38 The Legendary Blue Qilin - Part 3

The man in blue robes recounted the legends that many youngsters have already heard about, but since there were many new families sending their children this year, he had no choice but to go along with the orders from the academy. He didn't want to cite these legends either because they reminded him of when he was a kid and had been in the same place as those children. He also chased after the legends but because of his inability and ordinary Spirit Soul, he was unable to reach them - he could only dream even now about the strength of the people he was talking about even though he was lamenting his fate every day.

After his monologue finished with many children having lost interest in the stories because of their weak attention, the man urged the Qilin as it flew off around a kilometer away from the city gates, landing on an open space. The children paid respects as they passed through the gate according to what they were told, and many curious looks fell on the Princess as they walked in the direction where the Qilin landed. She was already used to it, but still found it a bit uncomfortable when so many kids her age were looking at her.

As they were passing through the gate, a sky-shaking roar resounded once again as thunder fell from the sky and struck the Qilin's body. It disappeared as it landed on the blue scales, as if absorbed by the Qilin. After several strikes of thunder rocked the minds of these youngsters, invoking some expressions of fear or excitement, the Qilin's body shone with sapphire-blue dazzling light which caused many to close their eyes. The body that was previously only dozens of meters big now spanned the area of two to three kilometers in length and had a wingspan of five kilometers when its wings unfolded.

The children walked absent-mindedly to the place in front of the Qilin's tail with scales each as big as them.

The only place where the Qilin didn't have the scales was on his belly, which was now clearly visible considering the size of the beast from the perspective of the children. The clouds above the Qilin turned sapphire blue as flashes of lightning jumped from place to place, painting the surroundings with deep-blue pigment.

From the sky fell specks of sparkly light that gave the atmosphere a magical existence. Asura Ryuu naturally knew what it was, but the same can't be said for the others apart from Asura Tenka. The two knew because they cultivated Divine Energy in their previous life. Although Divine Energy was slightly different from Spirit Energy, they could still recognize the specks of blue light falling from the night sky as the crystallized Spirit Energy reduced to pieces big enough to be visible to the naked eye, like snowflakes.

It practically resembled the falling snow, but instead of snowflakes were blue fragments that disappeared after a while on their own. Not a single one reached the ground or the Qilin. The children boarded the Qilin, leaning into an empty space between the scales, and felt the mysterious feeling spread in their hearts. Even Asura Ryuu felt it. It was the same as that of a child dreaming of driving an airplane - the excitement. Everyone was excited that they could ride on this legendary beast's back, but nobody knew they were the first and last generation to have that honor. Even the blue-robbed man standing between the Qilin's horns was envious of them because he didn't have the chance to do so.

The academy specifically sent this Qilin under the urging of the old man who told about the prophecy. One among many was the child they were looking for and they will know who it is soon, hence the academy and the Empire must assure that these children had a good impression of them.

As everyone boarded the Qilin and found a comfortable position in the place between the scales, The Qilin's massive wings spread and with a single powerful flap, it took off the ground and broke through the clouds. Asura Ryuu's heart was beating fast because he felt like he was sitting on a base of a tsunami as the Qilin's body twisted upwards. He felt as if he was riding a tsunami. How incredible it is, seeing many children between the big scales on the Qilin as its massive body bent upwards. He wasn't the only one with a quickened heartbeat - everyone was.

The Princess knew the feeling of riding the ancient beast, but even her Emerald Phoenix didn't cause this feeling in her heart. It was pride - being right here, right now. The unforgettable moment of each of their lives. Her eyes looked at the other children with curiosity now that everyone's attention was absorbed by this peculiar feeling of greatness. Her eyes occasionally stopped at someone who pretended to be unaffected by this feeling and she remembered them. Even she was influenced and happy now, how could they pretend nothing was out of the ordinary? She wasn't arrogant but felt that she had experienced many things the other couldn't, that's why she was a little angry when she saw members of some bigger families pretending high and mighty as if riding on a Blue Qilin's back was nothing special.

Her eyes unconsciously turned to Asura Ryuu and stood on him for quite a while before moving on to the three near him, but then turned back to Asura Ryuu again. Asura Ryuu and others were in front of her and that's why she could see them. Asura Ryuu naturally felt the curious gaze and turned around to see who it was coming from. The Princess got a little flustered when she met Asura Ryuu's eyes and her heart quickened instantly. She quickly averted her gaze and sank deeper into the opening between the scales because she didn't want anyone to see her embarrassed face.

"What is this? Why is my heart beating so fast?", she thought.

Her eyes closed as she leaned back, wanting to calm herself down by doing that, but those black eyes with crimson dots of light appeared in her mind again. She felt a strange feeling of elation when she focused on the picture in her mind and sank into the feeling. It was a first time she felt like this. Not even her mother caused this kind of feeling to manifest inside her heart. She was just like a restless little deer now. If Asura Ryuu could see her expression, he would likely smile out of instinct. Asura Tenka just shook her head by the side when she saw what happened, but she couldn't conceal her smile.

Everything returned to normal pretty fast and the excited gasps echoed out from the Qilin's back as it did various moves in the air like turning upside down and doing a spiral. Naturally, nobody could fall off its back because there was a Spirit Energy binding them if anyone showed signs of sliding out of their place.

Asura Ryuu's eyes were filled with frantic excitement and joy as his aura subconsciously released, giving off his exact position to Qilin. It was focused on trying to find where Asura Ryuu was and when it felt that aura; it was happy when its Spirit Sense fed back the image of the smiling Asura Ryuu. Nobody knew that Qilin's joyous expression at that moment came from this particular youngster on its back and his satisfied smile.