The quiet rustle of leaves broke the silence as the two stood there beside each other, Sera waiting behind the bench with her arms at her sides and Vlad sitting abscentminded on the bench, gazing far into the bottom of the river water.
She gritted her teeth, loud enough for Vlad's ears to twitch.
"Are you going to sit there and pretend like you don't hear me?"
Her voice rang clear in his ears, making his head turn around and face her.
She was like a princess from a fairytale, her long, straight hair falling down her chest like a sea of living stars. Her eyes, which were focused on his face, twitched slightly, probably because she didn't actually expect him to listen and look into her clear violet eyes.
"You got taller."
"Shut it." She spat, voice laced with venom.
She crossed her arms, leaning her body on one of her legs.
"Answer me, who gave you access to this place?"
"My father."
"Your-" She stopped midsentence, her eyes growing wider before turning into a pair of slits.
"Don't you dare lie to me."
Vlad blinked at her angry expression, his mind regaining some clarity.
'Here we go...'
And the hell began.
"The last time you came here was on the pretext of looking around, you spent over two days sitting on this damn bench, two days! This by itself should be against the rules!"
She took a step closer, her leather shoes scraping against the dirt path.
"How many times do you need to hear how useless it is to waste resources on someone like you!"
"But no~" Her body got closer to the bench, already a step away.
"You just need to come here and-"
"Relax." Vlad waved his hand before turning to the lake, his eyes fixed on her reflected face, which quickly turned red.
Her hand caught his shoulder, gripping it with enough force for her nails to dig into his shirt and make him wince. But she didn't stop. Her other hand slowly wrapped around his neck, like a body of a snake that coiled in front of his eyes and tightened suddenly, holding him in a chokehold that he couldn't escape.
"Maybe I should help you relax instead."
She said, with a devilish smirk on her face. Vlad looked at the reflection on the river, at her smooth face that had this strange expression. His face was starting to turn different shades of pink as he was starting to lose his breath. The arm around his throat tensed, then tightened, making him let out a quiet cough.
"Let go."
And then her brows shot up.
Her expression twisted into a strange surprise after noticing Vlad's calm expression. He was out of breath, completely at her mercy.
She thought that Vlad would be scared, that he would try to escape and leave the garden of rebirth so that she wouldn't touch him again. But instead, he stayed in his place, unmoving and unbothered by her provocations...
"Tsk."
She clicked her tongue, letting him go while he exhaled sharply and hunched down, holding his neck. Her hands crossed once more as she spoke, this time in a slightly tamed manner.
"This place really makes you a completely different person, haah..."
"I didn't notice."
She shot him a glare and sighed in frustration before raising her hand.
Like magic, threads of pure light started to climb out from beneath her dress, a faint outline of them was visible through the fabric, making it seem as if they had climbed out from her heart.
They wrapped around her arm like strings, which took shape. One became visibly thicker, another turned into a circle, slowly rolling up her hand. Colliding with each other, they formed into the shape of a letter that gained color, its surface turning grey with a wax stamp holding it closed.
"You're lucky, I needed to give you this anyway."
"What is that?"
"A letter."
She handed it to him and added, sending a chill down his spine.
"It's from Father."
His hand froze mid-reach, his fingers just barely grazing the cold paper which he held in front of him.
For a moment, they didn't move at all. Like the news of her father, or his uncle, wanting to deliver him a letter even though he could send him a message through a pulseband was that much of a shock.
Impatient, she ignored him and pushed it into his hands without asking.
"You're lucky."
She said, her voice turning distant as she turned away and went into the forest, most likely heading to another exit.
"Not everyone can receive something from him, especially people like you who can't awaken."
...
Vlad sat there in silence, his mind retaining some of its previous clarity, focusing it on a little piece of paper in his hands. It was folded in half, with tiny pieces of the crimson wax glued on its edges.
He laughed silently to himself.
Not a laugh he would usually make when seeing something as ridiculous as this, but a lifeless laugh that managed to squeeze out from his dry lips.
'Frost Sentinel's Citadel.'
He repeated the name inside his mind like an ominous omen.
A citadel on the other edge of the rift, which was ruled by Frost Sentinel, a delver so strong that he could be compared only to god's themself and the very person who would welcome him at his own citadel.
So this is what my father wanted to talk about... I should have known it would be important considering his position.
'But to this extent?'
It was an invitation to learn in Frigora, the country of frost and snow aswell as one of the four main citadels tasked with pushing back the beasts from its darkest depths.
'Sure.'
A small grin formed on his shaky lips. The letter which he held was torn to pieces, hidden in his pocket, and forgotten.
'I'll go.'
He stood up, watching his clear expression in the river's water, his eyes that held a new light inside them, and his scar, which bled lightly. A small ripple came from the side, a fish hitting a stone. It flipped to the side, dazed from the impact, and continued to swim along the makeshift current.
'Heck! Even Cesar can go with me!'
Twenty of the strongest prodigies from around the world would gather at his citadel, competing against each other and training to venture deeper into the rift. He would see many familiar faces and people he didn't even know existed. But he knew one thing for sure after viewing the contents of the letter for many, many times.
If there are people with a talent so outstanding that he would be left behind.
Then there would be a way for him to get stronger, even if slightly.
And pass his last attempt of the delver exam.