Two fingers on top of the Priestess's wrist, concentrating hard to feel her pulse as she sends a wave of mana inside her to check her vital signs and her overall condition. Jan did not held back, if Lithea was still experiencing any threatening situation due to her raging mana, she would have to take a rest and withdraw from the mission.
The three guys inside the room were observing intensely, not taking off their sight on her.
Gulp.
Verin squatted down while playing with his fingers, beats of sweat started to form and trickled down his nape.
"How is she?" Verin's voice trembled. At the back of his mind, he's hoping she is truly alright but, somehow, something inside him thought that she's overtaken by something unknown and whether or not it is a threat.
Jan drew back and stood, she smiled as she faced the guys, "she doesn't have any traces from the explosion."
Verin breathed in relief but not Hugo, he thought it was weird that her body healed quickly. But he doesn't really know what the stone can do. All he knew was it was the only thing that could help Lithea stabilize her power.
The door opened by Leon who looked serious, he nodded at Jan and she left right after he settled inside the room.
"I need to talk to Lithea," he eyed the three who didn't budge, "alone."
"But–" Verin wanted to protest but before he could say anything, Leon was already pushing them out of the room.
Crunch.
The door slammed on their faces, both Verin and Hugo were worried while Viv kept eating his cookies.
Crunch.
Hugo calmly watched Viv, questioning the kid's actions silently. While Verin just let out a sigh.
"Hmm?" Viv tilted his head as he chewed on his sweets, tightly hugging his jar, afraid of them taking it from him.
"How are you feeling?" Leon took a seat and sat in front of Lithea.
She quietly replied, "I feel fine."
"You must be confused," she nodded, "you can ask me questions but let me catch you up first."
Lithea did not react and waited for him to start.
"You have been asleep for more than twenty four hours," he put emphasis on the word asleep.
Leon squinted his eyes as he got no reaction, nor a hint of surprise from her, "you don't seem surprise,"
"I had a hunch seeing how they all reacted when I woke up," she admitted.
"You are pretty calm," he praised, "but are you not curious what happened?"
Lithea only watched him.
"What was the last thing you remember?"
"We were saving the children."
Leon sighed, "you don't remember the explosion?"
"Explosion?"
He tapped his feet, thinking, "are you perhaps unaware of your surging mana?"
"I remember now, they spilled," she calmly recalled.
"Do you think it is normal?"
Lithea looked down, she frowned as she tried to think if it was a normal thing or not.
"Is that not the point of the temple putting importance on meditation?" Lithea asked.
"It is indeed important for the priest and priestess to practice meditation," Leon stared at the stone on her forehead, "especially you."
"Me?"
"You have an overflowing mana, Lithea," he waited, he kept waiting for her to react, to tell him he's wrong. He wanted her to show him that she's unaware of this rare situation.
"Is that so?"
"How," Leon shook his head gently.
"What?"
"How can you be so calm?"
"Is there a reason for me to be in rage?"
"You should be asking me questions by now," he found her strange.
"But did you not tell me to ask after you are done talking?"
Leon blinked fast, his face flushed.
"Right," he cleared his throat, "right."
He sighed, "let me start over."
Lithea nodded and sat straight, ready to listen and take in every word Leon would tell her.
"Your overflowing mana is a rare condition," still got no reaction from her, "the reason why meditation is important for you to do it constantly, is to keep your mana in check.
"Like last time, your mana could possibly become uncontrollable and explode," he thought back at the reports, "but miraculously, only Hugo and Thenea took the blow, and the children that was near you remained unharmed."
Lithea's brows twitched.
"You must be thinking how," she only nodded, "we could only think of one possible reason why,"
Leon stood and walked around the room, checking every corner.
"Your desire to save them made your mana avoid them completely."
Lithea touched the stone on her forehead, "is this to stabilize my mana?"
He stopped and turned to face her, "what was that again?"
She stood but stumbled as her body had gotten used to laying down for over twenty four hours, luckily, she immediately regained her balance by holding on the mattress.
"Oh," Leon rushed to her and helped her by gently holding her other arm, "here, take it easy."
"Thanks," she muttered, "I asked if this is to stabilize my mana, this stone on my forehead?"
Leon again walked around and checked the room, Lithea stood there, watching his every move. Move inch by inch, feeling her body, trying to adjust.
"Yes," he's truly amazed at how quick to accurately point out Lithea is at important things, "and now that you're awake and knew about what happened while you're asleep, I should start telling you about the first mission you'll take in with the stone."
With the mention of another mission, Lithea looked determined.
"Lady Edrei thought it would be best for you to use it on real battles than training with someone," he stopped in front of Lithea, "but if you are still unwell–"
Lithea cut him off, "I will join the mission."
Leon squints his eyes, "are you giving me consent?"
Lithea nodded as she looked deep into Leon's, "yes."
He sighed, "very well, I shall inform Lady Edrei."
