The Old Scholar

A few days after the events of the Springtime Tournament, Leilani found herself sending clones of herself traveling to each nation to talk with the monarchs who were mostly her former students. However, she and her beloved Martha, whom she had listed as on break thanks to her position as Dean had brought her along for the ride as they teleported to the Sultanate of Ghabir after the former had received a letter from a certain Tower Master asking for her to come as it was "urgent" and while she was here she left a clone of herself to manage Imperia while she was away as to make sure nothing bad would happen yet again while she was gone.

Materializing on the teleportation pad wearing her usual attire while Martha was wearing a much more comfortable bled of robes with blue accents, the duo stepped off the platform, paid for their transport and then sat side by side in the carriage as it made its way towards the Tower of Santomin. Placing a sound-proofing barrier inside the cabin of the carriage, Leilani turned to her beloved and had a nervous smile as she held her hand tighter. 

"I know this is not the best time to say this, but Martha...I may have been lying about who I am" The Old Scholar stated as they locked eyes

"Hmm? What do you mean Leilani?" Martha asked with a raised eyebrow and a confused expression on her face 

"There will be a proper confession of everything but I really hate waiting for those moments so I will give a small hint as to what will come in the future when it does occur" Leilani said as she tried to keep her smile on her face 

"Ok love...I trust you" Martha replied as she brought up her beloved's hand to her face and kissed it, making Leilani smile in return

"Ok...so, I...I am...I am The First and Only Scholar of Santomin. I have been alive for more than five thousand years" Leilani spat out as she mustered up her courage 

"Uhhh...wow...that is a lot to take in" Martha replied as she looked away from her beloved, still holding onto her hands however 

"I am sorry this is so much all of a sudden, I just wish to tell you before anyone else would tell you since we are heading into the Tower of Santomin" 

"Why?" Martha asked as she looked back at her beloved 

"Umm...the thing is...the First Scholars of old for each continent were my children I had encountered on my travels and raised to be the best they could be, Ehmir was no different, his descendants are the ones in charge of the tower and the current caretaker, my Great Granddaughter Abissa has asked me to come saying it was something urgent, and if you are wondering why I brought you along, I honestly wanted to spend time with you and also introduce you to the family...albeit the one I can trust at the moment to keep our relationship under wraps as I know the rest of my children's descendants are going to just blurt it out" Leilani answered her with a wry smile 

"I see....I must admit this was not what I was expecting in a confession" The silver-haired combat professor remarked as she leaned on her beloved 

"You are taking it rather well...I was expecting a more baffled or outrageous response" 

"I would be...but I have this feeling inside me to trust you, regardless of the absurdity of the situation...although saying it now may sound weird but, I trust you Leilani and I am thankful you opened up to me about this" Martha replied as she planted a kiss on her beloved's lips 

"Thank you Martha...thank you" Leilani replied as she pulled away from the kiss

About 10 to 20 minutes later, the carriage stopped near the gate for the Tower of Santomin, the two of them were dropped in the middle of a moving crowd but the duo quickly moved through them and walked closer to the tower. Once the duo emerged from the crowd, they saw a large line stretching to the side of the wall comprising adventuring parties and scholars accompanying them, all of them waiting for their chance to try and ascend the tower. 

"Soo, are we going to get into the line?" Martha asked as she looked at the long line 

"Hmm, no. Someone is supposed to meet us here...I wonder where they are?" Leilani commented as she looked around 

{!} 

Suddenly, a scholar standing by the gate ran over to them after spotting them as they emerged from the crowd. The scholar in question was a young female scholar with an alluring body with dark skin and auburn hair that flowed down her back while she was dressed in a cream-colored robe that struggled to keep her well-endowed breasts within its contents. The young scholar's eyes shone a deep brown and her face was pretty cute, her robes also came with a belt tied around her waist and on that belt was a sword holstered to the side in its scabbard tied to said belt. 

"Uhh..uhh..are you Miss Leilani?" The young scholar asked as she reached them 

"I am...are you the person I am supposed to meet?" Leilani asked in return as she held onto her lover's hand and looked at the scholar who was only a few feet shorter than her, she reached Leilani's chest in height so the latter had to look down 

"I am Scholar Josephine, me and two others were ordered to be on the lookout for you and escort you up to the Tower Master, however, we did not know which gate you would use so I was assigned to watch here while my colleagues kept watch on the other gate" Josephine answered as she locked eyes with Leilani 

"Ah, forgot the other entrance was a thing...oh well, shall we get going?" Leilani asked the young scholar 

"Right, please follow me as we will pass through the main gate" Josephine told them as she turned around and began to walk away with the two women following behind her 

As the two women followed behind the scholar, they walked past the long line of adventuring parties and their accompanying scholars at the gate. As they did so, there was a lot of confused grumbling and even some shouting as Leilani and Martha who had just arrived, were seemingly following a staff member and cutting through the line. Once they were about to reach the gate, a halberd dropped in front of Leilani as it separated her from Josephine. 

