章 11: A Little Bit More
Morning time, Dixen Palace
"The both of you can stop staring at me like that now, I'm awake," Jason said with a frown. Lorema and Savannah ignored him and kept staring. He glared at them and sat up.
His curtain had already been drawn aside, letting in the piercing morning light. He let out a loud howl when it burned his eyes and fell back on the bed.
"I freaking hate you guys. What the hell?" He yelled. The queens snickered and left his room. He blinked his watery eyes and commanded the AI to shut the curtain and prepare a bath for him.
He knew he had just a few minutes to bathe and he'll be out for the morning run. He did that quickly and floated in a lotus position absorbing the light energy and condensing it. He only stopped when they later came back to bang on his door.
He followed them to the back door where he met Josephine and Seriel. He frowned when he noticed Astara wasn't there. He asked them and they gave him a sad look.
He grits his teeth and ran off in that direction. Josephine had already taught him how to refine his body with the light energy Metheron he absorbed so he could run better than before.
He ran for an hour without stopping till he reached the strange-looking willow tree. The druids guarding the tree removed their mechanisms to let him through. He got there and stroked the trunk.
"Astara, it's time to come back" he said softly while resting his head on the trunk of the tree. The other queens caught up to him and pulled him gently away from the tree towards the school.
After they were a good distance away from the tree, the seemingly carved owl opened its eyes and came out of the trunk. The tree started to shrink to form a barefoot feminine figure whose emerald eyes were twinkling. She looked towards their direction, smiled, and disappeared.
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"That'll be all for today. Revise on the various preparation methods as there will be a test tomorrow, both theory and practical" Lord Alben said, eliciting silent groans from the class and left.
While they were clearing up their desk for the next class, the class monitor came up to the front for an announcement. He tapped on the teacher's desk to get everyone's attention.
"Lord Jason, classmates, as you all know, the Celestial Qualification Examinations are coming up next month. For the sake of Lord Jason, I'll explain again what the Celestial Qualification Examination is.
The exams are basically to test our aptitude, what we've learned and the places we are best suited to in life. It also determines whether we qualify to enter the central realm. It's a great opportunity for all the genius students around the realm to find their place in society and life" He explained excitedly.
Chatters erupted around the class as everyone was looking forward to it. The class monitor tapped the desk again as he wasn't done yet.
"We'll be having special guests from all five realms, so everyone. make sure to do your best to impress these big figures. That's all" he said and returned to his seat.
Jason's brows furrowed as his expression changed. After a few minutes, he continued what he was doing. That's when he noticed the whole class was staring at him expectantly. He raised his eyebrow as if asking 'what?' and one of the students answered him.
"Lord Jason, Lord Luica asked if you knew the special guests that are coming". Jason cocked his head and regarded Luica, who had a small smirk, with an amused look. It seemed like Luica was trying to make trouble for him.
"I'm sorry everyone but this is the first time I've heard of this competition probably because I don't really need to participate. However, I would ask my guardian or the Beta Queen on behalf of all of you" he replied apologetic. Luica let out a snort upon hearing this.
"Unless of course Lord Luica knows the special guests and may be able to tell us?"
"I don't. I just felt as the future Luna King who is close to the Alpha Queen, you may know?"
"You were her former betrothed, you may be able to seek an audience with her and she may tell you. Unless of course, you've never seen her up close or talked to her before" Jason retorted calmly, resting his chin on his palm and smiling at Luica.
Luica didn't reply and glared at Jason.
"Thought so" Jason said with a mocking smile and returned to what he was doing. Jason may have been introverted and bullied easily before but as the future Luna King and ruler of a very large nation, he would not let anyone bully him again. He thought it was time he brought out his cynical side.
"Um, Lord Jason, you don't mind if we ask you a few questions, do you?" a classmate asked timidly. Jason gave the girl a genuine smile and nodded.
"Okay. How is the Alpha Queen like?" how was she like, he asked himself while tapping his chin.
"She is very beautiful first of all. She's gentle yet scary. She's playful but can turn serious in an instance and she really loves her hairbrush" he described, saying the last word with a chuckle.
They were excited at his reply and continued to ask questions which he answered calmly. Jason looked over to Luica's side from time to time and was satisfied to see him clenching his fists from jealousy.
In the conference room in the palace, the Queens were watching Jason with amusement. They all thought the little wolf was getting more interesting.
"I never would've thought Jason would treat Luica like this. He's being so cynical and that is cool. If I didn't witness it I would never believe it if any of you told me" Lorema exclaimed, grinning.
"He's being so cool and calm, a sharp contrast from his docile attitude in the palace. Maybe he feels comfortable beside his mates and he's unnecessarily scared of us" Maery added.
"If you hadn't withdrawn Josephine, we wouldn't have seen this side of him. Tell me Xunia, did you know this would happen?" Paerish asked and the other queens looked at her expectantly.
Xunia rolled her eyes at her escorts eager expressions. Truthfully, she didn't know he had this side to him and even she couldn't deny it was interesting and slightly alluring. However, she didn't have time to discuss Jason's attitude as they had bigger things to handle.
