The Azra-El Series Ch. 02

"Ok aunty, but you should do the same with me"

"Deal" Jie Er replied.

Soon they descended in front of a large four storied stone building. Above the archway of the tall wooden doors was the sign -- "Central Library of Maga".

The two of them walked inside and Blaze could immediately sense the earthy smell of old books. Massive shelves filled with books, lined the floor. A central stairway led into the upper floors. A few tables and chairs were scattered all over the place, but there weren't too many people. To the left, at the entrance, was a counter where a serious looking brunette sat reading a book.

"Hello. Can I register my niece?" Jie Er asked the librarian.

The librarian gave Blaze and Jie Er a once over before she pushed a piece of paper and a pen towards them.

"Fill this form up. Both of you need to sign it", she replied with a smile.

"First time at a library, child?" she asked Blaze gently.

Blaze nodded as he read the name of the book she was reading. "Vita's treatise on angel ethics"

"Can I read or borrow any book I want?" he asked her. He wasn't sure if his presumed maturity or immaturity would be a barrier to his reading.

"Only the fourth floor has books that need special permission, but the rest of them should be accessible. Just ask me about whatever you want to read. I will be glad to point you in the right direction"

"I need introductory books on the History of Azra El, Energy Manipulation, books on Wing Techniques & maybe some sword arts. What do you suggest?"

The librarian was taken aback for a moment, before she pondered for a bit and wrote down some information on a slip of paper.

"Look up these shelves. The first number is the floor, the alphabet indicates the row, and the last number indicates the shelf number. I'd suggest 'The Rise of the Heavenly Union' for history. Nalini's Intro to Energy Manipulation is also good. The other two books, you should decide for yourself" she replied.

"Thank you miss" Blaze replied, taking the paper.

Jie Er finished the form and after taking a sign from Blaze, she handed it to the librarian. She browsed through the sheet for a moment before she handed a library card with an ID number.

"Thank you, miss", Jie Er muttered before turning to Blaze. "I will come back for you in a couple of hours. Have fun and don't leave the library" she told him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before she left.

Blaze took in a deep breath before he walked into the mass of books.

He found the librarian's suggestions on the first floor. He chose 'A Registry of Maga's Sword Techniques' on the second floor. On the third floor, he picked up 'Wing Dynamics and Efficient Energy Consumption'.

Satisfied with his finds, he looked for a place to sit and browse through them. He spotted a long table and a few chairs, aligned along a couple of Victorian windows. A lone girl sat by one of the windows, completely focused on reading her book.

As Blaze walked towards the table, he slowly fell into a daze. The girl was simply gorgeous. She did not seem to be a fully-grown angel, but the beauty in her face was surreal.

She had an oval face with gentle curves and a sharp chin. Slightly downturned but large aquamarine eyes with long fluttering lashes, adorned by thin gently rising eyebrows. Her graceful nose wasn't too sharp & her reddish pink cupid's bow lips were full and luscious. Her long, thick and smooth golden blonde hair was parted in the middle, and then braided into a thick long tail that hung below her butt.

Her bangs, which enshrined her face, were swept behind her rightly sized ears. A thin golden circlet with a ruby center adorned her forehead, and a golden sapphire necklace hung from her neck. Her lips were slightly parted -- her heavy lower lip had a natural hang. Her form and her intently focused eyes gave her an ethereal look -- like a medieval painting of great aesthetic virutue.

As Blaze approached her from the her right, he also had a view of her body. She seemed to be around his height, which was the only reason why he felt that she was a fellow 'child'.

She was wearing something that could be considered a white skimpy hybrid of a tube dress and a corset, with intricately designed golden linings. There was a deep wide cut at her cleavage, that narrowed as it reached her visible belly button. The cloth only covered up to the inner edges of her areolae and clung to her elegantly rounded breasts as if it did not understand the concept of gravity.

The sides of her dress were almost entirely cut out, revealing her waist and the small of her back. A gold lined strip of cloth hung from the corset and clung to her hips to make up the skirt. The skirt was quite short, giving Blaze a full view of her long graceful legs. Her feet were covered with tight white boots.

