she seemed to sweeten the very air around her.

    ��L-Lady Arowana!�� The normally composed admiral stuttered slightly as he hurried to greet the girl. ��The Emperor didn��t mention that you would be visiting. . . .��

    ��I wanted to surprise you, so I asked my father to keep it a secret,�� Arowana replied, smiling like a sun, but for some reason Devario Hake just seemed more worried.

    To the side, Raven��s eyes narrowed. ��Um, Javelin,�� she called privately, ��this girl��s father, is he perhaps Sea Empire��s emperor?��

    Javelin��s shudder was all the confirmation she needed.

 Chapter 106: A Frank Fianc茅

    A Frank Fianc��

    The office of admiral Hake was oddly quiet. Arowana stood just inside the doorway, smiling silently, seemingly unfazed by the awkward atmosphere in the room.

    Raven was looking closely at Javelin, feeling . . . a bit irked.

    ��You are engaged to your nation��s princess and you didn��t think that was worth mentioning?�� Hoatzin asked, voicing the question Raven had chosen not to ask. Javelin��s body twitched noticeably. ��Of course the emperor is unwilling to cancel the marriage �C it��s his own daughter we are talking about!��

    ��No, I-. . .��

    ��Arowana!�� Remora��s slightly strained call interrupted Javelin, effectively breaking the silence in the room. The young woman rushed to the princess�� side, taking the latter��s hands in her own. ��Don��t listen to my brother��s words; he is just a bit swept away by finally winning a skirmish against myself and Cisco,�� she said with a wink. Remora then leaned in closer and whispered, intending the words for Arowana��s ears only; ��The two of you have liked each other forever �C it��s that mai-. . . girl who has turned him against you.��

    Hearing Remora��s words, Arowana leaned to the side, her big round eyes looking curiously at Raven. Meeting her gaze, Raven showed no reaction to the former��s stare, but was inwardly surprised by the lack of hostility in the princess�� eyes. There was also something about the girl��s presence that felt oddly familiar. . . .

    ��It feels like . . . naw, impossible!�� Raven discarded her theory even before she finished forming it.

    Eventually Arowana broke eye contact with Raven and instead turned to speak with Javelin��s parents. ��Admiral, Saint Major, I was wondering if I could have a few words with my reluctant husband-to-be? In private.��

    ��Naturally,�� Tetra replied before anyone else had a chance to object. She indicated for everyone to clear the room as she herself walked over to Raven, preparing to take the latter with her.

    ��Oh, that��s okay, madam Hake �C Raven Nightingale may stay,�� Arowana intervened, her voice sweet as honey.

    There was a flash of surprise in Tetra��s eyes, but she hid it quickly. Remora��s emotional control was not as refined though and she was even about to protest loudly when Tetra shot her daughter a reproving look, efficiently stifling the girl��s comments. Begrudgingly following her mother, Remora left the room, closing the door behind her as they went.

    Another slightly awkward silence descended on the room. Arowana gingerly moved over to the room��s only window and now watched the movements of the sea outside, not saying a word. Javelin stood, his face lowered and staring at his feet, unsure what to say now that his fianc�� was actually present. Even Hoatzin contributed to the stiff mood as he kept glaring at Arowana��s back, clearly not impressed by the girl.

    ��She smells fishy,�� he suddenly said to Raven and she almost burst out laughing at his comment.

    ��Don��t they all?�� Raven asked, teasingly. ��They practically live in the ocean. . . .��

    Hoatzin snorted. ��Do not pretend that you are unaffected by this, sister. You might or might not have feelings for Javelin, but you are stuck with him nevertheless. If he marries Arowana, you will be stuck with her too.��

    ��Well, I hadn��t thought of that. . . ,�� Raven replied with ill-faked ignorance. She then swiftly raised two fingers and perfectly caught Hoatzin��s beak, which was just about to stab into her neck. ��I��m only teasing, brother. I have no intentions of being tethered to this girl, but I am interested in seeing how Javelin will handle the situation.��

    That said, Raven still held on to Hoatzin��s beak, and quite firmly too. Hoatzin was forced to flap his wings harshly in order to break free, and the sudden noise was perhaps what Javelin needed. ��Your highness wished to speak with us. . . .�� he suddenly said, questioning the reason.

    Arowana spun around on the spot, her silver-blue hair swinging out behind her as she moved. ��Javelin, please, we��ve known each other since before we could walk, at least call me by my given name!�� She pouted slightly as she spoke and rocked, back and forth, on the heels of her feet, all of it significantly intensifying her cuteness. ��Besides, I have yet to earn my royal title, so ��your highness�� is a bit premature. . . .��

    ��So it��s true,�� mused Raven.

    She had heard that the Sea Empire had a rather peculiar approach to inherited title, but seeing is believing. The Sea Empire had hereditary lineages, just like the Sky and Earth Empires, but the title transfer wasn��t automatic and instead had to he earned by proving ones use for the empire. Even the emperor��s children were no exception. This system did however not mean that anyone could gain a noble title; one still needed the right bloodline to be eligible.

    In the spacious office, Javelin instinctively raised his hand to scratch the back of his neck. ��Sorry, A-. . . Arowana,�� he muttered, albeit slightly unresigned to the intimacy of the act.

    Satisfied, Arowana ignored Javelin and instead faced Raven.

    ��So this is Raven Nightingale,�� she said with a smile and walked up to Raven, grabbing both of the latter��s hands in her own. ��It��s nice to finally meet you! I��m Arowana Pelecus, third daughter of Sea Emperor Hamlet Pelecus and Empress Ilisha. I��m thirteen next year, I specialize in healing and I��m sure you and I will become the very best of friends!��

    Arowana��s eyes sparkled with heartfelt warmth as she rapidly gave her own introductions. Raven couldn��t help but secretly cringe; either this girl was the best con-artist alive, or she was honestly sweeter than sugar �C and way too pure for Raven��s tastes.

    Raven did, however, not show any of this on her face as she smiled back, albeit a bit coldly. ��The pleasure is mine.��

    Somehow, Arowana managed the impossible feat of turning her already sweet grin even sweeter. ��You really are like he said; cool and elegant.��

    ��He?�� Raven��s eyes twitched slightly. ��Was I right after all?��

    Arowana nodded, but then narrowed her eyes peevishly. ��I��m not telling who he is though. . . .��

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    ��Who is she talking about?�� Javelin asked, mentally.

    ��Not entirely sure. . . ,�� Raven replied truthfully. She gave Javelin a pensive look; if her theory was correct, then how come he didn��t know? ��But if my guess is right, then I don��t think you��re going to like it.��

    ��Who do you think it is then?�� Javelin pushed, but, almost as if realizing that something secret was going on in their gazes, Arowana moved to stand in between them.

    ��Enough with the lovey-dovey soul gazing; he is still my fianc��, after all,�� she prompted, not sounding as mad as her words would indicate.

    ��I��m running out of time so let us get down to business, shall we?�� Arowana��s cute eyes suddenly turned serious as she turned to face her betrothed. ��Javelin, I know that you do not wish to marry, and, to be frank, I am not too fond of the idea either. Do you agree with me that we should cancel our engagement?��

    Raven wasn��t alone in being surprised by Arowana��s sudden frankness; Javelin looked as though he had just been told that he��d won the lottery but was still unable to believe it.

    ��Do you not agree?�� Arowana pushed when no reply came.

    ��I agree, of course I agree!�� Javelin rushed to give his answer, almost as if afraid that the girl would change her mind if he gave her too much time to think about it.

    Arowana giggled. ��I might not want to marry you, but do you have to look so desperate to get away from me?��

    Javelin��s face flushed red and he couldn��t help but steal a glance at Raven. Arowana followed his gaze and smiled knowingly, but she quickly turned serious again.

    ��However, Javelin, you know as well as I do that our engagement was agreed on by our grandfathers; our fathers will not go against it lightly.��

    ��I know,�� Javelin sighed, ��but if neither of us want to marry, wouldn��t that be enough to . . .�� Arowana��s pointed look caused him to drop the notion. ��I guess not. . . .��

    Raven could feel Javelin��s dejection and pitied his situation. ��Lady Arowana,�� she intervened, ��since you��ve come here today, I��m assuming that you have a plan?��

    ��Just Arowana, please,�� the girl corrected before she got to the point at hand. ��I have thought of a way, but . . . I��m not sure if it��s possible to pull off. . . . It will depend solely on Javelin��s skill and determination.��

    ��What do you have in mind?�� Javelin asked without hesitation, meeting Arowana��s intense stare.

    ��You know of the yearly graduation tournaments for all the spiritualist academies of Sea Empire, right?��

    ��I do,�� Javelin nodded, but his brow furrowed into a slight frown. ��It is held every year and the winner gets a free pick at what position they want within the nation �C most pick the Imperial Dragon Guard. What of it?��

    ��Why not participate, win and ask to be removed from the position as my fianc��?��

    Javelin��s frown deepened. ��I don��t think it works that way. . . . Besides, I��m only starting the sixth grade this year �C I can��t participate.��

    ��Well, as luck would have it, this year is the thirtieth anniversary of my father��s graduation from Sea Empire and I kind of managed to convince him to let grades five and up participate as well.�� Arowana was smiling again. ��To gain some extra experience and all.��

    Raven secretly smiled; judging by what she had seen of Arowana so far, she could guess that the girl had her father wrapped around her little finger. In fact, Raven felt that it was rather impressive that the Emperor had resisted breaking off the engagement under his daughter��s insistence. . . .

    ��Say that Javelin does participate and ends up winning, how likely is that Emperor Hamlet will agree to his request?�� Raven asked.

    ��Father will have no choice but to agree,�� Arowana assured and withdrew a paper roll from her sleeve. ��Read this. It��s the tournament victory deed; it says that the emperor must agree to any requested position or duty that doesn��t involve overstepping seniority or blood-lines.�� She handed the roll to Raven. ��All Javelin has to do is ask to be a monk or something and the engagement will be off.��

    Raven unfurled the roll as she suppressed a smirk. The girl��s reasoning was simplistic and a bit naive, but that didn��t mean it wouldn��t work. Looking over the document in her hand, Raven did indeed see a way out of the engagement.

    ��This might actually work,�� she said and held out the scroll to Javelin. ��You should try.��

    Javelin was momentarily stunned. His eyes darted back and forth between the two girls.

    ��Are you serious?�� he asked them both, and received two synchronized nods in reply. ��You want me to not only participate in the graduation tournament, but also win it?�� Another set of nods. ��You do realize that the top graduates of Sea Academy are early mid Champions!?��

    Raven smiled and waved the scroll in her hand. ��It says here that the tournament isn��t until later this autumn; there is plenty of time for . . . training.��

    The corner of Javelin��s eyes twitched as he involuntarily swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry.

    <hr />

    Far away, on the cold stone floor of a sparingly furnished office, sat a very nervous attendant on his knees. In front of him on the floor were tens of scrolls �C each filled to the brim with data his underlings had collected �C but he still feared that it wouldn��t be enough.

    ��All other students and elders are accounted for?�� asked the black-haired man seated behind the room��s only desk.

    ��Yes, Councilor Tanuki,�� replies the attendant, lowering his head. ��Apart from Protector Aves Swan and students Raven Nightingale, Javelin Hake, as well as Martin and Lark Griffin, all others�� stories check out. If the perpetrator was from Sky Academy, it has to be one of those.��

    Councilor Tanuki tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him. ��Where are they now?��

    ��The Griffin twins are still at Sky Academy and have been under very strict guard lately. As for the other three, well, Councilor met them on their way to the Sea Empire. According to my sources, they arrived at Admiral Hake��s fort manor yesterday.��

    The attendant didn��t say anything else and the councilor just kept tapping his fingers against his desk. After some contemplation, Councilor Tanuki��s fingers suddenly stopped.

    ��Send for my daughter.��

    ��Yes, Councilor!��

 Chapter 107: A Hound is Sent

    A Hound is Sent

    A tall and lean woman glided into Councilor Tanuki''s office. Her facial features were cold and harsh, while mahogany brown waves of hair neatly framed her face. There was no doubt that this young woman was beautiful, but in her eyes glowed an almost vicious haughtiness, clearly stating to the world that she deemed herself superior to everyone in it.

    Her opinion wasn''t entirely without cause though; she was one of the strongest in her generation, way ahead of her peers. She was only nineteen this year, but was already approaching the upper limits of the mid Champion realm of spiritualist cultivation. If she had a bit of luck during this year''s Day of Light, it wouldn''t be entirely impossible for her to advance into a high champion by the age of twenty.

    "Father," she called out as she entered, barely showing apt courtesy to the man who had sired her.

    "Canis, you came," the councilor answered, doing his best to hide the obvious pride in his voice. "We need to talk. It concerns your brother."

    The girl''s lips twitched slightly, but she repressed whatever emotion she was feeling. "What of him?"

    "I have been investigating what happened to him in the wilderness and I''m down to five possible suspects - three of which are in the Sea Empire right now." The councilor pulled out a scroll and tossed it to his daughter. The former caught it with ease and nonchalantly glanced over its content.

    "It says that they will be found at the Sea Academy. . . . I graduated from there this spring - I have no reason to return."

    The councilor smiled. It was just like his daughter to understand his intentions without being asked.

    "True, but there is still the graduation tournament; it might usually only be for Sea Empire natives, but I convinced the headmaster to make an exception. As long as you promise to step away from the award, if you win. . . ." The councilor snickered, amused by the notion that his daughter might not win the tournament, before he continued; ". . . then you are welcome to join in."

    A cold flash passed by Canis'' eyes. "Very well, I will return to the Sea Empire right away."

    "Bring your personal guard with you. If you can''t figure out who''s guilty for ruining your brother . . . you know what to do."

    Without replying to her father, Canis gave a short bow and left. Still in the office, councilor Tanuki watched his daughter leave. "Such an unruly girl. . . ." he sighed, an enigmatic expression on his face.

    The look quickly hardened though. "Gingko," he called out to no one in particular, but a few seconds later, the familiar attendant stepped out of the shadows.

    "Councillor," he greeted, kneeling on the stone floor.

    "Arrange contact with my agents in Sky City."

    "Yes, Councillor."

    <hr />

    "No . . . more . . ." with a grunt, Javelin collapsed to the ground. Seconds later, several tens of liters of chillingly cold water came crashing down on him, causing him to yelp despite his exhaustion.

    Raven walked over and held out a weird-looking fruit - something of a mix between a pear and a roll of bubble wrap.

    "Eat up," she said, dangling the bloated fruit in front of Javelin''s face. The latter grimaced, but strained his muscles to accept it nonetheless. Reluctantly he bit through the bubbly skin and a pungent smell filled the small chamber they were in.

    "You''re improving," Raven commented, seemingly oblivious to both the smell and the tortured expression on Javelin''s face. "You only lasted three hours when we started a month ago, now it''s seven."

    Through squinting eyes, Javelin looked up at the large body of water silently hovering over Raven''s head, suspended by a cup-shaped membrane of spirit essence. She had held it up effortlessly ever since they entered the training chamber, twelve hours ago.

    "Don''t focus on my training, Jav, you''re getting there," Raven comforted, seemingly appeasing his discontent, but she then smirked and added; ". . . slowly."

    Frustrated, Javelin moved to throw his half-eaten fruit at Raven, but, even at his best, Javelin''s body moved way too sluggishly; Raven simply side-stepped him and swiftly clamped down hard on his wrist. The sudden pressure caused Javelin to involuntarily clench his fist with the smelly projectile still inside. The squeezed fruit oozed out more of its sticky content, which trickled down Javelin''s arm. All this significantly increasing the fruit''s already vile odor.

    "Now look what you did," Raven jeered, with faked concern. "It''s going to be harder to eat like this. . . ."

    "Stop . . . laughing, would you?" Javelin protested, his speaking still a bit winded from the training. "I don''t see you eating any of these . . . abominations!"

    "My spirit core isn''t the depleted one," Raven countered with apparent glee. "Finish your Spirit Fruit, Javelin - all of it - I have some new training for you, once your spirit core is filled again."

    Despite his obvious discontent, Javelin didn''t complain anymore. He ate all of the Spirit Fruit - even licking up the smelly goo that had dripped down his arm when he crushed the fruit earlier. Once done, he sat up, crossed his legs and started gathering new spirit essence into his spirit core. With the aid of the Spirit Fruit, the process was even faster than usual.

    Raven watched silently from the side, revealing a rare smile. It had been just over a month since Javelin and her arrived at the Sea Empire. After coming to an agreement with Arowana, the emperor-daughter had quickly left. Practically immediately thereafter, Javelin and Raven had been sent straight to this empire''s equivalence to the Sky Academy, the Imperial Sea Academy of Divine Arts.

    Just like the Admiral''s fort, the Sea Academy was a stand alone island, only significantly smaller. However, one should not be fooled by what could be seen above the water surface; underneath the nondescript house on Academy Island, was a vast structure of air-filled caves and chambers. There where even some rooms whose walls where the ocean itself where ancient spirit formations held the water at bay by forming a strong membranes of spirit essence.

    Javelin and Raven had been sent to the headmaster''s office right away, and had been welcomed with open arms by a surprisingly small man; although, fully grown, Headmaster Hammer was still a head shorter than Raven, putting him at roughly one and a half meter. Despite his small stature, the pressure from the headmaster''s cultivation had been overwhelming, to say the least. He was in fact the first Trinity-native mid Spirit Master Raven had yet to meet.

    Headmaster Swan had warned him about Raven''s . . . peculiar cultivation and age, but the Sea Academies headmaster had still been shocked when he realized that Swan hadn''t been exaggerating in the least. Needless to say, the Headmaster Hammer had been more than glad to admit Raven. He even went as far as giving her and Javelin their own training room - something normally reserved for the elders - and allowing them to skip as many classes as they wanted.

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    As for the secret area - which had been left by the Novum ancestor - the headmaster had agreed to show that too, only, it wasn''t reachable more than once a year, so Raven had to be patient a bit longer.

    Raven didn''t really mind the wait though. She spent her days helping Javelin with increasing his cultivation and spirit essence control, as well as exploring the limits of being Soul Bound. Looking at Javelin now, Raven could only conclude that he had improved quite a bit over this short period of time - it was clear that Raven''s additional spirit connections where contributing greatly.

    Suddenly, there was a powerful fluctuation in the spirit essence around Javelin; his spirit essence was restored. The Spirit Fruit had done its job. It had helped Javelin re-fill his spirit core to prime conditions in just over ten minutes. When he opened his stellar eyes, they were once more filled with energy and determination.

    "What now?" he asked, rearing to go.

    Raven smiled mischievously as her two Limiters released themselves with two distinct clicks, quickly followed by the dull thumps of metal sinking into soft soil. Instantly, the spirit essence around her stirred and Raven''s cultivation soared free, only stopping at the early mid Champion stage.

    "Put these on," she ordered as she effortlessly tossed the two metal cylinders to Javelin, who nearly tumbled backwards as he caught them.

    "What the . . !?" Javelin stared in shock at the Limiters in his arms; they were way heavier than he remembered them.

    "I had them altered before we were Soul Bound," explained Raven. "They weren''t contributing to my training anymore, so I had the weight increased to fifty kilos each. Now put them on - we don''t have that much time left today."

    Javelin stared, disbelieving, at Raven for a moment before he eventually managed to put her insanity behind him and do as he was told. As he snapped the Limiters in place around his ankles, Javelin cold feel Raven''s spirit essence locking them onto his legs before slowly seeping into him. Soon, Javelin''s own cultivation had been forcefully suppressed until there was practically nothing left.

    "Why are you sealing my cultivation?" he asked, frowning.

    "You have made great progress with gathering spirit essence and controlling it, but that is mostly thanks to the supplement from my soul prism," Raven explained as she playfully separated a small sphere of water from the larger mass she kept hovering above her. "If you wish to advance into the Champion realm, you have to claim that strength as your own, and to do that you need to strengthen you physical body."

    "Then why have me eat the Spirit Fruit!?"

    "Hmm. . . . To strengthen your character?" Raven suggested and was instantly swarmed by Javelin''s strong feelings of resentment. "Oh, come on," she laughed, "how about this: if you manage to touch me, or stay dry for more than five minutes in one go, I''ll apologize by eating two of those fruits. Sound fair? I''ll even refrain from using Divine Skills when I move."

    "Five!" Javelin countered, "you''ll eat five Spirit Fruits and tell me a story about you and Eric."

    Raven''s body stiffened slightly, but she soon let it go. "Fine," she said, a cold smirk growing on her lips. "But you''re going to have to work for it."

    In the very next instant, the small sphere of water that Raven had separated out, shot towards Javelin''s chest. It all happened so fast that before he even had a chance to react, the liquid projectile had already splashed all over him with enough force to push him backwards a few steps.

    Just as he had regained his balance, a second water sphere smashed  into the limiter on his left ankle, the sudden impact shoving away Javelin''s foot and his newfound balance.

    "Oh my, only three seconds . . ." Raven paused her assault, playfully twirling her next water sphere around her hands. "How will you ever get to five minutes?"

    Javelin only grunted in response before he stubbornly got to his feet and charged at Raven. Thus began a dance-like game of cat-and-mouse, only the mouse was doing his best in reaching the cat.

    Two hours later, a completely soaked Javelin made his way out of the training room, closely followed by Raven. He barely had the energy to walk, but Raven wasn''t that much better off. Suppressing Javelin''s cultivation wasn''t easy, and she did it while holding up nearly half a ton of water as she constantly ran around, shooting minor projectiles at Javelin. If not for her vast amount of spirit connections, Raven would have collapsed long ago.

    "How did it go?" Hoatzin''s chipper voice greeted them in the tunnel outside the chamber.

    "Fabulous," snorted Javelin, barely sparing the bird a glance before heading further down the tunnel.

    "What is wrong with him?" Hoatzin asked, turning the question only to Raven.

    "He''s just frustrated," Raven replied, a soft smile almost forming on her lips. "He wants results faster than I can give them to him."

    "I cannot say I blame him - the tournament is only a month away now and with that Tanuki girl being allowed to compete, his chances are looking rather slim. . . ."

    Logically, Raven had to agree. Canis Tanuki had arrived at the academy a two weeks after they had and had left an instant impression on her. Considering her age, Canis'' cultivation was very impressive, and there was little doubt anyone else in the graduation class would be able to match her.

    Sure, there were two other mid Champions among the graduates, but their breakthrough had been fairly resent. Canis, on the other hand, was closer to a high Champion than a low one, and while the classification might be the same, the difference in strength was undisputable.

    Naturally, this didn''t mean that a superior proficiency with Divine Skills and fighting couldn''t make up for the difference, but finding that kind of superiority among youths was practically impossible. After all, not everyone was walking around with memories of a past life as a master assassin. . . .

    Raven knew this, so naturally also knew that Javelin''s chances were slim, but she still had an odd feeling of faith in him. Javelin was an extremely fast learner - even more so now that some of his memories had started returning - and every day he gotten better and better at handling her training. If she could just help him to take that last step and push him into the realm of Champions, Javelin might actually stand a chance.

    ''And if that still isn''t enough. . . .'' A cold smile spread across her lips as her eyes briefly turned from forest-green to blood-red.

 Chapter 108: Tomato Soup

    Tomato Soup

    After their training session, Raven and Javelin made their way back through the almost tunnel-like corridors, heading for their dorm rooms in the so-called Water Dome. All of it might sound dark and damp, but the white stone that the corridors were walled with had a soft, self-glowing luminescence to it, filling the entire underwater academy with a soft light. As for the Water Dome, it was actually quite spectacular.

    However, no matter how bright or impressive the academy��s construction was, Hoatzin had grown too accustomed to the open skies. He had only come to see his sister and had left for the surface as soon as it was done.

    As Raven and Javelin headed for their rooms, the duo met several Sea Academy students, all of whom eyed Raven with fear-touched relish, kind of like when coming really close to a lion at a zoo. There was some jealousy too, naturally, but a lot less than Raven had expected. Even without her parading around her age and presumed peak Adept cultivation, word had still gotten out and once the rumors were proven true, she became the center of everyone��s conversations.

    Javelin, on the other hand, received significantly cooler looks; respectful, yet clearly antagonizing. Raven guessed that while her accomplishments were extraordinary enough to shatter all notions of rivalry, Javelin��s weren��t; they were undoubtedly impressive, but not entirely unachievable.

    ��Incoming,�� Raven warned just before a tall beauty walked out into the corridor leading to the advanced students�� dorm.

    ��Such dedicated training,�� Canis remarked the second she saw them. ��One might think you��re actually attempting to put up a fight in the graduation tournament. . . .��

    ��Senior Graduate Tanuki,�� both Raven and Javelin greeted, so in sync that their somewhat insubordinate greeting seemed completely innocent.

    ��We meet again,�� Javelin continued before Canis had a chance to react and was then quickly followed by Raven, the pair of them sinking into private conversation. ��That��s twice today now �C how auspicious,�� she said with a smile before leaning her head to the side. ��. . . And how odd.��

    ��Odd?�� Javelin asked, still giving no opportunity for Canis to get a word in.

    ��Well, aren��t graduates supposed to live off-campus during the months between their graduation and the tournament?��

    ��Oh, you��re right, Raven; it is rather rare,�� Javelin replied, his voice now loud enough for the few nearby students to hear him. ��One might think that she��s using the tournament as an excuse to milk resources from the Academy. . . .��

    ��How preposterous!�� Raven laughed, without really laughing. ��Isn��t it, Senior Graduate Tanuki?��

    A cold, murderous glint flashed by in the depths of Canis�� eyes, but she too faked laughter. ��Indeed, preposterous. . . .��

    ��How fortunate then that we all know better.�� Raven leaned in closer to Javelin, locking her arm with his.

    The corner of Canis�� eyes twitched slightly at the sight of their linked arms, but Raven had to admit that this girl was better at hiding her emotions than Javelin��s sister had. Although, that might say more about Remora than it did about Canis.

    ��It is getting late; children should go to bed,�� said the tall girl before she moved to pass them by, yet Canis still paused briefly at Raven''s side. ��Sweet dreams, child.��

    The corners of Raven��s lips twisted into a lopsided smirk as she watched Canis leave. ��Is the girl losing her patience, perhaps?�� Raven mused to herself before she and Javelin resumed the journey towards their dorms.

    Even tethered to Javelin��s side, Raven had long since figured out that Canis had returned for the tournament on account of finding out what happened to her brother. Ever since her arrival, well-hidden presences had been following Raven and Javelin everywhere, watching silently from afar.

    While they couldn��t be considered the talkative types, Raven had still overheard enough of their conversations to know what they were looking for; evidence of her and Javelin��s involvement in Jack��s mental breakdown. However, since Raven had made sure that there was no such evidence, she figured it was only a matter of time until they tried something more drastic.

    Raven and Javelin kept walking deeper into the network of softly glowing, white tunnels and it didn��t take long before they reached a wide double door. In front of it sat two white-haired men, with very different appearances. One was old and shriveled up, while the other was significantly younger, despite his hair.

    ��Lady Nightingale,�� the younger of the two stood and greeted Raven with a warm smile.

    ��Third Master Hake,�� the older one stood and greeted Javelin with an equally warm �C albeit toothless �C smile.

    The two men the turned to glare angrily at each other, clearly not agreeing on the other��s choice of greeting.

    ��Protector Aves, Protector Elas,�� Raven and Javelin returned the greetings as they passed between the two men, completely ignoring the tension in the air. Elas was the Sea Academy��s equivalent to Aves and now that Aves needed to keep an eye on Raven, Headmaster Hammer had suggested the pair of them should work together. Needless to say, they didn��t get along.

    Once through the double doors, a huge, nearly transparent dome spread out around them. This was the Water Dome. It was so large that several buildings could fit underneath it, all of which were large enough to house dozens of people. During the day, the slightly frosted dome allowed water-filtered light to shine through, causing glitter patterns to dance over the ground and houses. Every now and then, large sea creatures would swim by, casting impressive shadows.

    Here, the air was thick with natural spirit essence, sucked in from the sea through the seemingly thin crystalline walls. This was where the advanced students and the Academy��s Elders resided.

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    Together, Raven and Javelin headed for one of the smaller houses, located a bit to the side, isolated from the rest. This building was only large enough for four mid-sized rooms, separated by a common courtyard in the middle.

    The two of them entered the courtyard and Raven swiftly walked up to the rightmost door. With only a slight glance in Javelin��s direction, she slipped inside. Still outside, Javelin paused for a second. He then sighed before silently pushing open the door just to the left of the one Raven had used.

    Perhaps not surprisingly, Javelin had been very opposed to the notion of separate rooms. However, unfortunately for him, the few months since becoming Soul Bound had been enough to increase the distance he and Raven could manage between them by quite a bit. By now it spanned just over two hundred meters; it wasn��t a lot in the grand gist of things, but it was enough for them to have separate rooms �C something Javelin��s mother insisted on. He had, however, relented a bit when he realized that they had been given this four-room house for themselves; at least he didn��t have to worry about someone else drooling over Raven.

    In her room, Raven strode over to her bed and sat down on it with her legs crossed. Closing her eyes, Raven expanded her other senses and let her hundreds of spirit connections swarm her with information. As if expanding her body, Raven could feel every single movement within a four-hundred-meter radius like a prickle on her skin.

    A cold and somewhat savage smile spread on her lips; the drastic measures had finally begun.

    <hr />

    In the adjacent room, Javelin also headed for the bed, only he wasn��t quite as graceful; he flopped down on it, face down. Every muscle in his body ached to the point where Javelin was impressed that he even managed to make it back to the room without collapsing.

    Raven had told him to meditate for a while and think over the day��s training, but no sooner had Javelin��s head hit the pillow than he fell asleep. Even the sudden increase in killing intent he received from Raven��s soul prism couldn��t keep him awake.

    <hr />

    With a start, Eric stirred from his sleep. His face felt sore and his back stiff; drowsily stretching, he realized that he had fallen asleep at his desk again. Feeling his face, Eric groaned as he felt the grooves left by his keyboard.

    ��If Miss Night sees me like this, she��s going to tease me again. . . .�� he muttered to himself.

    Eric glanced at the holographic screen in front of him. It was three o��clock in the morning. Great.

    Yawning, he pushed away from his desk and got up to leave his office. In his sluggish state, Eric almost forgot to lock up after himself, but he remembered in the last second and pulled out his keychain. Looking down at the oddly old-fashioned keys, Eric found himself smiling; a photo of his parents dangled among them. He wasn��t really one for photos �C especially not the on-paper kind �C but his mother had insisted; said it was a good luck charm, or something. As if a piece of glass-encased paper could possibly affect the happenings in the universe.

    A sudden crash, far behind him, drew Eric��s attention away from the photo on his keychain. He turned to face the direction of the noise, but when no new sounds came, Eric shrugged it all off as a fragment of his imagination �C brought on by sleep deprivation, no doubt.

    He finished locking up and headed down the clinically white tunnels towards his bedroom. Even though the base was buried in tens-of-meters-deep snow this time of year, the strong arctic winds blowing outside could still be heard. The rhythmic sounds were oddly akin to raging ocean waves and were very soothing.

    Just as Eric was about to enter his room, a grumble in his stomach reminded him that he hadn��t eaten since lunch the day before. Usually he wouldn��t care �C a quick nibble of a supplement bar and he��d be fine �C but ever since his new bodyguard had arrived, her constant nagging about eating right had practically brainwashed him.

    Eric turned and headed for the kitchen. It wasn��t far �C only two doors further down the corridor. He reached out his hand to open the door, but before he could pull the handle, the thing swung open and Miss Night stepped out.

    ��Professor Solar, still stuck to your computer, I take it?�� she said with a slight smirk as she looked pointedly at Eric��s chin. Her little play at words almost distracted him enough to not notice the two legs sprawled over the floor inside the kitchen, before the door blocked Eric��s line of sight.

    ��Is something wrong?�� he asked, quickly sobering.

    ��Oh, just a quick debriefing with our newest . . . well, latest security guard. Nothing I can��t handle.�� Miss Night shrugged. ��But, if you��re looking for a midnight sandwich, I suggest you fall back on your food-bars tonight; it��s rather messy in there.��

    A metallic tang filled the air and Eric looked down to see red stains on Miss Night��s fluffy indoor slippers with cat ears. They were the pair his assistant had forgotten before she left on maternity leave, and the only pair small enough for his bodyguard��s petite feet, but now they looked oddly macabre.

    ��We spilled tomorrow��s tomato soup,�� Miss Night explained when she noticed Eric��s stare. She said it so nonchalantly that he almost believed her �C almost.

    <hr />

    A loud crash snapped Javelin awake. He sprung up from his bed and looked over at his dorm room door, only to see Raven swiftly closing it behind her.

    ��Sorry to wake you, Jav; I thought you would still be meditating on today��s training. . . .�� Raven��s tone was playful and teasing, but Javelin just glanced down at her feet, ignoring her remark.

    ��No tomato soup tomorrow then?�� he asked, but he barely noticed Raven��s body stiffen; he was too distracted by the sudden stabbing pain in his mind and the blackening world around him.

 Chapter 109: Down Memory Lane

    Author''s Note: Sorry for the lacking updates - things have been a bit ... hectic...

    <hr />

    Down Memory Lane

    Raven noticed the sudden flash of pain in Javelin''s eyes and took a step forward, catching him before he hit the ground. Even without sending her spirit essence into him, Raven could tell what was going on by simply looking within herself; Javelin''s soul prism was strengthening at a staggering rate, noticeably paling from a vibrant orange to a cold yellow.

    ''He''s remembering a lot this time. . . .'' she mused as she felt the changes within him.

    The pain was most likely caused by the several spirit connections that were being formed rapidly as Javelin''s soul advanced. It wasn''t comparable to what Raven had experienced as a newborn - both because Javelin''s leap wasn''t anywhere near as large as Raven''s had been and because there simply wasn''t enough spirit essence around to help form the connections - but still. . . .

    Raven looked at the unresponsive yet profusely sweating boy in her arms for a few heartbeats before making up her mind. Unceremoniously, she hoisted Javelin over her shoulder and silently darted out of his room.

    Outside, Raven swiftly stepped over a black-robbed corpse, not bothering to even glance at it. The dead man had coughed up a lot of blood and his now grey-green skin made him look almost alien. He was one of five would-be-assassins, or perhaps kidnappers, who had come for either herself or Javelin.

    Unfortunately for them, Raven had been using her spare time to experiment a bit with some of this worlds herbs and had been most happy to finally have someone to try her . . . remedies on; despite being low champions, only the man in front of the door had survived more than five steps after being dosed.

    Raven had intended to dispose of the bodies, more out of courtesy to the headmaster than anything else - it wasn''t like she had any actual connection to these people - but now, she couldn''t be bothered. She headed straight for the center of the large Water Dome, where a huge fountain spurted thousands of gallons water every day. Raven could only think of one place that might have enough spirit essence to help Javelin make the best out of his soul''s leap in strength - the Sea Academy''s secret chamber. The only problem was getting there since it was located right underneath the fountain. . . .

    <hr />

    In a seemingly endless darkness Javelin stood in front a dimly lit mirror, watching his own reflection. He wasn''t really sure how he had gotten there since the last thing he remembered was that stabbing pain in his head, but somehow it didn''t seem so important right now.

    What was important was the reflection on the mirror in front of him. There was something off about it. Frowning, Javelin tilted his head to the side as he mover in for a closer look, but to his astonishment the mirror image refused to comply. It simply stared back at him with a disengaged and aloof look.

    Still shocked, Javelin looked closer only to find his reflection''s features altering, becoming older but less refined.

    "Eric?" Javelin wondered, not expecting a reply, but getting one anyway.

    "Well deduced, kiddo!" the mirror image replied sarcastically, adding a slow clap for effect. "I guess we can make a rocket scientist out of you yet!"

    Javelin closed his eyes and then opened them again, but when he did, Eric had disappeared from within the mirror. Javelin sighed in relief, but it turned out he had taken out the victory in advance.

    "What''s with you?" Eric''s voice spoke out right behind Javelin and the latter spun around on the spot, only to find the roughly thirty-year-old man standing behind him. "We haven''t got all day, you know."

    "But . . . but aren''t you dead!?" Javelin retorted, feeling incredibly confused.

    "Well, depending on which philosopher you ask, one might argue that I was never alive in the first place," Eric offered with an inquisitive look, but he then sighed when he saw that Javelin''s confusion was only growing. "You really have a long way to go, kiddo. . . . Yes, I am dead - very much so. What you see before you is only your mind''s psychosomatic reaction to a sudden influx in memories. Basically, I''m here to make sure you don''t go bonkers from all this."

    Javelin didn''t look like he believed the man. "How is that going for you?" he asked, feeling not only a little crazy.

    "Fairly good, thank you," Eric replied, ignoring the sarcasm in Javelin''s voice. "I am going to show you something."

    Eric raised his right hand and snapped his fingers, instantly the darkness around them was lifted and a clinically white and endlessly long hallway appeared around them. Looking both ways, Javelin quickly realized that he recognized the place.

    "Welcome to my research facility" said Eric, finally showing some short-lived passion. "Well a version of it anyway. . . ."

    "Why. . . ?" Javelin wasn''t sure what question he should start with, but it didn''t matter because Eric cut him off.

    "No questions, kiddo - seeing is believing. Come, let me show you around." Without waiting for Javelin''s reply, Eric started down the corridor. Every now and then he would stop and try the handle of one of the passing doors, only to find it locked.

    Javelin slowly followed, feeling apprehensive in so many ways. He carefully inspected the man in front of him. Eric was taller than he had expected - no doubt approaching two meters - which was made even more apparent by his tawny build. His hair was a dull brown and a bit glossy, clearly in need of some attention, and his clothes were neat, fashionable even, yet a bit disheveled.

    Looking at him, Javelin couldn''t help but wonder if his instincts about Raven and Eric being romantically involved was perhaps wrong after all.

    Suddenly, one of the handles Eric grabbed hold of didn''t resist him and the door actually clicked open.

    "Ah, here we go," he said, managing to sound both pleased and uninterested at the same time. He leaned slightly to the side, taking a look at the label next to the door. "Oh, May 12th, 2079 - good one." Eric then turned to face Javelin. "Take a look inside, will you," he said and pushed the door inwards a bit, creating a small opening.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    At last, Javelin''s curiosity outdid his apprehension and he stepped forward to peak inside the narrow opening. As soon as he did, the door swung open without aid, given Javelin a clear view of what was inside. It was nothing like what he had expected.

    Instead of a small office, Javelin saw nothing but snow and ice as far as his eyes could see. A cold sun was shining high in the sky, but for some reason, Javelin was certain that it was far from daytime at the moment. In a daze, he watched the frozen landscape for a while and just as he was about to ask what was going on, a red jeep zoomed into view, seemingly coming from behind him.

    As the red car flew forward on the hard-packed snow and ice, the view from the door followed along with it. Suddenly, Javelin found himself seated in one of the rear seats of the car. In front of him sat Eric and bodyguard Raven, the latter behind the steering wheel. Javelin''s emotions started to resonate with Eric''s and right away the awkward mood in the car became apparent.

    "Miss Night," Eric said eventually, "are you not going to ask why I wished to go to the northern site in the middle of the night?"

    Raven looked over at Eric long enough for the latter to become concerned about her lack of attention to where she was driving the car. "I''m your bodyguard, Professor Solar. No matter where you go, it is my job to follow." Raven finally shifted her gaze forward again and lightly twisting the steering wheel to avoid a large clump of ice they had been headed straight at. "I don''t ask questions I don''t need the answer to."

    Eric was silent for a while. "But aren''t you curious?"

    In the rear-view mirror, Javelin could see a slight smile creeping across Raven''s lips. "Again, Professor Solar, I''m a bodyguard; I leave the curiosity to the researchers, where it does some good."

    ". . . Miss Night, if I didn''t know better, I''d say you''re actually a cat."

    "Oh? How so?"

    Once again, Raven took her eyes of the road of ice ahead and Eric kind of regretted saying anything at all.

    "Please, miss Night," he pleaded, "look where you are driving!"

    "I will," she replied, "as soon as you explain your reasoning."

    Without looking forward, Raven veered around another lump of ice, smiling mischievously as she did it. Eric paled.

    "You said it yourself, didn''t you?" he blurted out. "Curiosity! Great for the scientist, not so much for the cat. . . ."

    Raven stared, unblinking, at Eric for what felt like aeons before she suddenly burst out laughing.

    "Haha, you''re on to something there, Eric - I like it!"

    Both Eric and Javelin sat in a daze, mesmerized by the beautiful sound of Raven''s laughter. Both felt like they could listen to it forever, but a cold hand suddenly grabbed Javelin''s shoulder, yanking him backwards. In the next moment, he found himself tumbling out into the cold white corridor, barely managing to gain control before he would have slammed into the opposite door.

