Chapter 163: Peonies

Chapter 163: Peonies

Kefira smiled as she descended the steps, spotting Reivyn once again waiting for her. It was the middle of the week, and while they hadn't been able to spend all day together the previous days, they had walked to and from the Academy. Things were a bit slower-paced, and they had squeezed in a couple of Mana practice sessions as well.

Kefira was in a great mood as she bounded down the steps and hugged Reiyvn.

"Are you going to walk me to the Academy again today?" Kefira asked.

"I'm afraid not," Reivyn said. "I made an appointment to meet with your uncle today, and besides, we'll have all day for the next four days together. I really need to squeeze in the time to visit with your uncle while I have the time."

"Hmm, I figured that was the case," Kefira said. She was a little disappointed, but she didn't let it show. "You did tell him you would meet with him sometime, and one needs to be a man of his word."

"My thoughts exactly. Maybe I'll make my way over to the Academy in the afternoon to walk you home."

The faltering smile on Kefira's face perked up.

"Great! I'll see you, then."

Kefira made her way to the Magic Academy with Serilla in tow. Reivyn only followed her as far as the main palace, and he broke off to go to an office where Uncle Bellefrent conducted business. The walk to the Academy wasn't sad and dreary because she wasn't walking with Reivyn. When he wasn't around, Serilla stepped up and kept in conversation with her.

The two happily chatted as they entered the Academy, and they made their way to Magus Farril's office. Kefira knocked on the door and entered before anyone could say anything, but she came to an abrupt stop. An additional person was sitting in a chair across from her mentor.

Kefira froze for a moment before she smiled brightly.

"Congratulations, Senior Oryin!" Kefira said enthusiastically. "I'm surprised I didn't hear any rumors of your return."

Kefira had always had a good relationship with her senior apprentice. While Kefira was just in a mentor relationship with the Court Magus, Oryin was a true disciple. He was a few years older than her, and he had helped her out a lot when she had first started taking lessons with the Magus.

Kefira had always been a prodigy with her Mana Skills and Affinities, but she hadn't been used to her soul being suppressed when she had started her education. Only the upper echelons of the Academy knew the full situation, Farril and Oryin included, but she had still been praised as a genius with the handicap.

"How could you have known?" Oryin replied with a grin. "The only people you talk to on campus are Master Farril and Serilla."

"Hmph! I have friends!" Kefira pouted.

Oryin just chuckled.

"I never said you didn't. I just said you don't talk to the other students while at the Academy."

"I talk to you!" Kefira pointed out.

Oryin rolled his eyes.

"And how, exactly, am I supposed to tell you the rumors of my return?"

Kefira just stuck her tongue out at her senior. Kefira had long since treated him as an older brother.

"Kefira, I'm afraid that I won't have time to teach you today," Magus Farril spoke up.

"What?!" Kefira raised her brows at her mentor, a spark in the look she directed at him. "You couldn't have told me that yesterday?!"

"I'm sorry," Farril said, spreading his hands in helplessness. "I told Oryin to take the week off, but you know him. He showed up unannounced and demanded to get to work right away. You know I can't say no to my disciple when it comes to studying Magic."

"Sorry for the abrupt notice," Oryin said. "But hey, that means I'll get my progress report out of the way, and we can get crackin' on practicing that little trick you learned with Space Mana. Master told me about it just now."

"Well, too bad for you, I have plans," Kefira said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "You'll just have to wait until next week to get a chance to see what I learned on my expedition."

A hint of a frown passed over Oryin's face, but Kefira wasn't looking to catch it. He quickly smoothed out his facial expression, though, and adopted a genial smile.

"Yeah, too bad, and now your last day of instruction has been interrupted by me," he said. "I'll have to make it up to you some time."

"That won't be necessary," Kefira denied. "I'll just take today as a free day and go shopping with Serilla or something. Magus." Kefira nodded her head to Magus Farril, he nodded back with a sheepish look on his face. Kefira lifted her chin as she glanced at Oryin. "Senior."

She turned on her heels and exited the room, dragging Serilla behind her. She looked calm on the surface, but underneath she was incredibly frustrated.

