"What did you do?" Said of the fake guard between his breathe. The young girl look at him from head to foot, "Is that your new business?" She was pertaining to the man's way of earning money. Through conning and stealing.
"I said, what did you do? Why are you with the guards?"
"I was selling flowers and here! I have the money!" His mouth dropped when he saw how much of money she's holding.
"Just by selling flowers?" She nodded, "some jealous people reported me saying I bewitched the townsmen. They suspected me of putting strange magic to my flowers." They stopped running and hide in an alley.
"You didn't show them your face right?" The girl tried to remember if someone has seen her bare face.
"I guess none but some I guess?"
"What?!"
"There they are!"
"Oh no, let's separate and meet me in our hidden house. Okay?" She thought of an idea.
"Grow, my friends," and all the plants within her reach grew up hugely almost like a forest in just seconds. The moment she cast that spell, the King responded. He felt it. He instantly recognized the aura of it. He activated a speed and flight magic spell to rush to where the aura is coming. Of all the people in the Kingdom, King Claudio knew very well of this aura even 16 years had already passed.
"Where did you learned that?"
"I found a book in the Aclatan about basic magic." He was in total awe, it's not just basic flora magic. It's already on par with a member of 9 Pillars. The forest keeps on growing and it's devouring the whole city.
"Hey! Undo your magic already! That's enough for us to escape!"
"I, I don't know how to stop it!" She uttered an incantation in hoping to stop it but the magic just doubled.
"Waah! What did you do? F-forget about it, let's run!"The speed of growth doubled. Masters in the Abelon city and near the district felt its overwhelming energy.
"But what about this?"
"Let's run! Shit! The squadron had joined them." He grabbed her hand and they run again. The man just knew that the girl can now talk to him.
"Hey, when did you learn to speak?" She smiled and proudly said 'at the Aclatan.'
Only 10 minutes and the king has reached the Abelon city. There was no doubt in him when he saw the forest.
"This is the magic of my wife."
"Target detecting, "Claudio closed his eyes and envisioned all the magic surrounding him for a 10-kilometer radius. After seconds of detecting the same magic, he found her.
"I won't let you go away this time."
Back at the palace, clan heads had arrived in the meeting room. Magnus went to notify Claudio but the room was empty.
"Where is the King?" Magnus asked the servant working in the floor where the king's room is in.
"He suddenly jumped out of the window and flew away. He looked so tense sire."
His forehead creased.
"What?"
"Sir, reporting! A massive forest just emerged in the Abelon city of the North." Said of the messenger who just arrived.
"Massive forest? And in the North? Is that true?" The messenger gulped at the continuous questions and told Magnus he wasn't fooling around.
"It keeps on growing at a fast pace."
"Thank you," he went back to the meeting room and told everyone about the news and Principal Jouzo confirmed it.
"This is the image of the forest they sent me." Jouzo moved his hands and a three-dimensional image of Abelon city appeared. "This image shows whatever is happening in the city from the sky view. This forest, it's devouring my city."
"That's some huge mana. Whoever did that must be a master." Comment of a clan head after observing the forest magic and the room was filled with murmurs.
Magnus decided to go there and the assistant of Jouzo Caliber went with him. It took them twenty minutes to reach the city and to their surprise, the forest has become immeasurable.
"No one in this kingdom can do such a high level of nature magic moreover in the north where it's difficult to perform plant-related spell due to the cold weather except for the late queen." Magnus examined the growing forest with amazement in his eyes.
"Let's split up," the assistant of the principal said and headed to the Turquoise Natura Academy to gather magicians.
"Did Claudio went here because of this? Target detecting!" He sensed the presence of King Claudio and flew there. He saw the king confronting a masked lady and a young man. Upon landing on the scene, he immediately realized the presence of the late queen but it was coming from the masked lady.
"What is the meaning of this?" He went behind Claudio without breaking his eyes from the masked lady.
"I'm asking you for the last time. Who are you?" The king demands an answer but the lady in the mask stayed quiet.
"I guess I have to force you. Why do you have my wife's magic?" King Claudio started releasing a suffocating aura so large it created a cloud of dark blue.
"I'm giving you the last chance. Tell me. Who are you?" He waited for an answer but no words escaped from her mouth. King Claudio Lockstream IV, feared by all given he's the king but his intelligence and vast knowledge in all aspects of magic and battle gave him the title of "silent death". No one has ever seen him using all his strength only the man behind him did, Magnus. 16 years ago, he witnessed how dangerous the king was. When his wife died in front of him merely meters away. King Claudio went on a rampage. The deformed landscapes going to Earth Region were the evidence of how dangerous he was and he is. No wonder why he's so worked up with the woman in front of him. If it's related to his late wife, he'll do all the means.
"Flames of the western Phoenix,
dance back and forth —"
"Stop it, Claudio!" The king just then knows that Magnus was there at his back.
"You will kill her. She doesn't look like she'll harm anyone. The forest magic didn't hurt the people, it only grew but didn't touch your people." Claudio outdoes the spell slowly. He realized what Magnus said was true and the woman is running out of breath. He guessed that she can't withstand his cloud of magic. She started walking away thinking she must escape again and go to their hidden house but she fainted.
"Claude, let me take care of her."
"No. Leave her to me." He walked towards her and took off the mask. Magnus was surprised when he saw the face behind it. Beautiful, he noted.
"Claude, she somehow looked like Flora." Claudio stared at the young lady in his arms. It's true, she somehow resembles his late wife but in a younger body.
"Magnus, why did you come here?"
"I was umm...I was worried you'd go something like rampage hehe."
"Take care of this mess. I'll go ahead."
"Yes, my king. The clan heads are waiting for you. See you later."
Claudio stared at the young woman again and unknowingly landed a kiss on her lips. He stepped backward as soon as he opened his eyes.
"What am I doing?"
5 hours had passed since the incident occurred in Abelon City. In a short span of time, the news spread throughout the whole kingdom.
"We must recruit that girl. Our scouts have been to the incident area and the forest magic she made was really massive. I've joined the investigation too. We checked the forest magic which she did in an instant according to witnesses. Ah, it was really tremendous senpai! I thought I entered the Tree region for a moment! We must get her by all means Jouzo senpai!" Shiro Ruzawa, a teacher in one of the 8 great academies of Spring Kingdom. Amazed by what he saw- the forest magic. Now, one-fourth of Abelon city is covered by high, huge vines and trees. Ruzawa wanted to recruit whoever did that unbelievable magic into their academy.
"Then, where is that girl?" Jouzo is slowly getting interested. He just arrived at the academy and his assistant Shiro can't keep his mouth shut.
"Ugh, that's the problem senpai. Information about her whereabouts is being prohibited by the Abelon's officials. Witnesses said that she's wearing a white flower-like dress and a mask. After she made that magic, she ran away."
"So she escaped?"
"Someone captured her but they don't know who it was."
"That's quite an intriguing story. Why would they hide the information? Is she some kind of a high-rank magician? An enemy? Wait. If she's an enemy and that strong, who could have captured her?" Now he's interested to know who that girl is. He gave Shiro a mission to investigate this matter in silence.
"Umm, maybe the head knight squadron?" Ruzawa answered in the air.
In the palace, the King has arrived unnoticed. In his arms is the unconscious lady. He softly laid her to bed and watched that alluring face peacefully sleeping. A lot of questions he wanted to ask her. Why does she have her wife's magic? He stood up and view the outside of his window. The Kingdom is still in peace but a moment afterward that, he felt something disastrous approaching the capital. It carries a vast amount of magic that seems to be dangerous.
"This is me, King Claudio. An unknown entity has infiltrated the kingdom."