Seed of Titan-Chapter 188: Final Chill Before the Drill

In the Velles estate, Drai was gazing at the cloudy night sky from his usual porch. His mind was drifting, recalling the events of the past few days after his visit to Natalia’s house.

’Auri must’ve spread the news of my enlistment since everyone here seems to know about it already, even the maids. It’s strange that all the elders that I talked with seemed pretty reluctant to let me leave, especially Auri’s grandparents. I wonder if they have some beef with the military or the government... I didn’t get to meet with that one gramps though—what’s his name again? Luther? Maybe he’s too busy to meet me just like Max, but somehow I feel that he doesn’t like me that much compared to the others. Is he immune to Universal Grandson or something?’

Drai grabbed the cup of warm tea from the table beside him. As he took a sip, he silently prayed that the food in the army wouldn’t be too bad, for he doubted that he could easily shift his palate and happily stomach barely edible meals again after being spoiled for days by the chefs here.

Putting his cup down, Drai mused, ’Thankfully, Auri and the stablehands had agreed to take care of Horsie while I’m gone. Honestly, Horsie seems a bit too chill when I told him the news—I expected him to throw a fit or beggingly nudge me, but he didn’t even look sad. I thought we became true companions after all we went through back in Siyeun Mountains, but now I’m starting to think that Horsie’s loyalty actually depends on the kind of food he’s fed with. Who can blame him though? I’d probably do the same if I were a gluttonous horse too.’

Drai’s hand suddenly swiped forward, pulling out a gleaming object from thin air. It was a short, silver-colored blade attached to a clump of clay-like material in place of a handle.

Pressing the lump part to his right wrist, Drai watched as it started wriggling as if coming to life before rapidly enveloping his wrist along with the back of his fist. Less than two seconds later, it finally settled and hardened. Now the slightly curved blade was parallel to his middle finger, protruding from his hand like a large claw.

At that moment, Auri emerged from the back door, followed by Angel and a maid. She immediately headed to the porch and took a seat near Drai. Judging by her moist hair and the lingering soapy scent, she likely had just finished bathing. Meanwhile, the other two ladies stood nearby, assuming their usual positions.

"Yo," Drai greeted. "You look drained. Busy day?"

Auri sighed before replying, "Yeah. A few of my classes have grouped us for their end-term assignments. One of my groups had already started working on our project, and our meeting lasted pretty late. I guess none of my group members’ parents are too worried since everyone there has their own guard and driver with them."

As Auri grabbed a cup and poured some tea for herself, Drai remarked, "It must’ve been really crowded there."

"Well, we basically took up half of the cafe where we gathered. I didn’t really mind though—it was pretty entertaining watching the guards take turns hitting on Angel," Auri amusedly replied before sipping her tea.

Due to Angel’s resolute indifference, Drai had already forgone any thoughts of approaching her. However, he still couldn’t help whispering, "And how did it go? Did she respond to any of them?"

"Hah! As if apes could fly."

Auri’s words stunned Drai, as they reminded him of the Lightning King. The ape’s aerial maneuver wasn’t exactly flying, but it was pretty close.

’I wonder how he’s doing,’ Drai pondered.

Just then, Auri noticed the attachment on Drai’s hand. "What’s that thing called again?" she asked.

"Cryoforge Talon, or as Uncle Alancho prefers to call it, The Flipper," Drai replied as he inspected the unusual weapon that Alancho gifted him per his promise before the duel.

"That does look like an oversized middle finger. I didn’t realize Uncle Alancho had a thing for childish names though," Auri commented.

"Me neither. He did say that he received and wielded this thing a long time ago. Maybe he was a lot more mischievous back then."

"Well, he is a lot more lighthearted than most other old farts that I’ve met, so you might be right on the mark. Anyway, have you gotten used to it?"

Drai swung his right hand a few times before replying, "No, I still prefer fighting barehanded. I’ve been spending an hour or two every day training with it, but I still feel that it’s hindering my movements."

"I guess using weapons is harder than it seems," Auri shrugged. "And I get why you say that—if you’re not careful, you can hurt yourself."

"Not if I’m fully buffed, but yeah, this thing could easily wound me right now," Drai said as he nicked his left arm with the blade, causing blood to drip from it.

After watching the shallow wound rapidly close, Auri’s expression turned concerned as she looked at Drai, saying, "With your strength, you should be thriving in the army, but I can’t help but worry since you’re used to being free. Will you be okay?"