    "Hey!" Javelin yelled at the Eric who had pulled him out. "What was that for!?"

    "The memory was coming to an end?" Eric said with a shrug, clearly not believing his own words.  "Besides, that was a very private memory - it was the first time miss Night called me by my first name. . . . I don''t what you getting too chummy within my memories!"

    "I thought they were my memories. . . ."

    Eric snorted. "That might be the case eventually, kiddo, but take a look around you. There are thousands of doors here and you don''t have access to even half of them."

    "There are more memories behind the other doors?"

    "Of course there are - what do you think the point of this place is?" Eric shook his head as he gestured down the corridor. "Kiddo, there is a lot you need to remember about me, and about Raven Night. Until you''ve unlocked every single door in here you''re only Javelin Hake - the snotty teenage boy who might have some decent skills, but use them to put the love of our lives in constant danger!"

    The sudden outburst caused Javelin to freeze in his tracks. There was nothing he could say against that.

    "What do I do to open more doors?" he asked solemnly.

    "Place your hand on the handle, twist downwards and push," replied Eric sarcastically, clearly unwilling to help. Before Javelin could berate him for it though, Eric continued on his own; "Look, plenty of them are already unlocked, simply waiting for you to accept them. The rest . . . well you will have to wait for those."

    "Why do I have to wait?" Javelin asked, feeling frustrated. "Can''t you just . . . open them up or something?" He had finally found a way to regain the memories of his past life and didn''t like the notion of have to wait any more.

    "Why?" Eric repeated, looking at Javelin as if the latter was an idiot. "Well because even I don''t know what''s behind them of course! I''m just a figment of your imagination, remember? I can only work with what you''ve actually recalled, but then repressed again to cope."

    Javelin clenched and then relaxed his fists a few times, steadying his temper. ''No point getting mad at yourself,'' he repeated in his mind as he came to terms with the situation.

    "Although," Eric continued, "I must admit that there are a few doors that I''m keeping locked too. . ."

    "What!?" With his patience officially gone, Javelin sprung forward to grab Eric but the latter disappeared in a puff of white smoke before he had the chance.

    "It''s for your own good," Eric''s voice echoed through the hall. "Some things are better left forgotten."

    Javelin wanted to yell at him that it wasn''t for Eric to decide what Javelin did, or didn''t remember, but he realized the folly of it all and restrained himself in the end.

    "There you go, kiddo." Javelin couldn''t help but feel that Eric''s voice sounded awfully smug. "Now, start searching for unlocked doors! Who knows how long you''ll manage to stay here. . ."

 Chapter 110: A Blast From the Past

    A Blast From the Past

    For what felt like weeks, or even months, Javelin searched through the sterile corridors of the supposed research center looking for unlocked doors. Most of the doors he tried were locked, but perhaps a third of them gave way as he tried them.

    There was no structure to what memory he would find inside; it could be anything from himself stuck at a school bench for hours on end, to more exciting things related to Raven and their time at the arctic research station. Naturally, Javelin preferred it when he found memories of Raven, but at the same time he had to admit that the things he learned from the others were truly mind-boggling.

    He had never viewed the world like Eric did. For Eric, everything was connected by strict rules of logic; there was no such thing as an inexplicable event �C except perhaps when it came to people��s behavior.

    When Javelin relived the school bench memories, he could almost feel his own mind expanding, his understanding of the word growing. He even felt like he was starting to understand something truly profound about spiritualists and spirit essence, but it kept eluding him like a slippery eel. . . .

    It really bugged him that he couldn��t figure it out, almost like an itch you can��t scratch, but he could feel his concentration waning and it had been quite hard to take in the last couple of rooms�� memories. Javelin, however, ignored this and kept going, hungry for more.

    He found yet another unlocked door and pushed it open. As soon as he saw the world inside, Javelin drew an involuntary breath, shocked by what he saw. The endless snow and ice had been replaced by tall spires of black glass and lights. These spires all looked a bit different, and were of different heights, but they filled Javelin��s entire field of view, relentlessly stretching towards the dark night sky.

    Without even noticing it, Javelin had walked forward, stopping in front of the huge window that separated him from the alien world outside. Only now did Javelin realize how high up he was. Looking down, all he could see was a sea of lights; some moving, others stationary.

    All of it was like a sea of tiny flames, covering the ground and stretching to the sky.

    ��It��s a metropolis!�� Javelin breathed with wondrous excitement. Eric had been raised in a smaller town, and while his higher education had indeed taken place in a larger city, Javelin had never seen anything but the inside of a lecture hall in those memories.

    Javelin was so completely mesmerized by the view from the window that he hadn��t even noticed the figure appearing next to him. ��Are you sure you don��t want to come and look?�� she said and the familiar voice caused Javelin to instinctively glance to his side. Only, once his eyes found their target, they couldn��t leave.

    Standing next to him was Raven the bodyguard, but, contrary her normally practical approach to clothes and appearance, the Raven by his side was entirely different. Raven wore a blood-red lace dress that was elegantly decorated by small glistening crystals. Apart from the spreading fabric below her knees, the dress fit her like a second skin, which might not have been too far from the truth considering how little the lace actually hid.

    Taking in all of her, Javelin was spell-bound by her wild beauty that made Raven feel like a living flame; compelling to watch, but get too close and you will get burned.

    ��I��m fine, thank you.�� Eric��s curt voice broke Javelin��s trance, pulling his attention further into the room. Only now did he realize the room in question was actually more of a grand hall and they were far from alone in it; well over a thousand people were milling about, cocktail drinks in hand.

    Just like Raven, every woman present had donned some sort of ball gown �C although not coming even close to her splendor �C while the men wore penguin-reminiscent suits that were actually quite elegant. Eric was no exception. He stood a few meters from Raven, seemingly torn between looking at her and not avoiding the view behind her.

    ��For a genius scientist, you have an oddly irrational fear of heights,�� Raven said, smiling alluringly as she walked away from the window to join Eric��s side. She gracefully hooked her hand around his elbow, leaning in a bit.

    ��T-there is nothing irrational about being . . . apprehensive around heights!�� Eric stammered, his free hand reaching for his neck. ��This floor is nearly 400 meters above the ground! You do realize that, depending on the winds, one is likely to hit the ground at 193 km/h!��

    ��A quick drop and a sudden stop. . . .�� Raven shrugged. ��Doesn��t sound too bad, in my opinion. Besides, look at this view,�� she smiled and gestured towards the window, ��clearly it��s the scenic route down.��

    Eric visibly shuddered, his skin gaining a greenish tone. Raven laughed merrily at the sight and the melodious noise caused quite a few people �C mostly men �C to turn their heads her way. Javelin glared angrily at the starers, wanting to scare them off, but what difference could he make when he wasn��t really there?

    Still stared at, Raven and Eric walked around in the grand hall together. It was clear that quite a few people wanted to approach the pair, but few worked up the courage.

    ��My sincerest congratulations, Professor Solar,�� a fat man almost yelled as he walked up to them, beaming. ��Your work on heavy-atom cold fusion is truly worth its weight in gold.��

    He winked at Raven, as if to make sure she didn��t miss the joke, but, oddly enough, she missed it altogether. Her gaze had drifted away from Eric and the man, looking at something Eric �C and therefore Javelin �C couldn��t see.

    ��Miss Night?�� Eric asked, straining his neck to see what she was looking at. However, he only glimpsed a dark figure before Raven stepped forward, blocking his view entirely.

    ��My apologies, gentlemen,�� she said, somehow managing to squint one of her eyes and still look graceful. ��I fear my contact has slipped. . . .�� Raven curtsied. ��If you would excuse me, I will return shortly.��

    ��Naturally,�� the fat man replied warmly. ��I was hoping to steal away your man for a while, anyway.��

    Before Eric had the chance to give his opinion, Raven had already left. Javelin watched Eric��s futile attempts at following her, but the fat man had put his arm around the former��s thin shoulders, pinning him in place �C a rather comical sight, actually.

    ��Now, tell me, Professor Solar, what made you think of using heavier atoms?��

    The conversation quickly turned theoretical, and while Javelin had learned quite a lot about Eric��s research since he entered this memory bank, he still had a hard time following what was being discussed. Bored, Javelin started observing the other people in the grand hall. There were so many of them, and the fact that Eric remembered them all was impressive.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ��This eidetic memory thing of his is really useful,�� Javelin mused as he looked around the hall. Naturally there were some hazy areas �C Eric did after all not have eyes in his neck �C but the amount of detail was truly shocking.

    Suddenly the dark figure from before caught Javelin��s attention. To be fair, the man was dressed like every other male in the room, so it wasn��t so much his appearance that put him aside as dark, but rather it was the air he gave off. He was staring intently at Eric and the fat man, a cold hunger in his eyes. Eric must have noticed the stare, because his gaze suddenly focused in on the man.

    The pair��s eyes met and Javelin could have sworn that sparks flew between the two of them right off the bat. They hadn��t even talked to each other, but surprisingly enough it already seemed as though they would be rivals for life.

    For a moment Javelin thought that Eric might actually confront the man right away, but just as Eric had made up his mind to walk over, the lights dimmed and a bright spotlight highlighted an over-decorated stage. An equally over-decorated woman escorted an elderly man out on stage. The man was placed in front of a microphone and then he started speaking, seemingly unaware of how to stop.

    From what Javelin could gather �C more from Eric��s memories though than the actual speech �C a grand prize was about to be awarded to someone who had done humanity a great favor through their research. That someone happened to be Professor Eric Solar �C the youngest awardee yet.

    Eventually, the speech came to an end and thunderous applause rang out through the grand hall. The spotlight shifted out into the audience, landing on Eric, who was then shoved towards the stage by congratulatory hands. Along the way, Eric looked around the room �C clearly searching for Raven �C but to no avail.

    It wasn��t until he was on stage and halfway through his own speech that Eric finally caught sight of Raven, merrily laughing away with the dark and mysterious man! Eric almost choked. Javelin too saw Raven and her newfound companion, but while he didn��t like what he saw, the reason wasn��t the same as Eric��s. Javelin knew that smile of Raven��s well; she might look like she was having a good time, but in truth she was pissed.

    Whoever that man was, Raven knew him and did not like that he was here.

    On stage, Eric did his best to finish his speech despite the distraction, and it was with a relieved sigh that he finally raised his glass, toasting to progress and science. Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, the world around Javelin seemed to slow down until it almost stood still.

    He looked around at the nearly frozen people in the grand hall, and at first he couldn��t find what was wrong. Then Javelin noticed that the face of the previously very friendly fat man had scrunched up into a cold grimace. The person in question shouted madly as he pulled something small and metallic from within his tail coat. From the shape of it, Javelin realized that he was holding a remote control, and from within the now slightly open shirt, he could also see that it wasn��t only lard that hung around the man��s waist.

    ��It��s a bomb!�� Eric��s instinctive thought reached Javelin milliseconds later, but the former didn��t have the time to yell out loud before two whining whistles flew through the air. Even in slow motion, Javelin almost missed the millimeter thick silver needles that bee-lined for the apparently-not-so-fat man��s neck and hand, respectively. The needles pierced deeply into the man and instantly he froze in place like a statue, his thumb locked in an open position.

    The following scenes were in a blur. The grand hall disappeared into darkness, and the next time Javelin could see anything, Eric and Raven were seated in the back of a driver-less car, speeding down a motorway at speeds far above regulation.

    ��Wh-what was that!?�� Eric managed to press out, finally snapping out of his shock.

    ��A bomb.��

    ��I know that!�� retorted Eric, sounding both frustrated and angry, ��but why? And you �C who was that man you were talking to!?��

    Both Raven and Javelin looked over at the borderline hysterical professor, raising their eyebrows slightly. Raven quickly looked away again, but Javelin couldn��t help but wonder how obsessed Eric had to be with Raven for him to jump from the terrorist bomb to her half-hearted flirting in such a short span. Not that Javelin was that much better off. . . .

    ��As you know, your inventions and research have drawn a lot of attention; a bomb or two threatening to kill you is nothing new. Do not worry; I am good at my job, professor Solar. As for the man you were referring to, that was a personal matter and it is something I would rather not talk about at work.��

    ��Professor? At work?�� Eric looked as if someone had emptied out a cold bucket of water over his head. ��I thought . . .��

    ��Professor Solar!�� Raven interrupted, not looking at the man. ��I am hired as your bodyguard, nothing more.��

    At once, silence filled the car and Javelin couldn��t help but feel sympathy for Eric, for his past self. There were still a lot of memories that he was missing, but what he had seen so far had started to blur the line between him and Eric. It was a rather weird feeling. Kind of as though there were a thick fog that was spreading out from Eric��s memories, making everything seem a bit hazier.

    What was clear, was that at this point in Eric��s life, he had gained some really serious feelings for Raven. Why wouldn��t he? She was sharp-minded, beautiful in a not-so-obvious way, surprisingly easy to be around, and she kept saving his life over and over again.

    Javelin could also tell that Raven had been warming up to Eric as well. He wasn��t sure if he could call it love or anything like that, but Javelin had seen her relax quite a few of those facades she always seemed to protect herself with. If nothing else, she at least cared for the guy.

    Yet now, Raven was giving Eric the cold shoulder. What had changed?

    As Javelin was contemplating this, his gaze slid over Raven��s red dress, only to notice a long tear, reaching all the way from the hem of the skirt to her hips. The dress no longer did anything at all to cover her pearly legs. And what legs they were! Even riddled with scars, Raven��s well-trimmed muscle tone perfectly accentuated the cheetah-like power within.

    Javelin could feel his body heating up. He swallowed hard and tried to look away, but he really didn��t want to. . . . Suddenly, like bursting a bubble, the world around him popped and disappeared. First Javelin thought he had been pulled out of just the memory, but the warm and very real sensation that enveloped every inch of his skin told him otherwise.

    Surprised, Javelin opened his eyes, only to find that he was submerged entirely in water![url=http://snowy.pub/chapter-111][/url]

 Chapter 111: In for a Ride

    In for a Ride

    Realizing he was under water, Javelin felt panic overwhelm him but he quickly pushed it down; he had been raised on the sea after all, and knew the dangers of losing ones calm underwater. Holding his breath, Javelin tried to get his bearings so he could figure out which way was up, but to his dismay, every way he looked just revealed the same soft glow.

    With no direction to go by, Javelin really started to panic. He picked a direction on random and swam, hoping that the change in location would change something him. It didn''t. In fact, it almost seemed like no matter how hard he pressed forward, his actual position didn''t change.

    In Javelin''s vision, black spots gathered, threatening to swallow him entirely; he was running out of air.

    "What are you doing?" Raven''s very amused voice rang out in Javelin''s mind, causing him to freeze up instantly. Taking the time to sense her position, he found that she was only a few meters away from him, yet she clearly wasn''t concerned about his safety.

    Thinking up to here, Javelin finally ran out of air and complete darkness was descending fast. Involuntarily, his body forced him to draw a breath and while Javelin had expected the scorching sensation of water filling his lungs, it never came. Instead, air gushed in, quickly bringing relief to his air-deprived brain.

    ''What the . . ?'' Only now did Javelin sense the oddness of the water he was in. It was brimming with spirit essence and while it felt like water to his skin, it slowly swirled around him in a set pattern, completely unaffected by his presence. Nor did it hinder his breathing at all.

    Still amazed by his surroundings, Javelin nearly missed the pale hand that suddenly stretched in through the water, grabbing his wrist and pulling. In the next moment, Javelin found himself yanked out of the water, falling a meter or so before slamming into a hard floor.

    "Well?" Raven asked again, looming over him.

    "I . . . thought I was downing," Javelin replied, feeling a bit embarrassed.

    "Jav, correct me if I''m wrong, but isn''t one of the Sea Empire''s most widely used Divine Skills one that allows breathing under water?"

    Javelin''s already pinkish face flushed red. How could he have forgotten!?

    "Um . . . where are we?" he asked, choosing to change the subject. At first it had only been an escape route, but as soon as he started looking around Javelin felt that the question was actually warranted. He and Raven were in a small and dark cave - seemingly without exits - and in the middle of the room hovered the large sphere of "water" that Raven must have pulled him out of earlier.

    "We''re in Sea Academy''s sealed cultivation chamber," she said, "Much like the reverse waterfall in Sky Academy." Raven was still smirking, but kind enough to not keep teasing him.

    "We are?" Javelin looked pleasantly surprised, but it quickly turned into a frown. "I thought Headmaster Hammer said that place would be unreachable for another couple of months. . . ."

    Raven didn''t say anything, only smiling meekly, but Javelin noticed her posture shifting ever so slightly.

    "Show me your arm," he demanded as he got up on his feet.

    "Huh?" Raven didn''t move this time but Javelin had already seen through her. He stretched out and grabber her wrist, pulling back the sleeve of her navy-blue Sea Academy uniform. The fair and pearly-white arm he would normally see was covered in dried blood and several deep gashes, some going as far as the bone. Javelin winced at the mere sight of it, yet Raven seemed unaffected.

    "Getting here was a bit . . . tricky," she explained with a shrug. "I tried healing some of it myself, but I still haven''t gotten the hand of Healing Divine Skills - I kept the infections at bay, at least."

    Even before she had finished speaking, Javelin had already activated his strongest healing skill and was channeling his spirit essence Raven like mad. Only with his spirit essence running through her body, did Javelin realize the full extent of her injuries.

    She must have had a spare uniform in her spacial ring because, judging by her injuries, Javelin couldn''t understand how she could even be standing. Apart from the cuts in her arm, she had similar injuries to her opposite leg, four fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a very nasty concussion.

    "Tricky!? You''re a freaking mid Champion but you got these many injuries getting here? What did you have to do, fight a dragon?"

    Raven tilted her head to the side, smiling oddly. "Well. . . ."

    "I don''t want to know," Javelin cut her off. "Seriously Raven, didn''t you get cut up enough protecting me in our past life?"

    Raven''s body stiffened slightly. "How much do you remember?"

    "More than before," Javelin replied without looking away from the visibly healing wounds on Raven''s arm. "Judging by the amount of doors I managed to open, perhaps 30-40%."

    "Doors?"

    "It''s some sort of coping mechanism I guess; a way for me to deal with my new memories. Seeing the blood on your shoes from you protecting me while I slept triggered an old memory of Eric''s and it released a bunch of other things too. I''ve been reliving quite a lot of memories since I passed out."

    "Like what?" Raven pressed and Javelin could feel her growing nervous.

    He paused his healing to look up at her face.

    "Why do you always get so anxious when I remember something more about my past life? From what I can tell, you did a stand-up job at protecting Eric from everything to midnight assassinations to terrorist attacks. I realize that there was a bit of an ambiguous relationship going on between the two of you, but it''s not like you to fret over something like that. At least not like this and to this degree."

    Raven said nothing. She just silently met Javelin''s gaze, her expression steeling over.

    "Does it have something to do with you being more than a bodyguard?" Javelin pushed when no reply came, causing Raven''s eyes to widen slightly. "I may act foolishly from time to time, but I''m no idiot and while Eric wasn''t a people''s person, he was brilliant. A normal bodyguard wouldn''t be as good at killing people as you were. . . . As you are."

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Still, Raven remained silent.

    "Look, I don''t care what you were before you came to work for Eric, nor do I care how you learned to fight and kill like you do. Heck, in this world it is even a huge benefit for you. The only thing that matters to me is that you protected me - cared for me. . . . Just like you still do, right?"

    Raven snorted, a hint of self-mockery in her eyes.

    "If you say so," she said, clearly unconvinced. Javelin was about to push the matter further when Raven took a step backwards, moving beyond his reach. "Let''s save it for later; we need to get going."

    "Why? What is so important that we can''t talk about this now? You promised that you would answer direct question about events in Eric''s memorizes!"

    "Well, we can stay here and talk if you wan to, but I thought the graduation tournament was important to you and . . ."

    "What has that got to do with anything!?"

    ". . . it starts tomorrow."

    "Tomorrow!?" Javelin''s yaw dropped. There had been over a month left before he passed out - had he really spent that much time submerged in those memories? His face then suddenly distorted. "A month. . . . Raven, your injuries. . . ."

    "Yes?" she replied, looking as if Javelin had just brought up something trivial like the weather.

    Javelin felt a pang of guilt-ridden sadness at her attitude; the amount of pain she would have been in these past weeks was not little. "Nothing. . . ." he said, shaking his head.

    ''I must become stronger.'' Javelin mused with quite determination for perhaps the thousands time, but one thought led to another."What about my training!?" he almost shouted. "How am I possibly going to win like this?"

    Raven gave him a quizzical look and then chuckled. "Have you been so absorbed with healing me that you haven''t even looked within yourself?"

    At first Javelin frowned, confused, but as he turned his attention to his own spirit core and soul prism, his eyes widened in shock. His half of the two soul prisms within him had shifted in color, from a red-ish orange to a bright yellow, and a total of 104 spirit connections fanned out from it like sun rays. As for his spirit core, the previously large and vibrantly red vortex had shrunk considerably, but was now a golden orange.

    "I broke through. . . ." he muttered, not really believing it. "I broke through!"

    With a large smile on his face, he jumped forward and grabbed Raven around her waist, hoisting her into the air. She suppressed a moan from the pain, but Javelin quickly realized his mistake and put her down.

    "Sorry, I just . . ." Javelin''s smile widened, his eyes already dazzling eyes glistening with joy. "I''m catching up."

    Raven gave him a quick glance before she started laughing. "Don''t get ahead of yourself, Javelin. You are a few years ahead of your fellow sixth grade advanced students, but the difference between a new Spirit Champion and a mid leveled one is huge. Even the best would need five to ten years to make that kind of progress."

    "Yeah, yeah," Javelin muttered, his bubble busted, but Raven ignored his dejection. She

    walked over to the cave wall, raising her hand to touch it.

    "Are you ready?" she asked, her hand pausing a few centimeters from the rough surface.

    "For what?" Javelin continued his muttering, missing the sudden mischief in Raven''s mood.

    "For this," she said and then lightly touched her hand against the wall.

    Instantly and seemingly out of nowhere, copious amounts of water flushed into the cave, forcefully sweeping up both Javelin and Raven into a nautical whirlwind. Taken be surprise, it took a while before Javelin managed to form a protective barrier around himself, but even with it in place, the sheer pressure of all that gushing water was hard to handle.

    Through the violently swirling water, Javelin caught glimpses of Raven, who somehow maintained a cross-legged meditative position, even as the water was throwing her around the cave like wet towel in a washing machine. Despite himself, Javelin couldn''t help but smile at the sight.

    However, the pressure from the water kept rising as more and more flowed into the cave, its speed constantly increasing. Just as Javelin was wondering how much more could be added before he''d fail to resist it, the water flow shifted, rushing upwards.

    Unable to do anything against it, Javelin braced himself for the impact against the roof, but it never came. Instead he found himself flying through a long and narrow tunnel that criss-crossed its way upwards. The previously violent water guided him safely through the tunnel, prohibiting him from slamming into the walls.

    This was a very good thing since Javelin noticed that the tunnel''s walls were covered by a rare race of spirit beast shellfish called Dragon Claw Sea Tulips; very pretty to look at, but, as the name suggests, razor-sharp to the touch. They were also exceedingly hard - to the point where their shells were harvested for forging weapons - and Javelin knew that he would likely not survive this water ride if he had been dragged along the wall.

    The high-speed journey continued for another five minutes or so before Javelin suddenly found himself being propelled high into the air. With a splash, Javelin landed in a basin of water and, looking around, he realized that he was back in the Water Dome at Sea Academy. Barely a heartbeat later, Raven elegantly landed on her feet next to him.

    Javelin''s eyes darted from her to the gushing fountain of water behind her and a scary notion dawned on him.

    "Don''t tell me you had to enter through the same tunnel as way we got out. . . ." he probed Raven, hoping he was wrong. Her smile told him his hopes were in vain. "And the water, it was flowing like it is now?"

    Raven''s smile remained as she tapped lightly against her previously wounded arm, her eyes saying: where do you think I got those?

    ''No wonder she got hurt. . . .'' Javelin thought, feeling very glum.

 Chapter 112: Taking a Hit

    <h2 style="text-align: center">Taking a Hit</h2>

    Standing in the knee-deep water in the fountain��s pool, Raven and Javelin had only been back a few heartbeats when the former smiled slightly. For a moment she considered moving but in the end decided against it. In the next second a full-grown and white-haired man appeared by her side, the light-grey fabrics of his robe wrapping themselves tightly around Raven.

    Waves of nourishing spirit essence welled over her and, although the healing wasn��t as effective as Javelin��s had been, Raven could still feel the last remnants of her injuries disappearing.

    ��Protector Aves. . . .�� Javelin probed, standing to the side and looking oddly at the unusually clingy elder. ��Are you . . . crying?�� Raven smiled coyly as the man hugging her shuddered slightly. Aves had indeed been shedding a few tears, but his face was hidden from view and there was no loud sobbing to give him off; clearly Javelin��s new connections had improved his hearing substantially.

    ��Of course not,�� Aves replied, using his spirit essence to stealthily dry his tears before glaring at Javelin. ��I am just checking to see that everything is well with Student Nightingale, something I wouldn��t have to do if not for your blasted obsession with this damned graduation tournament!��

    ��Huh?�� Javelin looked genuinely confused and Raven suppressed a chuckle. Moments later, Hoatzin came flying over, seating himself squarely on Raven��s still damp shoulders.

    ��Sister asked me to leave a note to Aves, explaining your departure,�� he broadcasted mentally to both Javelin and Raven, giving the former a somewhat smug look. ��I wrote that you pressured Raven into forcing her way to the hidden chamber, so that you could gain some last-minute improvements to your cultivation. Needless to say, Aves was not pleased �C in fact, he has been keeping vigil here ever since.��

    ��Wha-. . . why would you . . .�� Javelin started protesting, but, noticing Hoatzin��s meaningful look at the previously wounded Raven, he quickly quieted down.

    ��What of the bodies?�� Raven asked Hoatzin, ignoring the fierce flood of reprimands that Aves had decided to launch at Javelin, all accusing him of rash and thoughtless behavior.

    ��It was as you suspected,�� Hoatzin replied. ��By the time I arrived, someone had already collected them. No news about their deaths or the attack itself has surfaced since then either.��

    Raven nodded. ��And the Tanuki offspring?��

    ��Canis made an attempt to enter the sealed chamber a few nights after the two of you made it through, but naturally failed. She has not returned to the academy since last week. I followed her to the capital island but refrained from trailing her further, per your instructions.��

    ��Well done, brother,�� Raven commended.

    She wasn��t very surprised by anything he reported. The sealed cultivation chamber deep underneath the water fountain was practically an academy legend and she had guessed that several students would put one and two together when the fountain suddenly stopped flowing at the wrong time.

    As for the bodies, Raven had easily detected the hidden observer who had not-so-stealthily been overseeing the attack on her and Javelin. Raven had let said observer witness some of his comrades�� sudden and inexplicable deaths before knocking him unconscious. Once he awoke, he would naturally have rushed back to his master, but with no vital information about what had happened. At that point, it would have surprised Raven more if the bodies weren��t reclaimed �C how would they otherwise have any hopes of finding out what had actually gone wrong?

    Thinking up to here, Raven��s expression soured somewhat. A new group of people were approaching and this time Raven really wanted to leave, but she knew it would do her no good in the end �C better get it out of the way fast, like ripping off a band-aid.

    ��Javy!�� Remora��s voice sounded even more high-pitched and unrefined than Raven remembered it as the young woman, not surprisingly, called out to her brother the moment she saw him. Mere heartbeats later, the golden-blonde beauty had wrapped her arms around Javelin, pouring nurturing spirit essence into him �C much like Aves had done with Raven just a minute earlier.

    ��Oh, thank the seas; you are okay!�� the girl cried as she hugged her brother tightly. ��I thought that she-devil had lured you to your death!��

    ��That what!?�� Aves exclaimed, enraged, before anyone else had a chance to react. ��How dare you refer to an honorable Prefecture Lord of our Sky Empire like that? I have been patient with you, young lady, but that is taking it too far!��

    The dense spirit essence of a near peak Champion surged to Aves�� right hand. He took a step forward and almost instantly appeared behind Remora �C his hand descended.

    The crisp sound that followed was almost ear-deafening, and a sorry figure instantly plowed several meters through the knee-deep water in the fountain before finally coming to a stop at the other end.

    Silence.

    Still standing in her original spot, Raven raised her midnight-purple eyebrows slightly. Surprisingly, it wasn��t Remora who had been sent flying, but Javelin! Just as Aves had been about to hit his sister, Javelin had managed to twist their bodies around so that he took her place. Aves had naturally been holding back, but even a lighter hit from a peak spirit champion could threaten a low champion��s life; that slap would definitely leave a mark.

    ��Br-brother!�� Remora practically shrieked and was about to rush over to her brother��s side, but as Javelin struggled to his feet he held up his hand to stop her. Half of his face had already swollen beyond recognition, but the other half looked intently at Remora, actually causing her to falter in her steps.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Javelin then turned his attention to Aves and gave a deep bow. ��I apologize for my sister��s remarks. They were uncalled for and entirely inappropriate. She is, however, my sister and I ask that I may take the punishment in her stead.��

    Aves blinked, seemingly a bit shocked by what had just happened. He perhaps wasn��t aware of it himself, but Aves absentmindedly nodded while his spirit essence calmed down.

    ��Don��t let me hear such words again,�� he eventually managed to squeeze out, his face still revealing a bit of his confusion.

    ��I won��t, Protector Aves,�� Javelin replied, only now straightening from his bow. Without paying Aves any more attention, Javelin walked towards his sister.

    ��Javy. . . .�� she breathed, still a bit perplexed by what was going on. It looked like she was about to ask something when suddenly the sound of a second slap rang out. It was nowhere as loud as the first one, and this time the recipient barely budged under the impact, but judging by the look in Remora��s eyes, it had hurt her all the more.

    ��Big Sister, forgive my rudeness, but you were very disrespectful to Raven just now. This despite having promised to treat her as your own blood!�� Javelin��s eyes were calm as his gaze drilled into Remora. It was the kind of look that might seem cold and unconcerned on the surface, but underneath a raging fire brewed.

    Remora shuddered, and as if the slap hadn��t been shocking enough for her, Javelin gave her one more bombshell before promptly walking off; ��If this is your view of family relations, I will have to reconsider which family I belong to.��

    Staring at the approaching Javelin, Hoatzin couldn��t help but feel that something was a bit off about his friend. ��He seems . . . different,�� he commented to Raven.

    Raven was also watching Javelin, silently agreeing with her brother; Javelin had changed. As a general��s son, Javelin had already been mature but it was different now; his behavior was more substantial, more his own. It was subtle change �C very subtle �C but Raven could feel his presence slowly evolving into something new, and it wasn��t only from his soul growing stronger.

    That said, it wasn��t the old Eric that Javelin was turning into; Eric would never have handled the situation like he just had. No, this Javelin was someone new.

    Stopping in front of Raven, Javelin bowed deeply for the second time. ��I��m sorry, Raven. She-. . .��

    His words stopped, mid-sentence; Raven had stretched out her hand, touching his cheek carefully. A whiff of cooling spirit essence spread from her finger tips, somewhat relieving the still swelling face.

    Surprised, Javelin raised his gaze, meeting Raven��s. Silent understanding passed between their eyes before the latter retracted her hand.

    ��Let��s go.��

    Under the watchful eyes of the now rather large crowd, Raven and Javelin left without bothering to give acknowledgements to anyone �C not even Cisco or the headmaster who had initially arrived together with Remora.

    Dumbfounded, the crowed watched the departing duo and it didn��t take long before silent whispers spread among them. The intimate gesture between Raven and Javelin had only lasted for a second, but it had still left a profound impression on those present. They couldn��t help but feel like that the two youths had some profound secret between them, separating them from the rest of the world.

    ��I heard that Student Hake wants to break of his engagement with Lady Arowana �C I didn��t believe it, but this. . . .��

    ��Do you think Lady Arowana knows?��

    ��. . .��

    While the crowd discussed the significance of what they had just seen, Remora stood like a statue, absentmindedly covering her cheek as she stared blankly in front of her.

    ��Little Sister?�� Cisco tentatively called out, and at once it was as if the dam broke within Remora. Crocodile tears flowed down her cheeks as she threw herself into her brother��s arms. ��Ja-Javy, he . . . hates . . m-. . . .��

    ��Shh,�� Cisco cooed with a soft voice. ��Don��t worry, you are his sister �C he will always love you.�� He patted Remora��s head and then pulled her back a bit so he could look into her wet eyes. ��But he loves the Nightingale girl too �C surely you see that. Don��t force him to choose.��

    Remora swallowed and, after wiping her tears, nodded slowly.

    Further away, Raven��s lips twitched into a slight smile.

    <hr>

    ��They have returned?�� Canis looked at the kneeling man before her, her expression icy. She had been waiting for news about that troublesome pair for weeks now.

    ��Yes, Lady Tanuki. According to witnesses, they were flushed out of the fountain a couple of hours ago.��

    ��Any injuries?��

    ��Not from before their return.��

    Canis fell silent, absentmindedly scratching at a faint scar on her wrist. She had gained it trying to force her way down the passage underneath fountain; even without the pressure from the flowing water, it had been impossible for her to go further than a few tens of meters before the Dragon Claw Sea Tulips made it too dangerous to continue.

    Canis didn��t believe that the Hake boy - a mere high Adept - had the strength to pull off what she had failed at, even less the Nightingale girl.

    Then there was the matter of the failed kidnapping attempt right before they left. She had sent five low Champions, all skilled at silent extractions and assassinations, yet every one of them had died without making a sound. After retrieving their corpses and examining their bodies, it was clear that some sort of poison had been used, but Canis had never come across a poison with symptoms like the ones they had presented.

    ��Someone must be helping them,�� Canis muttered, more to herself than the man in front of her, but the latter responded anyway.

    ��Perhaps it��s that Sky Academy protector who arrived with them?��

    Snorting, Canis�� gaze shifted to the kneeling man, her eyes even colder than before. ��Leave,�� she commanded, and the man was quick to obey.

    Left alone, Canis started to slowly pace around her room, her black eyes glistening coldly in the candlelight.

    <hr>

    The very next day, tens of thousands of people gathered on a small island roughly two kilometers further out into the sea. The island itself might have been small, but every square meter of it was covered by the structure of a huge arena.

    It was time for the yearly graduation tournament for the Sea Empire��s various spiritualist academies. Even under normal circumstances, this tournament was no small matter as the nation��s eight leading academies all sent roughly ten participants to show off their spiritualist prowess. This year, however, the number of participants had been increased to five times that amount as even the lower grades were allowed to compete.

    Consequentially, both the amount of people who came to look and the time required for the tournament had increased substantially.

    Today marked the first of three days of battles: first, grades six and seven would determine two champions per grade; tomorrow the same would be done for grades eight and nine; on the third day, the graduates would have theirs. It was also on the third day that younger participants would be allowed to challenge their upper classmates.

    ��Lady Arowana has requested your presence,�� greeted a stout attendant the moment he lay eyes on Raven and Javelin,

    stepping off the boat which had arrived from Sky Academy. Without waiting for their reply, the attendant turned around and left, indicating for them to follow.

    Raven and Javelin only glanced at each other before obediently falling in behind the attendant. It was perhaps no surprise that their summons caused a minor storm of whispers to break out behind them.

 Chapter 113: On the Outside, Looking In

    <h2 style="text-align: center">On the Outside, Looking In</h2>

    Young Argus Bateleur, the twenty-year-old crown prince of Sky Empire, was secretly wincing inside as he gazed out on the gathered crowd in the island arena. He was seated in the most lavish section of the arena which was solely reserved for members of the imperial family and their honored guests.

    In front of him was a huge fighting stage that had currently been separated up into ten smaller stages. The graduation tournament for the Sea Empire''s spiritualists was about to being, but this was not the reason Argus was feeling apprehensive. He glanced over at the young girl seated next to him. She was the only daughter of this nation''s emperor and, as far as Argus was considered, the girl was practically an angel; her smile was sweetness itself and her silver-blue hair and softly tanned made her look like an exotic fairy. Even her temperament was befitting of a divine being.

    Granted, Lady Arowana was a bit young - soon to be fourteen - but compared to the Nightingale kid. . . . A shudder ran down Argus'' back.

    ''What is mother thinking?'' he grumbled inwardly as he waved to a group of young women who had been staring for quite a while now. His off-handed wave caused the women to break out in bashful giggles before they quickly scurried off, their faces pink.

    "My, aren''t you a charmer."

    "Huh?" Argus had been too wrapped up in his mother''s ridiculous suggestion to register what had been said. With an apologetic smile, he turned is attention to the angel-like girl by his side. "What did you say, Lady Arowana?"

    The girl giggled lightly, her laughter sounding serene in comparison to the other women''s. "If I didn''t know better, I''d say that you - Sky Prince Argus Bateleur - are nervous about something. . . . Feeling apprehensive about meeting a certain someone perhaps?"

    Lady Arowana gave him a playful wink and Argus snorted, missing the slightly conflicted emotions in the girl''s aquamarine eyes.

    "What is there to be nervous about? Whatever my mother has promised her, Lady Nightingale is still a Sky Empire citizen. If I order her to do something, she must comply - even if that order is to leave me alone."

    Lady Arowana gave him an odd look, mirroring the doubt Argus felt at his own words. His mother was, despite her amicable appearance, not easy to deal with and she almost always got what she wanted. It was no real secret that while Emperor Mallard held the throne, few decision would be made without first getting the Empress quiet consent.

    The last time Argus had spoken to her, his mother had insisted that he should ''take good care of young Lady Nightingale'' and that a ''girl of her caliber was very rare''. Argus was no idiot and knew his mother well; she might as well have ordered him to consider the girl his betrothed on the spot.

    Argus couldn''t help but shudder again; the girl was only ten! Plus, judging by the fact that she had managed to stay hidden as a boy for over five years, it had to mean that neither her appearance nor temper was very lady-like. . . . Argus had only seen the young Lady Nightingale once before and that was back when her family was still alive. At the time, he had been too young to really care about girls and the like, but had still been impressed by how pretty and grown-up she had seemed.

    Argus sighed. How much hadn''t the little girl been forced to change, just to survive. . . . He definitely pitied her, but marrying because of it was out of the question!

    "Well, am glad you feel that way, Sky Prince, because here she comes." Arowana whispered in Argus'' ear right before she bounced off from her chair and rushed to the entrance of the closed-off section they were seated in. "Raven," she called happily, embracing someone roughly her own height. "You came!"

    "How could we not, when your attendant asked so nicely?"

    The voice that replied was cold and while it clearly belonged to a young girl, there was this odd, suppressing air to it. Argus leaned forward in his chair to get a better look, but Arowana''s wide dress blocked his view. All he could see was the surprisingly vigorous boy whom Argus barely recognized as Javelin Hake, standing protectively behind whomever Arowana was pampering over.

    ''Wait, Javelin Hake . . . and what did Lady Arowana say, just before?'' Argus had a bad premonition.

    "Oh, Raven, I love your sense of humor! So dark and sarcastic," Arowana laughed melodically. "Come, I have someone to introduce you to, or well, ''introduce'' might not be the right word for it. . . ."

    Argus watched as Lady Arowana turned around on the spot, her silver-blue braids falling over her shoulders as she moved. Pulling her companion behind her, she walked all the way up to Argus'' side before finally stepping aside, revealing the pale-skinned youth behind her.

    "Sky Prince Bateleur, let me present one of your future prefecture lords, Lady Raven Nightingale and her companion, Javelin Hake - son of Admiral Hake, whom I know you already know."

    Argus stared, wide-eyed, at the young girl in front of him. How could anyone ever have believed that she was a guy!? Her skin was pale as ivory, her midnight-purple hair long and braided to perfection. She was wearing the same navy blue robes that all Sea Academy students attending were, but on her they looked anything but ordinary - they looked . . . regal.

    Forest-green irises met his gaze, holding profound wisdom he''d before only seen in his uncle''s eyes and although Raven Nightingale was shorter than him, Argus had a distinct feeling of being small in her presence.

    Was she a beauty? Definitely, but if Arowana was an angel, then Lady Nightingale was a devil; strong and seducing.

    "Lady Nightingale greets Crown Prince Argus Bateleur," the girl said with an elegant and deep curtsy.

    Argus blinked. What was he thinking? She was only a kid!Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "Greetings, Lady Nightingale," Argus forced out with a cough as he got to his feet. "It is nice to finally meet you again. My mother has told me much about you . . . and what you''ve been through."

    An odd look of - was it amusement? - flashed across Raven''s green eyes, but before Argus could thoroughly place it, both Javelin and Arowana had stepped in between them.

