It wasn’t difficult to find the Belleas Guild. Just like everything else in the capital, it was much larger than things back in Evergreen. Soral managed to correctly remember the name of their hometown, at least.

The employees seemed a bit surprised when Soral claimed he was there for a quest, but once they saw the box they immediately processed everything. They paid the amount in full, and when Soral asked about the festival, they explained that the quest was to be processed under trust, and that the magic festival had mostly been included for his benefit anyway.

After they left the guild, it was still barely mid-day, with three more days after that until the festival.

“Now what?” Soral asked.

“Now we explore like any other tourist,” Ruena told him, “The festival itself is nice, but it brought all sorts of extra businesses and things to do. We should take advantage of that since we are here.”

Soral liked the sounds of that. “Alright, but I probably shouldn’t use my pocket out in the open.”

“I forgot about the fact you could store things in there,” Ruena admitted, “Don’t worry. This is mostly for exploring, not actual shopping. Though we might have something tasty while we are at it.”

One thing there was no shortage of was food and tasty things. For every magic related stall there were at least three food, but some of the food stalls were magic related as well. Potions that made you float for a few minutes. Spicy sticks that gave you the ability to safely breathe fire. There were even some candy clouds that rained syrup, but those seemed a little, no, very messy.

It almost felt like the festival had already begun. A sort of pre-festival gathering of merchants and stalls. Soral noticed many of the stalls had the name Belleas attached here as well. Just how big was this company?

The first day they spent their time buying tasty food with various magical effects. Soral saved what could be saved for later in his pocket when he was certain no one was looking. The fire stick was especially fun. It would be amazing to be able to make things like this one day.

The next day they explored the more magic themed shops full of crystals and charms and ancient scrolls with replicas of magic and recipes in an old tongue found in ruins. There were also some toys and tricks and enchanted jewelry. The enchantments were mostly for one time defense or healing, though there was a certain popularity for those enchanted with light magic.

Soral got himself one of the latter, remembering his time in the mine snake cave. It had been his own mistake entering unprepared. He likely wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without the glowing moss.

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Ruena picked one of each on the defense and healing, and picked up a necklace that was said to be a lucky charm. She also picked up some elemental crystals and asked Soral to store them in his pocket later for emergencies.

On the third day, they saw the preparations for the real festival begin in earnest. Stages being built, pathways lit with some form of glowing twine. The roads were also packed full of people, far more than the two days previous. It was a bit hard to move so they spent their time in the inn and discussed what might be coming the next day.

And then came the day itself. The Magic Festival. The stalls from the previous days were still there, but what really drew Soral’s attention were the demonstrations. They took place everywhere, stages, storefronts, right in the middle of crowds without warning. Every last one of them was displaying some kind of magic for all to see.

There were the classic elementals, earth, wind, water, and fire. There were those who went a bit beyond using ice to make beautiful sculptures, or lightning dancing around them like a dangerous light show. A small group of people with green wings that resembled a dragonfly’s used their magic to fill the roads with flowers, vines, and leaves.

“Are those fairies?” Soral asked with excitement.

“They are,” Ruena replied, “You’ll see them more in larger cities. Well, maybe not forest fairies like them. They might only come to places like Elgrove that have a history of worshiping nature.”

Did that mean they worshiped nature? Before Soral could ask, a loud boom drew his attention. One of the performers had used magic to alter their size, breaking through the pathetic wooden cage that had contained them. Everyone was all smiles so it was part of the show.

The festival was chaos. Things were happening everywhere you looked, not a single nook or cranny left behind. Soral loved it. He pulled Ruena deeper in the crowd and joined in the festivities. There were games, dancing, tests of magic, even more shows, and samples of the magical merchandise they had purchased the days before.

Free samples. Soral felt a bit cheated by that bit, but it was too late now. Instead, he put his all into participating in the various competitions. He didn’t win them all, but he got a fair share of prizes and split them with Ruena.

Ruena didn’t participate in any, and when Soral thought about it he had never seen her using magic. Everything she had done was made with tools and charms. She still seemed to be enjoying herself, though.

There was a slight problem that Soral had not anticipated with winning a lot of prizes. He became popular. A spectacle. The crowd pushed him into other games, and finally ended in the magic arena. Soral was vastly unprepared for a magic battle, but he had wanted to test his shield against a real opponent.

When Soral was pushed into the ring, he looked up to find his opponent was a rather masterful looking woman in mystical robes. He had definitely bitten off more than he could chew. However it happened, he still wanted to test his new magic ideas so he consented, and the match began.

The woman didn’t hesitate to throw a spell at him. It looked like a little purple ball of sparks that Soral definitely did not want to touch him. He summoned the shield he had created during their travels and braced for impact.

An impact that didn’t come. Instead, it almost looked as if the shield ate his opponents magic, little veins of the same purple appearing and disappearing for a moment. The woman didn’t like that at all and did some sort of double casting.

The ground had an odd slickness to it all the sudden, and the invisible attack she sent at him knocked him down with ease. Since he couldn’t see it, he didn’t know where to block. To solidify her win, she used gravity magic to prevent Soral from getting back up again.

His ego deflated, Soral left the arena. Every time he thought he knew how magic worked, he found something new beyond his current comprehension. He decided he needed to get right on that magic course once he returned to Evergreen.

“Welcome everyone, guests from near and far!” a voice boomed, amplified by magic to fill the streets of the festival, “As the night falls we would like to draw your attention to the most special show we have prepared! We call it… the Aurora.”