While she was entranced by the display of skill by the two people sparring, she didn’t understand why these people were fighting as her people only ever fought if there was a disagreement that Cannot be settled with words or when the daughter wants to take the seat of power from the matriarch of the house, there were no disagreements that she could remember the previous day, therefore, it made no sense why they were fighting, then the little white girl must be fighting for the seat of power but if that was the case shouldn’t the little girl be fighting the black-haired woman?

 Of course, this little bout caused her to think back about her tribe causing her mood to sink, she was already feeling quite depressed and only came to watch because she heard the sound of fighting and thought it would be a good way to distract herself and it was but now, she is depressed again, the worst part is that she had no idea why the armored men killed her people she saw no reason. Her mind was no longer focused on the fight and now she was thinking of her people however before her thoughts could go any further, she felt the sensation of being watched. she knew people were watching the fight but it felt like a specific set of eyes were focused on her and her alone, she turned her head towards where the eyes were coming from and she met eyes with him, she saw him, he saw her.

Her eyes bulged as her hand moved closer to her mouth, she moved her other hand to point at him before she shrieked out a blood-curdling scream that nearly shattered the eardrums of everyone present and successfully startled everyone, while halting Jean and Elia’s movements.

“shit”

He ducked down before he quickly walked away as not to appear suspicious, hoping no body saw her  pointing at him, he rounded a corner before going into a full sprint back to where he was currently staying.

Despite coming here with the Duke he had  hoped that he would at least be able to relax to an extent, there’s some old buddies he wanted to see, he wanted to at least enjoy his time and release some stress despite being close to the cause of his stress but now he won’t able to relax at all.

Gerick slowed his sprint as he got  close to his  destination however as he arrived at the gate of a big Mansion he halted his steps as it dawned on him, it occurred to him that he had lied about the mission being "complete", should the Duke  see that woman or have a moment to interact with her he’ll be dead not to mention that she was under the care of the target he was ordered to observe.

“If that woman spills the beans I’m in big Trouble” 

Worst part is that Duke will be implicated should the woman talk and that means his family is in danger not just him.

“You absolute piece of shit. “

He cursed himself and cursed his own weak heart, he could have just followed the orders he was given and carried out the mission.  Why did he have to be so weak, now both him and his family  is at risk thanks to his own stupid actions.

“How do I fix this?”

Unbeknownst to him a couple of meters behind him there was a person that was watching him, silently and waiting.

The sudden screaming of her guest had caused her to be surprised but once she was able to compose herself instead of knocking the woman out she looked at the crowd to see who she was pointing at but saw that the crowd was just as confused as her most were looking around befuddled, she utilized her Byakugan and was able to spot a man moving away.

She thought it might have been a passerby but she wanted to make sure so she ordered the knights to take the woman inside she also kept her Byakugan active to follow the man  and was able to see that the moment he turned a corner he ran, once inside the house she quickly disappeared and appeared a few meters away from the man and silently followed him. She had thought of capturing him but she feels it’s best to know who he is first, and whether or not he is a mage or close to any.

The Man stopped near the gate of a big and impressive Mansion , it was the biggest one She’s seen so far  however  another thing caught her attention regarding the Mansion  and that was the fact that it was Surrounded by a an invisible dome barrier. This caused her to confirm that there was indeed a powerful mage within that castle due to the amount of magic power poured into the barrier.

She also noted the barrier was using the dark attribute which was a first, she has yet to see anyone with it aside from herself 

Focusing her Byakugan  she was able to peer into the Mansion and saw that there were several people including a familiar person she recently saw, However put that person out of her mind and she Focused her sight on two specific figures that were inside a Room, one was standing while the other sat on a chair.

“They have great magical power” 

She commented as she watched them, the man on the chair  was reading a book and had a dark aura that seemed to be especially thick.

It would be ideal if she captured the man at the gate but she would rather monitor him  especially considering that she has no idea what’s going she’d need to question the woman back at her house before doing anything drastic, in fact the man might just be a normal guard that was running errands. 

With that in mind she thought she should pull back she’ll come back again, entering the barrier would alert the caster so it’s best she monitors from afar, with that she disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaving the area.

…..

“Seems I misjudged Gerick’s competence “

Duke Basterbine uttered  while shutting the book he was reading and placing it on the desk in front of him. He craned his neck to loosen it and get rid of the stiffness”

“Should I take care of him?”