"Ey, no cuttin' in line little lady" A gruff older adventurer stated as he looked at Leilani who didn't even turn her head 

But before even Josephine could get a word in, Martha stepped in front of her beloved and pulled the halberd away from the adventurer's grasp which surprised him, her crimson eyes locking eyes with his and sending a slight shiver down his spine, all the while his party members were looking unsure whether to fight this out of not. 

"Ahem. If anyone is wondering, these two women are part of the Tower staff, called back from their vacation to assist us. Please keep quiet and do not engage our staff less you will be barred from entry into the tower" Josephine stated as she looked at the line of adventurers all watching what was to happen next. 

"Ah...apologies then...Ma'am" The elderly adventurer stated as he bowed his head, with Leilani not even sparing a glance at the old man before continuing on, while Martha looked down at the dude and placed his halberd on the ground before him. 

Continuing past the gate and into the lobby of the tower proper, the two women were greeted by the sight of even more adventuring parties waiting for their turn to be teleported into the first floor of the tower, with the lobby filled with adventuring parties waiting on the sidelines with their scholars and carrying queue numbers for their turn to be teleported up. Rounding a corner, the trio of women entered a staff-only section of the lobby and were greeted by the sight of a lounging area with couches, chairs, and a small bar for the scholars to rest in, with a small collection of books in a small library in the corner of the room. 

"I am so sorry that you had to go through that Miss Leilani, I hope you are fine, you said nothing during the entire thing" Josephine stated as she looked up at her

"It's fine. I am not shaken, in fact, I had other things on my mind so I didn't really pay attention to what was happening" Leilani replied 

"Oh, I see...well, the teleport pad here will take you straight up to the top of the Tower where our Tower Master is awaiting you, please, step on" 

Stepping onto the pad, the two women were then transported in the blink of an eye from the staff room to a large chamber at the top of the tower. The first thing to strike the duo was the beams of light pouring in from the glass ceiling, followed by the sounds of flowing water from the two large fountains on either side of the entrance. Once the duo stepped off the platform, they walked through an open doorway that placed them on a balcony that overlooked a massive sea of library shelves, there were several pathways from the balcony that led down to the sea of shelves while there was only one that led to another balcony on the far end of the chamber. 

"Soo, where do we go?" Martha asked as she was in awe of the entire chamber and its majesty 

"Straight across...there is another platform that leads to the top" Leilani answered as she began walking on the pathway across the sea of shelves 

"But isn't this the top?" Martha asked as she followed closely behind her 

"No, it's a trick room. Once any of the party members step onto the stairways leading down, they will be ambushed by creatures hiding within the maze of shelves, I know since I gave Ehmir the idea back when he was building the tower" Leilani answered her as they continued on their way 

"Oh wow, that is diabolical, but no one has made it this far yet right?" Martha remarked as she looked down and saw no monsters in sight 

"Yep, I know no one has, but when they do it is going to be pretty funny" The Old Scholar chuckled as they reached the other side 

{!} 

Teleporting up, The Old Scholar and the Former General found themselves inside a large chamber the same size as the one below, but this time around, they stepped into a very beautiful chamber decorated with furniture, a kitchen, and even a floating set of chandeliers that were under a beautiful and serene glass ceiling that showcased the beautiful azure blue sky but with none of the heat beaming down on them. 

Standing in the center of the chamber, with a big smile on her face as she locked eyes with Leilani was the 7ft tall Tower Master that dwarfed the two women who had just entered. Once Martha and Leilani made it past the open doorway, the Tower Master began sprinting straight for Leilani 

"Grandmother!" She shouted as she used her own magic to shrink her size down to Leilani's height before leaping at her  and being caught in her arms

"Hello little Prisma, hello" Leilani replied as she embraced her granddaughter in kind, although a bit tighter than the former was doing 

Once Prisma pulled away from her grandmother, she looked at the silver-haired woman standing behind her grandmother and titled her head in confusion as to who this person was, 

"Uhh...grandmother?" 

"Oh, umm Prisma...this is Martha Sinclair, my future wife and your future Grandmother" 

{!} 

At those words, Martha blushed as she turned looked away and down at the floor, brushing her hair behind her ears and giving a small smile as she was flustered by her beloved's straightforwardness while Prisma, on the other hand, was stunned into silence as she kept looking back and forth between Leilani and Martha. 