    "Come now, Prince Argus," Arowana said with an adorable pout on her face. "I asked Raven here to watch the tournament with us - Javelin too, until it is time for his fights. Let us not talk about such sad things!"

    "My apologies, Lady Arowana," Argus said, not being able to stop himself from smiling towards the girl''s sweet face. "I shall leave all talking for later," he assured, gesturing to four empty seats behind him.

    His sentiment was clear and Arowana''s pout quickly turned into a smile. She merrily pulled at Raven''s arm, getting her to sit down next to her in the two middle seats. Before Argus even had a chance to consider where he was going to sit, Javelin had taken the other seat on Raven''s side. Argus wasn''t really surprised by this behavior though; he had long since heard the rumors about the boy''s wish to call of his engagement to Arowana, as well as the supposed reason behind it.

    Argus didn''t really have the opportunity to consider what he thought of this though because at that moment, there was finally some movement on the stage below. An elderly man whom Argus recognized as one of the Sea Emperor''s attendants had walked out and, with a booming voice he explained the rules of the upcoming tournament.

    Usually the Sea Emperor himself would do this, but since the competition had been made larger, the emperor would not be present for all three days tournament. After all, it was the graduate''s fights that would be most interesting. Looking around the arena, it was clear that the emperor wasn''t alone in his opinion since many seats were still left empty.

    Despite this, the cheers when the elderly attendant declared the tournament begun, were deafening. Quickly, the first batch of twenty students took to the stage, with pairs heading for their assigned sections in an orderly fashion. These were about a third of the students who had been sixth-graders while the graduates where still at school. Javelin Hake belonged to this group too, but since he was an advanced student from Sea Academy, he had a seeded spot in the tournament and wouldn''t be fighting until the seventy-something children from the other schools had been narrowed down to roughly six.

    As expected, there were a couple of taunts thrown into the air by participants and audience members alike, before a loud gong rang out, indicating that the students had fifteen minutes to defeat their opponent. At once, spirit essence started to flow like crazy around the students on stage as they valiantly charged forward. The majority of the kids fighting were low Adepts, with some high Novices and some mid Adepts mixed in among them. By Imperial Academy standards, this wasn''t much to brag about, but the mid Adepts were actually rather skilled for their age.

    After all unseeded sixth grade representatives had fought once, they were allowed to rest for a while, whilst the seventh graders took over. The quality leap in spirit essence wasn''t very large, but there were clear improvements in how the older students used the spirit essence they had at hand, making the fights a bit more interesting to watch.

    "He''s actually pretty good," commented Arowana and nodded towards one of the few mid Adepts representing the seventh grade. The boy in question was fighting on the stage right in front of them and was using two short swords and lightning based Divine Skills, a rather unusual combination among the Sea Empire spiritualists.

    "He has some skill," agreed Argus, before looking over the girl''s head at Raven. "Do you agree, Lady Nightingale?"

    Raven only gave him a quick glance before returning her attention to the fighting stage. "Javelin," she said, prompting the boy to speak.

    "He has good control over his swords and his Divine Skills work in his favor, but he prefers his right foot too much," Javelin analyzed and then gestured to a stage further away. "The high Novice over there is a harder opponent; he wastes no spirit essence whatsoever, and every opening he shows seems deliberate."

    Surprised, Argus turned his attention to the high Novice in question and quickly found that Javelin''s insights had been spot on. While he himself had overlooked the kid due to his low cultivation, Javelin had not fallen to prejudice. Impressed, Argus looked back at the admiral son with new eyes.

    "Never underestimate the underdog," Raven suddenly said with an enigmatic smile. In the next moment, the high Novice stepped in really close to his opponent and, a heartbeat later, the latter lay on his back - defeated.

    "Well said, Raven! Well said!" Arowana giggled happily, looking very pleased. Argus smiled a bit pitifully at the two girls. He had been informed about Arowana''s secret intentions for this tournament and couldn''t help but feel a bit bad for the girl.

    He could very much relate to the wish of wanting to choose your own husband or wife, but while it was true that underestimating your opponent could be deadly, there was just no way that Javelin Hake could win the entire tournament as a high Adept. Sure, he had heard rumors about Arowana''s uncle, who supposedly could defeat even mid champions while still a peak Adept, but the man was practically a battle legend. There was just no way for a teenager to have that sort of fighting experience.

    However, Argus chose to keep quiet about his scruples. He saw no reason to shatter their dreams when they would find out on their own soon enough.

    For nearly four hours, the one-on-one battles continued and by noon, most people had been eliminated from the tournament. Food and drinks had been served in the private section that Argus and his companions were seated in, so they ate and talked while they watched the tournament that was growing more intense by the minute.

    "Javelin," Raven suddenly said without taking her eyes of the handful battles still going on in front of her.

    "Yes," answered Javelin after a moment''s silence and, with a face filled with determination, the boy got up from his seat and left.

    "Javelin? " Arowana looked at the parting boy in confusion and then turned to Raven, seemingly worried. "Is he going to get ready for his fights? Are you not going to wish him luck?"

    Raven gave the girl a sidelong glance. "No need," she said as she turned her attention back to the stage. "He knows my sentiments."

    A wide smile spread on Arowana''s face. "So romantic!" she practically squealed as she snuggled up against Raven. In his seat, Argus rolled his eyes. ''Girls. . . .'' he thought with a shrug, but at the same time he couldn''t help but be a bit impressed by the way Javelin and Raven interacted. They had said very little to each other during the few hours he had been with them and yet, they seemed to be very in-sync.

    On several occasions they passed each other food and drink without asking, and when they did talk, they always seemed to understand what the other wanted to know with very few words.

    "Ouch," Argus yanked back his hand after a stabbing pain seared through it. He looked down to see four red pricks on his skin - markings from the prongs of a fork.

    "You shouldn''t stare at other''s things," Arowana hissed angrily, somehow still managing to sound cute. "It''s rude."

    "So is calling people things," Raven offhandedly commented as she popped a red berry into her mouth - seemingly unfazed by Arowana''s pronged attack against the nation''s future ruler.

    "I wasn''t. . . ." started Argus angrily, but the two girl''s both turned their heads towards him at the same time, giving him blank looks. Argus quickly found himself conceding. "My apologies, ladies," he muttered.

    At once, Arowana''s face blossomed into a sweet smile. "You''re forgiven," she said, leaning over, while Raven just resumed her observations of the ongoing tournament.

    Below, the final fights of the current round were coming to an end. Soon it would be time for the first Sea Academy students to make their appearance, but Argus wasn''t really paying attention at the moment.

    ''Why did they suddenly become so united against me?'' he wondered privately - feeling more than a little wronged - as he rubbed his still stinging hand.

 Chapter 114: First Blood

    Moments after Javelin had left the private viewing section, Hoatzin''s familiar, red feathers flashed by in front of Javelin as the former swooped down and landed on his shoulders.

    "Are you ready?" Hoatzin asked.

    "It is not these fights I''m worried about," Javelin replied, carefully picking what paths he used as he moved through the arena towards the entrance of the stage. If he took a wrong turn, the distance between him and Raven might grow too long and while he could backtrack, it would definitely look odd if he started pacing up and down the arena''s hallways for no reason.

    "I know, but do not forget that you are wearing Limiters today; you''re a high Adept at the moment, just like the other two advanced students from your grade at Sea Academy." Hoatzin unnecessarily reminded him.

    "I know, but if I can''t win as I am today, I will have no chance to become the champion the day after tomorrow. . . ."

    "That is true," Hoatzin agreed before almost spitefully changing the subject, "so, what did you think of my nation''s crown prince?"

    Javelin''s stride faltered slightly, but he quickly recovered. "He wouldn''t be able to handle her," he said promptly, causing Hoatzin to blink twice and then burst out laughing.

    "And you can?" he wheezed after laughing for quite a while, but Javelin was ignoring him.

    He had reached the final passage that led out towards the arena. Here waited roughly forty students; half representing the sixth graders, the other half the seventh graders. Two officials from the arena were instructing the students where to stand while they waited and when they would be expected to go out on stage.

    Javelin walked up to the closest official and gave a customary bow as greeting. "Javelin Hake, Sea Academy," he reported.

    "Ah, Student Hake - one of the seeded participants. . . ." The official surveyed Javelin from head to toe, as if expecting to find something noticeably different about a Sea Academy genius. He didn''t. "You''re in the first batch, Junior Student Hake," he said, clearly disappointed. "Section 3."

    With that, the official moved on, leaving Javelin to fend for himself.

    "What a ray of sunshine," scoffed Hoatzin from his position on Javelin''s shoulder. "I bet he is the type to fawn over those stronger than him, but disregard those weaker."

    "It''s not a rare type," commented Javelin as he sat down cross-legged, ignoring the looks he was receiving from both Sea Academy students and outsider students alike. Closing his eyes, Javelin calmed his breathing and slowly started circulating spirit essence through his body, warming and softening his muscles from within.

    "True, but that does not mean that I have to like them."

    While Javelin and Hoatzin waited in silence, the mood in the passageway grew increasingly tense. Everyone knew that it was now the real fights started - the elite students were entering the fray and if the others wanted a chance at wining they would have to double their efforts.

    "It is time; group one, you''re up!" The call caused the people in the passageway to instantly quiet down, but what was lost in sound-level was quickly gained in opressive pressure as the sixteen teenagers stepped forward, marching out on the fighting stage with determined gazes.

    Javelin was no exception.

    He headed straight for his section - section three - which happened to be the one furthest away from where Raven and the nobles were seated. A second student approached, making a provocative gesture with his fist as he stopped across from Javelin.

    "The brute from Belt Whale Academy?" Hoatzin snorted. "Well, I could wish you good luck, but losing to this one would be an embarrassment for my sister who has been training you." With a swift flap of his blazing red wings, Hoatzin propelled himself high into the air. "Win, Javelin."

    Javelin only nodded, not moving his gaze from his opponent; the kid was muscular - perhaps twice as heavy as Javelin - and metal encased his knuckles, turning his fists into lethal weapons. The hefty teenager watched Javelin with a hungry look that seemed to say: "I''ll eat you alive, wonder-boy."

    A gong rang out, marking the start of the battles. At once, a dozen Divine Skills were activated across the entire stage and the kid facing off against Javelin contributed to the fray. Without hesitating, he rushed forward, screaming as he pounced at Javelin. The spirit essence of a mid Adept spun madly around the boy''s fists, forming raging blades of wind that threatened to shred Javelin to pieces.

    Contrary to his opponent, Javelin barely moved. He stretched out his hand, almost leisurely materializing a silvery staff from within his spacial ring. He then waited, his restricted spirit essence quietly surging through to his torso and into his staff.

    The second the brute stepped within his reach, Javelin took a step to the side, swatting away the brute''s descending fist with his staff. He then used the momentum of his staff to spin it around, took another step forward and locked the staff behind one of the brute''s knees. Powered by spirit essence, Javelin swept his weapon back and up, taking the brute''s leg with him as he moved. A heartbeat later, the hefty student lay on his back, with Javelin''s glowing staff brushing against his neck as it continued deeply into the stage beside him.

    It was over. Just like that.

    Javelin gave the stunned teenager a slighting smile, before retrieving his staff. He turned to leave, knowing that he had won, but suddenly a powerful surge of spirit essence exploded out behind him.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Careful!" Raven''s voice called out in his mind.

    <hr>

    Suddenly, Argus felt a cold shiver run down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge. Instinctively, his hand moved to summon his sword, but the oppressing feeling disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.

    Disbelieving, he looked over at the little girl sitting two seats away, not trusting his gut; had it really come from her? Currently, Raven Nightingale was staring intently at the far end of the stage where Javelin was fighting and while Argus couldn''t see the girl''s face directly, but the warrior within him could feel the cold chill emanating from her.

    "La-. . ." Argus started, but shocked yelling from the crowd drowned out the rest. Confounded, the young prince turned his attention back to the stage and was stunned to find a burning rift running across a large part of it, originating from the fighting section furthest away from him.

    Just barely missing the line flames stood Javelin - panting heavily over the unconscious youth he had been fighting. His silvery staff was pressed down on his opponent''s back and a clear liquid was circling around both staff and boy, seemingly locking them in place. Sweat covered Javelin''s brow and the back of his robe was both charred and shredded, relieving a bloodied shoulder underneath.

    "What happened!?" Argus asked. "The Hake kid had already won moments ago!"

    No one gave an answer to his question, but in the next moment Raven Nightingale suddenly stood up.

    "Excuse me," she said, sounding cold and detached. "I need to stretch my legs a bit before the next fight."

    "Stretch your legs?]" Lady Arowana asked, sounding disappointed. "What about Javelin? He almost lost just now!"

    Lady Nightingale''s lips twitched and she leaned in to whisper something in Arowana''s ear. Argus couldn''t hear what was being said but the angel-like girl suddenly flushed pink and frantically nodded for her devil counterpart to go. With the permission to leave acquired, Raven gave a respectful curtsy to Argus before silently gliding of into the crowd.

    The sky prince frowned, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Had he imagined things or had the girl''s irises been red when she left.

    <hr>

    In a dark corridor located underneath the fighting stage, three robed figures stood huddled in the darkest corner. Despite being very alone down there, the three of them spoke in hushed voices, clearly overly cautious about not being heard.

    "How did it go?" asked the shortest one, "Did he take the pill?"

    "He did," answered the tallest, sounding a bit dejected. "Barely a four seconds in, the Belt Whale kid had already lost, so he decided to take the pill, but Hake still won in the end."

    "What!?" the short one exclaimed, a little too loudly.

    "Hush! He is telling the truth," confirmed the third, a woman this one. "Hake got away with mere superficial wounds - he will be fully healed before his next round."

    "But how is that even possible? The Queen Ghost Pill should have temporarily raised the Belt Whale kid to a borderline Champion!"

    The woman shook her head. "I don''t really know myself. . . . Javelin Hake reacted before the pill had time to be fully activated and did so perfectly. Perhaps Lady Tanuki is right; with some help, Hake could have played a part in young master Tanuki''s fate after all."

    "Perhaps," admitted the short man who spoke first. "But this isn''t good. Hake''s other opponents can be . . . convinced, but with fewer people on stage, it will be harder to obscure the fact that the Queen Ghost Pill is involved. . . ."

    "Ha!" the other man snorted. "At most they would learn that the contestants are eating some strange pill mid-battle, which isn''t against the rules. Do you really think anyone would be able to recognize what pill is being used? Or link it to us, for that matter?" When none of the others refuted him, the man continued. "A more important question is what we should do if the other kids also fail. Lady Tanuki was very specific about wanting Hake to lose before even getting a chance to challenge the older students. To increase the humiliation, and all."

    "Don''t worry, Setter is working on it," assured the female.

    "Ah, then there is indeed no need to worry," agreed the taller male, the shorter one nodding to show his shared sentiment.

    "Oh, I''m not so sure about the no-need-to-worry part. . . ."

    The three figures instantly froze.

    Slowly, they turned their heads, looking - but not hoping to find - the source of the menacing voice that had just spoken. When they found it, they should have relaxed - after all, it belonged to a rather beautiful young girl - but they didn''t. All three of them where on the border between low and mid Champions, but, when faced with this little girl in her navy-blue, dress-like robe, they felt their very blood freezing up. Perhaps it had something with the two red eyes that glowed like bloody fire-pits in the dark, observing them with quiet hunger.

    "Wh-. . . who are you?" the tall man finally managed to ask as he fumbled with both his weapon and spirit essence.

    "Hmm, you don''t recognize the closest friend of your target?" Raven clicked her tongue, disapprovingly. "I hate to tell it to you, but I would never hire you. . . ."

    Realization, quickly followed by greed, replaced the fearful looks in the trio''s eyes as they suddenly understood who they were dealing with. Whatever they had been promised from bringing Raven in was apparently enough for them to throw instinct and self-preservation out the window, because all three of them suddenly lunged towards Raven like lions over a scrap of meat.

    Raven just laughed, enjoying the savage feeling the three attackers brought with them. Even faced with three opponents with cultivation levels not that far below her own Raven didn''t release her limiters. She let herself remain as a peak Adept, not only disregarding her weapons but even closing her eyes. Instead, Raven submerged herself in the violent tides of foreign spirit essence that her attackers pushed towards her.

    Her body swayed back and forward like a steady boat on a rough ocean, easily avoiding all attacks aimed at her, when suddenly her blood-red eyes flashed open again.

    ''There!'' Raven thought as she stepped forward and to the side. She moved just as the lone woman''s sword was descending and effortlessly slid a hand in between her opponent''s, taking a firm grip of the sword in question. Raven followed the woman''s downward swing and let her own spirit essence lash on to the already initiated Divine Skill, claiming it as her own.

    Before the woman knew what was happening, she had lost all control over her attack and was sent flying into the wall. Stunned, she had no time to react before her own blade sank through her spine and pinned her now-dying-body to the damp floor.

    ''Success!'' Raven shouted triumphantly in her heart. Finally she had started to make progress with the very tricky Retribution Divine Skill, which allowed her to use her opponent''s strength against them. She had been getting flashes of how the skill worked, but had never managed to fully control it - today was a great improvement.

    At that moment, a prickly sensation ran over Raven''s soul prism and looking inwards, Raven noticed that one of the two indistinguishable verses belonging to the Retribution Divine Skill had become a little less fussy. Thrilled, Raven wanted to see if she could get something out of it, but she also knew that now wasn''t the time.

    Outwardly, Raven shifted her stance towards the two men. Less than two seconds had passed since the woman was killed and the two men had yet to completely register what had happened.

    "Shall we dance?" Raven asked, playful malice filling her voice as she beckoned them on.

    With a click, her Limiters fell off her ankles and the full-blown pressure of her mid Champion cultivation pushed down like a mountain on the two men in the hallway.

    "Or will you sing for me anyway?"

 Chapter 115: Bloody and Bashful

    Silent killing intent pulsated out of Raven in nearly tangible wisps as she stared down the two men in front of her. She wanted them to attack, almost needed them to, and after a tentative glance at each other, the two of them obliged. As one, they launched their most powerful Divine Skills �C the taller man conjuring a ball of fire while the shorter one brought forth strong winds, which both fanned the flames and attacked Raven.

    The air around Raven grew turbulent and she smiled viciously, egged on by the sensation. Like Javelin, Raven chose to summon a staff to her hand. She infused it with her spirit essence and spun the staff quickly in front of her, bringing structure to the air currents around her. Just at the fire-ball and wind-blades arrived, Raven shifted her body, once more trying to merge her spirit essence with that within the two attacks as they passed her by. The wind blades eluded her, but the fire ball shuddered and succumbed to Raven��s will.

    With a crooked smile, Raven pivoted on her front foot. She bent the flaming orb��s path, twisting it around her, and eventually sent it flying back at its creator �C only, now it was twice as big.

    The taller man didn��t have time to evade and could only watch on, wide-eyed, as the flames crashed into him and exploded with a bang so loud that it could have been heard above �C if not for the fighting going on there too. Once the majority of the flames had died down, only the charred remains of the hit man remained.

    ��Tch, I missed one. . . .�� Raven grunted as she looked over at the scared-witless-man, standing further down the hall. He had been further away and had therefore managed to dodge Raven��s counter attack, but that didn��t make him feel Death, looming over him, any less.

    "I-I''ll talk!" he stuttered, throwing his sword to the floor.

    ". . . Good choice," said Raven after a moment''s pause; she didn''t sound very reassuring. "Who is this Setter you were talking about?"

    The man paled. "I-I don''t kno-. . ." His word''s were cut short by his own screaming; Raven had flicked a spark covered dagger into his foot, sending spasms of electric pain through his body. The man collapsed on the floor, thrashing violently.

    "Honestly!" he wailed as soon as his tongue obeyed him again. "Only Lady Tanuki knows! A-and Viper, but she. . . ."

    "Ah." Raven had followed the man''s darting gaze, finding the female corpse lying a couple of meters behind her. "Pity," she said, not sounding too upset about it. She crouched down in front of the man. "So, why am I keeping you alive then?"

    "A-ah, I . . . Lady Tanuki is here on order of her father to find the culprits behind young Master Tanuki''s . . . accident. She believes Hake has something to do with it. Her orders are to question him if possible, or kill him if necessary. I-I have proof that she sent assassins to kidnap him - and you - last month! Some mysterious expert intervened, but . . . but we almost got you then!"

    An uninterested look donned Raven''s face; clearly she was unimpressed.

    "Sh-she has seven other people here, at the stadium, all giving out Queen Ghost Pills. I don''t know all their names but Lady Tanuki has plenty of pills and wants to not only humiliate Javelin, but the Sea Academy as well."

    "Really?" Raven didn''t look convinced. She absentmindedly fiddled with her dagger - which was still stuck in the man''s foot - as faint rays of red light flashed from her eyes.

    "G-go away! It''s true! I swear, it''s true!" the short man desperately wailed, his face paling further in pain as he waved in front of himself in hallucinating fear. Something snapped within him at that point and he practically started ranting.

    "Y-you know, she never forgave her father for sending her away to study here . . . never forgave! But it''s not like she can take it out on Councillor Tanuki, right?" The man nodded frantically, confirming his own statement. "Does there exist a better way to insult the famous number one spiritualist academy than make sure that none of their students make it to the finals? There isn''t, right? There isn''t!" His head-shaking had changed direction, now darting left to right. "Lady Tanuki will win it all and then Sea Empire will have no face left. No they won''t. . . . No face! Daddy might even acknowledge her!"

    Raven raised an eyebrow. "Now that is interesting." She smiled sweetly at the man and patted his shoulder, quickly easing his hysteria. "Thank you, sir, you have been most helpful."

    "So . . . so, you will let me go?"

    Raven''s smile distorted slightly.

    "Sure I will, you were helpful, right? Just tell me: at what cultivation level am I?" she asked, sounding both nonchalant and proud.

    "Mi-mid Spirit Champion. . . ." the man answered, too overjoyed by the first half of her message to notice the dangerous glint in Raven''s eyes.

    "And what cultivation level did miss Canis Tanuki tell you I was at?"

    "High A-. . . ." Only now did the man realize what trap he had walked into, but it was already too late. Raven had grabbed the dagger stuck in the short man''s foot and, in one swift movement, yanked it out and stabbed it deep into his temple instead.

    "Off you go."

    Shock flashed by the man''s eyes but all light quickly faded from them, the last signs of life fading equally fast. He was gone in a heartbeat.

    Raven retrieved the dagger, wiping off the blood and goo on the dead man''s black robes. She glanced upwards. Above her, yet another set of fights were starting - the sixth grader''s quarter finals would begin after these.

    Without bothering about the death and destruction she had caused, Raven clicked on her Limiters, straightened the fabric of her long robes and then simply left.

    It didn''t take long for her to reach the waiting hall where roughly twenty boys in their mid-teens were impatiently waiting for their turn to fight again. There were no females here, but not because there weren''t any participating in the tournament. The reason became quite apparent when one boy, still high on the adrenaline from his fight, caught sight of the approaching Raven.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    He whistled provocatively and watched as she walk past him, but when he didn''t get any response, the boy figured that is was a good idea to give Raven a smack on her firm little but. It wasn''t.

    Raven had turned, grabbing his hand long before he reached his prized target and, bending his fingers back towards him, she took a short step backwards. Caught off guard and driven by the sudden pain in his hand, the boy slammed down on his knees, even without Raven having to use any spirit essence to force it.

    The sudden noise caused the boys in the hallway to instantly quiet down. They looked at Raven, and the kneeling boy in front of her, with confounded surprise. The awkward silence was however quickly interrupted when one of the few doors in the hallway swung open and Javelin, bare-chested and with a glossy salve rubbed over his left shoulder, came walking out.

    "Raven."

    Smiling, he called out as soon as he saw her, but a frown quickly formed on his brow. Completely ignoring the still floored boy, Javelin walked up to Raven, a laced handkerchief appearing in his hand. "You got some blood on you," he explained as he gently wiped a lone blood drop off of Raven''s cheek.

    "Is it gone?" she asked as Javelin''s hand paused, not leaving her face.

    "Ah, yes."

    Javelin withdrew his hand, subconsciously scratching the back of his neck. He looked around at the staring boys around them and his gaze hardened.

    "We can talk in here," he said, motioning towards the room he had come from. Raven nodded, and finally let go of the poor kid who had invited himself to a feel. Once free, the boy still remained on the floor, cradling his hand.

    Raven followed Javelin into the side room. As it turned out, it was a small ward for treating injuries, but Javelin had been the only patient so the place was currently empty.

    "Why did you come here?" Javelin asked, opting for a more private conversation than spoken words would allow.

    Raven shrugged. "I wanted to see how bad it was." She reached out to touch Javelin''s salve-anointed shoulder, but, as expected, it was almost completely healed. "You could have released your Limiters. . . ."

    Javelin''s brows arched slightly before he chuckled. "That''s not what you said a few hours ago; only to prevent death, wasn''t it?"

    Raven remained silent.

    "So what was that killing intent I felt from you, below the stage a while ago?"

    ". . . I found the goons who gave the enhancement pill to your opponent."

    "Ah," suddenly Javelin understood, and even felt a bit pleased inside. "Was it like you thought?"

    "Pretty much. Canis has gotten her hands on the same kind of pills that the Blood Hound''s vindictive employer had when they came to assassinate the Griffin twins - Queen Ghost Pills they called them. I had assumed that the pills would stop working once Gadwall left, but apparently not."

    "So now what?" Javelin asked.

    "You just focus on the tournament, I''ve got your back. Be careful though; who knows how many people Canis has managed to turn against you." Raven paused and once more touched Javelin''s shoulder. "Don''t let this happen again," she said, out loud.

    Javelin smiled, placing his hand over Raven''s. "Worried? You?"

    Raven snorted and pulled back her hand. "Only about your future development - some injuries run deeper than your healing can reach."

    "Really?" Javelin smirked and spread his arms, perfectly extenuating his well-developed muscles. "I think I''ve already improved quite a bit, compared to Eric."

    Briefly, Raven froze but Javelin only caught a moment of apprehension from her before she sighed heavily and shook her head. "Boys. . . ." she chided and turned to leave. Javelin stretched out a hand, aiming to catch her, but Raven didn''t let him; she slipped out through the door like a wet eel. He did, however, catch the playful glint in Raven''s once again green eyes before she disappeared out of view, slamming the door shut behind her.

    Outside, Raven had no problem hearing Javelin suddenly laughing on the other side of the door, and an unusually soft smile spread on her lips. The honesty of it was short-lived though as she met the gazes of the several boys who were staring intently at her. The boy whose hand she had twisted was nowhere to be seen.

    Raven''s eyes twitched slightly, but she beamed a first-class smile at they boys and, with a voice like summer rain, she wished them all "good luck on their challenging but fair fights".

    Without giving anyone a second glance, Raven left, letting the boys mull over her words. Behind her, Raven clearly felt three boys tensing up; their hearts beating faster, their breathing faltering slightly.

    ''Three so far, huh?'' she mused. ''Canis sure works fast. . . .'' Raven expanded her senses, listening and feeling her surroundings more carefully. Apart from the arena officials, no other adults were nearby at the moment. Coincidence? Perhaps. . . .

    Moments later, Raven''s lip curled into a slight smile and, not as out-of-the-blue as the person in question had assumed, a white-haired man appeared in front of Raven, his arms crossed disapprovingly over his chest.

    "Ah, Aves, you''re here today?" she asked, seemingly surprised by the man''s presence.

    "Lady Raven Nightingale! You little minx! What is the point of having me as your bodyguard if you keep sneaking away from me all the time!"

    Raven smiled coyly. "What''s the point, indeed."

    Aves'' face looked ready to explode, a rare sight for this generally more easy-going man.

    "Oh relax, Aves," Raven walked past the elder, patting him on the shoulder in passing. "How about this: catch me in the act next time, and I''ll let you join me on my . . . adventures?"

    Aves groaned. If he could catch Raven sneaking off, then it wouldn''t be sneaking off, now would it?

    "Of course, Aves could lock me in my room and hope that does the trick. . . " Raven speculated, talking more to herself than the man who followed behind her. A glint flashed across the latter''s eyes; clearly he had already considered the option. "But then again," Raven continued, "who knows how poorly that would affect my cultivation. . . . What would happen if I get stuck as a mid Champion for too long?"

    Aves almost lost his toppled over at that point, managing to lose his balance on the flat floor. Raven glanced over her shoulder and laughed softly. "Relax a bit Aves, I''m only joking. I know your brother wants me under constant supervision, but lets face it - apart from a handful of Spirit Masters - who on this continent would be able to kill me? I''m too good at ''sneaking away'', no?"

    <hr>

    High above the arena, standing on nothing but air, appeared two young men. Their over all shape was human, but their too long ears and lion-like tails relieved them as something else. The two of them wore brass-colored armor that looked more ceremonial than practical and, although entirely unnecessary, they both carried two long spears on their backs.

    They stood in the clouds, staring down at the arena-covered island below them with varied interest.

    "Sigh, such cubs. . . ." muttered the least engaged of the two. "Remind me again why we had to come to this . . . pit, a week ahead of schedule."

    "Orders are orders, Cozimo, no matter how boring you find them," the other replied, still gazing downwards. They were well over a kilometer above the arena, but that didn''t stop him from clearly seeing what was going on below.

    "I know that!" the one called Cozimo hissed, a small growl building in the back of his throat. "I just don''t get why they wanted us to waste an entire week here, watching cubs play with sticks. And don''t you go shrugging on me, Azmer; I know you''re just as confused by this as I am."

    "Perhaps," said Azmer, shrugging anyway, "just see it as a paid, but boring, vacation." He paused, his tail flicking behind him. "Or, as an opportunity to meet Spirit Legend Fenris - rumor has it he''s here, training his undecided grandcub."

    "What!? You''re kidding, right!" Cozimo quickly stretched out a hand to grab hold of his friend''s shoulder. The movement was done fairly casually, but it still caused a thunderous clap to explode out around them. "Don''t you dare trick me about this!"

    "I''m not, I''m not," chuckled the other, shrugging of the grip as if it was nothing. "You know he''s a bit . . . eccentric; why wouldn''t he come to a place like this?"

    Cozimo quieted down, his stare once more turning downwards.

    "Fine, I''ll wait," he eventualy muttered, causing Azmer to smile softly. After that, the two of them remained silent as they continued to watch the unknowing crowds below.

 Chapter 116: Advice

    Frowning, Raven looked up at the sky. She could have sworn that she heard thunder - and not from the fighting taking place on stage - however, nothing above her indicated anything like a lightning storm. Apart from a few fluffy, cotton-candy-like clouds, the sky was clear. Nonetheless, Raven��s instincts told her that there was something there, but no matter how hard she tried, her senses couldn��t pick up on anything.

    ��Even higher up?�� she muttered to herself.

    ��Hmm, did you say something?�� asked Aves, who was trailing closely behind her.

    Raven glanced over her shoulder. ��No, nothing.��

    The two of them were slowly walking back to the imperial viewing section of the arena, but they were still quite far off from their destination.

    ��Don��t you want to watch Student Hake��s fight? It will begin any minute now. . . .�� Aves himself was rather interested in Javelin''s next fight; the youth had impressed him during his last round.

    "I am watching, look," Raven replied and pointed down an aisle of chairs. Aves followed her gesture with his eyes, only realizing his error when a soft giggle rang out in his ears. "Sorry, friend."

    Aves'' head snapped back towards Raven, but she was already gone - leaving only a faint haze of her spirit essence behind.

    "Dammit!" he swore. His body flashed as he started running towards a hallway that lead to the inner arena complex.

    Right bellow where Aves had been standing - in what Raven assumed was originally some sort of maintenance tunnel - crouched Raven''s small figure, a crooked smile hidden in the darkness. Considering how proficient she had gotten at using the Spacial Dash together with the Void Tracker Divine Skill, Aves didn''t stand a chance at keeping up with her.

    Her easy attitude didn''t last long though.

    Raven rolled her head sideways, softening the muscles in her neck. "Time to go hunting," she almost purred, a red glint flashing by in her eyes.

    <hr>

    On the fighting stage, Javelin held his metal staff loosely in one hand as he gazed out over the other seven students who shared the stage with him. Only half of those who remained were from the Sea Academy - an anomaly in itself since the quarterfinals of the graduation tournament usually never had any outsiders left at all. Javelin couldn''t help but wonder how many pills Canis had gotten her hands on; their effect didn''t last more than five minutes, so every battle would need a new set of pills.

    An even more interesting question was how long it would take for Headmaster Hammer - or some other high-level spiritualist - to notice that something fishy was going on. Power bursts within the same level were one thing, but when high Adepts started taking the pills, they would be pushed into a new realm - even a Novice would notice that, if close enough.

    Then again, maybe they had already noticed. Because what could they do about it even if they knew? Technically, no rules were being broken - although few would actually chose to exploit this fact usually. The whole point of the graduation tournament was after all to test what you had learned over the years, not the depths of your pockets. Besides, such practices would only benefit the Sea Academy in the end since their resources where incomparable to the other schools''.

    "Where are you looking, genius!?" Javelin''s opponent suddenly shouted and swung his head-sized hammer towards Javelin''s ribs, a distinct smell of earth filling the air as it approached. It was a heavy attack, by a heavier weapon; no doubt it would hurt if it hit home, and badly so.

    Neither surprised or fearful of the incoming danger, Javelin grabbed his staff with both hands and thrust it into the stage-surface behind. As soon as it made contact, vast amounts of his spirit essence flowed through the staff, locking it firmly to the ground and, in the same movement, Javelin sprung up, pivoting around his grounded staff. Like a whirlwind, he both swiftly evaded the hammer-strike to his ribs and landed a hard kick to his opponent''s side.

    Like a cannon ball, the boy was sent flying while Javelin landed softly on his feet. ''It''s not like I have to look at you. . . . Not with you screaming at me like that,'' he mused, but kept his opinion to himself.

    After scraping along the ground for several meters, the other student''s body ground to a halt, shrouded in dust. He was a Sea Academy student like Javelin, although a regular one.

    ''Rohu, was it?''

    Javelin kind of recognized him from the Advanced Student Trials that had taken place just a few days after he and Raven had arrived at the academy. The kid had shown promise, but ultimately failed and had been spouting nonsense about both Javelin and Raven ever since. Not that Javelin couldn''t understand where his anger was coming from; they had after all been given Advanced Student positions without participating in the trials.

    "He just took the pill," Raven suddenly warned, her voice bringing strong killing intent with it; Javelin could only assume that she must be fighting too.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    However, even with her attention split, Raven had been right on the mark; it took less than a second for Javelin to also notice the growing fluctuations of spirit essence within Rohu. In a matter of heartbeats, the boy was forcefully advanced from a high Adept into the realm of a low Champion.

    "You''ve been holding back on me," Javelin called out sarcastically to the Rohu. The latter had been busy with getting to his feet at an unreasonably slow pace - clearly hoping for a dramatic effect - but the mocking tone in Javelin''s remark caused him to falter slightly.

    "I-it''s not like it''s against the rules!" Rohu hissed, now easily waving his heavy hammer in front of him with only one hand.

    "I didn''t say it was," Javelin replied calmly, broadening his stance. "Make your attack."

    Rohu sneered; he assumed that Javelin was overestimating himself.

    "Fake confidence won''t help in front of true strength, Hake! Prepare to lose!"

    Still yelling, Rohu charged, his forced low Champion spirit essence pushing down on Javelin like an oppressive mountain. However, the latter silently bore the pressure and, just as Rohu was in the most vital stage of gathering his power, Javelin raised his eyebrows slightly and spoke out just loud enough for the closest crowds to hear him. "True strength?"

    A few bursts of laughter echoed from the stands and, for the second time, Rohu''s motion faltered under Javelin''s well-aimed comments. It wasn''t by much, but that opening was all the latter needed. Javelin stepped in with his staff, jabbing it hard against Rohu''s chest as streams of water gushed forth, forcing the boy to lose his balance. Once again, the change wasn''t large, but it was enough. Javelin spun around, bringing the powerful water streams with him, and swept Rohu off his feet. The water slammed into the boy as he was falling, forcing him into a violent backwards roll.

    The water was relentless and when Rohu finally managed to regain control and get to his feet, he was soaked to the bone. He looked much like a wet puppy - inspiring another batch of giggles - but was otherwise fairly unharmed. Ignoring the audience, Rohu snorted and was about to berate Javelin''s weakness when he notice the latter pointing at his feet.

    Looking down, Rohu''s eyes widened - he was outside their fighting section!

    <hr>

    "Javelin Hake of Sea Academy wins in section 4!" called an arena official and the quarter of the crowd that was closest to the fighting section in question cheered - some more heartfelt than others.

    In her seat, Canis clutched the armrests so hard that cracks appeared in the sturdy wooden frame.

    "Lady Tanuki . . ?" a fellow Sea Academy graduate probed, noticing the sound of splintering wood next to him.

    Instantly, Canis relaxed her grip. "Nevermind that," she replied curtly and stood up. "I''m leaving."

    True to her words, Canis left without further ado. She quickly disappeared into the less crowded corridors behind and below the arena benches, heading towards a staircase that led downwards, but Canis had only taken a few steps when a soft and feminine voice called out to her, sending an inexplicable shudder down her spine.

    "My, if it isn��tGraduate Tanuki - fancy meeting you here."

    Canis spun around, her black eyes locking on to the little Nightingale girl. The latter had been leaning casually against a supportive pillar, partially hiding her from Canis'' view when she passed.

    "Junior Nightingale, what are you doing here?" Canis asked, her eyes darting around at the few passing people in the corridor - scarce as they might be, there were still too many of them. "Shouldn''t you be watching your friend''s fight?"

    "Javelin? Oh, I have faith that he can handle it," Raven smiled; "otherworldly pills and all."

    Canis'' eyes twitched, narrowing in on Raven. She took a step forward - spirit essence covering her lank fingers - but sudden and happy laughter spilled out into the corridor, forcing her to halt her actions.

    Raven gave her an infuriatingly amused look. "There really is no need to become too open about all this, right? I mean, what would daddy say if you got banned from the tournament, perhaps even the nation, due to some . . . indecent behavior?"

    It was fortunate that Canis was no longer holding anything in her hands, because she clenched her firsts with boiling rage, blood dyeing her hidden fingertips red. "What nonsense are you talking about!?" she forced out through grinding teeth, a murderous glint deep in her eyes.

    Most would find Canis attitude rather intimidating, but the girl in front of her now just laughed. "Did I hit a nerve? I would practice my innocent-look a bit more if I were you; you''re way too obvious."

    Before Canis had the chance to retaliate, Raven herself stepped forward, closing the space between them. "Careful," the girl warned just as Canis was about to use the opportunity to strike her - moments later ten youths and a Sea Academy Elder walked into the corridor, vividly discussing the now finished quarterfinals.

    Leaning even closer, Raven whispered into Canis'' ear.

    "Let me give you some advice, Tanuki: drowning is a lonely and quiet death. Keep pushing it and you might find yourself . . . in over your head."

    Raven winked playfully and then slipped away, leaving a clearly shaken Canis behind. When the girl was speaking to her, Canis could have sworn that she felt a cold snare, warping itself around her neck and blocking her breathing. Only, her hands had found nothing there.

    Snorting, Canis pushed away the unease she had felt, her mind picking the most likely explanation.

    ''What an odd illusionary Divine Skill. . . .'' Canis mused, her cold haughtiness returning to her gaze once more. ''But empty tricks are pointless! Whoever''s helping you clearly doesn''t want to do so openly; Hake''s on his own on the fighting stage. . . .''

    With renewed confidence, Canis headed down the nearby staircase. Below, fewer people were moving around and she slipped into a dark and seemingly unoccupied room.

    Canis whistled softly and moments later a black figure seemingly emerged out of the darkness.

    "My Lady," said the figure with a husky voice. He knelt down on the floor in front of Canis so smoothly he almost seemed to be levitating.

    "Did you get it?"

    From within his robed, the figure stretched out two pale and scarred hands. Cupped within them was a small fiery red bird, seemingly sleeping. Canis'' eyes narrowed with smug approval.

    "Well done, Setter. It looks just like the pet bird that''s always hovering around those two brats. The poison?"

    "All is prepared, my Lady," the man replied.

    "Good. Get someone to watch out for the real one; if it approaches, kill it," she ordered and got a firm "yes, my Lady," in reply.

    "Hake''s abilities are higher than I expected - I doubt those weaklings will stop him from reaching today''s finals. Setter, you will wait until just before the last match starts and then execute the plan. Dismissed."

    The figure bowed before disappearing back into the darkness. Alone in the room, Canis smiled viciously. If her enemies thought they were the only ones who knew how to play with poisons, she would prove how deadly wrong they were.

