"Guess that takes care of it," the woman mumbled, "As for you, human."

Those words made Skeet look at her as she places her sword on her shoulders.

"This won't hurt, but if you are to give me a lame battle, then I will bore you the same way I do to this very ground. Are we clear about that, human?" Hearing those, Skeet couldn't do anything but gulp. Chuckling, the woman then swinged her sword even larger than her arms, where she would need to carry them with both hands.

"Well then, show me that you're more than just another petty offer! Satisfy me in this battle, human!"

...

Trying to read his enemy's moves, he raised his wooden shield for defense when she suddenly flapped her scarlet firefly-like wings, creating a strong gust away from her direction. Not wanting to be flown away, he used his shield as a barrier against the wind, which seemed to be effective enough. When the winds have dissipated, he noticed that his opponent is nowhere to be seen, until he looked up and saw her high up and about to lunge at him again with her mighty sword— only to have barely managed to dodge it without a scratch with a side step to the left.

Seeing the lady struggle with taking out of her sword, which seems to have buried to the ground underneath, he took a glance on her back, and there was nothing more to it other than her bare scarlet wings that she flaps about to help her with grabbing the sword.

"Winged beasts can never look at their backs." The words came to Skeet's senses. Looking at the bare backside, he sees this as an opening. Thus he approaches to land a strike, but two swords have clashed just before the sword that he holds land onto the lady's bare back. The huge sword which the lady was once struggling to get is now on her right hand, blocking the attack Skeet was about to make.

"Ho ho. Nice try, human. But I'm not letting you end this battle right away!" mocked the winged lass before holding the sword with both of her hands, trying to dominate Skeet with power.

"Do you feel my power now? Do you?!" Skeet needed to break through the force that she puts on her sword onto his wooden shield, which is when he saw how poorly oriented her footwork was. One of her foot seems close to his. He thought that one close inch between his foot and hers, and he can step on her toe. The thing is, how?

"Still holding on, are we?" she grins, "You're good, I'll tell you that. But your petty shield won't get to see another day!" And with that, her sword began to cast flames on its own, which also made Skeet's shield to slowly burn the more she adds more force to it. However, instead of seeing it as a bother, he rather saw it as a chance... to make an attack! Skeet immediately thrusted the burning shield towards her face. Stupefied with the move, the burning shield and her sword went right on her face, feeling the burn of her own actions.

"YOWWWWWWWWWW!!!"

"Auntie, are you alright?!" Hearing the screams, Ylva rushed back towards the woman, shoving Skeet off. The woman showed her now burnt-up face, which made her step back in aghast. The poor woman seems to be crying at this point.

"Now, now, let me heal it up for you." Ylva then placed both of her palms to her aunt's face, healing it. While on the process, she then looked at Skeet, suggesting death in every blink of an eye. "You... I'll have a word with you after this, punk." On the other hand, Skeet was just wiping the dust off from Ylva's shoving when he heard it, simply giving a puzzled look.

"Oh, Ylva... Don't blame the human for this. I told you I wanted a good fight." the woman consoled.

"Doesn't even mean that he could just go and burn your face!" Ylva replied with gritted teeth, which sends the woman chuckling.

"You really don't know a thing or two about strategy and opportunity, ah?" She grinned, "Also, that's enough." Standing up, the woman then confronted Skeet once more, not for a fight this time.

"That was a good fight, I'd say." she said, "I didn't expect you to use a burning shield to burn me in return. Ah, but where are my manners as a chieftain?" She then offered her hand to Skeet. "Name's Shellan Mit'iga, Chieftain of the bold Pyriad of Fantacia. Also an aunt to Ylva."

Taking it, Skeet replied, "Skeet Caldurn of Mainland Esteria."

"Seriously though, you two fight as if your lives really are at stake." Ylva butted in, "Especially YOU, human."

"What? She was trying to kill me and all!" Hearing that, Shellan couldn't help but chuckle. "My sword actually pokes less than how a stick would! Also, the ground underneath is a little sticky once being buried about. I didn't actually think you'd think that it's the real thing!"

Now Skeet felt stupid for burning up her face and all. However, if it wasn't even real, then...

"Um, Shellan—"

"Chieftain Shellan," Ylva interrupted, "Know your manners, human."

"Right," he stood corrected. "Chieftain Shellan, if the weapon isn't real, then how come those flames appeared?" Shellan then sheathed her sword back and exposed her two bare hands, which suddenly bursted out flames out of nowhere. "These? It's magic, baby. Lovin' it? Because I do."

Ylva could only roll her eyes, and mutter, "Auntie being a narcissist again."

"But enough talk about flames," Shellan then extinguished the flames on her hands. "I'm not going to apologize for that burnt shield, by the way. Not even in my lifetime!" And just then, she walks away from the scene as if nothing happened. But then, Skeet being persistent made him follow her to her chambers— the chieftain's bedroom. "But, but what will I use now?"

