A Dragon's Curiosity

Tyne, the [Eternal Warrior], flipped over his body and stood up in one fluid motion.

In front of his students, this was the fastest movement they had seen him perform up until now.

The elegance made his set of actions distinguished his presence as a high level warrior with incredible depth of aura.

From his lounge chair, he closed the distance to the pair of nobles and the young man next to them, Aaren, who watched the whole play unfold with a carefully regulated and neutral expression.

“Strictly speaking, it’s not hard to prove that the elf is stronger than either of you.

Whether it’s a measurement done with the guild ring - an item which your house should possess, too - or a direct confrontation, that girl has the upper hand.

And before you protest, this is not just a guess, and you can convince yourself of that.

When the next lesson starts, I will give you and your cousin some time to challenge her to a spar, so you can convince yourself that the elf’s combat prowess is indeed above yours.

And if you’re still not convinced then, I’ll bring a measurement tool, where everyone can test the capacity of their aura reserves.”

Under the pressure of a pinnacle fighter, Grace and Kian lacked the courage to protest any more and accepted the terms laid out by Tyne with a nod.

The hot blooded Kian furtively glanced at Aaren to vent his anger at the commoner and shift the pressure off himself, yet the boy controlled his expression and avoided eye contact, giving the noble youth no opening to attack.

“Stop looking around, time is running out. Unless you want to experience another round of my [Zephyr’s Band] restricting you, I suggest that all of you start moving and return to your regular classes.

Nonetheless, if you really want to test your limits and move against other members of the class, I welcome you to try.

You might be nobles and above others, but currently you are also not the head of your house either, so there are plenty of people that are still able to deal with you, too.

I just happen to know several of them.

See you next time.”

He grew tired of dealing with these young sprouts and wind aura moved the nearby elements, creating swift gales that carried the noble cousins and the commoner out of the gate, snapping it shut afterwards.

Petty schemes and meaningless power struggles happened every time interest collided in Leandar - such an occurrence almost became as natural as the tide or fall storms.

Fortunately, [Silvershroud] and their members all had high cultivations and belonged to the most famous adventurer group under the guild.

Subtracting their personal strength, the [Adventurers Guild] would still step out and make use of their influence if the need arose, even when their side was in the wrong.

Status wise, the [Eternal Warrior] existed just beneath the royal family, the leading figures of the guild, the heads of the Duke houses and distinguished heroes of the country and above everyone else.

Additionally, the various parties involved with politics knew better than to bother the uninvolved adventurers.

In case that they got enraged and started picking sides with their enemies, it would do more harm than good to threaten them

Grace and Kian had not yet had contact with the highest level of affairs in their respective houses, at most they followed their parents to observe a court session from the hindmost seat rows.

Aside from making a clamor and venting some steam, Tyne Pinewood paid them no attention.

Even if he smacked them once or twice, their families would ignore their pleas, not to mention that he had a valid reason for his training, so he was even less worried.

“You’ve been more silent than usual. Is something bothering you?”

Tyne poked the empty air next to his waist, landing on a soft spot and eliciting a snort from somewhere.

With a mirage like shimmer, the empty space distorted and a petite woman clothed in a combat dress made from soft leather manifested on his back, lazily hanging onto his shoulders and wrapping her legs around his midsection.

“Are you angry with me? I properly conducted my lesson and taught them about the greatness of running. Or is something bothering you?”

He peeled the lady off himself with practiced ease and returned to the lounge chair, placing her in front of him while Tyne wrapped his arms around her.

She did not resist and squinted her eyes, forming two happy crescent moons.

“I will have to resort to drastic measures if you don’t start talking.”

Tickling her sides, the iron warrior was nowhere to be seen, turning him into a gentle soul playing with his favourite person.

“Ngnh, stop it. I yield.”

The mysterious woman stifled the giggles that threatened to escape her into a groan and restrained the offending arms by hugging them to her body.

Tyne appeared satisfied with that, and the couple spent some time blissfully enjoying each others presence.

Only when he nudged her with his chin to remind her to speak, the lady explained her thoughts.

“There’s an oddity.”

Speaking in short sentences and lazing around was nothing new to Tyne, he had a perfect grasp on the behavior displayed by his partner.

With just a few clues, he could puzzle together her meaning.

“Is it one of them or an outsider? Strictly speaking, the elf Nisha and the commoner Aaren are both outliers, the first at least at the early or possible mid portion of the third aura rank while the second has seldom seen steel nerves and boundless courage, he could stand up under my suppression without faltering.

As for the girl, my guess is that she found a rare treasure that boosted her cultivation speed upon consumption, thus her level is so high.”

