Chapter 11

Arthur-

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Caera sleeping peacefully on top of me, while I had my hands wrapped around her waist. Well, I should probably wake her up now, or else if someone barges into my room and sees us like this, it would cause us a bit of trouble.

I patted and shook Caera gently for a bit. She started to wake up after a few attempts on my side to wake her.

She quietly woke up, rubbed her eyes a bit, and looked towards me. 'Cute,' I thought. "Good morning," I said to her with a smile.

"Good morning, Art," she replied.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked.

"Well, if I get to sleep on my boyfriend's chest... the sleep I get is really well," she said with a smirk, and I chuckled a bit.

"Now then, did you decide what you want to do while we are here, Caera?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"Yup, I think I will go and learn from Elder Rinia. I don't want to get involved with the royalty here, at least not right now," she said.

"Well, I guess it is settled then. We should quickly take a bath, and then I will drop you off at Elder Rinia's house. After my training with Gramps finishes in the evening, I will come to you and help you with your assimilation with the beast will."

"Well, that will be good. But Art, we have a problem... I don't have clothes that fit me," she said while getting a bit tense.

"Well, if you don't mind, you can wear my clothes. You aren't going to be strolling around the city anyway, so I think that should be fine, right?"

"That... could actually work!" she said while hugging me tightly.

"Then I'll let you go and take a bath first," I said, freeing Caera from my grip. She nodded and went to take a bath while taking a pair of my clothes with her.

As she returned, I too went and took a bath. Then we were both ready to leave for Elder Rinia's house.

"You ready?" I asked Caera, and she nodded. Then I picked her up and carried her in a bridal style while she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I used Godstep, and the next moment we were in front of Elder Rinia's house. I put Caera down and knocked on the door. We both waited a bit for Elder Rinia to open it.

"You both came so soon?" asked Elder Rinia while opening the door.

"Yup, well, we did. And Caera has made her decision; she wants to train with you, Elder Rinia," I said, and Caera nodded.

"Well then, come in," she said, gesturing for us to enter the house.

"Okay, Caera, Elder Rinia, I have to go now so that Gramps isn't too suspicious of me. I'll come back in the evening after my training with Gramps finishes," I said, getting a nod from both. I then used Godstep again and entered my room. I swear, using Godstep this many times with this body is pretty tiring.

'Art, while I don't think I need to remind you, if that elf princess gets too close to you, you know what will happen, right?' said Caera through our mental connection. I flinched a bit at her sudden voice.

'Of course, Caera M'lady, you don't have to worry about that,' I said while assuring her. Well, of course, I don't want Tessia to harbor feelings for me that I can't reciprocate, so it's better if I keep a distance between us.

'See you soon then,' said Caera, and I replied with a "yup."

I saw that it was almost time for my training session with Gramps, and as I was about to go there, a certain someone burst through the door.

"Art, wake up!! It's time for training!!" shouted Tessia. She could at least check if someone is sleeping or not. Sigh I can't do anything about it; she just barges in without knocking or anything.

"I am up, Tessia. Let's go; Gramps would be waiting for us," I said.

"Okay, let's go," she said.

"By the way, Art, you remember that you have to go to the town with me after today's training, right?"

"Uhh, yeah, I do remember. Well, let's discuss this after our training," I said. I really don't want to go sightseeing with her now. I need to help Caera with her assimilation first anyway. And I don't want to break Caera's trust in me; besides, she would kill me if she knew that I went to town with Tessia alone.

Tessia and I walked toward our training ground and saw Gramps waiting for us. He smiled at us, and then we started our training. As usual, first he helped me with my beast will assimilation process and then with my combat training.

Well, while using mana to spar, it did cause me a bit of trouble to keep up with Gramps. But I managed it with my sword techniques. While I could easily defeat Gramps if I could use aether, since I can't do that right now, I was struggling a bit. Well, 'I am the better swordsman,' so my techniques were far superior to those of Gramps, but the age of the body and mana core level did play a huge factor.

We continued our spar for a bit and then took a rest. While resting, Tessia did try to get in physical contact with me, like she wanted to rest her head on my shoulder, but I didn't let her do that. How could I let her do that? The only girl that is allowed to sleep on my shoulder and lean on my chest is Caera. Wait... why am I acting like this?

