It had been pouring since dawn and the rain showed no signs of receding even as noon marched on the horizon. The day had started off bleak and depressing and it continued on in such a fashion right through midday. However, there was no such misery within the borders of the Grove. The sun was shining brightly as ever in these lands within the grace of the Aeryeon faith.

Under the amicable weather, Erin was polishing her swordsmanship and refining her mastery over her tails by sparring with an imaginative foe. It had been two days since Erin and her companions had apprehended Edmund and handed him over to the Guild. Edmund’s recent memories of one month had been transcribed over to a Memory Stone and were currently under review. Erin had skimmed over the memories and it was quite a spectacle witnessing the function of a Memory Stone.

When Mana-based light was shone over the Memory Stone, a series of moving pictures was cast onto a blank slate of white leather. The moving pictures were a retelling of Edmund’s memories. The caster shining the light was able to stop the pictures and revert the motions of the pictures. Calling it a spectacle was an understatement to Erin. However, nothing fruitful had come of the memories yet as there was too much to be reviewed as it was a month’s worth of memories.

Erin had wanted to ask for another quest in the meantime but under Lilian’s advice and after taking a step back to allow herself a breather, she decided to use the waiting period to rest up. But of course, Erin had a very different meaning of rest. Due to her near-defeat at the hands of that insect-like Demoid, she went straight to honing her swordsmanship and her tails’ combative ability after returning to the manor. She did spare three hours to rest her weary body and she took another hour to finally go about writing letters for Celia and Saphielle.

It had never truly occurred to her until now. It dawned on her when she began writing the letters. She had no trouble understanding the speech and writing of this world despite having no prior education in the language of this world.

“The grace of the gods,” Aedan had told her after she consulted him about this sudden inquiry of hers. “Learning a language properly is probably harder than learning magic or any kind of martial arts. I doubt any Divine Guardians would wish to see their investments making a terrible blunder just because they lacked the capability to write.”

However, this didn’t mean that Erin had a perfect understanding of the language. Speaking and writing were two different stories. Unlike speeches, one needed to be meticulous and precise when it came to writing as no one could perceive undertones from writing. She ended up taking two hours just to write two letters and wasting a few good papers in the process. To expel this petty frustration in her heart, she strode to the courtyard and began hacking away at the empty air with her spell sword conjured from Bespoke.

At present, no one at Erin’s party was resting. Erin herself was honing her swordsmanship in the courtyard. Lyra and Siv were out hunting in the small woods that surrounded the Grove as training. Aera was sparring with Amyra in some place that wouldn’t give in to their strength and destruction. Nivia was in the library, studying under the tutelage of Lilian.

As for Aedan and Olivia, Erin had no idea where the two were. She had tried searching for them but she couldn’t find them. She had asked the servants of their whereabouts, only to be told they were somewhere in the manor as no one had seen them leave. Erin caught their scent within the manor but due to the odd mellow flow of air inside the Grove, it was difficult to tell where their scent was coming from.

The sweat she had accumulated from her vigorous training had soaked through her shirt by the time she was finished with her shadow-sparring. She dropped to the floor and began pushing herself up and down using her palms and the muscles around her abdomen. She also did various other exercises that would help in maintaining her strength.

It was currently some hours past noon when she was done with her routine. She took off her sweat-soaked garments without a shred of hesitation and patted herself dry with a towel she prepared beforehand. She had made sure no one was around before shedding her clothes. After wiping herself dry, she swiftly put on a simple robe that looked no different from a sleeping gown.

Now that she had fresh garments on, she sat on her knees in the centre of the courtyard with her hands resting on her lap and her shoulders aligned with one another. She closed her eyes and eased herself into her meditation state.

With her eyes closed, she brought up her status information screen in her mind. She was now level forty-three and she had two new points in both Skill and Ability. Her shadow-sparring had taught her how much she could do with her tails. She couldn’t deftly control them like her limbs but they were undeniably tougher than her limbs. She was still unused to using her tails in the heat of combat efficiently but she could see the potential in their investment.

With that thought in mind, she allocated all of her Skill Points into Mystic Tail Arts, raising it by one level. Her shoulders jumped from the new knowledge that flowed into her brain but she kept the rest of her body still from her elation. The new skill she acquired was something called Windframe. It allows her tails to move as swift as the wind and it would only become swifter the higher the level of Mystic Tail Arts was.

Without any fuss, she allocated one Ability Point into Finesse and Arcane each. After she was done assigning her points, she hopped to her feet at once and began testing her new skill.

“Whoa…” she gasped in awe over the magnificence of Windframe. Her tails move like the wind but of the gentle kind. To her surprise, the Mana consumption couldn’t be said to be high but neither was it low. Adding to that, she could feel the mental strain of using that skill.

