Chapter 22 - Dark Clouds at the Horizon (1/2)

Chapter 22: Dark Clouds at the Horizon

Standing in the kitchen of the cottage, Nisha was preparing theto grill it over a fire for dinner, the side dishes had already been cooked and put aside to be heated in time for the meal

It had been al outside of the [Dragon’s Den], and she had learned ined possible to know

The day’s lessons included a rigorous lecture about court etiquette and the ways to deal with people of different status by Eldrin Only Lydia dared to coged on how she would have preferred to learn the swordplay of knights, a group of individuals she strongly admired

Sadly the elf had never attended sword classes and thus didn’t have the knowledge to lead her down this choice of career

Nisha admired the complex political mechanisms at work inside the royal court, especially the episodes that had happened between different noble houses like the houses Silverwood, Sheridan, Whitehall and Blackburn, four of the oldest dukedo’s favour or a trade advantage with faraway nations

The notion of hu to cheat their kind for irl, who valued faed the elf to tell her overned in the court, clearly fascinated by the shrewd plans and clever designs made to embarrass opponents, a topic the elf had to deal with for a long tie

Annabelle shared her interest in this type of stories, always ready to scheme a plan toso for her

I have to pay her back one of these days for the week of doubled chores … you just wait, e will be terrible!

Nisha had not been findingwith the two older wouild ring, seeing as she was on par with Lydia who held the second rank in aura cultivation even before reaching the first rank herself, and after her level up, Nisha was si them, even in a two versus one situation Those achievements were not thanks to her weapon skill, she was actually throwing around her wooden sticks rather haphazardly, but because of the battle intuition that ten years of living and hunting inside the forest had instilled into her, she had no trouble winning against the sisters

With the passage of tiht]mysteries about the impressive talent

At the difference of what she initially feltmana or aura, now even the tiniest amount was included in her field of vision, which covered as well the place even behind her, giving her a complete spatial awareness

The ability itself see the first th in either aura or uild ring, Nisha could roughly estith of an enemy or ally in her vicinity as a nu on so to float above the aura and mana based on Nisha’s perception of the emitted pressure, it was not always a precise et an impression of the other side, to think over her actions, and it helped her a few times when she was about to run into powerful monsters

Salvaging the hide and sinews fro up with her favourite kitchen knife, one of the rare-classed treasures of the store rooms filled with the miscellaneous items of the previous owner

The dragon ad, a blackto be processed into various goods and meat

I prefer the naht]

Inspired by the elven translation of the material’s naifted her on the celebration day of her advancement to the first rank in both aura and mana

The three older inhabitants of the cottage had scoured every corner of the many store rooms to find a present worthy of the occasion, and Anna had finally found the knife lodged between the floorboards of an otherwise empty preparation rooet such a precious item

The redients

The wish Eldrin had proirl if she endured Hayze’s visit came to reality after she had advanced to the first ht

She had expressed her interest into learning sewing to the old elf The garments she wore for her walks in the woods, a solid leather attire made with small embroideries, stemmed from Eldrin’s needle too

Thanks to her education, catching up with the lie on the topics that she was instructed, the usually busy schedule of the outstanding student had therefore freed up, and she could afford indulging in crafts

While working in the kitchen, Nisha ended up res her fa a calether

Educated in the arts ofnobles and commoners alike with due respect andand cooking, capable in household chores as well as various other irl had came closer to the standards of a royal princess education-wise She loved learning with her two sisters and grandfather, and took inher to catch up with normal children tutored since birth

This didn’t mean she had no flaws

Iainst humans and their notorious deeds, tomboyish at times, she tended to play pranks on her fas that they were looking for, an habit she had taken after nuainst Lydia and Annabelle

Daed by the standards of Leandar nobility because of her ruined looks with her scales, wings, and tail, the kingdoons and pested disabled like any other country in the world

Unconcerned about what people thought of her, since only the opinion of her close family and friends mattered to her, Nisha was also rude from time to time, when adventurers or travellers showed up to take a short break from the Wilderness on their journeys

When they encountered the silent hunter inside the woods, she usually loosed an arrow in front of the between her fingers, driving it exactly between the feet of the intruder in question

Guiding the the her at all, she had yet to encounter any hues were even rarer in all of the sparse huest she had encountered so far, at the peak of the third aura rank ht have been able to defeat her, but the forest was her terrain, she had hunted and lived inside it, to the point that she had been feared by ht as stealing preys out of nowhere, unseen and unheard unless she wanted to, in which case another enclave of animals would become a blood-stained empty den, littered with slashes and destruction

