Reaper Of The Martial World

She could only sigh, turning her attention back the area her and the geniuses were in. The area was actually an interruption in the seating areas of the coliseum. Split into and upper and lower area, the geniuses were actually in a lobby type area with a partial covering above to separate them from the elders above them.

They sat in discreet groups, but it was clear that Jade and her group of beauties were the center of attention. After almost two decades of life, Jade had long since learned to ignore this. As did her friends Celine and Opal.

The girls were a beautiful arrangement of complimentary colors. Jade was dressed in her normal stainless white gown that hung loosely to her outrageous curves. Celine"s golden hair seemed to glide gently back and forth across her shoulders along with the wind, wearing a beautiful yellow dress. It had an elegant design, revealing her slender shoulders, but delicately gracing her neck with a flowery arrangement. Opal was the more reserved and pet.i.te of the three. Her hair and eyes were both a deep and dark green. The light green dress that accompanied her seemed like the perfect choice. It was short, but somehow still conservative and pure, the edges ending in puffs of greenery.

All three were beauties of differing temperaments. It was only natural that they"d be the centers of attention no matter where they went.

Celine wore a devious smile, still poking and prodding at Jade for answers about why she insisted on attending, "you still won"t tell us Jade?"

Opal looked over at her long-time friend curiously, she too wanted to know.

"what are you two so anxious for? Today has nothing to do with the reason I"ve been dragging you two around. We"re picking out those who"ll lead in this generation"s campaigns," Jade smiled lightly, feigning ignorance.

"As if we"d believe you. We have no need to give Zaltarish any face, so why would you have to come today? Just because he said so?"

Jade sighed, "if we"re lucky, maybe we"ll get to see the birth of something new today."

Suddenly, an unwanted interruption barged into the conversations of the ladies, "fairies," a young man bowed respectfully, "my little brother was honored to have you attend his conquering of the first year"s a.s.sessments."

Jade looked over to see a young man Dyon would have recognized as Benes, followed by Ryba, a girl and what looked like Benes" younger brother. It seemed that his younger brother, Sebastian Benes, was the champion of the first years. Although Benes was smart enough to know that it was impossible for the beauties of their school to have gone to the first-year a.s.sessments just for his brother, the true reason didn"t matter to him. All that mattered was that this was a simple way to breach conversation with these ladies without seeming as though he was trying too hard. Who wouldn"t want an amiable relationship with these women?

Jade smiled, understanding the intentions of Benes, "Jonas Benes, right? It was my honor to watch my juniors, I had a great time."

Jade had no reason to disrespect Jonas" kind intentions, so she could only accept his attempts at conversation. Although the Benes family didn"t have status as high as the major families, as members of the sub-families, their importance to the kingdom couldn"t be understated. While the major families were responsible for the academies, the sub-families were responsible for the 3 largest guilds in the kingdom: the alchemy guild, the formation guild, and the blacksmithing guild. With campaigns being as important as they were, it was safer to overestimate the importance of these guilds as opposed to understating them. Although other kingdoms had other important guilds, like beast taming guilds for instance, the Elvin Kingdom had always focused on just those three, maximizing their effectiveness.

Jonas smiled, appreciating Jade"s decorum, "if I could marry her, wouldn"t that be fantastic?"

He nodded slightly towards Celine and Opal. He didn"t want to seem as though he would take any of these beauties, he wanted to give the impression that although all of them were beautiful, that he only had Jade in his eyes. To him, this was a clever tactic, but with Jade"s astuteness, she was well aware that if Celine or Opal showed interest, Jonas would without a doubt reciprocate. However, she didn"t let this show. At the very least, Jonas was more refined than others, on the surface anyway.

Jonas, knowing that he shouldn"t drag out this interaction, decided it was best to withdraw for now, "I"ll keep this interaction in my heart. It was a pleasure to speak with you. I only wanted to introduce myself and my younger brother. Since you"re all here, I look forward to performing for you," Jonas bowed slightly, turning and taking his entourage away.

Once they were gone, Celine giggled, "he"s quite the playboy," she said deviously, "it was clear he"s had relations with that girl behind him, but she showed not an ounce of displeasure. He sure knows how to train "em, no?"

Opal scrunched her delicate eyebrows, but she could only sigh as she was quite used to the raunchiness of her two friends.

Jade smiled, "his etiquette is not bad. At the very least, he hides his l.u.s.t better than others," Jade said knowingly.

Celine pouted in mock anger, "I saw him trying to pretend as though Opal and I didn"t exist. One small giggle and he"d break easily. I wonder if the apple of your eye would break as easily," Celine grinned, trying to pry into Jade"s thoughts once again.

For the first time, Jade decided to drop a hint, "if he was here, he wouldn"t hold back in flirting with all three of us. Yet, he"d do so without a drop of impurity in his eyes," Jade said softly, looking out towards the distance, "it seems like the geniuses of the other academies have decided to arrive…"

However, Celine didn"t seem to care, much more intrigued by Jade"s a.n.a.lysis, "not a drop of impurity?... how could a man not l.u.s.t after us?" she asked in confusion.

Jade chuckled, "who said anything about him not l.u.s.ting?"

This just confused Opal and Celine even more, but it didn"t seem like Jade was intent on explaining. Instead, she said something that spurred the compet.i.tive fire of even the docile and pet.i.te Opal, "he may l.u.s.t after you all, but something tells me that even if we lay before him naked and defenseless, he wouldn"t raise a single finger towards us. That"s how deep the love in his heart is," she said softly.