Chapter 54: Raven Training

Ethan woke up to the feeling of something on his chest and the slow sound of someone else’s breathing.

Lila was on top of him, cheek against his collarbone and one leg hooked over his.

The blanket had slipped low, and the morning light shone just enough that he saw how her hair caught the light.

They hadn’t stopped at the chair. That much was certain. The way his body ached was enough of an evidence that Lila didn’t go easy on him...

"You’re awake," he said.

"Been awake." She mumbled but didn’t move off of him yet. "I felt comfortable here."

He stayed still for a moment, one hand resting on her back.

She was comfortable... that was a simple word. But it still landed with more weight than he wanted to admit.

"I’m heading for the east grounds soon," he said eventually. And Lila clicked her tongue.

"Come on. Would it kill you to stay just a little bit longer?"

"I lost the Iron Golem and got the Raven as a replacement. I want to test it out..."

Lila hesitated before she moved off him and sat up, covering her chest with the blanket.

She watched him sit up, staring at his back as his put on his shorts and moved for the bathroom before she spoke again.

"I’m coming with you. Don’t you dare leave without me..."

***

The east grounds were quiet, something that Ethan was silently grateful for as he couldn’t concentrate if students kept staring at him. He found an open stretch of ground, exhaled, and reached into Storage.

The Blood Raven came out in a rush of displaced air, soaring out of his shadow and unfolding its full mass in the air.

It was larger up close in clear daylight than it had been in the chamber’s dim blue light.

Its body was a deep, almost matte black with feathers streaked through with dull red patterns like dried blood.

The wings opened with a sound like cloth tearing, and it radiated an aura that was more intense that the Iron Golem.

It shrieked as green light setteled in its eyes when it landed.

Lila looked up with her eyebrows raised.

"...Okay," she said. "That’s actually pretty."

Ethan gave her a flat look. "Do you dare name it."

She looked at it. "I didn’t say I was going to name it."

"I didn’t think you would either. Not until you called the Beowolf Bef."

"That was different." She pointed at the Raven as it shifted on the dirt, its talons scraping the floor deep enough to leave marks. "Look at it. The color is beautiful."

"It’s a weapon."

"Uh-huh." Lila’s mouth curved. "Its a beautiful weapon though..."

Ethan rolled his eyes and Bef emerged from his shoulder and immediately went toward Lila.

She smiled and rubbed its head.

Ethan rolled his shoulders and prepared to link with the bird.

"Stay clear," he said. "I’m gonna need space."

He began.

Lift. Hold. Turn left. Turn right.

The Blood Raven took to the air, soaring across the morning sky.

At fifty meters the link still felt clean. At eighty, lag crept in but it still held true, just at the cost of distance.

He used Death Link. Looking at the east grounds from that height was a bit disorienting for him but nothing he couldn’t handle.

His Death Energy ticked down slowly. Seven hundred maximum points made the work less immediately straining than the old ceiling.

"Circle round," he ordered.

The Raven carved a wide oval path over the grounds. A pair of second years on the far side stopped to watch but Ethan ignored them.

Avoiding public attention was already a lost battle after yesterday’s announcement; training in hiding would only make things worse.

He ran combat drills next— dive angles, swerving after a missed strike, patterns that would have mattered against the Alpha if he’d had the energy to use them.

The beast performed with a kind of predatory impatience and Ethan had to put more into every order or it would drift toward its own instincts.

Lila, on the other hand was focused on Bef, giving him basic patterns like sit, give a paw and staying down. The Beowolf obeyed her more readily than it obeyed most of Ethan’s non combat orders, but he decided not to comment on it

"Take it easy." Lila called without looking up from the wolf.

"I know."

"Not you. Bef."

"Wow."

He brought the Raven down, then cut the link and checked the system.

```

[Death Energy: 641/700]

[Control Capacity: 4/54]

[Exp: 170/200]

```

He nodded. Acceptable. The energy needed to control the Raven was expensive compared to Bef, but cheapee compared to the pressure he felt using the golem.

If he kept this up, he could be able to find a way to stop what happened in that dungeon from happening again.

He didn’t want either of them to experience that again. If the system hadn’t given him that one command window, they most probably wouldn’t have made it back...

He commanded the bird to soar up, then dive. He did it again and ordered it to go fast. When it did, it raised quite a bit of dust and produced enough wind to ruffle his hair.

He was halfway through a second dive when Nora’s voice ccame from across the grounds.

"I knew you’d be here...."

Ethan turned. "It’s a free day. No classes whatsoever. Where else would I be?"

Nora stood at the edge of the grounds wearing a long sleeved shirt and pair of jeans with an expression that was normal...

Well, almost normal...

She glanced at Lila and Bef, at the Blood Raven hovering in the air, then finally looked at Ethan.

"Brimstone," she said. "I’ve been doing research...."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, and Lila gave her a look of interest.

So that’s what she went to do when she left yesterday...

She turned, gesturing them to follow.

"Come on. You’ll want to hear this."