Ersia: Raven Dawn

"You are really strong, Lily! Honestly, I never thought you could win against an adult!"

Viena looks at Lisabelle with sparkling eyes. She is still thinking about the duel between Lisabelle and Mr. Sunday that just took place. The sharp look in their eyes, dashing moves, and the rain of strikes that cancel each other - all of them are going to live rent-free in her head for who knows how long. The surging pure ecstasy of witnessing physical feats is now running through her system, and she likes it.

"Win? I didn't win," Lisabelle is looking outside.

"Hm?"

"He let me win. Damn it, the nerve of that man. I will punch him in the face once I'm strong enough."

Confused with Lisabelle's attitude, Viena just stayed silent gathering her thoughts. Her clenching fist shows her frustration, even though it was supposed to be a joyous talk.

"Is that what he said to you when you two were talking alone after the duel?"

"Well, technically, he didn't say any of that. But it was obvious if you were really watching."

"I don't understand."

Lisabelle turns her attention to Viena. The little girl is looking slightly fed-up with arching eyebrows.

"Right. You trained with bow and arrows, but I've never taught you melee combat at all."

"So, in a melee combat, there are stances. Stance is a position of your body that makes it easy to react to the movement of your opponent. There are several stances depending on your needs and your fighting style. Moreover, these stances sometimes could add significant power to your attack or defense."

"Was standing upright also a stance?"

"Exactly, you got my point. Standing upright is not a stance, and that is what Mr. Sunday did most of the time during the match, especially when we were exchanging blows."

"And you feel sour about that," Viena touches her chin, deducing Lisabelle's words.

"In a sense, yes. I feel mocked. However, I'm glad that he did that.

Then, Lisabelle looked away again, staring at the moving trees that were bathed in the golden orange light from the afternoon sun.

"His sword swings are so heavy, Vivi. It might not look that way to the onlookers, but if we were to fight for real, with real weapons and the intention to survive - If he comes at me with full force, I might have been cut into pieces in a single strike, even if I managed to block it."

Lisabelle makes a gesture of a cutting line that extends from her right to her left, crossing all the joints, ribcage, backbone, and everything in between. Viena frowned and gulped. That parable makes Lisabelle look like a block of butter getting cut with a warm knife.

"Can Papa win against someone like that?"

Intrigued, Lisabelle put her hand over Viena's shoulder and lay her cheek on her dark hair.

"Well, he is so damn big, and that's a great advantage, I'll give him that," Lisabelle imaginarily scales up Randia with her other hand.

"But does he knows anything other than his magical grasses, holy fairy powders, and mortar, and keeping his damn poker face all the time?"

"Hey! Papa can fight! He beats two scrolled knights from Aramia once!"

"What?"

Viena immediately realized she might have spilled something she wasn't supposed to. Yet, it was too late, Lisabelle was already pulling herself from her and looking at her with an expression of desire for an answer to a question.

"A-At least that's what he told me before I sleep."

"Hm."

Was it a truth slipping out of her small mouth? Was it just a bedtime story from Randia to Viena, and was she just overthinking things? Lisabelle couldn't make up her mind, but she got an idea.

"Maybe, I'll have him spar with me sometime."

Viena who was restless, kept rubbing the antique sundial compass on her hands, and Lisabelle noticed it.

"A sundial compass huh? Do you know how to use it?"

"Eh? Isn't this just some house ornaments?"

Lisabelle burst out to a laughter when Viena said that. The carriage already arrived at the main road and just passed a guard post. Hence, Lisabelle asked Alan to stop for a while. The two girls get off and proceed to use the sundial.

"It's a little bit hard to understand without learning the relevant theories properly, but do you get the big idea?"

"It's a tool to find out where we are and what time is it by using the sun position and the spinning needle."

"Yeah, that's it! Let's get back for now, I'll teach you more about it tomorrow. You can surprise your dad with it!"

"Okay!"

Time went by, and they arrived at the at around 7.30 PM in the night. Gwen stretched their back and went home after returning the rented carriage to the company, while Alan still needed to bring the girls home. After fifteen minutes of walking in the bustling city at night, they are finally at home. 

"Very well then, I'll take my leave now."

"Thank you for today, Alan."

"See you tomorrow, Alan!"

Inside the house, Randia is in the middle of preparing the food with Eleanor. Lisabelle kissed her grandmother after she put all the gifts from Liam and Vincent in the sitting room, and Viena followed to do the same also.

"My, my! My little girls are looking extra bright today! I take it that the trip was fun?"

"It was suuuper fun, Granny!" Viena responded excitedly.

