Heaven, Earth, Me

Yasenia didn't lower her guard until she confirmed that it was dead. She then turned towards Anne and Eve, her tail wagging behind her back like a child wanting to be praised.

Although that expression and actions were truly hard to resist, they still answered truthfully. 'Sorry, Miss.'

Anne started. "Your first frontal charge was completely unnecessary, especially against an enemy with a poisonous breath attack. You were just lucky it didn't use it."

An arrow pierced Yasenias heart, and her tail dropped sadly.

They almost rushed forward to hug her! But, with their trained wills, they stopped themselves.

Eve was even more ruthless. "What was that jump that you did next? Even if it looks good... Can you change directions in the air? Can you even exert half of the strength you can on the ground? Completely unnecessary!"

Now even Yasenia's expression was sad. Anne almost stopped her sister from speaking!

However, chanting in their head that this was for their Miss' well-being, they resisted the impulse of pampering their little Miss.

Eve continued with her pummeling. "Worse, after you opened a wound on its back, why didn't you latch into the open wound with your barbed tail and rip its spine off? You could have won there. Not to mention, after blocking that tail, you did another frontal assault! Good for you that this Komodo dragon was stupid, or you would have been in trouble!"

Yasenia was already on all fours because of all the damage she had taken.

Anna finished her off. "Your redeeming point is the last attack; using your sword to lower its head and then piercing its eye with your tail was good… Of course, that is only if your opponent didn't have a poisonous breath attack! What would you have done if, instead of roaring in pain, it responded by spraying your face full of poison, huh?"

Yasenia was crying and pleading guilty.

Oliver, at the side, was rolling on the ground laughing so hard his stomach hurt.

After that, Yasenia got up and sat by the fire, eating the half-finished food that was already cold because of the time her spiritual beating took.

Anna went behind her and started massaging her shoulders. "Miss, this is only your third real life and death battle. It is already very well fought. Things like thinking about cutting the spine, making faints, and then aiming at the weak points, not to mention the reaction speed when you protected against its tail, are already extremely good."

Yasenia leaned backward because of comfort and used her tail as a balancing measure to continue to eat while getting massaged.

Eve continued. "Not to mention, your opponent was a middle-level, rank-two beast. You must remember that a beast must be attacked by at least three people of the same level. Little Miss, winning or even being able to fight evenly in a strength contest against these kinds of beasts is already abnormal. If I had to describe your combat style, I would call it a humanoid dragon. Not only is your strength abnormal, but the flexibility that your tail gives you in combat is also absurd. Making you like an all-rounded fighter that, instead of average, is good at everything."

Yasenia responded languidly with a smile. "En, continue praising."

Anna and Eve chuckled, and even Oliver joined, making the atmosphere lively. After they finished dinner, Yasenia went to cultivate, taking advantage of the twilight and midnight, then went to sleep. Oliver went to sleep after asking some things Anna and Eva about cultivation.

Like that, they advanced toward the Rita Academy.

When they were nearing the end of the forest, Anna and Eve stopped the cart and looked to the left. Eve said, "Miss, an injured person is two or three kilometers to your left. What should we do? Should we ignore it like before?"

Yasenia didn't rush to make a decision and asked. "Why are they injured? Can you tell from here?"

This time Anna responded. "Yes, it seems that beasts caused the majority of her injuries. She also has an arrow stuck on her shoulder. From here, I can't tell if it is poisoned or not. She is a very beautiful female, but her robes seem intact, excluding the beast scratches, so this probably wasn't done to sexually assault her. The robes seem to have the Rising Talent Academy spiritual mark."

Yasenia guessed she was either ambushed by an enemy or betrayed by her companions.

She felt a little empathy and, since she was someone from the Rita Academy, she asked. "Anna, go get her and carry her to the carriage. We will heal her enough to get her out of her critical state. Remember not to heal her completely. We don't know if this is a trap."

Anna answered respectfully. "As the Miss says!" And she disappeared from the spot.

Ten seconds later, she had already returned carrying the girl. "The arrow is indeed poisonous. It seems to be concocted by a Thousand poisons valley cultivator. It is a Yang-attributed poison; this girl has an Extreme Yin physique, so this kind of poison is very harmful if not taken care of completely."

Yasenia, knowing that both of these sisters were excellent healers, didn't doubt them. Not only were they extremely knowledgeable in medicine and poisons, but both of them also had Nature, Wood, and Light triple attributes, making them highly suitable to be healers.

In the past, they were picked up by Dr. Ava, and since then, the two have followed her everywhere. After seeing this master-apprentice trio, Tatyana decided to take them under her wing.

This happened more than 3000 years ago.

"Can you heal her enough that there won't be repercussions on her future? Also, ensure she doesn't recover her strength when she wakes up."

Anna and Eve nodded in praise for her thoughtfulness, and Eve answered. "Easily."

After that, they continued their travel with an additional girl.

Anna has already used a one-time-use cloth mending formation stone, they weren't valuable, and they had thousands with them.

After they cleaned her a little, they couldn't help but appreciate this beauty. Previously, the dirt around her face and body covered her beauty, but now that she was cleaned, her beautiful face appeared.

This girl had an excellent 175 centimeters in height and icy blue hair that reached below her waist. She also had a pair of narrow yet cold light blue eyes, something noted by Yasneia after she opened her eyes.

