[Quest: Place First on the Mid-Term Evaluations]
[Reward: Talent increase point, Portion of Diana's Memories]
[Failure: N/A]
"Fine." Diana said exasperated, her expression full of resignation.
She chuckled, "Don't look at me like that, this will be good for both of us. There's more than one drop in that vault. Maybe your little silver Lizard would benefit from one." Her smile brightened up the booth; her title of sun of the empire was not wasted on her.
"What's so special about a Lizard?" Ignis chirped from where she was perched.
Silver? Maybe her eyes aren't as good as she claims, Diana inwardly mused as she took a slice of pizza and elegantly cut it into pieces.
"What's with that look of contempt?" The Princess scoffed, her blue eyes twinkling with amusement. The corners of her lips pulled upwards.
Diana shook her head and took a bite of the pizza.
"Seriously, what's so cool about a stinky Lizard?" Ignis interjected.
Delicious, the cheese was melted to perfection, the tomato sauce evenly spread, the pepperonis crisp, the combo just blended perfectly in her mouth.
"That good, huh?" She proceeded to cut up her slice. Her words made Diana blush.
"This will be fun," She looked at Diana in the eyes.
"No, seriously, I already have the Saintess as my cleric, and with you as our warrior, first place is guaranteed.
Diana nearly spat out the food in her mouth. She quickly swallowed the heavenly pizza.
"Warrior?" She said in disbelief and shot her a glare of incredulity. Ria rolled her eyes. "Did you really think you were going to just be a summoner?" She pointed at herself. "Then what would I be doing?"
The Saintess? What was the point of that whole spiel about being her only friend and the only one she could trust? Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"No, silly." She paused and stabbed a piece of the pizza with the fork. "Don't think I haven't seen you practice with that axe." She ate a small piece before setting down her utensils and neatly folding her hands on top of each other.
Her piercing blue eyes locked onto hers. "Besides, as an heir to this magnificent empire, do you really think I don't know the rumors surrounding a duchess? They say your eyes glow red every time you cut someone down. Is that true?"
"Do your eyes glow red, axe demon?" She tilted her head, a soft smile on her lips.
Axe demon? She scoffed, she knew what they called her, but for someone to say that to her face. Of course, it would be this gremlin.
Her face scrunched up. Diana did have to admit, she was talented. Every time she picked up the axe, she would instinctively know what she was doing, every move was fluid and not wasteful, and the ingrained habits built with the original Diana were instilled in her. But that was all. Diana had never really fought an actual person with her axe.
"Would you like to find out?"
"Feisty." She laughed and then picked up another piece and ate it. "Besides, Wormy and Little Birdy will take care of it anyway, so there really would be no need for you to front line with our would-be tank."
"I'm thinking a paladin." Diana reluctantly nodded, still coming to grips with the princess wanting her to be a warrior summoner hybrid.
If Diana was being honest, she didn't mind being a warrior hybrid, but her heart lied with summoning.
"Do I have a say in this?" Ignis spoke with trepidation.
"No." Diana and Ria said in sync.
She lowered her head in dejection.
Diana ignored her fiery phoenix.
"I'm only a sword expert." It was what someone who could wield Aura on their weapon was called.
Ria recoiled with Mirth, "Did you think I had you mistaken for a Sword Master? Even the teachers at the Imperial Palace are only Sword experts."
"She clicked her tongue and shook her head. A sword expert at your age and learning to be a summoner instead of studying at the Divine Blade academy, some would either think you mad or extremely talented."
"Before I would have said the former, but now I would say the latter."
Said the Sword expert and Grand Mage. Diana inwardly grumbled. "Thanks, I guess." She ignored the venom before the compliment and brought a piece of the pizza to her lips with a fork, before savoring every bite.
"Then let's shake on it." Her soft hands engulfed Diana's.
<><><>
The morning arrived, and the roosters crowed at the start of dawn. Small sprinkles of light from the sun arriving caused her to wake up, rubbing her eyes, and the sound of the roosters made her put a pillow on her head.