 Chapter 117: Hell Has No Fury

    For a moment, the world in that small, dark room where Canis still stood seemed to slow down. A slight breeze shifted the young woman��s clothes way too slowly and a pale hand silently emerged from within the darkness behind her. Tangible wisps of black and red killing intent swirled around that elegant hand, corroding the very air as it passed, moving ever closer to its unknowing target.

    The hand was mere centimeters from the girl��s neck when it suddenly paused. For a moment, its owner seemed conflicted about how to proceed, but, in the end, the reaching hand closed and retreated into the darkness.

    All of this had happened in less than a tenth-of-a-second, and only once that elegant yet menacing hand was long gone did Canis spin around, her back covered in cold sweat and her face deathly pale.

    Slightly hysterical, Canis�� eyes darted around the room, but there really was nothing there. Nothing that could explain the sudden sense of unimaginable dread and doom that she was feeling; was she even still alive?

    Way above the arena, lion-tailed Azmer and Cozimo suddenly tensed, instinctively adopting their battle stances. After a few heartbeats they relaxed slightly and looked down below them with disbelieving eyes.

    ��What the heck was that!?�� Cozimo hissed.

    ��Killing intent,�� Azmer replied, a low growl building in the back of his throat.

    ��I know that!�� snapped Cozimo, his jaws sounding like thunder. ��But what��s it doing here? I��ve never felt it that strong before!��

    ��. . . I don��t know, but perhaps this is why we were told to come here early.�� Amzer pondered, his tail twitching slightly behind him. ��Perhaps this realm has finally produced a contestant.��

    Despite his obvious discomfort, Cozimo snorted. ��Yeah right, the highest cultivation level on this entire continent is a low Spirit Master �C for them to be able to manifest so much killing intent, their death toll must number in the tens of thousands! No way such a person is under twenty!��

    Azmer remained silent for a while. ��I guess you are right. . . . Let��s just continue observing for now.��

    With eyes blackened by unbridled rage, Raven moved like a silent wraith through the hidden maintenance tunnels in the arena. Suddenly, she felt a stabbing pain in her head which forced her to stop her advance and instead stumble backwards a bit.

    Her breathing was harsh and, unable to sit still, Raven started to rock back and forth on her feet, slamming her fist into the stone wall on every turn.

    Through her connection with Javelin, Raven could feel him tugging at her kindled anger, taking some into himself and soothing what was left with his calmer emotions. Slowly, the black color in Raven��s eyes faded, being replaced by the more controlled blood-red eyes that her killing intent fueled.

    ��That��s enough, Javelin. Focus on your fight,�� she instructed through their bond, but even mentally her voice sounded grimmer than usual.

    ��Are you sure?�� Javelin too sounded agitated, no doubt influenced by her emotions.

    ��Yes.�� Raven replied, moving backwards a bit further in the tunnel, giving Javelin more freedom of movement. ��I��m fine.��

    She could feel Javelin reluctantly shifting his attention back to his own fight �C he was in the middle of his semifinals, after all.

    Raven let out a deep breath, some black and red wisps being expelled with it. Naturally, she had followed Canis to her meeting with Setter and heard all of her nefarious plans. The moment killing Hoatzin was mentioned, Raven��s mind had gone kind of blank.

    It was like the world around her agreed with her rage and egged her on �C fueling both her killing intent and spirit essence with savage power beyond her control. Raven had involuntarily activated her Ode of Woe and moved in for the kill �C her entire being hungered for it.

    It had been at that point that a pure and calming flow of spirit essence flushed into her mind, bringing back some clarity to her. It was Javelin. He had naturally sensed the change in her and had practically paused his ongoing battle so he could help bring Raven��s senses back. However, just because he stopped fighting didn��t mean his opponent did. . . . Raven didn��t need to guess to know how badly he had been injured while focusing on her.

    ��I wonder how long he will keep wanting to protect me. . . .�� she murmured softly, but then sighed. There was no point in thinking about that now �C only time would tell. What she should be doing was to figure out what kept pushing her over the edge of control. It had happened before �C with Dunlin and even more so with Gadwall �C but why?

    It wasn��t that she didn��t think they deserved what they had coming �C Canis certainly did and if Raven ever found Gadwall again, she wouldn��t hesitate to finish what she started. What Raven didn��t like was that feeling of losing control.

    Raven closed her eyes, calmed her breathing and thought back on the previous occasions where her rage had gotten the better of her. In her mind, she saw the barren cliff where Jack and Dunlin sat on their tamed Shadow Blood Raptors, Jack dangling Hoatzin in his net, threatening to cook him for dinner.

    At that point, Raven had decided to let go of her pent-up anger and finally do something about her jerk of a cousin. She had wanted him to suffer, immensely, so she activated the Ode of Woe with all her might. As she did, the natural spirit essence around her had been influenced by her killing intent and had rallied to her, eventually becoming more than she could handle. Only Javelin had snapped her out of it eventually.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Raven frowned and moved her memories to her battle with Gadwall. He �C or was it Anhinga? �C had been showing some fake recording of the Nightingale family��s death and with every bloody strike, Raven had felt her heart grow colder. That pathetic recording. . . . Still, she had managed to control her emotions up until the point when Gadwall helped Anhinga escape and then showed off the Phoenix Death Lotus like some little trophy.

    Raven had been so angry then, so very angry. Just like in the mountain range, the natural spirit essence around her had responded to her rage, voluntarily filling her to the bursting point.

    She had wanted retribution, and the world had answered her call.

    ��. . . wait, retribution?�� A sudden thought struck Raven as a particular phrase flashed by in her mind:

    If they can��t be forgiven,

    then let them be burned.

    For that which is given,

    must be tenfold returned.

    The lines of her elusive and mysterious Divine Skill Retribution.

    From what insight she had gained, the aim of this martial skill was to use an opponent��s attack against them, returning a strengthened version in retribution. However, there was also that warning from the ancient entity in the Sky Academy��s hidden chamber �C his words echoed in her ears: ��Nothing in this world is free. The strongest of Divine Skills are double-edged swords; if you are not careful, the skill will control you rather than the other way around.��

    Raven��s eyes widened in realization. ��That has to be it!�� No sooner had the notion hit her than a prickling pain filled Raven��s head. Groaning slightly, Raven turned her attention inwards, seeking the source. She was shocked to find the inscription for the Retribution Divine Skill glowing intensely on the surface of her soul prism. The two verses that had previously been unclear now burned the brightest as new words were being etched into her soul. Once the light faded, three verses were linked together:

    When the trust is forsaken,

    all bonds shall be maimed.

    For that which is taken,

    will be fiercely reclaimed.

    If they can��t be forgiven,

    then let them be burned.

    For that which is given,

    must be tenfold returned.

    But when Vengeance has stricken,

    and the Justice is done,

    a faint soul may sicken;

    Retribution spares none.

    For a long while Raven sat in silence, contemplating what new insights these lines gave her, but beyond the fact that the second verse seemed to refer mainly to the attack transfer she couldn��t say much. It could be possible that the sickening soul referred to her loss of control, but her instincts told her otherwise. It felt more like the loss of control was a byproduct of Raven not being skilled enough at handling whatever the first verse was bringing about within her whenever she got truly angry.

    Raven grunted, feeling a slight headache coming along �C and it was not because of her still throbbing soul prism.

    ��Why do I get the feeling that this Divine Skill might end up giving me more trouble than it��s worth. . . .�� Raven mused but then shook it off. She wasn��t the type to refuse the heavy artillery just because there was a risk of it blowing up in her face.

    No, she would master it, no matter what is was.

    Raven opened her eyes, the blood-red glow still present, and glanced back down the tunnel she��d come through. When she just barely regained control earlier, she had used it to put as much distance between herself and Canis as possible �C she was simply too intent on killing that conniving little bitch to remain close by. Raven��s intentions hadn��t changed much, though; as far as she was concerned, the girl had already signed her own death certificate.

    Raven��s lips curled into a vicious smile as she headed back down the tunnel. At least now she knew that Javelin could help her snap back to reality if things got . . . messy.

    Seated on the back of the chair that Raven had failed to use for more than a few minutes sat Hoatzin, his fiery feathers glistening in the now setting sun��s orange rays. He was watching the fighting stage with an intent gaze but his mind wasn��t entirely focused on the fight as he also diligently listened to the conversations of the people seated around him. They were the highest this nation had to offer, nobility-wise, and their conversations were quite interesting to listen in on.

    Or at least, that was what he had been doing for large parts of the day. At the moment, however, the fighting stage had Hoatzin��s undivided attention. It was the semifinals, so only two sections where being used, with four people in total. However, only one particular person was of interest to Hoatzin; Javelin, who stood in his section, practically drenched in blood.

    A while back, his friend had almost entirely stopped fighting back against his opponent, only sluggishly moving out of the way when the latter was about to land lethal attacks. No matter how hard Hoatzin called for Javelin �C or his sister for that matter �C he had been ignored, only getting a strong reprimand to stay where he was.

    Javelin��s dazed fighting, if you could call it that, had continued for over two minutes �C although it felt like much more to Hoatzin �C until suddenly, Javelin��s gaze regained its vigor. His eyes had focused on the tall and lanky fellow he was fighting and even from well over a hundred meters away, Hoatzin could feel the viscous anger that was boiling behind those blue irises.

    For the first time in the entire tournament, Javelin had then initialized an attack. Rushing forward, Javelin had raised his staff diagonally over his head like a backwards-turned sword and then slashed it downwards. As he did, crystalline streaks of water spurted out from the staff��s tip, forming a huge, icy scythe.

    His opponent �C and the watching crowd�� too for that matter �C hadn��t known what hit him as a deep gash formed across his chest, blood spilling out of him like a river.

    For a moment, the entire arena seemed to still as even the other fighting pair paused their battle to see what had happened, and there he was; Javelin, covered in blood not entirely his own, panting heavily with explosive rage.

    Then all hell broke loose. Most of the crowd started cheering wildly while a bunch of healers rushed out on stage to help the now collapsed youth. They gave Javelin reproving glares, but when they looked closer and realized how badly injured he was, they quickly paled and called for more assistance.

    ��Ja-Javelin Hake of Sea Academy wins in section 1!�� the arena official managed to call out after a moment��s pause, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than Javelin��s body shuddered and toppled forward.

    ��Javelin!�� Hoatzin called, his talons digging into the wood of the chair he was perched on. When no reply came, Hoatzin tried another approach; ��Sister! Javelin has fainted!�� he called to Raven. At first, Hoatzin thought he wouldn��t get a reply from her either, but it actually came before he could try again.

    ��I know, brother,�� she replied, sounding more restrained in her emotions than usual. ��Don��t worry, he is . . . he will be okay. His mother is already on the island.��

    ��What happened!?�� Hoatzin demanded. ��I tried to reach you, but you would not answer! You felt . . . far way.��

    ��It��s a long story �C I��ll tell you later.�� Raven paused and Hoatzin could tell that something big must have happened. He hesitated slightly to ask about it, though, which gave Raven time to speak again. ��I do have something I need you to do, though.��

    ��Name it!��

    ��Leave.��

 Chapter 118: Silent Deaths

    <h2 style="text-align: center">Silent Deaths</h2>

    For a moment Hoatzin didn''t say anything. Raven could almost feel her brother''s shock and disappointment in his silence and couldn''t help but smile wryly.

    "Not willing?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

    "No! Definitely not!"

    "Not even if I tell you that an unknown number of low to mid Spirit Champions want to catch and kill you before Javelin starts his final match?"

    ". . .what do you want me to do?"

    "I told you, leave. Cross the fighting stage, at roughly ten meters height, and then continue north."

    "Would that not just bring attention to me leaving?" Hoatzin asked, sounding confused.

    "Exactly." A hungry glint flashed by Raven''s eyes. "Don''t worry, brother; they won''t get the opportunity to reach you."

    ". . . Okay!"

    Raven suppressed a warm smile; her brother and Javelin were actually quite similar - both anxious to help, consequences be damned.

    "Good. Just wait a moment longer; Tetra is here."

    Raven had moved closer to the stage and could clearly sense madam Hake''s clear and brightly orange presence, hurriedly rushing out to her son. Not bothering to move him, she crouched down next to Javelin as incredibly pure spirit essence poured out of her hands, forming a complex diagram in the air above him.

    Tetra pushed the diagram into her son and, almost like wiping a dirty window with a wet cloth, both blood and grime was swept away from Javelin''s body as it passed. All the wounds he had started to fade at an astounding rate. Even his spirit essence was steadily purified, removing the taint from Raven''s killing intent.

    Raven could only marvel at the woman''s skill with healing and concluded that her title, Saint Major, was truly well deserved. Less than a minute later, Raven could already feel Javelin''s consciousness returning to him.

    "Javelin?" Raven probed, getting a slightly jumbled reply. ". . . You did well, Jav - thank you," she commended after a moment''s hesitation.

    It might have just been good timing but the compliment seemed to flush Javelin back to clarity. He suddenly sat up straight, gulping in a mouthful of air as he brushed away his mother''s healing hand. Even through the several layers of rock walls, Raven could tell that Tetra instantly started fussing over her son, yelling in fear-fueled anger.

    Javelin focused more on Raven. "What happened with you?"

    "It''s a long story, but right now I need your help - can you move?"

    Raven could feel Javelin trying to get up on his feet, but Tetra pushed him down again. Javelin grunted. ". . .I can, once I convince my mother that I''m fine. What do you need?"

    "Range," Raven replied, "Canis is planing to capture Hoatzin and use a stand-in bird to poison you before your next fight."

    "What!? Is-. . ."

    "Hoatzin is fine. In fact he is going to help me lure out Canis'' people, but I need you to move a bit north so I can reach them all."

    ". . . You''re going to use your brother as bait?"

    "In crass terms, yes."

    "What if something happens to him?"

    "You know me better than that, Javelin."

    "I do, but . . . do you? Your killing intent earlier. . . ."

    "Is well enough under control. He is my brother, Javelin, and you are . . . my friend; I will protect you both."

    A silent shudder ran through Javelin''s soul prism but it passed so quickly Raven almost thought she had imagined it. She frowned but Javelin spoke first, his tone as if nothing had happened.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "Fine," he muttered. "Wait a moment; I''ll have mother move me to the sick bay by the northern entrance."

    Javelin finally gave his consent and, since even Tetra had come to the conclusion that he shouldn''t remain on the stage any longer, convincing her to pick the right destination wasn''t hard. Just as Javelin walked off the stage, Raven sent a mental command to her brother.

    "Go now, brother."

    "Yes!"

    From the weak link their souls shared, Raven could feel Hoatzin take off from the imperial viewing section across the stage and quickly his presence flew into her normal range of detection. He was heading straight for her and it didn''t take long before he was joined by a handful of strong people who had suddenly started shifting their position towards the north; six of them to be exact - Setter included - but perhaps there were still more of them outside of her range.

    Raven snickered. At least these people had learned their lesson. Sending four low Champions, a mid Champion and a peak Adept, to deal with what they believed was an ordinary bird, could definitely be considered overkill; clearly, they were worried about the supposed hidden expert who they thought was lurking in the darkness, helping Raven and Javelin.

    Well, at least the lurking-in-the-darkness part was right. . . .

    Soundlessly, Raven slipped into the shadows and made her way towards her first target - an unfortunate mid Champion who happened to be closest to her. In her hands, two daggers appeared, practically dripping with a blue, pungent substance. As she walked, Raven started softly humming the familiar tune of the Twilight Lullaby, its melancholic and bittersweet melody echoing down the nearly empty hall.

    With all the fighting going on at the arena stage, neither the noise nor the extra spirit essence in the air alerted anyone. The few people present instantly seemed to slow down, their eyes growing dazed.

    No one noticed as Raven passed them, not even the friendly-looking arena official who, moments earlier, had given his coworkers a fairly plausible excuse, explaining why he suddenly needed to make a check of the northern docks. It wasn''t until Raven was long gone that the man found it surprisingly hard to breathe.

    Horrified, he looked down at his sea-green robes only to find two slim cuts - one on his chest, one in his gut - both gushing out blood. He tried to summon his spirit essence to heal himself, but it wasn''t only blood that was escaping from his abdomen, it was spirit essence too, so nothing happened. He raised his head to call for help, but found himself in a dim and deserted storage room, rather than the scarcely crowded hallway he had been in just moments earlier.

    Desperate, he tried to call for help anyway, but his voice failed him - in fact, everything failed him as he collapsed, helpless, to the damp floor. Even as the last breaths of life left him, the friendly-looking official couldn''t understand what had happened; it had all happened too fast to even fathom. Was he, a low Spirit Champion who had been on a covert mission in the Sea Empire for nearly five years going to die - just like that?

    No fighting, no shouting, only death.

    Meanwhile, Raven''s secret journey through the arena passageways continued. Hoatzin might have flown straight over the top of the arena, but to follow him, one had to take the inner passages or risk drawing way too much attention. This fit Raven perfectly.

    Like an old dungeon, the arena complex was riddled with hidden paths - long forgotten. Raven''s senses picked up on them all and she used these to swiftly move from one doomed attacker to the next.

    Oh masters mine, where are you roaming....

    A head toppled to the ground, a look of surprise forever stuck on its bloodied face.

    Oh come and hear, your true love''s calling....

    Anunheard shriek echoed down an empty hall as a Healer found her lower torso inconveniently detached from her upper body.

    That can sing both high and low...

    Two brothers slumped in a corner, purple bruises forming on the skin of their broken necks.

    That can sing both high and low...

    One after another, Canis'' people met their untimely ends, all unaware of their mutual demise. They died and their bodies practically vanished; tucked into inconspicuous places where no one ever looked or placed so much in plain sight that they seemed more alive than their still breathing fellows.

    It didn''t take long before only one of the original six henchmen remained.

    By the time Setter''s darkrobed figurehad made it to the northern dock, Hoatzin''s bright red body was already disappearing off into the horizon. He glanced around the dock and frowned. He had been the furthest away from this dock; he shouldn''t have been the first to arrive, so where were the others?

    "Looking for some one?" a sweet yet bone-chillingly cold voice asked.

    Setter swirled around - a black dagger in hand - but when he faced the owner of that voice, Setter could have sworn that the creature was none other than the devil incarnate; a monstrous beast with blood-thirsty eyes, here to claim is life and all he held dear. The vision only lasted for a moment, but the fear it caused him was enough for Raven to act.

    With thunder-covered fingers, Raven jabbed at Setter''s temple with one hand and his lower abdomen with the other. Electric sparks flowed into the unguarded man, instantly zapping him unconscious and momentarily paralysing the essence in his spirit core. As Setter''s twitching body fell to the ground, Raven closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. She had used most of her core''s remaining spirit essence reserve to subdue Setter without a fuss - he was after all also a mid Champion and even further along in his cultivation than Raven was. If she wanted to kill him, that wouldn''t be too much ofa challenge, but to take him alive was different and was only possible because she caught him off guard with her Ode of Woe.

    Raven urged her spirit connections to quickly absorb more spirit essence. After a few deep breaths, Raven hoisted Setter''s listless body unceremoniously over her slender shoulders and returned to the shadows, her eerie humming once more filling the air around her.

 Chapter 119: Poisonous Plans

    In the sky above the arena, the two lion-tailed youths were frowning deeply.

    "Did you feel that?" the one calledAzmer asked.

    Cozimoshook his head in denial. "It''s not possible. . . ."

    "I think it''s time we took a closer look."

    Without waiting for a reply, Azmer''s body shimmered and warped. Moments later, his originally majestic appearance had turned quite ordinary; his copper-colored armor was replaced by simple robes, his two lances were nowhere to be seen,nor was his tail, and he looked more like an overgrown school boy than a beast turned man. Like a silent comet, Azemer dove straight down, aiming for the sea around the arena. He moved so swiftly that ordinary people would be hard-pressed to see more than an indistinct blur falling from the sky.

    <hr>

    Down below, Raven suddenly raised her head, looking towards the south even though her eyes saw nothing but the stone walls of the narrow corridor she was in. She frowned.

    "Something wrong?" asked Hoatzin. Raven had called him back right after capturing Canis''aide and hehad beenwatchingher stuff the latter''s now naked body into asmall cage -no larger than what a mid-sized dog could fit in -when she had abruptly stopped.

    "I''m not sure," Raven replied, resuming her forceful tugging at Setter''s body. "I''ve been sensing a couple . . . weird things today, but it''s always gone as quickly as it comes."

    With a final heave, Setter finally slipped into the small cage. With a heavy clank, the lock fell into place and,instantly,lines of spirit essence swirled around the cage''s bars, making them incredibly sturdy.The man in the cage groaned, his consciousness returning to him. At first his eyes were unfocused, but when he caught sight of Raven -looming over him and wearing his black robes -they widened in shock.

    Raven smiled coldly at him, sending uninvited shivers down his spine.

    "How. . .?" he started, but Raven smirked and pointed to her ears, indicating she couldn''t hear him. It was a lie, of course, but for normal people who relied simply on their ears, hearing what went on in the cage would indeed be impossible. It was a special cage, designed especially to deal with savage spirit beasts that werecaptured for spiritualistbattles in the arena above. Since some spirit attacks could be transferred throughsound, thecages kept both sound and spirit essence alikeinside, preventing themfrom permeating outside the cage.There were hundreds of these cages inthe room Raven was in, but there was a thick layer of dust over them, indicating they hadn''t been used for a while.

    Realizing where he was, theman in the cage paled. He gathered spirit essence into his legs and kicked ashard as he could against the cage''s hatch, hoping to break it open. It barely vibrated.

    Satisfied that Setter wasn''t going anywhere, Raven turned to leave; the seventh grade representatives would be done with their semifinal fight shortly, and Raven still had things she wanted to do before it was Javelin''s turn. It wasn''t until she was walking away, with Hoatzin on her shoulder, that Setter finally noticed the small bird-cage that she was swinging back and forward childishly at her side. It was the same cage Setter had tucked within his robe to carry Hoatzin''s replacement. Only, now its content was nothing more than a mutilated mess of blood and red feathers.

    Just as Raven was about to disappear out of Setter''sview, she suddenly turned and held up a small crystal bottle forhim to see. She gave him a playful wink that was somehow still overflowing with killing intent. A dreadful premonition nestled its way into the man''s heart, cold sweat quickly covering his brow.

    With a giggle that he couldn''t hear, Raven left.

    "What do you have planned next, sister?" Hoatzin asked as he curiously watched Ravenretrieving a second bottle from within her spacial ring.

    "I have a little gift I want you to deliver." Using spirit essence to control the two bottles, Raven firstalmost entirely emptied the first one and then carefully poured the content of thesecondbottle over its surface. "Take this, brother. Yourtalons will be fine holding it."Raven moved the crystal bottle to hover in front of Haotzin. "Take thisto Canis, and make sure that she takes it with her own hands."

    "What was it you poured over it?" Hoatzin asked and a vicious smile spread on Raven''s face as she pulled up the black hood of the stolen robe over her head.

    "Slow-acting vengeance."

    <hr>

    Canis impatiently thrummed the armrest of her chair as she ignored the four teenagers fighting in front of her. Both battles had dragged out longer than expected, because even with Canis secretly handing out Ghost Queen Pills, she could do nothing about who fought whom; both battles were youths fighting their own classmates, so no pills would be used during these fights.

    ��Where is Setter��s signal?�� Canis muttered, one of her perfectly shaped nails leaving yet another mark in the wooden armrest. It wouldn��t be long until the finalists were decided and talk was that Javelin had already been healed back to top condition, curtsy of his oh-so-talented mother.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    She glanced over to her left, stealing a look of the section where the Sky Empire��s future emperor was seated next to the Sea Empire��s only female heiress to the throne. The pair was watching the battles while laughing merrily about something. Canis snorted, unimpressed by their lax attitude to each other.

    Suddenly, Canis felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and she snapped her head around to look diagonally across the stage. There, standing half hidden behind a pillar was a lean figure in black. At first, Canis hesitated about who it was �C because why did she feel so exposed under his gaze �C but when she saw the golden glimmer of the small birdcage in his hand, Canis relaxed. Setter��s figure stepped back into the shadows and, moments later a blazing red bird flapped out from the darkness.

    Canis smirked while she watched the bird, flying low as it headed back towards the seat where the real pet had previously perched. As it passed over her, a crystal glint reflected the light of the already setting sun - Canis instinctively reached out her hand and caught the small bottle that the bird had dropped.

    Glancing down at the empty bottle, Canis quickly hid the malicious grin of victory that threatened to bloom on her lips. All that remained now was for the fake bird to scratch its poison dipped talons against Javelin''s skin and the boy would get dizzy and lose his sense of balance in less than a minute.

    ''There was just no way Javelin Hake will win his next fight!''

    As Canis suspected, it didn''t take long before the fierce battles on stage died down, leaving two men standing as the finalists of their grade. No sooner had the two battles ended than a booming voice echoed out, calling for the sixth grade finalists to take the stage. Moments later, Javelin Hake and a tall lanky fellow walked out with determined steps.

    Canis glanced over at the substitute pet and frowned. Why hadn''t it moved yet? By the time the two contestants had reached the center of the stage, the young woman had turned purple from lack of air.

    ''Go!'' she felt herself wanting to scream and suddenly, as if hearing her prayers, the bird finally took off. Canis couldn''t hide her glee as she watched it land on Javelin''s shoulder, sitting there for a brief moment before the latter suddenly flinched and swatted it away.

    "Begin!" commanded the arena official shortly thereafter and the two boys were eager to comply. One with a staff and the other with a spear, Javelin and his opponent started their fierce sparring, sparks and water vapor quickly filling the air around them.

    Canis'' lip twitched into a slight sneer as she could her the people around her gossiping about the ongoing battle.

    "He fights well," said one, referring to Javelin''s opponent, "but their difference in cultivation level is too big - the Storm Academy kid isn''t going to last long. . . ."

    "I don''t think so," answered another, "the Sea Academy students have been a real disappointment this year! How come they aren''t as domineering as usual?"

    "No doubt the Sea Academy has become too proud of themselves over the last few years and have become lax!" said a third.

    "True, true," the first two agreed. "They say arrogance is a deadly sin - it seems these words are accurate."

    Canis had chosen to sit among the commoners after returning from her meeting with Setter and what she heard them speak of pleased her very much. While their individual worth was negligible, as a group, commoners still had a purpose. Who cared if the spiritualists present could feel the sudden rises in cultivation and thereby guess that some medicine or pill was changing the outcome of these battles?

    The commoners could only go by the Soul Stones to judge a spiritualist''s cultivation. For them, all they could see were the famous Sea Academy students failing, miserably, over and over again. By the time someone informed them of what had actually happened, the damage would already be done and the Sea Academy''s reputation wouldn''t be salvageable for a long while!

    Canis mirth didn''t last long however, because as time went on, nothing seemed to happen to Javelin. In fact, the more he fought, the more obvious it became how superior he was in front of his opponent.

    ''Did the poison not work?'' she grumbled, wondering if perhaps Javelin''s mother had somehow given him a protection against poisons. A murderous glare flashed past her eyes. ''Damn it!'' Canis cursed, already considering what punishment she should give Setter for failing her.

    On stage, the situation for the lanky Storm Academy student quickly worsened and it didn''t take long before Javelin had pushed him into a figurative corner.

    "Why isn''t he at least taking his Ghost Queen Pill!?" she hissed, no longer managing to keep her inner dialog entirely to herself.

    "You mean this pill?"

    The sudden voice, filled with killing intent, caused Canis to jolt in shock. Instinctively she tried to jump out of her seat, but a cold hand gripped her wrist, yanking Canis backwards at just the right moment when her balance was at its worst.

    Still in shock, Canis stared at the small yet elegant hand that held her in place, easily feeling the vigorous spirit essence of a mid Champion locking her down. Normally, this wouldn''t be enough to keep Canis from moving, but something about how this spirit essence moved made it a lot more unyielding than usual. Worst of all, however, was that she recognized that hand.

    Canis looked up and found herself staring straight at Raven Nightingale''s softly smiling face, elegantly framed by her midnight-purple braids.

    "You-. . ." she started, but Raven cut her off, her voice sounding sweeter and smoother than honey.

    "I came to return this to you," she said, presenting Canis with the pitch-black pill in the palm of her jade-white hand. Canis glanced down at the pill and was planning to refute ever seeing it before, but, when she looked up at Raven again, she was met by two blood-red eyes which glared at her with ferocious hunger Canis hadn''t experienced before.

    Images of savage beasts, tearing at her flesh and gnawing at her bones flashed by in Canis'' mind, but when she blinked and pulled back in horror the visions disappeared like they were never there. Even Raven''s eyes were as green and lush as ever. There was no joy in them though.

    "I did warn you," the girl said softly, before swiftly standing up with the grace of a fairy queen, now completely ignoring Canis.

    "I hope you will enjoy tomorrow''s fights even more than today''s," Raven added with a louder voice as she smiled warmly at the people who had been talking ill of the Sea Academy students. Then she left.

    Instantly, the gossip around Canis shifted its focus from the disapointing Sea Academy students to Raven Nightingale and her demeanor, but Canis herself sat like a stone in the center of it.

    ''It''s just an illusion. . . . All of it. . . ,'' she tried to convince herself. Eventually, she looked down at the pill that Raven had forced into her hand before the latter left. Next to it lay a small card with only one sentence written on it with cursive letters: Setter says hello.

 Chapter 120: Foreign Influences

    Taking no further notice of either Canis or the curious gazes from the surrounding people, Raven made her way down one of the wider aisles in the arena, her Limiters once more restricting her cultivation down to a high Adept �C since she chose not to wear her spirit stone, only Canis had been given the chance to notice her true cultivation. At the moment, Raven was finally heading back towards the imperial section, where Arowana should still be saving her a seat.

    Meanwhile, Javelin continued fighting against his opponent on stage, but the longer he fought, the more obvious their differences in skill and strength became. Raven had to give it to the other kid though; for a student from a second-rate academy, he handled his Divine Skills remarkably well. However, while Javelin mostly employed level five martial art Divine Skills, his opponent had level three skills at best. Without the additional aid from the Ghost Queen Pill there was just no way he could match up to Javelin who, even with his cultivation level restricted to a high Adept, was a step ahead strength-wise and was far from a push-over at using his own skills.

    Raven glanced over at Javelin as she walked and couldn��t help but chuckle. There had been several opportunities for him to strike a finishing blow against his opponent, but Javelin kept drawing out the fight, only attacking at the less obvious openings and never with full force. Raven could feel his irritation and well-suppressed anger through their soul bond and she had no trouble understanding what Javelin was up to. He was purposefully extending the fight to make it blatantly apparent that the only reason the boy and his fellow students had made it this far was because of outer aid.

    Roughly halfway back to her destination, Raven��s body suddenly twitched and her step faltered unnoticeably. Acting as if nothing had happened, Raven continued her casual walk down the aisle, but as she passed two seemingly normal teenagers, she shot them a secretive glance. Just like everybody else, the two boys were watching the unfolding battle on the stage with enthusiastic amusement �C laughing and cheering loudly in their ordinary brown robes �C but Raven��s senses painted a slightly different picture.

    When she looked at the boys and felt their presence, Raven could quite clearly tell that the two of them not only were noticeably older than they looked, they also had fang-like teeth and long tails, akin to a lion��s, that swayed rhythmically behind them.

    ��Outer realmers!�� Raven hissed to herself as she continued past them, outwardly indifferent. ��What a worthless treaty!��

    As far as she knew, there was at least a month or so left before the tournament representatives could be expected to make their brief appearance. Moreover, apart from the slightly eccentric Fenris, what other outer realmer would consider coming to Trinity continent without having something malicious in mind.

    ��And they��re so strong!�� Somehow, the two teens had managed to hide their cultivation level quite well, but once Raven got close enough, their spirit essence��s glaringly green glow could no longer be obscured from her. There was even a tinge ofblue to it that Raven hadn��t seen before. She could only assume that they were at the peak of whatever cultivation level came after Spirit Masters, putting them on an even higher level than Gadwall had been.

    Silently, Raven sent her consciousness into her spacial ring, making sure that the talisman that Fenris had given her was still there. At least he would be able to deal with the two men if they decided to do something nefarious. Slightly reassured, Raven kept her casual pace down the aisle without ever relaxing her hold of the talisman.

    Realizing that the two tailed men made no attempt to follow her, Raven relaxed slightly; at least they weren��t necessarily here for her specifically.

    It wasn��t until Raven had long disappeared from their view that the two ordinary-looking teenagers looked away from the fighting stage, giving each other questioning looks. It was a brief exchange and once it had passed, the two of them resumed their happy cheering.

    Suppressing a frown, Raven finally approached her seat by Lady Arowana��s side. When she arrived, Raven realized that Arowana had moved to the seat which she herself had previously sat in �C next to Crown Prince Argus. The two of them seemed to be enjoying each other��s company quite a lot.

    Raven donned an amused smile as she soundlessly slipped into Arowana��s old seat; it actually took a while before either of them realized that she had returned.

    ��Lady Nightingale, you��re back,��Argus eventually remarked, causing Arowana to spin around.

    ��Raven!�� she exclaimed, managing to look both pleased and annoyed at the same time. ��Where have you been!? You��ve been gone for hours!��

    ��I have,�� Raven agreed, not elaborating further.

    ��How could you just leave me alone like that, Raven? We��re supposed to be friends!�� Arowana pouted and Raven leaned to the side, glancing quizzically at her nation��s future emperor. Noticing her look, Arowana swatted dismissively in the air. ��The Sky Prince doesn��t count and you know it. No offense intended, Argus.��

    ��None taken,�� the young man replied with a chuckle. ��You really did miss quite a lot though, Lady Nightingale. There are only two fights left, and young Hake��s fight is almost over.��

    Arowana snorted, somehow making the dismissive gesture seem cuter than a sneezing kitten. ��So many of the students have resorted to outer aid today . . . it��s shameful! Only the Sea Academy students have relied on their own strength entirely and they have suffered greatly for it; Javelin almost lost in the semifinals.��

    Raven didn��t reply. She glanced back at the two sturdy guards who were standing motionlessly behind Arowana and Argus, then seemingly focused her attentiononthe ongoing fight on stage. While her eyes were looking forward, Raven��s ears sorted through the various comments that the audience within the nearest couple of hundred meters discussed. Though many were confused as to why Javelin��s opponent �C who had been so impressive in his previous fights �C could do nothing against Javelin, others had overheard the stronger spiritualists talking about the odd burst of strength that some of the studentshadmanagedand were now muttering about cheating. It seemed as though even the spiritualists had first assumed that the other academies had simply been hiding their true strengths, but Javelin��s current performance was changing their opinion.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Raven wasn��t surprised that so few had made the connection to some sort of outer aid sooner; with so much spirit essence bursting forth on stage, it was really quite hard to tell where all of it came from. Actually, without senses stemming from spirit connections running along the lines of at least Hoatzin��sfifty-plus connections or Javelin��s hundred-plus connections, the distinction would be practically impossible until the realm shifts started happening.

    There was also the fact that a pill with effects like that of the Ghost Queen Pill was not something that normally existed on Trinity continent, so why would anyone assume that some impossible pill was involved? Raven guessed that the only reason Arowana was so sure that some sort of outside influences were at play wasbecause ofthose two guards standing behind her, both rather elderly and with high enough cultivation levels to back it up.

    They were both peak Champions �C a very impressive feat on the Trinity continent, but Raven couldn��t help but think back on the two men she had noticed earlier. She had been fortunate enough that Gadwall never really took her seriously, but if she had to guess, then a single swipe from those two would kill off every single person in this arena.

    ��Perhaps I should contact Fenris before it��s too late.�� Raven mused, and the small stone-like talisman appeared in her hand.

    ��My, aren��t you smitten,�� Arowana suddenly giggled next to Raven, causing the latter to shift her gaze.

    ��Excuse me?��

    ��Smitten,�� Arowana repeated, nodding playfully in Javelin��s direction. ��You have done nothing but stare at him since you returned, and there��s even some tension here.�� The girl tapped her elegant finger between Raven��s brows. ��You��re worried for him, aren��t you?��

    Raven blinked a few times before laughing dryly. She was worried, all right, but Javelin��s fight had nothing to do with it.

    ��What��s there to worry about?�� she asked, meeting Arowana��s impish gaze with her indifferent one. ��He has already won.��

    ��The fight might be in his hands right now, but you nev-. . .�� Arowana started, but an unexpected commotion on the stage caused her to swallow the rest of her sentence.

    ��I concede!�� Javelin��s opponent had shouted all of a sudden, throwing his weapon down in rage. ��You��ve clearly just been toying with me the last fifteen minutes! Are you so conceited that you have to humiliate me before defeating me!?��

    They young boy spat at Javelin as he yelled, his voice definitely loud enough for the entire arena to hear him, but Javelin just looked at his opponent calmly, halting his attacks. The boy��s actions had, however, caused the arena to quickly quiet down.

    ��It��s because I have respect forthe elders who taught you how to fight so well that I have let you continue fighting for this long,�� Javelin eventually replied, his voice strong but with apparent distaste for the boy. ��The only thing shameful here is your choice to disregard their training in favor of a quick fix.��

    As the meaning behind his words dawned on the people in the crowd, the budding rumors blossomed into full-grown accusations. Instantly, a deafening murmur filled the arena as everyone started discussing the day��s events in a new light.

    ��So there really was such a reason for the Sea Academy students to lose. . . . How despicable!��

    ��What��s despicable? It��s not against the rules.��

    ��Yeah, it��s about time those Sea Academy elitists learned that they��re not undefeatable!��

    ��Fool, do you really think that they couldn��t takean even better medicine if they wanted to?��

    ��True. A tournament like this one should be down to personal skills alone.��

    Several arguments floated around the arena, but the general opinion was quickly pushed in favor of Sea Academy; although few seemed toactually like the academy in question, they still had faith inits strength.Those who had previously cheered for the underdog academies�� sudden rise to prowess, now had sour expressions on their faces; clearly the legal cheating had left a bad taste in their mouths.

    ��Let��s go,�� Arowana suddenly said, pulling both Raven and Argus to their feet.

    Raven could guess what the girl intended, but asked anyway; ��Where to?��

    ��To greet our champion, of course!�� Leaning in closer to Raven, Arowana quietly added; ��If Javelin can��t win two days from now, it��s best to let people know where our hearts lie.��

    Raven rolled her eyes, but said nothing as she allowed herself to be pulled away by the silvery ray of sunshine that was Lady Arowana.

    ��Brother,�� Raven called as she walked, quickly getting an affirmative response from Hoatzin. ��I have acouple oftasks for you.��

    <hr>

    That night, Canis couldn��t sleep. She sat wide-eyed on her bed, fidgeting nervously with the silky fabrics of her robe. After the tournament, Canis had searched high and low for Setter and theother members of her personal guard, but had found no trace of them. Of the more than a dozen people whom she had first brought with her, only one woman remained andsince she was a healer,shehadn��t really left the ambassador��s manor since she arrived.

    Canis glanced down on the bed covers, looking at the elegantly written note that rested on her pillow. ��Sweet Dreams,�� it said, in the same cursive letters that Raven Nightingale had presented her with earlier that day. Her first reaction had been to snatch it up and burn it with her spirit essence, but Canis had stayed her hand just inches from the paper.

    Suddenly, she had realized that touching the card might not be such a good idea; after all, the poison bottle had been returned empty and its contents must have gone somewhere. It wasn��t like simple skin contact would be enough to kill her, but what if she got a paper cut?

    ��Where could that little minx be keeping Setter?�� Canis wondered. ��It��s not like there were plenty of places to hide a body in the arena and if he��s alive, even less so �Che��s a midChampion, after all. Unless . . .�� Canis�� body suddenly twitched and jumped off her bed, putting good distance between herself and the note on thepillow. ��Unless he isn��t captured! What if he was Nightingale��s spy all along!?��

    If Setter was a traitor, it would explain how Hake and Nightingale had managed to stay ahead of her all this time, and how Ravenhad managed to��subdue�� him without anyone noticingin the arena; he never put up a fight.

    Feeling very exposed all of a sudden, Canis�� eyes darted from one shadow to the next. Was he here now? Suddenly, Canis saw the darkness in one corner shift and, without hesitating, she pulled her sword and stabbed it into the shadow with all her might. Spirit essence gushed forward and a loud bang rang out in the night as the white stone wall of the ambassador��s mansion exploded outwards.

    Within seconds, tens of powerful guards had swarmed to the source of the sound, but only found Canis �C panting heavily with her sword drawn.

    ��Lady Tanuki?�� they probed carefully, well aware of her icy temper.

    Canis blinked, an odd haze receding from her eyes. She looked at the guards in front of her and, after a moment��s silence, started yelling; ��Imbeciles! Someone was in my room this evening without any of you mongrelsnoticing! Double the guards right away and prepare an instant message to my father!��

    Ignoring the confused and scared expressions of the gathered people, Canis stormed off, locking herself inside the next-door room that was usually reserved for her father.

