Lara had just finished her morning cultivation lesson from Amelia. As she was walking back to the Dragon Palace, she happened to walk by the private training ground. Nowadays, the training ground is only used by Aditya, Julia, and other members of the Istarin Royal Family. Other than the Royal family no one else was allowed to enter the training ground. From afar, she could hear the sound of swords clanging. As she reached the training ground, she saw Alicia and Aditya having spar. Lara did not interrupt them. She continued to observe from the sidelines with a small smile on her face. Just from observing their spar, she was able to learn a lot of things. Compared to everyone else in the Dragon Palace, Lara was the least experienced when it came to cultivation. Right now, she is in her learning phase. Lara had zero experience in fighting. She did not even know how to properly use the powers that came with being a Vampire cultivator.
Every day, it kind of had become a hobby of hers to watch as troops from different divisions had friendly spars. She often did this so that she watch and learn. She was doing the same here. Alicia and Aditya faced each other in the training ground with swords in hand. The swords in their hands were dull. The swords were sharp enough to land any serious injuries on them. At most, the swords would slightly hurt Alicia. Given their cultivation, their bodies were really tough and a hit from such a normal iron sword would do nothing to them. Alicia's face was set in a serious expression. Aditya, on the other hand, looked relaxed and even had a small smile on his lips. He held his sword in his weaker hand. He even lowered his cultivation so that this spar could be on an equal level. Aditya did not think that Alicia could ever land a hit on him not to mention defeat him. It was because of his innate skill 'Instant learning and adaptation' that he was impossible to be defeated. With each battle, Aditya was constantly learning and adapting. Although at first, he wasn't into swords or wasn't much of a sword fighter after fighting some opponents who were really good sword fighters, Aditya had now learned and adapted into becoming an almost perfect sword fighter. Of course, he would never say it to Alicia as he did not want to discourage her. Because of his skill, Aditya felt that it was too unfair to Alicia. She had to fight someone like him who is constantly learning and adapting. So for that reason, he was using his non-dominant hand. Alicia launched another attack. Her sword sliced through the air with a swift 'swoosh', aiming directly at Aditya. Without missing a beat, Aditya stepped aside and dodged her strike, and before he chuckled and said. "You'll have to be faster than that!"
Frustrated but determined, Alicia tried a different tactic. She adopted a new stance that she had been perfecting. Her sword came down in a powerful arc, aiming for Aditya's shoulder. Clang!!!
Aditya's sword met hers and blocked the attack effortlessly.
"Nice try, but still no luck!" He teased her while effortlessly deflecting her attack.
Alicia's forehead wrinkled with focus as she changed her plan. She was now mixing quick, and strong attacks with fake moves, hoping to surprise Aditya.
Scrape!!
Clang!!!
Tinging!!!
The sounds of their swords colliding filled the air. Yet, no matter how fiercely Alicia attacked or how cunningly she maneuvered, Aditya countered every move with calm ease. His sword moved in rapid, precise blocks and returns.
Sweat dripped down Alicia's face. Her muscles were beginning to ache. The more she attacked, the more it seemed Aditya was just playing. From the beginning his casual demeanor was unshaken.
"Aren't you taking this a bit too lightly?" She gasped out. She sounded frustrated. Aditya shrugged while smiling. "Why stress? You're doing great. Just not great enough to beat me yet." His light-hearted tone only fueled Alicia's determination.
Feeling energized again, Alicia went for another attack. Her sword movements became a blur of motion. Yet, every swoosh was met with a dodge, every clang with a block, and every scrape with a counterstrike. Aditya's defense was completely impenetrable.
His casual jests continued and only fueled her determination to keep going. Aditya was having such a good time. "You know, you could at least pretend to make me sweat!"
Alicia couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh. She stepped back and lowered her sword for a moment. "How can you still be joking? I'm giving it my all here!"
Aditya lowered his sword too before his expression softened. "Because I see how hard you're working. You're improving with every swing, Alicia. Don't let the frustration get to you. It's all part of learning." He couldn't tell her that it was close to impossible to beat him in a sword fight. Despite the exhaustion and the irritation at being unable to land a single hit, Alicia couldn't help but smile at Aditya's words. She knew he was right. She has improved a ton in the last 30 days. Since they returned, Alicia has been training under Aditya's guidance. Every morning, they could spar for at least one hour. As a result of doing this for 30 days, Alicia has rapidly improved. She was now capable of taking on even a Peak 4th cultivator. "Alright, let's stop here.....!!!" Aditya had noticed that it had been a while since Lara had been waiting for them. "Alright....!!!" It wasn't like Alicia had the strength to continue anyway. Aditya had made her feel exhausted. After all, she had been fighting at her maximum for about an hour now. "Lara, how was your morning session?" Aditya asked seeing Lara walking towards him. "It went well. Aunty Amelia has said that one more month will be enough for me to learn all the basics. At that time, I should be ready to unlock my cultivation to Peak 2nd-order." She really sounded excited. Aside from teaching Lara about cultivation, Amelia is also training Lara regularly. She was showing her how to manage her powers and use them to her advantage in fights to win.