Why were there even roosters on territory owned by a gold dragon? She frowned before accepting her fate.
With a sigh, she got up, grabbing her head, eyes squinting. Diana hated waking up early; she had on Terra, and she did now.
Why does a Duchess have to wake up so early? She grumbled as she got ready.
After a nice, relaxing shower, she combed her silky silver hair.
Oh, how much she would have given to have such hair back then.
"Ah." She groaned, grabbing her clothes and putting them on. The ironed, navy blue uniform with gold accents fit perfectly like a glove.
She quickly went to her desk and pulled out her notebook, rereading the outline.
Knocking came from the front door.
She ignored it and kept reading.
The incessant knocking continued.
"One Second." She spoke loudly.
'Leon Lionhart.' Diana read over the name.
The knocking grew louder.
"I said, one second!" Her eyes narrowed as she angrily repeated herself, her aura moving from her core, and her killing intent spreading and waking up her phoenix.
Ignis flew above and circled the room.
"Enemy?" She looked around hastily before landing her eyes on Diana.
Her eyes widened in realization at what was happening.
"Grumpy morning person." She mumbled before going back to her bed and lying down.
Her murderous aura seemed only to spur the person at the door.
Causing them to knock louder.
"Damn it" She stormed towards the door and yanked it open.
Who else but the Princess?
Her radiant smile and bright blue eyes, and her uniform that fit her perfectly, made her look like a work of art come to life, but Diana couldn't help but be annoyed.
It was already enough to deal with the princess around campus, but to invade her personal sanctuary.
"Why are you here?"
"Morning!" Her cheery voice irked her.
Diana just glared.
It wasn't like she could outright kill the imperial princess.
Ria pushed past her and walked in.
Welcome, Diana thought, shaking her head incredulously.
"Nice place. Not as nice as mine, but definitely better than the other students." Ria nodded in approval.
"Why. Are. You. Here?" It was too early in the morning to deal with this crazy woman.
Ria bent over, attempting to pet the phoenix, who flew away with a hiss.
Ria turned over to Diana with a disappointed expression.
"Coming to get you silly. Did you really think the Imperial Heir would go to a Dungeon with the other students?"
"Besides, we have to meet up with the Saintess and pick our paladin.
"Do you not trust the academy's security?"
"It's not about security, it's about status. Sure, this academy is independent, but you do realize our Empire allows it to exist here? So, as the Heir, I have special privileges, like my own private spatial gate. And you, as a Grand Duchess, will come with me." She beamed her a dazzling smile.
"You couldn't have just told me yesterday?" Diana shot her an annoyed look.
"And where would the fun be in that?" Ria shot back, before looking around.
"Still no handsome lizard?" she sighed, clicking her tongue.
"Maybe he's scared of you?"
Ria burst into genuine laughter; it was the first time Diana had seen her laugh naturally.
"That silver Lizard? Scared of me? No." She shook her head as if she'd just heard the funniest thing ever.
"So, are you ready?"
"Just about."
After gathering her belongings, Ignis perched on her shoulder, and she walked alongside the princess, reaching her private carriage. The walk was quite short, and no words were exchanged between them.
Diana admired the princess's carriage.
The carriage was ornate, black, embroidered with gold, the colors of the Dragonhart Empire.
Two knights in medieval Armour stood at each side, a halberd in each hand. Their armor had a dragon carved on the chest, and they had a black cape with golden edges attached.
'Impractical,' Diana chided, but it's not like she had a reason to pick a fight with two Sword experts; she was sure they managed fine. Otherwise, they wouldn't have it attached.
"Your excellency, Your Grace." They bowed, their hands on their chest.
"I thought guards weren't allowed in the academy?" Diana turned towards Ria.
Ria rolled her eyes.
"You're right, but to access the Spatial gate, these guards are required to escort us."
"I see." Diana nodded while getting into the carriage.
"Comfy"
"Yes, we had the best craftsman work on the interior."
Diana looked around. The interior was a lot bigger than it looked like from the outside; she could only attribute this to spatial magic.
"The horses?"
