"Got everything?"

Thea asked the others. To which, all of them nodded.

It was the next morning after Leaf had unlocked the ability to move her mana. And it was the day for them to leave for the child with demon blood that Silas had told Thea about.

"Everything is packed."

Leaf responded to Thea. She had a pink colored bag hanging from her shoulder. It was a gift to her from Su.

"I told you, you don't need to carry your bag. You can just put it in my magic bag."

"There's no need for that. I want to carry this myself."

But Leaf refused.

"What is there anyways?"

Thea asked her about the contents of the bag.

"It's a secret weapon."

"You won't get to use it with me and Thea around."

Janna said.

"That's good then. This is just for emergencies."

"Ok fine. Let's head out."

Thea locked the door behind her as they walked out of the town.

"How long will it take to get there?"

Leaf asked Thea.

"According to the map, it takes about four days. But we'll get there in five days."

"Why five days?"

"We'll take the scenic route along the way."

"I see."

Leaf was happy they'll get to see beautiful landscape.

"And you're receiving special training along the way."

Leaf's happiness was stopped by the words.

"Special training?"

"Yes, it's very important training for you if you want to become a mage."

"What is the training?"

"I can't tell you now."

"I'm guessing I won't like it?"

"Uuh..."

Leaf had correctly guessed it.

"Well, if you're giving this training to me even if I like it, then I guess it must be good for me."

They walked a few hours along the road. Heading towards the north. There was a road already made from people travelling between the regions. They just had to follow the road.

Occasionally there would be carriages on the road. Most things where transported by horse drawn carriages in this world. Except to the west where the Elseya kingdom was.

A big kingdom rivaling the strongest power of the Zatiax empire, the kingdom of sol.

While Zatiax heavily invested in their military power, putting war and conquering as their focus, the Elseya kingdom instead focused on magic. Giving birth to many strong mages. They laid the foundation to become the leading kingdom of the world in terms of magic.

They had the best magic engineers in the world. They were able to make trains that went across the whole kingdom and didn't need horse carriages to travel for long distances.

The academy Solhaven was also located in this kingdom. It was put close to the border with Zatiax because originally it was an academy for the two kingdoms to make peaceful ties at. At least that was the original plan.

But pretty soon the academy became a way for the kingdoms to compete using their children. And it became known as the best academy in the world. Only allowing the best in.

Elseya kingdom used to 'win' in the past, But in the last few decades, the Zatiax kingdom had produced some high tier mages that started to win the political war in the academy.

And in the last ten years, only the Zatiax kingdom placed at the top three of the graduation rankings. Well except for the year that Thea and Janna graduated.

Two kingdoms that were not really contending for the top spots managed to get the first and second place. And very dominatingly to add. The Ruwel kingdom to the west where Janna is from and the southern kingdom of Yurivia that was separated from the rest of the continent where Thea was born.

"Alright, let's take a break."

Janna told the others it was time to rest for a moment. The sun was high in the sky. They had walked for a few hours.

"Unnie, why can't we take a carriage like the others?"

Leaf asked the question, she was sweating from head to toe.

"You don't always get to ride. And it's not as comfortable as you think."

"Is it really bad?"

"Yes, you just need to ride it once and you will never want to ride another time."

"Don't listen to her, Leaf."

Janna told Leaf.

"She's the only person in the world that hates riding in carriages. For some reason, she gets sick from riding in carriages."

"You and everyone else are the weird ones. How can you guys be fine after riding in those things?"

"See, Leaf. She's the weird one here. You'll be fine in riding carriages."

"But will I ever get to ride in one?"

"Hmm? Why wouldn't you?"

"I mean...I don't have....money."

There was a moment of silence.

"Haha, that's what you're worried about?"

Janna laughed loudly. This made Leaf very embarrassed.

"Leaf, you'll make a lot of money in the future. There's no need to worry about something like that."

Thea comforted Leaf.

"Anyways, it's time to cook lunch. Thea, take out the ingredients."

They made lunch and enjoyed the food before heading out again.

"Wait."

While walking, Janna suddenly shouted out.

"W-what is it?"

Leaf asked cautiously. Nem was looking around the area. And Gwyn was growling towards a direction.

"It's a monster."

"A monster?!"

When travelling along roads, a person encounters a monster once a day. That's why they always have guards on carriages. Only strong people travel alone.

The chances of encounter monsters goes up when you venture into the forests or places where there are no signs of humans.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Come Leaf."

"What?"

"You're fighting the monster."

"What?! B-but I don't know how to!"

"Then it's time to learn."

Janna pointed to the ground.

"Stand here and face the monster."

Leaf walked up but her face was extremely scared and nervous.

"I won't help you with it. It's a no star monster."

"Unnie..."

Leaf looked at Thea for help. But Thea just shook her head without saying a word.

"You're on your own, Leaf. This is for your own good."

A few moments later, something could be heard from around them. A low squeaking sound. Almost like a mouse. Then a figure appeared before Leaf.

