Shortly after the man of steel departed on his Wyvern it was as if a cue went off with all of the sailors hurrying around.

  It had been an eventful few hours for the recipients of the Quinte with them now desperate to return to land.

  Ava and the group as a whole were among them.

  Retreating to an area with some privacy away from prying eyes they discussed the events that transpired.

  Arwen quickly explained the nature of the Sea Serpent as a familiar belonging to the Snake-kin.

  He went on to describe the nature of their relationship.

  Ava and Xandras’s eyes opened as if a lightbulb had gone off.

  Simultaneously their gazes met with a knowing look in each other's eyes.

  Arwen and Althaea seemed to pick up on this, sharing a questioning glance towards them.

  Xandras felt the need to say something but was concerned about revealing too much.

  On the other hand, Ava had already discussed with Cense what to disclose.

  Arwen and Althaea are not fools. Althaea would have a good grasp on the Snake-kin's strength, which meant no matter how they spun this, the possibility of Xandras ever defeating him with normal means was zero.

  Both were familiar with Xandras and with his stoic, forthright character it was not in his nature to hide a trump card capable of dealing with a ninth-tier warrior.

  Ava knew it was obvious they would link it back to her. She has a powerful bloodline and has demonstrated irregular talents in the past.

  It was clear Xandras would protect her, however, Ava did not know if it would be in her best interest to hide this information.

  Arwen and Althaea had proved time and time again they were looking out for her best interests.

  If they had wanted to sell her out, they could have accomplished this a long time ago, the power imbalance was always there.

  Xandras could do little to stop them if they desired her harm, so maybe it was time to be more honest with them.

  That was why she said, “I want to tell you something, it’s important.”

  Her Father quickly replied, “Are you sure?”

  Looking into his worried eyes she said, “I’m sure Dad, though I don’t know everything I will do my best to explain.”

  Arwen nodded a kind look in his eyes taking the time to hush Althaea who looked ready to burst.

  “Take your time child, share what you are comfortable with,” Arwen said calmly.

  Ava then gave a roundabout description of what had happened, with some help from Cense she described the feeling of a unique, unknown affinity that she found herself born with.

  She used the affinity to justify a few things, making many of the doubts about where her talent came from more clear.

  Ava, of course, dumbed it down to fit her age range, she did not specifically name the Astral Affinity as a new affinity, but said it in ways that someone as experienced as Arwen could quickly pick up on.

  Cense was confident that Astral would be viewed as a new affinity anyway since no other known life form had ever possessed it apart from Astral Beasts, who fortunately for this world are considered myths to scare children.

  Arwens eyes shined brighter and brighter the more Ava explained as if struck with a sudden epiphany.

  “That makes so much sense. A unique affinity that seems to promote the growth of talents, and bloodlines, it explains exactly why your aura seems to be constantly changing.” Arwen mumbled as he thought about the strangeness of her talents.

  Althaea was just standing to the side sceptically, she was a powerful mage in her own right but even she found herself a bit lost at the implications.

  “A new affinity? But how… the academy holds records that go back thousands of years, the Elves hold records even older, if…” Althaea was trying to process the significance.

  “I would have scoffed at the information at first too, but the evidence is in front of us! The so-called Royal Clan have been researching bloodlines for countless years, and yet found nothing that could constantly refine, and improve it like we found in young Ava there. If it were that easy then the Elves beyond the continent, who rule an Empire far stronger and span a territory far larger than you can imagine would not be able to suppress others with the strength of their bloodline alone.” Arwen passion came out when describing how much of a revelation this is.

  Xandras’s frown grew more and more concerned as the speech went on.

  He was merely a small Tribes Chief a while ago, he was not as well-travelled nor knowledgable in comparison to Arwen, therefore the extent of just how ground-breaking this new affinity may be evaded him.

  Yet even to Xandras, it was obvious the extent someone would go for something that can bring you power similar to what Arwen was describing.

  And he did not like it, not one bit, unknowingly his grip on his weapon tightened to the point he almost broke his skin.

  Arwen quickly noticed but did not seem to be offended, replying, “It’s good you told me this, so I can now take precautions, but similar to what Xandras may be concerned about, this information is something that does not leave this room. I have long ago taken precautions to make us unheard, and am glad I went to the extent that I did with the Orgrasan Hunters outside. There are very few I’m willing to even contemplate sharing this information too, but none for the foreseeable future and not without informing you first. However, Althaea, make sure your lips are sealed on this. If the wrong person finds out…”

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Althaea just nodded incredibly quickly, “Come on, who do you take me for? You can trust me on this.”

  Ava sighed not feeling the most confident in her but trusting Arwen was smart enough to keep her line.

  Moving on from that though she felt far better finally getting it out. Arwen was very knowledgeable and she hoped he’d be able to help her. After all even to Cense the Astral Affinity was brand new territory, it was filled with mystery with the Astral Beats not exactly being forthcoming with their abilities.

  Arwen continued his line of thought as he said, “And though I do find it fascinating, lay off trying anything different or doing much at all with that affinity of yours. The Orgrasan Hunters are overlooking us, and though that man seems honourable he is loyal to the Emperor without a fault.”

  Ava nodded in understanding as Arwen continued, “We will lay low and focus on recovery for the remaining distance to Kaldor, then the Orgrasan Hunters will leave us be and we can act a bit more unrestrained. Usually, I would have had my vitality damaged even further from pulling that stunt with the Serpent, who thanks to you was left vulnerable but well that man out there gave me a potion refined from the energies of a fruit from a Tree of Life. He for sure went well beyond what the Emperor expected of him, but as I said we are almost to Kaldor now, we will stay together and focus on being in top condition. I was going to await an escort for the last trek to Rarmorse Academy, but learning from experience I think it best we hurry and travel swiftly in a small group. Once there I’m confident we’ll be safe as long as we remain at the campus.”