“No, he’ll be bait for her to follow, we can’t confront a monster like her at least not yet” 

The Duke instructed, when he arrived here yesterday he was quickly able to pin point the location of his target however he realized that he may have been a bit too hasty and that things would need some planning, if she was just an adventurer it would only be matter of hiring them for a quest then set up a trap and capture them but it seems things will be more complicated that they need to be.

“Father!!”

The doors to his study were pushed open and slammed on the wall revealing Rather beautiful young lady with light colored brown hair and green eyes, the girl had a frown on her face a clear sign of displeasure.

“OH, Ophelia dear, what’s the problem?”

With small smile the duke turned his head and addressed his daughter, though he inwardly sighed lamenting the idea that she’s probably here to ask for something unreasonable.

“I want to visit the Royal castle and want to do it right now”

Came her demand, her voice was loud and clear and  her arms were crossed and legs spread apart. Her noble’s education has taught her to always be clear when asking for something and demand it if its rightfully yours.

“Come now dear be reasonable, we first need to send a letter informing them of our visit, infact I haven’t even sent the letter telling them I’m in the capital”

“Alphonse is my Fiancé why do I need to inform him that his beloved will be visiting? As his future wife I should be able to see him every day”

Another sigh escaped the Duke as he began contemplating how to deal with her, the girl was stubborn  and very unreasonable as he thought about a way to convince his daughter an image flashed in his head, the image was a woman  with dark brown hair and emerald  colored eyes a smile crept onto his face as he recalled his wife and he could not help notice the similarities  his daughter has with his wife almost like a younger Version of her.

“fine, we’ll go to the castle, I’m sure his majesty would rather see me in person anyway”

“Really!! Yes, I’ll go get ready”

Ophelia Beamed as a simile blossoms on her face before turn on her heels and running back to get ready. He could not refuse her request so he easily agreed,  it was very easy to convince him if his daughter is involved.

‘a weakness that’s very exploitable’

“Shian”

“Yes Milord?”

“Ensure my daughter is to never be used against Me in anyway”

He instructed, he would rather not have things be ruined just simply because he was careless as such he must cover all his bases and ensure everything happens as it should with no mishaps. 

“It shall be done my lord though the book will need another body part”

The butler informed before he pulled out a book from within his jacket, the book looked to be very old  the cover was worn out and was rather quite thin seemingly missing a few pages instead of being thin by design choice.

“as long as it’s not external and won’t be seen but I can still live without it then fine” 

“very well Milord”

………………

“Young master are you okay?”

The diligent Morris queried his young master, the lad has been spacing out the past couple of days seemingly thinking of something, Morris hoped that Charlie was reviewing himself and thinking of the future but unfortunately, he has little hope that the young master would actually think of something like that.

“Yeah, I’m fine”

Was his listless reply, Morris's hopes were dashed because Charlie was not thinking of anything related to the future, well he was thinking of the immediate future but not the one Morris hoped it was.

“So young master Tomorrow you will be attending the Academy how do you feel, excited perhaps?”

Deciding to move the conversation, Morris asked while also closing the book he was reading. Right now they were in the library, They were here because  Morris came to return the book they borrowed the other day  but he ended up reading another while here.

“Are you done with your book?” 

“No but I will be taking it home with me so I don’t need to”

“Good, can we go now?”

“Yes just wait for me I’ll go ask to borrow this book”

With that Morris stood from his seat  proceeded to make his way out of the maze of bookshelves and made his way to reception desk. Being familiar with the library it didn’t really take him long to reach the Liberian’s desk  However before he could make it to  the counter a Young and deathly pale looking young lady had  walked up to the librarian before he could.

‘Mhm skin disease perhaps? Sickness Or a curse?’

He pondered the young lady’s skin condition thinking about various ailments that could be the cause. He walked closer and stood behind the girl and waited for his turn.

“Excuse me but you wouldn’t happen to know if I could find any book related to language and understanding? If possible are there any books that Translate this text?”

The girl asked and pulled out a piece of paper with writing that was written in a strange language, Morris Couldn’t help but peek over her head, he was taller than her so it was easy, seeing the texts he found that  he couldn’t recognize the language  which was strange because he knew  the 3 most spoken languages in the continent and every other country speaks one of the 3 so if he couldn’t recognize it then it meant he didn’t know it, and that’s not acceptable.

“we have a few books about language but none of them will help you translating that.”

“Then can I have the- “

“Excuse me”

Before the girl could speak further Morris  interjected in their conversation and gained their attention.

