40 Umbra

Talia was a bit too busy talking to the ashy haired girl to see that Sagar was there waiting for her but it didn't take long for her to notice him after. She said a few words to the girl and then ran up to Sagar pulling him towards the girl. Talia didn't give him much of a warning but it was pretty obvious that Talia wanted to introduce the two of them to each other, so he didn't resist her pulling all that much.

With both Talia and Sagar arriving in front of the girl, Talia started their introductions, "Umbra this is Sagar, and Sagar this is Umbra."

Looking at her more closely Sagar noticed that he somehow missed the fact that she was wearing glasses, which he thought was a bit funny, as most people in Mellem have superhuman abilities that he didn't think it would be possible for someone to need something like glasses. Something else that he that was weird was that her eye color actually matched the color of her hair.

While he was having this thought Umbra and him both reached out their hands to shake and while doing so Umbra told him, "Hello Sagar, Talia was telling me about you while I was helping her move in. I have to say what she's told me is quite surprising to say the least."

Umbra talked in a soft tone but she sounded a bit stiff whenever she did talk that made it sound a bit weird. Either way Sagar thought that maybe she normally talked like that and responded to what she had said, "I'm sure Talia was exaggerating a bit when she did. We're family after all so she probably wanted you to have a good impression of me."

Talia on the side started stomping her feet a little and addressed what Sagar said, "I did not, I was telling Umbra about your fight with Klaus and how exactly am I supposed to exaggerate that. The normal story as is, is ridiculous enough as it is without me trying to add something false to it."

Both Umbra and Sagar started laughing at Talia's outburst they then discussed about going somewhere to grab something to eat. It was Umbra who recommended something as she was most familiar with the place. As they were walking they continued to talk in which Sagar found out that Umbra was actually the friend she had mentioned that was directly learning from the principal of the academy.

Her and Talia have been friends for a long time as they managed to get acquainted whenever the Drak's had participated in a ball of sorts where the two girls met each other. As signified by her crest Umbra was actually a part of the royal family and Umbra was the youngest out of all her siblings. She was the daughter of the last wife of the king with him having a total of five wives. As for the other children there were three others, with the oldest being from the first wife while the other two were just from the third wife.

The other wives didn't have children but it wasn't really from a lack of trying it was mainly due to the fact that those of the royal line are pretty infamous from their problems having children. This was mainly due to the unique trait found among those of the royal family which allowed them to essentially transform. From what Sagar knows this transformations would allow them to turn into almost anything they could put their mind to along with them receiving a boost in power along with it.

For example the one that the royal family was known for was their beast transformations, more specifically their griffin transformations, hence the name of the entire empire. Sagar wasn't too sure about all the details behind this unique trait among the royal family but he could find out more from Umbra whenever they had the chance.

Putting that on the back burner Sagar asked about something else from her, "Umbra, why is it that almost no students are around currently? I didn't encounter any while I was unpacking, going to Talia's building or even now."

Umbra responded to Sagar's question, "Well most of them are actually on a trip that the academy puts together at the end of the year as a sort of training camp. Pretty much all of the students are taken along and return before another year starts, and the students who didn't go are usually doing their own thing as it's not really required to go."

It was Talia this time who said something, "Really, I would expect that sort of thing to be mandatory, no?"

Smiling a bit Umbra told her, "No, it's not. The camp is just something the academy puts together to not only help students improve but also allow those who are behind to catch up as well. The point is that it's entirely your decision if you want to go or not...", she then paused a bit as if she was thinking about something, "Well you still need to pay the fee to go as it's not free."

Eventually they reached somewhere to eat which was more of a dining hall than anything else. Umbra directed them into the hall where they walked to some sort of stall, which Umbra knocked on it which caused it to rumble a bit. Popping out of the stall was a tiny old man which was squinting so hard that it was hard to tell if he had his eyes open or not.

Seeing Umbra he said, "Oh it's just you Umbra, I was wondering who would disturb this old man's slumber and there's only a few who would do so."

Nodding her head Umbra introduced Talia and Sagar, "Mister Gammel, this is my old friend Talia I've told you about, and next to her is her cousin Sagar."

Gammel looked at the two of them but he seemed to look at Sagar a bit longer than what was necessary causing Umbra to wake him from his small stupor. Sagar wasn't sure why he was looking at him the way he did but there may have been a possibility that he felt the how weird Sagar's energy was. It was mainly a hunch on Sagar's part as he couldn't detect the power of the old man at all along with the aura he leaked sometimes caused Sagar to tread around him with a hint of caution.

This stall was actually where they would get their food from and Umbra said that it's probably one of the best meals served at the academy. Umbra was raising the expectations of this meal a lot so hopefully it wouldn't disappoint.