Aeon and Eleftheria stood there with their jaws dropped and eyes widened after hearing of what Estin just told them.
“No way.. That sounds unfair..” Eleftheria couldn’t shout it out for she still finds it unbelievable. They have never heard of such system back when they took the assessment, will this kingdom be the cause of their motivation to drop?
“I know. However, rules are rules. Better ready yourselves because we will be starting this late afternoon, feel free to roam around but be back here before 5.” Estin said before she turned her heels and left the two alone.
That definitely left them speechless especially Aeon but I think this will be a great experience for her. The redhead’s mind stated as her steps led her back inside the barracks.
A couple of moments, Aeon and Eleftheria exchanged glances with worries painted on their faces before they decided to find an inn to stay for the night and setting out to go to the main square.
“Aiish.. that was totally unfair! You? Against the general of the Moonfire Kingdom!? That’s overkill!”
“I have to agree with you on that one.” Aeon furrowed her eyebrows as she compared her own current capabilities and level with Estin. Despite not knowing what the redhead could actually do, Aeon knows enough when she saw the redhead taking down a horde of ogres in the war games. She knows that that isn’t even Estin at full power.
“What are you gonna do, then, Emp? Are you going to give her that one?” Eleftheria raised an eyebrow at Aeon, who hummed.
“I have no other choice but to try.” Aeon smiled at her friend.
Eleftheria furrowed her eyebrows with a returned smile, “I guess I will just have to cheer you on.”
They sooner stumbled across an inn just nearby the main square and went inside to rent a room.
“Here’s your key! Enjoy your stay!” A female from the counter said with a bright grin on her face as she handed over a silver key, which Aeon took it.
“We still have time, why don’t we go to the main square and grab some food after setting down our bags?” Eleftheria said with a grin.
“That sounds a good idea.” Aeon replied.
And right after they went into their room and settled down their bags, they went out to the town, roaming around each stalls that has food, potions, beverages and other necessities for their travelling and camping.
Although, they didn’t have a peaceful venture when a group of knights from the tavern earlier stumbled across them. A male grinned as he intentionally walked past Aeon, bumping shoulders with her.
The strong impact caused Aeon to take a step back and looked over at the male, eyeing him blankly.
“Hey! That was uncalled for! Watch where you’re going!” Eleftheria noticed that and immediately lashed out on the male knight.
“Oh, I’m sorry, your friend’s presence is too small that I didn’t see her there.” The male scorned as he turned back to them with two other knights, quickly moving towards each sides of him, snickering at Aeon and Eleftheria.
Eleftheria growled, “Even if that is the case, at least say sorry to her!”
“Oh? I think we don’t need to do that since your friend doesn’t mind.”
Aeon narrowed her eyes as she remained still.
“Are you picking a fight?!” Eleftheria shouted.
“Me? Picking a fight? You were the one who’s shouting.”
“Why you—” The sorceress was about to cast a magic spell when Aeon suddenly rose a hand in front of her, turning to her in surprise.
“Let them be. We shouldn’t waste our energy to something trivial.” Aeon said before she turned her heels to lead on.
“A-Ah, wait! Emp!” The honey-haired quickly paced up, leaving the knights behind. However, that didn’t change the fact that it caused her mood to change drastically, making her silent as she finally walked beside her friend. She was gritting her teeth and was clenching her fists tightly out of frustration.
Aeon glanced over at the sorceress before looking back at where they are going.
I have a bad feeling about this. Though, it isn’t something out of ordinary. Aeon thought.
The male scoffed, “All bark and no bite. Let’s go.” He said as he turned the other way and left, along with his two peers.
It took them a while before they finally bought everything they need for their future travels. They then went back to the barracks, where Estin was waiting for them.
Eleftheria still has a foul mood along the way to the point that Aeon could see those steams coming out of her head.
“Ahh, here you two are. I guess you had a good time?” Estin greeted but the sorceress casually walked past by her, ignoring her statement. That caught off the general’s guard as she watched the female move towards the field, where their tests will take place.
