Chapter 25 - 25: The Journey Part 6

Inside the now stationary airship, a lovely well dressed young woman was in large a well decorated dinning area with a maid by her side.

"Has the fog not yet cleared? I hate being delayed like this" The young woman expressed in an irritated tone.

"I do apologize Lady Anastasia, let me go ask the captain of the status of things." The maid replied before bowing and excusing herself. She then turned and left the room, leaving Anastasia alone.

'Perhaps I should have boarded a ship with brother? No, the mere thought of being around so many people, including lower class families sounds like such a chore' She sighed while showing a dismissive look on her face.

Some time soon passed since her maid and left and she began to glance around as she noticed the place had now become far too silent. She let out yet another sigh before lifting a bell off her dining table and ringing it.

"Where has low born fool gone off to?" She muttered in an irritated but low tone as her ringing the bell produced no results.

Left with no other option, she simply stood from her seat and went towards the exit of the dining area with a displeased look on her face. She opened the door roughly and prepared to walk out and yell at her maid's incompetence but she stopped right before fully exiting and jumped back into the room as if by reflex.

'Blood!' She thought to herself as the scent reached her nose.

"Hmm? Your senses are really sharp for a human." A childlike voice complimented the now alert Anastasia who still wore an annoyed look on her face rather one of worry.

She continued to look forward and waited for the owner of the foreign voice to reveal themself. A moment later the owner of the voice Oxin did just that as she walked into the room dragging behind a bloody mace.

"You're the pig responsible for the foul stench of blood on my grand ship?" Anastasia asked in angry tone as she began to clench her fists.

Before Oxin could answer the flow beneath her began to glow as a magic circle appeared right beneath.

"!!"

Oxin's senses warned her of the danger but her reactions were slow. However just at that very moment, a large muscular hand grabbed her from behind and put her out of circle's radius. Less than a second later a large spike shot out from the circle.

"So there's more than one pig." Anastasia commented with furrowed eyebrows.

"Pig? For someone who's about to die, you're confident. I like that in my prey." Jagu who now stood behind Oxin states with a grin on his face.

"Now, let's fi-" Jagu smiled at the young woman and prepared to attack but was prevented from doing so by a blast of fire hitting him from behind.

"Run Milady! These two are A class at the very least!" The maid who had initially left Anastasia appeared from behind and warned her in a panicked tone.

Her attire was damaged at some parts and her forehead was bleeding but she faced Jagu and Oxin confidently.

'A class and two of them. Dammit!' Anastasia thought to herself before extending her hand forward and chanting something under her breath.

Once she did so, another magic circle appeared but this time beneath her.

"Warp!" She commanded and instantly vanished from the room.

She reappeared on the deck of the same ship but and took only a moment to breath heavily before preparing to make her way elsewhere.

"Teleportation? No, if you were that skilled you wouldn't need to run away, that was warp. Even so, it takes skill to cast that perfectly. However you won't be able to do so for another 10 minutes at the very least" A voice appeared on the scene and assessed causing Anastasia to once again become alert.

However as she turned to face the direction of the voice, she was greeted by a hand gripping her by the neck and raising her body from the ground.

"Move and you'll die. I can tell your talent is centered around mana so you should know I'm not bluffing." The owner of the intimidating yet calm voice, Aron stated as he looked the young woman in the eyes.

'I feel a great amount of mana on his hands, a spell? So fast?' Anastasia thought to herself as she gulped but maintained a firm look on her face.

"Just who are you? Do you have any idea who you're treating this way?" Anastasia asked and Aron shook his head slowly.

"No I don't, that's a matter to discuss another time. For now... sleep." Aron replied with a neutral expression on his face before commanding her to sleep.

"Y-you!, when did you..." Anastasia muttered in a weak tone before eventually closing her eyes. At which point Aron let her go and laid her down on the deck.

'I may be far from being a genius level talent at magecraft but the sheer arsenal of tricks I know is enough to make up for it' Aron expressed as he retracted the hand he used to grip her neck, which upon closer inspection had a strange symbol on it.

"Jin!" He called out and almost immediately the fog that filled the mountain range had began to disperse. Jagu who was carrying the now unconscious old maid who had attacked him soon joined him on the deck along with Oxin.

"I hate mages, they always have so many tricks up their sleeves it's hard to be ready for what they'll do Tsk." Jagu complained before laying her down next to Anastasia.

"The last thing I expected was for an older lady to give you trouble Jagu." Aron said while showing a small smile causing Jagu to let out a deep sigh.

"She was just quick with her casting, and the space within the airship wasn't enough for me to properly fight. You've seen me in open spaces, she wouldn't have stood a chance I tell you!" Jagu patted his chest and added with a serious expression on his face.

"I was simply teasing you Jagu, that is what it's called isn't it? I already know to not judge opponents by their looks alone. I'm not used to interacting with people, don't take every word I say so seriously." Aron explained in his usual calm tone causing Jagu to smile and break out into laughter.

"Haha, ohh I do get it now. You always seem so serious that it's hard to tell what you're thinking or even mean." Jagu laughed it off and gave Aron a hard pat on the back which didn't even cause him to shift in the slightest.

Despite the vast amount of knowledge Aron possessed, the short time he'd spent with the other contestants was the most social he has ever been in his entire life.

With his father, every talk mostly covered training and rules while when with Argos, he spent much of his time reading and training.

He knew how to read people from their gestures, he was pro efficient in numerous languages and social behavior but putting it into play was something he still couldn't perform properly. Which is what made him so much harder to read towards other people.

"I may need to work on that.." He expressed with a small smile on his face.