ALEXANDER KALLIS:

The sounds of wooden swords clashing echoed throughout the training ground as Alice and I engaged in an intense duel. Despite all my training back home, nothing prepared me for the flurry of attacks she unleashed, taking me weeks before I finally managed to block her strikes without using Shield.

She surpassed me in every category other than strength and endurance. Compared to my heavily lacking pool of mana that allowed me to cast three times before needing to recover, Alice managed twelve without becoming tired. And while the amount of mana necessary for a spell varied depending on the type despite its circle, it was still an impressive achievement for a first-circle mage. Her versatility was also superior, having learned more spells than me while having the experience to utilize them most efficiently. However, what surprised me the most was her reflexes, agility, and speed.

I wasn’t arrogant enough to believe I could beat her in a duel, but having the upper hand at least once would’ve felt nice. Still, she always gave it her all, limiting only the number of times she used spells to keep the matches fairer since we were just training.

“Blink!” She disappeared, forcing me to duck under her attack coming from behind.

My Mana Sense proved invaluable when fighting someone who could appear and disappear at any moment.

“Stride,” I uttered the incantation of my newest spell as mana swept through me.

Turning my foot around, I slashed at her horizontally, forcing her to backstep. For a split second, she lost her balance and gave me a chance to grab her by the shirt, but her quick thinking saved her as she allowed herself to fall backward, kicking my hand away while performing a one-handed back handspring. Her gracefulness had no limits.

With Stride still active, a first circle spell that enhanced my speed for up to five minutes depending on the amount of mana used, I wasn’t going to back off so easily. We slowly got used to each other’s fighting style, so she knew I was coming, but it wasn’t like I had other options.

She parried but saw no opening to counter.

“Blink.” We both cast the same spell simultaneously. I wanted to appear behind her and grapple, but she predicted it and teleported behind me instead, causing us to end on opposite sides compared to when the duel started. We were both a bit winded as we were at it for well over a few minutes, attacking each other back and forth and neither willing to give in.

“Blink!” I yelled, hoping to fool her into casting again, but she wasn’t falling for my tricks.

“Really, Alex?” She chuckled, taking the opportunity to catch her breath. “You didn’t think I’d fall for that?”

Not only had she not let her guard down despite talking, but she also learned how to recognize when I fake cast a spell.

“You did the first time,” I teased.

“I’ll admit, it was a nasty trick the first time you did it. But now that I know about it, I won’t be falling for it again as long as I focus.”

Mana wasn’t invisible when casting, but a spell like Blink which was nearly instantaneous required a tremendous amount of focus to detect on time. And while I relied on Mana Sense to feel it rather than see it, Alice was quick enough to notice the visible change.

At first I was worried I’d only slow her down if we trained together, but it appeared she still had things to learn from fighting me. It was a relief, but I was shocked to see how fast she improved. Logically I thought the gap between us would close slowly; however, it felt wider than ever the more used she got to my tricks.

“Alright, I think that’s enough resting for now.” I chuckled.

“Big talk coming from someone standing still,” she taunted, still ready for any tricks I might pull.

With Stride in full effect thanks to my ability to absorb mana while moving, I took the initiative and charged. We exchanged a few blows, but ultimately both knew I’d use Blink.

“Blink!” We chanted simultaneously again, but to her shocking surprise, I appeared next to her.

Despite being caught off guard, she managed to react on time and avoid my attack by flourishing her sword. I thought we would disengage afterward, but Alice quickstepped toward me, aiming straight for my torso. Prepared to block, I fell for her feint as she ducked low and targeted my leg. I dodged, but her follow-up thrust scored her a victory.

Alice controlled herself and stopped before the tip of her sword hit me, leaving both of us standing at the end despite me losing.

“Good job,” said Elwyn, having observed our entire fight. “You both did amazing.”

I honestly forgot he was even there, as I always got absorbed by our duels. That had to change as I couldn’t allow myself to be unaware of my surroundings just because I was fighting.

“How did you teleport like that?” Alice looked in awe.

“Don’t answer her,” Elwyn interrupted as I was about to answer. “Alice, try figuring it out on your own. Take your time and-”

“Oh! Mana Sense,” she said confidently.

“That’s right,” I said, letting out a sigh. “But it wasn’t perfect as I wasn’t close nor fast enough to hit you.”

Blink, a spell that took me a few days to learn as it was fundamentally different than my other spells, had a requirement that the caster needed to see where they wanted to teleport. That meant that teleporting behind a wall or even in darkness was impossible. However, Mana Sense allowed me to technically see all around me, making it a perfect spell for someone like me. Still, I failed to predict the exact spot she’d teleport to, but my guess wasn’t too far off as she looked in that general direction.