As a longtime veteran in the field, Tyne knew one or two things about unusual encounters and lucky chances, which were the dream of most adventurers when diving into the Dungeon.

By finding an advanced weapon in a treasure chest or a powerful skill, they could easily suppress several more floors than their current limit and make a fortune.

So it was not too unusual to have a high cultivation, although sudden boosts also brought side effects like an unstable base, which might harm them in the long run when trying to pass through a barrier to the next rank.

“You misjudged her, though.”

Dissatisfied with her keen observation skills and leaving him no face at all, Tyne poked her sides again and made her wriggle in discomfort.

“Feather, you love making fun of me, don’t you?

Anyway, you’re right. The elf’s aura is pretty solid, not like those who consume many potions and precious materials to boost themselves.

My guess is that she found a cultivation boosting treasure like a precious pill or heavenly material and had a time window of great progress.

My [Zephyr Band] cast on her had less of an effect than I thought.

Still, since the girl already is already heads and shoulders above the others, she can just accompany them for a while and learn more basic skills to temper herself.”

With a sigh, he resigned himself to have lost.

Since his wife, Feather, had noticed already, there was no point in concealing it and outright admitted his inferiority.

Happy with her small win, she squinted her eyes in happy crescents again and continued with her observations.

“Felt watched. Someone peeped. Didn’t find where, though.”

Feather also came from [Silvershroud], her position closer to a hunter and thief mix compared to the warrior Tyne. Her senses could catch the tiniest ripples in the air and the faintest sounds, making her one of the best scouts in the group.

Only the specialized monsters under Beastmaster had some aspects where they exceeded her, things like heat sight or echolocation.

And since her sharp senses mostly came as a byproduct of her training in offensive skills with precise requirements on the user, she had no interest in learning supportive arts to do the same.

To elude her search, the watcher had to be either incredibly specialized or belong to the top few combatants in the kingdom.

Encountering either in a small [Royal Academy] made no sense at all.

Why would these kinds of characters bother to play with some newly hatched chicks? In the eyes of those above the second great divide in cultivation, the seventh rank, those from the first to third level were barely different from each other, and would not consider them a threat in any way.

Who was bored enough to spy on harmless little sheep?

The key to the mysterious case of the invisible spy, Nisha, would certainly be surprised as well if she had known that another person spent a significant amount of time under the view of her [Spirit Sight] without getting discovered.

Rather than purely relying on her sight to perceive the world, the experienced hunter also relied on sound, missing areas in her perception and other small cues to get a comprehensive picture of everything in her surroundings.

When the elf appraised her teacher first, she assumed that the void of energy around him stemmed from the fact that he had exceeded the rank of aura observable with her [Spirit Sight] and therefore an empty spot existed, so everything had an explanation.

Unknown to her, the gap came to be because of Feather, who was to lazy to walk around in the academy on her own and clung to her husband, Tyne, using a rather advanced version of stealth to cloak herself and become invisible.

As a result, both sides felt that something was off, although neither of them managed to guess the correct answer in the end.

“It might just have been a surveillance tool operated by the academy that covered this part by coincidence, or an old monster living out his seclusion around here who randomly took some interest.

Since nothing happened and no one attempted to make contact so far, it’s quite likely that it’s nothing related to us.

Still, pay attention and tell me if the observer appears again in the future.”

Tyne put an end to the discussion, he was not willing to spend more time on it.

Rather than analyzing uncertain and pointless possibilities, he would much rather enjoy some peace and quiet together with his partner, the bamboo yard had quite the scenic feel to it when there were no sweating and panting teenagers stumbling through it.

Feather, who by her innate nature disliked troublesome stuff, and given the opportunity to do or say less would certainly do so, scanned the yard once more out of professional habit and upon discovering no one, entered a light sleep on the lounge chair.

As the couple obtained a small benefit through Tyne Pinewood’s appointment as an instructor, the elf they discussed earlier returned to the area belonging to the magician profession inside the [Royal Academy].

Neither occupation discriminated against the other due to an overwhelming superiority against the other in combat, although magicians were commonly more associated with noble families, since they needed more funds to research spells, prepare life saving equipment for battles and components to enhance their meditation.

Meanwhile, warriors often rose from the commoners, as the requirement for ranking up leaned more towards surviving battles, working out and the associated costs often only amounted to a fraction of that of a magician.

Furthermore, not all students attended the classes every day.

Whether they had issues at home and needed to help with their parents' business, had a private teacher that gave them one on one tuition or an appointment from another class that collided with the lesson, the teachers did not bother to take attendance.

Nisha did not attract much attention in her mage class and studied the whole afternoon on her own, until she felt her contracted beast return to the city through their contract.

The elf put down the book she studied, - A Basic Guide To Meditation - and walked towards the entrance.