"I called you all here to discuss the recent disturbances and that's the same reason I summoned Josephine. Jason still has two Zenith body guards protecting him. We have more important things to do than spy on Jason. I called Josephine here because I needed all of you back here. I'm sure most of you can also notice I called Styllaph here. This is very important.
Besides, if Jason found out you guys were spying on him like this, would he like it?" She asked, looking around sternly. They bowed their head in shame. Xunia rarely scolded them and just let them have their way. She could be compared to a mother who spoiled her children but when it came to important matters, she could be extremely strict.
Xunia sighed and shook her head. 200 years and her pillars still acted like little kids.
"Seriel, please inform the queens about what we're dealing with" Xunia said and leaned in her seat. Seriel stood, bowed, and proceeded to begin her task.
"We got a report from our borders in the sea region and the Kraken is showing signs of waking. The other ocean borders have been occasionally going black. The constellations are getting more unstable and we're unable to predict anything accurately. When this happened last time, we all know what happened" Seriel finished and the other queens showed signs of anger.
"Evil is closer then. This is a very fragile time. We finally have Jason with us and that's when that bastard decides to attack. We could barely survive the attack last time and he's back again. Xunia, Jason is very important. We can't afford for him to be taken away. We absolutely can't" Lorema banged the table enraged. If Jason was there, he would've been very surprised seeing the usually slothful Lorema act like that.
Xunia eyed Lorema with minor annoyance.
"Don't you think I know that? Maery has estimated that he'll be here in a year and we need to make sufficient preparation. Jason can't move to the central planet yet so we have to send him back to earth. However, we can't send him right away. He would be provided with sufficient training from all of you except Styllaph. She would return to her duty post" she delivered her verdict and the other queens nodded in relief.
"Seriel, continue"
"OK. The next issue is a bit troubling. It has to do with Luica. He's using his engagement with you as leverage to assume authority. He went to our business in the dark parts of the city and is using your name to demand cooperation from them. The funny part is, he did this after Jason came. This shows his shallow mother is trying to snatch the throne from you" she said with an amused expression and the other queens chuckled.
"Maery dear, could you pay our dear city lady a visit she would never forget?" Xunia said with a simple smile. The moment the escorts saw this smile and the one Maery gave back, they shivered. All of them could be called cruel but they were nothing but toddlers in front of Maery. The supposed Angel was even more frightening than demons.
"Next we have another issue. It concerns her" Seriel said with a frown. All the queens smiled. They knew the person whose name Seriel wouldn't even mention. If the queens were wary of Maery, then they were scared of this woman.
"What about her Seriel?" Paerish asked with a smirk.
"Don't push it Paerish" Seriel growled, annoyed. Paerish smirked but didn't say anything else. They all knew their place. Though Seriel was second in command, Maery was more powerful. She was only omega queen because she was very amiable and had a calming aura. But the queens knew she was like a slumbering dragon. If you didn't attack her, she won't do anything. If you did, she would devour you till nothing was left.
The one that scared both Maery and Seriel was known as Verai. The alpha queen had 10 pillars or escorts as others called them but Verai wasn't part of them. Verai was a protector. The captain of a team of very capable protectors. Astara was one of such protectors. Although Verai was very powerful, Xunia could crush her in one blow.
"Verai would soon awaken and we would need her if we want to stand a chance against Evil. Call the other protectors back to prepare for the arrival of their leader. Seriel, you would be tasked with going back home to obtain her staff. Savannah, you're going to earth to take a look at how Greeane is faring. Come back with your sword" Xunia instructed. They nodded again.
"Anything else Seriel?" Xunia asked.
"As you all can see, we aren't complete. The small abyss has started to act up again and Ganine and Acecilia have been sent to investigate what was going on. They reported that the issue is beyond their capabilities and have asked for the Alpha Queen to intervene" Seriel reported and they looked at Xunia eagerly.
Seriel was right about them not being complete. Only Seriel, Styllaph, Lorema, Savannah, Maery, Josephine and Paerish were there. Xunia pondered over the report and the map Seriel had laid in front of them.
About 80% of the small abyss was uncharted territory. That was because it was a small dimension and a fragment of the real abyss. The number of monsters and unknowns there was overwhelming so the place was a threat. Xunia had to request the help of her godmother to seal the small abyss. If not, her entire Kingdom and continent would become desolate. Only the first and second levels were kept open for the sake of hunting and the Celestial Qualification Examination.
"Naturally, I would go back there and re-enforce the seals. The Celestial Qualification Examinations are coming up and we would need the place to be relatively safe. The CQE was on your agenda, right?" Xunia asked. Seriel nodded.
Xunia enlarged the holographic map Seriel had brought out and marked some places on the map.
"These places are where the seal pieces are located. Whether or not they are dimming, you would take the blue heart stone and recharge the seals. Cordon off the area and do this in the next two weeks. With this, the seal would hold for half a year" Xunia instructed and they nodded.
"Since that is all, this meeting is dismissed" Xunia announced and the queens stood up and bowed. They all exited the conference room with Xunia in front.
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Greyworrld
Greyworrld Thank you for reading my new chapter. Please don't forget to vote with powerstones as they are very important. Don't forget to comment either. Till next time
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