"Well..Prisma? You have anything to say?" Leilani asked as she crossed her arms and looked at her granddaughter 

"oH!, Umm....Hi Grandmother Martha, I am Prisma Augusta De Avalon, the 17th generation Tower Master and the current granddaughter of Grandmother Leilani...your future wife" Prisma stated as she walked over to Martha and stretched out her hand, unsure of whether to hug her or not 

"You needn't have to address me as Grandmother Miss Prisma, Miss Martha is fine" Martha replied as she shook her hand and understood the awkwardness present on the Tower Master's face

"Thank you Miss Martha, I apologize as this is a lot to take in and I will need some time to adjust" Prisma replied with a small awkward smile 

"You and me both" Martha nodded 

"Right...now that we are here, what is the urgency Prisma? You were very vague in your letter" Leilani asked as she stood beside her beloved 

"Oh right...ummm...the annual family gathering is almost here" 

"Oh right...but isn't it just going to be the usual bunch? Me, you guys, and your close families? I know Felicia and Jansun are busy traveling the world ever since they handed the stewardship of Tower Master to you, their eldest daughter, but is there something I am missing?" 

"Uhh...well, we all talked a month ago without informing you and we decided that it was time that our gathering this year will include our...distant relatives, like cousins this time around" 

"Oh...oh...I see...I guess that's fine Prisma...I haven't really met your cousins or the like so I guess it will be a good time for all of us to meet no? Considering you all agreed to this, I can't really refuse it" Leilani commented as she had a puzzled expression on her face 

"We can always make it the usual set if you are not comfortable with it Grandmother" Prisma stated as she looked worryingly at her older relative, like the many descendants of the First Scholars, they were to always try and place their ancestor first and foremost if she did not like the situation

"It's fine Prisma, it's a family gathering for a reason, so if I reject the idea of meeting the rest of your families then it is a bad thing on my part" Leilani stated as she waved her hand to ward off her granddaughter's worry 

"If you are fine with it Grandmother, then we will keep the original plan going, but are you sure you are ok with this? I can always tell the other-" 

"Bah! I said it was already fine Prisma, just because I am old doesn't mean I am not flexible to changes. Hayss, you are exactly like Ehmir and the rest when they were planning for my birthday celebrations" Leilani cut her off as she embraced her still-cautious granddaughter

"Thank you Grandmother...thank you" Prisma stated as she embraced her in return 

"Right, now that that is settled, why don't you talk to Martha to get to know her but do not send her into the tower. If you do, then I will give you a punishment" Leilani stated as she snapped her fingers and opened a portal to a pocket dimension 

"Umm ok..but where are you going Grandmother?" Prisma asked with a tilted head

"Yes dear, where are you going?" Martha added as well 

"Going to go finish up something, I will be right back" The Old Scholar answered them before she disappeared into the portal 

Once the portal disappeared, the Tower Master and the Former General found themselves alone with one another inside the chamber, with two of them looking at one another and flashing smiles before looking away unsure of what to do now. Martha looked back at Prisma who returned to her 7ft form and tried to think of questions to ask her but was surprised when the Tower Master looked down at her first and then adjusted herself 

"Ummm...Miss Martha...do you have any questions for us? I know it must be a lot to take in" Prisma stated as she looked down at her 

"Hmm...I would appreciate it if I was given the basics on Leilani's family...she has never really talked about you guys before and she only recently told me you were her granddaughter" Martha answered her with a small smile 

"Ok then, why don't we take a seat and then let me regale you on the basics" Prisma replied as she gestured to the comfortable set of furniture in the corner of the chamber next to a large bookshelf. 

Following her words, Martha sat on an auburn-colored chair that was made entirely of wool and other fine fabrics that felt nice to touch. In front of her, Prisma placed down a plate of desserts and a teapot filled with hot chocolate like Leilani made it, the desserts in question resembled red cubes that were covered with powdered sugar and when Martha took a bite of one, it tasted super sweet with a mix of strawberry that made her smile with joy. 

"Now that we have some refreshments, let me tell you everything you should know about our family" Prisma began as she conjured up a cloud hovering above them that would act as a display 

"For starters, when Grandmother still went by her title of the "First Scholar" she was busy traveling and naming continents all around the world, although she would not use her name in introducing herself, merely her title as First Scholar. Sometime during her travels, around 200 or 300 years or so into it, she picked up the first of her children, The First Scholar of Quelecta, a young elven girl she named Ash. She was the oldest of Grandmother's children and arguably the strongest, and she spent a good while learning under her alongside the rest of her siblings, who I will list in the display above" Prisma stated as she flicked her wrist and a list came out 