(A/n - because I want you to act like this.)

After the break, Gramps, Tessia, and I continued our training for a few more hours. It was almost evening, and seeing this, Gramps dismissed today's session.

"Alright, let's call it a day now. I have some work to do, so both of you are excused for the rest of the day," said Gramps while going back to the castle.

"So, Art, we are going to the town now, right?" asked Tessia. Well, I have to figure something out to get out of this situation.

"Uh, Tessia, I am feeling a bit tired today. I haven't slept properly at night as I was working on my beast will, and today's training did take a toll on my body. So I think it's better if we go to the town another day. I want to take a bit of rest." I made an excuse and started to head toward my room.

"Art!! Are you trying to ignore me now?!" shouted Tessia from behind.

"Look, Tessia, I am not ignoring you; it's just that I am really tired," I said in a calm tone while turning back to face her.

"You rejected it before, saying that you would go to the town with me today! But here you are again excusing it!" She pouted angrily.

Uhh, I almost forgot this side of her. It is getting a bit troublesome. "Okay, listen, Tessia, how about we go to the town the day after tomorrow? I would have recovered by then, and I won't be stalling this trip to the town anymore. How about it?" I asked her. Well, I could take Caera to the town to get her some clothes anyway. So it would be better if both Caera and I go to the town while Caera could wear the invisible cloak relic to follow me. And with Tessia around, it would be easy to roam in the town.

"Fine!! But if you don't take me to the town that day, then I will not talk to you for an entire year," Tessia spat out and went inside the palace.

Sigh well, I better get going now. I used Godstep again and arrived at Elder Rinia's house. Outside the house, I saw Caera and Elder Rinia discussing something. As Caera noticed me, she waved her hand and told me to come over.

"Hey, Caera and Elder Rinia. How did your day go? Did you enjoy your time here, Caera?" I asked them.

"Yup, Elder Rinia has been helping me out with my mana manipulation techniques," Caera said.

"Well, that's good, and thank you, Elder Rinia, for helping us out," I said.

"It's nothing; it's the least I can do to help you both out," she said.

"Well then, Caera, let's start with your assimilation process. And just so you know, it's going to take a while; it's a phoenix's beast will, so it might even take us more than four months. So it's better if we start now," I said, and Caera nodded. Then the three of us went to an open space. Once there, I told Caera to sit in a meditative position, like when purifying the mana core.

"Now, Caera, let the mana run throughout your body, then try to take out the mana from the beast will and let it run through your mana channels," I said to her. She did as I said. While she did struggle a bit at the start, she got the hang of it; after that, it wasn't that difficult.

After some time, I went behind her and placed my hand on her back to measure her progress. Well, I was quite surprised; the mana particles from the beast will were moving at a rather faster pace than I had imagined. If this goes on, then maybe Caera and I would complete our assimilation at the same time. I guess Lumina's will is very compatible with Caera.

Does that mean Caera can use both fire and ice? Well, that means she is a dual elemental mage with a deviant in the water element. And if we add her soul fire... she will be quite a strong mage in the future.

Caera and I continued with her assimilation for a while and got up as I saw that it was almost time for dinner.

"Caera, I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow, and if you have any trouble, you know how to contact me."

"Okay, take care of yourself, Art. I'll stay here with Elder Rinia, so don't miss me too much."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. By the way, Tessia asked me to accompany her to the town again. Before you ask, yes, I rejected her, saying that I would go with her the day after tomorrow. So I wanted to ask if you wanted to go with me. We can possibly buy some clothes and other stuff for you."

"Of course I'll go. Buying some daily stuff aside, I wanted to buy some plushies anyway, and I can't let you go alone with that princess!" she said, and I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, how can I forget, of course, you and your love for cute plushies?" I said, which caused Caera to jab me with her elbow and pout.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow, M'lady," I said to Caera while giving a peck on her forehead. I used Godstep to return to my room. Well, using Godstep this many times a day really makes this body sore. But that doesn't matter. Why? It's obvious.

It's because 'I am the better swordsman.'