"I’ll manage. I hope they’re not too harsh on me though—I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m ever pushed too far," Drai replied before taking off The Flipper and putting it away.

"Just make sure not to turn somebody into paste. Pretty sure Uncle Alancho can deal with pretty much any other problems besides manslaughter."

Drai nodded in agreement. He wasn’t too keen on nepotism, but he wasn’t foolish enough to refuse Alancho’s help. Inwardly, he reminded himself not to abuse his connection with the general but strive to repay the favor instead.

"Well, I hope you aren’t assigned to the frontlines. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to visit you," Auri said.

Drai gave her a questioning look. "What do you mean ’we’? Are you planning to bring your whole family to the barracks? If so, please don’t. I know my skin is pretty thick, but that would still be really awkward."

Auri chuckled before clarifying, "By ’we’, I mean me and the girls, dummy. No way I’m bringing my family to see you unless I’m proposing."

"Oh, right—I completely forgot Nat and Flo are still around. I guess that’s not strange since you’re the only one I’ve been constantly keeping in touch with."

"Huh? I thought you’d be chatting with Nat a lot. Shouldn’t you guys be really close?"

Hearing this, Drai smiled ruefully. Back in the Skyward’s mansion, because Drai still had to deal with Alancho’s promised photo and whatnot, Auri had excused herself and returned to the car first, so she hadn’t witnessed Natalia’s expression when Drai said his goodbyes to her. Not only did she neither smile nor bid Drai farewell, her eyes also reflected an array of emotions unlike anything he had seen from her, which reminded Drai of the way Jian looked at him and Christo right before they parted ways on that eventful night.

That’s why Drai never contacted Natalia again since then. Although he really wanted to know what had caused his deskmate to act like that, he didn’t want to worsen things by pestering her. Amidst his training and departure preparation, he quietly wished that a call or message from Natalia would suddenly pop up in his comm, perhaps notifying him that she was just being moody because of her period, which might be particularly awful. Even now, Drai was half waiting for that time of the month to pass, unaware that the cause of this matter was entirely different.

Meanwhile, after noticing the shift in Drai’s expression, Auri was quick to connect the dots. However, she kept the core matter to herself and instead remarked, "Looks like things aren’t going well between you two. Do you want to talk about it, Drai?"

Drai thought about it for a second before replying, "Thanks, but I’m alright. Maybe you should talk to Nat instead—I think she’s being troubled by something."

"Okay, I’ll talk to her tomorrow."

Drai then gulped down the rest of his tea and rose from his chair. "Will you be there when I leave tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah. I already cleared up my schedule for that," Auri replied with a smile. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Nice. Alright, I’m off to train again. I probably won’t return any time soon, so see you."

"See you, Drai, and happy training."

Auri watched as Drai turned around and left. However, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.

"Thanks, Auri!" he yelled before sprinting away.

Auri’s gentle eyes locked onto Drai’s figure until he left her sight. Only after that did she retract her gaze and sigh heavily.

’Looks like Nat’s still pretty bitter about the whole matter. But there’s no use telling Drai about her predicament—it’s not like he can do anything about it. Well, at least he ended up joining the army. If he were appointed as Uncle Alancho’s direct disciple instead, I don’t know how long it would take Nat to recover. Still, who would expect such a girl to have daddy issues?’

Under Angel’s watch, Auri silently sat there, sipping her tea as she dealt with her thoughts. She didn’t even realize that the maid was right next to her, quietly refilling the teapot.

’...Maybe Nat’s fierce demeanor is her coping mechanism. If only we had been friends since childhood, then maybe she wouldn’t end up being this easily distraught by such matters. I wonder why Uncle Alancho never brought Nat along during his occasional visits here... Besides, he never even mentioned her to me. If not for Grandmother telling me about her, I probably wouldn’t even know she even existed.’

Auri sighed again and gazed at the clouds.

’Really, it’s becoming more obvious that there’s something wrong with the way Uncle Alancho raised Nat. Hmm, maybe I should visit her again after Drai’s gone so I can have a serious talk with her about this and perhaps mend those two’s relationship. Although I’m not that hung up on Drai anymore, it still pained me to see him smile sadly like that... And honestly, those two aren’t a bad match at all, though it would need some kind of miracle for Drai to develop feelings for Nat with that stupid preference of his...’

Auri’s gaze automatically drifted to Angel, giving her an annoyed look.

Angel paid no attention to her young miss. Instead, she gazed toward the direction that Drai had gone to, her thoughts impossible to tell.

***