Jessica woke at dawn. After a quick snack, she opened the door and was left speechless. Before her stretched a crystalline sea, tinted orange by the rays of the rising sun.
The wind brushed through her blonde hair, while the wyvern beneath her let out a deep, resonant sound, as if greeting the new day.
"We should arrive in three hours" she murmured with a hint of melancholy "Being here with just him wasn't so bad".
She steadied her breathing and focused the essence within her. Two small stars formed in the palms of her hands, pulsating with light.
Yesterday, she had used a long-range attack for the first time, having just been promoted to Stage 4 Rune Bearer.
But her control was still unstable; besides defeating those enemies, she had also damaged part of the passage.
She gathered her energy and created a giant star in front of her. It shone intensely as Jessica tried to move it.
In the end, just seeing it was enough to immobilize someone, and the explosion was already powerful enough to destroy things even midair.
She trained for two and a half hours, and when she came back, she saw Taylor already awake, eating a dessert.
Taylor paused, glanced at her briefly, and replied, "We'll arrive ten minutes early." Then he returned to eating.
Jessica, still breathing irregularly, looked around and addressed Taylor. "Where's the bathroom? I need to wash up."
No answer came, but a door that hadn't been there before opened automatically. Jessica stepped inside and saw an enormous bathtub, large enough to fit ten people at once.
Upon exiting, she raised her eyebrows and pointed at the tub. "Why is it so big?"
Strangely, a long reply came for it to be from Taylor: "In case we have more than four children. This way, we don't add more bathrooms, just extra rooms for games and training."
Jessica blushed, feeling her heart beat faster. She watched him start eating again despite the confession and remained silent.
She grabbed her clothes and entered the bathroom. As she bathed, Taylor's words kept replaying in her mind, leaving her sometimes dazed.
She tried to move quickly, time was running short, but still took twenty minutes.
In the meantime, the beast had already landed. When she finally emerged, there was no sign of Taylor.
Gathering her things, she left the small "house" and spotted the person she had been looking for, sitting calmly in an armchair near the landing spot.
Next to him, a girl immediately caught her attention; she looked like a female version of him,more elegant and refined, yet decidedly smaller.
As she approached, the girl next to Taylor looked at her with a smile full of sarcasm. "So, you're the girl my brother drags around with him?" she said, her voice sharp. "You seem rather fragile and naive."
Taylor spoke coldly, "She's not. And stop trying to act like a bully to everyone, Sofia."
Sofia shot him a glare, but Taylor stood up and, turning to Jessica, said, "I have things to do, so you'll have to go to the academy with Sofia."
Sofia stood, flashing a malicious smile at Jessica. But the girl receiving it responded with a gentle smile, completely unfazed by the cruelty.
Taylor approached Jessica and whispered, "She can be annoying, but she's not a bad person."
Sofia watched, her eyebrows slightly raised. Then a smile appeared on her lips, her eyes already full of amusement.
The trio headed toward the exit of the building. As soon as they stepped outside, Taylor separated from the other two.
Climbing into the carriage, he closed his eyes with a sigh, letting his body relax.
Soon after, he arrived at his destination and entered a luxurious restaurant. A servant was already waiting for him and escorted him to the owner's office.
The door, already half-open, was pushed fully open by the servant, and Taylor stepped inside.
He sat in one of the chairs; the other three, at the center of the office, were occupied by a Faeryn, a Valkari, and a Sombra.
The Faeryn, seeing the last arrival, cleared his throat and went straight to the point: "Now that we are all here, I hope we can form an alliance, although it will be difficult, given our different races…"
He paused briefly for suspense, then continued, "…but we are the weakest of the rac—"
He was abruptly interrupted by the Essence Crush emanating from Taylor. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes were icy, Taylor said, "I'll give you two minutes to explain why I shouldn't eliminate you right now."
The others tried to move, to free themselves even a little, but with no success. They could only move their eyes and mouths.
The Valkari clenched his jaw and stared at Taylor, his voice filled with defiance: "Release me immediately. I am a noble of the Valkari race. If you kill me, the other members of my race on this island will hunt you down."
He had barely finished speaking when the Essence Crush struck him, leaving behind only a chair reduced to pieces.
Taylor, in a cold voice, said, "Next."
The other two remained paralyzed, eyes wide, breaths shallow, lips trembling as dread ran through them like an invisible blade.
While waiting for the two minutes to pass, Taylor closed his eyes, and the image of Jessica appeared. A small smile formed on his beautiful face, and the two in front of him flinched, frightened.
When only thirty seconds remained, the Sombra spoke in an pleading voice "Please, let me go. If you release me, I can serve you as a slave. I don't want to die".
The Faeryn watched him, and seeing that, despite his words, the Sombra was still alive, seized the opportunity "Yes, I can serve you as a slave too".
Taylor looked at them with icy eyes. His voice was cold as ice "I want you to bring me information about your races, including their recent movements".
The Essence Crush was not canceled, but a flame appeared before the two, slowly transforming into a sheet of paper. They could now move their arms and hands, but made no careless move. The sheet was a contract, by signing it, they would transfer their lives into Taylor's hands.
They did not hesitate. They signed, and chains emerged from the paper, wrapping around them and sealing their fate along with the contract. The flame then returned to its original form and vanished. Taylor stood up, and before leaving said "The information must reach me by tomorrow morning".
When they saw him walk away, the Faeryn paled "I'm dead if they find out I'm giving private information to another race".
The Sombra sighed, resigned "I don't think that will happen. That human wanted to use us, and seeing how strong he is, I'm sure we've indirectly gained a powerful backer".
The Faeryn, finding it reasonable, nodded in silence.
As soon as he left the restaurant, Taylor got into the carriage and, with a hint of impatience, murmured "If those academy teachers hadn't summoned me urgently, I'd already be with Jessica".
The carriage moved, heading toward the wing reserved for the academy's teachers.