38 Minyet

The girl must have sensed Ovandarrak's sour temper and thus decided to lighten the mood. She laughed, startling the twins in the process. "Calm down. I'm not stalking you or anything. I just happened to overhear you two talking about the trials while you were buying the wheat cakes. So I decided to join you two."

"Why would you join us? We don't need company." Ovandarrak's facial expression exhibited nothing, but his eyes dripped with venom. His sister was too nice to people and too trusting. Sifting through those faux friends was his job.

Even as cold as the young boy sounded, the smile on the red-haired girl's face did not falter for a second. In fact, it even grew wider. "Wow. He is really fun, isn't he?" Her question was directed towards Savyrran.

Savyrran chuckled. She was actually impressed by how well this girl was taking Ovandarrak's attitude. Most people would just die of anger and Ovandarrak would simply not care. "Don't let him get to you. He usually means well."

"Are you two brothers?"

"Close enough. We are brother and sister. That is Ovandarrak, my twin brother."

"Oh." The girl said, her face flushing with embarrassment. "I apologize. I thought you were…"

"...a boy? It's okay. You would not be the first nor the last to think that." Savyrran laughed. "I'm Savyrran by the way."

"Minyet." Savyrran shook Minyet's frail looking hands. She noticed that the girl's grip was firmer than they appeared to be.

"You know, I have family members from Southern Cape Province just like you." Minyet said.

"How do you know we are from Southern Cape Province?"

Minyet raised her eyebrows like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. Clearly these two had not left home much. Even though all four hundred million citizens of Dream Kingdom were united under the monarchy, they were all different people with different cultures. These difference became more noticeable once they were exposed to each others culture.

"For starters, your brother is Ovandarrak and you are Savyrran. That's a major giveaway that you two are Gaonans. The relative I was talking about is actually the wife of my uncle. Her name is Nayarran. Your names are quite easy to spot. Also your Abira has a hint of Gaonan accent. It's not what I'm used to, but I can still tell."

"Oh." Savyrran said. She had never thought of it like that. In Southern Cape Province, the Gaonans were the largest ethnicity making up over ninety-five percent of the entire population. Thus, Gaonan was the most widely spoken language in the province. The only times she spoke Abira was when she met the non-locals who did not know any Gaonan.

Ovandarrak slowly raised his head and discreetly glanced at Minyet. This girl was quite observant, he thought. For the first time, Ovandarrak caught sight of Minyet's freckles and how it shone like tiny gems when the brilliance of the sun shone on her face. He contemplated asking Minyet about where she had come from, but instead, decided to go back to his book. Why would he want to know that? Besides, it seemed she was having more fun talking to Savyrran. He would only end up making things awkward.

"I take it you are not from Southern Cape Province then." Savyrran added. She did not know about these things. She had learned about the geography and history of Dream Kingdom. However, she forgot a lot of those things since none of them interested her. She only remembered the basics, like the total number of provinces being eight. Also, Gaonan was one of the five ethnicity in the kingdom with Abira being the most dominant in the entire kingdom.

"Well no. I'm Norh, from Jerigi. That was the town the train stopped in."

Savyrran nodded in understanding. So Minyet was from the Valley Province. Back in Ahn Bayari, she had come across a few Norh traders and had heard the language. However, Savyrran did not have a good command of the language. Hence, she only stuck to Abira when communicating with them. After all, every citizen of Dream Kingdom, irrespective of their mother tongue, could speak Abira fluently.

"I'm going to register at the academy just like you." Minyet added. "It's why I followed you here when I overhead you two talking about it."

"That's amazing. So what school do you want to join?" Savyrran asked. From what she had read in the academy's handbook, there were four schools in the academy; Combat School, Soul Recovery School, School of Beast Studies, and School of Weapon Studies.

"I am still thinking about it. Registration begins in a few days days. I'm sure I would have made up my mind by then."

Savyrran nodded. She felt that that seemed like too a short a time to make up one's mind about something this important. But at the same time, she believed that Minyet knew what she was doing since she would not be wasting her time to apply if she was not prepared.

Once Minyet had satisfied her curiosity about whether Savyrran and Ovandarrak were really twins, since according to her, their hair was the only identical thing about them, she began to bombard them with her life story. She told them all about her family. Minyet also told them that she was only going to the academy because it was what was expected of her.

In Dream Kingdom, awakening the soul armos was a rite of passage into adulthood, but the Norhs took it a step further by actually kicking the awakened fifteen year old "adults" out of their home to fend for themselves for a year without their parent's help.