"Thank you."
"Ah," he was about to leave when he remembered he hadn't told her what kind of mission it was, "this will be in the east, and you will leave tomorrow morning. This is a double A rank one."
Leon turned the knob and paused, "keep in mind, with the stone in your possession, you might not be able to use your mana like how you used to."
He left Lithea deep in thoughts, 'not like how I used to?'
That night, when she thought everyone had gone off to sleep, Lithea sneaked in and searched for a spot to use her mana with the stabilizer on.
'How do I do this? Do I just do it like how I usually do?'
Her thoughts stormed within her, doubts, concerns, questions, confidence, all shattered and in a mess. She had been training all her life with her natural flow, now that her mana is being controlled by the stone, how is she going to cooperate with it?
"Don't rush your powers and connect with it."
She remembered what the lady in her dream told her, "I should do it slowly."
Lithea arrived at the back of the manor and entered the first gates she saw beyond the stable, and she fortunately chose the right one; she entered the training arena for the visiting adventurers, and soldiers.
"Wow," she looked up and the high ceiling amazed her. With her height, she thought the height should be multiplied by ten for her to reach it, "it's huge."
She looked for the light switch but as she was cupping the walls, she accidentally pushed a button and it resulted in the arena being lit with bright lights, and the magical dummy opponents awoke.
"This isn't the training I had in mind but," she looked around and then to her hands, "worth a shot."
After leaving the temple, she hadn't had a chance to spar with someone. She thought no one could match Master Chi's brutality, hitting her like he doesn't know her, that she's the enemy he's been in pursuit of for years. And seeing that the dummies are controlled by magic, she knew they would attack her hard, she smiled.
Lithea closed her eyes and started feeling the mana flowing inside her body, when she confirmed how it felt weaker than usual, she nodded to herself.
"It really is being controlled."
She chose to sit in the middle and started meditating, she has to relax her mind and her spirits, she has to reach a certain clarity before she moves. A lot of things happened, especially with her ability, to just jump right in and not understand what's going on with her. If not to completely find answers through meditation, at least she could have a grasp on how much mana to release and how to use the stabilizer.
Her mana started flowing inside her slowly, only giving her what she needed to shield herself with the attacks from the dummies when she started sparring with them, but because of the mana's movement and the inanimate being's ability to sense mana, they moved towards Lithea.
Lithea gasped and opened her eyes, breaking her premature meditation and reacted quickly with the dummies' attacks.
"Gah!" she exclaimed as she was surprised, but thankful to Master Chi's early teachings about quick senses to be able to dodge multiple attacks.
She landed on top of the head on one of the dummies and balanced herself with one foot, "all of you sure are good."
Leon noticed the commotion within the abandoned arena, and how the lights were on from his room. No one thought of using the arena for years and was left to collect dust with how low the number of people who desire to become a knight or a soldier in their village. Ultimately, they decided to send the aspiring young ones to other villages with most students and focus on the mines.
Within the NorthEastern region, being a minor one, they only have two academies that would train children and choose those who are competent enough to the bigger academies, the Royal Knights Academy and the Dragon's Knight Academy.
"That's impossible," Leon watched closely. The arena was tightly closed, and it is unimaginable to him how this trespasser was able to break in. It was Lady Edrei who locked its doors, unless a rightful and strong person would come to train, it wouldn't open. And if forced, one must at least be equal to the council's strength.
When he noticed that the dummies seemed to move around, Leon immediately put on a robe and took his sword on the way; rushing to whoever or whatever was inside the arena.
'They sensed mana, who could possibly enter there?'
Meanwhile, Lithea is enjoying her spar alone in such a huge and spacious dome. She wanted to take her curiosity, get the best of her and form questions on how it was made and what it was made of, but she must focus on getting her strength back. At least if she can't help with her healing abilities and other skills, she could at least lend them her martial arts.
"Ha!"
She kicked those who were running towards her and then used the one who wrapped its arm around her neck as a shield as she swiftly turned, keeping the arm in place and calmly carried the heavy wooden and metal dummy as she turned to counter the others.
Lithea laughed as she huffed and sweats, enjoying her little solo training session.
The door creaked resulting in her to stop midway, completely removing her guards when she saw it was just Leon with a disheveled look. This made one of the dummies, punch reach her, hitting her cheek.
"Ah!"
Leon snapped his fingers and all of the dummies stopped.
"So it was you," he broke the silence as he walked past the dummies.
"I apologize for barging in without permission," she lowered her head.
"This arena has been closed for years, sealed by Lady Edrei herself," he looked around, taking in everything as he remembered the days when he could visit all the time to check the students and test them.
"How was the punch?" he asked, referring to when she took a punch from the dummy.
"Oh," she scoffed, "it was alright. Master Chi's punches are more sturdy."
"So you are a disciple of Master Chi," he nodded, completely understanding her characteristics and her strength.
"You know him?"
