77 Vysha

Noticing the sad look in the captain's hazel eyes after bringing up her mother, Savyrran decided to change the subject to something more lighthearted.

"Shouldn't you be the captain in the beast school then?" Savyrran asked. It was pretty clear that Captain Ashesi loved the soul beasts a lot and most importantly, she could understand them. So how come she was not the captain for the School of Beast Studies?

For a brief moment, Ashesi felt the sadness of loss dissipate slowly. The she chuckled upon hearing the question. She had been saying the same thing too. She had always wondered why she was rather the captain of Haniki Hall. She had always felt she would be a better captain in the School of Beast Studies.

"Actually, Master Jiya wanted me to be the captain of her school but I was rather selected as the captain of Haniki Hall. I think that's why Master Jiya made me the warden of the Beast Garden instead. Honestly, I think I am a better warden to my soul beasts than I am a captain to my hall residents."

Of course, Ashesi did not want to mention that her great grand uncle, who was also the Head of the Combat School, had had her chosen as the captain of Haniki Hall. Though people believed that Master Haniki wanted someone from his clan to be the captain of Haniki Hall, Ashesi believed it was more than that; Master Haniki never interfered in the affairs of the academy. In fact, Kakami had even told her that Master Haniki hardly even handled the affairs of the Combat School.

Thus, why will someone that indifferent care about whom became captain of Haniki Hall? But of course, this was a family issue and Ashesi did not want to bore Savyrran with the details, hence, she kept her thought to herself.

While the two were chatting like old friends, a meowing sound suddenly came out of nowhere. Savyrran almost startled when she felt something soft rub against her arms. A silver cat with gray eyes jumped onto her lap, nudging its face into her bosom.

"Oh… Hello there." Even though she had no idea where the silver cat had suddenly come from, she ran her fingers through its sleek and shiny silver fur.

"Silver Silver." Savyrran whispered gently to the cat.

Then she grinned at the name she had just given the cat. It was exactly the same way she had named Gray Gray. For some reason, this small cat reminded her of Ovandarrak's small gray dog. Where did it come from? Was it also a soul beast or perhaps, just a normal beast?

"Vysha." Ashesi said, staring at the cat with wide eyes. Since when did Vysha become friendly with other people? The only person Vysha allowed to touch her, other than Ashesi, was Ashesi's sister, Layeesi. So why was Vysha acting like some coy cat all of a sudden in the presence of Savyrran? Wait… was it because Vysha could sensed how Ashesi felt about Savyrran, and thus, the cat also trusted the girl simply because her master did too? That was definitely the case. If Ashesi mistrusted someone, Vysha grew wary of them too.

This girl kept surprising Ashesi with every passing minute.

Savyrran was completely oblivious to the dilemma within Captain Ashesi. However, she had heard the name the captain had uttered, and thus, assumed that that was the name of the cat. "Vysha?"

"Yes. That's her name." Ashesi explained, stroking the cat's fur. "I think she likes you."

Well, the feeling was mutual. Savyrran thought, her black eyes shining with glee.

Ashesi almost got lost in those beautiful black eyes. When she caught herself staring, she immediately looked away, her face flushing with embarrassment.

"She's adorable." Savyrran said, not noticing Captain Ashesi's embarrassment. "Is she also a soul beast?"

"Um… well, no. That's my soul armos."

"Really! But…" That was unbelievable. How was it possible that Captain Ashesi's soul armos had been summoned when her essence had not been revealed? Even if her essence was not surrounding her, her eyes had to turn into the colour of her essence. If the captain's soul armos was residing outside her soul without having to reveal her essence, then it could only mean one thing.

As though reading Savyrran's doubt, Ashesi added. "Vysha is an evolved soul armos."

"Oh…" Savyrran said simply in understanding. In all the times Ovandarrak had summoned Gray Gray, he had had to reveal his essence. Once his eyes returned back to their original brown colour, Gray Gray would dissolve back into his soul. This was the same as everyone's soul armos in their primordial state. However, Kasko and Master Bufan both had evolved soul armos and they could summon their weapons without even revealing their essence.

Master Bufan had explained to her that once a soul armos evolved, they had the ability to exist as a separate entity outside their master's soul for extended periods of time. In so doing, the master of an evolved soul armos did not even have to use their essence to summon their soul armos. Thus, they were not easily drained of soul energy even when their soul armos had been summoned for long periods of time.

