Unlike most people her age, the Queen was still in her prime. Tyris rejuvenated Sylpha on a regular basis, giving her the vigor and reflexes of a youth in her twenties.
Due to her talent and constant training, the Queen had run out of worthy opponents since a young age. At first, she had resorted to sparring with members of the Queen’s Corps, but after she had become a fake Awakened, they couldn’t keep up with her anymore.
Soon, even the members of the Queen’s Corpse weren’t her match, so she had spent the past thirty years training with Tyris herself. The Guardian used that time to also demand a full report on the Kingdom’s situation.
“Why didn’t you settle the matter with Phloria Ernas yet? I gave her my word that her career would not be affected by those disgusting Odi.” Tyris’s one-handed ax intercepted the point of Sylpha’s spear, locking it between the blade and the handle.
Then, Tyris almost ripped the spear from Sylpha’s hands with a sudden twist and pull of her weapon.
“I did all I could.” Sylpha grunted in the effort of freeing the spear before it was too late.
“The Court is split and each faction has its own priorities. Too many people can’t wait to set foot on Jiera and start a new life. Maybe, if you intervened directly…” The Queen managed to pull back and use the superior range of her weapon to gain the upper hand.
“I would destroy centuries of hard work.” Tyris shook her head while sidestepping the quick burst of lunges with minimal effort. “I tasked the Royal family to do it for a reason.
“The Court is always split, but it’s the Royals’ duty to steer it in the right direction. What you ask me to do would require to reveal myself or kill Deirus from the shadows, but that wouldn’t do any good.
“The former would only make people flatter me as it happens with Leegaain and undermine your authority while the latter would turn me into Salaark. I want my Kingdom to thrive because of its people, not because of me.”
During each sparring session, the weapon choice would be completely random through a raffle that included even bare-handed fighting.
“The situation is no different from when the civil war loomed over the Country. Don’t you think you could make an exception for once?” Sylpha cursed the spear’s inability to perform anything but piercing attacks.
She had never defeated Tyris, but she had rarely felt so helpless. Too far and the First Queen would simply grab the spear with her bare hands, too close and Sylpha would end up with nothing but a broomstick in her hands and Tyris’s fist in her stomach.
The whole fight was a dance to keep her at a distance while searching for a pattern that the Guardian couldn’t predict.
“It’s completely different. Back then, you didn’t know who was your enemy and who was an ally. Now, instead, you know exactly the who, the why, and the how.” Tyris replied.
“Balkor taught the people of the Kingdom more than how to fight the undead, he taught them how to nurture talented youths, no matter their upbringing. Nalear taught the traitors that they can’t trust each other, just like Deirus is showing you the loopholes in our laws.
“If I take him out now, what would change? Someone else would take his place, the Undead Courts would find another disgruntled noble, and history would repeat itself. Challenges will always arise and you can’t just wish them away.” Tyris slashed with the ax, cutting the blade off the spear and ending the fight.
“What did you learn from today?”
“That spears suck as weapons as I suck as Queen.” Sylpha panted.
“You couldn’t be more wrong.” Tyris shook her head while putting the ax back in the rack and the broken spear in the trash can.
“Spears might be simple and direct compared to other weapons, but that only means that is up to their wielders to make up for it with their craftiness. As for you, you’re a good Queen.
“Unlike your predecessors, you never got complacent with your power and our training sessions are proof of it. Even though my blood doesn’t flow in your veins, I couldn’t be any prouder of you, Sylpha.
“For years you fought a losing battle against the old noble households until you won. You changed the academy system and soon even the conceited Mage Association will get its due.
“Times of changes are always times of chaos. Someone like Deirus who tries to fill the power vacuum left by the traitors you uprooted was bound to appear and he has yet to succeed only because you stopped him.”
“If I’m that good, then why are we struggling so much?” Sylpha replied. “You could at least help us with those damned undead…”
“And here you go again.” Tyris sighed, cutting the Queen short. “Why do people never learn the simplest of lessons? Peace, like all the most important things in life, is not something to be granted, it has to be earned.
“If a wolf wants to eat, it has to hunt. If a deer wants to live, it has to run. The only change that sitting around and hoping for the best can achieve, is to flatten your ass. Once the undead are defeated, after Deirus has been dealt with, something else will happen.
“You’re the Queen of an entire Kingdom, which makes dealing with problems on a daily basis your job, not mine.”
“Then, Mother, care to explain why are you still wasting your time with fleas?” A melodious voice emerged from the shadows of the underground palace.
It belonged to the most handsome man that Sylpha had ever seen. He seemed to be in his early twenties, about 1.8 meters (5’11”) tall. He had thick golden hair and silver eyes that shone respectively like the sun and the moon under the magical lighting of the palace.
“One of your children?” Sylpha had met enough Emperor Beasts to be unfazed by his good looks and focused only on the silver eyes of the stranger.
“Indeed. Sylpha, this is Jorl. Jorl, this is Sylpha.” Tyris said while the two exchanged greetings.
“Now that we’re done with the niceties, do you mind answering my question, Mother?” Most of Tyris’s children considered the Royals like traitors for giving up the Griffon bloodline and resented Tyris for not taking care of her true heirs.
Jorl was among them.
“Because unlike you, they need me for more than coddling their ego. It’s no wonder you’re still stuck with a bright blue mana core after over one thousand years of life. Your stupid pride and childishness keep you from growing.” Tyris replied with a sneer.
“Maybe you’re right and maybe not. Yet why did you grant that woman a violet core and refuse to do the same for me?” Jorl looked at Sylpha in envy.
He had managed to self-Awaken at twenty years of age, had reached a perfect body and bright blue core at one hundred years, and been stuck there ever since.
“Because Sylpha took a lifelong oath with me. If you’re willing to do the same, I’ll help you. The Queen’s Corpse needs a Captain who can look after the recruits in my absence.” Tyris said.