"Dragonmares"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're like a country bumpkin"
Diana merely huffed and stayed quiet the rest of the ride.
The entrance to the gate was nothing special, it wasn't like they were going to scream 'Look here, secret gate'.
However, the security was intense, but with the princess, and her Identity as a Grand Duchess, she made it smoothly to the gate.
The room was circular and only housed a giant gate.
It was what you could expect from something called a spatial gate.
It was blue, bubbly, and radiated mana, in a circular shape.
"Is this your first time seeing a gate?" Ria asked, her eyes sparkling with her usual amusement.
Diana ignored her, focusing on the gate. She could feel her blood tingle, and she looked at the mana.
As a summoner, she could inherently feel it, this was a similar method used in summoning creatures.
"Oh, so you noticed." She smiled brightly, looking at Diana.
"Too bad you aren't a mage, or you could have truly grasped something." Her voice had no malice in it.
Diana frowned, and her mouth tasted bitter.
It was rich coming from one of the youngest grand mages, nearly an Archmage, the pinnacle of all mortal mages.
She was someone who was about to step into 7-stars, while Diana was only a 6-star aura user, a Sword expert.
It was weird to call someone who wielded an axe a sword expert, but it was something that came to be from the popularity of swords.
When someone became a sword master, they gained the title of a sword saint. Suffice it to say, sword masters were rare.
Meanwhile, she was only a 3-star summoner; it was mediocre, but her mana pool was large enough to sustain her phoenix indefinitely in this realm.
"Don't look at me like that, I meant it in good faith." Her cheery faux smile pissed her off.
"Haven't you learned some restraint with your tongue, Princess?" Diana looked at her with a pointed glance.
"My bad." She poked out her tongue.
Diana merely shook her head and tried to walk through. Ria held out her hand, stopping her
"What gives?"
Ria looked towards the door.
"We are waiting to meet the saint."
Ria started to twirl her hair with her finger.
Diana stared at her.
"Normally, the Academies would meet together at a location, but our Empire has good relationships with the Holy Empire of Light. So instead of going with the Academy of Priests, the Saintess will arrive with us."
Diana was starting to get annoyed.
"Is it so hard to tell me anything?"
"But then I wouldn't be able to see your reactions." She moved forward to pinch her cheeks, which Diana promptly dodged.
"Come on, let's turn that frown upside down." She began to attempt to pinch her cheeks once more.
The sound of horses trotting echoed throughout the small room.
Diana's head quickly turned towards the entrance.
Ria sighed and straightened her clothes.
"Looks like our guests have arrived." Her disappointment was cut short by the arrival of the Saintess and her party.
The sound of footsteps and Armour shuffling came from the narrow corridor.
The Saintess arrived, flanked by paladins, dressed from head to toe in heavy silver armor. Wings adorned the top of their closed helmets.
Even Diana, who was an adamant Atheist, couldn't help but want to worship the god of light just from looking at her.
The Saintess herself looked as if she was sculpted personally by the goddess herself.
Diana, who was not attracted to women, admired her otherworldly beauty.
Her white hair was silky and smooth, and trailed to her waist. She was wearing a white nun's habit. Her eyes were covered in bandages, and a halo so bright it seemed to suck out all the light around them was on her head, an indescribable proof of her holiness.
"Ria." Her lips curved into a frown, but it did nothing to diminish her beauty, and even her voice gave off holiness.
"Leah." Ria gave her a curt response.
Her head turned towards Diana's, her head tilting slightly.
"You"
"Me?" Diana pointed at herself.
"You have been in contact with a god.
<><><><><><>
Those two options were good; I rubbed my eyes.
Where was I? I looked around, the empty void surrounded me, and only the text was there to greet me.
With a sigh, I looked at the other choices.
[3. Holy Platinum Dragon]
[You have an inherent spark of good, a road to becoming the god of justice and good.]
[4. Heavenly Sky Platinum Dragon]
[You have consumed a portion of heavenly lightning and the essence of the sun, a road to becoming the god of heaven.]
I frowned looking at the choices.