Chapter 90 - [Bonus ]A Group Of Mages (1)

"Is rather what Averos? It's my first time seeing you find interest in something other than fighting." teased Abby as she looked at Arya with interest as well.

"He is rather handsome, I wonder what noble family he is from." thought Abby as Yuuki scrutinized her face.

"Abiyama, I must remind you that father has already arranged for your marriage. It would be rather unwise to look for other suitors during our stay here," said Yuuki with a serious expression, as he and the group sat down and waited for Arya and the rest to gain consciousness.

"Hmm? Marya!" shouted Calder as he woke up and realized that they were no longer in danger.

"How are you feeling?" asked Trent as he examined Calder's body. 

"Sorry, he is a healer so he has a tendency to look at his handiwork," said Sheela as he came into Calder's vision.

"Don't you mean patient?" added Abby as she continued to look at her nails on a tree a few meters away.

"Who are you guys?" asked Calder as he looked around and found Marya sleeping soundly a few meters from where he was lying just a few seconds ago.

"Potential students of Belgard like you guys," replied Sheela, as if it were obvious.

"I'm not a potential student," replied Calder as he continued surveying the area and became shocked to find Arya's body nearby.

"So he didn't run away? It seems I underestimated his integrity." thought Calder, but little did he know that the only reason Arya hadn't run away was because he couldn't.

"If you aren't potential students, then what are you doing in Belgard's forest?" asked Averos as she stood from where she had been sitting and approached Calder.

"Why are kids asking me questions as if we were the same age?" wondered Calder as he got a closer look at Trent.

"Wait isn't he the son of the lord of Briston?" wondered Calder as he realized that Trent was actually nobility.

"You seem to be in rather good sha-" Trent was about to say before Marya woke up as well.

"Huh? Calder? Arya?" asked Marya as she touched her head in pain. "What happened? Did Arya save us again?" asked Marya before she realized that they weren't alone.

"What's going on?" asked Marya.

"I don't know who Arya is but w-we were the ones who saved you." stuttered Trent with a red face.

"Who are you?" asked Marya, becoming more confused by the second.

"I-I'm T-trent." stuttered Trent in reply.

"I think she means who we are as a group," said Sheela with a disappointed look on his face.

"We're potential students, just like I'm guessing you are as well. Is the man over there your caretaker for the forest?" asked Averos as she examined Marya.

"A 2-star mage? But her body seems rather weak." thought Averos as she sized herself up against Marya.

"I always heard that elves were excellent fighters." started Averos.

"Princess Averos, can you please restrain yourself from fighting everyone you come across. She just woke up." lectured Yuuki as Calder and Marya looked at each other in confusion.

During all this commotion, Arya had already woken up but pretended to still be unconscious. When all the group members finally became engaged in the conversation he woke up and quickly sprinted behind a tree.

"Why is he running?" asked Sheela as he saw Arya sprint behind a tree.

"I wondered when he would stop acting," replied Averos as she ran after Arya.

"Princess Averos please control-" Yuuki was about to say before Trent stopped him.

"There's no reasoning with her when she gets like this," said Trent.

Arya turned around and realized that there was someone following him. Arya was quite confident in his speed, and against another kid, he was sure that he was faster. However, the girl who was chasing him seemed to be catching up.

"Even after my body was refined after the possession she's able to keep up with me?" wondered Arya before the dark figure replied to him.

"She looks to be at least 13, and you're what, 5?" said the dark figure, sneering at Arya's selfishness.

"Just as I thought. You're rather strong. Come let's fight." shouted Averos as she slowly caught up to Arya.

Arya searched his pants for his dagger but realized that it was still stuck in the Ryen's paw. "Fuck"

Arya then chanted an ice spell and froze the ground, however, the area of effect was way less than that of Yuuki's.

"An ice mage? Sadly that trick won't work on me," said Averos as she used air magic to maintain her balance and increase her speed on the ice.

"Silent casting!?" thought Arya surprised as Averos caught up to him at a faster rate.

"What do you guys want from me?" asked Arya when he realized he couldn't run any further.

"Well our group doesn't want anything from you, we just happened to be passing by and decided to try and hunt the Ryen that attacked you," replied Averos as she brought herself to a halt.

"If you don't want anything from me then why are you chasing me?" asked Arya, now face to face with Averos.

"You talk too much," replied Averos as she threw a fist at Arya's face.

The punch was so fast and unexpected that if it wasn't for his instincts he wouldn't have dodged it.

"Wow, nice reaction," said Averos as she followed with a sweep kick, prompting Arya to do a flip backward to avoid it. All this happened on the ice, it was understandable for Arya to be able to move freely on the ice since he was accustomed to it, but he wondered how Averos could be so mobile on it.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think that you guys didn't actually save us," said Arya as he tried to maintain his balance on the ice.

"Forgive me. I didn't mean to come off so strong. My name is Averos Otrera, princess of Amazonia. And I formally challenge you to a duel, pretty boy." said Averos with a smile.

The rest of the group had caught up to them and were watching from a tree.

"There she goes again." sighed Abby as she looked at the two with disinterest.

However, everyone else was looking at the fight with interest.

"I wasn't the only one that saw that right?" asked Trent.

"He dodged her punch? And what's more, he forced sister to use air magic to catch up to him," replied Sheela.

However, what Yuuki was more interested in was the fact that Arya was an ice mage. "An ice mage? I wonder what bloodline he's from."1 wondered Yuuki.