22. The Bait

A few months later Ast and Anya were still busy with their routine. Ast was now 9 years old and Anya was 10. Due to their efforts both of them had a certain mastery over their weapons Ast was a dagger genius and Anya was a genius in archery although both of them were good with both weapons.

They also had started mastering using lightning with their attacks Ast primarily would use lightning on his body making him agile and Anya would use it to make her arrows faster than physically possible(wind arrow with lightning speed) and also both their weapons did more damage.

Today before going out to the cave Ast told Anya to meet him in his room, he told her of his plan to bait their spy and make him reveal things. He told her to follow him from a distance and to try and identify the spy. Ast took a bow on his back and snuck out crossing the back wall in the garden, but making no efforts to be discreet. And soon he noticed someone following him from the distance.

Ast suddenly raised both his hand as if stretching and moved his right hand pointing at a direction. It was actually a clue for Anya to act and Ast was showing her the general direction of the spy.

Anya who was very carefully hiding in the forest even before Ast came there, started moving. She saw the person following Ast from a distance and was quite surprised. It was the head butler of their family. It was surprising cause he was an elementalist, although the spy being an elementalist was a possibility but the work could also be done using some artifact so it was surprising to know that someone would actually hire an elementalist to deal with them.

Ast wandered in the forest for some time practiced his archery and then went back. Anya told Ast about her findings and he as well was surprised.

Ast knew that he could not wait anymore he had to act out according to his plans otherwise things could go out of his hands.

The next morning Ast went to meet with the head butler. The butler was surprised to see him but remained coy and treated him cordially. Ast asked him to inform his family that Ast and Anya would go to the nearby town of Aldi to watch the selection procedure that would take place after two months. He wanted his family to provide him with some gold and a few bodyguards as both of them would book an inn and live in Aldi for two months.

The very next day a butler informed him that their family had accepted their request and would provide them with two bodyguards each and enough money to live a year. Also the rooms had already been booked for them in an establishment and they could depart whenever they want.

Although Ast didn't need any money cause he already had a mountain of gold with him he still needed to keep apearances. His family's action also confirmed his suspicion that they were testing the water right now and wanted to observe him for now.