    ��Trust no one,�� she muttered as she sank down in a large armchairwhich had a clear view of the entire room. Her sword never left her hand.

 Chapter 121: Setting the Mood

    The night passed silently at Sea Academy �C perhaps more silently than usual, since most students were either recuperating after the day��s tournament battles or preparing for the battles yet to come.

    The mood on the ship that took the Sea Academy students back to the arena on the next morning was tense to say the least. Though many felt that the other academies were being unethical by allowing their students to use any form of enhancers, they also felt that they �C as the nation��s leading spiritualist academy �C should be able to handle it anyway. What if the twenty students fighting today did no better than those yesterday?

    Just as the boat was about to dock at the arena port, Headmaster Hammer��s short figure popped up on deck. With the grace of a man well versed in martial arts, he jumped up on the ship��s railing and turned to face his students.

    ��Yesterday was an interesting day,�� he said in a calm voice that easily carried to every youth onboard the ship. ��In many ways, it should work as an eye opener for you all; never underestimate your enemy, even when they are seemingly beaten. I don��t know how many of the opponents today will choose the same path and use spirit medicines to improve their chances at winning, but I ask you to be a step above all that and rely solely on your own strength. It might seem unfair, and many of you are likely even to lose because of it, but it��s better to lose and learn from it than to win today but die tomorrow.��

    A few students seemed to tense further as they listened to the headmaster��s speech, but the majority of them instead had eyes full of battle-vigor, clearly egged on by the concept of a greater challenge. Raven��s lip curled slightly as she took all of this in; if Canis had hoped to break the fighting spirit of these kids, then she had failed.

    ��In the end, I can only rely on myself, right?�� Javelin added, more as a side note to Raven than to the students on the boat. However, in the silence after the headmaster��s speech, Javelin��s voice carried quite far, causing plenty of the students on deck to turn and look at him and Raven, who were standing by the starboard railing.

    Today, Raven only had a simple jade clasp in her hair, which elegantly held back the midnight strands from her face while the rest of the hair cascaded freely down her back. With the rising sun as a halo around them, she was helping Javelin adjust the collar of his robes. The scene was very picturesque and all who saw them suddenly felt as if they were intruding on something private �C some of the younger ones even blushed at the sight and looked away.

    Contrary to before, the looks that Javelin was getting from his fellow schoolmates were not as harsh as they had been �C instead there was even some light admiration and a touch of pity.

    ��You��ll have me, too,�� Raven replied so amorously that she almost felt sickened by it. Despite this, the students �C and even the elders �C instead felt warm inside.

    ��They really fit together,�� most of them thought as they watched Javelin clasp Raven��s hands and pull her tighter to him. ��Such a pity. . . .��

    On Lady Arowana��s insistence, Raven had joined her and Argus to meet up with Javelin after his victory, yesterday. Playing along with the future princess, Raven had rushed up to Javelin the moment she laid eyes on him, throwing herself in his arms with quiet grace. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she leaned heavily on Javelin.

    Not entirely prepared, the poor boy had frozen up on the spot, but after mentally pinching himself, Javelin snapped out of it and didn��t hesitate to lovingly embrace the lean girl in his arms. He even patted Raven��s head comfortingly.

    ��It��s okay,�� he had whispered loud enough for all the people in corridor to still hear him. ��I am just fine, Raven.��

    ��I-. . .�� Raven had started, but, realizing they weren��t alone, she had stopped herself and pulled back from Javelin, quickly regaining her normal cool demeanor.

    The intimate reaction had been short, but it had been more than enough to intensify the rumors about the two of them being more than just friends. Add to that the fact that Arowana had quickly urged Raven to be more honest with her feelings, clearly showing her support for the pair. This had solidified Raven and Javelin��s relationship status.

    Then there was the fact that Javelin had effortlessly regained all the face Sea Academy had lost during the day �C something that the seventh grade representative had failed with when he actually lost in the finals. Javelin��s victory effectively shifted the students�� opinions of him for the better.

    Over night, there was no one at the academy who didn��t know of the heartbreaking love story between the graceful Raven and the brave Javelin. Apparently, they were madly in love, but were doing their best to not show it in public on account of the imperial decree that Javelin was to marry Lady Arowana. As to whether or not Raven would stay with Javelin even after the marriage, the verdict had still been out about what to expect, but with the two simple sentences just now, the students had their answer.

    ��Aren��t you enjoying this a bit too much?��Raven chided privately to Javelin, stopping him from embracing her further with a firm look.

    Javelin chuckled. ��The woman I love is allowing me to be a bit more intimate with her, how can I not enjoy it?�� A beaming smile spread on his face, his very peculiar eyes sparkling with joyous light.

    For a moment, Raven lost herself in those eyes and in the smile that was so heartfelt it almost hurt. It even took a while before she registered what Javelin had actually said; ��the woman I love��. The words stabbed at her like a knife. It wasn��t as if she didn��t know how he felt about her, how could she not when their very souls were linked together? Still, having it put into words was different. The image of Eric flashed by in her mind �C his sweet smile fading in her arms �C and a cold shudder ran through her; guilt.

    Javelin noticed the change and frowned. ��That �C what is that?�� he demanded and was about to grab on to Raven when the ship rocked slightly. Without giving Javelin the chance to react, much less probe further, Raven jumped ashore �C this time so closely followed by Aves that it was a miracle the two of them didn��t collide on the dock.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ��Raven!�� Javelin called as he too jumped after her, but she just shook her head.

    ��Not now, Javelin.��

    At that point, the attendant from the day before approached Raven and Javelin, and once again he asked them to follow him, which they did.

    Even before they stepped out into the aisles of the arena, the fact that more people had turned up to watch today��s fights was blatantly obvious. Raven even felt the need to use spirit essence to shield her more sensitive ears or the constant buzz of voices and cheers would be too overwhelming. Fortunately, only about half of those present were spiritualists, so at least the nearly twenty thousand presences didn��t drown out her senses entirely.

    ��Yesterday��s . . . unexpected results have brought quite the crowd today,�� commented the attendant as he noticed that the people following him had paused at the gate to the arena, watching the sea of people within. ��The Emperor��s honorable brother will come to watch today.��

    ��Oh?�� Raven gave Javelin a questioning look.

    ��Don��t look at me,�� the boy answered with a shrug. ��I��ve never even seen the man.��

    ��Most haven��t. His Imperial Highness . . .�� the attendant paused after emphasizing the title, showing his clear discontent with Javelin��s lax attitude to the second highest ranked male in the empire, ��. . . is a very private man.��

    Not bothering to explain further, the attendant continued to walk towards their destination. Following behind, Raven kept scanning the crowd with her eyes.

    ��Looking for something in particular?�� Aves asked. Judging from his tone, it was clear that he was afraid that Raven was planning to slip away again, just as she��d done yesterday.

    ��It��s not ��something��, it��s ��someone�� �C two someones to be precise,�� Raven replied offhandedly and then glanced up at the white-haired, middle-aged man who had practically chained himself to her side. ��Don��t worry, Aves, I have no . . . private matters to attend to today, so I will be at my very best behavior.��

    Aves snorted, far from convinced.

    Ignoring him, Raven turned her attention to the familiar red bird who was flying towards them with slow-beating wings. ��Any news from Fenris?�� Raven asked as Hoatzin landed on Javelin��s shoulder.

    ��No, I have called out to him several times but he is not responding. I cannot even be sure he is hearing me.��

    ��He did last time,�� Javelin commented. ��Perhaps the two people you saw weren��t a threat after all?��

    Raven had told them both of the concealed beast-men she had run into the day before and asked Hoatzin to try to speak with Fenris about it. The mysterious man was outside of Hoatzin��s reach, only revealing his general direction, but that hadn��t stopped Fenris from hearing Hoatzin��s call when they had been searching for information about Gadwall��s home realm.

    ��Perhaps,�� Raven replied, still not liking the situation. She decided to change the subject. ��How about miss Tanuki? Have you found her?��

    ��Not yet, but I heard rumours at the southern dock that she blew up a wall in the Earth Empire��s Ambassador Mansion last night.��

    ��Only a wall? How disappointing. . . .��

    Despite his annoyance at Raven dodging his questions, Javelin couldn��t help but chuckle. ��Seriously, Raven, what was in that poison you coated the bottle with?��

    Raven smiled with vicious charm. ��I already told you: slow-acting vengeance. Seeing as Canis is so jealous of her brother, I figured I shouldn��t leave her out of the family illness.��

    ��Family illness?�� Javelin frowned. ��I��ve never heard of the Tanukis having a-. . . oh.��

    ��It��s such a pity that it took a traumatic experience for the disease to be noticed in the youngest. . . . If only someone had noticed the signs earlier, the daughter might have been saved,�� Raven jested, suddenly both looking and sounding bereft.

    She had said it out loud, so some people overheard her. At the moment, Raven didn��t expect anyone to make the connection, but she would make sure that changed soon.

    Moments later, the attendant stopped in front of the viewing section for the imperial family and their guests and indicated for them to head on without him. Raven and Javelin did as they were instructed, but when Aves tried to follow suit, the attendant blocked his path. ��The Empire is more than equipped to protect its honored guests. Unneeded guards may wait here.��

    It was, word by word, the same instruction as Aves had received the day before, but in his fervor not to lose Raven again, he had forgotten. Grumpily, he took a seat with a clear view of his charge.

    Raven snickered softly as she and Javelin approached Lady Arowana and Sky Prince Argus. The pair was seated next to each other, like yesterday, but Raven noticed the slightly more intimate atmosphere around the two. Once all pleasantries were out of the way and the four youths had taken their seats to wait for the tournament to start, Raven leaned in close to Arowana, whispering into her ear.

    ��Sky Prince Argus? Are you sure?��

    Arowana blinked a few times and then giggled. ��Why not?�� she whispered back. ��He��s handsome enough, isn��t he?��

    Raven couldn��t argue with that, but it felt beside the point at the moment. ��But he seems so . . . predictable.��

    ��True, but such men make for great husbands, if handled correctly. Besides, isn��t it about time this continent got a bit more unified?��

    It was Raven��s turn to blink in surprise. ��I thought you wished to marry out of love?��

    The adorable girl giggled again. ��Whatever made you think that? Not all of us can be romantics, Raven.��

    Arowana winked at Javelin, unaware of the fact that the boy had no doubt heard every word the two of them had said to each other �C his hearing was second only to Raven��s, after all. Paying no further attention to him, Arowana once more turned her unrivaled charms towards the prince by her side.

    ��What a pragmatic woman,�� Javelin said, sounding rather undecided about whether he should be impressed or simply shocked.

    ��And ambitious,�� Raven added. ��I get the distinct feeling that she isn��t going to let her horde of older brothers stand between her and the title of Sea Empress.��

    ��Should we be worried for the Nightingale clan?�� Hoatzin asked.

    ��Because of a non-hostile merger of two nations? That depends entirely on how the nation stuck in between will react. Earth Empire is a very decentralized nation �C as long as it doesn��t affect their trade or way of life negatively, I doubt the nomads themselves would care much about the politics around them.��

    Both Hoatzin and Javelin nodded solemnly, not disagreeing with Raven��s statement.

    Loud horns rung out at that moment, causing the tens of thousands of people in the arena to instantly quiet down; the tournament��s second phase was about to begin.

    ��Brother, see if you can locate Canis; even poisoned, I doubt she would miss today��s fights. Be careful, though, she might still have people helping her.��

    ��I will,�� Hoatzin replied and took off just as the first announcements where being made by an elderly fellow on stage.

    Raven was watching him go when a subtle smile formed on her lips. ��Say, wasn��t your uncle supposed to join in watching the tournament today?�� she probed Arowana in between her melodious laughs with Argus.

    ��Indeed he will,�� Arowana confirmed, an odd glint flashing by her eyes as she briefly turned her attention away from the crown prince. ��In fact, I believe he has just arrived.��

    Barely a heartbeat later, a very familiar voice called out to Raven, causing Javelin to noticeably stiffen by her side.

    ��Well, fancy meeting you here, miss Singer.��

    <hr>

 Chapter 122: A Day of Worry Begins

    As soon as the sentence was spoken, Javelin��s body stiffened. Slowly turning his head, Javelin already knew which face would great him, but that didn��t stop him from hoping he was wrong. He wasn��t; walking towards them was none other than Limpkin, the master assassin of Sky City��s Assassin Guild.

    Contrary tothe man��scustomary black robes, Limpkin now wore the traditional sea-green robes that marked him as a member of the Sea Empire nobility. He seemed so different from usual that,had it not beenfor his characteristically grey-blue hair and eyes, Javelin might not even have recognized him. What��s more, as Javelin looked from his current fianc��e to the smiling Limpkin, he couldn��t help but feel a bit foolish; with such rare eyes and hair, the family bond should have beenobvious to him, even though the pair looked so different in other aspects.

    Then again, the Emperor''s brother was known as Lord Pelecus and had, just like all other imperial heirs been required to earn his title on his own. However, Lord Pelecus had never held any aspirations on the throne and had instead chosen to leave the nation to roam the world. This relieved quite a deal of pressure and worry from his older brother, the current Emperor, who could claim the throne uncontested.

    Consequentially, very few knew how the man looked or even his true name. The Emperor had nonetheless made sure that his people knew of his younger brother''s martial prowess, earning ''Lord Pelecus'' a formidable reputation. Naturally, the details of where and why hadn''t been given, but the fact that Limpkin could defeat people of a higher cultivation than himself without any formal training was impressive enough.

    ��Uncle!�� Arowana happily sprung to her feet and gave the 30-or-so-year-old mana big hug. ��You have been gone so long �C how cruel of you to not come visit me as soon as you returned!��

    ��Forgive me, little niece,�� Limpkin smiled sheepishly. ��I have been gone so long that I got lost.��

    Arowana giggled sweetly; she didn��t seem convinced, but neither did she seem to care for the truth. ��Uncle, let me introduce you to the crown prince of the Sky Empire, Argus Bateleur.�� She indicated towards Argus. ��Sky Prince, this is my father��s half-brother Bival Limpkin Pelecus �C he has been living in your empire off and on for the past twenty years or so.��

    The appropriate greetings were exchanged, but before Argus could inquire more about Limpkin��s confounding past, the latter moved on, heading for Raven. Complicated emotions arose in Javelin as he watched the man approach Raven and give hera deep bow.

    ��It��s been too long,��Limpkin said, giving Raven a coquettish wink.

    ��Lecher!�� Javelin screamed in his mind, clenching his fists, but, thinking about it, he suddenly realized that Limpkin was actually rather close to Raven in age, years-remembered-wise at least. The notion buggedJavelin incredibly, but what bugged him even more was that Raven laughed! On the surface, it was a cold laugh, but Javelin knew Raven too well and felt her amusement at Limpkin��s presence as if it were his own �C it wasn��t, though; definitely not!

    ��Indeed, it has been too long,�� Raven agreed, her smile growing. ��Tell me, Limpkin, is Emperor Mallard aware of the fact that one of his empire��s best assassins is in factthe brother ofa neighboringnation��sEmperor?��

    Limpkin laughed. ��No more than my brother knows that the Sky Empire��s best assassin is currently onlyundergoing her fourth year of spiritualist training �C at his old academy no less.��

    ��In other words, both will know before nightfall . . . if they didn��t already.�� Raven chuckled, and Javelin sawher lookingmeaningfully at Arowana and Sky Prince Argus. The former smiled backas sweetly as ever, whilst the latter looked atRaven and Limpkin with wide eyes.Limkpin��s second identity musthave been quite the shock. Moreover,it would seem that Empress Nene hadn��t told Argus all the details about Raven �C or perhaps she didn��t even know all of it herself. . . .

    ��Surely you jest!?�� the prince eventually managed to ask and Limpkin sighed.

    ��Alas, you have calledour bluff. . . . To claim that I am one of the best in Sky City isindeed a bit of a stretch. . . . Many of my latest kills were, after all, not actually mine.�� He shook his head and then paid no further attention to the flabbergasted prince. ��I still can��t wrap my head around how young and beautiful you are, Singer.��

    ��Nor I how an Emperor��s brother can be so . . . loose,�� Raven countered, also giving no further explanation of their relationship to the Sky Prince.

    If Javelin hadn��t been busy being upset about Limpkin��s presence in general, he would perhaps have felt a bit bad for Argus. He had, after all,just learned that Limpkin the assassin was actually the aloof and rarely seen brotherof the Sea Empire��s Emperor, and also that the infamous assassin not only knew but actually looked up to Raven Nightingale, the nine-year-old prefecture lord-to-be! Javelin could practically hear the cogs turning inside Argus�� head, but sympathy for other men was far from what Javelin was inclined to feel right now.

    ��I hear you��re not allowed into the tournament,�� Limpkin continued, ��Do you feel like blowing off some steam with me? I��ve not been defeated in a while and I think it would do wonders for my cultivation breakthrough.��

    Plenty of people could see Limpkin talking intimately with Raven, but only those within the imperial viewing section could hear what was said. Even so, seeing a full-grown man �Cwho was clearly part of the imperial family �C speak so informally with a young girl caused quite a stir. Quickly, the already growing rumors about Raven were spurred on, gaining new heights.

    Raven chuckled, ignoring both the crowd��s remarks and her crown prince��s disbelieving stare. ��Maybe later. Both today and tomorrow I have quite the spectacle to look forward to.��

    ��Oh?�� Limpkin raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. ��Interesting. . . . Niece, would you give me your seat? I would like to speak some more with miss Singer here.��Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Arowana was just about to respond when Javelin cut her off. ��Lady Nightingale!�� he barked through clenched teeth.

    ��Huh?�� Only now did Limpkin look over at Javelin; his gaze seemed confused, but there was mocking humor there too, which he didn��t quite manageto hide. If he even wanted to.

    ��Her name is Lady Nightingale to you,�� Javelin pushed, moving to get up on his feet, but Raven gripped his arm, forcing him to sit back down.

    ��Calm down, Javelin,�� she cautioned in his mind.��He is the Emperor��s brother and may therefore call me �Ca young prefecture heir to a neighboring empire �Cas informally as he wishes. Besides, we might need his help later.��

    Javelin clenched his jaw, but remained seated. Limpkin seemed to notice his internal struggle and laughed. ��Don��t worry kid, I��m not interested in preteens; I have some morals.��

    ��Uncle!�� Arowana chided at the same time as Javelin shot the man a murderous look. Limpkin didn��t seem to care about either reprisal, though, and instead took the seat Arowana had left free for him.

    ��So, what is this entertainment you have planned?�� he asked.

    Raven smiled coldly, choosing not to go into too much detail and just told Limpkin to wait. Heseemed to have no objections to the lack of information and focused instead on explaining how he ended up in Sky Empire. It was a fascinating story �C with palace intrigues, illegitimate affairsand battles for the throne that Javelin didn��t believe in for a second; the current emperor had gotten his title very peacefully this time around.

    The tale was no doubt meant to inspire awe, but Javelin only felt vexed. In his mind, he could still see Limpkin and Raven swirling around like spiritwhirlwind gone mad on the Combat Abyss�� fighting stage back in Sky City. The pure joy in Raven��s eyes at finding a worthy opponent had been bewitching to behold. . . .

    Silently, Javelin clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.

    <hr>

    Seated in a dark corner of her father��s room, Canis was currently biting her nails. They had initially been perfectly formed, slightly pink and beautifully glossy, but not much remained of them now and there were even some traces of blood on several of her fingertips.

    All through the night, she had heard people attempting to break into her father��s chamber �C scratching at the windows, rattling doors, shifting shadows �C but so far, no one had managed to make their way into the room. It had been calm for perhaps an hour or so and faint rays of sunlight seeped in through the tightly closed curtains, but Canis refused to let her guard down. As the captain of her guard, Setter had been her closest aide and she knew him well. Ifhehad betrayed her, then there was nowhere she was entirely safe.

    ��Lady Tanuki!��

    A loud shout came from outside the room, causingCanis�� bodyto twitch slightly as her sunken eyes darted towards the door. She recognized the voice �C it was her healer, brought from the Earth Empire�C but could she be trusted?

    ��Lady Tanuki,�� the woman repeated, ��I have a message from your father!��

    Hesitating for a moment longer, Canis eventually got up from her safe corner and approached the door. She opened it just enough to let the woman outside stretch forward a small, black orb �C a voice recording sent by instant delivery. Canis slammed the door shut behind her and tossed the black orb to the ground. It rolled across the room until it finally came to rest by the opposite wall. Moments later, her father��s stern voice filled the dark room.

    ��Canis Tanuki, I am very disappointed in you! The ambassador tells me that you have locked yourself into my room and won��t come out �C and why? Because some little girl turned your loyal guards against you? Preposterous!�� There was the sound of a table being slammed down on in the background. ��I don��t know what��s happened over there, but it is now almost certain thatboth the Nightingale bitch and the Hakebrat were involved in your brother��s . . . accident! Stop freaking out like some little girl and get your ass out of that roomso youcanavenge your own flesh and blood!�� Another slam. ��I leave today �C don��t let me be even more disappointed in you when I arrive!��

    The black orb vibrated violently before suddenly shattering; the message was over. Canis�� body shuddered and some clarity returned to her blood-shot eyes; her father was expecting things of her but looked down on her for being weak, for being female.

    ��Everyone is planning against me, yet I get yelled at for being cautious!? Well, I��m not weak, and I��ll prove it!�� Canis cursed loudly and swirled around on the spot, instantly swinging open the doors to the hallway.

    The stout Healer who had handed her the orb was still waiting outside and lit up when she saw Canis voluntarily leaving her father��s room;she looked like shit, but at least the determination and ruthless superiority in the young woman��s gaze were asthe Healerwas used to.

    ��Let��s go!�� Canis commanded and headed straight towards the Ambassador Mansion��s own docks, the Healer making haste to follow close behind.

    <hr>

    ��She ishere,�� Hoatzin suddenly informed Raven via their mental link, just as the first batch of eliminating matches had concluded. ��Canis just arrived at the dock nearest to the capital, together with a Healer and a few people from the Earth Empire Embassy.��

    ��How does she seem to you?�� Raven asked and after a moment��s pause �C no doubt from Hoatzin flying in closer for a better look �C came the reply: ��Hung over and high-strung.��

    Raven smiled and told her brother to stay with Canis, before leaning over so that she couldwhisper intoLimpkin��s ear. ��If you want to see the spectacle up close, then I suggest you invite Canis Tanuki here.��

    Limpkin raised a quizzical eyebrow, but he had spent enough time sparring with Raven to know her temperament rather well. With a quirky smile forming on his lips, Limpkin asked one of the attendants to summon Canis as his guest.

    While they waited, Raven glanced at Javelin. She could feel his discontent and growing unease. Raven knew it was because of Limpkin, but told herself there was little she could do about it �C the man had more right to be there than any of them.

    Time ticked on and Canis still didn��t arrive, but while Limpkin considered her rude, Raven �C and even the sulking Javelin �C found themselves hard-pressed not to laugh at Hoatzin��s descriptive narration of what was holding her up. Apparently, Canis didn��t trust that the attendant was who he said he was and she had required definite proof of his identity before reluctantly agreeing to follow him.

    Once she arrived, Raven saw for herself the weary look in the girl��s eyes and smiled coldly. They weren��t bloodshot nor sunken �C the Healer had most likely taken care of that �C but mental fatigue was near impossible to cure, or hide for that matter.

    ��Have a seat, miss Tanuki,�� Limpkin instructed, sounding more regal than he had so far. ��I was told this year��s graduation tournament was rather extraordinary, but I am fairly unimpressed so far. I figured you might care to join us and offer some further insight, from a foreigner��s perspective.

    Had Canis been at her best, she would no doubt have managed to indifferently do as she was told �C take a seat and converse politely about the ongoing battles �C but she was far from her peak condition. Instead, she glared viciously at Raven and Javelin, her hate and killing intent so apparent that even a fool wouldn��t have missed it.

    Lady Arowana and Crown Prince Argus both showed some brief surprise at the young woman��s obvious declaration of war, but they were well-versed in politics, so they quickly hid it. Limpkin merely raised an eyebrow and glanced at the guards standing further back, indicating for them to stay where they were.

    A good while later, Canis managed to break off her murderous glare and sat down on an empty seat behind Raven and Javelin. She did her best to act normal, but failed miserably.

    ��I see what you mean,�� whispered Limpkin to Raven. ��This could get interesting.��

    ��You don��t know the half of it,�� thought Raven, a glimmer of red flashing past her eyes.

 Chapter 123: A Night of Fear Ends

    The tournament��s second daydid indeed progress with fewer unexpected developments than the first. A handful of students tried using spirit medicines to win their matches �C and not only the Queen Ghost Pill this time either �C but the Sea Academy students were better prepared for it today, and at least a third of them still prevailed against their opponents, without outer aid.

    What was more unexpected, however, was the commotion going on in the imperial viewing section. Thanks to the protective spirit essence membrane around the area, no one on the outside of it could hear what was going on within, but they could see it.

    On numerous occasions, the reputed cold beauty from the Earth Empire, Canis Tanuki, sprung to her feet and started yelling! At first towards Javelin Hake and his companion, but after a while, it wasn��t clear if she was even yelling at anyone in particular. Oddly enough, none of the other fivecurrently in the imperial section seemed to be bothered by it and simply ignored the young woman��s outbursts. It was as if they were used toher volatile behavior.

    The entire thing culminated about two-thirds into the second day��s battles when a sudden explosion of wooden splinters drew the attention of the majority of the audience. At the center of the fray of splinters was, not shockingly, Canis Tanuki; the chair she had been seated on was obliterated and she wassweating heavily. This time, her outburst couldn��t be ignored, andthe middle-aged nobleman �C who only a few recognized as LordPelecus �C had moved to cover Lady Arowana while Javelin Hake had stepped between Lady Tanuki and his female companion.

    Guards instantly rushed forward to seize the Tanuki woman, but the girl who Hake had been protecting stepped forward, blocking their path. She whispered something into the closest guard��s ears and, after a moment��s pause, the guard motioned for his colleagues to back down. There was even a look of pity inhis eyes.

    Canis Tanuki had stormed off soon after that, quickly joined by thewoman who was clearly a Healer, but who had been granted entrance into the imperial section. At once, a storm of murmurs filled the arena. Suddenly,someone recalled that the younger brother, Jack Tanuki, had supposedly gone mad in an accident, losing his mind entirely. This piece of information spread like a wildfire and many started towonder if there hadactually been any accident. . . .

    Eventually, after over six hours of fighting, the final matches were held, and in the end, it was two advanced students from Sea Academy who won the finals for the eighth and ninth grade respectively. With this, the Academy��s lost reputation from the day before was all but restored, whereas the other academies got accused for trying to cheapen the tournament with underhanded tricks. One could almost feel the shame and anger that the various Elders from these Academies were feeling towards the situation, but what could they do? Their students had practically cheated but still lost. . . .

    As the thousands of people who had come to watch the day��s battles started filing out of the arena, two teenage boys tarried behind. They watched the crowds leave with golden eyes that seemed to focus on something far away.

    ��There is no mistaking it,�� one said to the other. ��It was toned down today, but the little girl is definitely the source of the killing intent we felt before.��

    The other nodded. ��But, Azmer, how is that even possible? She can��t be more than fifteen years old and her cultivation level is not even in the Champion realm!��

    ��And yet, all day long, she seeped killing intent into that other girl. With such impeccable control too! Most likely the girl only felt uneasy and afraid but couldn��t pinpoint why. . . .��

    ��Let��s confront her �C if we can learn her trick, we will be greatly rewarded when we return home.�� A hungry glimmer flashed by the youth��s eyes.

    ��That��s against the rules, Cozimo, and you know it,�� Azmer reminded his friend begrudgingly; he too really wanted to know how the little girl had accumulated such rich killing intent.

    Cozimo swore. Both of them crossed their arms and leaned against the aisle��s wall. For a long while, the pair said nothing.

    ��Then again . . .�� Azmer suddenly continued, ��it is practically impossible for such a young girl to have killed the amount of people required for her killing intent to reach such levels on this continent. I mean,even with some special skill,how many lost souls would havehad tolatch on to her when they died? A hundred thousand? A million? There is just no way such a killing spree would havegone unnoticed.��

    ��So?��

    ��Well, if she didn��t kill them here �C where did she kill them?��

    Cozimo��s eyes first widened with realization and then narrowed as he snarled �C clearly pleased.

    <hr>

    The night was almost in its darkest hour when a black figure shimmered into existence in the open courtyard of Raven and Javelin��s small house within the Sea Academy Dome.

    ��That took you longer than I had expected.��

    A cold voice called out from the shadows and the dark figure twitched slightly before turning to face the hidden speaker. Faint lantern-light caused the figure��s grayish hair to shimmer slightly as he moved.

    ��Tsk, Singer, your perception is as insane as ever.��

    ��I wish I could say the same about your stealth,�� Raven was smirking as she stepped outfrom the shadows. ��I noticed you coming fifteen minutes ago.��

    ��I know better than to sneak up on you while you��re sleeping, Singer,�� Limpkin joked, but Raven didn��t laugh; her look was serious.

    ��Why are you here, Limpkin �C or should I say Lord Pelecus?��

    ��Does a man need to explain why he visits a beautiful woman in the middle of the night?�� Limpkinraised his handsand smiled flirtatiously, ignoring Raven��s jab at his hidden identity.

    ��I��m nine.��

    Limpkin twitched, looking a bit squeamish. ��I still can��t wrap my head around that one. . . .��

    Raven made no comments on this and instead waited for Limpkin to give his true reasons for coming.

    ��Are you sure he can win?��he asked after a while, looking genuinely concerned.

    Raven raised her eyebrows. ��Why the sudden interest?��

    Limpkin shrugged. ��You saved my life, remember? I��ve been helping you ever since, so how could I miss your . . . um, the boy��s feelings for you. Winning the tournament is likely the only way my brother would agree to release him from my father��s proposed marriage.��

    Raven sneered. ��This still doesn��t explain why you care.��

    Limpkin blinked a few times and then laughed. ��Who would want such a cute little niece as Arowana to marry someone who loves another?��

    ��Really? And here I thought it was because the two of you have had your eyes set on a higher target for quite a while. . . .�� Raven paused, giving Limpkin a knowing look. ��Actually, I always figured your choice to woo the head assassin��s wife was a bit too stupid, even for you. I now assume it was also part of the bigger picture, no? Perhaps you wouldn��t even have bothered to help me guard the Griffin twins if it hadn��t been beneficial to you. . . .��Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Limpkin coughed, feeling slightly smothered under Raven��s penetrating stare.

    Years ago, Limpkin��s Casanova ways had gotten himinto quite a fix when his fleeting affections turned towards the Assassin Guild��s head assassin��s wife. The situation had turned bloody really quickly and, through sheer luck of timing, Raven was given the opportunity to remove the assassin in question and save Limpkin, which she did. He had beenin her debt ever since, or at least he acted as if he were.

    Eventually Raven shrugged, her gaze softening. ��Do what you will, but the Nightingale Prefecture must remain, and if you hurt Empress Nene or Emperor Mallard in any way, I won��t stand idly by,�� Raven warned.

    Brief shock flashed across Limpkin��s face before he laughed loudly. ��I should have expected you to have a pragmatic approach to this. Don��t worry, we come in peace.��

    ��I don��t think theEarth Empire will agree,�� thought Raven as she rolled her eyes, but she gaveno further comment on the matter.

    ��So,�� Limpkin pulled out a dagger and started fiddling with it; ��will Javelin win tomorrow? I can get rid of the competition for him, if you ask nicely.��

    Raven laughed. ��His worst threat is miss Tanuki, and that threat won��t last much longer. As for the others . . . nothing is certain, but I believe he will do fine �C he has improved a lot.��

    ��He might have improved, but, Singer, the top graduates are mid champions �C Javelin isn��t eve-. . .�� Limpkin dropped his sentence, looking down at Raven��s ankles. ��He��s not only a High Adept, is he?��

    Raven just smiled faintly.

    ��. . . Even then, he can��t have broken through very long ago. To fight against mid Champions. . . .��

    ��He��ll manage.��

    Limpkin gave Raven an odd look, but after being silent for a while, henodded slowly. ��I don��t see whatever it is you see in him, but if you say that the kidwon��t need help then I believe you.��

    Raven giggled. ��I wouldn��t go quite that far. . . . Aves!�� she suddenly called out and, in the next instant, the white-haired man entered the courtyard, a listless body slumped over his shoulders.

    ��I��m supposed to be your bodyguard, not an errand boy,�� Aves grumbled as he shifted the weight on his shoulders.

    ��Don��t be silly, Aves. This is protecting me. Well . . .my interests, at least.�� Raven winked at him. ��Besides, it��s better that you help me and keep an eye on me, rather than I sneak off on my own again, no?��

    Aves snorted, but he didn��t refute her. Instead, he walked over to Javelin��s door and knocked on it harshly. ��Let��s go!�� he called.

    ��Where are we going?�� Limpkin asked, looking curiously at Aves�� unconscious prisoner.

    ��There is no we,�� Javelin corrected him as he stepped out from his room seconds later. He gave Limpkin an angry glare. ��And I��m no kid!��

    Without waiting for any reply, Javelin marched out of the courtyard and, while Limpkin was still watchingthe former��sretreating back, Raven appeared by his side.

    ��We��re just going to return a lost puppy to its owner �C nothing big.�� She was smiling at Limpkin, but a shiver ran down his back nonetheless. After holding his gaze for a moment, Raven turned and walked after Javelin. ��I would stay away from the Earth Empire��s Ambassador Mansion tonight if I were you, Lord Pelecus,�� she called over hershoulder just before disappearing into the dark street outside.

    <hr>

    At the Earth Empire��s embassy, the first half of the night had passedmore quietlythan it had the night before. After Canis returned to the mansion �Cfuming with rage, and before even the day��s tournament fights had ended �C everyone present realized that something had gone wrong. They were shocked when Canis�� Healer chose to actually sedate her, without Canis�� knowledge. Only then didthe servantslearn of their Lady��s behavior at the arena and were so shocked that they most likely wouldn��t even have believed it if theinformation hadn��t come from the Healer herself.

    The woman had checked Canis�� condition, but found nothing wrong with her, except perhaps that her soul prism seemed a bit duller than it should. Regardless, there was nothingthe Healer could do but hope that a good night��s rest would help Canis return to her senses.

    It was an hour past midnight when the guards at the back entrance to the Ambassador��s Mansion suddenly found it very hard to concentrate. All they could focus on was a melancholic tune being hummed somewhere in the distance. By the time they regained their senses, the sound was long gone and no trace of its origin could be seen. Shrugging off the eerie sensation, they resumed their guard duties.

    Meanwhile, further in, a petite black figure moved like a shadow with impressive speed down the mansion��s corridors, a large lump hanging over its shoulders. The figure��s movements were soundless and always moving from one shadow to the next. There was no hesitation at all as corridors became increasingly confusing �C here even the oldest servants could get lost, but the figure was unaffected.

    Within a few heartbeats, the shifting shadow came to a halt. Further down the corridor, a fiery red bird sat perched on the arm of a lantern.

    A silent exchange passed between the bird and the obscured figure before the bird took off and the robed figure headed for the door closest to the lantern.

    Inside, Canis lay on her father��s bed. Even in a drugged sleep, her body twitched nervously every now and then. Sitting in vigil next to the bed was her trusted Healer; the woman had been with Canis for a very long time and the concern on her face was very real. Everyone knew it was.

    ��What is wrong with you, my Lady. . . .�� the Healer muttered to herself when suddenly, the worry in her eyes glazed over,her gaze growing distant. She didn��t notice the slight creak in the door behind her, nor did she feel the cold liquid that was poured down her throat. After a while, even the distant singing seemed to fade. Sleeping, the Healer collapsed on the floor.

    Glowing red eyes anda row of perfectly white teeth that gleamed in the dull lantern-light revealed a vicious sneer on the dark figure��s hidden face.

    Slowly, strands of spirit essence wrapped themselves around the unconscious Healer and the lump that had been carried into the room. Soon, two people were hovering in front of Canis�� bed, their facestwisted into evil grins.

    From the depths of the blood-red eyes, an oppressing, red glint stirred, and in the next instant, spirit essence that had been tainted red with killing intent shot like a spear into Canis�� head. Even with the heavy sedation, there was no way she could sleep through such a mental attack. At once, Canis jumped up from her bed, a sword appearing in one hand, a whip in the other. Her eyes darted between the three people in front of her, as pain and fear formed in her heart.

    ��Collie, not you too. . . .�� She bit her lip, forcing back the tears that threatened to form at the corner of her eyes. ��I��ll have you hanged for this, you Nightingale bitch!��

    Canis lashed out with her sword, aiming to stab at the smaller black figure, but she only sawher guards stepping in her way, their evil grins widening as Canis hesitated.

    ��Now, now �C why so worked up?�� The voice was so cold and otherworldly that Canis almost didn��t recognize it as Raven��s. ��Like your brother, I��mjust enjoying a little bit of fun before dinner.��

    A maniclaughfilled Canis�� earsas the red glow in Raven��s eyes increased, thewhites of her eyes turning black. Even though Canis instinctively knew that she should guard herself against whatever was coming �C that she should look away �C she couldn��t. All she could do was stare, shaking with fear.

    Before she knew it, the world aroundhererupted in wails of painas a sea of blood and gore flooded the room. Panicking, Canis tried to jump away, but found that she couldn��t move her legs no matter how hard she tried. Disfigured hands reached up from the bloody sea, pulling at Canis�� clothes. Screaming, Canis used her sword and whip to swat away the hands, but no matter how many she removed, more arrived.Decomposing faces surfaced among the outstretched arms, their expressions locked in everlasting pain as they wailed at Canis, threatening to devour her whole.

    A sudden sigh, cold and bereft of human emotion, sliced through the pained screams.

    ��Play time��s over.��

    Looking up,Canis saw Raven floating above the endless sea of blood.The girl��seyes werenothing but pits of red and black, her midnight-purple hair had broken free of its jade pin and floating around her pale face way slower than possible; she looked like a vengeful Godess of Death, here to smite whomever she felt unworthy of her presence. Next to her, Canis�� former guards had transformed into two hellish beasts that where snarling at Canis with hungry eyes.Meanwhile, Ravenherself was glaring down onheras ifshe was nothing but an ant, waiting to be squashed.

    ��Say hello to your brother,�� Raven smiled before raising her pearly white hand to point at Canis. ��Time to eat.��

    As if struck by hot iron, the two beast howled and dashed forward. They mighty jaws opened wide as they pounced on Canis, sinking both teeth and claws into her soft skin. The pain was instantand utterly unbearable.

    Panicking, Canis did her best to fight of the two beast, but they didn��t seem to care. They had both been whipped and stabbed over twenty times before Canis couldn��t keep fighting any more. Wailing at the top of her lungs, Canis called for help, for mercy, but nothing changed. The beasts kept chewing at her, even to the point where she could see her own bones, glowing white in the bloody mess.

    She didn��t notice the door to her father��s bedroom being slammed open.

    She didn��t notice the dozen or so guards who rushed in, expecting to find some intruder attacking their mistress.

    She didn��t notice their shockwhen they found her, covered in her two most trusted servants�� blood,repeatedlystabbing and whipping their long-dead bodies.

    She didn��t notice anything.

 Chapter 124: Losing Faith

    Even standing outside the thick protective wall surrounding the mansion, Javelin had no problem hearing the depraved wails of something that had long since lost its touchwith humanity. Through his link with Raven, Javelin could feel her anger and unbelievable killing intent, and all he could do was to quietly pull some of that killing intent into his own soul prism, hoping that it might help Raven keep her wits about her.

    Suddenly, a familiar red bird flapped down on his shoulder. The two of them glanced at each other but said nothing.

    Within the mansion, the inhuman screams had caused a frenzy asservants and guardsrushed towards its source, none of them noticing the black figure that slipped out through the no longer well-guarded back gate.

    ��Let��s go,�� Raven commanded, her voice sounding even colder than usual.

    Her black figure quickly disappeared down an alley, heading towards the closest shoreline, and wasclosely followed by a very solemn Aves. The latter had been forced to wait outside with Javelin, but hadn��t been able tobear it for more than a few minutes before silently rushing in after Raven.Clearly, he had seeneverything that happened inside.

    Another glance was exchanged between Javelin and Hoatzin before they too disappeared into the darkness. Behind them, Earth Empire��s Ambassador Mansion became increasingly chaotic as soldiers and servants alike tried to find out what had happened to Canis.

    It wasn��t until the group of four was back in the courtyard of the Water Dome house that Javelin finally asked what Raven had actually done to Canis. He had only heard screaming like that once before, and Javelin could only guess what Raven had done this time.