It was a weird decayed looking creature. It was small, only reaching to the height of Leaf's knees. It's overall shape was like a bird's, a parrot like beak that had green and yellow mold in some spots. It had some feathers here and there, making it's grey and ugly skin very visible.

A disgusting pair of wings was on it's sides. The wings couldn't be used as it was very thin. It was almost only bones but there was some webbing connecting the bones.

This was a no star monster, born from recently dead creatures. It was natural in this world. By killing other similar leveled monsters, it would be able to absorb energy and when it gets enough it will be able to evolve to one star.

"I-I can't do it."

Leaf voiced out.

"There is no 'I can't do it'. You only have the choice of doing it."

Janna gave some stern words to Leaf.

"Use the spell I taught you."

Thea finally spoke something.

"R-rock bullet."

Listening to Thea's command gave enough courage to Leaf to use one of the most basic spell she learned from Thea.

Leaf's mana was of the earth element.

She put her hands out and moved her mana. It flowed really smoothly. A mass of rock matter formed in front of her hands. It was barely the size of a finger nail.

The monster didn't stay put for Leaf to attack it. It quickly moved to attack Leaf before she could attack it.

"Now!"

Thea shouted for Leaf to launch the attack. It was either attack first or die in this type of situation.

Leaf used her mana to launch the small rock at a fast speed towards the monster as according to the spell she was taught. But-

She missed.

She had aimed at the monster, of course. But her control of her mana was not good. It hadn't even been a day since she learned to control her mana. Small loss of control during the shooting process caused her to miss the target.

Now the target was going to attack her. There was no time to cast another spell. This was the end of the combat.

Leaf closed her eyes in response to the monster jumping at her. It was going to attack her.

But of course, it didn't.

"It's fine, Leaf."

She heard the voice of Janna and Thea together.

She opened her eyes to see that Janna was holding the monster in her hand by the neck of it. The monster couldn't move at all.

"You did good."

Thea told her.

"But I missed?"

"That doesn't mean you didn't do good."

"Why did you do that?"

Tears were forming in Leaf's eyes.

"I told you it's what's best for you. You're too kind, Leaf. We were worried that you wouldn't be able to fight a monster because of that."

"I'm too...kind?"

"Exactly. We've seen how you are everyday."

"You're always thinking of others first. And it made us worried, that you wouldn't be able to attack when needed."

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's not a bad thing. It's one of the best qualities you have, Leaf."

"But you said..."

"You should be able to be kind and able to protect yourself. There is no need to forget kindness when attacking."

"I understand."

Leaf nodded her head in understanding.

"Now, you still have finish the task, Leaf."

"Mmm."

Leaf nodded her head. She understood what she had to do.

Janna was still holding the monster.

"Are you ready?"

She asked Leaf.

"Yes!"

Janna let the monster go. It dropped to the floor. It glared at Leaf.

"Rock bullet!"

Leaf once again gathered her mana. Formed a rock in front of her hands. But this time there was a determination in her eyes.

The rock formed this time was bigger than before. Almost twice as big.

She shot the rock. This time she did not miss. And the rock moved much faster than before. It pierced into the body of the monster.

It was Leaf's first monster kill.

"How do you feel?"

Thea asked her.

"I feel bad."

"That's good. But remember, that thing was a monster. Killing it was actually an act of kindness from you."

"I get it. It was already dead before."

Leaf nodded her head. A moment later, Thea asked her a question.

"Was it scary?"

"Huh?"

Leaf didn't expect such a question.

"Mm."

She made a noise and nodded her head. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

Thea pulled her into her arms.

"It's okay to be scared."

She patted Leaf's head. Leaf couldn't hold it back and cried. Fighting against a monster was a very scary experience for a child of her age.

After Leaf was done crying, it was time to move again.

"Next, Nem will fight against a monster. Pay attention to how he fights, Leaf."

Thea told Leaf.

A couple hours later, they encountered another monster and it was Nem's turn to fight. The fight was over in a second. Nem didn't even give the monster time to look at him.

"How can he attack without even thinking about it?"

Leaf asked Thea.

"Nem has a sense of survival. Actually, people of his race all have such an instinct. They don't care about things like doing harm to monsters. They only care about themselves."

"Isn't that just being selfish?"

"There are two reasons that make it not selfish. First, it's not wrong to put your life before other's. It's the only thing you have after all. And secondly, they will put their own life in harms way first to protect the people they want to protect. It can't be called a selfish instinct if they do that, right?"

"I guess so."

"You should learn to be a bit like Nem in this way."

"Yes."

After cleaning Nem up because he got blood from the monster on his hand, they headed out again.

"Is Gwyn not going to fight?"

Leaf asked.

"It's not that he can't fight, but that there's no need for him to fight."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't notice this, but I was blocking Gwyn's aura since earlier."

"Gwyn's aura?"