The bedroom seems simple enough by having a fireplace and an anvil for blacksmithing, a table chock full of paper works, and a very uncomfortable stone bed that she has. By which, is she actually fine about sleeping on a thick, hard rock? While Skeet follows her along, Shellan suddenly tossed a thick piece of metal towards him. The weight caught him off-guard, letting him slip and fall off the hard ground.

"Guess that eased your worries now?" Shellan asked. Skeet stood up and looked at whatever was thrown right at him— a brand new metal shield, with the insignia of the Pyriad engraved on it. "Now that's one better shield than those Oread offer. Very resistant against fire, and is made of good quality steel that I, the blacksmith of all blacksmiths of Isla de Fuego personally chose! Hope that helps."

"Thanks, but," Something in between Shellan's words made Skeet ask as he stands up, brushing off the dust on his pants. "Where's Eliona?"

It made the Pyriad chieftain silent. After all, it's what Skeet and Ylva were after.

"You two... were not here for a visit?" She could only ask, with a face full of aghast. Ylva then promptly shook her head as a response.

"Heh. Should've known sooner." Shellan replied before turning back towards the table, "Thought I'd finally have a day without even thinking about it, or even mentioning that brat of a Mother Nymph living her life like a queen underwater." Clenching her right fist, she mumbled as an addition, "So that's what the Oracle and her subordinates were up to, huh..."

"Why, what's the problem with the other Mother—" before Skeet could finish, Shellan already took out a lava-colored sledgehammer, pointing at Skeet. "You don't dare interfere with matters between Mother Nymphs, human!"

"Whoa, chill! I'm just asking, okay? Besides, it's your niece who dragged me along to—" and before he could spurt more facts, Ylva already have whacked his head with her fist. "Silence." She then confronted her aunt. "Anyway, he's right. We can't start the ceremony without the Oracle, you know that. So, uh," she paused, "mind tell us where she could be by now? The ceremony's fast approaching and all."

Sighing, Shellan lowered her guard and looked away from the two. "For the love of Meiin, I didn't raise you to become a blackmailer, Ylva. Anyhow, about your Oracle..."

A long, awkward pause wafts into the area as they look at each other, until Shellan finally got her courage to speak the truth, "I'm sorry Ylva, but your oracle is in another sub-realm."

"What...?" Skeet could only look in disbelief upon hearing the said news.

"YOU DON'T SAY!!" On the other hand, Ylva already had leaped in front of her aunt, shaking her up and down, something that Skeet should've been doing instead of the subordinate.

"You could've told us sooner, aunt! We have wasted a heck ton of time for Esteria's freaking sake!"

"Enough already, Ylva!" Skeet abruptly stopped the commotion, which made the two Fantacians stop. Just then, he approached Shellan, who now seemed to be confused from the shaking her niece did.

"Which sub-realm did Eliona head to? We really need to find her. And, uh, about Ylva...", he asked.

Shellan replied, holding her head, "She's always like that when mad. And, Eliona went to Undyra."

"Undyra?"

"That's where the Naiad live, or the water-type equivalent of us Pyriad." she then explained. "Actually, I don't really want to talk about it for a reason. That reason is that, the Mother Nymph there is annoying just as itself. I hate her."

Just for a petty reason?

"No, don't take my hate on her as some childish sort of hating or whatever. She accused my own kind for... for threatening their area, which is something that we don't like doing! Yes, most of us are blacksmiths, if not wrestlers, but we don't just go and call war over the other sub-realm just because we want to!" Panting, she paused for a bit, before going back to her ranting. "I actually did try to argue it out with her personally, but there's just something in her that doesn't want to listen, and even demanded to bring in the Oracle over! Such a brat."

"And that's now why milady Eliona scooted off without any word?", Ylva butted in, now calmer than earlier. Shellan could only nod helplessly. "But at least I did try to convince her not to mind her tantrums."

"You know what, both of you are the same though— throwing tantrums over the third party." The straightforward comment which Skeet made caught them off-guard. "What? Because it's true. I get it you're trying to argue it over the other Mother Nymph, but it's not working, so now you're venting it on us while that other Mother Nymph vents over Eliona. Geez, for such Mother Nymphs, Sasheen actually works more mature than you two combined."

Retorting with a sigh, Shellan frowned at Skeet, "You're actually right at that. Anyhow, sorry for keeping you two. Let alone the battle we just had. Now go, find your Oracle at Undyra. She left some time ago, but knowing Lumminel, I know you two can catch up."

Nodding, Ylva already patted on Skeet's shoulders, signaling him to go. "We'll be off now, Chieftain.", he said, bidding goodbye to his unexpected opponent.

"I hope for another battle, human! Come back here if you feel like training!" Her words continue to echo around the cave sanctuary which she made for herself, yet at the back of Skeet's head is nothing but a sigh coming out from his soul.

He certainly wouldn’t want to come back there for a while.

END OF CHAPTER 7