บท 24: Awakening of the Phoenix

POV Kathyln Glayder

My brother entered his second year at Xyrus academy, from time to time I come to see him in the company of my parents.

But lately I have seen a furry mana beast, white and blue colors, it looks like a wolf puppy.

I tried to consult with my parents what kind of mana beast it was, but it always disappeared when it would notice my approach and I could only give descriptions that led to nothing because there was no known beast with that description

One of the times I tried to lure him with food, but he stole it while I was distracted and escaped, strangely enough I never saw him with his owner.

Little by little I was finding his escape path, I managed to notice several times other mana beasts I used to be with, all of them were amazing, but I couldn't find anything about them, it's as if they had no species.

That intrigued me so I kept trying to get closer, but they always escaped.

I spent almost two months trying to find their escape route every time I came to the academy and I finally found it.

It was the special training environment area for the most outstanding students.

I saw that the guard let them pass as if he was used to seeing them, that answered my suspicions of how they could hide so fast without me being able to find them.

When I tried to pass the guard stopped me and called my mother who had come with me, they scolded me because they had seen me moving all over the academy when I came to see my brother.

Even so, I didn't give up and waited for the right moment for the wolf pup to be alone, so there was less chance that it would notice me.

I was also patient so I could trick the guard and so I managed to enter the area of the special training environments.

I followed him very carefully and when I saw that he sat down in front of a door I surprised him and picked him up from the floor.

He was soft and smooth, and his fur was very clean, it looked like he had been bathed today.

When I tried to look at him I noticed his terrified look, he wanted to jump out of my arms but I didn't allow it.

Just at that moment, while I was struggling with the baby wolf not to let him go, I heard the sound of the door opening.

And inside I saw a boy about my age, he had slight traces of sweat on his face, his hair was a completely different one from mine, a beautiful pure white, his piercing eyes as red as two suns that caught my attention and looked at me with intensity.

While I was distracted by his appearance, he spoke to me somewhat awkwardly.

"Miss, do you need help with anything?" he said as he directed a warm smile towards me

"Ohhh" for some strange reason I blushed and the only thing I could do to overcome the embarrassment was to lift the wolf in his direction

When he grabbed the wolf I quickly ran for the exit, avoiding the unknown boy seeing my face as red as a tomato.

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POV Julian Kingscrown

"And what was that," I said as I watched Princess Kathyln run towards the exit.

Besides, how do I get in, I turned my questioning gaze to Vanangard who looked even whiter than usual.

(Master, I swear I didn't notice) said Vanangard as he panicked as lightning flashed from my hands.

(You're a mana beast at the top of B rank how come you didn't notice) I asked with a smirk on my face.

(I thought the guard was going to stop it I swear) he said on the verge of tears.

(That means this has happened several times before, because I never found out) I spoke in a cold tone.

(That's it) said Vanangard nervously as he tried to look somewhere else.

(Tell me) I said sending a small jolt of electricity to the wolf in my hands.

"Ow!" There was the sound of a beast crying in the corridors.

(She gave me food a few times and I thought if I let her see me more I could get more snacks) he replied jumping out of my arms in fright.

(I see, it was your selfish desires that brought her here, did any of the others know?) I spoke while generating lightning in my hands.

After a few more shocks, she confessed to her crimes, of sharing food with the others behind my back, as the girl seemed helpless and impressionable, they conveniently made her bring them food.

After one more round of punishments, the case was closed and they were forbidden to go out without my permission.

Two more months passed and the assimilation process was nearing completion

So I consulted Virion about the precautions for the awakening of the first phase.

And the next day I was surprised in the training environment "brat" there was a loud knock on the open door as the old elf entered.

I was startled for a moment and when I saw him again he was wearing incognito clothing, it seems he had entered Xyrus illegally.

"Elder Virion what are you doing here and why do you seem to have entered Xyrus illegally" I said as I approached.

To which only he gave me a cheeky grin, "a teleportation gate isn't going to stop me from seeing the awakening of a phoenix tamer" he said in an excited tone like a kid in a candy store

"You talk like you haven't seen Arthur's awakening," I said giving him a smile and hugging him.

He has been one of my two mentors with Silvia, I owe him more than I could ever repay him.

"Thank you for following Elder Virion's follies, Headmistress Cynthia" I spoke to the person behind the old elf.

"He's always been like that for as long as I've known him, it's not something that surprises me" Cynthia replied with a smile.

"Well since you're here can I ask for your help?" I said as I urged him to watch my progress.

"The assimilation process was amazing, fast, which means you were very compatible with the will of beast" he said with a surprised look on his face

"At first I thought you were playing a joke on me, but that doesn't seem to be the case, we could do the awakening process right now, do you want to do it?" Said the ecstatic tone

"Sure" I moved to a free area.

Virion and Cynthia were some distance away covered by a barrier made of wind courtesy of the headmistress

"Brat let the will in your core come out, don't hold it back" shouted Virion.

I concentrated on the mark in my core and began to stimulate it to let its energy run through my body.

The atmosphere rose several degrees in temperature, as my body began to feel the mana of the will coursing through my body.

"Boom" a strong explosion of mana was generated, which created a wave of warm air.

"Kyaaa", "Kyaaa" I heard two voices that I had never heard before, and there was an ice structure at the entrance that was not there when I activated the will.

That startled me, but Virion shouted "brat, don't lose focus control the will".