Blaze quietly pulled up a chair in front of her and took his seat. He tried browsing through the books, but his glance kept gravitating towards her face. For the first time in his life, he was more attracted to a girl's face than her body. This was especially noteworthy as the girl in question had a body that would tempt the gods, and that said body was currently quite exposed.

"You should start with something simpler, child" Blaze suddenly heard a dulcet musical voice.

Blaze looked up from his book on Wing Dynamics, and the impeccable image of the girl he had created in his mind crumbled. Her face was kind and her words, although misguided, seemed to be well intentioned.

But the way she spoke and the natural air of superiority she seemed to possess, annoyed him. He glanced at the title of the book she was reading -- 'Advanced Mathematical Theorems on the Natural World'

"Why don't you read something simpler? Child!" Blaze retorted, a little miffed.

The girl raised a brow in surprise.

"How old are you?" she asked, her eyes growing softer. It did not make Blaze feel any better.

"Nineteen" Blaze replied instinctively, and instantly regretted it.

"You're younger than I thought" she said surprised. She then glanced at his chest. "Makes sense though"

"How old are you!?"

"61"

Freaking granny!

"Why the heck are you so short?" Blaze asked impetuously.

The girl's upper lip quivered. He seemed to have touched a nerve.

"I am of average height for my age. You are just a very large child! Although, not in all places"

"Yeah, sure." Blaze replied simply, and went back to his book, making the girl silently fume at him. He started browsing the table of contents to make sure he was equipped to read it.

"I do sincerely advise you to start with something simpler, child" the girl replied after a while. She seemed to have composed herself after her earlier fit of temper.

Blaze looked up from his book and considered it for a moment.

"Why don't we have a wager? If I can borrow this book and cannot master it within a week, I will do whatever you want for a whole day. If I do, then I get to order you around for a day. What do you say?" Blaze said cockily. Physics and math were two things he was completely confident about.

The girl looked at Blaze quizzically for a couple of seconds before she replied. "I apologize if I misjudged your aptitude, child. I only had the best of intentions." She then went back to her book as if she had done her righteous duty and couldn't be bothered anymore with him.

Blaze resisted the urge to dive at her and bite her perfect little nose.

He went back to the book and leafed through its pages before confirming he could tackle it. He then switched to the 'Rise of the Heavenly Kingdom'.

From his interactions with Jie Er, Blaze had already learnt that there were two intelligent races in this world. The Angels and the Demons.

Physically, the two races were mostly similar. However, the devils manifested wing colors that were dark, while the angels manifested lighter colored wings. For example, Blaze's wings were a bright reddish orange in color and could be considered angel wings. A theoretical demon Blaze, in contrast, would have had deep or dark red colored wings.

Blaze, however, wasn't sure about the colors in the middle range of this spectrum. So far, he had only seen brightly colored wings that could never be mistaken for demon wings.

Some demons also seemed to possess a tail and horns.

Mentally, angels and demons were supposedly the opposite.

Angels represented the good and were usually nice, cheerful, kind & gentle. If they could, they would always help a fellow angel or an animal in need & would never treat anyone with malice.

Demons represented evil and were usually deceitful, angry, gloomy & unkind. They were the personification of selfishness and would never do anything that did not benefit them in some way.

These distinctions between angels and demons were similar with the mythology from Earth, but Blaze felt that they may be gross oversimplifications and that the reality maybe a bit more complex. This idea gained more ground after he browsed through the book.

Currently, there were two sides that were at a constant war with each other -- The Hela Empire of the demons and the Heavenly Union of the angels. The Hela empire was ruled by a single empress who was currently the strongest person in the world.

The Heavenly Union was comprised of an allied group of angel nations. The county of Maga was a part of the kingdom Aranya, which was one of the larger nations of the Heavenly Union.

The Heavenly union came into existence after a massive war that the Hela empire started 667 years ago. The war had ended within thirty-five years, but constant skirmishes and small-scale wars were quite common.

The constant warfare was one of the reasons the Heavenly union stressed so much on the strength of the angels. Although every nation had a standing army, all citizens were expected to be able at fighting. More desirable forms of employment, property and certain goods were only available to people with a higher combat strength.