She combined Winframe and Steel Tails and the result was striking and splendid. It couldn’t be compared to her sword but it was adequate to tip the scale should she find herself at a disadvantage or outmatched like she was against that damn insect Demoid. Till now, she was still haunted by the fact that it would have been her loss if the Demoid was truly aiming for her life. Now that she had time to breathe and recall her fight, she realised the Demoid was better than her and if it wasn’t inhibited by some stupid reason, she would have died.

As much as she hated to admit it, she could never reattain her title as the Sword Saint without being high-level. Level gaps mattered less in low levels but the higher levels went, the more the difference in levels would matter. She could not keep relying on her skills to compensate for the level difference.

Aside from the Covenant, she also had the Venerers to worry about now. The leader regent of the Venerers, Lucan, had a terrible character according to Rigetta. Though his ego was huge and his personality was tripe, his skills were unquestionable. He was impulsive but he was no fool. His level was in the mid-range of the sixties the last time Rigetta had investigated him and that was nearly a year ago.

“By now, he would at least be in the late sixties or the early seventies,” Erin mused the words Rigetta had told her.

Erin sighed and readjusted her ruffled garments. She combed her long white hair unfussily and stroked her tails softly before walking off the courtyard. The path leading back to the manor was laid with myriad colours of flowers by the sides. They were all flowers that Erin had never seen before and they all appeared to be favourites of the Spirits as they swarmed these flowers. If she used her Spirit Sight, she could easily hurt her gaze from staring directly at the flowers, not that it would hurt her in actuality.

“Good afternoon, milady,” greeted Cassius the moment Erin came through the manor’s grand entrance of double doors. He was standing by the entrance, waiting and holding a tray of sandwiches and a glass of fruit juice.

“Afternoon,” Erin greeted back in kind. “What about the others?”

“Lady Nivia and Lady Lilian are still in the library. The rest have yet to return and the lord is still nowhere to be found, milady.”

Erin tutted.

“I’m sure nothing’s happening between—”

Erin discontinued Cassius' words with a sidelong glare.

“Pardon me, milady. I have misspoken.”

Erin took a slice of sandwich and gulped down half of it in a single bite. “Any news from the Guild?”

“None, milady.”

Erin sighed and finished the sandwich with the second bite.

“I’m sure it won’t be long now, milady.”

Erin shrugged and took the fruit juice from the tray.

“Though not from the Guild, there’s a letter for you, milady,” Cassius said and took out a letter from his vest pocket while holding the tray with a single hand.

“Who is it from?” Erin asked as she downed the fruit juice in one gulp. Placing the glass back on the tray, she took the letter into her hand.

“It did not say. Only your name is on the cover of the letter, milady. It’s safe, milady. I have personally checked it.”

“Well, I haven’t.” Erin flipped the letter, shook it, and sniffed the edges. “Ah, I see.”

“Did you find something, milady?”

“Scented oil. Who would use scented oil?”

“Nobles, milady.”

“Ah, figures. So it’s her.” Erin chuckled inwardly and cut the envelope open with her nails. Her nails were naturally sharp due to her being a Fox-kin. She unfolded the letter and her quick-moving gaze devoured the contents of the letter in no time at all.

“House Valdrun?” Cassius gasped upon seeing the seal on the corner of the letter. “Is that real, milady?”

“As real as it can be,” Erin answered dryly and crumpled the paper in her hand. By inducing Mana into the paper, the wrinkles became tears and eventually, the letter became a hundred pieces of trash. “I have been invited for a luncheon tomorrow by the High Lady of House Valdrun.”

“I-I see, milady.”

“Prepared a fitting dress that won’t hinder my combat abilities.”

“It shall be done, milady. Would that be all?”

Erin nodded.

“Shall we prepare a bath for you, milady?”

Erin raised an eyebrow. Though she wasn’t new to such treatment, she was still unaccustomed to it. She even felt bad for the servants’ extreme considerations. “That would be lovely, Cassius. Thank you.”

Cassius bowed in response and took his leave. His shouts could be heard from the hall he disappeared into, ordering the servants to quickly prepare a hot bath for Erin.

“Now, where the hell are you, Aedan?” Erin muttered to herself as she glanced around the reception hall of the manor. It wasn’t as large as the mansion of the nobles she had been to when she was Argon Raze but the architecture of this manor was superior.

“Lady Erin.”

Erin jumped and spun around with her spell sword already in hand but she stopped her swing when she realised who it was. “Olivia?”

“I apologise, milady, but His Grace insisted that I tried to… surprise you.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Of course, he would.”

“His Grace wishes to speak with you.”

“What a coincidence. Me too,” Erin retorted. “Where the hell is he?”

“I’ll show you the way, milady.”

“Not now,” Erin stopped her. “Tell him to wait. I’ll come after I take my bath.”

“That would be quite a long wait, milady.”

“He. Deserves. It,” Erin said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.