Of all the times! She thought. If I had known, I would have told Reivyn to meet with my uncle yesterday! We could have had a five-day weekend.

"Come on, Serilla," Kefira said, linking her arm with Serilla's. "Let's go shopping."

"You were serious about that?" Serilla quirked an eyebrow at her. "I would have guessed you would go to the training ground and demolish a couple of training dummies."

"They're not my opponent," Kefira declared.

"Well, obviously," Serilla snarked.

Kefira pulled away from her friend and looked her up and down, tapping her lip in thought.

"A pink dress," she finally said. Serilla frowned in confusion. "With a flower crown." Kefira clapped her hands and nodded her head. "Yes! We'll buy you a pink dress with a flower crown, and that's all you'll be allowed to wear for the next week."

"Excuse me?!" Serilla was shocked. "You do know I still like girlie things, right?"

"Even when you're sparring with Reivyn?" Kefira raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Surely you can't be serious."

"I am serious," Kefira answered. "I think it's high time you learned how to fight in a dress. Nothing immodest, of course. Half-way above the knee I think, should suffice."

"But how am I going to maneuver in such a short dress?"

"Very carefully. I don't think either one of us would like for Reivyn to get an eyeful," Kefira said pointedly.

"Oooh, look at this one," Kailey grabbed a bouquet of flowers. "Look at the arrangement."

"The colors really blend well together," Riley agreed. "I also sense a hint of Mana in them."

"Even regular flowers in a Tier 4 Region can be Mana infused," Kailey said. "But I agree. These have a sort of 'flavor' to them."

"We haven't experienced enough Affinities, I don't think," Riley said. "We'll have to ask mom what it is."

The two girls had spent the previous two days, after getting settled, exploring the different workshops along the roads. They didn't just explore the ones easily found on the main road in the Inner City, either. One good thing about being an experienced Adventurer, Refix knew the questions to ask to find the true masters. Not all of them were open to the public, but for the ones that were, Kailey and Riley made sure to visit.

They didn't have their Tier 2 Classes yet, but their inherent Tier 1 Epic Class seemed to be geared towards crafting. It wasn't anything specific, either. Whatever they put their minds to creating, they picked it up quite easily.

"Not any ready-made," Kailey said.

"We just had some ideas on a new way to do it," Riley said.

"If you give us just a moment-"

"We'll have one made right now."

"Up to you, Sera," Fira addressed her friend. "You're the one that's going to be wearing it."

"I quite like the way this looks," Sera said with satisfaction. "There might be more ornate ones worn by other ladies, but the simplicity of this one has an elegance all to itself. I dare say my crown will be unique."

"Not so fast," Fira held up her hand. "If I'm not mistaken, I believe I've spotted some void flowers in that purple-cream bouquet; am I right?"

"We don't know what it is," Kailey said.

"But it matches one of your Mana signatures," Riley said.

"If you don't mind, I would like to buy two flower crowns from you," Fira said, nodding her head. "One from the ice-thorn roses and one from the void flowers." Kefira winked at Sera. "We will have a unique pair of flower crowns."

"I can't promise that the underlying enchantment will be of satisfactory quality for the void flowers," Kailey warned.

"We've never worked with such high-quality materials before," Riley added.

"In fact, we've never worked with anything as high-quality as the ice-thorn roses, as you called them."

"And we just extrapolated the new method for weaving the flowers together."

"That's fine," Fira said. "We're more interested in the aesthetics coupled with the fact that they're Magic Items at all. It doesn't matter the quality of the items right now. I can always commission more from you in the future after your Skill increases."

"That's acceptable," Kailey replied.

"If you give us a minute, we'll have them made for you right away," Riley said.

"Right here?" Fira asked in surprise.

"Sure," Kailey said.

"Why not?" Riley asked.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Fira and Sera stood aside and watched intently as Kailey and Riley plucked the flowers out of their respective bouquets to make the flower crowns. The twin girls mimicked the way the flowers were woven together in the bouquets.

