Chapter 828: Caught By Surprise
Howard had already known that for some reason, his sister spoke casually to Damien even though the other boy was much older and wasn’t too close to their family in the first place.
If that wasn’t the odd part, what further threw him off was the fact that Damien never seemed to be offended by her words or deeds.
While he was distant and reticent with most, he never backed down from a quarrel when it came to Yvonne.
This brought a strange sense of unease to the older brother who carefully alternated his gaze between the two.
___
Just as Howard was annoyed at what he was feeling right now, Demon shared the same emotions with him.
The horse was unsure of what the pup had noticed but it was without a doubt that he did not like the new etcher who had come by today.
.....
Not just Aster, Demon disliked Celestial as well, especially after the brief clash between the two.
However, he could tolerate the kitten’s rude words since it did not try to stick close to his Master, unlike the pup who had already crossed that line.
Meanwhile, after Fryght had heard what Demon had to say, he was more curious to learn what had caused this strange feeling to arise after meeting the pup’s gaze.
Though all he received was silence as the horse no longer spoke.
___
Back inside the mansion, Howard had succeeded in diverting the conversation in a different direction to ensure that his baby sister no longer got entangled with the older boy.
He inquired about their plans for the coming weeks of their vacation and heard different answers from each.
“I’m going to stay with Vonny for as long as I can!” Taylor exclaimed in a loud voice but soon sealed his lips shut when he saw Howard and Topher scowl at him.
“You need to train with me.” The elder son of the Tanner family reminded his foolish brother of the schedule they needed to follow even if they were currently on vacation.
Howard shot a grateful look at his idol before sneering at his best friend.
“You better focus on that rather than running over here every chance you get.” He added just to make sure that his point got through to him.
Yvonne chuckled at the sulking face Taylor had right now and shook her head in disapproval of the two boys who seemed to find pleasure in tormenting him.
“Brother Taylor, do your best during training then you might come to find me when you are free.” She suggested a compromise that attracted the other boy’s attention.
Topher shrugged as he wouldn’t mind as long as that lazy fool did his best to complete the training modules that had been set up for him each day.
This response fueled Taylor’s determination to finish his training first so that he might come and spend the rest of his day with Yvonne and the sight of his resolve infuriated Howard.
“Brother, Captain Desmo was asking about your progress as well.” Yvonne once again intervened before he could think of another way to keep Taylor away.
In an instant, Howard’s eyes sparkled at the thought of the skillful Captain inquiring about how he had been during the last six months.
“And what did you say?” He interrogated the little girl who blinked at him as though she thought he was asking something stupid.
The boys had been away at the Academy and the contact between them was minimal so how was she supposed to answer the Captain?
Each time Howard wrote letters back home, he was so focused on what was happening in their estate that he kept forgetting to explain his circumstances in detail.
Therefore, Yvonne had no way of knowing how much he had progressed so far.
“You can meet him when he comes by for our next class.” She revealed, gaining an enthusiastic nod from him.
It was the weekend so she did not have any classes with the Captain and they would only meet him again when it was Monday.
Therefore, Howard would have to be patient if he wished to greet one of his many idols.
“And how has Miss Yvonne’s training been?” Topher interjected, questioning the child with a curious smile that also expressed his amusement.
The match he had with her was still vivid in his mind and he was eager to know when they might be able to face off once again in the future.
Despite having a small frame, lesser experience, and a low amount of aura when compared to him, Yvonne St. Claire most definitely was a worthy opponent.
If she had managed to manifest her aura without training to do so then he was excited to see how much she had progressed after six months.
He had met Captain Desmo this morning but did not get the chance to discuss her progress as there had been other knights around them.
The fact that the Captain of the Red Scorpion Knights was the mentor of a young girl had been kept a secret until now so he did nothing that might expose it.
However, he would have to find a time and place where he could meet that man and learn more about this child’s progress.
Yvonne had already understood his intentions just by taking a look at his glinted eyes that reflected his curiosity and his desire to spar with her once again.
Therefore, she did not hide much from him and revealed before everyone in this room how she had been doing in her classes with the Captain.
Rather than using her words, she chose to manifest her aura which would work better to explain how far she had advanced.
As the boys watched, a thick black layer of sheen enveloped her entire body which they all were too familiar with.
The aura within her body had formed an almost invisible cloak around her which was capable of blocking attacks and might even be used to deal blows to the opponent.
She did not maintain the aura for too long as her father would be able to sense it and might even rush over, worried that something had gone wrong.
Therefore, she dispersed the aura which returned into her body.
This was a trick she had been learning during her lessons with the Captain.
In the beginning, he had been strict in testing her skills to make sure that she would be able to keep up with the hectic and severe training that was needed to hone herself.
Only when he was satisfied with the results did Captain Desmo commence her aura manifestation training.
She had already known that he was a hard taskmaster but she finally got the chance to understand why the recruits in the Red Scorpion Knights had given him the title, ‘Neo’s Spawn’.
He had been ruthless while training her which she appreciated but at the same time, cursed him inwardly for being so brutal.
She had thought of him as her ‘Replacement Grandpa’ who would train her just as Grandpa Leo had done in her previous world.
However, she was now sure that her Grandpa Leo still had some compassion for her as he asked her to stop whenever she was on the verge of exhaustion.
On the contrary, Captain Desmo was far worse as he was unremorseful while watching her drop to her knees which trembled due to how fatigued she had been at times.
He was even unyielding when they sparred with each other and if it hadn’t been for Demon’s timely assistance by transferring some of his aura to her, she was sure to have come out of those matches with a few bumps and scars.
However, his ruthless nature while training her had pushed her limits, allowing her to exceed her expectations and advance to such great lengths within such a short period.
As Yvonne smiled while recalling how hard she had worked to achieve this goal, the four boys had expressions that displayed their awe at what they had just witnessed.
Her actions had caught them by surprise and they took a moment to gather their thoughts.
Topher had firsthand experience dealing with the heavy aura she had just manifested but he was sure that it hadn’t been so powerful back then.
This only worked to prove that she had improved tremendously, further heightening his desire to spar with her once again.
Taylor had yet to learn how to manifest his aura as he had found his etcher just a month ago and Howard couldn’t even think of achieving the same goal as he still had a long way to go.
On the other hand, Damien had his eyes fixed on the child seated opposite him.
His best friend had narrated what had taken place in the past and from what he had just witnessed, he was sure that she had only gotten better with time.
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