"It's Miss Lirale!" An observer pointed out as he saw Lirale come out of the forest.
Given how hostile and aggressive the Felirs had been getting as of late, more casualties have been popping up with nearly a third of the contestants classified missing or dead.
Unlike how she went earlier into the forest, she seemed livelier and full of vigour as she made her way to her familiars with her attention elsewhere.
Looking around, she noted that after her nap, it was getting late thus she decided to come back however there were certain faces that she noted that were lacking.
"Where's Vivienne and Isilindil?" She posed with her mind curious with how much they had been able to garner. "They haven't returned." A response from her mother assured her to which she brushed off.
"Given the announcement declared, multiple soldiers from the capital will be deployed but that will be after the meeting. Possibly a week or less." Her mother added as more figures came out of the forest.
Her mind was blank and refreshed however she didn't know that her memories were tempered with the vial Arabella had given her. The scene where Arabella and Vivienne had been interacting with each other had been removed out of her mind.
For how she got the mana disc cores that she has, a false memory was implanted to cover this up. "It's getting quite late." She mused as a figure she hadn't expected to flash in her eyes.
"Julian!!!" Narandial beamed as her arms wrapped around her son with a smile before it faded off. "Are you okay?" A question was shot his way as she tried to gauge his body, examining any injuries but none seemed present.
"I'm okay mom." He reassured her as Thalion asked another question. "Where's your sister?" Looking around, he couldn't sense the slightest bit of mana of him thus proving the two hadn't been in contact with each other.
"We were split up by an assault with the rumored beasts but I'm sure that she's okay." He mused as another figure appeared out of the forest. Multiple guards approached the boy as they handed him all kinds of elixirs and potions for recovery.
Naturally it was Isilindil who seemed to be in a fire state. His demeanor was rough , showing that he had been locked in a tight confrontation before collapsing to his knees.
It took a matter of minutes before his cool and calm demeanor was present on his figure as he made his way towards his father who seemed slightly displeased however his face displayed otherwise. "I take it that you have found more than the required points."
A cold and detached tone in his voice but Isilindil seemed to have expected this. "Double with a bit extra on top." Isilindil answered back as he looked around and noticed that Vivienne hadn't returned.
"Where's Vivienne?" Erevan mused as he looked around on top of the stage. Given that most of the contestants had already returned, it was deduced that anyone else out would have been disqualified.
A few minutes went in and it would seem that her presence was nowhere in sight. He gave a defeated sigh as he went on. "Regardless, welcome to the tally of the Matoreas test. Please submit your mana disc cores."
He gestured as the contestants went forward and placed the bags on a small stone basket and a hazy and surreal number would form above it.
Most of the numbers that came up were rather disappointing with the highest among them being three hundred points ones went on but the difference was barely noticable.
Given that they had one day to properly hunt and the next worrying about some foreign and invincible beast that came out of the blue with no means of them defending themselves.
The crowd however seemed more expectant when Isilindil made his appearance to the stage and as expected of the heir of the royal family, he was far above the required points to move on.
"A thousand points?!!" Outrages if shock could be heard from the crowd the moment they saw Julian's results. Thalion and Narandial were glad with it but the lingering worry if Vivienne's absence was plaguing their minds.
'A mere thousand points! A mockery of what I have!' Isilindil scoffed as he made his way towards the stage and placed his bag in the stone basket.
"It's seems to be one thousand and two hundred points to be exact! Way above Julian's!" Another pointed out to Narandial was fearful when she heard this.
It wasn't just her but also other noble families given how the gap was too big. "You did well sweetie ." Lirale's mother assured her given that she knew the state of her daughter but what she saw betrayed her eyes.
"A thousand and four hundred points!!!" Isilindil similar to others were taken aback given the sorry state Lirale had entered the Matoreas test to begin with.
The scene of her not only able to survive by herself in a weak state but also surpass Isilindil was something even Isilindil himself hadn't expected. 'I was so focused with Vivienne that I overlooked Lirale but how was she able to get back up to form in such a short time?'
Tavian mused as he grit his teeth. Erevan on the other hand was perplexed with such a development. He was aware of the Lirale's state but such a development was something even he hadn't expected.
"It would seem that Vivienne has yet to arrive." Tavian pointed out as he hoped that her presence was long gone. It would be too much of a variable if she was allowed to keep on progressing the way she was.
"Where are you sister?" Julian muttered beneath his breathe, his heart stormed with a waterfall of emotions wondering where Vivienne was. 'I should have known that that bet was stupid!'
A tinge of regret crawled into his heart as the scene seem to come to an end. "It would seem that Vivienne isn't here which is a shame. Multiple guards will be sent out to aid the Caldwell family to search for her daughter."
Narandial was on the verge of tears, wondering what had befell her daughter. The care and tenderness of a mother was special and with that it ached her all the more. Thalion was plagued as well but not to a depth Narandial was but that didn't mean he didn't care but rather he masked it.