With Virion's shout I refocused and turned my attention to the sensations of the acquisition phase, I could feel a strong inclination towards fire magic and Dryas seemed to be more in tune with me

"The marks around your eyes and the change in your pupils are proof that you made it, welcome as a beast tamer," said Virion with a proud smile on his face.

I couldn't help but reach out my hands to touch the marks and when I felt them a smile formed on my face.

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POV Priscilla Glayder

After finishing a visit to my son Curtis I was looking for Kathyln, but I couldn't find her, today again she seems to be causing trouble walking freely around the academy premises

"Haaaah, Miss Varay could I ask for your help again to find my daughter" I said to the personal guard who was accompanying me today.

"Understood your majesty" replied Varay as he began to look around for my daughter.

What am I going to do with her, lately every time we come here she seems to be absorbed in something, at first she told us about very strange animals that I had never heard of.

After that she started disappearing in the academy premises, I didn't know exactly what she was doing, but she was causing me problems and heart attacks every time she disappears.

Still, there were no reports of anything unusual, just a little girl walking on the student campus.

"I found her, your majesty," Varay replied, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Where should we go?" I said in a hurried tone

"She is coming towards us," replied the guard in a dry tone.

Just then my daughter came out, from a path around the building, red-faced and a little short of breath.

I rush over to her and curl up to her "are you ok, you have a lot of sweat on your face and your cheeks are very flushed" I asked with concern.

"No mum, everything is fine, I just caught myself seeing something" she said looking away from me.

"Are you sure, no one did anything to you?" I spoke trying to find out what the problem was that had her so startled.

"Yes mum, I'm fine, nothing happened to me, come on, please, I'm a bit tired" she replied as she pulled my hand towards the exit.

After that Kathyln acted seemingly normal, but sometimes she had a distracted look, sometimes she blushed for no apparent reason.

When I tried to talk to her, she became nervous, and after some thought and consultation with some of the maids, I realised something.

Little Kathyln seems to be interested in someone, as I didn't realise before, she probably saw some boy at the academy who got her attention.

That explains why she didn't want to keep coming with me to visit her brother and when she did, she wouldn't leave my side.

With that conclusion in mind I decided to approach my daughter to talk to her, I wanted to know who the person was.

Most likely a nobleman if we were talking about the students of Xyrus.

"Kathyln you want to talk to your mother for a while" I said as I approached her.

At that moment she put aside the book she was looking at and replied "Of course, mother".

"I've been thinking a bit and I'm concerned about your actions lately, you seem to get lost in your thoughts some moments, at others you just blush for no reason, does this have something to do with a boy?" I said trying to get a reaction from her.

And it worked Kathyln turned her face to the side and her cheeks turned red, that drew a mischievous smile on my face.

"Come on, tell me, I want to know, tell me, who is he? How did you meet him?" I recited questions one after the other in an attempt to get her to answer.

After much insistence she told me about the boy she met at the academy, at first I was worried that he was someone trying to take advantage of her, but after hearing how they met and the short interaction they had I came to a conclusion

It's a kind of interest at first sight, but she doesn't seem to be able to understand it, so I decided to talk to her about it.

Kathyln seemed very embarrassed, but I could understand, why she was acting in an unusual way.

After that she asked me what she should do, to which I gave her a smile and told her that we should meet him again and talk, that was the first step.

She had been avoiding the subject for the last two weeks, but finally decided to ask me to help her find him.

So I headed to Xyrus academy to look for Curtis to pay him a short visit and then talk to the principal to meet the boy.

After finishing the business with my son I decided to look for the headmistress with Kathyln by my side, we were informed that she was in the special training environment area, so I decided to go there, the guards informed me which room the headmistress was in, they were a bit hesitant about it, but finally they decided to let me enter the room.

When the door opened we could see the headmistress with another person covered by a barrier and in front of them a few meters away was a boy who seemed to be the same age as Kathyln.

I felt a strong surge of mana, with the temperature of the room rising, but my reaction was too late, fortunately Varay in an instant stood in front of us and deployed an ice formation and moments later an explosion resounded Boom!

"Kyaaa", "Kyaaa" shouted me and Kathyln startled by the sensation of the hot air that enveloped us.

After checking that we had no damage, Varay destroyed the ice formation she had made and we saw headmistress Cynthia approaching us.

"Queen Priscilla to what do I owe the honour" said the headmistress of the Xyrus academy somewhat stiffly.

"I'm sorry I seem to have interrupted something important, you see headmistress I wanted you to help me locate..." As I was about to finish the sentence I felt Kathyln stand behind me, with her little head sticking out as she looked at the boy in the room with a blush on her face

Oohhh I see what he is with, I immediately turned my full attention to observe the boy and not only me Varay also fixed his gaze on him.

He was a rather young boy, but I could clearly tell that he was already a mage, after all the waves of mana and pressure emanating from the environment were coming from him.

Is that a beast will? And not just any beast, it's an extremely strong one, who could the child be? I frowned thinking about his origins, as his features were not very common, could he be a relative of the Aurae family?

I wondered in my mind, but looking closely at Varay's face he didn't seem to recognise him and had the same interest as me.

"Queen Priscilla? spoke Headmistress Cynthia, snapping me out of my daze.

"Ohhh sorry," I said a little embarrassed.

"I wanted to meet you to meet someone, Kathyln is he?" I asked trying to confirm my suspicions and she responded with a nod.