They were going at it this time with swords in both hands. Phoenix had gotten a good feel of wielding two swords at once, she felt more confident in her left hand while she deflected one of her father's strike.
Her stamina improved over the summer, Wren capitalizing on the last moments he had with his daughter to really push the limit of her sword mastery.
In the evening, Valyria would go over mana stamina drills with Phoenix that they'd teach at the course. Keeping a plate floating with a bit of wind magic over a period of time. Preventing a spark from completely setting fire to a sheet of parchment.
There was a drill that would require a bit of earth magic, but Phoenix lacked the aptitude for it.
Valyria secretly suspected that her daughter's trauma with the earth specialist mage is what really held her back.
A drill that both Valyria and Wren enjoyed running was one that required the user to imbue magic to their limbs to increase their strength. It was a drill that was good for both strength training as well as building up your magic reserves and control.
It was simple, Phoenix would maintain a squatting position while holding on to something heavy for a long period of time. It seemed simple, but it was the simple things that were the most effective.
It was usually a bucket full of rockets that would set on your lap, it had to be heavy enough that you couldn't lift it with just your own strength alone. If you maintained a good balance over how much magic you used to assist with your strength, an apt warrior with a strong sense for magic could maintain the position for hours on end. If you burnt out your reserves, then your body would grow tired quickly. Being able to imbue magic within your limbs required a lot of concentration and mastery. Too much and you could blow out your limbs with your own magic, too little and you wouldn't get the right amount of boost you needed.
This was all in preparation for Phoenix to take the entrance exams to get into the Brilux Royal Institution. Valyria wandered briefly if she could talk to Olena to pull some strings, like most of the nobles did, but Phoenix merely stared at her mother when she tried to bring it up.
Wren only had a wry smile for his wife, Phoenix was her father's daughter as much as she was her mother's.
Phoenix wanted to officially switch her fighting style to that of her fathers by that summer. Valyria knew how long Phoenix had been practicing.
The biggest obstacle was overcoming the injury she sustained to her left hand. Valyria had some of the best healers at the Institution to look at Phoenix's injury to try and help her daughter. There wasn't too much that they could do except give advice to Phoenix on how to rehabilitate it so that she had the full dexterous use of all her fingers. Wren suggested switching to a different style, but Phoenix argued that it didn't matter because she would have to train her left hand anyways.
May as well be something that she wants to do.
Phoenix looked over at the sky and noted the sun was well over head, she spotted Orion taking a few practice swings at the training dummy. Her brother with wonderful honeyed hair and their mother's blue eyes looked over at his older sister.
"Want to go to the town square for something to eat?" Phoenix asked, she had a handful of bronze coins available to her. Their mother was at the Institution getting ready for the new academic year that was set to start in two weeks. Their father had a back fill of orders at the smithy and was often late coming home. Orion was also set to start his first year at the Wyvern Youth Seminar too, her little brother was all too excited to go learn after seeing Phoenix do the same thing.
Orion even mentioned how he was jealous of his sister's year-long journey away from home.
Phoenix would always smile softly at that, Orion was still too young to remember the specific details, but old enough to notice that Phoenix was gone and thought to be dead.
"Yeah!" Orion beamed.
"Let's put this stuff away first and then we'll go." Phoenix took her canteen and took a long sip out of it before getting to work cleaning up everything.
There was a buzz in the entire city, from what Phoenix gathered there was supposed to be a big announcement coming up. That much was obvious from the huge movement of beastmen and elves into Brilux over the last month. The beastmen's dragons were still a hot topic, a lot of young children were constantly scanning the skies in hopes of catching a glimpse of it.
Orion mentioned that he saw a pair flying over the Ethereal Ocean early in the morning, their great wings skimming the water before taking off skyward once more. Phoenix walked around with her hands in her pocket, a habit to keep from wandering eyes from staring at her hands and wrists.
Her little brother stayed nearby, his bright eyes going from stall to stall in search of something delicious.
"Nix, how about this one?" Orion motioned to the aromatic food permeating from the stand.
Phoenix's dark blue gaze looked over the foods, it was freshly baked bread that seemed to have a grounded meat center. From the buttery and flaky crust and the smell of fatty meat, did Phoenix's mouth begin to water slightly.
Orion smiled when Phoenix handed him the food, when Phoenix bit into it, the flaky texture reminded her of the sweet, buttery, and flaky dessert that was sold on the town square in Eostrun. She had yet to find the human equivalent to it. The savory treat did manage to satisfy both Orion and Phoenix's craving.
"What do you think about starting school soon?" Phoenix asked her little brother while the two wandered around leisurely through town, she took note that they were headed towards the Palace Square.
Orion shrugged, he had his hands behind his back while he walked, a habit he picked up from their mother, "I'm excited, but kind of scared at the same time. I'm so used to just hanging out with mama and papa and then running around with my friends when I'm not inside studying." Valyria's studious habits had indeed passed down to both her children. Wren was impressed that they never truly had to hire a tutor to keep their children occupied, not when they both approached learning so voraciously.
"Father does say that it's kind of weird that we both like to study so much on our own." Phoenix mused, her left toyed at the spare bronze coins she had left in her pocket.
Orion nodded, "It's fun being able to read all the time, I wish I could magic like mama soon." He sighed at that and continued walking along the road. "Sometimes I wish I could've been like you..."
Phoenix looked down at her brother, "Ori, be careful what you wish for." She took out her left hand and held it out for her brother, "What happened to me was a difficult time."
"But you came back so strong and with so many cool stories." Orion answered back.
"At the cost of you guys thinking I was dead for a whole year." Phoenix reasoned, "That whole time I was gone, I kept thinking about you guys."
"I still want to be able to go on a journey one day." Orion let out.
Phoenix crouched down to her brother's level, she fished up the feathered necklace, "Ori... the only reason why I survived that journey was because I was extremely lucky. If Lionheart hadn't been there, I would have been good as dead – or worse." She put plainly.
Orion remained silent, his eyes studying the gryphon feather.
"Point being, I wasn't strong enough to do it on my own." Phoenix tucked the feather back into her tunic, "Going to school and learning all that you can, that is what will make you strong enough to do it on your own." She placed her hands back in her pockets.
"Do you think you're strong enough now?" Orion asked after the two walked a bit longer.
Phoenix caught sight of a vendor that sold sweet fruit famous from Jishora, she bought two on the spot.
"Not as much as I think I need to be." Phoenix bit into the fruit, it was exceptionally sweet. No doubt the fruit was a byproduct of the different kingdoms being in Brilux.
Orion was about to say something, but he his jaw dropped when he looked above him.
Phoenix glanced upward and caught on to what Orion was staring at.
The Eostrun Crown Princess flying low to the Palace Square flanked by the Elven Gryphon Guard Captain and another gryphon rider.
They landed nearby the gates, a handful of stable hands greeted them immediately to lead their mounts to the stable.
Phoenix stood, with the sweet fruit her hand, her eyes steadily watching across the giant Palace Square that was able to welcome dragons. The Elven Princess promenaded across the smooth stone with such a regal and otherworldly air about her. Many people in the square stopped to simply watch or stare dumbfoundedly.
But Phoenix watched with something else on her mind.
The Elven Princess stopped mid-stride, her head tilted back until her torso twisted around. Her amethyst eyes were scanning for something.
For a split second, that gaze found Phoenix's dark blue.
"Nix, do you mind if we stop the Wyvern Youth Seminar?" Orion snapped her attention to him instantly.
Phoenix gave an easy smile, "Too easy." She pivoted to the direction of the school.
From the corner of her eye, she watched the Princess stroll through the palace gates without another glance over her shoulder.