  Arwen finished his remaining remarks telling Ava to focus on consolidating her foundation with the sudden increase in strength.

  Ava quickly agreed with this, the influx of power was great but left her with needing to learn all the required spells and progress her Elemental Qi. After all, meeting one standard to be a Tier 3 Mage did not make her one, something she quickly learnt after having to heal her Father.

  Since they were fairly near Kaldor by now, Ava decided to concentrate on purifying her Elemental Qi and having more sword training with her Father, since the strength of her physique had just experienced a massive jump requiring her to acclimatise.

  She wanted to jump into learning Tier 3 spells but had only recently learnt Tier 2 spells, she also decided she did not have the time to practice them being only a few days out from Kaldor.

  Therefore, with Arwen’s instruction of being low-key, the whole group had a very peaceful time for the next few days as the damaged Quinte limped the remaining distance towards Kaldor.

  Ava found herself eager to explore the gains from the Serpent-kin, she had a feeling she gained far more than the straightforward benefits like her physique and improvement in Tier for her soul.

  Yet with the Orgrasan Hunters a constant presence she did not want to risk anything. After all, it was only a few days.

  Looking over the horizon as they stood on the top deck, the shouts of sailors were heard yelling, “Land Ho! Kaldor is a few hours in sight, we have arrived!”

  A relieved smile filled their faces as they enjoyed the sunlight, they had finally made it, and after that disaster, it was a relief at the thought of being near to land.

  Especially for Arwen who found his inner beast roaring at the need to feel the grass under his feet again.

  The next few hours went excruciatingly slowly as Ava found herself anticipating their arrival.

  She had already gotten a good sight of Kaldor, and the Town was impressive though noticeably smaller compared to Adruil.

  It held a large harbour though that had already sent boats to enquire about the situation of the Quinte.

  The nobles took no time to start complaining about the awful situation though mostly avoiding blaming the Duke entirely despite it being his ship.

  Some nobles did not mince their words like that blonde-haired man who did not seem to care about the Duke's rank, in fact, he outright called some nobles cowards for their behaviour during the attack.

  Ava couldn’t help but find herself liking the man, especially since it seemed to come from a place of his dislike for the nobles who jumped at a chance to throw her to the bandits to save their own skin.

  That was when she noticed the blonde-haired man had a child around her own age with him, noticing him looking at her with curiosity she gave him a friendly wave causing him to look down in embarrassment.

  Finding herself chuckling at the boys' antics she found it funny since he looked like a mini-me version of the blonde man who seemed completely stone-faced in comparison.

  That was when the blonde-haired man noticed their group and started walking over with the boy.

  Approaching Arwen first he said, “Names Max Valenport, this my son Thomas. Just would like to thank you, Sir Druid, and you Miss Mage, I know everyone is now saying the Empire saved us to suck up to them with them being our new rulers and all, but without you two we’d have long been in that serpents gullet. So again, thanks for everything, I haven’t been able to find you these past few days to get an opportunity to do this, so apologies for disturbing you when we’re about to arrive too Kaldor, I’m sure you don’t want to hear any more rabble from me…”

  Max Valenport when preceded to elegantly bow, before instructing his son to do the same. Then he left quickly after insisting he didn’t want to bother them further.

  “What a decent human, never thought a noble of them lot could hold such values.” Xandras couldn’t help but chuckle as he stared at the other nobles who were currently bootlicking the Empire, talking comically loud as if they were afraid no one would hear them.

  “They're good, bad, decent folks among every race. I’ve experienced my fair share of Elves who are outright scum too, we just usually have a small enough community that resources are plenty.” With that, Arwen waved his hand at Xandras and decided to stay silent, maybe he would have argued in the past but that was another time when he was far more ignorant than he is now.

  After all his experience of meeting members of the Royal Clan demonstrated that elves could be as bad if not worse than humans.

  The officials from Kaldor soon reached them and after a quick recount from Arwen at the events that transpired they left them in peace not wanting to interfere too much with a Druid.

  They soon arrived at Kaldor and disembarked without much fanfare, the man of steel already said his goodbyes after he said that he was satisfied to leave them from here.

  With the Nobles and merchants too busy asslicking, it was long ago spread that the Empire saved them all from the attack from the bandits.

  Kaldor had already sent ships to the site of the wreckage that was described. Luckily, Arwen secretly nabbed the large Serpent’s body long ago with the help of the man of steel who took credit so the nobles wouldn’t dare to complain.

  With that sorted they found themselves walking along the street of Kaldor, though it seemed far more chaotic and less organised than Aldruil, she found herself enjoying the lively atmosphere of the Town.

  There seemed to be more Taverns, Bars and Inns than she can count, already showing that the rate of travellers, and adventurers was high.

  The streets of Kaldor were also far more diverse than Aldruil, with the rates of Elves, Beast-kin, Dwarves and other races being extremely common. Though they were still soundly outnumbered by humans, you would still spot a member of these races wherever you looked showing their numbers were not small.

  Ava found herself enjoying the sight, with her feeling far less of a spectacle here than Adruil where the sight of Elves seemed far rarer.

  Arwen took that moment to say, “We head out first thing, but not before hunting around to stock back up on some quick supplies. We’re not too far from Rarmorse Academy from here on out and you’ll have plenty of time to explore Kaldor, after all the Town is commonly used for field trips when you join the Academy.”

  Ava found herself grinning at his comment, excited at the prospect of finally arriving at the target of their journey that had been on her mind for so long.

  After all the up-and-down experiences, she long had the adventurer burnt out of her and would enjoy settling for a period and hoped the academy would be able to provide that.