Chapter 67: Andria's Studies
Walking through the busy streets of the city, the setting sun cast a dull glow through the land, allowing Andria and Lexa to bask in its soft warmth for a little longer.
As they got closer to the Golden Cloud Inn to settle for the night, Andria was beginning to let out consecutive yawns and tiredness could be seen in her drooping eyelids. Lexa snuggled into her, trying to pass her some warmth.
"Young Miss, would you like to be carried the rest of the way?" One of the Wilderwolf soldier's offered.
Andria stopped her feet and tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment before humming a nod. She couldn't hold out much longer. Still holding Lexa in her hands, the Wilderwolf soldier gently lifted her up, resting her comfortably in his hands. Her tiredness seemed to take over her quickly, and she nuzzled her head into the man's neck as her eyes closed.
The man carrying her smiled warmly. Their Young Miss was so cute!
The surrounding Wilderwolf soldier's looked at the one carrying their Young Miss with narrowed and jealous eyes. They all wished they could have been the one to offer to carry the Young Miss first!
They could only hold back their jealousy though and begrudgingly follow behind them as they continued on their way to the Golden Cloud Inn. They did not want to wake her up after all.
Lexa rolled her eyes at their antics. Weren't these people battle hardened warriors, shouldn't they be cold and emotionless?
It would seem even soldier's succumb to cuteness.
'Maybe this is a tactic I could use in the future...' Lexa mused in all seriousness.
★★★
By the time they returned to the Golden Cloud Inn, Andria was already fully asleep, so the man carrying her simply took her to her room and tucked her into bed. Lexa was locked in her arms the whole time, and gave the man a thankful "meow~" before he left.
Tucked comfortably in Andria's arms, Lexa found sleep beckoning her quickly as well. It took only a few minutes before she finally fell into a peaceful slumber...
★★★
Morning of the next day, Lexa awoke to the feeling of something pushing into her side and the sound of a mumbled voice which her half-awake state couldn't make out.
"Wake up little fang!" Andria pouted. "If you don't wake up, Andria will call you little fang forever!"
"Oh, is it morning already?..." Lexa yawned as she shot up instantly. She didn't have the energy to bicker, only following the girl's whims begrudgingly.
Andria was sitting on the edge of the bed and was now stroking her fur. Unable to take it any longer, Lexa complained. "Will you stop that, go pet a teddy bear to cuddle or something."
"Your a cat, you're made to be petted!" Andria quickly objected.
"I'm a Magical Beast."
"A cat Magical Beast is still cat."
Lexa quickly realised that there was no winning and simply let the girl have her way with her fur. She had to admit it was a little soothing, and her morning grumpiness began to ease.
It was at this moment that the door to the room was opened, drawing the two's attention. Entering the room was Andria's Nanny, Drew. She was noticeably dressed in a conservative dress and was sporting a neat pair of glasses, giving her an overall working middle-aged woman look. In one of her hands was a series of papers and in the other was a brush pen and ink pot. She looked like a strict teacher.
When Andria fist saw Nanny Drew, she immediately shouted out "Nanny!" with a wide smile, except when her eyes noticed those items held in her hands and her appearance, that wide smile suddenly froze, quickly replaced with one of horror.
"No, Andria wants to go to the Tournament Finals today!" Andria immediately protested.
Lexa looked on confused. 'What's going on?'
"Nuh huh, I've let you have several days of free time, its time you get back to your studies." Nanny Drew was not fazed by her cries, simply walking into the room and placing the items in her hands on a convenient desk in the room. Pulling the chair out, Nanny Drew patted it as she beckoned Andria forward.
Lexa looked on amused as Andria shuffled off the bed and slumped into the chair, pouting all the while. Finding herself also interested in these studies of hers, the kitten followed closely behind her, leaping lithely upon the desk to take a look.
Lexa watched on as Andria began working through the first sheet of paper. Though Lexa couldn't understand a word written on it, from the brief conversations from Andria and the Nanny, she garnered that it was a test of her literacy.
Lexa was pretty surprised as the words written on the page were not little, especially as a test for a four year old child. Though she couldn't read, she could tell this much from her vague knowledge.
