(Aiden's POV)
The Duke, Leopold Belmont, questioned his youngest son as to why he'd suddenly decided to change his combat art all of a sudden, a question to which the latter responded that it really didn't suit him but was actually holding him back instead. When he asked him to then use their family's other combat art, the Barik art, he also rejected it.
This confused Leopold greatly as he wondered why a son of their family would reject two combat arts which was specifically created for their family's descendants but after seeing the clear resolution in his eyes, he eventually let him be and also gave him enough funds to purchase whatever he required.
The Duchess, Anna Belmont, on the other hand just watched all of this with curiosity in her eyes while Aiden continued eating his al like it was sothing he expected. That fueled Anna's curiosity even more as she rembered spotting two of them coming from the garden at different intervals yesterday.
'Did they finally decide to put aside their differences and behave like brothers again?' She thought to herself.
Her reason for this thought was not unfounded because in the novel, Flynn and Aiden never really got along after they both awakened at the age of 10, mostly because of Flynn's inferiority complex to his brother's overwhelming talent. Although she and Aiden tried to bridge the gap so many tis, Flynn was still hesitant to be around his older brother.
At that point, both of them just believed that he needed a bit of space and that their sowhat sour relationship would repair itself over ti. That ended up being the wrong approach as Flynn beca even more distant as ti went on.
This was why she seed genuinely happy at the new way they interacted, coupled with the new founded confidence Flynn was showing, she felt like the happiest woman on the planet.
As a result of that, for the first ti in a long ti, she humd a bunch of her favorite songs through the entirety of the morning, sothing Leopold was pleasantly surprised to hear as he had not heard his wife's beautiful humming in quite a while.
Driving out of the mansion gates, Flynn and I made our way from the quiet estate into the city. I was driving of course. Although Butler Frank offered to drive us instead, I politely refused and told him that I could already drive, sothing that weirdly surprised him.
When he asked where and how I'd learnt how to drive, I then realized that although Liam knew how to drive due to his part ti jobs, Aiden had not learnt how to just yet.
I eventually ended making up an excuse that I'd been learning how to drive behind their backs when they weren't ho. After ensuring that I actually knew how to drive by asking so questions and even showing a bit of demonstration, I was eventually allowed to drive us out.
As we ventured into the city, the realization hit both Flynn and I again that we were actually in a world far different than we were used to, although our mories made it less pronounced because we'd actually seen all of this before.
The bustling city streets of New Eden were lined with glittering skyscrapers that towered over sprawling parks and mystical monunts as people walked about in droves, attending to their various plans for the day.
As we drove through, we could see hover cars swooshing past, powered by the mana in the air. The city also boasted a multitude of vendors and shops that sold various types of potion, magical equipnt and scrolls containing useful arts for whoever was willing and had the funds to purchase it.
In the distance was a huge transparent do covering what seed to be a fairly large floating island. The do pulsed with magical energy, preventing unauthorized access to anyone who wasn't supposed to be there.
That was Arcana Academy, the best academic facility in the nation of Arcadia which was built to train future rankers and also the place where the second arc of the novel takes place.
I drove to a stop near one of the parking lots and Flynn went into a small store to purchase so scrolls for a few skill arts that he needed and an appraisal ring for . Since I already told Flynn what I needed, he then went in and got them while I admired the city landscape.
As I did so, I spotted what seed to be an expensive hover car parking by and coming to a halt at the luxurious restaurant just opposite us as young teenager with handso features alighted from the driver's side while a very beautiful young lady alighted from the other end.
The young teen had blonde hair with blue eyes and chiseled features that would suit a prince from a fairytale while the young lady, who had milky white skin and light brown eyes along with deep brown hair which stayed just above her shoulders. Both of them were certainly making heads turn as they alighted from the vehicle.
My expression darkened as I recognized both of them.
'Lucas Ellfire and Alia White'
***
(Flynn's POV)
After purchasing all that I needed and what Aiden asked for, I made my way out of the shop back into the car as I stared at the things that I bought. An acrobatic skill art, a parkour skill art and two appraisal rings. I ended up buying one more appraisal ring for myself after buying Aiden's.
"This should do" I muttered while making my way back to the car. As I reached the car, I spoke to Aiden.
"Aiden, let's get out of her-" I looked up to Aiden and realized that he wasn't paying attention to . I then followed his gaze and realized what had caused it.
'Alia and Lucas huh…'
I'd always wondered why Flynn's engagent to the White family was dissolved since it was never really explained in the novel. I actually thought it was due to the decline of the Belmont Family but I guess I was wrong.
And then there's Lucas, the dude who openly attacked and embarrassed Flynn at every turn and every social event for the past few years, thereby making him the butt of all jokes, soone who was constantly picked on, and an outcast at almost all of the events Flynn attended. Safe to say, he was among the major cause of Flynn's weakened state of mind.
'To think Flynn had a thing for Alia…'
Well I won't bla him... technically myself. Everyone had their preferences. I also doubt that he knew about this relationship between the two of them though. Well whatever.
People can date as they wish. I just wish they'd given a clear reason as to why the engagent was dissolved.
"Oh, isn't that Flynn?" Lucas mockingly called from across the street.
I stared at him as he called from across the street while Alia who stood behind him, had a deep frown on her face and gave a very annoyed look as he did so.
"Aiden, let's go"
Without even giving him a chance to continue whatever bullshit he was trying to pull, I got into the car as Aiden ignited the engine and drove off. I stared at the rear view mirror as Aiden drove off and I chuckled a bit at what I saw. Aiden also had a wide smile on his face. I could see that he thoroughly enjoyed what he just did.
Lucas seed dumbfounded by what we, no what I especially did to him as he had his brows furrowed with a slight frown. Sa with Alia. Usually, I'd have cowered and had my expression change to one of fear and despair but my clear gaze this ti around must've co as a very odd occurrence to him.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" I said to Aiden as he kept driving.
"? What? No way!" he replied sarcastically.
I just smiled and looked forward as he kept driving. As our journey continued, we began to near the city outskirts, the scenery changing to a more mundane look. In contrast to the city, where the air seed less clean, the air here was much cleaner and fresher with lesser people present on the streets.
High rise buildings were non-existent here and what replaced it where small to dium-heighted buildings, especially houses, bookstores, small stores and cafes that sold both coffee and potions. Yes, cafes that sold both coffee and potions were a thing here.
There was also more greenery here as a relatively large park could be seen on one side of the street close to the U-turns that cross-sectioned the road into 3 paths. It was evident just how peaceful it was here.
After looking around, my eyes landed on a specific signpost placed atop the door of a shop in the distance to which I signaled Aiden to stop by when we got close. A bunch of people stared a bit at the car that was about to co to a halt but we payed no mind to it. After bringing the car to a halt, I alighted from it and looked at the signpost with the na: I & I Apothecary.
Aiden also got down from the car as he stared at the signpost too. We knew all too well who was residing here and we knew just how much of an impact they had in the later stages of the story.
The I & I stood for Ivar and Ivelia, two young siblings around our age who would create a healing potion with an efficacy of 99% and another one that could increase mana core ranks in the later stages of the story but now, we could et them way before the story even started.
This was also why even though I could buy the combat art I needed in the city itself, Aiden and I opted to co here to verify just how accurate the contents of the novel where. Now we just needed to see if we could actually et them and strike a deal with both of them before the story began.
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