Now, the four of them are having dinner together. At the table, Viena just couldn't stop talking, while Lisabelle chimes in every now and then. She also doesn't forget to give the promised meat pie she made to Eleanor and Randia. At this moment, Lisabelle noticed that Randia was slightly smiling. Yet, his smile vanished so quickly when he noticed that Lisabelle was staring at him.

"And then! And then! Before Lily was fighting with the mustache man, she ate too much and ended up throwing up before everyone!"

"My dear goddess! Lisabelle!"

Listening to the embarrassing story, Eleanor gets angry at Lisabelle. She was of a noble-born, and such attitude is clearly unacceptable even if she wasn't of a noble-born. The breach of attitude is beyond surprise

"N-No! It wasn't like that at all! You misunderstood! VIVI!"

"Eh? That's not what happened?"

"OF COURSE NOT!"

"Lisabelle! Sit down!"

After Lisabelle calmed down, she refused to continue eating, even when Viena kept bringing food to her face as a consolation.

"Lisabelle Arbona, I advise you to explain carefully, young lady."

"It wasn't even about food, grandma! It was . . .!"

"It was?"

"I-I . . . I fought someone so strong. His presence alone turns my stomach."

Listening to Lisabelle's explanation makes changes in Randia's expression. He knows that being able to notice the difference in power is a skill that can only be gained through hard training. Yet, that is not his main concern. His concern is if Lisabelle - who he recognizes as someone who has great potential in martial arts, is so overwhelmed by the air of this person alone, then how strong was this very man in question? Was Viena okay?

"Who was your opponent?" Randia, for the first time, opened his mouth during this dinner.

"He goes by the name; Mr. Sunday."

Even for Randia, he doesn't recall anyone by that name. He had met a lot of skilled warriors, assassins, and sorcerers that are well well-trained in the art of taking others' lives. Despite that, he still hadn't heard of such a name no matter how hard he tried to remember.

"How did he look like?"

"Eh? Uh . . . He is around 185 cm tall I think? Pretty sturdy built. Very strong, but also very agile."

"What about his face?"

It's very rare to see Randia so engaged in something. Even Eleanor couldn't do anything but listen to him and see how this topic plays out, forgetting about her plan to nag at her granddaughter. That strange feeling is also felt by Lisabelle.

"He wears a half-mask, so I couldn't fully tell."

"It was a cute cat mask!" Viena added.

"But he is a blonde with a mustache and a goatee. Also, his manner of speaking is kind of . . . strange? It's like, he likes to try and put long words as if he is trying to fit in the higher caste - but there's also a mock in his tone sometimes. I think he is from a common background."

After her explanation, Randia didn't ask any further. They then switched topics and talked about other things that happened that day. Only when the dinner was about to finish, Lisabelle bring up the topic of Mr. Sunday once more.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you. I got blown pretty badly by Mr. Sunday. I had been treated to first-aid by Uncle Vincent's medevist - but some part of my body feels like hurting still. Can you check on me later, Uncle Randia?"

"Sure."

---

After that, Viena helped Eleanor clean up after dinner while Randia was checking up on Lisabelle on the sofa in the living room. He asked Lisabelle to remove her outer clothing, leaving her only in her underwear. Then, he did a thorough check-up from head to toe. He is scanning through any external injuries as well as musculoskeletal obstructions that could interfere with her mobility. He moved and twisted her limbs in certain angles and pressed certain spots to see if there were more than meets the eye.

"O-Ouch! It hurts a little right there."

"At first glance, it seems that there are only two problems. Chest contusion and humeral hairline fracture. I take it that you took a blow to your right side, am I wrong?"

"No, you are right."

"For the fracture, just consume dairy foods, meat, and green veggies like spinach. Also, try to always get up early in the morning and bask in the sunlight. It will heal on its own. As for the chest contusion, I'll make you a salve and trituration to ease the pain and help with the regeneration. Make sure you sleep lying on your back, not on your sides."

Lisabelle who never watches Randia working, is actually growing more respect towards the man. She found him noticing all of that in such a little time in a living room very impressive.

"Yet, there is one more thing to be dealt with. Your Anima is not stable."

". . . I used my magic. And I'm not good at it yet."

"Was your opponent really strong?"

"Yes. I'll never forget those red eyes."

Her words strike a thunder to Randia. He is so surprised that Lisabelle almost notices a slight glitch in his movement. His heart skipped a beat, but he needed to take hold of himself so the young girl wouldn't be able to read his thoughts. He immediately pretends to rummage through his big backpack, as if trying to find something. In truth, he was buying time to calm himself.

"A Mistari?"

"Yeah. That's the first time I saw one in person. That kind of explains his mask."

After a while, silence fills the air between the two. Lisabelle closes her eyes, trying to relax, while Randia has everything but feeling relaxed.

.

.

.

"What do you think about the Mistari, Lisabelle Arbona?"