It pained me to watch the family of mother, father, daughter and son playing happily. Bees erratically pollinated the diverse population of flora in the colourful garden as the wind swayed the numerous branches of the Fairy Trees which were dotted with a multitude of striking magical fruits. The sky was clear of clouds, with the sun beating down on the family in front of me, sending their shadows stretching across the grassy floor. Seeing this scene, it made me want to die. Die. To end my life. So I could be with them. 

      Even now, the images remained vivid in my memories as if no time had passed whatsoever, even though several years had already gone. Every time I remembered, a knife wrenched my heart and I cried tears of blood. Why did they leave me? Why was I the one to stay behind?… Every training session, every blackout, every awakening, every drop of blood and sweat and tears… they’re all still as clear as crystal. 

      I’m tired. Maybe I should give up. Taking revenge is pointless. Those people are too strong… I don’t want to work anymore. Yes, I should…

❈ ❈ ❈

20th of March, the Year 1202
04:37
Laeon Federation, City of Alexandria, Howard's Home

❈

Cordelia woke up. She looked around her and saw the sleeping forms of her roommates. Even the little koala on her chest was still sleeping soundly. Even with the blinds shut, she could tell that it was still early in the morning, 5 am at the most. 

      Contemplating for a few seconds, Cordelia then gently pried Chloe’s arms off of her, resulting in her squirming and groaning. Humming, she replaced herself with a pillow and Chloe’s discordant face finally relaxed. 

“I suppose I’ll test out my new skill,” she whispered.

Being busy with shopping and Chloe’s affairs had stolen any free time Cordelia could use for herself, so she took this opportunity when everyone was still asleep. 

      Changing out of her pyjamas into a white hakama, she grabbed a single bokken and stepped out of the inn, greeting Gregory on her way out. Hakama was usually male attire, but she only wore it to honour her father’s eastern origins. Remembering how he always spoke fondly of the Penoic Continent, she had decided long ago to respect it the same way he did, even though she had been there very few times. Not only that, but there may be more clues to her father’s enemies or even his allies. She arrived at a courtyard behind the inn where no one was present as it was still very early.

      After just flicking her sword once, she already knew that her technique had gone up to another level. It even felt like her dexterity was higher as she felt a higher sense of motor control, especially her hands. Not only that, but the velocity and strength of the flicks were significantly higher despite the fact that her real stats had not gone up that much. This is the bonus of an original skill, huh?

      There is a difference between a learned skill and an original skill. It is not shown in the status window unless you click on them for specific details, but the effectiveness of the two differed by entire leagues. Studies and research have been done to test the difference and it was discovered that original skills were at least 80% more effective than its substitute. In the process, it was also discovered that the more skills were passed down, depending on the talent of the receiver, the effectiveness of the learned skills would go down. Due to this, it was theorised that if passed down for long enough, the skill would unable to be taught. That’s why experts are hesitant to pass down their own original skill in fear of it diluting and lost to the winds of time. 

      Using breathing techniques learned from her Kumia Combat Arts to increase her lung capacity and diffusion, Cordelia ran forward towards and ran up a tree, rattling it, before jumping off in a backflip with feline grace and landing with ease. Green, vibrant leaves fell off the tree and as soon as they reached within range, her bokken lashed out in a storm of air slashes, splitting the majority into 16 parts with some at 8. I need to get used to it and refine the skill even further. Maybe the academy wou-

      “Who’s there?”

Cordelia’s head had whipped around to analyse her surroundings, feeling a presence watching her. A small figure emerged from behind a tree with their fists gripping their dress nervously.

“Chloe? I’m sorry, did I scare you? You should have told me you came, you know?”

She relaxed her guard as soon as she saw who it was, lowering her weapon. Chloe came tottering over to her, shuffling adorably, making Cordelia raise her the ends of her lips. It froze when Chloe wrapped her arms around her while mumbling into her chest.

“I fought you were ghonna rheave me.”

Her individual words were muffled, but Cordelia could understand well enough. Giggling quietly, she stroked the girl’s hair, momentarily enjoying this guilty pleasure while speaking to her with the most endearing tone she could muster; Cordelia Auster had a soft spot for young children. 

“How could I leave you? We haven’t found your butler yet, so it’s my responsibility to take care of you for now. Unless you have anyone else who came with you?”

She rubbed her head sideways into Cordelia’s blossom. 

“I see. Well, if I had a choice, I don’t think I would’ve let you go back with them anyways. They were being careless, leaving you alone like this.”

Receiving no response, she lead her back into the inn, already satisfied with her session. Cordelia didn’t believe that she needed to use her Flicker Sword Arts during the exams but it wasn’t bad to always be prepared. You could call it arrogance, but she would call it utmost confidence. Otherwise, it would be like her years of training was for nothing.

❈ ❈ ❈

      Cordelia’s group of 20 had a light breakfast in the restaurant before they all set off. Yesterday, the 4th Squad was allowed to tour the city as a reward for escorting her to Alexandria, so they were not involved in the search for the ever so elusive butler. This time though, Cordelia was determined to get to the bottom of this. Kuro had already looked through Chloe’s room in the inn and there was not a single trace left in there, as if nobody had been in the room, so she was starting to get frustrated. Who leaves such a young girl alone in this big city anyways? 

      With the 4th Squad fanning out through the city disguised as tourists, though this time they were searching for a butler, the search range was massively increased. With her local telepathy network set up by the mages in the party, it seemed like everything would be well and done soon enough… not.

      In 3 hours, nothing had been found… not. Something had been found. And it startled everyone. 

“General, we have found the corpse of the target.”

“Corpse? Where?”

The captain of the 4th Squad hesitated in answering before speaking.

“Squeezed in a dumpster. It was amateur work since the scent alerted us and there aren’t that many corpses in a city like Alexandria after all.”

“Autopsy?”

“No sign of external damage. Most likely poisoning or some sort of internal attack. Not enough time to fully examine the corpse. Should we bring it back, General?”

      Cordelia, Kuro and Chloe were sitting at a restaurant eating lunch before the captain had contacted them. Placing her fingers on her chin in a thinking pose, Cordelia replied negative.

“Leave the body and hide the scent. Our movements have likely already attracted a few curious onlookers.”

The Cheiss Academy was world-renowned, so many powers and nations sent their talented youths here. They placed great value on them since they could be raised into great mages and warriors in the future so giving them their own entourage filled with powerhouses wouldn’t be a stretch; the Auster House was not yet strong enough to confront these giants and Cordelia had taken a risk in sending out her escorts to search for Chloe’s guardian.

      While Cordelia was making arrangements with the captain, Kuro saw Chloe stiffen out of the corner of her eye, but left her alone. Terminating the telepathy spell, Cordelia finished her lunch and stood up. 

“Alright, let’s start searching again.”

❈ ❈ ❈

vaexis

Changed the 'Luo Kingdom' to 'Huo Kingdom' so I could pick a suitable surname for Janelle. Yes, she isn't going to be some fodder who is only mentioned once, surprise surprise.

Have a nice day.