They weren't perfect, and it was a new method they had just seen without any instruction; however, their efficiency in using the newly derived method noticeably increased as they continued to work. By the time they were finished - it only took a couple of minutes - the final portion of the flower crowns was visibly higher quality.

Kailey and Riley held the two crowns in their hands, inspecting them with frowns on their faces.

"We should have practiced," Kailey said.

"We were too arrogant," Riley agreed.

"It's fine," Fira stepped forward and took the purplish flower crown from Kailey. "We can hide the imperfections in our hair. We just orient the best-looking part toward the front, and nobody would know any different."

"I'm very satisfied," Sera said, accepting her bluish flower crown.

"These crowns aren't our highest quality work," Kailey admitted.

"Though the new method we used seems to have affected their base stats," Riley said.

"They're lovely," Fira said with a smile. "How do I go about contacting you for new ones in the future?"

Kailey and Riley once more shared a look before turning back to Fira and smiling.

"Is this a good idea?" Serilla leaned forward and whispered into Kefira's ear. "We don't know anything about them, and I've spotted some non-uniformed militia watching their group."

"That's standard procedure for high-Level Parties entering the city," Kefira retorted. "Based on their crafting and Mana Skills, I imagine their parents are quite impressive. I doubt they're some random bait to draw me into a plot. It would require some ridiculous levels of planning and strategizing for something like that."

"I'll trust your judgment, but I must remind you to be cautious."

"Thank you. It'll be fine."

Kefira and Serilla walked beside the twin girls. They had said that the best method was to simply take them to meet their parents. They would decide if it was appropriate to establish a more than transient relationship. Kefira approved of the girls' decision.

They walked with the girls, chatting about the capital and the different Magical weaves found in different Magic Items. Kefira wasn't an expert, but neither were the two girls. They were quite young, and even though they seemed to know about a lot of different methods, they only had some superficial knowledge.

They're perfect candidates for further education at the Magic Academy, Kefira mused. But why would I send them there? Heh heh. She chuckled to herself.

The twin girls and their female guards - clearly a band of Adventurers, not a professional outfit - lead them to the highest quality inn at the central square located near the teleport circle. Kefira spotted several other people who were clearly allies of the female troupe, and she spotted several that were clearly at the Level of the Imperial Guards.

She and Serilla shared a look, and Serilla's hand twitched at a phantom sword at her hip. She was already wearing her pretty pink dress, so she had put her sword away into her storage pouch. It was still readily available. It just wasn't carried on her person directly.

The female guards broke off from escorting the twins to loiter around the outside of the inn with some of their comrades, and the two girls continued to lead Kefira and Serilla to their room. They only climbed to the second floor of the establishment. They weren't staying in the best rooms of the inn, but even the cheapest room in this inn was leagues ahead of the suites of many of the others found in the city.

The twins led them into a room located closest to the stairwell, and Kefira and Serilla followed them inside. A young woman was sitting at a table sipping some tea. Kefira froze when she first laid eyes on her. She had the illusion that she was looking at her own mother. They didn't look alike physically, but their mannerisms were very similar.

She might be as cunning and dangerous as my mother, Kefira thought. She's obviously a high-ranked noblewoman from somewhere.

She shot a glance to Serilla, but she was looking further into the room. Kefira followed her gaze, and a man walked into view. At first glance, he looked a little familiar to Kefira, but the sudden chill of danger the man exuded distracted her. She was unable to continue looking at his face.

She noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, and she realized that Serilla had retrieved her sheathed sword from her storage pouch and was in the process of baring its blade. Kefira quickly grabbed her forearm to stop her. She turned to the sitting lady with a sheepish look on her face. These two people weren't purposely pressuring them with their auras, and Kefira didn't want Serilla's instinctual reaction to offend them.

The presence of the woman washed over her, and she struggled to stay standing upright, gritting her teeth. She succeeded after a moment, but it wasn't easy.

The lady in question observed Kefira for a moment. Kefira felt like all of her secrets had been laid bare before her, but mercifully she turned her gaze to the twins.

"And who are these two young ladies that you have brought to our room?" She inquired.

I was wrong, Kefira thought. This lady is much more dangerous than my mother.