"Yes, all creatures have an aura. Even you and I. But ours is very small because we focus on magic instead. Aura is the power of the physical body. The more someone trains their body, the stronger their aura gets. And Gwyn, being a baby white wolf, was born with a strong body that gave him a strong aura. Monsters avoid beings that have stronger auras than them."

"Does Janna Unnie also have it then?"

"Yes, I do."

"Anyways, let's keep moving. We need to hurry if we want to reach the village in time."

The days went by. Leaf got used to fighting against monsters. Now she could do it without much hesitation. And soon, they reached the city where the child with demon blood was located.

"Wow! It's a big city!"

It was the kids' first time seeing such a big city. They were all awed by it's size. It easily had over a thousand people living in it.

Such big cities weren't rare, but half of the world's population lived in small towns scattered all over. Usually having only around two hundred residents or less.

There was a wooden wall built around the whole city. All cities build a wall because the world is a dangerous place. There are monsters all around and the wall helps keep the citizens safe.

They walked to the gate where a few guards were stationed. After confirming that there wasn't anything suspicious with them, they were allowed to enter the city.

"The security's pretty lacking."

Janna commented. Remember, she used to work as an assistant knight. She would have seen many guards during her time.

"They were barely paying attention."

"I also felt the same. There's also no protective magic cast on the walls."

Usually mages would have the task of casting magic spells on a city's outer walls. This was done so that people couldn't just climb over the wall and get in.

"And is it just me or is there something weird about this place?"

Janna looked around as they walked through the city. There were a lot of people going about their lives. Doing normal daily activities. There were mothers going out to buy groceries. Kids playing with each other. Workers carrying materials through the street.

It all looked normal. But there was something that Janna and Thea didn't like.

"I can't put a pin on it."

But they weren't sure what it was.

"But there's a weird scent around."

"A scent?"

Janna could smell something.

"It feels familiar, like a demon's."

"We are after a demon child, aren't we? Could it be that?"

"That's not possible. Only pure blood demons leave a scent. And...would all the people also carry the same scent?"

"You mean to say you smell it from all directions?"

"I think so."

Janna had a strong nose. She could pinpoint a locations smell within six meters in seconds. It was an ability that she was born with.

"Unnie!"

Suddenly, Leaf called out from behind.

"What happened?"

Turning around to look, Leaf was holding Nem in her arms. His face looked purple, like he was sick. Thea immediately got scared. She rushed over to Nem.

"...dizzy..."

Nem was able to express what he was feeling somehow.

"I don't know, he just suddenly pulled on my arm and said he felt sick."

Thea checked him all over the body, looking for signs of wounds or anything that might've caused him to become like this. But then she realized.

"The smell!"

Being a beast-person, Nem had a much stronger nose than Janna. The scent of a demon was a strong negative smell. This was his first time smelling such a thing and he had a bad reaction to it.

Thea covered Nem with her mana.

"It takes time to get used to a demon's scent. I'll carry him for now. And let's find a place to stay first."

The small amount of demon scent around couldn't penetrate Thea's mana. The same was true for Gwyn. Being a white wolf, he was born with a good amount of mana which was the reason he was okay even though he had a significantly stronger nose than Nem.

"We'll wait for him to get used to the scent."

After finding an inn to stay at, they spent the night there. Thea stayed up taking care of Nem.

The next morning, Thea was slowly letting Nem become familiar with the demon scent. It took hours but Nem was finally able to tolerate it. It will take a while for Nem to become able to smell normally.

"Let's go."

It was finally time to find the child with demon blood.

"Hello there, pretty ladies!"

A man by the front door of the inn called out to them.

"Stay away."

Janna showed him her fists and the man backed away.

"Did you see that, Thea?"

"I did."

It's not that Thea noticed the man. She couldn't have missed that. What they had noticed was that compared to yesterday, nothing had changed.

How could that be a bad thing? Wouldn't things staying the same be a good thing?

But what if literally everything stayed the same?

Thea and Janna had noticed it. Yesterday, when booking the rooms for the inn, they first met the man. At the same spot, he said the same words.

There was the innkeeper, a young brown haired girl wearing white clothes. She still stood at the exact same spot, giving them the same smile that they got when they walked in.

Now, looking around the city, they could see that the people were anything but normal. The workers were moving the same materials back and forth. The same mothers were going out to buy groceries.

The shops were full with the same people as before. And the kids were still at the same place playing.

"They're under some kind of spell."

"A brainwash spell of some kind. It's making them do the things they were doing when the spell was cast. Over and over."

"How do we break it?"

"Sadly, I can't use nullification magic. So we'll have to find the source of the spell."

All magic that is cast on a large scale or meant to exist for a long time must have a source. Either a single magic circuit or a collection of circuits. The same thing is true with the orphanage, the magic circuits are kept in Thea's workshop.

Thea and the others headed to where Thea felt a concentration of mana. They failed to notice that someone who was in the shadows, observing them.