Two hours passed as Lexa watched Andria work, completing one piece of paper after the other. The Nanny at her side observed and helped every now and then, but mostly left her to her own devices. Only reading over her answers once she was done with a page.
It was now evening and Lexa had transitioned from watching Andria too lying down, cultivating in the meanwhile. She still felt that her breakthrough was so close, but also so far at the same time, with no improvement made as of yet. She could only consistently put in the effort. But she had been a little too lax as of late, getting distracted from the several changes in her life.
"Wah." Andria suddenly cried out in frustration, a pout forming on her face as she had grown stuck on a question for the last few minutes. "Andria could have been watching the finals right now."
"Complaining isn't going to get this finished." Nanny Drew stated simply, her expression showing that she was unmoved by her grumblings.
Andria sniffled and got back to work.
"Don't worry, I'll only be having you studying today and tomorrow. We'll be leaving in two days time." Nanny Drew comforted. She knew that studying was not the funnest activity for such a young lass. Only, it was necessary for nobles to have a high education, lest they be looked down upon by other nobles and commoners alike.
"Ah, Daddy will finish work soon?!" Andria was incredibly happy, she has not had the chance to play with her Daddy much since she came to Skyview City as he had been working the whole time. "Oh, but we're leaving in two days?..."
"Sadly. We can't have your father gone too long from the capital, being that he's the only Wilderwolf left in the Kingdom." Nanny Drew explained.
"But Andria is here!" Andria was confused.
"Cute, but not what I meant. Your father needs to return to his post as the Head of the Falcio military. You, Young Miss, are way to young to take on such responsibilities." Nanny Drew giggled as she poked Andria's nose, to the girl's displeasure.
"That hurts." Andria rubbed the point of her nose. Her cute reaction garnered a laugh out of the Nanny, and Lexa let out a giggle too before returning her concentration to her cultivation.
★★★
Two days passed by rather peacefully with Andria spending most of her time inside, studying hard on several different topics. The topics ranged from mundane things like Literacy, History, Math to topics on the basics of magic, the elements and other interesting topics relating to magic. Lexa took several breaks out of her cultivation process to concentrate on the teaching of the Nanny, before eventually joining in the lesson truly.
Nanny Drew was very welcoming to the new student, as the little kitten was much more cooperative than her true student. Andria liked it too, as it meant Nanny Drew's attention wasn't always on her, freeing her from several nagging rants out of the frustrated woman. Nanny Drew noticed this but could only sigh. She was only thankful that whenever her lessons had anything to do with Magic, the girl's rebellious personality would instantly crumble into one of deep interest. If only she could be like that with the other subjects.
At least the kitten seemed interested in literacy and the like, though she could only teach her the basics, such as the alphabet and a few words due her being illiterate. Nanny Drew was quite surprised at her quick learning speed however. By the end of the two days, she had learned more than a few dozen words that she could string into the most basic of sentences and she had memorised the alphabet completely.
'It would seem her physical appearance isn't a good reflection of her proper maturity.' Nanny Drew noted down internally.
On the morning when the two days had passed, Alexander finally returned from his work and he awoke Andria and Lexa early so they could prepare to set off; They were finally heading off to the Capital of Falcio, Falcon City.
Chapter 68: Setting Off for the Capital
It was a dreary morning with grey clouds casting a shadow over the land. At the South Gate of Skyview City, several people were lining up to leave the city. The stringent guards inspected one by one, checking the people for any misdeeds and comparing faces to the large bundle of wanted posters held in their hands.
Beyond the gates, just outside of the city, a newly arrived carriage exited the city, followed closely by another, for two in total. Surrounding these two carriages were several horseman with various weapons attached to their back or waist. On their chest was emblazoned the distinct symbol of a howling wolf.
From the front-most carriage, the bell-like laughter of a little girl could be heard.
"Stop it, Daddy! Andria can't handle anymore!" Andria cried out amidst her laughter. She was in the middle of being ruthlessly tickled by Alexander. "Andria won't sleep no more, will keep Daddy company!"
"Good girl!" Alexander smiled victoriously. It had been so long since he had time to spend with his daughter and she wanted to sleep the time away? Not happening!
