Aether Beasts

"Relax, Sandra," Zirani said as they walked towards the Umbrin clan area.

Sandra took a deep breath, trying to get rid of her nerves. She didn't know why she was so nervous, but the idea of seeing Kai again, and the rest of the people being like him, wasnt something she wanted. She knew of course that they only represented a small fraction and in a way, it made sense that they would try and use her to further their own goals, but none of that meant she had to like it.

She sort of regretted having met Kai in the first place, and not just simply waiting until she met her sister or another member of her family. If her sister was how she remembered her, and hadn't changed too much, then Sandra knew she would be safe with her,

'Zirani is with me, nothing bad is going to happen,' she told herself. 'I'm going to be fine. I've faced worse than this."

She had as well, and it's not like there was an upcoming fight, though she kinda wished it was that simple, and not the maneuvering that was about to happen. Just like Aeverie had said, Kai was going to try and get Sandra to his side, maybe careful, and not pushing it, but he was still going to try, and then there were the others. Kai was their leader so who knew what he had told them to do and how to act. How the hell was she going to be able to trust any one of them?

The guards spotted them quickly and one ran to alert Kai no doubt while the other slowly approached. He bowed. "Princess, Sandra. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"We're here to have a look around," Zirani said. "Or well, she is. I'm just an escort."

Sandra nodded. "I want to meet some of the clan members."

"Well, we can definitely arrange that."

Sandra kept her face civil as she and Zirani turned to face Kai who was approaching with a smile on his face. He must have bolted here very quickly indeed, though he didn't look winded, which wasn't a surprise since he was at the fourth level.

"I'm glad to see you have decided to come," Kai said.

"We're only here to have a look around," Zirani said. "Sandra wants to get to know some people of her clan."

"As she should," Kai said, that smile still on his face. "She is a member of the clan, after all."

"Mhmm." Zirani nodded. "Well since you are so conveniently here, why don't you show us around?"

Kai bowed. "It would be my pleasure."

'On so it begins.'

Kai led them into the area, and Sandra noted how much more dull and boring it looked cramped to the green court area, which was essentially a mini-ecosystem, and beautiful garden. The buildings were curved slightly and looked to be made of a dark stone that seemed to absorb the light around it and lengthen nearby shadows. They were also enchanted with a multitude of different effects, some common, others not, some passive, and others needing to be activated.

"I think we should begin with our training area," Kai said. "Some of the clan members are training, and we can introduce you, though most have already heard."

"I bet," Zirani replied. 𝒇𝐫ℯ𝑒𝒘ℯ𝑏n𝑜ѵ𝐞l.c𝗼𝗺

Kai's smile twitched, but then he turned, and they followed him to an open area that was split into sections. The farthest portion was made up of two sparring rings while the closet part seemed to be some sort of obstacle course, though unlike anything she had ever seen before. It took her a moment, but she realized that it was meant for those with a dark affinity and that anyone without dark sight would have quite a problem. It was heavily enchanted, and Sandra found herself intrigued as to how quickly she might be able to get through it.

"You can have a try if you wish," Kai said, noticing her gaze.

"Maybe later," she replied with a nod.

"Then lets me introduce you to some clan members." Kai motioned to a group of arcanists who had been in the middle of training. She looked over them and one, in particular, caught her eye. A clan member with Umbrin black hair and green eyes. He wore a dark robe like everyone else she saw and had been in the middle of a spar before he had turned to look at them. His gaze turned to her, and as she stared back, she noticed some similarities between him and Kai.

'Brothers?'

What Kai said next confirmed her thought.

"Pate, little brother, come over here," Kai called out. "All of you, come, I've someone for you to meet."

Sandra held back a squirm as they all approached and turned their eyes to her. She immediately knew that they already knew who she was, and she saw the same general emotion on all their faces. Interest, awe, and curiosity, though one of them, a blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl had anger in her gaze. She was the odd one out as she had neither the dark hair nor green eyes that most of the clan had. Her hair was golden and her eyes were the color of the sea. Sandra didn't know what she had done to this woman, but she didn't get to think about it, as they began to introduce themselves to her.

She smiled, shook hands, and even hugged a very excited girl, who was the youngest of them.

Pate was the last and waited patiently as she spoke with some of the other clan members. He moved to take her hand, and she was confused as to what he was trying to do but then a memory of Lily from the steel heart popped into her mind. She quickly pulled her hand back and then grasped his in her hand before shaking it. She was not about to let a stranger kiss her hand, especially not the brother of Kai, even if it was considered a proper greeting.

"Pate, it's nice to meet you." Sandra filled her voice with as much genius kindness as she could muster which wasnt much, and she sort of felt bad since she was judging him based on the actions of his brother.

'I need to see before I judge.'

"And it's a pleasure to meet you," Pate said with a smile, and Sandra noted his handsome features, and how he had a similar build to Aiden in a way, but something felt off about him, though she didn't know what.

"Pate is a promising member of the clan," Kai said, pride filling his voice. "The main family have actually taken notice."

"Really?" Sandra asked, and gave him a once over with her arcane senses. He was the third level and his second core, but one thing she immediately noticed was that both his cores were at iron, which was a shock, and meant that he could pull some serious power out. His combination was one she hadn't seen before, metal and dark. Compared to his older brother who had focused on his infusion level, he seemed to be more focused on density as she knew was better from what Zirani had taught her.

Raising your level should never take priority over raising density was what Zirani had said. Gaining another core was good and all, but density was where the arcane power lay. Infusion enhanced the physical side while density improved the arcane, and it was best not to overwhelm yourself and to get a third affinity when you hadn't reached a good enough ability level with your first two, though in some cases it was different, like for certain jobs and professions.

"You were in the middle of a spar," Sandra said, suddenly really curious to see how he fought. "Would you mind showing me what you can do?"

Pate smiled, and it was genuine, or at least she could detect no fakeness. "I would be honored to."

Sandra said Kai smiled from the corner of her vision as Kai turned to two other clan members. Sander was surprised but she wasn't going to say anything if he wanted to fight two at the same time, and well with his power, he should be able to, if he was skilled that was.

? ?? ??-?? ???. ??? 'The main family have taken an interest, huh?'

Pate and his two opponents walked over to one of the sparring rings, and the rest of them follow, taking up positions around it. Sandra stood next to Zirani who was in-between her and Kai, even though he had tried to move to be at her side. Sandra was once again extremely grateful that Zirani was by her side, and constantly watching out for her. She had lost a sister all those years ago, but she had found two others in the plains and would be meeting the one she lost eventually.

"On my mark," Kai said, raising a hand. "Three, two, one, fight!"