    Raven shrugged, her coldyet ferocious aurastill overbearing. ��Nothing much. . . . She was already pretty far along thanks to yesterday��s poison; I just gave her a little shove.��

    ��A little shove?�� Aves spoke up for the first time, sounding a bit nauseous. ��You practicallybroke her soul prism and drove her into insanity!��

    Raven��s eyes narrowed dangerously, but if Aves noticed it, he ignored it.

    ��Not practically, Aves;literally. What of it?��

    Aves blanked for a moment. ��I-I know she was a bit rude, but she was only a girl! To break her like that. . . .��

    ��She threatened my family.��

    There was no remorse in hervoice at all.

    ��E-even so. . . �� Aves started, but Raven cut him off this time.

    ��Aves, you are here as my guardian, and so far I have humored the notion. If you insist on following me even when I tell you not to in the future �C andmeddle in my affairs�CI will no longer be amused by your presence.��

    She said it very matter-of-factly, with no trace of killing intent whatsoever present in her cold eyes. Others who heard her might not think she was serious, but Javelin could clearly tell from her emotions that she was truly displeased with Aves this time. Then again,the killing intent in her soul prism still seemed a bit unruly. . . .

    Not bothering for a reply from Aves, Raven headed towards her room. ��Get some rest, Javelin; even with Canis out of the picture, tomorrow won��t be easy.��

    The door shut behind her with a loud thud. Still standing in the courtyard, Javelin glanced over at Aves, the latter��s face bearing a pale expression.

    ��She is just a bit riled up, Aves, don��t-. . .��

    Before Javelin could finish his sentence, Aves�� body shifted, his white hair flashing as he jumped out of the courtyard. On Javelin��s shoulder, Hoatzin sighed.

    ��Now sister has done it. . . . I know Protector Aves is not that much stronger than she is, but two hands are better than one. Who knows how he will treat her after this?��

    Javelin was silent for a long while, staring up at the black-blue ceiling of the Water Dome. Finally, he too sighed and started walking towards his own room. ��Aves will come around. He must have guessed by now who was behind Dunlin��s death, so Raven��s . . . disposition shouldn��t come as too big a surprise.��

    ��. . . . I guess so.��

    As Javelin stepped into his room, Hoatzin spread his wings and took to the sky. The latter really didn��t like the feeling of being stuck underneath the surface of the ocean and would never have followed them down if he didn��t want to make sure Raven made it back safely to her quarters. Now he had no reason not to return to the surface.

    Javelin glanced at the disappearing silhouette of the fiery bird before closing the door behind him and heading for his own bed. He didn��t lie downon it,though, and instead satdown silentlywith his legs crossed.

    He thought back on the conversation he had overheard between Raven and Limpkin, and then on the horrid screams coming from within the Ambassador��s Mansion. . . . While Raven��s expressed faith in his abilities had warmed him, Javelin couldn��t help but feel that Limpkin had nonetheless been right in his doubts.

    Sure, Javelin had made astounding progress since he became Soul Bound to Raven and had even managed to break through to the Champion realm at the low age of thirteen.Onthe Trinity continent,this was a huge accomplishment, but it still paled miserably in comparison to Raven. Biologically, she wasn��t even ten yet, but was not only already a stable mid Championbut alsoclearly had the ability to fight against even high Champions without being at a disadvantage. If she let loose completely, Javelin wasn��t even sure if a low Spirit Master would be able to kill her.

    Two days had passed since he had gained access to a larger part of his past life��s memories, and with it over a hundred spirit connections. Javelin could already feel his cultivation speed increasing drastically, but rather than feel excited about it, Javelin felt even more depressed now. So much had improved with those hundred spirit connections, and yet Raven had more than twice the amount of spirit connections he had �C how would he ever catch up?

    In his mind, several memories not entirely his own flashed by. He saw the adult Raven ruthlessly fighting off intruders at the North Pole base �C her eyes devoid of emotion as she slashed and shot her opponents with incredible precision.It was a fascinating and fearful sight, but he also saw Raven��sslightly awkwardexpressionasshe was caught, red-handed, with a largetub of chocolate-chip mint ice cream, tugged safelyin her lap as she indulged in a ��midnight snack��, her rabbit-slipper-donned feet dangling happily beneath the table she sat on. The stark contrast between these two scenarioshad shocked bothEric and Javelin sillyand onlystrengthened the enigma that was Raven Night.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    At the time when she was protecting Eric, Raven Night had been 25, and in a world bereft of spirit essenceand Divine Skills, the battle prowess and overall skill set that she possessedhad stunned Eric. He couldn��t help but wonder at what kind of life she musthave led before they met. He had known that she was some sort of mercenary, but to be able to do what she could do . . . .

    Thinking about the second childhood that Raven Nightingale had received, Javelin subconsciously clenched his fists in anger. It was just too unfair! So little support, so little happiness. . . .

    Yet, unless he gained more spirit connections than Raven, there was nothing he could do.He needed to strengthen his soul �C and quick �C or he would always be one step behind andunable to protect her even in the slightest.

    Once more, Javelin realized the importance of remembering more of his past life, but suddenly the words Eric had spoken to him in his corridor of memories returned to him: ��I must admit that there are a few doors that I��m keeping locked, too. . . for your own good.��

    Determination flashed by in Javelin��s eyes before he swiftly closed them and forced himself to slow his breathing. His mind stilled, and as the secluded state of meditation descended upon him, the pitch-black darkness in Javelin��s mind slowly started to brighten. Soon, he was back in the now familiar white halls ofthe research facility.

    ��Back already, kiddo?�� Eric��s familiar voice suddenly greeted Javelin. Turning around, he found the slightly disheveled man staring back at him with amused eyes. ��You have already checked all the unlocked doors available to you at the moment.��

    Javelin stared resolutely at Eric.

    ��No, I haven��t.��

    Eric frowned but didn��t seem to miss Javelin��s meaning. ��I told you before, Javelin:some things are better forgotten.��

    ��But I have to remember!�� Javelin shouted, feeling frustrated. ��I want to be able to shoulder her burdens �C I can��t do that like this!��

    ��And you will �C with time �C but you have already remembered a lot, and pushing it further might do more harm than good.�� Eric was very solemn as he spoke, clearly unwilling to unlock whatever memories he had prevented Javelin from remembering.

    ��They are my memories! I deserve to know!��

    For a long while, the two men said nothing, but eventually Eric sighed. ��Fine, if you want me to unlock the rest of the memories thatI have access to, I will.��

    The scenery around Javelin and Eric changed as the corridors twisted into what resembled a dark basement and half a dozen metallic doors were evenly spread along the walls.

    ��Go ahead,�� said Eric, sounding anything but pleased, ��but you have been warned: you will regret this.��

    Javelin steeled himself and headed for the closest door.

    <hr>

    It was still early in the morning when Raven silently entered Javelin��s room. As expected, the boy sat motionless on his bed, deep in meditation.

    Soon after they had returned from dealing with Canis, Raven had felt his soul prism growing in strength again and she had guessed that Javelin had once again started to remember things from his past life. There wasn��t enough spirit essence around to form more spirit connections this time, but that didn��t stop the soul from growing stronger.

    Silently, Raven watched Javelin, an odd expression on her face. She couldn��t help but wonder what he would remember this time . . . and whether or not he would hate her for it.

    <hr>

    ��Is there really nothing moreI canremember?�� Javelin asked, feeling desperate.

    He had spent hours looking at the memories Eric had locked away, but while what he had learned was heartbreaking �C the death of hismotherin cancer, the endless torment that had been high school, the pain of his first girlfriend cheating on him �CJavelin could still feel that his soul prism hadn��t improvedthat much in strength, compared to his first influx of memories, at least.

    ��. . . No,�� Eric replied after a slightly too long pause. Javelin��s eyes twitched.

    ��What is it?�� he pushed.

    ��Nothing.��

    Eric shifted his body, subtly blocking an unlit corridor in the already dark basement. Javelin��s eyes widened and, without hesitating, he pushed his way past Eric. He ran as fast as he could, the corridor growing darker with every step. Behind him, Javelin could hear Eric��s mournful voice, pleading him to stop �C to not look �C but Javelin had to look. He couldn��t help it��

    Suddenly, a pitch black door appeared up ahead, and even before Javelin reached it, the hinges creaked as the door swung open, letting him rush straight in.

    The world around Javelin shifted; it was still as dark, but heavy rain was falling from the sky. The smell of decomposing leaves and burning oil mingled in the air. He was in a forest, or perhaps a large park of some kind, but Javelin could still see the dimly glowing spears of metropolitan skyscrapers, stretching high above the trees in the distance.

    Instantly wet and cold, Javelin slowed his steps, searching for Eric. Oddly enough, the scientist was nowhere to be foundand, without thinking about it, Javelin headed further in between the dark trees. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he ducked in behind a large tree; further ahead, two dark figures were speaking in hushed voices. The heavy rainfall made it hard for him to hear what was being said, but something within him screamed atthe importance of their conversation. After a moment��s pause, Javelin made a silent dash for a closer tree.

    ��. . . -re demanding results, Raven �C you know that.��

    ��Raven?�� Javelin peeked out from behind his new tree, looking over at the two figures.

    ��I know, Victor,�� a cold but familiar voice snapped. ��You don��t need to remind me, over and over, every time we meet. I know my objectives well; as soon as Professor S is done with his research, the data will reach the Union. Within a month, at most.��

    A shudder ran through Javelin and it had nothing to do with the cold rain that was soaking him to his bones. Even with the hood covering her face, there was no doubt that it was Raven who was speaking, but Javelin really didn��t like what she was saying. . . . Had she only been after Eric��s �C his �C research all along? And who was she talking to? That voice also felt familiar, somehow.

    ��And the professor?�� the man called Victor pushed.

    ��Get the data, at any cost. No loose ends. Those are my orders, so that��s what��s going happen.��

    ��Really?�� the familiar voice chuckled. ��At the ball, I got the impression that you were rather attached to our young Professor Solar.��

    Javelin��s eyes widened. He suddenly understood who the other figure was �C it was the man Raven had talked to at Eric��s prize ceremony, right before the crazed activist tried to blow them all up.

    ��Can you really do it?�� the man continued, oblivious to the thunder of emotions his words were stirring up within Javelin. Victor pointed two fingers at Raven, emulating a gun. ��Can you . . . off him?��

    For a moment, Raven said nothing, and to Javelin the entire world seemed to quiet down with her silence �C even the rain practically slowed to a halt. Then, with a flash, Raven grabbed hold of the man��s two fingers and pulled as she slipped in behind him. Her other arm pinned Victor��s neck, clearly cutting off his air flow. She whispered something in his ears that Javelin couldn��t hear, but his heart screamed for it to be Raven��s last words before killing the man.

    It wasn��t.

    Once she had said what she wanted, Raven loosened her grip and backed away. Blue-faced, Victor grabbed at his neck, rubbing it slightly before suddenly bursting out in laughter.

    ��Haha, I didn��t think you were this deceptive; to fool even me with your lovey-dovey act! Then again, I should expect nothing less from Raven Night, the undisputed number one assassin in the world. . . .��

    Raven laughed with him; a harsh and merciless laugh that was so far from the cold but at least . . . human laughter that Javelin had gotten used to.

    Javelin felt his legs go weak underneath him and, before he knew it, he found himself kneeling on the ground �Chis heart aching with pain, his lungs deprived of air.

    There was a rustle in the wet leaves in front of him, and even though he wanted nothing more than to run away, Javelin still couldn��t stop himself from looking up. There, standing less than a meter away, was Raven.

    Her pitch black eyes stared at him, devoid of any human emotion.

    ��Ra-. . .�� Javelin started, but Raven silently pointed a gun at him. She tilted her head to the side, causing the water on her hood to drip down her face, forming fake tears on her cheeks.

    ��Pity.��

    Before Javelin had the chance to really register what was going on, a bright flash lit up the rainy night. In the next instant, he lay on his back, heavy raindrops falling on his face as unimaginable pain coursed through his heart.

    The already dark world around him faded, leaving only the imprinted image ofthat heartless Raven �C looming over him with indifferent eyes as he felt his life seaping away.

 Chapter 125: Love and Hate

    ��No!�� Javelin roared as he broke free from his horrid memories. Cold sweat ran down his body and he was panting heavily. ��It��s not true. . . .�� he muttered, trying to convince himself that what he had witnessed was some sort of trick.

    ��What isn��t true?�� Raven��s unexpected voice sent an uncomfortable shiver down Javelin��s spine. His eyes popped open and immediately they met with Raven��s; they were green as the forest and showed genuine concern, but all Javelin could see was those unfeeling obsidians that had condemned him to death.

    ��You. . . !�� Javelin breathed, instinctively moving back from the hand Raven had placed on his. ��You killed me!��

    Raven��s hand froze, mid-air. ��You remember?�� she asked, a slight quiver in her voice.

    ��Yes, I remember!�� Javelin spat, slapping away Raven��s hand. ��Bodyguard!? What bullshit! You were an assassin, sent to steal my research and kill me off once done!��

    Deep sorrow flashed by Raven��s eyes, but Javelin ignored it.

    ��Do you deny it!?�� he demanded, but Raven remained silent, her gaze never leaving him.

    ��How could you!? Eric trusted you �C I trusted you �C yet you betrayed us so easily!�� When he still didn��t get any response, Javelin snorted. ��No wonder you felt like you had to save me this time around; you were the reason I died last time! You have some nerve calling it settling a debt!��

    Sometime during his shouting, Javelin had gotten to his feet and now stood only a breath away from Raven��s face. He took a step forward and Raven retreated accordingly. Eventually, her back hit the stone wall of Javelin��s room, forcing her to stop. Javelin slammed his fist into the space next to Raven��s head.

    He was overflowing with anger and pain, completely blocking out whatever emotions Raven was feeling. All he could think about was her cold laughter as she discussed Eric��s impending death, and her unfeeling stare as he lay, dying, on the wet ground.

    For a long while, Javelin and Raven just stood there �C Javelin breathing heavily with rage in his stare and Raven, still as the night. Slowly, the initial anger within Javelin subsided and was replaced by a more deep-rooted loathing. He could feel Raven��s anxiety now but he didn��t care �C if anything he relished in it.

    ��Being Soul Bound to you is more of a curse than a blessing. I wish you had failed in your attempt �C at least that way you would have died.��

    Saying nothing more, Javelin stormed out of his room, putting as much distance between himself and Raven as their bound souls would allow.

    <hr>

    Still in the room, Raven slowly lowered her gaze as she clenched her fists tightly. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. Through their bond, Raven could feel Javelin��s hate as if it was her own, and she couldn��t help but feel that whatever they had, it was over now.

    ��You knew he would react like this, Raven,�� she whispered to herself. ��Why wouldn��t he?��

    A distant memory of a snow-covered field and the fading smile of a dying man flashed by in her mind, but she shook it off. ��He only acted on reflex, then, nothing more. . . .��

    Raven sighed again, shifting her gaze towards the ceiling. ��At least he lives, and the distance we can keep between us will increase as well. . . . My debt is repaid, no matter how he sees it.��

    Steeling her nerves, the pain on Raven��s face faded, replaced by a mask of emotionlessness. Slowly, she reined in her feelings and blocked off what Javelin was projecting to her, pushing it to the depths of her soul where it didn��tbother her.

    She moved to follow after Javelin, but just as she reached for the door,Raven��s body froze. Her eyes instantly turnedred as whiffs of killing intent seeped outof her.

    ��This is not a good time, gentlemen.��

    Raven��s voice was brimming with malice as she slowly turned to face the twomen who hadappeared out of nowhere inthe room.She had recognized their presences right away as the two youths she had passed in the arena two days ago, but when she looked at them, their appearance had changed. They were still human, but looked to be in their eighties rather than their teens. Still, their new disguise did nothing to hide the tails and fangs that Raven��s astute senses picked up on nonetheless.

    ��Does none of your kind respect the treaties?��

    ��Our kind?�� the slightly taller one asked, looking a bit surprised.

    ��Outer realmers,�� Raven answered, glaring angrily at the man. ��Or have I missed some Trinity clan that possess tails?��

    If the initial surprise had been slight, it turned to outright shock at Raven��s statement. Clearly they hadn��t expected anyone to see through their disguise so easily.

    ��As I said, now isn��t a good time.�� Raven took a step forward, her killing intent gushing towards the two seemingly ancient men as she activated her Ode of Woe at full force. ��Leave!�� she roared directly in their minds.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Even with their impressive cultivation,an overwhelming sense of dread enveloped the pair as it felt like the world itself wanted them dead.Subconsciously, both of them took a step back,blinded by fear, but Raven knew it was only a matter ofseconds before they would fight it off. However,those seconds wereall Raven needed.

    Fenris�� talisman appeared in her hand and was instantly crushed into afine powder. In the same breath, Raven��s body shimmered and disappeared from the room. She reappeared in the courtyard outside and paused, looking intently at the door to Javelin��s room. When there was no movement even after a few heartbeats, Raven relaxed andpulled back her killing intent. Moments later, Aves appeared next to her.

    ��What��s wrong?�� he asked, looking around for the source of the sense ofdanger that he had felt.

    ��Nothing,�� Raven replied and glanced in the direction Javelin had stormed off in. ��Just a small . . . disagreement.��

    Aves gave Raven a questioning look, but didn��t push the matter further. ��The tournament battles willalready havestarted,�� he said instead. ��If Javelin wishes to challenge the graduate champion we need to hurry.��

    Raven just nodded in reply. Without sayinganything more, she started walkingin Javelin��s direction.

    <hr>

    Within the relatively small room stood Azmer and Cozimo, still looking like two old grandfathers, with wonder in their eyes. They had been surprised by how strong Raven��s killing intent had been head-on, but, as Raven had expected, they had shaken it off fairly quickly. They had been truly impressed by the fact that as the shackles loosened, Raven was nowhere in sight. It wasn��t that she was gone that was impressive �C they could tell that the girl hadn��t gone far �C butrather that she could exude such intense desire to kill while still being level-headed enough to know that her best bet was to run away.

    That said, neither of them had any intention of giving up just because Raven knew to run away. They would perhaps have to wait until she was alone again, but her display of skill had only made it more clear that they needed to find out how she had accumulated so much fine-controlledkilling intent.

    ��Should we follow her in disguise or from above?�� Cozimo asked his companion and Azmer was about to reply when a soft giggle shocked them both.

    ��I would go with neither, if I were you.��

    Swallowing hard, Azmer and Cozimo stiffly turned their heads to the space between them. Barely reaching the height of theirthighsstood a small girl, smiling up on them. Her wide grin revealed a set of sparkly fangs and, sprouting out of her short-cut silvery hair,weretwo equally silvery ears. A fluffy tail swayed slowly behind her, giving a stark contrast to herred and white robes.

    ��Hello, fellow Beastmen,�� she said with a wink.��Grandpa sends his greetings.��

    <hr>

    Oblivious to the various events going down in his bedroom, Javelin paced back and forth in front of the large fountain at the center of the Water Dome; hewas too upset to even feel when Raven��s killing intent surged moments earlier.

    That Eric��s memory �Chis memory �C was real,Javelin didn��t doubt at all.He felt cold and enraged at the same time as that rainy night kept flashing past in his mind, over and over.The moreJavelin thought about it, the moreall of it nagged at him �Cas if he were missing something �C but his heart just stung too much. The pain intensified as herecalled allof the happy memories that he had recovered from his life as Ericas well asthe new ones he had made with her as Javelin. How much of it had been real? How much had been Raven faking emotion so she couldgainEric��s trust andJavelin��s forgiveness?

    Hesnorted. ��Well she isn��t going to get it. . . .��

    Even with their souls bound, Javelin almost missed the petite figure arriving on the other side of the fountain. When he finally raised his eyes to look at Raven, he was stunned; she looked so lifeless, so much like she had done in that dark and wet forest when she shot him. For a moment,Javelin evenwondered if it was his imagination playingtricks on him again, but he quickly realized it wasn��t.

    Thechange hurt,first with sorrow and loss butitmorphed back into anger and hate in a heartbeat.

    ��Finally showing your true colors, huh? You heartless assassin!�� he snapped, the words hurting him even as he said them.

    BehindRaven, Aves had also arrived, and his jaw practically dropped when he heard Javelin��s hateful words. ��Watch your mouth, brat!�� he shouted and was about to storm straight through the fountain when Raven held up a pale hand to stop him.

    ��Do you still want to win the tournament?�� she asked Javelin, her voice devoid of emotion. ��If so, we have to go now.��

    Javelin felt inclined to disagree simply to spite Raven, but, despite everything, he still didn��t want to marry Lady Arowana; both because it hadn��t been his choice and because he felt thatArowana deserved to be with someone she loved. Much like he had thought he was. . . .

    ��I still intend to win.��

    Javelin said the words through gritted teeth, his anger poorly hidden, but Raven just nodded.

    ��Then let��s go,�� she said and turned to leave.

    Another stab of pain ran through Javelin��s heart, but he told himself it was because of Raven��s betrayal; it definitely was notbecause of her sudden coldness. . .

    <hr>

    Feeling awfully jittery, Hoatzin sat on Raven��s shoulder, his eyes darting from his sister to Javelin. He had sensed Raven''s killing intent though their souls�� connection earlier and had immediately given up his watch-post at the arena island and headed back for the academy.

    By the time he arrived, Raven and Javelin had already boarded the boat that would take them to the arena, and as soon as he saw them he knew that their repeated ��It��s nothing��s were absolute bull. However, no matter how much he asked, all Raven would tell him was that "Javelin has remembered", while Javelin just said that he didn��t want to talk about it.

    Now, the two of them stood by the entrance to the imperial viewing section �CRaven cold and distant, Javelin angrier than Hoatzin had ever seen him before. In front of them where theseats that on the earlier days of the tournament basicallyonly hadbeen occupied by Lady Arowana and the Sky Empire Crown Prince, but now were filled withmoreunfamiliar faces.

    Almost the entireimperial family had shown up, including five of Lady Arowana��s older brothers, her uncle Limpkin and, last but not least, her parents, EmperorHamlet and Empress Ilisha. The family resemblance was striking. Earlier,before Hoatzin realized that something was wrong between Raven and Javelin, he had found their varying shades of grey-blue hair quite amusing; theEmperor had the least blue �C his hair almost purely white �C while the Empress had the most blue �C her hair likethe darkened sky during a thunder storm. As for the rest, their hair covered all the tones in between.

    Hoatzin didn��t really care about it anymore though, because the Emperor had only glanced briefly at Javelin beforezeroing in on Raven, his gaze full of disapproval.

    ��So, is this Lady Nightingale?�� he asked, his tone as dark as wife��s storm-blue hair.��Is this the Sky Empire minx who has ensnared my daughter��s fianc��?��

 Chapter 126: Tense Emotions

    "Father!" Arowana quickly chided as she moved to Raven''s side. The disapproval of her father''s behavior was clear in both her face and voice. "How can you call the future Prefecture Lord of the Nightingale Prefecture a minx in front of herownCrown Prince?"

    "A minx is a minx," the Emperor replied offhandedly; "the audience doesn''t change that."

    "But Raven is my friend!" Arowana stomped her foot, her silver-blue hair bouncing wildly. "Insult her again and I won''t speak with you for a week!"

    The Emperor''s eyes twitched, his face paling slightly. "No-nonsense!" he scoffed. "As if I wou-. . ."

    "Two weeks!" Arowana upped the stakes.

    The words Emperor Hamlet had intended to say got stuck in his throat and he paled even further. He coughed twice before obediently dropping the matter and allowing Raven and Javelin to enter the viewing section.

    "Two weeks?" Raven asked Arowana once all greetings were over and they sat in their seats. Atouch of amusement evenreached her cold eyes.

    "Having seven brothers but no sisters has its perks," Arowanaexplained with a wink.

    "I bet it does." Raven smiled. Arowana might seem sweet and harmless on the surface, but Raven recognized her kind well.

    The Emperor Hamlet''sfatherly love allowed Arowana to control her fatheron an even tighter leash than Empress Nene controlled her husband, Emperor Mallard. Meanwhile, it seemed like neither her nor Crown Prince Argus had informed anyone present about her identity asthe assassin Singer.Raven suspected that Arowana was carefully taking into account what information and tacticswould help her claim the throne - and when to use it to its fullest.

    All this made it even more clear how strongly the Sea Empire Emperor felt about following his late father''s wishes. How come Arowana hadn''t managed to break off the marriage agreement on her own otherwise?

    "How goes the tournament?" Raven asked, changing the subject and ignoring the glances that Arowana had started shooting between her and Javelin.

    The sun was already high in the sky and, on the stage, only nineteen graduates remained - none of whom were Canis Tanuki.For the moment, no fighting was going on as the nineteen participants were spread across the stage, seemingly waiting for something.

    "Hmm, oh, well it''s gone almost as expected." Arowana replieda bitdistractedly."There has been no pill-popping today, and so far the lower academies'' students haveactually shown great promise. However, Lady Tanuki has yet to show up so now that the seededSea Academy students are expected to join the fights, the tournament has been paused." Arowana hesitated slightly. "Raven, has something happened between you and Javelin?The two of youseem . . . distant."

    Raven felt Javelin tensing next to her but she only smiled at Arowana, a subtle bitterness hidden deepin her eyes. "It''s just an old argument between friends," she said, not entirely lying.

    Javelin snorted, but said nothing.

    It was clear that Arowana wanted to ask more, but, at that moment, an attendant arrived. He was escorting none other than Saint Major Hake, Javelin''s mother.

    "What is your report, Saint Major?" the Emperor asked as soon as Tetra had preformed the customary courtesies.

    "I''m afraid the earlier reports were accurate, Your Majesty. During the second hour of the day, Lady Canis Tanuki had a mental breakdown and attacked her own servants. She managed to kill two of them before the ambassador''s guards decided to break into her room. Another two were severely wounded when they then tried to restrain her."

    "Her currentcondition?"

    Tetra shook her head. "I have examined her, but the damage is to her soul prism and seems to be . . . self-inflicted; whenever I manage to somewhat lessen the injuries, they reappear within seconds."

    The Emperor''s gaze turnedserious. "Couldthis have been caused by an attack from anintruder?"

    "It is possible; some of the guards reported feeling an intense sense of dread just before Lady Tanuki started screaming, but . . ." Tetra hesitated.

    "Yes?"

    "Well, I contacted one of the Earth Empire Healers who are currently in charge of looking after her brother, the young master Tanuki, and the symptoms she described were basically identical to those Lady Tanuki are displaying now."

    "What are you implying?" Emperor Hamlet asked, frowning.

    "Considering that the same symptoms have been found in both siblings but at different times and places . . . I believe the initial reports of an accident in the wilderness causing young master Tanuki''s mental break are false. It is more likely a . . .hereditary illness."

    Next to the Emperor, Limpkin glanced at Raven, a slight smile appearing on his lips. Meanwhile, Tetra Hake saw that the Emperor still wasn''t convinced so she continued explaining her reasoning; "I have seen similar symptoms in children who have been put through too traumatizing experiences in attempts to strengthen their souls. Perhaps . . ."This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    "Enough." The Emperor suddenly cut her off. "I understand what you are trying to say, but Councillor Tanuki is on his way and should be arriving any day now. No more mention of your theories."

    "Yes, Your Majesty," Tetra replied with a respectful curtsy. "What should I tell the captain of the city guards about the possible intruder?"

    Emperor Hamlet was silent for a moment. "The city guards have enough on their hands and the Earth Ambassador''s own guards should be able to deal with it; let''s not interfere."

    "Yes, Your Majesty."

    Although the Emperor''s tone was harsh and dismissive, his words still indicated that he believed that Tetra was right and only wished to avoid a scandal. Traumatizing children to improve the strengths of their souls was a criminal offense in all three nations. Letting your children experience the world early was one thing, but the level oftorture required to cause such damage as Tetra haddescribedwas something entirely different.

    Tetra curtsied again and was about to leave when she caught sight of her son. She smiled widely and started wishing him luckwith his upcoming challenge when her face suddenly fell. Tetra looked from Javelin to Raven and back again before finally glaring murderously at Raven.

    "You-. . ."

    "Mother," Javelin interrupted, actually standing up to block his mother''s view of Raven. "Let me escort you to the messenger outpost."

    Without waiting for his mother''s response, Javelin took her arm under his and walked off.

    Still in her seat, Raven watched Javelin leave, her expression unreadable.Next to herArowana nudgedan elbow into Raven. "Look at him, all protective. I guess I was really overreacting."

    Raven glanced at the smiling girl next to her but said nothing. There could be a lot of reasons for Javelin''s actions, but protecting her was surely not one of them.

    Since there was no longer any reason to wait for Canis, the Emperor instructed the arena officials to start the second phase of the graduates'' battles. Naturally, Canis'' absence caused a minor uproar ofmurmurs to fill the arena but since the remaining graduates soon started fighting, their Divine Skills quickly made it hard to hear anything but explosions of force and wild cheers.

    Raven''s face tensed slightly. There were at least twice as many people in the arena as there had been on the first day and, compared towhatthe lower grades managed to kick up,the spirit essence torrents thegraduates caused were immense. All in all, it was more stimulation for Raven''s senses than she wanted. She could filter out the sounds and smells but not the spirit essencefluctuationsthat tugged at her spirit connections.

    It was so bad that Raven almost didn''t notice Limpkin slipping into the seat Javelin had left vacant by her side. "The midnight Singer sings again," he said in a low voice. "One of these days, youhave to teach me this insanity-skill of yours, it seems really handy."

    Raven glanced over at Limpkin before returning her gaze towards the fighting stage.

    "Oh, come on, you have had the brother of an emperor running errands for you for years. The least you can do is give me a new skill imprint."

    "I thought you were repaying your debt," Raven replied without looking away from the stage.

    Limpkin clicked his tongue. "True . . . but I did it so well." He winked at Raven but she ignored him.

    "What is your number?"she suddenlyasked.

    Limpkin blinked in surprise and then shrugged. "A few thousand," he answered, not needing to ask what number she was referring to.

    "Let me know when you''ve reached a few ten thousand."

    For a moment, Limpkin stared at Raven in shock before he broke out in laughter. "If you don''t want to teach me, just say so! No need to-. . . ."

    The words got stuck in his throat; Raven hadturned head. Her blood-red eyes were glaring emotionlessly at Limpkin, but what her eyes lacked in emotion they compensated for with bloodlust.

    Limpkin swallowed.

    With a forced smile, he got up from Javelin''s chair and backed away. On his way back to his seat, Arowana must have noticed her uncle''s stiff expression because Raven heard her whisper to Limpkin that he shouldn''t take anything Raven said today to heart. "She had a fight with Javelin,"the girlexplained.

    Raven clenched her fists, unwilling to admit that she was more high-strung than usual.

    "Brother," she called out in her mind, opting to think about something else. "Would you mind giving the Earth Empire Ambassador''s mansion a visit? I want to know when father Tanuki arrives."

    ". . . What about Javelin''s fight? I would like to see it."

    ". . ."

    "Fine, I will go," Hoatzin agreed without further pushing but, as he spread his wings, Raven grabbed one of his legs, preventing him from taking to the air.

    "Nevermind," said Raven, rubbing her temples with her free hand. "The Emperor will likely be informed of the Councillor''s arrival before the maneven sets foot in the Ambassador''s Mansion anyway. You might as well stay here and watch the show."

    Hoatzin relaxed his wings and sat back down on Raven''s shoulder. The two of them watched the fighting teenagers in silence, and even after thenineteen graduates had been reduced to five, not a word had been spoken.

    "Sister?"Hoatzin suddenlyprobed, getting an absentminded hum in response. "Do you think I will be able to take human shape soon?"

    Raven blinked, surprised by the sudden question. She looked down on the fiery red bird on her shoulder, wondering what had brought it on but, seeing his intense stare at the fighting stage, Raven smiled. Hoatzin was soon sixteen years old, yet had spent almost half of his life as a bird. Normally, he wouldn''t mention it, but how could he not yearn to become human again? To be able to fight and prove his strength just like the graduates were doing now.

    "Don''t worry, big brother," Raven comforted, ruffling the red feathers on the top of his head. "You are just a hair away from becoming a Spirit Champion, and you have been gaining more and more from the Day of Light ceremonies every year; it''s only a matter of time."

    "How much time?" Hoatzin pressed, looking up at Raven with sad eyes.

    ". . . ."

    What answer could she give? She didn''t know. Hoatzin needed to become a peak Champion before regaining his human formbut while he would soon become a low Champion, even Raven had needed three years to go from a low Champion to a mid Champion, not to mention reaching the cultivation realm''s peak. Realistically, it would be naive to think that Hoatzin could reach his goal any time soon.

    "Let''s ask Fenris about it the next time we see him," Raven said eventually."Perhaps he knows some way to speed up the process."

    Hoatzin snorted. "I would rather stay as a bird. I do not trust that man, Raven, and neither should you."

    <hr>

    Far above the arena, a little girl with silvery vulpine ears sat with crossed legs on a fluffy cloud, her equally silvery tailwhippingup the cloud behind her. A mischievous smile revealed her fanged teeth as she fiddled with a set of purple rings.

    On either side of her stood two brass-clad men, each with two imposing spears on their backs. Both men looked at the little girl with fear-stricken adoration.

    "I wouldn''t trust him either, little birdy," the beast-girl laughed, "but orders are orders and you will get my help, like it or not."

 Chapter 127: A Sudden Strike

    It took another hour before the five graduates had been reduced to one final winner, and, not surprisingly, it was the Sea Academy��s only remaining Advanced Student who had eventually emerged victorious. The young man was a good fighter; tall and quick, with a solid mid Champion cultivation. Due to Canis�� absence, the final was changed into a three-way free-for-all, but had quickly turned into a two-on-one situation, and yet, the tall youth had no real problems winning.

    Next to Raven, Arowana sighed.

    ��I had hoped that one of the other students would have used some sort of spirit medicine to eliminate that fellow from the tournament! Graduate Ray isn��t much weaker than Lady Tanuki, but as long as she was the final winner, I could still argue that an Earth Empire girl should be disqualified, but now. . . . I guess we will have to think of another way to get out of the engagement after all.��

    Raven glanced at Arowana but said nothing. On the stage, the five finalists, ranging from the youngest �C Javelin �C to the oldest �C graduate Ray �C had lined up in a neat row. The Emperor was standing in front of them with a proud smile on his face.

    ��Fellow citizens, three days of battles are almost over.�� Emperor Hamlet��s voice boomed throughout the arena. ��Before you stand five youths with unlimited potential which you have all witnessed first-hand. You have seen them fight, you have seen them push themselves to their limits �C and sometimes even beyond that. . . .��

    The Emperor glanced at the student representing the seventh grade, who was the only kid who had gained his victory using the Queen Ghost Pill. It was a subtle thing, but few were likely to miss the Emperor��s insinuation.

    ��With talents such as these, I don��t think this emperor is being presumptuous when I say that the future of the Sea Empire is very bright!�� the Emperor continued, and loud cheers erupted in the arena, showing the crowd��s frenzied support. ��To further improve the prospects of these promising youths, there will now be a few exhibition matches, allowing the younger generations to learn from the older.��

    Raven saw Emperor Hamlet turning towards Javelin, an odd look of both pride and disappointment on his face. ��Javelin Hake, as the youngest, this Emperor will ask you first: which of your seniors do you wish to gain guidance from?��

    In her seat, Raven suppressed a snort. The emperor picked his words carefully; clearly, he didn��t think Javelin stood a chance but put it in such a way that there would be no shame in him losing.

    ��Your Majesty, this one would like to challenge graduate Ray Esox.��

    Javelin��s voice was loud and clear; nobody in the arena missed what he had said, and for a moment it seemed like no one knew how to react to his request. The whole point of the exhibition matches were to allow the younger generations to learn from the older, but, as far as most were concerned, Javelin was only a high Adept. While he could perhaps hold his own against a newly advanced low Champion, he was definitely no match for a mid Champion.

    Emperor Hamlet was the first to regain his wits. He laughed heartily and gave Javelin an approving nod. ��Good, young mister Hake �C I see that you have inherited your father��s fighting spirit. Well, as they say: the greater the challenge, the greater the reward. Young mister Esox, teach him well.��

    ��Yes, Your Majesty,�� Ray Esox replied with a respectful bow, but even from her seat, Raven could see the disdainful sneer on the youth��s face as Emperor Hamlet walked away. The look only intensified as he and Javelin were left alone on the stage.

    Raven��s eyes narrowed slightly. ��Arowana, is there any particular reason why this Ray should dislike Javelin?��

    ��Huh?�� Arowana had been talking to Crown Prince Argus, so it took a moment before she reacted to Raven��s question. ��No, not that I ca-. . . wait, Esox? I think there was a Commodore Esox who applied for the Vice Admiral position under Admiral Hake a few years back. He was rejected, though; something about tactical decisions under pressure.�� Arowana suddenly looked a bit worried. ��Oh, Raven, this could be bad �C what if Roy takes it out on Javelin?��

    The tournament naturally didn��t allow any fatal attacks to be made, but the students were after all fighting with real weapons; injuries were bound to happen and Javelin already had one bloody fight to prove it.

    On Raven��s shoulder, Hoatzin also seemed worried. ��Do you still think he can win?�� he asked mentally.

    ��Oh, I bet he will,�� Raven replied out loud with a cold smile, not specifying whom she was answering.

    <hr>

    On the fighting stage, Ray Esox faced off against his opponent, the thirteen-year-old brat, Javelin Hake. Apart from the fact that Javelin was the youngest son of Admiral Hake, Ray didn��t really have anything against him, but that one fact was enough for Ray to thoroughly want to embarrass the boy.

    Too rash. That had been the reason Admiral Hake gave Ray��s father when his promotion had been denied. Two words, no more, and yet his father��s career had been in tatters ever since. His mother claimed it was for the best �C she liked having him home more �C but Roy looked up to his father dearly and he knew that the Admiral had simply been afraid of the competition!

    Ray snorted, clearly seeing the irony of it all; who was being too rash now?

    ��Junior Student Hake,�� Ray called out, emphasizing his own seniority. ��I admire your courage! How about we make a deal?�� Laughing slightly, Ray walked in a large circle around Javelin, using the heel of his boot to draw a line in a layer of sand and dust on the ground. ��I will stay within this ring, and if you manage to force me out, it��s your win.��

    Ray noticed Javelin��s eyes narrowing in dissatisfaction. Good.

    ��I don��t want any special handicaps,�� said the Hake boy, and Ray rolled his eyes. If he were to beat Javelin in a straight out fight, how would that be even nearly embarrassing enough?

    ��It is no handicap, Junior Student Hake. The point of this match is to learn; how can you do that if it ends too quickly?�� Ray smiled, doing his best to seem like the caring senior. ��In fact, I think I will only use my left hand �C that way it should give you the time to learn even more.��

    Javelin��s eyes narrowed further, but he didn��t object again. ��As you wish,�� he said calmly, his indifference sounding very fake to Ray.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ��Good, good, good.�� Ray couldn��t help but feel a bit smug at his well thought outplan. He unsheathed his sword and held it in his left hand. ��Come, junior.��

    Ray watched as Javelin withdrew his staff from within his spacial ring �C another reason to dislike the brat �C and rushed at him with spirit essence running wild. Once within range, Javelin swung his staff at Ray. He was aiming for his knees, but Ray met the swing with his sword, easily overpowering it.

    With Javelin slightly out of balance, Ray stepped forward and used his left shoulder to slam into the brat��s side. As expected, Javelin grunted heavily under the impact and stumbled backwards several steps.

    ��Never lose your balance, Junior Hake,�� Ray reprimanded, reveling in the moment.

    This process repeated itself several times, Javelin looking more and more haphazard with every attempt he made to force Ray out of his circle. Ray had been careful to not give Javelin any too serious wounds, hoping to draw out the ordeal as long as possible, and it was working splendidly.

    ��Your skills with the staff are really quite impressive,�� Ray admitted. ��It��s a pity you don��t yet have the strength to back it up.��

    A few steps away, the heavily panting Javelin was rushing towards him yet again, ignoring Ray��s jeering comments. Annoyed, Ray upped his game. ��In the end, power rules supreme �C look, even with only a third of my strength itis enough to blo-. . .��

    Ray didn��t get to finish his sentence. He had raised his sword to block Javelin��s attack yet again, actually only using a third of his strength, but as soon as his blade made contact with the staff, Ray could tell that something was different. Before he knew it, the spirit essence of a low Champion slammed into him like a tidal wave, catching him off guard.

    Still, Ray wasn��t an Advanced student for nothing. On instinct alone, he pushed his own spirit essence to the max, firmly gripping his sword to counter the blow. Quickly, Ray got the attack under control, but before he had the chance to retaliate, Javelin stepped back, even bowing to him.