Her facial features seem to have frozen since even her lips have a light blue shade. Yet, she is captivating, giving an ethereal feeling and refreshing fragrance as if she were made of ice. She wears simple white cultivation robes and a pair of blue shoes. Yasenia couldn't help but guess that she was probably an Ice element cultivator.

Cecile opened her eyes and thought indifferently as if it wasn't about herself she was thinking about. 'It seems I didn't die. I managed to kill the ambusher, but the beasts made me miserable. I also was poisoned. Oh… it seems I was healed. Why did the beasts flee when they had me cornered?'

Then she looked around, and her sight froze, looking at one spot, or more precisely, a person.

Right there, a pair of golden slit eyes with a tinge of red around the pupils looked languidly at her.

The little mole under the left eye and the slight upward curve of her eyes added seductiveness and charm to that person. Her mouth was rising slightly in a natural yet lazy smile, and the devilish body of that person could trap one's sight like her appearance had gravitational power.

The air was filled with a sweet floral scent that made one's head dizzy but highly comfortable.

'A beauty that can ruin a country with her countenance.'

That was Cecile's first impression of Yasenia.

Cecile continued looking until Yasenia opened her mouth.

The voice was languid and unhurried, making the person's bones soft. "It seems that you woke up. We found you in the forest and decided to take you with us. We are going to the Rita Academy City. Do you want to come with us?"

After hearing her speak, Cecile woke up from the spell this woman cast on her, and for the first time in years, she felt slightly flustered.

However, she calmed down very fast and answered with a crisp and clear yet cold voice.

"I will go with you if it isn't a bother." Her words flowed like an icy water stream, pleasant to the eye but with an underlying coldness.

Yasenia responded with a soft "En." And then, she turned to look out of the window, uninterested.

Only then did Cecile start to look around. She saw a handsome boy looking at her with curiosity, the carriage seemed to be ordinary, yet the number of enchantments it had was enough to know that the people here were not simple.

Oliver opened his mouth, asking cheerfully. "So? What is your name? Did you come to this forest alone for any reason? Little Sis said that you were probably either ambushed or betrayed. Which one is it?"

Cecile started to feel a little dizzy about the high-speed questioning and raised one hand to stop his tirade. Cecile said with her impassive voice."My name is Cecile. I came to this forest to do a mission from the Rising Talent Academy. I was ambushed, not betrayed."

She didn't bother to answer the rest and started absorbing energy to recover.

Oliver felt that she wouldn't answer any more questions, so he got out of the carriage and went to tell Anna and Eve about it.

Cecile opened her eyes and suddenly caught the sight of a long and beautiful bi-color dragon tail, and again for the first time in her life, she was struck speechless.

Yasenia felt someone's gaze on her tail and wiggled it a little while she turned to look at Cecile.

She playfully moved her tail tip in its soft state to pat Cecile on the head while speaking to her. "What's wrong? Have you never seen a tail in your life?"

Cecile, feeling unexpectedly comfortable from the head patting, answered honestly. Still, her expression remained deadpan, and her voice had no waves. "Yes, it is my first time seeing it attached to a person."

Yasenia was slightly disappointed. "So even in the Academy, there isn't someone with different traits compared to humans?"

"No, the things that change the most are hair, eye, or skin color. I haven't seen anyone with beast traits."

Sensing the tail leaving her head, Cecile felt a little strange. She wanted to be patted a bit more.

With a calm voice, Cecile asked. "Did you have it since birth? Also, your pupils are vertical. Do you see differently with them compared to other people? What can you do with your tail? Is it heavy?"

Yasenia was a little surprised. She thought Cecile would be like those Ice Queens, silent and still as an iceberg.

To her surprise, Cecile was utterly blunt and outspoken.

'How did my mother call this type of person? A kerude? No… A Kudere! Her mother liked this type a lot...'

Then, feeling slightly bored because of the long travel, she started teasing her. "I will answer you if you smile for me."

Cecile was confused, but she tried to smile, TRIED because the thing she did was a face uglier than crying.

Yasenia laughed unabashedly. "Your smile is so adorable! Hahaha."

Then, she wrapped her tail around Cecile's waist to bring her closer and started playing with her soft and cold cheeks. "To smile, you have to do this!"

She pulled her lips with her fingers, not knowing that poor Cecile was suffering a frontal assault of her smiling appearance, scent, and soft hands sending Cecile's thoughts in disarray.

Seeing that the person didn't react, the dragoness tilted her head and asked cutely. "What happened?"

Cecile felt something hit her heart so hard that it did a big *Thump.*

Again, for the first time, she lost her calm mind. 'How can you do that kind of face! Doing a cute tilting face with your seductive features is against the rules! And why the hell do you smell so good!?'

Yasenia, seeing that the person near her was having trouble, remembered her mother's warnings about her scent towards unaccustomed people.

Without delaying it, the dragoness hastily pushed Cecile away with her tail. Next, she asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Cecile cleared her mind, and after remembering her recent thoughts, her cheeks slightly blushed.

Yasenia opened the curtains and let the fresh air in. At the same time Cecile was about to speak, Oliver returned. "Little Sis! We can already see the Academy on the horizon!"

Yasenia looked outside and gasped in surprise. "Academy!? Isn't that as big as the Moon Empire capital!?"

Oliver said, "This must be why people call it Rita Country or Rita State instead of Rita Academy… Look at that tower. It is so tall that it is piercing the clouds!"

Yasenia was utterly awed.