Tara

Inside the mage airship which was filled with countless luxuries and decorations, it was divided into two sections. The top and tail sections. The top section being sort of like a vip section housed all the nobles. The tail section housed those from the major academies.

Cain was in one of the residences in the top section, his eyes were closed as he began absorbing energy. Immediately he entered the mage airship, he did not bother himself with his sisters or the other archduke families. He wanted to increase his strength, the aura of an immortal greatly impacted him.

He was close to the peak stage, nevertheless his element wasn't in the gaseous state yet. All he had to do was to keep absorbing energies and condensing both his darkness and blood elements.

Mages are known as forces of nature because they use and control the elements. These elements are present in the energy which is spread all over the world. There are countless elements in the world with the most popular elements being earth, water, wind, fire, metal and wood.

Elements such as blood, soul, strength, weapon, flower, ice, thunder and even cooking are the countless varieties of elements which one can awaken with once they begin to sense worldly energy. Although some races have certain affinities towards elements like the vampires, dwarves or elves.

Condensing these elements are easier said than done, one not only needed a good technique but they also needed to have patience. Right now Cain kept condensing these elements, he felt like he was close to becoming a rank one peak stage, all his concentration was on absorption and condensation

He opened his eyes and sighed, he couldn't take that final step, the peak stage still eluded him but he remained calm. He would surely get there. His stomach rumbled signalling to him that he needed a meal.

He tidied himself as he stood up and made his way towards one of the restaurants to grab a food

***

Ellen sat relaxedly in her residence, as a grey book floated in front of her. She looked at a girl with a long brown hair and hazel colored eyes who was shaped like an hourglass. She was light tanned and slender with a height of about five foot eight

"Tara I called you here to offer you a deal" She guided the book towards her hands and clasped it "This here is a rank four sound element spell book, I'm sure you know what it means?"

Tara gazed at the spell book intently, getting such a spell book was by no means easy. Although she was in the Vespertine academy it wasn't easy to get such a spell book. Rank fours were huge thresholds which meant that if she eventually reached that rank she would have no problem displaying the might of a fourth rank.

Spell books had different ranks ranging from the first to the sixth rank. A rank one spell book of any element would only contain a rank one spell of said element but a rank four spell book would contain spells up to the fourth rank of that element.

Spell books stop at the sixth rank because from the immortal realm spell books are not needed, only law comprehensions and techniques. Which is why techniques are much more valuable than spell books, she understood that so getting a rank four spell book was already enough for her.

"Your highness, I'll be willing to do anything as long as it is within my power" Tara replied, she knew the value of such a book and wasn't so stupid to refuse the offer

Hearing this Ellen's lips curled "Good, it's actually very simple you see and honestly there's no downsides to this deal for you"

Tara nodded as Ellen told her what she wanted, when she heard what was required of her, her brows furrowed. Not from annoyance but because the deal itself was too one sided

"Uhm your highness, if I may?" asked Tara softly

Ellen nodded and allowed her to speak, she knew that Tara couldn't refuse her offer so she wanted to hear what she had to say

Tara continued when she saw Ellen giving her the approval "Forgive any offence I may cause your highness but this deal is as good as free for me, I cannot simply believe that you have nothing to gain out of this"

Ellen's smile widened, she liked this girl, she was calm and rational even after being offered such a deal. She reminded her of herself in a way and she knew she made the right choice

"Oh don't worry, I'm gaining a lot from this and like I said, just do what you're meant to do and everything will be okay"

Tara looked at her but one could see that she kept staring at the spell book in Ellen's hands, hearing what Ellen said she was a bit assured but still suspicious.

Ellen called her over and discussed more of what exactly she wanted from her before she handed the spell book to her, of course not without contingencies

"Oh you can remain in the top section, take it as a gift from me for agreeing to my request" Ellen said, her smile still visible on her face.

Tara nodded and left the room, immediately she did Ellen's smile widened more but this time it seemed so eerie

***

Tara left the room where Ellen was, but she had a serious expression on her face. Only a stupid person would not be suspicious of Ellen's motive but the more she thought about it the more confused she was so she decided not to think too much about it

She decided to head to one of the restaurants to get something to eat before she went to her new room in the top section. This section never ceased to amaze her, the beautiful decorations, the high class hallways, the entertainment areas and all manner of luxurious things kept filling her vision.