Andria was thoroughly awake now and she continued talking and playing with her daddy while sitting by his side. Across from them, Lexa was curled into a comfy ball, her eyes rolling at the cheesy display in front of her. 'When it comes to this daughter, he sure can flip the switch on his cold demeanor.'
Next to Lexa sat the nanny, who looked on with a slight smile at the father and daughter pair across from her.
Soon enough, the sight of Skyview City was only a dot in the distance as theytraversed the grassy plains and hills of the Northern Region. Thankfully there were no mountains between Skyview City and Falcon City, making for a pleasant journey.
The three of them in the carriage passed the time through idle chatter, and while the clouds above were growing chaotic, the journey so far had been incredibly peaceful. Though that was to be expected as their large party was travelling on a main road, and one to the capital. Bandits and Magical Beasts would hold back from acting here, lest they provoke the attack of the many powerful Magician's from the Capital.
However, those peaceful times were shattered when Lexa suddenly felt several pulses of magic in the distance, which gave off the idea of some sort of combat between two or more Magician's. If Lexa could sense this, so could everyone else.
The carriage had immediately came to a stop as the outside soldier's became alert.
Alexander's brow furrowed and he became alert, shushing his daughter's babbling for a second as he stretched out his senses towards the source of this clash of magic. Lexa and Andria looked on as Alexander's eyes became slightly dull and still, as if he were staring dazedly into the distance.
"What's happening, Daddy?" Andria was the only one who didn't sense anything, which made sense as she was only of a Mid Stage Natural State Rank. Though being only 4 years old, to have progressed to her stage, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a genius. One has to understand that most people are born at the Early Stage of Natural State Rank and will usually take 7-8 years to reach the Middle Stage. She had nearly took half the time than the average. There were only few like her in Falcio. Lexa was rather excited when she learned of this, and her anxiousness in choosing Andria as her partner lessened a bunch.
It was Lexa who answered Andria's question. "It seems that there is some conflict between people nearby, or Magical Beast's for that matter. I can't tell."
"Its people." Alexander answered as his previously dull eyes returned to life. "And quite a few of them, too. It would seem that a group of people who were travelling to the capital were ambushed by some strange people, they are wearing fully black clothing that is hiding their appearance and are wearing no items that give away their identity. Even the magic they are using is quite generic, hard to pinpoint. Obviously, they are refraining from using Magic that would give away their identity."
"Who is being attacked?" Andria asked worriedly. She was a goodhearted child and would want to help if she could.
"It would seem to be a group of people from Hawk Academy going by their clothing. A mixture of students and teachers, I assume." Alexander explained, before he seemed to remember something as she looked as his daughter. "Now that I think about it, you went to watch some of that Youth Tournament in Skyview City didn't you?"
"Yeah, Andria and Lexa watched it! It was so fun!" Andria reminisced joyfully. "Andria's favourite moment was seeing that Farhawk brat being beat up by that cool girl!"
"Cool girl?... Oh you mean that girl who seemed to have inherited magic from the Volcanic Eagle. I heard about that." Alexander seemed to realise something as he asked. "What did this cool girl look like?"
"Hmm... Eh, she uh... " Andria stammered. She obviously had trouble remembering. "...She had brown hair and uh..."
"She had black hair..." Lexa sighed. This girl had the memory of a goldfish! "She was quite muscular, for her age and being a girl. She had white skin and green eyes... She also had a beauty mark under her right eye..."
"*sigh* I thought that it might be the case. It would seem that that cool girl you were talking about is also there." Alexander sighed.
"What?! You have to save them Daddy?!" Andria was even more worried, she had grown to really like this Sandra Button, mainly for beating up Chris Farhawk. It was rather easy to get in Andria's good book.
"Don't worry. Your old Daddy was going to act either way!" Alexander ruffled her hair, causing her to pout. He had ruined her neatly brushed hair!
Andria turned away from her dad and began brushing her hair with her fingers in an attempt to fix the damage. Alexander just laughed joyfully before opening the curtains of the carriage, giving orders for the soldier's to lead them in the direction of the conflict, which was a little ways off the path and beyond the incline of a large hill.
Lexa was rather excited. 'Maybe this fight can help me get some inspiration. Maybe I'll finally be able to reach Major Magical Beast Rank!.. My cultivation difficulties may be due to my lack of experience after all.'
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