"And with that, I announce the end of the Matoreas test!" Erevan mused as he declared his speech. And with that, the end of the Matoreas test.
Given that Vivienne hadn't made her appearance, that meant that she would be disqualified but given Erevan seemed interested, this posed a problem for Tavian.
If Erevan was interested with Vivienne and declare her presence to the capital, it was certain that she would sooner or later encounter the queen or at the very least someone extremely important thus he had to ensure that Vivienne's remained gone.
*Warp*
A strange and ominous sound came from the edge of the forest and a glance at it, it was the awaited contestant. She seemed calm and collected as that was her signature air to which Narandial beamed a warm smile as she wrapped her arms around her.
"You're okay!" Vivienne could feel the tightness of her mother's arms pressing around her body to which she reciprocated. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Julian and Thalion made their way to her with smiles on their faces.
"Quick! Present your mana disc cores to Erevan!" Julian posed however his father stopped him. "The representative has declared the test over making Vivienne disqualified from proceeding." Julian seemed discontent when he heard this but he couldn't do anything about it.
"You're Vivienne, right?" Erevan asked as he made his way to the family gathering. "Yes I am." She replied blandly. Erevan took in her gestures finding her hard to discern as the anticipation or anxiety of her in his presence was lacking.
Something he hadn't seen in most contestants. "Can I?" He gestured as he took the bag out of Vivienne's hands as he examined it. The leak from the bag could be felt from the individuals present given that it wasn't masked similar to those placed in the stone basket.
"I'm quite impressed with your feats. To the point of slaying a tier five corrupted beast." Erevan gave his congratulations which baffled Julian making him wonder how she was able to achieve such a feat. "It's a shame that you're already disqualified from proceeding to the next segment of the Sphin trials."
His words felt like a dagger piercing through their hearts with Narandial gaining a slight pessimism of Erevan in her eyes. "But given how bizzare your set of skills are, I'd like to recommend you." He added on which didn't seem to faze them that much.
It was anticipated that such an outcome would occur. "Sadly I'll have to reject your recommendation, Erevan." The next set of words however took everyone by surprise. "But why? You've worked so hard to achieve this!" Julian posed to which she seemed to brush it off.
"The feat wasn't that much of a challenge but I need the space for my own personal training. And with it, I'll be gone for some time." Her words came out with the impact of a bomb quickly dispelling the jovial and peaceful attitude that was earlier.
"Oh, I hadn't expected such a thing but I understand your decision. If you do change your mind, just make your way to the capital then. I'm sure that they'll take you in." Erevan added on as he took his leave. "Why did you turn it down, sweetie?"
Narandial was the one who posed feeling that there was more to it than she explained. "There is someone in particular I want to meet who will help me with my set of skills." Julian squinted his eyes as he heard this.
"Don't tell me that you're going to meet him!" The parental pair was baffled with what the two were talking about. "There are uncertainties that I want to clear with him. Nothing more."
Vivienne shot back forcing Thalion to intervene. He could sense Julian's hostility the moment he spoke of "him" making him wonder. "Who is 'him' and what affiliations does he have with Vivienne?" Similar to Narandial, he was intrigued.
"Are you going to tell them or am I?" Julian seemed irritated however Vivienne didn't seem invested with telling the two. "Let's just go back home first."
...
"Who's Andrew?" Narandial posed as she heard the name. "The person who was behind Vivienne's abilities. Also mascarading as Sir Rhys or Sevyn's backer." The parental pair was shocked with how the two were privy of such information. "And how do the two of you know?"
Narandial added on. "Because those five months ago, he made contact with Vivienne and gave her the abilities she had. He's extremely dangerous and far potent that he looks and Vivienne wants to go and meet him regardless."
"Wait! The two of you know Rhys!" Thalion was baffled before realizing that Vivienne had contact with him. "Is this true?" She shrugged off her shoulders. "I was after the so called meeting."
Narandial was fearful as she feared for her daughter siding with Julian while Thalion was intrigued making him on Vivienne's side. "What makes you think that you can trust him?! Look at the situation that he put is in!"
"Please, it's much better than before when you were wasting your life away rotting in your bed. And here you have a second chance of making something worth it and yet here you are, obsessed with taking him down."
"How blind are you to think that he actually has feelings for you?! I knew that he couldn't be trusted the moment I met him and here you are, wanting to go back into his arms as if nothing ever happened! He has another lover for fucks sake!"
"What makes you think that I'm going to do that? I just want him to restore something that he took from me!" Vivienne's demeanor shifted from calm to cold as her golden eyes locked with Julian's.
"Restore or take your virginity that is! At times I can't believe that you're my sister." An irritated and defeated look washed up on Julian's face as he heard what he was hearing.
The tension in the air was building up making it all the more chaotic. "That's enough!" Thalion exclaimed trying to calm down the heated conversation. "Vivienne, go to your room!"