In the Vanara-occupied Anastasia kingdom, the daily life of Maruti's elder sister, Sasha, had become classy but incredibly bland and boring. Every single day felt exactly the same as the one before.
Before all this, even though she was still the heir to the Vanara tribe, her days were exciting. She got to hunt monsters every single day and fight other barbarians. Even after she first arrived at the academy, every day felt new and different because there was just so much to learn.
But after her father finally managed to take over almost half of the Anastasia kingdom, she was officially a princess now.
There were some quiet talks about reopening the academy, but everyone knew that would take at least several months because of all the official procedures. And more than anything, there was the problem of trust.
Who would ever trust an academy that was run by barbarians? What loving parent would send their child to a place like that to study?
Of course, if someone as respected and trustworthy as Lilith were to take charge, it probably wouldn't be such a big issue. But even then, they would still have to hire all new teachers and professors to make up for the one's who fled the kingdom of is on the other side.
And make so many other changes that would take a long time. So, her days at the academy were over before they had even truly begun.
Lately, all she did was learn the proper etiquette of royals—human royals, to be exact. She didn't understand the point of it. Just for a single meal, she had to learn how to cut each tiny piece of meat with perfect precision, how to use certain hand gestures, and how to send different messages just by placing her spoon, knife, and fork in different positions on the plate.
It all felt like such a massive waste of time. Why couldn't people just say what they meant with their words?
Wouldn't that be so much simpler and better?
Completely fed up with all the frustration, she went out for a walk outside, just like she found herself doing often to clear her mind.
As she walked through the streets, with their constant buzzing sounds and familiar, busy atmosphere, she couldn't help but remember the time she met a certain girl on one of her walks.
The girl had a very unique mix of hair, half silver and half black, and the most striking silvery eyes. She knew for a fact that she wasn't just some ordinary girl from the city.
Thinking about her, Sasha decided to stroll around the same area again, just in case she got lucky and bumped into her. But after searching for a while, she found no one. It was just the same old crowd she always saw.
She decides to give up and continue her walk, going a little further than usual. By pure luck, she found herself standing outside of some kind of bar. There was a pretty large crowd gathered in front of it, as if some kind of exciting show was happening inside.
"A drinking competition?" Sasha thought to herself, feeling a spark of curiosity rise up inside her.
She pushed her way through some of the people to get a better look inside the shop. A few of them turned around with annoyed looks on their faces after being pushed, but when they saw just how tall and powerfully built she was, they immediately understood that the woman in front of them was a barbarian.
The crowd quickly and politely parted to make a clear path for her to enter.
But as she stepped inside, a look of both confusion and surprise washed over her face.
Because inside, there wasn't a drinking competition going on at all. It was a much simpler competition: arm wrestling.
But the surprising thing wasn't the arm wrestling itself. It was who was doing the wrestling—it was the exact same girl she had met that day.
People say kids grow up fast, But the girl's figure was exactly the same as the last time Sasha saw her.
It was none other than Selene. She was defeating one competitor after another, and it didn't matter how big, muscular, tall, or strong they looked.
"What is she doing here?" Sasha wondered to herself, deciding to stay and watch a little longer.
There was a long, literal line of people waiting for their chance to try and beat the seemingly delicate-looking kid at arm wrestling.
"This feels a little staged to me... Is she actually the bartender's daughter?" Sasha tried to come up with an explanation but immediately dismissed the thought.
The last place she had left Selene was very far from here. It was unlikely her family would be in this area. Plus, Sasha happened to know that the bartender who worked here was single, but Selene had talked about her mother.
But another confusing thing was, why would the bartender even bother to stage something like this? Just to give the crowd some entertainment? Hiring all these big, tough-looking men to pretend to lose to her would definitely cost a lot of money.
There was only one way to find out for sure.
She immediately stepped forward from the crowd, clearly cutting in front of all the other people who had been waiting patiently for their turn.
"You... Selene, right? How about having a round with me?"
When she heard her name being called, Selene looked over, and a spark of recognition lit up in her eyes.
"It's you," Selene says, standing up from her seat. A small, faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I'm glad you remember me," Sasha chuckles softly.
Without a moment's hesitation, Selene walkes right up to her and took hold of her finger. "Let's go, I was getting bored anyway."
"I knew it, it really was staged after all," Sasha thought to herself as she followed Selene outside.
The rest of the people in the bar let out disappointed sighs, sad that they wouldn't get their turn. The bartender was especially bummed out, since his sales had shot up thanks to the crowd Selene had attracted.
They walked out of the shop and began to walk quietly along the street.
"How much is the bartender paying you?" Sasha asks, breaking the silence between them.
"For what?" Selene asks back, looking up at her.
"To act, of course. You don't actually think I'd believe that was all real, do you?" Sasha exclaims, her voice a bit sharper than she intended.
But Selene just chuckles again, finding the whole thing amusing. "Everyone was saying the same thing before I beat them. They all thought a kid like me couldn't possibly be an awakened, but they lost anyway. It was actually pretty fun to watch them get all frustrated and start accusing me of being some kind of transformation path awakened."
Thud!...
Sasha stopped dead in her tracks and stares at her. "So you're saying you're actually an awakened?"
"Umm... yes?" Selene answeres simply.
"Okay... okay... When did you awaken, by the way?" Sasha questions, narrowing her eyes as she looked down at the small girl.
"I don't know. I don't really know what 'awakening' is, to be honest. I could use magic and Essence stones right after I was born," Selene answeres truthfully, no matter how strange it must have sounded to Sasha.
"....." For a few long seconds, Sasha just stares at her, completely speechless.
Finally, she let out a long breath. "Why am I even taking a kid's words so seriously?" she mutters quietly to herself, letting out a small, tired laugh.
"Whatever you say, miss awakened," she replies, starting to walk again.
The quiet atmosphere returned, but this time, it was Selene who broke the silence.
"I want to be as tall as you. How can I do that?" Selene ask, her voice full of genuine curiosity.
"Huh? I don't know. Barbarians are usually just tall, I guess. Why do you want to be tall, anyway?" Sasha questions back.
"I want to be as tall as my father," Selene answers, stretching her little arms up as high as she could. "My mother is pretty tall, too, but she's not even close to my father."
"So... how do I do it?" Selene ask again, craning her small neck to look up at Sasha.
"How am I supposed to know something like that? My sister wouldn't be so shorter than me if I knew the secret to growing taller," Sasha says to herself, feeling a little frustrated.
She had completely forgotten that Selene was a bundle of curiosity who asked way too many questions, and it could get pretty annoying.
"Wait, now that I think about it, when was the last time I saw Mei?"
Probably right after the whole revolutionary incident, but even then, it was only for a little while.
"Hmm... I'm actually pretty close to her apartment. Maybe Father is about to give me the task of checking up on her anyway," she thought to herself, deciding to go and meet Maruti.
But then she looked down at Selene and felt a little bad. They don't really meet up often, and forget about often, they had only met twice so far.
"Hey, are you heading back home? If you are, I can walk with you for accompany you on the way," she ask gently.
But Selene immediately shook her head. "No, today is my day off from training. I'm going to enjoy it more."
Sasha slowes her pace and let out a soft sigh. "As you wish. Let's meet again someday. I'm going to go see my little sister now."
"Okay," Selene says, letting go of Sasha's finger and waving her small hand.
Just as Sasha turned to leave, another question popped into her head that she couldn't resist asking.
"By the way, is your sister as tall as you?"
The question made Sasha stop in her tracks. "Heh! She's a midget,"
She answeres with an amused chuckle, waving back at her one last time before walking away.