“I need to make sure to make my pattern less predictable,” she said, already thinking about how to adapt to my trick.

“Please don’t. I already struggle to find ways of hopefully beating you. If you keep this up, I’ll never win.” I wasn’t sure if I was joking or not, but I got them both laughing.

If I had the chance, grappling was my best bet. Unless she teleported, it would be hard for her to escape. However, for that I’d need to be quick enough.

“Alright, that’s enough for today,” said Elwyn.

“For real?” I asked. “Has even an hour passed yet?”

“No.” He smiled, glad to see I was eager to train. “But the festival starts tomorrow and I want you both rested. That means no more training today, and we’ll skip tomorrow too. Enjoy your break. You’ve both earned it.”

“Guess I wouldn’t mind going back to sleep.” I looked at Alice. “You should too. No wonder you’re so aggressive when we train.” Elwyn chuckled as Alice punched my arm jokingly. “Ouch! See what I mean?”

“Come on, let’s go.” She grabbed my wrist, dragging me away, leaving her father behind.

“Where’re we going?” I asked after we exited the training grounds.

“To meet someone special who’ll be making your clothes for tomorrow.”

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“Cool, but if you’re going to keep dragging me around, at least hold my hand properly,” I teased, not expecting her to do it, but she proved me wrong.

“There,” she said, grabbing my hand instead of my wrist. “Happy?”

“Yeah. . .” I mumbled as my teasing backfired.

I wasn’t sure if she was flustered, but at the very least I was embarrassed as she kept dragging me around the palace with servants and guards that I got to know, snickering at the scene. I’m sure it was funny as everyone was used to seeing us together. Thankfully, she let go of me as we left the palace.

Almost a month had gone by since we arrived in Thysa. It slowly but surely grew on me, and I even got used to the oversized trees everywhere; however, it was all thanks to Alice. While I didn’t know her for long, she was the first person who I could truly call a friend. We were always competing and up to no good, laughing it off at the end of the day. Sure, I wanted to see my family again, but the thought of leaving started to feel weird. However, I didn’t want to focus on that as we had a festival tomorrow, and afterward I still planned to stay for six or seven more months, at least a few weeks before summer began.

Alice took me to a remote part of the city I had never been to before. She mentioned getting me new clothes, and I don’t know why I expected the tailor to be closer to the palace. To my surprise, we came to someone’s house that looked more like a mansion boasting a beautiful garden full of life.

“We’re here,” she said, looking excited, and I guess I was too.

“Do we just walk in unannounced?”

“Shhh. . . Just follow me.”

Alice walked in casually, glancing around as if looking for someone; as for me, despite being confused, I followed along quietly.

Approaching the house, I picked up on an uncanny resemblance between the garden we were in and the one back at the palace that Alice showed me. However, my thoughts were suddenly interrupted as I sensed a large beast leaping out of the bush to our left.

Despite Alice seeing it, she failed to react, so I instinctively jumped toward her, knocking us both to the ground. The beast was the same size as the one we fought back at the cave, except it matched the appearance of an oversized black tiger. Laying above her, I saw the look of confusion on her face as I shielded her from danger. While I was weaponless, my mana recovered on the way, giving me a way of protecting us.

It seemed we were too relaxed knowing we were in Thysa and thus failed to notice danger.

“Alex. . .” Alice mumbled, regaining her composure as I pinned her to the ground. Her lack of action surprised me, but I assumed it was because of shock. I prepared to cast Shield, but the sudden laughter under me messed up my focus. “Alex, would you mind moving? You’re a bit heavy.”

She kept laughing which seriously messed with my head, but as I looked back at the tiger, I noticed it sat down with its head tilted in confusion. That’s when I realized we were never in danger, and it just wanted to play.

“Sorry. . .” I mumbled, letting out a sigh of relief as I pushed myself up before helping her as well. “I thought-”

“It’s okay.” She wiped the dust off her clothes, leaning against me with one arm. “But I wasn’t expecting you to pounce on me like that.”

“I. . .” Letting out another sigh, I just gave up saying anything.

“Relax, it was cute.” She giggled, winking at me. “At least I know you’ll keep me safe.”

All I thought about was that I should’ve known better.

“Let me guess,” I turned toward the tiger, unsure if I should approach or not. “This must be Noir.”

“That’s right,” she said, walking up to him. Noir lowered his head, allowing her tiny hands to scratch him behind the ear. She giggled as he rubbed against her, almost making her fall backward. “It’s been a while, you massive furball. Missed me?”

I crossed my arms and smiled from a distance. While I felt embarrassed tackling Alice like that, at least nobody else was around to see it.