    ��Senior graduate let me win,�� he said, but for a moment Ray didn��t understand what he was saying.

    Slowly, realization dawned on Ray and he looked down. To his dismay, he found that one of his feet had been pushed outside of his self-made circle and, making matters worse, he was holding his sword with both of his hands.

    ��You . . . you . . .�� Ray was clutching for straws, desperately trying to understand what had gone wrong. ��Y-you cheated!�� he suddenly shouted, pointing accusingly at Javelin. ��You used some sort of spirit medicine!��

    ��I did not,�� Javelin replied, calmly pulling out his soul stone to prove that his cultivation was real. Only then did Ray notice the metallic anklets lying on the ground further back. Limiters.

    Ray forced a snort. ��So what? You only managed to pu-. . .��

    ��Enough!�� A loud voice cut Ray off. Steps away from him, Headmaster Hammer had appeared with a stern expression on his round face. ��Graduate Esox, a loss is a loss. You chose the route of your demise yourself, so let this be a lesson to not let your emotions cloud your judgement. Learn to be less rash next time.��

    The last sentence hit Ray like a bombshell. He didn��t even notice that the headmaster had moved to his side and was guiding him off the stage. Nor did he register the headmaster��s warning to Javelin as they passed him: ��Just because I��ve accepted your victory doesn��t mean the Emperor will.��

    It wasn��t until Ray was back in the corridor that his mind started working again, and it dawned on him: he had lost to a kid six years his junior because of the same reason his father had lost to Admiral Hake.

    Oh, the irony!

    Suddenly, Ray started laughing.

    <hr>

    High above the arena, the little girl��s vulpine ears twitched slightly as she too laughed merrily.

    ��Well played, fish boy, well played!��

    The two armored men by her side nodded in agreement. Even for a low Champion, beating a mid Champion head-on was almost impossible; the difference in the quantity of spirit essence that their spirit cores could contain was simply too large. However, since the Hake boy had hidden his strength so well, he could use the opponent��s one moment of carelessness against him and take home the victory.

    ��It��s a pity though �C for a kid his age to have reached the champion realm on this continent could be considered quite impressive. If he lived somewhere else he might actually reach peak Champion before the age of twenty, but now. . . .�� the man called Cozimo shook his head.

    The little girl looked up at him, smiling mischievously. Her expression seemed to unnerve Cozimo, because the man coughed a few times, as if to show that he had spoken out of term. However, the girl��s smile only widened, her pearly fangs now clearly visible.

    Poor Cozimo started to cold sweat.

    Suddenly there was a flash as the girl flung her small hand towards him. Instinctively, Cozimo took a step back, nearly losing his balance in the process, but as he regained his wits, he saw a large, red pouch being held out for him. Inside were hundreds of small, frosted-over berries.

    ��Want one?�� the girl baited. ��They are delicious.��

    Hesitating, the armored man eventually decided that refusing her was a bad idea, so he took a berry and popped it in his mouth. A symphony of subtle flavors instantly filled his mouth; it really was a delicious berry. However, his pleasant surprise was short-lived. . . .

    ��Great, right? They are very rare . . .�� the girl suddenly added. ��Grandpa found them for me.��

    Cozimo instantly paled, almost choking on the rare treat in his mouth. Had he actually eaten something that man had gifted his granddaughter?

    ��I��m doomed. . . .�� he lamented, getting a pitying look from his friend Azmer, but the girl clearly ignored his inner torment. Instead, she was staring intently towards the north, her ears twitching.

    ��Arara, it seems that an old pup is coming to play.��

    The girl giggled softly, her fluffy tail swaying behind her, but Azmer and Cozimo frowned.

    ��Should we do something?�� Azmer asked, but before he could react, a frosted berry had smashed in his face, turning into a mushy mesh on his cheek.

    ��And ruin our entertainment? Don��t be silly.��

    Now it was Azmer��s turn to pale in fright; Cozimo had at least been offered the fruit. . . .

    <hr>

    Down below, Raven��s eyes suddenly twitched, her entire body tensing. Before anyone else had noticed what was going on, spirit essence gushed throughout Raven and her figure disappeared, her body��s sudden shift causing a fireless explosion in its wake.

    In the next instant, Raven reappeared at the edge of the fighting stage, but she didn��t stay there for long, so only the very strongest spiritualists noticed her presence. TwoSpacial Dashes later, Raven appeared next to Javelin, her leg instantly flexing out to kick him in the side.

    Less than half a second had passed since she left her seat, so, even with their souls connected, Javelin had no chance to react at all and flew across the stage like a kite in a storm. In that very moment, an overbearing pressure descended on the spot where he had been and where Raven still stood.

    The audience watched in shock as the center of the fighting stage suddenly erupted in flames. The ear-shattering explosion overlapped with the first three produced by Raven, but, yet again, few realized that there had been more than one to begin with.

    Everything had happened too fast. In one moment, Javelin was arguing the validity of his victory. In the next, the spot he was standing on was engulfed in vicious flames! Even the protective membrane around the stage shimmered slightly as it fought against the heat and power within.

    There were screams of surprise and panic from the crowd, but most were too shocked by the sudden development to even consider moving. All they could do was to stare at the sea of flames, wondering if anyone could survive such an inferno.

    Suddenly, there was movement in the flames; the chaotic inferno turned more structured as it started spinning, forming a sphere. Moments later, the sphere expanded, pushing away the flames in every direction. With the flames gone, only Raven��s figure remained at the center of the stage.

    She held a spear in her hand and stray winds from her Divine Skill whipped at her clothes and hair. There was a tint of black in the corner of her eyes as she stared up at the sky with insensible rage.

    ��My, if it isn��t Councilor Tanuki, what a surprise.�� Raven��s voice sent chills into even the most hardened hearts. ��I would very much like to hear your reason for blatantly attacking a student from the Sea Academy.��

 Chapter 128: Burn, Crash and . . .

    "Councillor Tanuki?��

    Raven��s words caused the crowd to finally snap out of their daze. They looked around for the attacker of whomRaven had spoken, but all they saw on the stage was Raven herself �Cstanding atits center �Cand Javelin �Clying in a heap atits edge.

    ��Above us!�� someone shouted, and everyone turned their attention towards the sky. There, at least a hundred meters above the arena,hovered a large bird with glacier-blue wings. Most people present had never seen such a large bird, but some recognized it for what it was; an Everest Hawk.

    A dark figure could be seen, standing on the bird��s back, but at this distance it was impossible to tell who it was. Needless to say, most doubted that such a prominent figure from the Earth Empire��s governmentwould choose to launch such an outright yetdeviousattack on foreign waters.

    Not at all concerned with the crowd��s disbelief, Raven watched with expressionless eyes as Councillor Tanuki stepped off from the Everest Hawk��s back and plummeted towards the fighting stage with astonishing speed.While he fell, panicked guards rushed forward to defend their charges against theunknown threat�C especially around the imperial family �C but old man Tanuki ignored them, heading straight for Raven.

    Aves had also finallyreacted and was sprinting towards Raven as fast as he could. Unfortunately, he got a nasty surprise when he attempted to step on to the stage; with a loud bang, Aves slammed into the protective membrane that surrounded the stage. Instantly, his body bounced backwards, smashing him into a row of unprepared viewers. Blood spattered from his mouth, while those he hit were even less fortunate, almost losing their lives from the impact.

    Raven quickly glanced in Aves�� directionbefore looking towards Javelin. She felt a brief moment of relief; her kick had pushed him just outside the confinement of the protective membrane and his mother was already by his side, healing the damage Raven had done to him.

    ��That��s a nifty trick you��ve got going there,�� Raven commented offhandedly asCouncillor Tanuki landed on the fighting stage with a muffled bang. Even before he had set foot on the ground, Raven could feel the strong fluctuations of spirit essence coming from somewhere on his bodythat had nothing to do with his peak Champion cultivation. Those fluctuations were resonating with the protective membrane and Raven guessed that no one would be able pass through the now practically solid barrier for quite some while.

    ��Very nifty, indeed,�� Raven mused privately, killing intent flashing in the depths of her eyes. The children of the man in front of her had both tried to harm her and those few she cared about, and while Raven had yet to kill any of them, their fates were arguably worse than that.��Should I go for the trifecta. . . ?��

    Seemingly oblivious to the bloodlustin Raven��s gaze, Councillor Tanuki coldly scrutinized the petite figure in front of him. He too had noticed that Javelin had ended up outside the barrier, but he didn��t seem too concerned about it at the moment. He cared about nothing but Raven, andthere was a raging anger in his eyes that bordered on madness.

    ��What is going on here!?�� Emperor Hamlet��s booming voice broke the silence that had descended on the arena.

    Old man Tanuki, however, completely ignored the Emperor��s outrage. ��Raven Nightingale,�� he breathed, the words seething with bloodlust; ��you have spared me the trouble of coming to collect you! Tell me, what witchcraft have you done to my son!?��

    ��Son?�� Raven mirrored the question, feigning ignorance perfectly.

    Meanwhile, Emperor Hamlet��s face was turning red with rage of his own. He had already sent some of his guards to investigate the changed membrane around the arena, butdidn��t like the report he received.

    ��Councillor Tanuki! This Emperor demands that you withdraw the barrier and explain why you barged in here and attacked one of my subjects!��

    ��Bitch! Don��t think you can fool me!�� Poor Emperor; he continued to be ignored as the Councillor kept berating Raven. ��I know you and that whelp did something to my son; you have done it to my daughter, too!�� Thick spirit essence gushed out from the man, bearing down on Raven, but she had no problems bearing the pressure.

    ��Did what?��she snorted. ��Drove them insane? Don��t blame your family��s. . .chaotic mindson me, Councillor Tanuki.��

    A visible vein bulged on old man Tanuki��s forehead and he suddenly shifted his palms, shooting another devastating ball of fire towards Raven.

    ��He. . . he��s a peak Champion!�� someone in the audience exclaimed, finally present enough to characterize the spirit essence theywere feeling.

    ��The girl stands no chance. . . !��

    Everyone was very clear about the might of a peak high Champion. While they had yet to sense what level Raven��s cultivation was at, they could in no way believe that she, a preteen kid, would be able to put up a fight. Ifthe man who trapped herwanted her dead, then she was as good as gone already.

    ��Lady Nightingale!�� Aves shoutedas hedisregarded his own injuries andmade attempt after attempt to break through the barrier. Even the Emperor reacted, ordering one of his Spirit Master bodyguards to help, but the barrier didn��t budge.

    On the stage, the corner of the Raven��s lips curled slightly just before her body swayed and she narrowly steppedout of the flame��s path. As she moved, the faint sound of ringing bells spread from under her feet, but no spirit essence leaked from her at all, thoroughly hiding her cultivation.

    ��Councillor Tanuki!�� Raven yelled over the explosion from the attack. She sounded offended rather than afraid. ��This is madness! Why are you attacking me?��

    ��Why!?�� The man laughed almost manically; ��You have ruined the lives of my two children, do I not have the right to take yours in return?�� He stomped his foot on the ground, launching another attack at Raven �Cthis time in the form of a solid spike that shot up from below Raven��s feet. Naturally, the spike missed its intended target by the breadth of a hair.

    ��Disregarding the question of ability,�� Raven paused slightly as she effortlessly side-stepped yet another flaming ball; ��surely, I have no reason to do such a thing!��

    ��No reason? Don��t joke with me, child!��

    The Councillor was growingincreasingly frustrated by Raven��s repeated last-minute dodging. It fueled his rage to the point where he didn��t even notice the eerie silence that had blanketed the audience in the arena. Even the Spirit Master who had beenhelping Aves now stood in silence, simply staringat the scene unfolding in front ofhimin shock.

    ��My son wrote of you, Slave Boy �C if you have nothing to hide, then I dare you to stand still and let this one interrogate you thoroughly!��

    Raven laughed. ��And have you burn me into a crisp? I don��t think so.��

    By now, large parts of the stage had been ruined by the Councillor��s wild offense, but no matter how frantic hisattacks became, Raven moved between them like a dancing fairy. Thisillusion was made even more prominent by the clear sound of bells that rang out with her every step.

    Dodging forever was not Raven��s plan, however.Without any warning,shepoured immense amounts of spiritessence into the tip of her spear��s headandto the soles off her feet. Instantly, a small vortex of wind emerged around the spear tip and, as the next spike shot up from underneath, Raven did not move away, but instead moved with it.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The crowd breathed in sharply as they watched Ravenallow herself to get pushed upwards into the air. There she twisted her body and swung her spear at the base of the head-wide, meter-tall spike below her feet. The spear��s head ran through the solid spike like hot knife through butter, causing it to start spinning wildly. A green sheen suddenly covered Raven��s legs as she kicked the base of the spike with perfect timing;it shot towards Councillor Tanuki like a large,speeding bullet.

    Not expecting any kind of retaliation, the man was caught by surprise and barely had enough time to form his defence. The spike hit him dead-center, and although it didn��t pierce through him, the Councillor was pushed back several meters, a faint smell of blood filling the air.

    ��Sh-sh-she��s a mid Champion!?��

    Neither the crowd nor old man Tanuki could believe their senses, but, once outside of the body, any spiritualist who was close enough would know the level of its owner. Over by Javelin��s side, Tetra Hake looked at the young girl her son loved with amazed shock. She had guessed that Raven was hiding her strength, butshe was only nine �C how could she possibly be a mid Champion?

    ��Son. . ..�� shebreathed, but Javelindidn��t mirror herwonder.

    ��Anyone can wearLimiters,�� he muttered, as if that explainedeverything.

    Up in the Imperial viewing section, Lady Arowana and her family were equally shocked, but while her expression quickly turned into one of happiness, her father��s quickly darkened. As if understanding her father��s thinking, Arowana leaned forwardin her chair. ��Such an amazing young girl,�� she exclaimed. ��To be just nine and have such power. . . . Raven Nightingalewill surely rock the entire continent one day. If the Sea Empire could become her allies somehow. . . .��

    Arowana let the sentence trail off, but she could already see the slight change in her father��s eyes. Arowana��s smile widened as she turned her attention to the Sky Prince Argus by her side. ��Congratulations Argus, the future is bright for the Sky Empire! Although . . .�� she paused slightly, looking a bit concerned at Raven, ��I wonder what husband would be able to handle sucha powerful wife. . . .��

    The faint glimmer in the crown prince��s eyes quickly faded as he swallowed nervously.

    ��Indeed,�� he said, forcing a smile, ��we will have to support whoever manages to capture her heart.��

    On the stage, Councillor Tanuki��s initial shock was quickly subsiding; if anything, Raven��s sudden boost in strength explainedhow she had been able to harm his son, therefore making him even angrier.

    ��You have hidden your strength well,slave bitch! Unfortunately, it won��t save you now.�� The man��s manic laughs returned. ��No one can!��

    Raven just smiled. While most mid Champions should be proud if they, in a group of ten, could fight evenly against one high Champion, Raven was different. Just the fact that she had been surviving just fine until now should prove that, but rage can blind even the wisest person.

    Councillor Tanuki roared and rushed towards Raven, a huge two-headed axe appearing in his raised hands. Raven��s smile turned into a cold smirk; theman had been having trouble keeping up with her and yet hepicked aheavy weapon to fight her with?

    ��How foolish.��

    This time, Raven didn��t wait for the attack to come. Instead, she backed up a few steps, as if she were preparing to run. Used to her speed, Councillor Tanuki pulled his axe back further and sped up his steps.Distracted by Raven��s feint, hemissed the faint cloud of spirit essence that had formed behind his back and before he managed to realize his mistake, there was a loud bang as Raven��s body disappeared and then reappeared, above and behind his back. With a foot that shimmered with green and black, Raven kicked down on the handle of the two-headed axe. As she made contact with the weapon, the black light around Raven��s legs flowed into the axe, egging on the spirit essence already stored within.

    To his surprise, Councillor Tanuki could do nothing as he felt his own attack turning against him, his axe sinking deep into his spine. Screaming in pain, his body flew forward, slamming into the very barrier he himself had made rock solid.

    Naturally, the crowd��s reaction was enourmous, and it would seem that the crowd had already picked a side because, after a brief moment of shock, they started cheering wildly. Even Hoatzin chirped in and flew in a victory loop above the arena.

    Raven ignored all of this, though, as she watched Councillor Tanuki struggle to his feet. She was considering what her next move should be when suddenly her eyes twitched.

    It happened too fast; Raven was helpless as she saw the familiar black pill disappear down old man Tanuki��s throat, and in the next instant his cultivation surged, instantly breaking through the border of the Spirit Master realm. Raven��s expression finally turned a bit more solemn. While ten mid Champions might be able to face off against one high Champion, at least a hundred would be required to deal with a low Spirit Master �C if all of those people were able to attack as one.

    ��Raven. . . .�� Javelin��s slightly conflicted voice rang out in her mind. He had perhaps the best idea of Raven��s skills and knew thather fighting a Spirit Master �C even a fake one �C would be pushing it.

    ��Worried I��lldrag you down with me?��Raven snickered backathim as an almost hungry grin formedon herlips. ��Just pull me back if I go too far.��

    Ravencould feel Javelin��s confusion, but she neither had the time nor the interest to explain more. Focusing on the [first] verse of her Retribution imprint on her soul prism, Raven stimulated her spirit connections with killing intent and opened herself to the natural spirit essence around her. Like a tantrum-throwing child whohad finally found an outlet forits rage, wild spirit essence gushed into Raven, bringing both immense strength and immense rage. Briefly, twovicious and beastlyeyes flashed by in Raven��s mind, but they quickly faded as she struggled to gain control over the raging power and anger thatstormed within her.

    Across from her, Councillor Tanuki was already preparing his attack.Not even bothering to remove the large axe from his back, the man channelled the spirit essence of a low Master through his arms, turning them into deadly weapons. Suddenly, he rushed forward and, with crazed anger in his eyes, swung towards Raven��s neck. He moved so quickly that only thosein the Champion realmhad a chance ateven following his movements,but totheir surprise, Raven didn��t move at all.

    Just as old man Tanuki��sfortified hand was about to slice through Raven��s neck, her pitch-black eyesmade contact with the Councillor��s. A chill ran down his spine, but before he had a chance to react, Raven crouched down. The deadly strike passed byabove her head, but as it continued past her, Raven used her hands topush off from the ground. In the next moment,both herfeet slammed into the Councillor��s chin, instantly sending him flying into the air.

    Raven didn��t wait for him to land. She kicked off from the ground, her fingers spread like vicious talons as she grabbed the still lodged axe with both hands and pushed off against old man Tanuki��s back with her feet. With a beastly yell, Raven yanked loose the axe, the sudden release causing her to plummet towards the ground while Councillor Tanuki continued upwards. The manmanaged to turn in the air, but it only caused him to slam his already wounded backinto the upper limit of theprotective barrier. Blood spattered everywhere, painting a red flower on the previously clear membrane in the sky.

    Already on the ground, Raven kicked off oncemore,the bloody andstolen axe dragging behind her. Councillor Tanuki noticed her approach, and while he could do nothing to change the fact that he was falling towards her, he still readied himself to meet Raven��s attack with one of his own. Just as he was about tolaunch his most powerful fireball yet, old man Tanuki��s gaze met Raven��s and a bright flash of red assaulted his mind, filling it with screams and horror.

    He hesitated, and it was all Raven needed to pass him by and, using the broad side of the axe, slam down on Tanuki��s back. The strikepummeled him into the fighting stage, causing his already prepared fireball to engulf none other than himself.

    Fresh blood covered Raven��s face as she landed gracefully a few steps away from the raging inferno. She licked her lips, the tangy taste of iron filling her mouth. For a brief moment, the savage rage within her threatened to overwhelm her. Subconsciously, Raven glanced at the still bleeding,yet very much alive man within the flames in front of her and even took half a step forward. At this point, a cool sensetion filled her mind, as Javelin''spurer spirit essence stirred within her. Finally, she managed to regain control of herself.

    Calmly, Raven retrieved a snow-white handkerchief from within her spacial ring and started wiping her face. It didn��t take long for the flames to die down, revealing the sorry-looking Councillor Tanuki at their core. He was indeed alive, but the wound on his back was bleeding profusely and the rage in his eyes was now mixed with even more fear.

    ��Councillor Tanuki,�� Raven spokecoldly, the black in her eyes fading,��with all due respect, if I wanted to harm your son, I would just kill him and be done with it. As for your barely mentioned daughter, the result wouldn��t be much different.�� Raven paused, taking in the view of the severely bleeding man in front of her.

    ��I know it is hard to accept reality, but . . .�� she glanced at her surroundings and let the sentence trail. Instead she stepped forward and crouched down a few meters from the man, as if to give her condolences more privately.

    ��There is some merit to your words, though. . . .�� Raven whispered for only Tanuki to hear. Killing intent laced her words and poisonedthe Councillor��s already shaken mind. ��Javelindid havetime alone with both your children before it happened . . . and yet, as the son of an Admiral, I doubt he would do anything on his own initiative.�� Raven glanced over at Sea Emperor, quickly retrieving her gaze. "Jealousy of another nation''s talents is a scary thing. . . ."

    She took a step back and spoke more loudly this time. ��Since no one was hurt this time, shall we let bygones be bygones?��

    Her comment caused several people to choke on their own tongues; no one got hurt? What about the Councillor!? Raven on the other hand, just smiled sweetly as she slowly started walking towards the edge of the stage -old man Tanuki��s dripping blood forming a red trail behind her.

 Chapter 129: . . . Die?

    To say that Raven��s performance had left the audience in utter shock would be a gross understatement. Like silent statues, they sat in their seats, neither cheering nor booing. They had somehow been able to ignore the absurdity of a nine-year-old mid Champion, but for her to then be able beat someone with the strength of a low Spirit Master was more than they could handle.

    Raven did, after all, not look even close to her young age �C people could assume she was older and simply lying about her age �C her swift victory was, on the other hand, irrefutable. They had barely had the chance to panic over Councillor Tanuki��s sudden rise in strength before he was defeated for the second time �C his loss even more miserable than the first.

    Now the man lay in a burnt and bloody pile on the stage, barely recognizable, and the crowd didn��t really know how to react anymore. Should they cheer? It was perhaps the natural reaction, but what kind of little monster could defeat a low Master at the age of nine? The thought scared them terribly, and Raven��s nonchalant and cold attitude didn��t make things any better.

    While the people in the arena were trying to decide if they were mostly impressed or afraid, Councillor Tanuki��s previously motionless body suddenly shifted. He was struggling just to move, so most ignored his actions, but a cold light flashed by in Raven��s eyes, her lips curling upwards ever so slightly.

    In the next instant, there was a muffled bang behind her, as raging grey spirit essence gushed out of old man Tanuki. Within seconds, his already depleting cultivation rushed back up into the low Spirit Master realm, but it didn��t stop there. Raven paused her steps and turned to look at the center of the stage, where the Councillor had popped not one but ten Ghost Queen Pills into his mouth.

    The man��s veins bulged and his muscles twitched as his body was trying to handle the sudden surge in raw strength. The wound on his back healed in an instant, but dark blood started to slowly seep from his nose, eyes and ears. Clearly, old man Tanuki was losing the battle with the power he had gained, but he didn��t seem to care.

    With the spirit medicine pushing him to the strongest cultivation Raven had ever come across within a Trinity native, Councillor Tanuki sprang forward. It looked like he was headed towards Raven, but, within the blink of an eye, he had already reached her side and actually continued past her.

    As if suddenly realizing something, Raven swirled around on the spot and shouted at the top of her lungs: ��Protect the Emperor!��

    Her call was, however, too late; Councillor Tanuki was already by Emperor Hamlet��s side, his now mid Master spirit essence rushing straight for the Emperor��s neck. The peak Champion guards who had been standing by the Emperor��s side had no time to react at all; they had been expecting the Councillor to finish off Raven, not to dash out of the recently impenetrable barrier and attack the Emperor of all people.

    Those in the crowd strong enough to even follow what was going on shrieked in terror, believing they would see their ruler decapitated, but the expected burst of blood never came. With a bang, a maelstrom of water appeared around the Emperor. In the same instant, two elderly men appeared behind Councillor Tanuki, each grabbing a shoulder of the rampaging man. With herculean strength, the two of them yanked the Councillor backwards, tossing him back onto the fighting stage.

    Raven��s eyes twitched slightly. ��So my senses weren��t lying; the Sea Emperor has at leasttwo mid Spirit Master bodyguards. . . . Impressive.��

    ��What is the meaning of this!?�� bellowed Emperor Hamlet, his body having risen up above the maelstrom. ��Dragon guards, this man has attacked your Emperor; detain him at once!��

    With speed even Raven hadto concentrate tofollow, two more mid Masters appeared by the Emperor��s side. As one, the four elderly-looking men dashed forward. Together they launched an attack against Councillor Tanuki. The latter��s strength amazingly enoughcontinued to grow, but, against fourgenuine mid Masters, there was stilllittle he could do.

    Within seconds, the fight was over and the Councillor had turned into an even bloodier mess than before; his face was no longer recognizable and severe wounds covered his body. The worst damage had been done to his abdomen, where a clear strike had blasted straight through old man Tanuki��s spirit core. With damage like that, only one thing was sure; he would never cultivate again.

    ��Throw him in the Dragon Spirit Prison!�� the Emperor commanded. ��This Emperor wishes to learn why this preposterous man has acted so outrageously today! Bring his daughter, too!��

    On the stage, Raven smiled slightly. She bowed towards the Emperor before speaking in her calm voice. ��Sea Emperor Hamlet, if this little one may be so bold as to speak freely, I believe that the bird on which the Earth Councillor arrived on todaymay bring some insight.��

    ��Oh?�� The Emperor turned his stormy eyes towards Raven. Had she spoken like that to him earlier, he would no doubt have become enraged with her, but Raven��s display of strength had changed all that. What graduation tournament? This nine-year-old could take on most of his own battle hardened generals with ease! ��Do elaborate.��

    ��Well, a few years ago, Sky Empress Nene was falsely accused of trying to sell the secret methods of taming spirit birds to a foreign diplomat. The ones believed responsible for framing the Empress were caught, but the stolen scrolls �C containing the taming imprints �C were never found. . . .��

    Raven didn��t believe she needed to elaborate further for Emperor Hamlet tomake the conclusionshe wanted him to, and, judging by his expression, she was right.

    ��Catch that bird!�� he quickly commanded, pointing to the Everest Hawk that was still circulating above them. ��Make sure not to kill it!��

    While the guards sprang into action, retrieving all kinds of hooks and nets to help them, Hoatzin��s red feathers flashed by as he landed on his sister��s shoulders.

    ��How did you manage to turn Jack��s father insane so quickly?�� he asked. ��I barely sensed you using the Ode of Woe at all. . . .��

    Raven smiled coldly, her gaze following the two spirit Masters who were currentlyhauling away the Councillor��s unconscious body.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ��I didn��t. Thegrief of losing a child canmake even the most rational man act irrationally. Actually, as it is, he might still be able to talk his way out of the situation �Cif he has calmed down enough when he regains consciousness.��

    ��Ah.��

    Hoatzin didn��t say anything more, only giving his sister a curious look.

    Catching an Everest Hawk was usually not an easy thing, but, since it had been tamed and Councillor Tanuki hadn��t given it any further instructions after telling it to circle above the arena, the capture was fairly simple this time. Once the bird had been caught and dragged away, Emperor Hamlet surveyed the destroyedfighting stage and the still slightly dazed crowd in the arena. He sighed.

    ��Today, plenty of things have happened that we did not expect,�� the Emperor spoke in a loud voice, for all to hear. ��Raven Nightingale, you have donethe Sea Empire a great service today and will be rewarded accordingly.As for the graduation tournament . . . I believe no one will disagree with this Emperor when I proclaim Javelin Hake the final winner.�� Emperor Hamlet paused slightly, looking over at the section where the other finalists were sitting. ��Or does any of the other champions wish to challenge him?��

    The three remaining contestants quickly shook their heads, shooting Raven scared glances. Who had not realized that Raven had fought to protect Javelin? What if they managed to offend her by their challenge?��

    ��Very well,�� Emperor Hamlet finally smiled, looking very pleasedby this development. ��Javelin Hake, step forward.��

    Javelin stood up and swiftly made his way across the warzone-like fighting stage, stopping roughly a meter from Raven��s side.

    ��Present, Your ImperialMajesty,�� he said with a bow.

    ��As the final victor, you have the right to choose any position within the Sea Empire which isn��t reserved for the Imperial bloodline. It is a big decision and, since you still have some time before graduation, you should think about it carefully. You may tell this Emperor your decision whenever you are ready.��

    ��This little one requests the permission to speak freely, Your Imperial Majesty,�� Javelin requested boldly.

    ��Haha! Naturally, my boy, naturally.��

    ��With all due respect, this little one humbly requests to have the engagement agreement between myself and young Lady Arowana annulled.��

    There was a collective gasp from the audience. Many had heard the rumors about the romantic relationship between Raven Nightingale and Javelin Hake, but few had ever imagined that he would actually try to get the marriage canceled.

    The Emperor blanked for a moment. At first it seemed like he was going to get mad �C on reflex more than anything �C but with a small nudge in the back from his daughter, Emperor Hamlet��s steely expression turned into a half-forced smile.

    ��Naturally, forcing two children to marryagainst their will is out of the question. This Emperor hereby annuls the proposed marriage between Arowana Pelecus and Javelin Hake.��

    ��Hear, hear!�� shouted an attendant by his side, marking the Emperor��swords as an Imperial decree.

    ��However,�� Emperor Hamlet continued, ��since this is a matter of reason, it can hardly count as your reward. Think of something else.��

    Not giving Javelin any further reason to object, the Emperor declared the day��s tournament over and left, his wide robes fluttering behind him.

    As everyone else slowly started to leave, a second Imperial decree came,practically demanding thatall the finalists and their academies would attend a celebration ball three days later. Raven snorted when she heard the decree; she could guess what the Emperor wanted to achieve.

    ��It looks like they want to scout us,�� Raven said to Javelin, giving him a playful wink. The conflicted look she received in return brought her back to reality.

    ��I thank you for saving me,�� said Javelin curtly, ��but I know you did it as much for yourself as for me."He snorted."At least fate has a sense of humor; in our last life, you faked being my bodyguard �C eventually killing me yourself �C and now you have no choice but to keep me alive. Ironic, isn��t it?��

    Javelin turned and walked away, heading back towards his mother. Raven watched him go, a stabbing pain forming in her chest. Raven frowned, annoyed by just how much his words hurt her.

    ��I am stronger than this. . . .�� she told herself as she started to follow behind Javelin.

    ��What the heck did he say!?�� Only now did Hoatzin wake from his daze. ��You killed Eric!?��

    Raven glanced down at the bright bird on her shoulder.

    ��. . . In a sense, yes.��

    ��But I thought he saved your life! How could you otherwise be soul touched by him?��

    ��He did save me, but I killed him first.�� Raven sighed, her eyes growing distant. ��Eric was a good man. . . . I bet he simply acted on reflex when he saved me. Perhaps the soul touch wasn��t out of care for me, but rather out of regret.��

    Hoatzin eyes twitched; he felt that Raven��s interpretation wasn��t quite right,but he was too confused to even know where to start arguing.

    <hr>

    High in the sky, far above where the Everest Hawk had been circling, Cozimo and Azmer stood with their mouths wide open. For a long while, the pair had said nothing. There were countless geniuses in the Realms and even a nine-year-old mid Champion wasn��t unheard of �C rare, surely, but not unheard of.

    Neither was it impossible to find those who were skilled enough to challenge the barriers between cultivation levels and defeat those of a higher realm. To find both qualities in one person was, however, exceedingly rare.

    ��Impressive, isn��t she?�� the small girl between them giggled, popping yet another frosted berry into her mouth. ��If she used all her abilities and I refrained from using grandfather��s gifts, I would no doubt lose to her.��

    ��Miss. . . !�� the two men wanted to object, but the girl raised a hand to stop them.

    ��The two of you have to be careful, too, or she will soon surpass you both.��

    Cozimo snorted, but Azmer said nothing. He looked down on the small figure that was walking off the stage down below with a red bird on her shoulder. ��Do you want us to file for an exception? She is still a mid Champion, but she does seem to qualify for it.��

    ��Hmm. . . .��

    The soft, white ears on the girl��s head twitched slightly as she rested her head in her palm.

    ��Grandfather wishes it, but . . .�� her words trailed off as she gazed downwards, her eyes seemingly piercing the walls and ceiling of the arena. ��We have another problem to deal with first.��

    <hr>

    Late that night, a finely dressed man made his way down the damp and dimly lit corridors of the Sea Empire��s spiritualist prison, Dragon Spirit Prison. When the guards saw him, they hurried to salute the man with heartfelt respect. None of them noticed the dark figure that was following a few meters behind the man.

    ��Your Highness Bival,�� greeted two guards in attention once the man reached them. They were standing guard in front of a particularly sturdy metal door.

    ��Limpkin, please; it has been too long since someone called me Bival. . . .�� Limpkin corrected, waving for them to stand at ease. ��I wish to see the prisoner.��

    The two guards hesitated slightly. ��He is still unconscious, Your Highness. We have orders not to let anyone in until the prisoner is awake and can be interrogated.��

    Limpkin��s face turned cold. ��Our friend in there tried to kill my imperial brother; I think it��s time he woke from his beauty-sleep. Give me a minute and I��m sure he will be awake and singing like a bird.��

    The two guards glanced at each other. They had their orders, but neither of them felt like going against the man in front of them. Besides, their prisoner had tried to kill the Emperor; whatever Limpkin had planned, the man on the other side of the metal doors deserved it.

    ��Hmm, now that I think about it, Ibelieve the Captain wanted to speak with us,�� one of the guards finally said, giving the other a meaningful nod.

    ��Ah right! Perhaps, Your Highness Limpkin wouldn��t mind keeping an eye on the prisoner while we are gone? It would only take five minutes.��

    Limpkin smiled. ��It would be my pleasure.��

 Chapter 130: Tying Up Loose Ends

    The two guards placed their left hands on the metal door, infusing them with their spirit essence. On their thumbs, two rings started to glow in different hues of orange before a heavy thunk indicated that the large lock on the door had become undone. Quickly, the two guards then excused themselves, leaving Limpkin seemingly alone outside the metal door.

    As soon as they were gone, a dark-robed figure dropped down from the ceiling.

    ��Well done.�� Raven��s voice wasas cold as usual. ��It would have been tricky to get in on my own.��

    ��Especially since you insisted on bringing this one along,�� Limpkin flicked a thumb towards a seemingly empty corner and no reply came, but Raven knew he was referring to Javelin. He was standing in said corner, invisible to the naked eye �C all thanks toa pendant Limpkin had lent him.

    Raven had needed to reach Councillor Tanuki as soon as possible, but the prison for spiritualists wasn��t exactly an easy place to break into. She didn��t doubt that she would be able to do so on her own, but the current distance restriction between her and Javelin made it many times more difficult.

    Fortunately, Limpkin had offered to help. It turned out that the Divine Skill of invisibility, which Raven thought Limpkin had been refusing to teach her all these years, was actually not a Divine Skill at all. It was all thanks to a priceless family artifact that only those of the Sea Empire��s Imperial bloodline could use. The only reason Javelin was currently invisible was because Limpkin was close enough and could help activate the spirit artifact for him.

    ��So, the prison cell is open; what��s your plan?�� Limpkin asked. ��I would prefer it if you didn��t kill him though �C it would be a bit tricky to explain to my brother. . . .��

    A flash of red traveled across Raven��s eyes.

    ��I make no promises. . . . Wait here,��she said, but glanced towards Javelin andprivately added,��if you want.��

    Not waiting for a reply, Raven pushed up the door and walked into the prison cell. Once inside, she immediately saw the bloody mess lying on a meager bed in the corner: Councillor Tanuki. To be honest, Raven was a bit impressed that the man was still alive.

    The rebound from one Queen Ghost Pill was hardly noticeable, but after taking eleven of them in quick succession, old man Tanuki had definitely bitten off more than he could chew. Add to that the damage Raven and the Dragon Sea Guards had done to him and the fact that he had been denied any form ofhealing and one had to wonder if not Death had taken the day off. . . .

    Raven walked over to the bed and crouched down next to the Councillor. Sealing up the killing intent in her own spirit essence as much as possible and relying on the purer spirit essence she gained from Javelin��s soul prism, Raven used her mercenary Uncle��s Blessed Hand on the unconscious man in front of her. She was no healer, but the small flow ofnurturingspirit essence was enough to stir Councillor Tanuki back into consciousness.

    Struggling to open his eyes, the man groaned in pain. When he saw Raven, the Councillor��s body stiffened slightly, surprise joining the pain in his eyes.

    ��Y-you . . .��

    ��Shh, don��t speak,�� Raven cooed, sounding unusually kind. She even used a gentle hand to wipe away the sweat that was formingonCouncillor Tanuki��s forehead.��Poor man, losing both his children and his cultivation to the same man. . . .��

    The Councillor��s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared questioningly at Raven; withall the damage that had been done to him,the man was having a hard time piecing together what had happened. He could vaguely remembercharging at theSea Emperor with intent to kill him, but, thinking about it now, he couldn��t understand why he had done something so foolish.

    ��Feeling confused?�� Raven asked, still doing her best to tend to Councillor Tanuki��s wounds. ��I can tell you what actually happened to your son and daughter and why - if you want. I can even help you regain some of your strength. Perhaps, a chance at retribution. . . .��

    A glimmer of recollection surfaced in old man Tanuki��s eyes, quickly followed by new anger. Slowly, he managed a nod; he needed to know what had happened!

    Raven��s lip curled into a slight smile. ��I will tell you, but you must swear a soul oath to help me with a minor request first.�� Raven could see the Councillor��s eyes narrowing in suspicion but she just laughed sweetly.

    ��The Sea Emperor and the Sky Prince want me to marry the Hake boy �C to form an alliance they say. I have no interest in doing so and intend to leave; having an extra card up my sleeve might come in handy. Besides,I would be helping a traitor to the nation, so it��s the least you could do. Don��t worry, I can swear that I won��t ask you to do anything too hard or risky like start a war or something.��

    The suspicion in Councillor Tanuki��s eyes faded somewhat and Raven smiled softly at him. ��Since you can��t speak, just nod in agreement. As long as I explain what happened to your children and help you heal, do you, Councillor Tanuki, swear on your soul and life to fulfill a requestof my choosing, promising to carry out mywish to the letter?��

    For a moment, the wounded Councillor hesitated �C Raven had formulated the oath too harshly, even binding his life to it �C but in the end, he still chose to nod his agreement. The moment he did so, a glowing nine-pointed star appeared above his forehead, symbolizing the oath being final.

    The soft smile on Raven��s face twisted into a sneer. She instantly pulled away her hand from the bedridden man.

    ��Since you��re here, why not help me keep my promise?�� Raven asked into the empty room. Her action caused the Councillor to frown, but his expression quickly changed as he saw the slight shimmer at the foot of his bed; Javelin had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

    ��As you wish,�� the boy said with disinterest and stretched out his hand to start healing the Councillor. The Councillor himself tried to move away, but Raven clamped down on his shoulder. His cultivation was gone and he was way too wounded to push her away.

    ��Why the rush?�� Raven asked, her voice cold as ice. ��Didn��t you want to hear what happened to your family?��

    From the look on his mangled face, it was clear that old man Tanuki had realized the trouble he was in, but what could he do?

    ��You see,�� continued Raven, ignoring the looks she was getting. ��Your initial hunch was correct: I destroyed the mind of your son, I drove your daughter mad, and I even tricked you into attacking the Sea Empire��s Emperor.��If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Intense killing intent gushed out of Raven,merging with the already heavy scent of blood in the little prison cellar.

    ��Why, you wonder? Well both of your children had an impressive knackfor aiming todispose of my brother �C a truly unforgivable sin. As foryou, daddy Tanuki, I was not intending to let the father bear the crimes of the children, but you just had to come storming in here and attack a man who can be considered my lifeline. . . .��

    As she spoke, Javelin kept healing the superficial wounds of the Councillor, but even though he was regaining more and more of his vigor, the man��s face was paling quickly. The raw killing intent Raven was exuding in front of him was almost more than he could handle in his state, which worsened with every word she spoke.

    ��We don��t have a lot of time, so I won��t go into details, but I can promise you that neither of your children will ever be sane again and you . . .�� Raven paused and looked at Javelin. Almost all superficial wounds on the Councillor were gone by now, but in the great gist of things, it did the man little good.