The mayor of Varan was the second strongest angel in town. The commander of the guards was stronger than her and could easily take her position if she wanted to. However, since the angels were 'understanding and kind', a form of democracy existed and the current mayor who was more suitable for position was able to maintain it.

The merchant class was somewhat exempt from this rule, but the way the society worked forced them to be proficient at fighting.

For example, if someone desired their property they could easily challenge them to a fight. If they lost, they would have to sell it to the challenger whether they desired it or not. However, the other party had to pay the full market price for it.

One important rule about the challenges was that any significant challenge regarding a property or an official position needed a government approval.

Regardless, Blaze found this type of society to be unfeasible and inexplicable. It only made a little sense if one took all angels to be pure and righteous.

"Here you are! What are you doing all the way up here?" Blaze suddenly heard Jie Er's voice from behind. Time seemed to have flown by, as he got absorbed within the pages of the book.

"I found some good books, aunty. How was shopping?" he replied, as he turned back to greet her. Jie Er seemed to be giving the girl a curious glance.

"Aunty?"

"Ah! It went fine, dear. Let's get going. You can take back the books if you want" Jie Er replied.

"I hope, my little Blaze Er didn't bother you too much miss" she said politely to the girl.

"She was pleasant company" the girl replied curtly, yet politely.

Blaze shook his head, gathered his books and followed Jie Er to the first floor.

"Who was that snobby brat?" Blaze asked her as they reached the second floor.

"Don't be disrespectful. She must be around twice your age"

"Haha. So, she is a shortie!"

"What do you mean?"

"She told me she was 61. That's thrice my age. Haha"

"Oh. Anyway, she seems to be nobility of some sort. Only they wear circlets of that kind. I am not sure what she is doing here though" Jie Er replied.

"No wonder she is such a snob!"

"Don't be rude, Blaze. She seems nice enough and is very pretty"

Blaze snorted in response.

Blaze took the books to check out and the librarian told him about a two-book limit. He considered his options for a minute before deciding on the history and energy manipulation books. Those were of more immediate use to him.

The two of them then headed out for lunch and after a simple meal, they went to a theatre to watch a play. It was three hours long and was about an angel who gets lost in the demon territory and must go through numerous obstacles to get back. It was a fun show except for the fact that all the demon characters seemed to be the same.

After the play, they explored the town a bit more before they met up with Agatha.

Parrot's Tail was a cozy little inn with cushioned red seats. They chose a corner table and ordered some food. Blaze had expected some alcohol to be involved, but apparently alcohol was considered bad in Aranya.

Blaze tried to get involved in their conversation at the beginning, but after they finished their food, he asked Jie Er to bring out his history book. He then wrapped her arm around her and leaned into her breast and read his book, while the two of them chatted away into the night.

He realized that his relationship with Jie Er was getting weirder each day. But, Morality is superfluous, and it isn't like I am doing something completely forbidden.

It was only a couple of hours after sunset that they decided to part ways. And after more chatting on the street, the two of them gave Agatha a good-bye hug before heading back home.

***

Surdas (Sunday) flew by quietly but pleasantly in each other's companionship. Jie Er did some chores and read some novel, while Blaze spent most of his day reading his books or practicing his energy manipulation. The book was a great help. They also pleasured each other three times that day. Blaze made sure that Jie Er came multiple times before he made her suck him off.

The next week also went by in a similar fashion to the first. He finished the history book by mid-week, so he asked Jie Er to get him the book on Wing Dynamics.

By the weekend, with Jie Er's training and guidance, Blaze could manifest three-foot-long wings, which he could sustain with minimal energy loss. He also realized that despite the height difference, he was physically a little stronger than Jie Er.

His other skills, however, were not even close to hers. She did have a century and a half over him. Regardless, Jie Er was amazed by his growth. She told him that if he maintained his present growth rate, he could become one of the strongest angels in the country.

That Saturday, the two of them were finishing their breakfast when they heard a loud voice from outside their cottage.

Jie Er was supposed to drop him off at the library for the day. She couldn't take Blaze to the library on weekdays, because the town was in the opposite direction of where she worked.