“Don’t mind her. Someone infuriated her.” Aeon said and the redhead turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised.
“Who?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
“Because we don’t know his name.”
Estin gave Aeon a deadpan with her arms crossed across her chest.
“Right. Let’s just go and start the test.” The redhead said before she turned around and walked towards the field with Aeon following behind.
Upon the appearance of the two, the field is slowly beginning to be surrounded by other knights in training to watch the matches. They are deeply curious to how powerful the two of them are. Estin went to the center of the crowd and cleared her throat,
“We are now starting the mock battle test for the two new knights namely Aeon Gertrude Reigns and Eleftheria Goldenarm! Now, I had explained to them to what they would be expecting here so I don’t have anything else to say aside from good luck to the both of them!”
The knights began cheering after the short speech before Estin spoke once again,
“Now, we will have Eleftheria Goldenarm first! Give it up for the sorceress whose specialty is defensive magic!”
Eleftheria separated from the crowd and went to the middle of the ring. Her face is still blank and frustrated.
“And now, for her opponent! We will call upon the sorceress who is the total opposite as Eleftheria here! Shouting for Halber Rings!”
Halber, a tall woman with long, pale blue hair and seafoam-colored irises trudged her way towards the ring. She tugged on her dark cloak and swung it to the side to remove it, revealing her black, light armor.
“Let’s test you.” Halber smiled.
Eleftheria seems disinterested.
Aeon hummed as she closed her eyes with a thought in mind:
This will be over instantly. I have never seen Eleftheria take a slow pace when she is in that mood.
“Get ready!” Estin rose up her hand and immediately cut the air down with her palm,
“Go!”
“Here I g–” But before Halber could finish her sentence, Eleftheria had already landed her palm on her face, slamming her hard onto the ground to the point it created a deep crater below.
Halber didn’t get the time to even react on what just happened and it shook everyone except Aeon down their cores. No one could ever measure just how surprised they are to the point that not even their widened eyes and jaw drops are enough to express themselves.
“I’m not in the mood today, sorry.” The honey-haired said in her surprisingly deep voice, it is as if she is a different person.
The impact was too heavy that Halber isn’t responding, deeming her loss of consciousness.
Estin had her eyes widened as she witnessed everything in front of her.
Eleftheria Goldenarm.. I thought she could only do defensive magic? How come she could also fight in close range? And she knocked out Halber within a heartbeat. How strong is she? She thought before looking up at Aeon,
She told me she wasn’t in the mood. How could a sudden change of mood have someone beat another like that?
The redhead smiled and raised her hand up, “We got a winner! Guess Eleftheria shocked all of us there! Halber Rings’ our best offensive sorceress and yet she was taken down by a defensive sorceress just like that!”
Eleftheria then stood up erectly and walked back to where Aeon was while the knights went to carry Halber to the infirmary.
Estin sooner cleared her throat to move on with the match, “Our next candidate will be Aeon Gertrude Reigns!”
The knights finally came into their senses and began cheering louder than before.
“What the hell! It took that girl 1 second!? What kind of sorceress is she!?” One began to comment about Eleftheria’s performance.
“I will definitely remember her name! Eleftheria Goldenarm, right!? We will easily win the games if she joins us!”
“Damn right! You don’t get to see a sorceress with that much power everyday!”
Aeon smiled as she merged out from the crowd while she listened to how others compliment her friend.
“And for your opponent..” Estin grinned as she moved towards the ring across the other.
The knights began to whisper, they know how these mock battles work and to see their general being an opponent marks their worried faces.
“Poor her, it seems she will lose on this one.” Said a female knight.
“I know right, if the general is her opponent then that means her assessment test results were really bad.”
Estin narrowed her eyes when she noticed that Aeon seems unfazed of what other people say.
In all honesty, I’m nervous. Of what Eleftheria did totally give me goosebumps and it’s making me think that Aeon has something up in her sleeve, too.
Estin narrowed her eyes with a smirk.
Show me what you got, Aeon.