"You have been working hard." Aditya patted her head. "Hehe!!" Lara just giggled in response. "Alright, let's head back." It was time for breakfast. By now everyone in the Dragon Palace should have awaken up. -
Scene change______
"How is everything going around the Empire?" Aditya casually asked in his usual regular meeting with Spencer. "Well, everything is going very smoothly." Spencer looked much better than before. It was because ever since Aditya returned from this long vacation in the Beast Continent, Spencer has been getting more free time to spend with his girlfriend but now fiance Aria. He looked happier than before. It wasn't just Aditya who noticed this change in Spencer. All the Royal officials and all of Spencer's secretaries have noticed this change in him.
"It is as if everyone and everything has become much more disciplined after your display of power and might in The Graveyard of Sand Dunes desert. Now that almost everyone knows just how powerful the Emperor was no one really wants to mess with or offend the Istarin Empire. The crime rate around the Empire has dropped by 93.4%." Aditya now had the image of a really strong and mighty Dragon Monarch. He was able to defeat the holder of the world treasure without taking a single hit or losing a single drop of his blood. This feat kept every one of Aditya's enemies in check. "That's good to know." Aditya nodded his head with a smile. "By the way these days many Empires have been sending their men to our Empire. All of them want to negotiate a price for the flying ship that the Istarin Empire has." Among the many wild things that shocked the world, the appearance of the Flying Ship was one of the things that the world is unable to forget. Many Empires instantly understood the value of having Flying Ships. Flying Ship's potential was almost limitless. If they could somehow learn how Flying Ships are made or buy Flying Ships from the Istarin Empire, then it would revolutionize their Empire. This had turned many Empires across the six Continents very desperate to get the Flying Ships. However, Neither the Istarin Empire nor their Emperor were looking to earn money by selling flying ships to anyone. There was hardly any Empire on the six continents that even came close to the GDP of the Istarin Empire. "No need to care about such people. Just ignore them and ask the guards to tell them to go back." Aditya said. He wasn't interested in any kind of negotiation. "Of course." Even Spencer felt that it wouldn't be a wise choice for them to sell Flying Ships to anyone. "Your Majesty, I must say, it wouldn't take long for other Empires to copy the concept of Flying ships and make flying ships themselves. Maybe not today, but in the next few centuries, it's very possible that someone is going to figure out how to make Flying ships." Spencer said. "So what? No other Empire in this world has the advantages that the Istarin Empire has. Just the materials for making a really tough Flying Ship is going to cost them a fortune. While we can get the same materials for free." Because they had the Goddess of Nature. "What I am trying to say is that even if Flying ships were made by another Empire, their flying ships won't be as advanced as ours. Percy has completed the design for the 3rd-generation Flying Ship after a month of research and hard work." Now Percy was making the first 3rd generation Flying ship with his team. It wouldn't be long before the 3rd-generation flying ships are ready for use. "By the way, inform Percy to make 2 more extra 3rd-generation flying ships." Aditya suddenly said. "Although neither Aunt Amelia nor Uncle Ronnie has yet to ask for any Flying ships, I can tell that both of them are really interested. Besides, since they are our allies, it wouldn't hurt to provide them with advanced flying ships." Not to mention, without Riya, it would have been impossible for them to build the second generation of flying ships. The Celestial Terrain and the Ethereal Empire will become much more stronger with the advanced 3rd generation of flying ships. The Istarin Empire was more than just friends with the Celestial Terrain and the Ethereal Empire. In a case of emergency, Aditya would give more priority to both Empires than his allies. "What about providing flying ships to our allies?" The Istarin Empire had now many allies. "That is something that I am going to think about later." Right now Percy was busy making the very first 3rd-generation flying ship. Because of his request to make two extra 3rd-generation flying ships, he and his team were going to be even busier. Meaning, for now, the empire isn't capable of making any more Flying ships. "Alright." Spencer nodded his head. He wrote down the things that Aditya instructed him to do so that he wouldn't forget them later. "By the way, how is everything in our new territory?" By new territory, Aditya was referring to the Blood Moon Empire that was recently conquered by the Istarin Empire. It only took 4 days for the Empire to fall. "All of our new projects to transform the Empire has been going really well. Although there have been two back-to-back protests from loyal followers of Harrison, both of these protests have been suppressed by Victoria alone." Aditya nodded his head with a smile. Knock!!! Knock!!!
"Aditya it's time...!!!" It was Lilith who came to call Aditya. "Spencer, I will leave the rest up to you." Saying that Aditya stood up and left the office. ----------------