So, one could imagine Blaze's anger at the sudden intrusion. He had been a little cooped up over the week.

"Come out Jie Er! It's time for you to face me!" an angel screamed from outside.

Jie Er visibly blanched when she heard the voice.

"What's going on, aunty?" Blaze asked a little worried for his aunt.

"It's Rebecca!" Jie Er replied in a hushed voice.

"And?"

"She's a lieutenant in the army. She has always had her eyes on my hot spring, and she finally got her challenge approved a couple of months ago. She wants to challenge me for the house She probably thinks she is finally strong enough to go against me"

"Is she?"

"Stronger than me? Not if I was at my peak. But, I had a mishap in my training a little while back. So, I am not entirely sure about myself... There is a chance that she may win. I don't want to risk it. Especially with you around. I will still get the money for the house and I could always challenge her back. But I want to avoid it, if I can"

"What's her specialty, aunty? What's her strength?" Blaze asked her, as a plan formed in his head. He had been thinking about the challenge system ever since he first heard and read about it.

"Speed. She has quick bursts in speed and momentum. She counters my style a little, as it depends on gradually building up momentum before delivering a quick strong blow" Jie Er explained.

"Hmmm. This might work then" Blaze replied and explained his plan to Jie Er.

"That's so devious, little Blaze! I am not sure if its honorable" Jie Er exclaimed after she heard the plan.

"Pah! It's not like we are lying to her, aunty. We are giving her the choice. It's not like she must agree. Just play your part. I will do the rest" Blaze insisted with a devious smile.

"You're so naughty, little Blaze. I guess we can try it. I am only doing this for your sake" Jie Er replied, pinching his cheek.

"Perfect! Stay here for now" Blaze replied and walked to the door.

The angel who was in mid scream, stopped herself as she saw the door open.

Blaze closed the door behind him and looked at the screamy angel. She was beautiful but a feisty looking one. Her skin was smooth and white with a pinkish tinge to it. Her waist length hair was a reddish pink, with thick locks of sprawling hair that looked as unruly as she was. Her bangs were parted at the center and flowed down to her cheeks.

Her dark eye-lined almond eyes were a pinkish red, with long mascaraed eyelashes. Her brows were thick near her nose but were long and arched up into a thin line. She had a pretty & slightly upturned nose. Her pink glossy lips were plump and had a natural pucker to them. Her face was angular, and her chin was small but rounded. A dark red rose was painted at the center of her forehead.

She wore a red and black corset with a frilly lower end that only reached the narrow part of her waist at the front but turned into a frock and reached the crease of her butt cheeks at the back. Her breasts, which were slightly pushed up due to the corset, were like soft mounds that rose from her chest. The bust of the corset only reached the sides of her breasts but managed to push them together to form a deep ravine at her cleavage.

Two triangular strips of cloth extended from the sides to cover the skin of her breasts. The ends of the lower triangles managed to cover her nipples, but her pale red areolae were mostly visible.

She also wore a black garter thong, connected to transparent black stockings. Her footwear was a pair of six-inch-tall black and red pumps, which made her stand at a height of 7 feet and four inches.

"Who are you?" Rebecca exclaimed, with raised eyebrows.

"Go away, stupid! You look so weak, and you wanna fight with my aunt? How shameless!" Blaze told her with a slight but perceptible sneer.

"Who the Hela are you, twerp? Don't barge in on adults' business. Go get Jie Er. I am strong enough for her" Rebecca replied, slightly taken aback and a little annoyed.

"How old are you?" Blaze asked with the same sneer.

"134" she replied, expecting Blaze to show more deference.

"Hahaha. You're so old, but so weak!? I am 19 and I am most likely stronger than you. I don't think you are good enough to challenge my aunt. Come back after a couple of hundred years of training. That might give you a chance" Blaze replied in mock disdain.

"You brat! I... I... Jie Er, come out! Is this how you treat a challenge? You send your kid to insult me!?" she screamed at the door.

Before Blaze could reply, Jie Er stepped out of the house.

"Stop screaming, Rebecca. What's your problem? Can't you at least let me get dressed in peace?" Jie Er replied, pretending to stifle a yawn.