Alexander and Katherine were surrounded by three Mages. They were outnumbered and the three Mages began to cast spells. Alexander raised his hands up and surrendered. Katherine was puzzled by his action.
"What are doing?" She asked.
"We are not here for a fight… Just follow my lead."
Katherine raised her hands, following his lead. They hoped that if they gave up, maybe the Mages would go easy on them. Everybody stood in silence, waiting for someone to make the first move.
"You at you. You think just because you raised your hands, you think we'll let you go?" Chris, one of the Mages asked.
He was the Mage who caught Alexander and Katherine from falling after the initial attack. He was a young blonde man, probably 26 of age, but his angry face made him look older. He was tall and his body was muscular, but when he said that it felt like his magic was seeping out from his body. Chris approached Alexander and looked down on him. Chris tried to place his hand on top of Alexander's head, but he pushed it away. This should have angered Chris, but instead he laughed.
Alexander and Katherine looked at each other with confusion. At that moment Chris took a swing at Alexander, but missed. Alexander was barely able to dodge his attack, but an aftershock took that ripped the ground, knocking both Alexander and Katherine off their feet. It was obvious the Mages wanted a fight, at least Chris did. Alexander stood up first, he had no choice but to defend himself. Katherine who was still on the ground pulled Alexander back down to the ground.
"Calm down. If we get into a fight now, we risk exposing ourselves. Besides we have to wait until get us citizenship first." She whispered.
"What? I don't understand what you are saying. How have you been living here?"
"I made a deal."
…
Katherine arrived at Valentia two months before Alexander did. At first she tried finding a job, but it was hard for a foreigner, especially for her. Somehow she got by for a few days, but one day she stumbles upon the Magic Academy. She was fascinated by all the students and their Instructor practicing magic and could help herself. She entered the academy without thinking and kept her distance, because she didn't want to disturb the class. Due to the war she never got a chance to go to any magic academy and learn more about magic. She stood and watched the young Mages practicing for hours, until a stray fireball came blasting at her. She was caught off guard but managed to deflect the spell. The fireball exploded on impact but instead of disappearing, it became little balls of light.
All the students and their Instructor noticed Katherine and her talent for mana control. Her long pale violet hair blew in the wind as she was surrounded by hundreds of little balls light. Everybody watched this Katherine as she made the balls of light twirl around her before burning out. Cheers erupted from the students, as they ran towards Katherine. The students surrounded her with questions and requests, but the students were interrupted by the claps of the Instructor. The students made a path as the instructor made their way to Katherine.
"Are you aware, you're trespassing?" She asked Katherine with a cold stare.
The Instructor was a middle-aged woman with red hair. She wore a fancy magic robe with gold ribbon around her neck.
"Are you aware, you're trespassing?" She asked again, but that time the ground started shaking.
"Yes, and I'm sorry for my intrusion." Katherine replied.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I-I was just passing by, but I got distracted by your lesson. I couldn't help but watch."
The Instructor looked at her, but time she was measuring Katherine's magic. She was surprised and amazed by the amount of magic Katherine had, that she couldn't help herself. The instructor ordered the students to back away, and continued with her lesson, but this time she ordered Katherine to fight her. Katherine was confused, but most importantly she didn't want to fight. First person to get hit by a spell would be the loser. She tried to plea against the fight, but it was too late because the instructor had already launched a few fireball spells at Katherine.
Katherine created a magic circle in front of her, "MAGE CRAFT: REDITUS… MALUM."
The fireballs disappeared when they came into contact with the magic, then shot back out with double the power and speed. The instructor was surprised but not phased as the spell came charging at her.
"Nice one, but Mage craft have a huge down side." The instructor replied, waiting for the spell to be in range, she punched the air and a magic circle appeared. "WATER MAGIC: DRACO AQUA"
The fireballs got swallowed by a huge dragon made of water. The spell made it all to Katherine, and she was swallowed by the dragon. The water dragon began to freeze, which made the instructor smile nervously. The students were impressed by the fight.
"Hah… impressive young lady. Freezing that much water is really amazing." The instructor praised and she melted the ice with ease. A hole appeared under the instructor's feet. She jumped up to avoid falling, but a fire dragon shot up from the hole, followed by Katherine. The instructor punched the fire dragon and released another water dragon within it. This caused a huge explosion that it shocked the school. Katherine landed on the ground. She was preparing to launch another attack but a huge light shot down like a spear. The instructor caught Katherine off guard and stopped short.
The students went crazy, but this time the entire academy was watching the battle. It was the first time witnessing a short but impactful battle. The instructor laughed at Katherine and offered her hand.
"That was amazing! It's been a while since I fought like that." the instructor expressed. "What's your name?"
"Katherine and it's been a while for me too." Katherine replied awkwardly.
"Welcome to Valentia, and I will be you tour guide, my name is Heather, Heather… Valentia." The instructor introduced herself, shaking Katherine's hand. "Maybe you should be an instructor to. You could teach them a thing or two about magic."
Katherine was unsure about the idea, but she thought of declining. Heather shook her head and explained the rule of Valentia about foreigners using magic without proper documentation. She told Katherine that she needed to be a citizen and must have special permission. So Heather offered her a deal to be an instructor the following year. She was impressed with Katherine's skills, and didn't want to send her to prison. Katherine managed to take the offer on one condition, she wanted to bring a friend over. Heather thought of it and agreed, as long as they behave and follow the rules.
…
Chris balled his fists together and smashed the ground. His strength shook the ground, knocking Alexander of his feet. Alexander slowly stood up, and help Katherine to her feet. Chris didn't stop his attacks, he charged straight towards Alexander and Katherine, only to miss and hit a tree. The other two mages laughed at Chris as he bounced off the tree. The tree slowly fell over, but that didn't stop Chris from attacking.
"What is going on here?" a woman's voice came from behind Chris.
"Which dumbass is asking that stupid question?" Chris asked without turning his head
Chris felt a hand on his shoulder. Then a huge gravity shift occurred around Chris, making him drop to his knees.
"The 'dumbass' asking, is Heather Valentia… YOUR QUEEN MOTHER!" She replied, increasing the pressure.
Chris screamed out in pain, asking for forgiveness in the process. The other mages couldn't help but watch as Heather slowly crush Chris. After a few minutes she released her spell and addressed the Valentian Mages. She told them to let Katherine and Alexander go for the time being. Chris and the other Mages protested against it, Heather looked at them with a hostile look. The Valentian Mages left in shame, they had no choice but to obey the Queen.
"Are you all right Katherine?" Heather asked. "I hope they didn't cause to much trouble for you?"
"It's fine, we're alright." Katherine replied dusting herself off.
"So this must be the friend you spoke off?"
"Yes he is." Katherine grabbed Alexander and forced him to take a bow. "This is Alexander."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." he replied, feeling out of place.
Since it was late, Heather decided to continue the discussion the following day. She wanted a report about what happened that day, but most importantly she was interested in Hunter, although she didn't want to share that with anyone. She sent two guards to escort Alexander and Katherine home. Katherine looked at Heather with a look of concern. She wanted to know why she was there? Heather caught Katherine staring and simply smiled at her.
"You must be tried? How about you rest for the night. We'll talk in the morning, alright." Heather express, placing her hand on Katherine's shoulder.