116 Chapter 116

A day had now passed since Aron, Rose and Evanora began deciphering the pile of books Rose had brought along.

Rose had managed to list down as many beast characteristics as possible for Aron before returning to deciphering other books with Evanora.

Aron's duty then changed to mastering those characteristics while studying numerous maps of Pesia to narrow down which regions were worth having a look at first.

This continued until afternoon when a knock resounded on Lady Rose's door whose room they had been in since the previous night.

After giving permission to enter indifferently, Lady Rose was met by Claudia who walked in rather cautiously.

Aron was an anomaly in his own right but she was never really nervous around him, Lady Rose however was an entirely different story all together. Be it her position, power or temperament, nearly everything about her made Claudia and many other members of the faction be very respectful to the odd Grand Mage.

"Yes? What is it?" Lady Rose inquired coldly without averting her gaze from the current work she was doing. Claudia had initially come to speak to Aron who was seated further into the room by a desk completely immersed in the work he was carrying out.

Seeing as her plan had shifted, Claudia could only sigh internally and calm her nerves before bowing towards Lady Rose. "Hazenloft is the closest large city to the Newman highlands at the moment so we've received information that it may become a central hub for the ongoing exploration for beasts and treasure. I wanted to ask for your advice on the matter." Claudia explained respectfully while keeping her head bowed.

"We'll leave when we're ready, nothing shall happen to us." Lady Rose replied after understanding the meaning behind Claudia's words. She was worried conflict may begin between them and other factions or organizations should they remain.

"No need. We can leave now." Aron suddenly stood from the desk and added while folding the map he had been concentrating on.

Both Claudia and Lady Rose then glanced at him with curious gazes. "You're already done?" Lady Rose asked as she was a bit perplexed by the time in which it took him to study them along with the maps. However Aron shook his head at this. "No, but I've found one possible location we can look into, It's best we leave here before other factions come and we risk being followed."

Aron calmly explained and the surprise in Lady Rose's eyes dwindled. Although he paid no heed to it, Aron's rate of processing information was monstrous and it helped passively everyday in tackling even the simplest of tasks. This was a big factor in how Aron was able to adjust quickly if his plans failed or changed.

"Alright I'll inform the others immediately. Where shall we be going?" Claudia showed a smile when she saw that confident and ambitious look in Aron's eyes, it made her feel as though their plans would work out so she was eager to set a course.

"The Komi Islands..."

....

Meanwhile not too far away from the city of Hazenloft, Juliet's assigned airship, The La Belle was on course to Hazenloft.

Inside the airship within a mid sized training hall heavy breathing could be heard coming from the only figure present there... Juliet.

She wore a tight cropped vest that showed off her toned feminine abs that currently had light sweat running down them. Below she wore equally tight black leather pants that were very flexible so as to accommodate her movements.

This was one of the few times Juliet could be seen outside of her heavy armor. Her bust was a modest D cup while her hips and bottom were wide and curvy, something that was completely hidden when she wore her armor.

'I wonder how many times he can swing his weapon before growing tired.' She thought to herself before placing the large sword she was wielding on the ground and sighing.

She herself wasn't tired but instead rather bored from how mundane training was. She had isolated herself in the training room without rest while the ships duties were handled by Lucas and his assigned assistant.

"I still feel it's not enough." She muttered and clenched her fists in displeasure with herself. They were times were one would reach a bump on their journey to growing stronger.

No matter how hard one trained it would breed no results unless they overcome that limit on themselves. The question was always, how?

Before she could contemplate any further, Lucas walked into the training hall to report the situation but came to a sudden halt as soon as he saw Juliet.

As a man, more especially from a common beginning he couldn't help but gulp at the sight before him for a moment. As blunt, reserved and unfeminine as she was, Juliet was still very beautiful by human standards.

"Is something the matter?" Juliet turned around and asked Lucas bluntly, bringing him out of his momentary daze. "Oh yes, we'll be in Hazenloft by evening as for everything else on the airship... it's stable. I just thought I'd need to report." Lucas said as casually as he could while trying to not be caught staring.

"I see, well unless there's a crisis you don't need to report to me or seek me out. I'll intervene personally should a situation require me to do so." Juliet indifferently replied to Lucas, she wouldn't care for minor details unless they were either helpful or necessary in some way.

"Right, so uh what kind of training are you doing. You've been in here for sometime." Lucas asked in attempt to keep the conversation running.

"It's more to keep myself fluid than training. This airship isn't conducive for me to train. You should use this time however to familiarize yourself with your weapon, I noticed you lack technique when you fight." Juliet replied back normally as she didn't dislike topics that involved anything to do with combat.

"I'll definitely train harder, right now I'm aiming to become an inquisitor by my third year in the academy." Lucas said energetically without sounding arrogant. Juliet simply nodded at this as if it were a casual matter. "That's entirely possible but titles are only that, titles. In the face of real strength it's all useless so just focus on attaining strength until you're content." Juliet advised sincerely and made Lucas fall into thought for a brief moment.

"So then are you content with your strength?" He asked in return and Juliet shook her head.

"Far from it."

N0 v el Next. CoM

....

Evening soon came and the La Belle had successfully reached Hazenloft. Everyone had come here under the guise of securing a place first before other factions arrive but this was only a false front for Juliet to make movements without drawing suspicion from outside forces or even the other members traveling with her.

On the surface they had settled in quite alright and Juliet had even personally assigned tasks in groups to keep them busy while she carried out her own investigations.

She walked into a luxurious lodge of sorts that seemed almost without business from how empty it looked. Aron's presence in the city didn't go unnoticed especially after how he arrived so they were rumors concerning a dangerous and mysterious group of individuals staying at the lodge Juliet was currently standing it.

"Did they leave already?" Juliet muttered in a low tone as she sensed no one aside from a woman standing near the counter in the entrance hall.

"Excuse me Milady, how can I help you?" The woman politely inquired of Juliet who looked lost. Her high grade armor alone however was enough to tell the woman she was no ordinary person.

"The group that was staying here, when did they leave?" Juliet got straight to the point and asked bluntly. The woman couldn't help but chuckle nervously at this while shaking her head. "They left earlier today miss... is there a problem?" She asked in return but Juliet shook her head.

"No it's fine, thank you." Juliet replied before walking out of the lodge. As soon as she did so the once smiling and timid woman had her expression turn serious.

She quickly took out a scroll from her sleeve and laid it on the counter before scribing many characters on it. Each time she drew a character it would glow brightly for a moment before vanishing.

When she was completely done the scroll looked the same way it did before she began. Only after a moment did some new characters begin to appear on their own.

These new characters only remained visible for a moment before vanishing as well but the message had been delivered. 'It shall be done Lord Aron.' The woman showed a small smile before putting the scroll away into her sleeve.

Soon her entire figure seemed to distort for a moment and became rather blurry. When this odd scene finally came to a stop the woman's face had changed entirely to that of...

N0 v el Next. CoM

...Khalifa's