“Hello young lady My name is Morris Letteret, I am a scholar. If you don’t mind there’s a tool that could help with your troubles but may I know your name?”

The girl raised an eyebrow at the sudden mention of the tool that could help, as far as she was aware something like that didn’t exist or maybe she didn’t do enough research on the matter to know about it or the tool is only available to certain people.

“Hello to you too Mr. Morris, my name is Elia Saxonwold a pleasure to meet you”

With a curtsy Elia greeted the man, Morris’s eyes widened in Surprise as he hadn’t expected to meet the daughter of Baron Saxonwold the man  who created the stove oven which has been the talk of the town amongst nobles  who value the finer things in life, though he is somewhat confused as to why the Baron continues his reclusive nature despite his reputation having improved over the years thanks to his invention.

“Daughter of Baron Saxonwold, what a surprise I didn’t think your father would let his chill-

“Morris what’s taking you so long, let’s go already”

Before Morris could finish his sentence regarding the Baron he was interrupted by Charlie who seemed displeased, however seeing the person Morris was talking to he was Surprised to see her here.

“You!”

He exclaimed in shocked, surprised to see the very girl he was thinking about earlier.

“Yes, me and you are?”

“Ah Forgive him my lady, this is Charleonious Porthouse he is the son of Marquis Porthouse and I am his bodyguard and mentor”

Morris introduces his young master to the young lady. Elia  on the other hand quirked a brow at the name  Charleonious which sounded ridiculous to her.

‘His parents have horrible naming sense’ 

“Well nice to meet you Charleonious my name is Elia Saxonwold”

She spoke but held back a chuckle as she said his name, it was ridiculous to hear and ridiculous to speak.

‘Like for real, Leonious would have been the better choice’

She thought whilst shaking her head and at the same time silently praying for Charleonious in hope nobody makes fun of his name. While in her thoughts Charlie walked forward and stretched his hand waiting for her to offer hers.

“a pleasure to meet you as well My lady”

He did  a slight Bow while his hand was stretched, normally a lady would offer her hand and the man would take it a kiss the back of her hand as a greeting however Elia gave him a firm handshake and left it at that and momentarily bewildered the lad. Charlie was not one for manners but he was sure that’s not how a greeting between a man and woman went.

“Mr. Morris you spoke of a tool that would help me?”

“Ah yes please wait a moment I shall borrow this book first”

…………………..

Deep within the  continent at its center there laid a  ruined castle like structure, the structure looked to have been demolished by some sort of a hurricane and now the once majesty structure was in ruins with  dilapidated walls and  collapsed roofs, roots and grass had grown on the floor and  vines hung from wall to wall,  many woodland creatures scurried all over the castle looking for food and some had even made this place a home for themselves. 

Inside the castle was a huge black obsidian door that had multiple runes written all over it, the door seemed immovable and unbreakable and projected an ominous feeling.

Just outside the Castle there was sudden golden glow emanating from the grass, the light scared away any nearby animals. Once the light dimmed down two figures stood at the spot where the light came from. The two figures were a Tall and robust figure and one that looked small and petite 

“Looks like the teleportation circle still works” 

One of the figures spoke, the voice was feminine an indication that the person  was a  woman, the other figure gave her a nod before the two walked inside the castle and headed straight for the black door that was located at the center of the castle. The woman carefully walked forward and gently placed her hand on the door revealing her dark skinned hand  with nails painted white. She ran her hand across the Runes on the door inspecting them.

“ By the looks of it nobody has come close here in centuries”

This time it was deep voice that seemed to have little femininity to it. the second figure was the one who spoke and judging by the voice one could guess they were a man though they would be wrong.

“Well, this place is a dungeon so I doubt anyone would come here even if it’s sealed” 

“Okay then what do we do?” 

“since the door is still closed and sealed that means our checkup is done but we need to be thorough and search for any miasma that might cause the seal to weaken” 

The smaller figure explained and the tall figure grumbled expressing that she wasn’t pleased.

“I know it’s a pain but we need to be sure, if the one back home is still sealed we need to be sure the others are as well and make sure there’s nothing that will cause them to break, plus  I’m sensing miasma towards the south so we just need to check that out and were done.” 

“Ugh Fine” 

The tall one reluctantly agreed before the two turned on their heels and headed back outside, once outside they stood on the grass before their bodies glowed blue color before they floated off the ground and flew southwards of the continent.

..........

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, next chapter school begins .