She was after all a commoner, she was just lucky that her father had managed to befriend a Baron who in turn helped her to get into Vespertine academy. Just last year she became a rank one mortal and awoke a rare sound element confirming her talent for magic. Although she wasn't a bloodmage, she was still valued by the academy

After walking for a while she reached a hall where dozens of luxurious restaurants could be seen and a lot of nobles walking around, either talking amongst themselves or entering their restaurants of choice

She didn't want to stand out much and decided to head to the simplest looking restaurant there. Once she entered it was basically empty, only graced by a handsome looking boy with black hair and crimson eyes. Immediately she saw him she was in a daze as her mouth was agape, she had seen her own fair share of handsome boys but he certainly ticked all her boxes.

The boy also stared at her with a calm gaze seemingly curious about her, she saw this and blushed a little but she didn't move her gaze from him.

He also didn't seem like the arrogant type as well, so she immediately decided to meet this boy, who knows, maybe she would be lucky, afterall it was common for nobles to take in talented mages.

***

Cain was sitting quietly in front of his table as he sipped a glass of crystal clear water while waiting for his meal. However suddenly a brown haired girl entered which attracted his attention, once he saw the girl he was a bit surprised.

Afterall he came here because he knew those other nobles would prefer the more luxurious looking restaurants instead of a simple looking restaurant like this to match their so called status. Still that was it, she was just different and nothing more so he didn't read too much into it.

However, the girl made her way to his table and spoke to him "Hi, please can I sit here?"

Cain looked at her and nodded, he didn't care where she sat or whatever she did as long as she didn't ruin his peace and meal.

She smiled when she saw this and pulled a chair to sit down. She looked at the menu and was a bit surprised, these were all high class foods and they were all free. She sighed and envied the lives of these nobles

After making sure of what she wanted, she pressed a little silver bell on the table and not long after a man in restaurant uniform came up to her

"Welcome miss, what would you like to have?" Said the man politely

"A plate of rank one twin headed bull meat and vegetables with rice, a bottle of fine Croyean wine and a glass of white juice" She happily replied

The man nodded "Yes young miss, it will be ready in five minutes"

He went back inside just as fast as he came, meanwhile she looked at Cain and decided to strike up a conversation

"My name is Tara, what's yours?"

Cain who had been quiet throughout stared at the girl but decided to reply, it wasn't gonna cost him anything anyways. However he noticed something, she didn't give out her surname. Normally nobles loved to add their family name as well in introductions as part of etiquette so he surmised that she was maybe not a noble or she couldn't be bothered to give out her family name.

"I'm Cain"

When she heard his name her eye widened a bit but she composed herself and smiled sweetly before speaking

"Yes I can guess what you're thinking, I am not a noble, I'm just a commoner"

"Okay" Cain replied blankly, he didn't care if she was a commoner or not. In fact he didn't even care about her existence.

Tara heard his reply, she was a bit surprised that he didn't seem too interested in her but still, the fact that he hadn't chased her out yet meant that at least he didn't see her as a nuisance

She was about to strike up another conversation but the man came back with a tray in his hand, he dropped the tray right in front of Cain and left again.

Cain dug into his meal and didn't spare her a glance but restless as she was, she curled her hair with her index finger as she spoke

"Uh, Cain...? Which family do you hail from?"

Cain was silent, now he wished to snap this girl's neck but he still composed himself and replied without raising his head

"Ashel"

When she heard the name she was shocked, he was from an archduke family after all. Cain thought the girl would refrain from the stupid small talks and allow him to enjoy his meal when he told her his family name but he underestimated her

Hearing he was Cain Ashel, she smiled more as she once again replied

"I know this may be presumptuous of me but can we be friends your grace?"

This time Cain dropped his cutlery and raised his head to stare at her, his expression became cold before speaking

"Yes it is presumptuous of you, now I would advise you allow me enjoy my meal peacefully"

She decided to keep quiet and didn't push her luck but one could see a heated gaze on her face and a bit of infatuation. She didn't care about his cold demeanor, in fact she found it extremely attractive

Cain saw this and sighed to himself as he shook his head 'Women, they sure are a bag of problems'