36. Aldi

Ast explained Anya the use of soul crystal and also came clean about the system. But when Anya asked him about the systems origin he claimed to be innocent and said it was always there but only answers his certain questions and is mysterious in itself. Ast knew it was only a matter of time before Anya starts questioning him about his extensive knowledge, which sometimes seems to be out of this world.

Anya was surprised by her new discovery although the existence of such a system was never heard of in any books or legends she had heard she still thought it might be possible (she was still small and world out there full of possibilities). But the presence of the system also explains to her how Ast was able to have such otherworldly knowledge which had helped both of them to grow to this extent.

Later Ast gave Anya a soul crystal and also took one for himself. They both camped out in the wild and ate what they had stored in the storage ring. Ast used half of the essence for each crystal.

They continued their journey early in the morning and both knew that the town of Aldi was now nearby. There were still two days before the start of the competition and tomorrow there was a big auction in town as all the proficient clans and families were there for the event.

The big clans and families were a bit peculiar, some of them like to nurture their talents themselves and would teach them their own skills and knowledge while others would send their descendants to academies as they want them to be independent and strong.

While some of the more insidious families would teach their talented individuals themselves and send others to the Academies with the purpose of foming factions inside the academy and increasing their family's hold over the Academies.

But inside such institutions the heir or students belonging to clans or families would have to sign soul contracts to serve the Academies without favouring their families. The seven star academies were clever they would never allow any particular family holding significant power inside their factions. But still they allowed such factions among students to temper them.

This was also the reason why Ast trusted that if he and Anya could show promise in the competition then the seven star academies would pay attention to them as they would not belong to any existing faction and would be seen as perfect potential to be the future of the said academies. Power struggle between the Academies and the Noble faction was nothing new.

Ast and Anya before coming to Aldi stopped in the forest for a spar among them. It was Anya who suggested it and Ast accepted as he too wanted to know Anya's capabilities to plan for their future.

Though Anya's reasoning was completely different than that of Ast. She could see that with passing time Ast was becoming an overprotective brother, which was cute but it undermines her ability and she wanted him to take her seriously as an elementalist and rely on her at times.

She knew in the beginning when they had to face the bandits, she was scared and hopeless. But with time she had been giving her all in practice of weapons as well as elements. So it was hard for her to see Ast doing all by himself and not relying on her at all.