“Wh.. what is that?”

The unnamed mage was terrified. He was hyperventilating, looking at an absurdity that overwhelmed his mind. Once again, Kael shattered someone’s rational belief.

The royal guards were alerted, hearing the scream of the trembling mage. Even the Duke’s wife was startled, and went out to see what’s going on. Everyone in the royal castle were alarmed, as they heard the unnamed mage’s loud cry.

“This is bad! Gideon, what should we do?”

The guards were approaching quickly. The unnamed mage was out of strength, dropping down, sitting on the ground.

“What happened?”, the Duke’s wife said, standing behind the Earl.

The Duke was unable to answer his wife. He was helping the Earl to detach the cart with Kael in it, from the Earl’s carriage. Unfortunately, the guards surrounded them before they were able to do so.

[Barrier]

The guards created multiple barriers around them. They were commanded to stop whatever they were doing. There’s no opening to go out to, and the king was also approaching.

Earl Gideon prepared himself, fighting against all the guards if necessary. His stance alerted the guards even more, seeing the coat of arms suspended from his necklace. The king arrived, and saw the unnamed mage sitting on the ground.

“Let me through!”, the king ordered. “Duke Decynus, what did you do?”

The king was assisting the unnamed mage to stand again. The mage was still dazed, not knowing what to do.

All the people in the castle were looking at the Duke. The Duke was looking at the Earl who was still standing ready for a fight.

The king noticed the large cloth behind the Duke and the Earl. From the way that the two stood, he assumed that they were hiding something.

“What’s in there?”, the king asked.

The question offended the Earl. He was about to use magic against the king when the unnamed mage interrupted them.

“Nothing,”, the unnamed mage muttered. It was evident that he was slightly out of breath, but he tried to speak again. “The thing behind that cloth should never be seen by human eyes”

The king was confused by the statement. He tried asking, as he was intrigued by what the mage saw, but he was strictly denied by the mage. He didn’t have a choice but to let his curiosity go.

“Is everything really alright sir?”, the king asked.

“Yes”

“Is there anything you need?”

“Please give us a room for that thing”, the unnamed mage said, pointing at the large cloth.

The king followed the mage’s request. The royal guards returned to their positions, confused of what just happened. The royal castle returned to its normal state.

Meanwhile, the Duke’s wife was frustrated that her husband was clearly hiding something from her. She was so curious, looking at the cart dragged by the Duke and Earl Gideon. The two nobles didn’t request any servants to do that for them. Clearly, whatever was in there was to be kept with utmost secrecy.

But she couldn’t contain her curiosity and frustration. She wanted to know what’s in there, so she opened the Earl’s carriage.

“Elalios”

Elalios was startled because of the carriage’s sudden opening.

“Mo–, your grace..”

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The woman didn’t pay attention to Elalios’s greeting. “What is in that cart they are dragging?”

Elalios didn’t say anything. The woman received the message, Elalios will not give her what she wanted.

“Useless”

The woman left, pretending she wasn’t irritated.

----------------------------------------

Duke Decynus was full of worry. They were left by the king in one of the rooms of the castle. The unnamed mage requested that no one should go near the room. The king, respecting the mage so much, followed the request.

There’s an unusual ambience in the room. The unnamed mage was silent for several minutes. The Earl was focusing his gaze towards the mage. The Duke was terrified of what could possibly happen next.

Duke Decynus knew that his friend was about to burst. The Earl was waiting for what the mage will say, and depending on his answer, the mage was in danger. The Duke wanted that he could do something, but he was not as magically gifted as the Earl. All he could do was try to calm his friend down using his words.

“Who is he?”, the mage finally said.

The Duke go in front of the Earl, wanting to be the one to reply. “He’s Earl Gideon’s son”

The mage requested for the Duke to move, and he looked at the Earl. “As the Divine Emperor’s servant, it’s my duty to protect our people”. The mage looked at the Earl’s necklace. “You proved your loyalty, I have no reason to be your enemy”

The Earl looked at his necklace, and glanced back to the mage. He sighed, releasing all the tension in his body. “I apologize”

“I understand. He’s important to you”

The Earl nodded. “Kael, his name is Kael”

“Kael.. since when was he like that?”

The Earl contemplated for a bit. He looked at the eyes of the unnamed mage, eyes that were urging him to be honest.

“A month and some days back”

Both the unnamed mage and the Duke looked at the Earl, astounded and in the verge of not believing.

“What do you mean? Is that true?”, the Duke asked, unable to control himself. He immediately realized his little blunder and apologized to the unnamed mage.

The Earl nodded to answer the question. The Duke was baffled again. He thought that the crystallization happened longer, maybe a year at least. He had no idea that the amount of mana crystals he saw were created for just a month.

“Such gift..”, the mage said. “We can’t let him suffer for more, lest he would despise the gift of magic he has”. The unnamed mage stood.

[Spatial Sense]

The mage saw that there were no people snooping outside. “It’s safe. You can remove the cover”

The Earl was hesitant, but he knew that only the mage could heal Kael. He removed the cloth covering, revealing the alfris tree with Kael besides it.

The mage’s head pulled back. It was still astonishing to witness. Large chunks of the tree were crystallized. Kael has patches of iridescent crystals on his skin.

“If I may ask, what is the tree for?”, the mage asked, trying to suppress his bewilderment.

“It absorbs mana”, the Earl answered.

“That’s convenient”

The mage got a part of the whole picture. He didn’t ask for more. What he needed to do was right in front of him.

The unnamed mage held Kael’s hand. He held the alfris tree with his free hand. Then, he started concentrating.

The mage started glowing due to the mana he was manipulating. He was transferring the excessive amount of mana from Kael to the alfris tree. He generally lets the mana he got from the children he healed go free in the air. However, Kael is different. The amount of mana he has should be stored somewhere.

As the Earl witnessed that the crystals on Kael’s body were starting to get smaller, he stopped doubting the unnamed mage. The feeling that remained in him was gratitude. Finally, Kael will be released from his suffering.

The healing process was a tedious one. The mage thought that he could finish the healing that day, but he wasn’t able to.

“There’s too much mana in him”, the mage said. “Maybe I could call one of my superiors to help me with this”

Hearing the mage’s statement, the Earl didn’t want to allow it. He was about to say something when the mage spoke again.

“But, you don’t want that, do you?”

The Earl felt the sincerity of those words.

On the following days, every noon, the mage will transfer mana from Kael to the alfris tree. He will do it until evening, making sure that no one, except the two nobles, see what he was doing.

A week passed, Kael had no mana crystals anymore. He was able to rebuild his mana vessel as well as close the special mana pathways. He was well, but he was to face another problem. As the mage see him as a tremendously gifted child, the unnamed mage would not let him go. Another conflict was brewing, and he was the center of it.