So Captain Ashesi had an evolved soul armos. For a moment, Savyrran was curious about the captain's essence level. Even though Vysha did not look like a powerful soul armos, Savyrran did not understand the cat. After all, Gray Gray was incredibly powerful though it looked merely like a dog.

"Speaking of soul armos, there are rumors you don't have any." Ashesi said.

Savyrran laughed. "Those rumors are true. But my brother has a soul armos."

For a moment, Savyrran wondered if Gray Gray could turn into this silver cat. Of course he could, Savyrran thought.

"Ovandarrak?"

"How.." Savyrran began, but then decided against it. "Never mind." It seemed her brother had become quite popular because of his trials.

Ashesi chuckled then answered anyway. "Kakami told me about your brother. By the way, I hope you two are ready for your classes. The academy resumes in a week and classes will start as soon as it does."

"Wait… you mean the academy has not yet resumed? But there are so many students around."

"Indeed. Many students don't go home during the vacation especially during the registration of new applicants. I think they want to see the trials. And from what I've heard, so many people were impressed with your brother's performance in the trials." Ashesi said.

She did not watch the trials, but the captains would not stop talking about it, which was why she knew so much about it. Besides, the only reason she watched the combat school trials was because of Savyrran. She wanted to see if the girl was strong enough to even join the Combat School. And of course, Ashesi was not disappointed. The girl was ridiculously strong. She could not believe that someone like that was so skilled in making such delicate toys.

Savyrran laughed. "My brother is impressive, honestly. And speaking of my him, I need to go back to him soon. Could you please tell me my room number. I can go and look for it."

Savyrran slowly stood up. She had not expected that she would be spending time here in the School of Beast Studies. It wasn't that she was complaining, after all, she was thoroughly enjoying herself. In fact, she had learned so much just by being here. This captain certainly knew about her soul beasts. Ovandarrak often read about them in books, but Captain Ashesi knew about them beyond the books.

Though she would like to stay longer, she felt she had to get back. Moreover, she had not seen Minyet ever since the battle royale ended and now it was getting dark. Hence, she needed to find her room as soon as possible and then find Minyet. Ovandarrak and Pan had told her that Minyet left abruptly even before the battle royale ended, looking very upset. Thus, Savyrran had gone to Jenggen Hall to look for her friend, but Minyet was nowhere to be found.

Maybe with Ovandarrak's help, she would find Minyet.

In addition to that, she could feel herself getting exhausted. Her fight with the axe wielder had been more tiring than she had hoped. Even though she had already rested for some few hours after the trial, she still felt tired and her muscles ached. Maybe she would rest for a while before seeing her brother and Minyet.

"Of course." Lady Ashesi said standing up too, a slight look of disappointment in her hazel eyes. But she gave a small smile to hide her disappointment. "Actually, I'm returning to Haniki Hall so I can give you a lift if you want."

"A lift?" Savyrran was confused. Was the captain talking about a carriage?

A twinkle shone in Ashesi's eyes as though ready to unwrap the best present ever. Then she closed her eyes for a while, deeply concentrating on something. Savyrran patiently waited.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings grew closer and closer. Given how loud the sound was even though the beast was still far up in the sky, Savyrran knew that the wings belonged to no small creature. When the beast got closer, Savyrran saw exactly how large the creature was.

A dragon carefully landed right next to the lake, then growled in a low voice.

Savyrran's curious eyes widened in disbelief. " You have a dragon?"

Ashesi laughed. "Her name is Farah." Ashesi's hazel eyes became green while her green essence hovered around her. Then in one swift jump she was sitting atop the dragon. She glanced back at Savyrran who had still not recovered from her shock. "Are you coming?"

'So she's a green user.' Savyrran thought when she saw Ashesi's green eyes. Snapping out of her trance, Savyrran leaped as high as she could, sitting right on top of the massive dragon, beside Captain Ashesi. Without another word, the dragon lifted itself back into the air.

Was there no end to Captain Ashesi's surprises? Savyrran did not remember ever feeling so shocked for so many times at once. The captain could talk to soul beasts and now she had a dragon which was a legendary beast. What else would she learn about her? For some reason, she just could not wait.