    ��I think that is enough healing to fulfill the oath, Javelin,�� Raven said to him before turning her attention back to the Councillor. ��Now, about the favor. . . .I had considered making you just as raving mad as your children, but I think ignorance would be bliss in your case, so I��d rather see you alive �Csane and very much aware of what your children brought upon themselves.��

    Raven paused slightly.

    ��Then again, letting a rabid dog lose will only come back to bite me in the end. Therefore, Councillor Tanuki, my request of youis that you, henceforth, cease all forms of communication with all things �Cliving or dead.��

    Shock flashed by in the Councillor��s eyes, but before hecould say anything, a faintglow appeared on his forehead. Suddenly he grabbed his own throat, groaning in pain.

    Ignoring his plight, Raven continued to specify her request: ��If you wish to speak, no sound may come; if you wish towrite, no words may form. If someone speaks to you, you may not hear it; if someone writes to you, you may not see it; if someone touches you, you may not feel it.��

    What had first only been a look ofshock quickly turned into horror, but the Councillor was helpless to act. The glow on his forehead intensified and old man Tanuki screamed a soundless scream as the oath he had accepted burned away the senses within himthat would threaten its sanctity. Within seconds, the man��s face had contorted into one of utter despair. His body was rocking back and forth on the bed, seeminglyoblivious to the world around him.

    Javelin watched silently from the foot of the bed for a long while before giving Raven an equally long stare. She met his gaze, and for a moment Raven froze; his eyes were so cold. The light that had once shined in them �C seemingly only for her �C was long gone.

    ��I��m glad I don��t owe you any favors,�� he said coldly before he turned and left.

    Raven watched his departing back, a steely look in her eyes. She refused to think of the disheveled young scientist who had promised to stand by her no matter her past. She hadn��t believed him then, and she felt foolish for thinking that she could believe him now.

    <hr>

    Three days passed fairly uneventfully. News of the fact that Councillor Tanuki had turned catatonic spread almost as fast as the tales of Raven��s monstrous fighting ability. While the first piece of information caused people to sigh at the unfortunate fate of a mentally challenged family, the latter left people both excited and afraid. A nine-year-old mid Champion that could fight with a low Spirit Master? What kind of existence was that?

    Several people, including the Sea Academy��s ownHeadmaster, had come to visit Raven in the small courtyard house she and Javelin shared, but Aves stood guard at the door and would let no one in. Had he been guarding anyone else, such a behavior would have caused a minor uproar, but no one wanted to offend the mistress of the house, so to speak, so they left quietly.

    Inside, the mood had been . . . stiff.

    Javelin had kept to his room, mostly cultivating through meditation, and while Raven moved around in the house like normal, Hoatzin could tell that Javelin��s distant attitude was hard on her.

    In the beginning, Hoatzin had sympathized with Javelin��s anger �C who wouldn��t be upset if they learned that the woman they loved had actually tried to kill you? �C but as the days went on, Hoatzin was growing increasingly annoyed.

    No matter what his sister had done before and what she was capable of, the fact remained that she had risked her life to save Javelin on several occasions. Surely that should count for something! Besides, the moreHoatzin thought about it, the more convinced he grew that whatever Javelin had remembered couldn��t be the entire story.

    ��Hey, Hake!��

    Hoatzin couldn��t take it anymore and called out to Javelin. He had done so before, but this time he wouldn��t be ignored. Circulating his peak-Adept-equivalent spirit essence to the max, Hoatzin��s feathers exploded in flames and he dove towards the only window leading to Javelin��s room.

    He was prepared to use force if he had to, but, to his surprise, Javelin��s window swung inwards just as Hoatzin was about to crash through it.

    ��No need to go destroying property,�� Javelin reprimanded as Hoatzin��s flaming body soared past him.

    Hoatzin struggled to halt his advance before slamming into theopposite wall, his rapid wing movements causing some stray flames to char the otherwise white stone. ��No need, my ass! You��ve been ignoring me �C and the rest of the world �C for three days!��

    Javelin blinked, clearly not expecting to be shouted at, but his face quickly darkened.

    ��So?��

    ��What do you mean��so��!?�� Hoatzin was growing increasinglyfrustrated. ��I��m not entirely clear on whathappened in your past lives, but isn��t it time to put that behind you and move forward? Or do you intend to sit in here the rest of your life?��

    ��It��s my life!�� Javelin retorted. ��At least this time, Iwill determine how I live it!��

    Hoatzin��s beak popped open. ��How can you be so selfish!? Raven risked her life to give you a new chance at life, and has saved you from everything, ranging frombloodthirsty Blood ShadowRaptors to raging Spirit Masters. I know youare mad at herbut acting like this will only make things worse!��

    ��Mad?�� Javelin snorted. ��Now that is the understatement of the century! You know what your dear sister did to me, don��t you? She killedme, Hoatzin! I loved her and she killed me! All for some pesky research materials that I would have givenher freely, if she��d just asked!��

    Hoatzin faltered. Even Raven had admitted that she had killed Eric.

    ��I don��t think. . .��

    ��Exactly,�� Javelin cut him off, ��you don��t; you leave that to Raven and just follow blindly. Don��t bother starting now.��

    For a moment, Hoatzin was so shocked that he forgot to flap his wings. He had almost hit the floor by the time he recovered, but he stillmanaged to land softly in the end. Hoatzin looked up at Javelin, his heart stinging with disappointment.

    For a long while, the two of them said nothing, silently staring at each other. Hoatzin could see regret in Javelin��s eyes, but at this point he no longer cared.

    ��Hoatzin, I��m so-. . .��

    ��I am not. I thought I knew you better than this, Javelin. Apparently not.�� Hoatzin sighed and took to the air. ��Perhaps staying in this room is for the best after all.��

    He gave Javelin a last glance and was just about to fly out of the same window he had entered through when his head slammed into something cold and hard.

    Shocked, Hoatzin tumbled backwards in the air, only to be caught by twosoft hands.

    ��What are you doing here!?�� Raven demanded, holding Hoatzin carefully in her embrace.

    As she spoke, immense killing intent flooded the room, forming visible whisks of red and black smoke that swirled around Raven. Outside, the light that trickled down through the Water Dome dimmed noticeably. Hoatzin glanced up at his sister and was shocked to see that the whites ofher eyes had turned pitch black and her irises blood-red. He hadn��t seen her this worked up since she decided to flay Dunlin alive.

    Only now did Hoatzin look over at man who had blocked his path. It was a sturdy looking fellow, cladin brass-colored armor andwith two mighty spears hung on his back. Even though he wasn��t using any spirit essence that Hoatzin could sense, the air around the newcomer exuded strength.

    Hoatzin had never seen the man before, so he doubted that the latter had managed towrong Raven in the way Dunlin had. The only other explanation for her reaction was that this man was strong �C dangerously strong.

    ��Brother,�� Raven��s voice spoke directly in Hoatzin��s head, but even there he could feel her thick killing intent. ��When I tell you to run �C run, and don��t look back.��

 Chapter 131: Friends or Foes

    It had been a fine mid-autumn day on the seas above the Imperial Sea Academy of Divine Arts, when suddenly dark clouds gathered in the sky and the water grew restless under the harsh winds. In the distance, the rumble of approaching thunder could be heard.

    Those traveling were caught off-guard by the rapid change, and even some of the more experienced sailors had to struggle to keep their vessels from capsizing. No one could comprehend why the weather had turned violent all of a sudden �C literally like a bolt from clear skies �C and perhaps that was for the best. . . .

    Far below them, Raven faced off against the familiar yet unknown man who had appeared in Javelin��s room, with boundless killing intent filling her eyes. The man no longer wore his disguise, so his lion-like tail and beastly teeth were clearly visible. There had been a slightly amused smile on his face when he arrived, but that smile had faded slightly under Raven��s killing intent. He clearly didn��t feel too comfortable in her presence.

    ��Good,�� thought Raven, ��there is still a chance. . . .��

    Raven was all too clear about the difference in strength between her and the man in front of her. Gadwall had already been too much for her to handle �C even when shewent berserk �C but this man��s cultivation was even stronger. Raven might be able to distract him enough to flee, but there was also the issue of his missing friend. Furthermore, while she might be able to get away, it was another matter entirely for Javelin. . . .

    ��I asked what you are doing here,�� Raven repeated. Her voice sounded calm, but it reeked of killing intent and spirit essence, almost turning it into a mental attack.

    ��Now, now, no need to get so defensive �C we mean no harm.��

    Raven��s black and red eyes widened and she spun around on the spot, shoving Javelin behind her as she moved. The voice had not come from the man by the window, but from behind her, and now Raven stared in shock at the small child who was standing in the doorway.

    It was a little girl �C no older than seven by the look of things. She had barelyshoulder-long, silvery hairwhich framed a pale face with even palereyes. On the sides of her head spouted a set of fur-covered ears, and a long, fluffy tail swayed slowly behind her. Her appearance was quite shocking, but all of this paled in comparison to one thing: Raven couldn��t sense her. At all.

    ��Hello Raven,�� the girl said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the immense killing intent that now lay like a deadly fog in the room. ��Nice to meet you again.��

    Raven��s eyes narrowed, and she didn��t lower her guard in the slightest.��Again?��

    ��Don��t you recognize me? I��m offended.�� The girl giggled, not looking the least bit upset. In the next instant, a bright light filled the room, forcing Raven to close her sensitive eyes. Once she opened them again, a small, white beast stood in front of her. It looked somewhat akin to a wolf, but the dimensions were slightly off; its bodywas more elongated, its appearance more celestial.A sea-green gem was embedded in its forehead that seemed awfully familiar too, although Raven couldn��t quite place the feeling.

    ��You-. . .�� Raven��sjaw dropped, the killing intent inthe roomdrastically diminishing.

    The mouth of the spirit beast curled into a vicious-looking smile. Moments later, the bright light returned and, once it faded, the little girl was back.

    ��Recognize me now?��

    Raven nodded absentmindedly. Although the crystal was new,she hadclearly recognized the spirit beast itself; it was a more mature version of the little spirit beast that Raven had saved in the Great Woodland Valley, years earlier. It was Fenris�� grandson.

    ��Wait, grandson?��

    ��The name is Lyka; I will be staying by your side for now.�� The little girl walked forward and reached out her hand. On reflex, Raven took it, not really reflecting on how long it had been since she actually shook hands with someone as a form of greeting. ��Berry?�� Lyka offered, presenting a bag of frosted fruits with her free hand.

    ��You are Senior Fenris�� grandchild?�� Raven asked, ignoring the berries. Lyka nodded and took a berry for herself.

    ��His grandson?�� Raven pushed, causing Lyka to blink a few times and thenstart giggling.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    ��Hehe, don��t take my grandpa��s words to heart, Raven; just because he wants me to choose the male line doesn��t mean I have to.�� The little girlwinked playfully. ��Not all the time, at least.��

    Raven shook her head,pushing asideher confusion. There were many things she wanted to know about this Lyka, but some things were more pressing.

    ��This man. . . .��Raven glanced over her shoulder.

    ��Ah, Raven, meet Azmer. He is a Beastman �C kind of like myself, only of the Double Fanged Lion tribe. He and his brother were sent to Trinity to deliver this year��s invitation to the Thousand Realms Tournament.��

    ��Then, his brother. . . ?��

    ��Cozimo is waiting outside, miss,��Azmer replied before Lyka needed to.His tone was courteous but a bit distant. ��We didn��t wish to startle you . . . too much.��

    In Raven��s arms, Hoatzin snorted. ��As shifty as ever. . . . Sister, you should be weary of these so-called Beastmen �C they will bring nothing but trouble.��

    Raven rolled her eyes and started to forcefully pull back her killing intent. She was unsure why these people had appeared at this moment, but if they were linked to Fenris, she had no reason to keep her guard up �C at least not in the fight-or-flight manner. With Ravenfocused on handling her killing intent, shemissed the flash of humor that passed by in Lyka��s eyes at Hoatzin��s words.

    ��It is quite an impressive Soul Curseyou��ve got going there,�� Azmer complimented once the room and Raven��s eyes had returned to normal.

    ��Soul Curse?�� Raven frowned.

    ��Killing intent,�� Lyka explained and leaned to the side so she could get a clear line of sight to Javelin. ��Hello Javelin. Nice to meet you, too. I guess. . . .��

    Javelin blinked and then opened his mouth to greet her back but Lyka had already returned her attention to Raven. ��Being Soul Cursed is the opposite of being Soul Touched; it happens when a person kills another, adding to the killer��s killing intent.�� Lyka gave Raven a meaningful look. ��You have a lot of it.��

    ��I see,�� Raven replied, sounding neither surprised nor offended.

    ��Good.�� Lyka smiled and hopped up onto Javelin��s bed. ��Azmer, I can handle it from here.��

    ��Of course,�� Azmer replied, and in the next instant, his body shimmered and disappeared.

    Raven��s eyes twitched slightly. She had been too preoccupied with the man��s sudden arrival to take note of the Divine Skill he had used to get there, but now it was different. Raven observed him carefully and, judging by how he activated his spirit essence, she could assume that he too was using a form of the Spacial Dash, only his was far more advanced than Raven��s.

    ��Do you want him to stay?�� Lyka asked, motioning towards Javelin. When Raven only shrugged in reply, Lyka sighed and crossed her legs. ��Well then,�� she said andpatted the bed beckoningly. ��Have a seat. You must have plenty of questions, and since we will be hanging out for quite a while, I think it��s best I answer asmany of them as I can.��

    Raven didn��t take the offered spot on the bed; she might not be readying herself for a life-or-death battle anymore, but she wasn��t relaxed either. Instead, she sat down on a chair a couple of meters away, but Lyka didn��t seem to mind.

    ��Why don��t you just start from the beginning and tell me why you are here?�� Raven suggested.

    ��What��s there to tell?�� Lyka shrugged. ��I came here to train, got caught, then saved by you. Now I��m here to repay the life-debt I owe you.

    Raven raised her brows disbelievingly. ��Still going with that story?��

    ��What��s wrong with it?�� the girl asked innocently, her eyes only barely keeping up with the charade.

    ��Miss Lyka, you are sitting less than three meters away from me, and yet, if I close my eyes, I wouldn��t even know you were there. Just like your grandfather. I do not know what level of cultivation you have now, nor if the Novice-equivalent cultivation you had when we met first was real, but I doubt those bandits could have caught you if you didn��t want them to. Even disregarding all of this, I have had enough dealings with your grandfather to know that he is not a stickler for protocols; Fenris would not have hesitated to slaughter those people if he felt like it �C rules be damned.��

    The fur-coated ears on Lyka��s head twitched slightly and a broad grin spread on her lips, revealing the sharp fangs within. Soon she broke out in laughter.

    ��Haha, I knew it; grandpa��s plan was too shallow! Now he owes me a lot more berries!��

    ��Berries?�� Hoatzin commented while Lyka was laughing merrily. ��I really think you should keep your distance from this one, Sister. . . .��

    ��Don��t interfere, little birdy,�� Lyka suddenly hissed, giving Hoatzin a disapproving glare. ��Grown-ups are talking.��

    ��What grown-ups?�� Hoatzin retorted, clearly assuming that Lyka had snapped at him for no apparent reason, but Raven��s eyes narrowed.

    ��You can hear him?��

    ��Sister, don��t be-. . .��

    ��Of course I can.�� Lyka��s bright voice cut Hoatzin��s sentence short.

    Both Raven and Hoatzin were shocked by the revelation, and even Javelin, who had been treating all that was going on as something unrelated to him, was surprised.

    Lyka giggled.

    ��I guess I really should start at the beginning, although . . . I should show you something first.��

    She raised her left hand, showing a black ring that adorned her pinky. With a light tug, Lyka removed the ring and at once a familiar feeling probed at Raven��s mind. She could feel Lyka, in exactly the same way as she could with her brother.

    ��That sea-green crystal. . . .��

    Realization dawned on Raven.

    ��I see that you��ve guessed it.�� Lyka smiled, but for the first time there was a bit of melancholy in her eyes. ��I am sorry. Grandfather wasn��t entirely forthright when he removed that shard from your soul prism to help birdy here. Fact is, he didn��t take one, but two pieces. . . .��

    ��He did what!?�� Hoatzin��s feathers instantly stood on edge. He was even about to charge at Lyka when Raven raised a hand to stop him.

    ��Explain,�� she said, her voice flat.

    Lyka sighed.

    ��Tell me, have you ever heard of the Celestial Valkyrie Wolf?��

 Chapter 132: A Wolfs Chanis

    ��Celestial Valkyrie Wolf?�� Raven frowned.

    She had spent quite a lot of time reading the books in the extensive family library at Nightingale Manor; there weren��t many spirit beasts Raven didn��t know of.

    Lyka smiled wryly. ��It is not strange that you have not heard of us. According to grandpa, there was a time when practically every realm knew of the Valkyrie Wolves. We were a powerful race then. Even though children were rarely born in our tribes, every single one had unlimited potential, growing from helpless toddlers into Spirit Champions within weeks, Spirit Masters within months. By the age of ten, our cultivation would already be way beyond what you could possibly imagine �C outstripping even my grandfather by leaps and bounds.��

    ��What happened?�� Raven asked, her face solemn. She found Lyka��s tale rather unbelievable, but she could see no signs of deception from the little girl. It was, however, also clear that something must have changed �C otherwise, Fenris wouldn��t be weaker than his ten-year-old ancestors.

    Lyka sighed. ��I��m not sure. . . . If the legends are true, the Gods started to fear the Celestial Valkyrie Wolves and our insane growth. They were afraid that if we continued to grow in strength, the Valkyrie Wolves would one day challenge the Gods, pushing them from their supreme thrones.��

    ��Gods?�� Hoatzin snorted, and he wasn��t alone in having a hard time accepting Lyka��s words. Raven had no problems admitting that there was a lot she didn��t understand about the world, but gods? It felt too far-fetched.

    ��You snort now, birdy, but �C real or not �C fact remains that at some point in time, the immense potential of the Celestial Valkyrie Wolves was sealed. For as long as all now living Valkyrie Wolves can remember, we have been unable to cultivate any spirit essence whatsoever, nor can we increase or spirit connections. It doesn��t matter how much we train or how many years of experience we gain, nothing changes.��

    ��So you steal it instead!? Like the Trivians!��

    Lyka gave Hoatzin an angry glare. ��We are nothing like the Trivians! We steal nothing!��

    Raven raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Lyka coughed, blushing slightly. ��Well, not on principle, anyway. . . . Look, three seals have been placed on the Valkyrie Wolf bloodline, and if we want to improve our cultivation, those seals have to be lifted. With every undone seal, a part of our potential returns. For example, I have managed to lift one seal, so I am a peak Spirit Master. Grandpa has unlocked two, making him a peak Spirit Legend.��

    ��So Spirit Legend Fenris wasn��t only a title after all,�� Raven mused as she listened to Lyka��s explanation. She had little knowledge of the cultivation realms above Spirit Master, but, judging from the color of the man��s spirit essence, Raven could guess that ��Spirit Legend�� was three steps above ��Spirit Master��. The importance of breaking the seals was glaringly obvious.

    ��Unfortunately,�� Lyka continued, ��the conditions for breaking the seals vary from person to person, and even we don��t know what we have to do. It can be anything from sleeping in the snow for three days on a particular mountain to battling mythical spirit beasts to the death. My grandfather��s second seal was surprisingly enough giving birth to my mother!��

    The two humans and one bird stared at Lyka, flabbergasted. They weren��t sure what shocked them most: the vicious ingenuity of whoever constructed the seals or the thought of a pregnant and female Fenris.

    Lyka noticed their expressions and laughed. ��Odd thought, right? Don��t tell him I told you that though �C Grandpa is really uncomfortable as a female and would never have done it if not that he really needed to break his second seal. . . .��

    Raven frowned. ��I thought you didn��t know how to break your seals.��

    ��We don��t, but that doesn��t mean that others can��t find out. The Valkyrie Wolves have a . . . protector of sorts. He is known as the Oracle and can help us figure out what we need to do to break our next seals.��

    ��Oracle? Like a fortune-teller?�� Raven asked. She couldn��t help but feel that this story was growing stranger by the minute.

    ��Kinda.�� Lyka squirmed slightly, clearly not comfortable with going into details about this Oracle person. ��Anyway, the Oracle told my grandpa that I needed to absorb a willfully given shard of a Sage grade soul prism from someone who had not only saved my life but who had also been soul touched. He even said that the only place where I would get such an opportunity was on Trinity continent.��

    ��What do you mean, willfully given!?�� Hoatzin protested, once again flaring up with anger. ��You took it without asking!��

    Lyka shrugged. ��Perhaps, but Raven was asked not to resist when the shard was taken and she didn��t �C that is close enough for me. Besides, it��s not like your sister missed it. . . . We didn��t take any of her spirit connections for me, and while her capacity initially dropped slightly, it will have been repaired since long by now.��If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Lyka��s tone was relaxed, as if she wre mostly joking around, but Raven could tell that the girl was actually rather anxious. Lyka most likely feared how Raven would react to all this.

    ��So you and Fenris came to Trinity continent, not to train you but to undo your seal.�� Raven formulated it like a question, but it was clear from her flat tone that it was more of a statement.

    ��Correct,�� Lyka answered anyway, her voice a bit unsteady.

    ��And Fenris dropped the Life Link ring �C which my brother picked up �C not out of boredom but intentionally, hoping to find a fitting candidate.��

    ��Yes,�� Lyka nodded. ��He dropped several, actually.��

    ��Finding you in the forest was also according to your plan.��

    ��Mhm, grandpa had been keeping an eye on all the rings and figured you would be happy to give a prism shard for your brother. Although we still didn��t know if you had been soul touched, the opportunity was too good to pass up, so grandpa made a soul oath to not intervene when I got captured. Had you not killed off those bandits, they might really have killed me.��

    ��. . .��

    Silence descended on the little room. What intricate work just to break one seal, and what a seal! With it gone, Lyka had gone from a spirit beast, that couldn��t even be compared with a low Novice, to a peak Master in less than five years! Raven could kind of understand why someone would be wary of the Celestial Valkyrie Wolves �C be they gods or whatever.

    ��If you break your second seal, will you become a Spirit Legend like Fenris right away?�� Hoatzin eventually asked, a touch of awe and fear in his eyes.

    ��I will.��

    ��Then what do you have to do for the next seal?��

    Lyka rolled her eyes. ��Weren��t you listening, birdy? I. Don��t. Know.��

    At once, Hoatzin fluffed up his feather in irritation �C both his fear and awe gone with the wind. ��The name is Hoatzin!�� he protested. ��And I did listen, but you said that Oracle fellow knew what you had to do!��

    ��The Oracle can only see one seal at a time �C I have to speak with him again before I can find out.��

    Lyka said it as if the was the common knowledge information in the world, making Hoatzin even more annoyed. ��How would I possibly know that. . . .�� he muttered.

    ��Besides,�� Lyka continued, ignoring Hoatzin��s grumbling; ��grandpa wants us to partake in this year��s Tournament before I meet the Oracle again �C something about being worthy. . . .��

    The girl shrugged and plucked a frosted little berry from her pouch. It seemed like the nervousness she had felt about telling Raven the truth had lessened greatly. Perhaps Raven��s lack of a response had calmed her. Hoatzin, on the other hand, was about to go at it again when he suddenly paused.

    ��Us?��

    ��Mhm,�� Lyka nodded. ��Me and Raven.��

    Raven��s eyes narrowed slightly, but it was her brother that voiced her thoughts. ��My sister? But she is not yet a peak Champion.��

    ��So? The cultivation limits are more like guidelines; as long as you��re strong enough to defeat a peak Champion, that��s enough.��

    ��But . . .�� Hoatzin started and glanced at Javelin.

    The latter had said nothing since the two strangers appeared in his room, but now he gave Lyka a slightly sour look.

    ��Perhaps your grandfather hasn��t told you everything, but Raven and I are currently rather . . . inseparable. She might be able to qualify, but what does that matter if I don��t?��

    Lyka��s hand paused halfway to her mouth and gave Javelin a curious look. ��Oh, I know of your predicament, but I don��t really see the relevance.��

    Javelin frowned.

    ��Initially, we had hoped to bring you along but �C no offense, fish-boy �C even if we brought you along as part of our escort, you would do little good now. You are too weak to partake in the tournament and the distance restriction between you and Raven �C what is it at the moment? Three hundred meters, perhaps?��

    ��352,�� Javelin answered on reflex.

    ��Well, still, 352 meters isn��t nearly long enough for Raven to be able to fight at all.��

    ��If you know, then . . .��

    ��Look, fishy, if we were going to wait until the two of you have solidified your bond, Raven would be an old spinster by the time she is capable of taking part in the tournament �C especially at the pace it��s been going the last couple of days. We don��t have that kind of time.��

    Raven��s eyes narrowed. It had been a while since she had said anything, but too many thoughts and possibilities were forming in her mind. She was considering Lyka��s words, and what they might imply, when the wolf-eared girl mentioned the soul bond, and she was secretly a bit surprised. Raven had noticed that ever since Javelin regained his last batch of memories, the distance they could keep between them had stopped increasing �C in fact, it was rather the opposite.

    At this point Raven got an odd premonition of what was going to come and it caused a cold lump to gather in her gut.

    ��I ask again,�� said Javelin, his voice revealing the annoyance he was feeling. ��If you know that me and her are stuck together for life, why bother bring up talks of the tournament at all?��

    ��Who said that?�� Lyka asked, popping another berry in her mouth.

    ��Your grandfather!�� Javelin grunted. ��He said that we can��t go outside our range, or we will die! Nor can we ever get rid of the bond, or we will die!��

    Lyka nodded. ��Yes, yes, those are both true �C as far as I know �C but,�� she paused, glancing at Raven mischievously; ��but every rule has its loophole.��

    Raven slowly released the breath she had been holding, forcing herself to relax her shoulders. Her hunch had been right.

    ��What do you mean?�� Javelin asked, frowning.

    ��Let me ask you, if no matter how far you travel on the seas around Trinity you still never reach the other realms, where are they?�� Lyka smiled a wolfish grin that seemed odd on such a small child. She waited briefly for an answer, but when none came, she gave it herself: ��They are infinitely far away, yet also infinitely close �C they are here and not here at the same time.��

    At first, neither Hoatzin or Javelin seemed to understand her meaning, but a strange glow quickly started to glimmer in Javelin��s eyes.

    ��You mean that if we are in different realms, the distance thing won��t matter?��

    ��Not so stupid after all, huh?��Lyka laughed. ��It��s not entirely that simple, but in crass terms, yes. I know someone who can send you to one of the central training realms. There you can cultivate more efficiently and not worry about the-distance-thing. Of course, if you set foot on the same realm as Raven, there is a risk that you will end up too far away from each other, killing you both instantly.�� Lyka fished up yet another frosted berry from within her pouch. ��What do you say?��

 Chapter 133: A Valkyries Offer

    An odd silence blanketed the small room. Raven felt her gut constrict; she had guessed what Lyka would offer Javelin and she could even more easily guess what he would answer.

    "Sister. . . ." Hoatzin called out to her but Raven shook her head. She would not force Javelin''s decision, not this time.

    "Well?" Lyka pressed. "I haven''t got all day, you know. And before you ask: no, I can''t just leave you here and only take Raven with me to the tournament; not all realms overlap."

    Lyka''s voice caused Javelin to snap out of his daze. He was about to answer Lyka when he glanced towards Raven, a complicated look flashed by on his face.

    "I appreciate the offer," Javelin said eventually. "But even if you could send me away, it''s too dangerous for us to be apart. After all, our lives still depend on each other. . . ."

    "True . . . but haven''t you forgotten something?" Lyka flicked her wrist and two purple rings flew out towards Raven and Javelin. "Grandpa told me to give you these. Recognize them?"

    Javelin frowned, but Raven didn''t need to inspect her ring to know what it was. "Life Links," she said - her first words in a long while.

    For a moment Lyka seemed confused but chuckled and shrugged. "Call it what you want, but these rings are the same like the one that saved Bird Boy here before." She waved towards Hoatzin, a frosted berry still in her hand. "Drop some blood on it and even if your bodies are destroyed, your soul will survive. Of course, I still wouldn''t recommend dying - reconstructing one of you won''t be as easy as for the bird. . . ."

    Raven watched Javelin, staring down at his ring, and could feel him wavering. She could feel how strongly he wanted to . . . run away.

    ''Perhaps it would be for the best. . . .''

    <hr>

    Javelin kept staring at the small purple ring in his hand. It was a funny feeling; moments earlier, he had wanted nothing more than to leave - to put as much distance between him and Raven as possible - but now that he had the option, Javelin hesitated.

    Did he really want to leave?

    Javelin raised his head to gaze once more at Raven. Man, he liked her! Even with all the hate he was feeling, Javelin had a hard time imagining life without her. And yet . . . he also couldn''t stand her! Images from that rainy night flashed by in Javelin''s mind and anger welled over him again.

    It was too much. With a quick motion, Javelin pierced the skin on his thumb, letting a few drops of deep-red blood hit the surface of the purple ring he was holding.

    "I''ll go."

    Javelin finally agreed, his voice steely. ''At least it will give me time to think. . . .'' he thought to himself. He had observed Raven carefully as he spoke but all the good it did was to cause him to feel a pang of disappointment; Raven was just watching him, her eyes cold. Even with their souls connected, he could feel nothing of her emotions.

    "Very well," Lyka practically chimed and bounced up from the bed. "Let''s go."

    Javelin watched the small girl head for the room''s door and open it. It wasn''t until she paused and gave him a beckoning look that he realized Lyka''s intention.

    "Right now!?" he asked.

    "Yes now," Lyka said as she rolled her eyes. "I told you I didn''t have all day, didn''t I?"

    "But . . ." Javelin started, but Lyka had already walked out onto the courtyard.

    "No time like the present, Fish Boy," she called over her shoulder. "Don''t worry about your family. Grandpa has taught me a few tricks - they will barely notice that you are gone."

    Javelin wanted to protest that there were other things he needed to deal with before leaving, but Lyka had clearly run out of patience. She whistled and, instantly, Azmer and a second man - who looked very similar to the him - appeared next to Javelin, forcefully leading him forward.

    <hr>

    Seated on Raven''s shoulders, Hoatzin watched the girl named Lyka stand, arrogantly, in front of the huge fountain at the Water Dome''s center.

    Due to the grand banquette held by the emperor - which would start in just a few hours - no other students where around to witness as Lyka puffed up her shoulders and placed her hands on her hips before shouting at the gushing water: "Oi! Ancestor! I, Lyka of the Valkyrie Wolves, have business with you. Let me in, will you?"

    At first nothing happened - Hoatzin even privately snickered at the girl''s silly posture - but eventually the ground trembled slightly and the several meters high stream of water died down.

    "Excellent," Lyka smiled and stepped into the knee-high water, or rather, it would have only reached her knees if she had been average height. As it was, the water easily reached Lyka''s belly, but the girl didn''t seem to mind.

    She swiftly moved to the center of the water fountain and gave a playful wink before diving down into the cavity in the middle.

    Javelin only hesitated for a moment before he quickly followed behind.

    "Wanna come?" Raven suddenly asked and Hoatzin could feel his sister gazing down on him. He really wanted to refuse - water wasn''t his thing - but, all things considered, he didn''t want to leave Raven alone either.

    Swallowing, Hoatzin nodded. His talons grasped Raven''s shoulder more firmly and he used his spirit essence to form a protective bubble around himself. Moments later, Hoatzin found himself submerged in water, quickly moving deeper into the dark tunnel under the fountain.

    Eventually, they reached a mid-sized cave from which the water was kept out by a spirit membrane. The first thing Hoatzin noticed when he and Raven arrived was the clear sphere of water that hovered in the center of the room. The sphere in itself was impressive but what drew his attention the most was the two vicious-looking eyes that were barely discernible in the water.

    ��Kid, you are more disrespectful than your grandfather!�� An archaic voice rang out in Hoatzin''s mind, but it sounded like it came from someone standing right behind him.

    ��Nah, I��m just worse at hiding it,�� Lyka replied with a wolfish smile. "We both know the end result will be the same."

    The two eyes narrowed slightly, but no discontent was voiced. "You have come to make another request of me," he stated instead.

    "Indeed I have! This one," Lyka paused and flicked a thumb towards Javelin; "wishes to train at the Knot."

    "The Knot?"

    The eyes widened slightly and their owner became silent. During the silence, Hoatzin noticed that his sister had stiffened slightly underneath him. "Is something wrong?" he asked, causing Raven to instantly relax her tensing muscles somewhat.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    "Nothing is wrong," she answered. "It''s just that this voice, it is very familiar to that of . . ." Raven paused; "of someone I''ve met before."

    "Yes, the Knot," Lyka continued. "I''m thinking section five."

    There was silence for a moment and then: "Is it you or your master who is asking?" the voice questioned, sounding skeptical.

    "Does it matter?" Lyka responded with a question of her own.

    At once, the already vicious eyes narrowed into angered slits. None of that rage was directed at Hoatzin, but he still felt how his breathing grew labored from the pressure of it. Lyka on the other hand seemed oblivious. Fortunately, just as Hoatzin felt like his last breath was about to leave him, the pressure faded.

    "Very well," said the voice, the vicious eyes fading back into the water. "But this is the last favor I do without further compensation."

    As the last signs of the two eyes faded, the large sphere of water started to spin and compress. It took mere seconds for the water to form a clear disk, but, just as quickly, the transparent surface darkened, blocking the view to the other side.

    "There we go." Lyka smiled a lopsided grin and turned towards Javelin. "Are you ready?"

    <hr>

    ''No I''m not. . . .'' Raven thought in her mind but quickly repressed the notion. ''If Javelin wishes to leave, that''s his choice.''

    As if hearing her thoughts, Javelin turned his head to look at her. Even without their bond, Raven could tell the myriad of emotions welling around within the young boy: uncertainty, anger, hate, apprehension.

    "I-. . ." he started but clearly didn''t know what to say.

    ''Don''t go,'' Raven found herself thinking but her tongue didn''t obey her heart. "Just go," she said, her voice as flat and cold as usual.

    What little light that had remained in Javelin''s eyes faded.

    "Fine," he said and turned to Lyka. "What do I do?"

    A mischievous glint flashed by in the depths of the wolf-girl''s eyes but no one was attentive enough to catch it.

    "Just step though the entrance," she explained. "I''ll be right behind you, so I can show you where to live and stuff like that."

    Javelin nodded and glanced back at Raven and her brother one final time.

    "Take care," he grunted before pushing aside his hesitations and stepping through the floating disk of dark water.

    Raven was pretty sure Lyka said something to her after that but she didn''t register what it was. Raven was too preoccupied by the sudden stabbing pain in her head and soul.

    <hr>

    On the other side of the gate, Javelin was met by a clinging heat and the unpleasant smell of decaying leaves and flesh. Of course, it took a while for Javelin to notice any of this since the first few minutes of his arrival was dominated by pain. He felt it in his mind and in his soul and while it wasn''t the type of pain that threatened to destroy him, Javelin found himself feeling much like a fish on dry land: gasping for the lifeline he was so used to.

    After a while, Javelin started to calm down - the pain didn''t pass, neither did the odd sense of being in two places at once nor the feeling of lacking what he needed to breathe, but he did adapt to it well enough for him take a brief look of his surroundings.

    The first thing he noticed was Lyka, standing a few meters away from him in what looked like an oozing swamp. The second thing, was the cage bars that separated the two of them.

    "What is going on here?" Javelin managed to ask and while Lyka didn''t really seem inclined to answer him, she still did so - eventually.

    "Fish boy, I present to you the fifth section of Purgatory Knot, the Northern Realm''s central training ground." Lyka spread her arms to indicate towards the desolate swamp that surrounded them. "Here, spiritualists who wish to temper themselves will fight countless of battles against remnant souls and can only leave once they improve their cultivation by an entire realm. You should be grateful; it is a really effective way to increase your cultivation - as long as you don''t die, of course."

    Lyka winked at Javelin, causing the latter''s face to turn red with anger. Javelin grabbed the bars in front of him and shook them violently but to no avail. "You tricked me!" he shouted.

    "Tricked you?" Lyka gave Javelin an offended look. "I did no such thing; I said I would bring you to a training realm, and I did. It is you who failed to ask for the details."

    Javelin was about to protest when Lyka sighed and spoke again before he had the chance.

    "I really don''t get you humans sometimes. . . . I mean, Raven risks her life to safe you - on numerous occasions, I''m told - but you get one bad memory back and suddenly she''s the devil incarnate? I mean, I understand that you feel betrayed and all, but have you even tried to remember more?"

    Javelin blinked, his anger instantly fading somewhat. He hadn''t wanted to know more about what happened between Raven and Eric so even though his gut was telling him that there must be more to the story, Javelin had chosen to ignore it.

    "Grandpa told me to let things run their course, but I must admit that I have come to the conclusion that I don''t like you very much. . . ." Lyka looked at Javelin with disapproving eyes. "Since you are stuck here for an unforeseeable future, I think letting you know your errors should be a fitting punishment, don''t you agree?"

    Lyka''s face contorted into a wolfish grin, her long fangs making her look all the more beastly. A scythe that was at least three times as long as Lyka was tall suddenly appeared in her hands and, without pause, she swung it towards Javelin. It all happened so fast that Javelin had no chance to react; all he could see was that long blade swishing towards him as he stood motionless, rooted to the spot.

    Even with the bars in between them, Javelin instinctively closed his eyes. However, the expected sensation of a blade piercing his flesh never came. For a moment he thought that Lyka had perhaps missed him or changed her mind, but before he could open his eyes to check, a stabbing pain that was far worse than the one he had felt before ran through his very soul.

    While the pain was unbearable, it was still nothing compared to the chaos brought by the virtual flood that came with it - a flood memories. Thousands of them rushed to the surface of his mind, flushing him with all the information he had forgotten or simmilarly repressed before. Even things people don''t generally remember - like his first breaths of life, both as Eric and Javelin - hit him like a full-frontal collision.

    In the haze of all the memories and the pain, Javelin barely registered Lyka''s voice in the distance. "Time to face the choir, fish boy," she said, her voice no more than a whisper; "Make the best of it, and perhaps . . ."

    <hr>

    Bright light filled the small room where a young man was lying on a bed, his head and chest wrapped in bandages. By the window stood a dark figure, the black silhouette looking even darker in contrast to the general whiteness of the room.

    Suddenly, they young man''s eyes flickered open. Confused, he glanced around the room but the light made it hard for him to see anything at all.

    "Awake, huh?"

    The figure, clearly a man, didn''t even turn to look at the bedridden man, but the latter was pretty sure he had never heard that voice before. At least he thought he hadn''t.

    "What happened?" the young man asked, his throat sore.

    "You died," answered the man by the window. "At least as far as the world is concerned."

    Only now did the memories return. He was Eric Solarus, a world-famous scientist, and he had been shot by the first girl he ever loved.

    Pain overwhelmed him, and not the physical sort. Eric wanted to scream and cry but before he had the chance to start, the door to the room he was in swung open and a blonde girl walked in with all the confidence in the world.

    "Oh, he''s awake!" the girl said as she noticed Eric'' condition right away. "Why didn''t you call me, Ash!?"

    The dark figure shrugged slightly.

    "Stop it with your non-committal gestures!" the girl ordered, stomping her feet in annoyance. "A human uses their god-given tongue to communicate."

    The figure took a step away from the window, revealing a dark and scarred face. He was just about to retort when Eric couldn''t take it anymore.

    "Get out!" he shouted, wanting nothing more than to be alone. "Get out, get out, get out!"

    The two people paused their budding argument and looked at Eric, blinking in surprise.

    "Whatever for?" asked the girl, sincerely confused.

    "What for!?" Eric hollered. "The woman I love betrayed me and tried to kill me - I think I deserve a moment alone!"

    For a heartbeat, silence fell in the room. Eric was too preoccupied with being upset to notice the cold flash in the man''s eyes but he couldn''t miss when the girl suddenly started laughing uncontrollably.

    "Haha, Raven? Try to kill you?" The girl had trouble speaking between her laughs. "Don''t flatter yourself; trust me, if Raven wanted you dead, Death himself would simply ask when and where."

    "But . . ." Eric started, but was distracted by a light thud on his bed. Looking down, he saw a shattered picture frame, no larger than his palm - a thumb-sized dent, with a smaller hole in the middle, obscured the faces of some of the people in the picture. It was Eric''s key-chain.

    Eric''s eyes widened. Normally he would keep his keys in jacket pocket but Raven had criticized him for loosing them too many times and had bought him a chain so he could wear them around his neck instead. It looked ridiculous, so he only did as he was told when he had a jacket on to hide it.

    "Raven, she . . ."

    "Staged your death," the man called Ash answered. From his tone it was clear that he was no fan of Eric''s. "You should feel honored; you are only the third person she''s been asked to kill who survived."