Beyond?

“The Veit aren't known for their offensive abilities. Instead they are highly regarded for their support enchantments in large scale battles. An army which is supported by their enchants can easily take on an enemy twice its size. Of course it takes a while to apply all those enchants to the soldiers, but that weak point is negated by their duration.

A good enchant can keep its effect up for three to four days. So once an army is enhanced there is enough time to reapply the spells at any moment of opportunity.

With the proper amount of time and effort the Veit are even able to apply permanent enchants to equipment and artefacts. Like making them lighter or less affected by rust.”

-Sahandra Veitares

***Free City States of Nict, Tri***

***Azir***

I barely block my father's thrust with his quarterstaff and try to counter attack, but his weapon is already blocking my line of attack. His staff and mine collide and we both retreat to get out of the other's range.

Stepping forward again, I start a series of stabs. Knee, face, chest, thigh, all of them get diverted or evaded. There is no opening in my father's defence.

It's infuriating. Even though stabbing with a staff or spear is a very fast motion my father doesn't seem bothered at all.

Now he starts a series of swings which I block. I wish I was fast enough to get past his defence. If I was training with Stella, I could at least use some magic to even the odds. I wonder what she is doing right now. And that stupid Ryland got very annoying recently, I have to think about a way to divert his attention from me and Stella.

Yoran moves in without hesitation and places his knee in my guts.

The impact takes my breath away and I fall down. Father doesn't know how to hold back. This is just training! I wish I hadn't agreed on not using magic during his training lessons. But it would defeat the point of training my body to stay fit. But just once! I am itching to use magic just once to blow him away.

It would be satisfying. Probably. My father isn't a good magician. All he can do is conjure a small flame and other mediocre spells.

“I can tell that your thoughts are somewhere else today. Is there something that's bothering you? You would block an attack like that easily on a good day.” He walks back into his half of the training circle. His dark hair is wet from his sweat and sticks to his long horns which are pointing backwards from his forehead.

We are training inside our property's training hall. The fighting circle is six metres in diameter and whoever steps outside loses the fight.

“Nah. It's nothing.” I sit up while applying healing magic to myself.

“It's not nothing, Son. So tell me. Or I'll beat it out of you, so that we can continue with our training. There is no point in training if your mind is somewhere else.” Yoran pokes me with his quarterstaff.

Should I tell him? Can I tell him that I suspect that Stella was the one who beat up Olivia like that? I think she has the required medical knowledge. But I didn't know that she had the strength to do something like that to Olivia.

And she was the one who found her. What I don't get is why Olivia is covering for her now. Or my suspicions are completely incorrect. But Stella acted strange and disappeared for three whole days.

Ryland sought me out a second time and interviewed me regarding Stella's skills. It was very clear that he wanted to know if Stella was capable of defeating Olivia and intimidating her into keeping her mouth shut.

I lied. I listed him a whole set of reasons why Stella couldn't be the offender. My greatest point of defence was that Stella might be able to defeat Olivia, but not without getting hurt herself.

Though by that time, I wasn't sure of that. Being a suspicious man, I bugged Stella when she returned from her little vacation. But all of my bugs were disposed of without fail. She is really good at turning around corners and disappearing. I always found the bugs on the ground where I lost sight of her. It's a little disturbing to say the least.

“It's just. I am not good with people. And I have reason to believe that one of my friends hurt someone at the university very badly.” I mutter.

Yoran raises an eyebrow and looks at the ceiling. “Ah, that case.”

Shit. “So you know about it?”

Yoran raises his nose high into the air. “My son seems to forget that his father is the governor of Tri! But don't fear, I have no reason to interfere in the affairs of the capital. So you have reason to believe that your friend is that mysterious person. And?”

I look up. “What 'and'? Isn't that bad? I had no idea that my friend is capable of doing something like that.”

“But the victim was someone who offended you several times. And isn't it also true that your friend called the healers in time. It doesn't look like she intended to do permanent harm.” Yoran shrugs his shoulders and grins at me.

I freeze up. “How?”

Yoran chuckles. “Your father may be bad at reading and doing calculations, but he is no idiot." He holds four fingers up. "You have just four friends at the university. So it isn't hard to guess whom you are talking about. But like I said, it's not my business.”

I try to smile. “You seem awfully relaxed. There is a real investigation going on you know?”

He frowns. “Look. Your friend isn't telling you everything for a reason. Of course there is always the chance that you misjudged her. Do you want to tell me now that you aren't sure of your friend's character? After knowing her for more than ten years? In that case...”

I interrupt him. “I am sure of her character. She must have had a reason!”

Yoran pokes me again with his quarterstaff. “Then let it go and don't stick your nose into other people's business. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. Can we continue with our training now?”

Frowning, I take up my staff again. “This time I'll beat you up.”

***Free City States of Nict, Capital***

***Stella***

“You are so nice to take me out on a date.” I take another bite from the honeyed bread while I let my feet dangle from the bridge we are sitting on.

Azir nods. “I would take you out on more occasions. It's just really hard to find some casual clothings and sneak away. And even then we have to disguise ourselves as normal townsfolk.”

I snicker. “But that makes it really exciting. The two of us being alone is the best. And I actually find this more relaxing than having a date in high society.” I lean myself against him and enjoy the warmth of his body.

“I heard that there is a circus in town. Maybe we should go there next. I heard they have some strange beasts from far away with them.” Azir suggests.

I place my tail around him. “Or we could find a quiet place and kiss each other.”

Azir grabs my tail and inspects the scales on it. “Actually that sounds quite nice too. Hoh. Those scales are fascinating. They change their colour if you tilt them.”

Placing both hands in front of my mouth, I try to keep myself from crying out loud. “Azir... grabbing my tail. So bold!”

He looks at me without the slightest hint of understanding. “Is there some kind of taboo against grabbing your girlfriend's tail?”

I recover my tail by yanking it forcefully out of his hands. “Sometimes you still amaze me with your non-existent social skills. Listen, grabbing a girl's tail is equivalent to inviting her to bed.”

Unfortunately I am very sure that he had no idea of what he was doing. He is simply that kind of character.

Sometimes he says or does strange things. If I hadn't known him for so long I would come to the conclusion that he is some kind of foreigner who is travelling through a foreign country. “Honestly. You should really try to work on your basic knowledge. Someday you will trip over it.”

He shrugs. “I guess, I'll stay uneducated as long as nobody tells me about stuff like this. Is this something you learned from your parents?”

I arch an eyebrow. “Huh? No, I think Louise said that?”

“Airhead.”

“Why?”

“Louise is Louise.”

“She is my friend.”

“A pervert.”

“A nice girl!”

“Who taught you to tongue kiss as a sign of gratitude.”

I blush. “Fine. She is a pervert.”

“Can I have that tail now to take a look at the scales?”

I place my tail in his waiting hands and look away, pouting.

.