This Norh custom dated back to ancient times when newly awakened children were left in the deep montane forests infested with dangerous beasts. After a week, the children who survived could return home as full adults. The Norhs were thus deemed as the fiercest ethnic group in the kingdom and were rightfully named the Warrior Tribe. Today, though that tradition of leaving the newly awakened in forests was no more, they had invented more creative and modern ways in making their young ones stronger.

As one of the awakened children who had been sent on their merry way out of Jerigi, Minyet had decided to go to Royal Dream Academy to find her true calling.

Savyrran could not believe her ears. Gaonan tradition was so different from Norh tradition that she could not even believe they were all citizens of the same kingdom. Even though the awakened were no longer seen as little children back home, they were still under their parents care and not totally neglected. For a moment, Savyrran felt that her training with Master Bufan was nothing compared to the life of this girl. At least, she had chosen to go through such harsh training. She had also chosen to leave home with Ovandarrak. Moreover, before they left, they had some financial support from their parents and the town. Minyet on the other hand did not choose any of this and Savyrran could not help but feel a little sad about the girl's situation.

But Minyet did not look depressed at all. If anything, her face actually beamed with pride at the thought of making her parents proud. To her, this was not as terrible as it sounded since even her own parents had once gone through this ritual. She assured Savyrran that she would be fine.

After a few hours, the train finally reached the outskirt of Hill City and the train came to a screeching halt.

When the three children came out of the train, the sun was at its highest peak but at the same time, they could feel a little shudder within their bones. Savyrran was used to cool climates since she was from a sea town. However, the chill she felt in the air here was nothing like what she remembered in Coast Town.

"Are you cold?" Minyet chuckled at the sight of the handsome girl hugging her muscular arms. "It's only summer, you know. You would lose your mind once it's winter. But I'm sure you would get used to it."

"You've been here before?"

Minyet nodded. "I came here a few times with my father when I was younger. During one of our visits, we came in the winter. Personally, I did not think it was that bad since our climate could also get really cold due to the mountains. You don't have to worry. There would be no snow for the next four months so enjoy the sun while it lasts."

"Snow?" Savyrran asked, her black eyes twinkling with wonder. How is it that she had never heard about Hill City having snow?

Ovandarrak shook his head, not surprised at all. Leave it to his sister to want to go somewhere and still not research about the place. "The northern part of the kingdom experiences extreme cold climates. Things get a lot warmer as you go south. In the south, the Cape District has the coolest climate because of how close it is to the the Gaonan Sea. But it is still a lot warmer back home compared to this place." Ovandarrak explained to his perplexed sister.

Ovandarrak was not worried about himself getting cold since he could regulate his body temperature with his soul essence. However, he was much more concerned about his sister. Without her essence, Savyrran was still at a lot of disadvantage no matter how strong she was without it.

"We need to find a place to settle before it gets dark. Minyet, do you want to come with us?" For the first time, Savyrran saw uncertainty in the eyes of the red-haired girl.

"I don't know… I don't want to bother you."

"You are not."

"But I'm required to fend for myself."

"No one fends for themselves all the time. We all need help once in a while."

Minyet pondered over Savyrran's words for a while. Their parents were not supposed to help them, but this did not mean she could not accept the help of others. Even still, she did not want to be a burden on two strangers. She had a feeling that Savyrran's concern for her was genuine, however, she still could not bring herself to become a third wheel between the twins. Besides, Ovandarrak did not like her much. It would be better if she stayed out of their way for now. Perhaps, they might meet again, and once they did, she would consider it again. After all, she enjoyed talking to Savyrran given how much of a good listener the girl was.

"Thanks for the offer, really. That was very kind of you. But at least, until the registration begins next week, I will be on my own for a while to see how things turn out. Maybe we would meet again in the academy and once we do, I will take you up on your offer."

Minyet slowly turned her attention to Ovandarrak as though she was just waiting for him to protest. But the boy's face remained unchanged and he stood still, his hands folded behind him. If Ovandarrak were dressed in luxurious robes, it would be very easy to mistaken him for a noble. In only a few hours of travelling with the two, Minyet had come to understand that the boy spoke only a few words, and when he did, they were never wasted. Moreover, it seemed he was not in the habit of arguing with his sister since he never said a word when Savyrran suggested Minyet could travel with them.

"Of course." Savyrran said, handing a sturdy arm to Minyet. "May we meet again, friend." Minyet offered her other arm and the two greeted each other.

Once again, Savyrran could feel the firmness of the girl's grip. Minyet was thin, and frail; almost sickly in appearance. But Savyrran knew that the firmness with which this girl held onto her did not belong on a weak body. The contradiction was quite startling to Savyrran. Everyone she knew with a strong physical body had the muscles to show it. It made her wonder exactly what Minyet does to have such a strong grip.