Hunter return managed to return home to the Kingdom of Samar. He had to travel a long distance with depleted his magic, he couldn't even heal his wounds. Luckily someone was there to greet him when he arrived.
"Master, where have you been?" she asked with a concerned face. Hunter was tired and didn't feel like answering, so he simply walked past her.
she continued asking and began to follow Hunter. "Master, Master--."
"ENOUGH!" Hunter interrupted. "I don't want to repeat myself Stella. Just follow me, so you will know when we get to the castle, understand." He placed his hand on top of her head and teleported, their destination was the castle.
Hunter and Stella appeared in front of the castle gates, the castle was surrounded by a barrier to prevent enemies from entering. They climbed up the stairs of the castle and greeted the guards who were on the top.
"Captain, the King was waiting for you. He ordered us to tell that you need to report to him in the afternoon." One of the guards relayed the message. Hunter nodded, thanking the guards and continued with his way.
Hunter's first went to his home to change, it would have been embarrassing to face the King in his sorry state. Stella healed his hand before he took a shower. Hunter wore his Mages uniform and robe for his meeting with the king. As Hunter was putting on his final piece of his uniform, he noticed Stella watching him.
"What now?" Hunter asked her. "I know you want to ask something."
"Master, I--." He interrupted her. "We are home now, so no need to be formal."
Stella nodded and proceeded, "Did you see him, father? Did you see Alexander? Was he the one who hurt you?"
"Ask me a serious question, why don't you?" he finished buttoning up his uniform. "I did see him, but I was caught off guard by the Valentian Mages."
Stella balled her fist in anger, but Hunter remained her of his mission. "Why him father? Why do you always feel sorry for him? He betrayed us… he betrayed our Kingdom--." Hunter interrupted her, by simply turning around, his gaze said it all.
"I don't know what the King wants. Nobody knows what he is looking for, but Alexander is smart… smarter than you and smarter than me. He may be able to find what the King is looking for." Hunter explained.
Stella tried to reason with her father, but ultimately was shot down. "You need to be patient, once he completes this mission, we could finally settle the score." Hunter placed his hand on top of Stella's head and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "He will get what's coming to him, don't you worry."
…
Back at the Kingdom of Valentia, Alexander and Katherine were heading to the magic academy. They rode in the same car as the Queen, Heather. Since magic was common, technology was invented. Cars were a step up from carriages and wagons. They use an engine fueled by mana and a steering wheel to control it. This was one of a few vehicles created during that era. Trains, ships and airships also used the same type of technology. Alexander and Katherine sat facing Heather in one of the cars.
"Let's continue our discussion shall we?" Heather asked.
Alexander agreed and asked the reason for the visit to the academy. The Queen explained that the academy is looking for talented mages to teach students for the following year. The offer was for Katherine but for some reason Alexander got dragged into it as well. Heather offered to train the two and make them instructors and in return Alexander and Katherine would stay at Valentia as citizens of the Kingdom.
"I get that, but why are we heading to the academy right now?" Katherine asked Heather.
"You will see when we get there." Heather answered, giving no details about anything. "All I can say is, if you want to use magic here… you might want to consider this." At that moment Heather felt hostile. Her statement felt more like a warning.
It took about 25 minutes for them to arrive at the academy. When they arrived the two could believe their eyes. The academy was huge and the main building was six stories high, the average building around the city was 4 stories. Alexander and Katherine felt out of place, the two never went to any magic academy.
"Why are you surprised. Didn't you come here before?" Alexander asked her.
"I came here once, from the other side."
"The academy is really big, reason why? We don't want to disturb the city with magic, and sometimes spells can loss control." Heather explained as they walked in the academy.
Heather took Alexander and Katherine on a small tour of the academy. Since they were in a hurry, she would occasionally stop and tell them about the academy. Even though she was the Queen, people at the academy treated her normally, her social status was not a factor there. The three walked until they reached the Headmaster's office. They all entered the office and took a seat in front of the headmaster. The headmaster was an elderly man by the name of Quincy. Quincy was one of those veterans you hear about in stories. He was almost sixty years old, with silver hair on his head and face. Despite his age, he looked like he could still hold his own in a fight. Quincy introduced himself to Alexander and Katherine. He gave them a look, as if he was measuring them, but Quincy was judging them. He didn't approve of them and for good reason, but for the sake of the Queen he decided to play nice. Even though he didn't approve of them, it still left him curious about them.
"So Heather, this are the mages you spoke of?" Quincy asked, lighting his pipe and began to smoke. "They don't look like much." He puffed out a cloud of smoke.
"Oh trust me Quincy, this two are quite interesting… Well she is anyways. I never seen anyone with a magic capacity like her." Heather said grabbing Katherine's shoulder.
Quincy became a little interested for the most part. Heather continued telling Quincy about the fight she had with Katherine. She told him about the spells they used and how versatile Katherine was.
"I haven't seen his skills. You could say he lacks magic. It's so low you can't even sense it. He can manage one or two spells at least, but his sword can cut down magic, which basically makes him a combat mage." This time she grabbed Alexander's shoulder.
Quincy laughed after hearing about Alexander. It was rare for any mage not to be able to use magic. Every human being had the capability to use magic, an average an 8-year-old child could at least manage ten spells on their own.
"I don't believe you Heather. You can't be serious about him. He practically has no magic." Quincy continued laughing.
This began to irritate Alexander. "Can someone explain the reason we are here?" Alexander politely asked, trying not get angry.
Heather and Quincy started to explain about the training for the instructors. A few vacancies opened up at the academy, and Heather saw the potential in Katherine. Heather wanted to help Katherine after the fight they had 2 months back, Alexander simply got dragged along. Katherine told Heather about Alexander's sword and thought it would be a good idea to teach at the academy, even though they didn't have experience. Katherine did have the capacity for magic and was very skilled with almost all types of magic. Alexander had a sword that could cut down any magic and could hold his own in a fight.
"I see, you want us to become instructors so we could be citizen and use magic freely?" Alexander asked Heather and Quincy.
"Pretty much, it's a good deal don't you think?" Heather asked Alexander, who was thinking.
"Come on Alexander, I think it's a good deal as well." Katherine added.
Alexander remained silent for a few minutes. He was trying to think about the reason behind that meeting, but only one thing kept popping up, and it was the same thing Hunter was after.
"One more question if you don't mind." Alexander said after some time. Heather and Quincy agreed to hear him out.
"What's in it for you?" he asked. "Surely you want something in return, right?"
"No it's not like that… we just want to help you, or do you want to go to prison for disturbing the peace with that incident from last night?" Heather tried to play it off but ended up indirectly threating him.
"So than… it's like that?"
The meeting took a drastic turn for the worst. As they continued nobody was aware of the shadows watching them, they were listening in the conversation.