• Quelecta - Ash 
• Oneisius - Staldhart 
• Assinarius - Svetlana 
• Reim - Icairn 
• Nordreichs - Reichter 
• Penfeider - Joaqim 
• Lindholven - Bas 
• Dravitarius - Malcolm 
• Chantook - Suria 
• Vlekhardt - Garn 
• Fristasia - Arthur 
• Scattonia - Ehmir

"Hmm, I notice that the continent of Kalani isn't on this list" Martha commented a she looked at the names before her 

"Ah, that is because Grandmother herself is the First Scholar of Kalani, these are her kids all in order and each of them was adopted by her during her travels, when the Leviathans arrived, all 12 of her kids were tasked with ensuring the safety of their continents, they did their duty of course but almost died in the process were it not for Leilani intervening every single time to banish those monsters away. And from what I gather, she finished the job a few days ago, but we can talk about that another time" Prisma continued as she downed a few more strawberry cubes 

"Leilani really is something else" Martha remarked as she leaned into her chair 

"Yeah she is...Grandmother has been there since the beginning and I am sure she will still be here if it all ends...there is a reason she was granted the title of the First and Only Scholar of Santomin, there has been no one else since that rivals her intellect, heck, even the knowledge I have learned over the years here in this tower pales in comparison to what is locked behind Grandmother's mind...Father Ehmir was lucky too take a peak into it and what he saw, well...he wrote that it was downright terrifying" 

"Woah" 

"Woah indeed...I too want to see what is locked inside that mind, to see what thoughts turn inside that head of hers and if the writings of Father Ehmir are to be believed, I wish to see what kind of a monster is hiding inside"

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Standing in the middle of a burning camp in the vast deserts that spanned the Sultanate, Leilani looked around at the charred corpses of sand bandits that littered the place, usually sand bandit groups hated one another but this time around, there were about 18 entire gangs numbering about 4 to 5 thousand bandits forming one singular sand bandit gang. She moved around the burning camp, with each step being silent as the sands dared not to inconvenience her as she walked on them. She reached the body of a man crawling on his belly to get away from her, pieces of his clothing had been burnt off and charred and bloodied skin was exposed to the intense sunlight beaming down on them. Leilani said nothing as she reached his side and kicked him onto his backside, her eyes boring down at the man who was now panicking at the sight of her 

"plEASE! Spare me! I will tell anything you want!" The man pleaded as Leilani pressed her right foot onto his neck 

"Talk. Now" 

"It was Princess Azanha! She paid us the money for the contract to kill Sultan Aman! I swear! She paid us with enough gold for all of our families! I swear we were just doing it to feed them!" The man stated with fear in his eyes

"Lies" Leilani replied as she pressed her foot down harder, the bandit's throat slowly being crushed by sheer force 

"WaAit! pLEEasse! Ok! It wasn't for our families! We were doing it for Crown Prince Akubar and the rest of the House of Harran! They want to go to war with the Sultanate within the year! and they paid us riches for our services!" The man answered before Leilani pulled her foot back and stepped away from him 

Leilani was silent as the man coughed and weezed as he tried to inhale some air to keep himself alive, his eyes looking at the woman who had killed everyone here except him. But if he could just keep her here, the rest of the sand bandits returning from a raid would surely kill her and avenge them for their fate. 

"Thank you for the information" Leilani said as she glanced back at the man before walking away

The bandit leader tried to get to his feet but when he did, the sand below him suddenly hardened and several spikes burst forth from the ground that impaled him all over, with no place spared, not his legs, his arms, his torso or even his head. Once the spikes had done their job, they dragged his corpse into the sand and disappeared from sight. 

{!}

With a snap of her fingers, Leilani opened the portal back to her pocket dimension back up and out came a beautiful and alluring woman wearing a robe that blended well with the sand, her reddish-yellow hair also helped and complemented her fair skin, but her eyes were black as the night as they looked upon her. 

"Your new purpose is to serve as my personal exterminator from now on in exchange for me keeping you and your daughter safe and living a normal life, do you understand Leviathan? Or should I say...Sandra?" Leilani asked as she looked her dead in the eyes 

"Understood Master...I shall serve" Sandra stated as she bowed her head 

"Good...there is another group coming here from the south, kill them and then hunt the rest of this bandit gang down, once you are finished, tell me via telepathy, I have other matters to attend to, understood?" Leilani stated with an unmoving expression 

"It will be done Master" Sandra replied 

"Alright. Enjoy the hunt" Leilani finished as she teleported back to the Tower, leaving behind Sandra who quickly turned invisible and began doing as she was told and began sprinting southward, leaving no trace of herself as she did so.

A/N: Here is another chapter woooo! I hope you all enjoyed this one and if you got questions or reactions, let me know in the comments for me to read and as always, Stay Safe and Enjoy Your Day!