A human from a city would never be able to escape her [Taurith Short Swords] when she was clad in her dark shroud, a skill that she refused to na that there was more to it

Finished with the dis, she spun the faotten used to in her pal it in her space The process was fairly si she only had to touch it and wish it to be hers

Having the [Soul space] at her disposal turned out to be very handy, it could store a seea trips without having to worry about her load, be it meat or supplies

I heard that people with a personal space were treated really well everywhere, but I don’t knohat’s so special about mine I always had it with me this way

Still lost in thoughts so up to her, although it had appeared in the sht troubles apprehending the whole of the complete circle around her

“Are you still sulking about Hayze not visiting again? I thought you did not like him much?”

Annabelle had walked up right besides Nisha and hit her gently on the head to wake her up fro sure that everything inside the kitchen was handled properly, and she cuddled her lovely friend close to her chest right afterwards, the aura training having done wonders on her figure, burning the unnecessary fat and shaping her body to be more womanly instead of bulky

“I’, and Mister Hayze can stay away for all I care! It is just suspicious that he always leaves a note when he deposits the cargo in front of the cottage, he should stay an hour at least and not just carry goods and letters”

Indeed the mysterious cart driver had never shown hi before anyone could see hio in neat stacks in front of the cottage, the letters Luthais was sending to his father to inforau stabbed into one of the wooden crates with a sier

Missing Mister Hayze twice in a row did indeed vex Nisha, he was not allowed to get away from her perception ability Even when she had ca stories until late in the night to the elf as acco to bed and to the two sisters ere sile up to the little sister they adored, they had slept together with the dragon girl once their eyelids couldn’t stay open any longer and in thethey found the stacks of crates and containers next to their camp at the same place as the last time

I don’t kno, but he cheated

“Stop talking about that annoying e rooht I picked out the best parts and put theht of tonight’s meal!”

A et to gru the basket in the direction of the cooled chamber next to the kitchen, where Nisha liked to store the meat she had cooked fro them to the kitchen

The roo unspoiled chilled ingredients orth the task

“I ao you were hanging at , and you puffed up your cute little cheeks when I wouldn’t cook your favourite dish And look at us now, I’race us with a taste of your cooking”

The reirl had joined the activities, and Nisha was also well aware of her presence, now that her attention was once again focused on her circular perception

Lydia appeared to be carrying a small basket, remains of the breakfast portion she had made for Eldrin who had taken her out earlier in the day, teaching her about different plants and herbs that naturally grew in the forest

As a hunter born inside the woods, Nisha was alard, the Fairy Queen in particular had loved to tell her all about the herbs she was gifting to the [Dragon’s Den] whenever she visited, proud to talk about her personal gardens where she cultivated all kinds of herbs, from the most useless to the rarest, but Lydia enjoyed the walks to learnevery adventurer needed while staying in the Wilderness

With a happy sirl tried to tease the newly arrived

“So I’? That’s great, I was looking for so sister so she would teach me all about fashi+on in the capital, turns out I can just order her!”

Instead of freeing herself froirl motioned Lydia to come over and join them

Ever since we decided to approach our emotions and conflicts openly, we have been so close I wish I’d have talked to the Hopefully it stays peaceful like this forever

Getting spoiled by her indulgent fa their wishes and get a well rounded education, even though she did not understand how fashi+on for exa soood manners and behaviour

Nonetheless she excelled at al the other three wanted to impart to her, and she relished any chance to interact with the more about humans and elves

The water fights inside one of the large bathrooreatly, an apparently cos assure Nisha when they took her for a bath

The tomen did not mention that they had just made up that tradition to fool around with their adorable little co truth, Nisha likely wouldn’t er splash of water to the two little pranksters and win the skirmish

One thing Nisha absolutely hated was to fail at so lessons with the elf, she had pricked her fingers more than she could count Unable to accept her lack of talent at so she had chosen for herself, she had continuously practiced her needle stitches, often going out to huntand throwing a s out as planned She ertips with the dark healing ability she had demonstrated on the twoat the hunting grounds

In reality, the blind girl’s inability to see anything else than outlines prevented the ns, yet Nisha refused to acknowledge this excuse

The newfound sight indeed te the other senses she had fought to sharpen

Eventually she had i to probe theexperience she gained confidence in her intuition, ending up producing excellent leather clothing