“Alex? You should come say hi.”

“Sure,” I said, but before I could even take a step forward, Noir pushed past her and approached me instead. He returned my gaze with a glare while letting out a low growl, forcing me to take a step back. “Alice. . .” I lowered my voice. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”

“Noir, stop messing with him.” She sighed.

The growl stopped, but he got close enough for me to feel his warm breath. Had I not known magic, I would’ve been torn apart in seconds if he chose to attack. Showing him a meek smile, I allowed Noir to take a good sniff.

“Good boy,” I said, trying to remain calm.

“Only the little Princess gets to call me that,” Noir spoke, making me yell in surprise as I fell back on my butt.

“He talked!” Noir’s low and powerful voice left me in shock. “Alice! He can talk.”

“What is wrong with this little one?” Noir asked, turning his head back to Alice who was busy chortling.

“He’s just not used to it,” she told him, walking up to me with a winsome smile. She helped me up and adjusted my robes. “Noir is an awakened animal.”

“What’s that?” I looked back at Noir, and I swear he winked at me.

“Awakened animals are those blessed by the Goddess of Nature that rules over the Lands of Fae,” she explained, glancing at Noir.

“Apologies for scaring you.” Noir chuckled, but it sounded more like shortened growls.

“You can pet him if you want. Right, Noir?”

“I’m good. . .” I cut her off. “Knowing he talks makes it a bit weird for me.”

“Huh? Why?” She looked genuinely confused.

“I don’t know. It just is.” I sighed, looking back at Noir. “No offense.”

“None taken.” Noir laid down on the ground, lowering his head. “Princess, you should head inside. The Mistress is waiting.”

“Good. I’ll be back later to play with you, okay?” She said, leaning down to kiss Noir’s head. I had no idea who the seamstress was, but with a pet like that, I was better off not guessing. Alice stood next to me, grabbing my arm again before saying, “Alright, let’s go. Bye, Noir!”

“I shall be waiting,” Noir said as we left him behind.

Walking up to the front door, I expected Alice to knock, but she just stormed in like she owned the place. The interior was a tightly packed mess with countless mannequins wearing newly made clothes blocking our path, and there were a few paintings hung on the wall that would’ve caught my mother’s attention.

“Is that you, Alice?” said an elderly elven woman as she walked down the stairs. She looked past her prime, same as the elder we met back at the gate. “Ah, and I see you brought company.”

“Hi, Grandma,” Alice said, hugging her.

“Grandma?” I wasn’t even surprised anymore.

“Noir complained that you hadn’t visited him in so long, and your father told me you ran away from home. Is that true?”

“Only for a little while.” She awkwardly chuckled, avoiding making excuses.

“Good.”

“Huh?” both Alice and I mumbled at the same time, completely caught off guard.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. We were all young once,” the grandmother said, adjusting the small framed glasses she wore. “I was worried you’d never get to experience life because you were always stuck in that damn palace. To think they wanted me to stay there as well. Ridiculous.”

“My Grandma loves her house,” Alice commented, smiling back at me.

“And you must be Alexander.”

I never imagined I’d meet an elf with poor eyesight, but there she was, leaning closer to see me better.

“Please, feel free to call me Alex.”

“Alex, huh? In that case, you may call me Granny. I’m this sweet child’s grandmother if you haven’t guessed already.”

“It’s an honor to meet you.” I bowed respectfully.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from my son. I was a bit surprised when I heard that he picked up a new student.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because the only other student he ever had was Alice.”

“Really?” I looked back at Alice, who just gave me a nod.

“But we’re not here to talk about that, are we?” She laughed. “You’re here to get a new set of clothes for tomorrow.”

“My Grandma is the best seamstress you’ll ever see.”

“But the festival is tomorrow. Doesn’t it usually take a while to make clothes?”

“Not if you use arcane theaters to sew it together,” Granny said. “Trust me. You’ve seen nothing yet. Now let’s see. . . What would fit you well?”

She scanned me from head to toe, conceptualizing an outfit.

“I’m sure anything you give me will be perfect, so no need to worry too much,” I said, feeling a bit awkward having her grandmother make my clothes, the King’s mother of all people.

“Want me to give you scraps? Please.” She sighed, adjusting my robe to see how it fit me. “Don’t talk nonsense child, I was beginning to like you.”

“I apologize.” I sighed, finding the entire family so unexpectedly carefree. “So, Alice. . . What’ll you be wearing?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.” She chuckled, refusing to give a hint.

“You two can talk later,” she interrupted us, grabbing a piece of fabric resting on a mannequin. “Let’s head into the workshop.”

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.