"Yes, he is very well-known."
"Master Chi is?"
Leon was surprised how ignorant Lithea is with her master's supremacy, even the royals and the high ranked nobles give respect to him.
"Let's just say, he's the high priest of the kingdom."
"Oh."
Leon looked around and saw the dents Lithea made with the dummies, some completely smashed.
"Say," he touched one of the dummies and knocked on them, "want to spar with me?"
Lithea seemed to freeze, she wasn't able to give him a quick response like he hoped to. But in reality, she was too excited to speak.
"Miss Lithea?" he waved his hand in front of her face.
Lithea jumped a little, "you will spar with me?"
"Why not? I am here so at least give it a go."
He is curious about her skills, so he had to ask her to spar with him.
"I would love that," she tried hard to keep her excitement but he could see how her eyes sparkled.
His brow raised in amusement, "have you tried using swords before?"
She shakes her head quickly, "no."
"Grab one, I'll teach you."
Lithea frowned as her brows drew closer, confused, "I thought we'll spar?"
"After I teach you some basics," he smiled at her, "it will come in handy."
He wanted so much to spar with her, but with her current condition, it would be nice for her to know something else just in case. He's only doing this to avoid future frustrations from having her mana restrain, and frustrations could lead to the stone sealing away more of her mana.
Although she's skeptical, she went and took a sword from the wall where all sorts of weapons are mounted. When she had the sword she was comfortable holding, she went back to Leon.
"I have it."
"Good then–," he stopped mid sentence and slapped his forehead, "why did you get a real sword?"
"Aren't you teaching me?"
"Grab a wooden one, I still need to teach you."
"You can't teach me using the real one?"
"I can but–"
"It's fine!"
Leon did not argue further and raised both of his arms, "alright, does that sword feel right?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"If it hurts as you hold it, tell me so we can change it to something else."
Lithea nodded and he started checking on how she holds the sword.
"Don't have your one hand fill the grip," he instructed, "here move it back a little and put the other near the quillon."
Lithea looked at him, "what's a quillon?"
Leon almost laughed at himself, he forgot the one he's teaching isn't a sword user, "this one."
He pointed on the part that's separating the blade and the grip.
"Oh, a guard."
"We also call it that way."
Lithea caught her teacher trying to keep himself from smiling, "am I doing everything wrong?"
"What?" he was caught off guard, "no, no, you're doing great."
The priestess was confused at Leon's attitude, it is very different from when they first met, and how acts whenever he carries out his duties. Is he putting on a different persona? Appearing intimidating on the outside, while in reality, he's just a normal person who craves fun sometimes.
Is that the case of Leon?
While Lithea dived deeper in her thoughts, Leon suddenly burst laughing.
"Pffft," he tried to turn to cover his face, but failed. He laughed out loud, tears forming in his eyes, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
This startled Lithea, "what?"
"I'm sorry," he stifled his laughs as he brought back his attention to Lithea who is still holding the sword as he instructed, "I just find it amusing how easy you are to talk to. I almost piss my pants whenever I have to face you."
Lithea tilted her head, "you have that kind of impression on me?"
"Oh," he waved his hands, "I don't mean to offend you."
Leon smiled, a simple and gentle one, "you were just so quiet, I thought you're scary, like mother."
"Mother?"
Leon's eyes widened when he realized what he's done, "could you please forget I called Lady Edrei mother in front of you?"
"So," she understood, "you are her son."
"Well, she took me in," he explained.
"I won't tell."
Lithea went back to practicing, slashing the sword up and down, her arms sore.
"You're doing well, try attacking one of the dummies."
New ones couldn't as much as dent the dummies with how they distribute their strength in holding the sword, and how Lithea attacks, he could take it there on how to make her effectively slice it through anything. He watched her dash towards the dummy, it was not perfect, but it was better than he expected, her form won't restrain her movements, and when thought properly, she could swiftly slash on the dummy and cut it in half.
And she did.
"You," his eyes popped open, "you've learned about this before, haven't you?"
Lithea shook her head.
"How did you perform it well just as soon as you learned it?"
"Well, I have seen the others fight."
Leon's mouth fell agape in realization, "right."
"I think you're not bad yourself too," she walked past him and attacked another dummy.
"Thank you for being the first person to have a proper conversation with me," she said before slashing her sword multiple times, cutting the metal dummy in pieces.
Leon shakes his head gently, still not able to believe how much of a genius the person before her, "let's spar."
Hours later, when the sun waved hello below the people who were starting their day, gifting them with her warm sunlight. Both Lithea and Leon were fast asleep in their bed chambers, completely satisfied with their secret training until dawn; both getting their well deserved rest after they sweated a bucket.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Young sir?" One of the soldiers visited Leon's chamber when Lady Edrei found no shadow of Leon waiting for her to have breakfast together. It was the first time he did not show up.
Leon shut his eyes open and sat straight causing his head to ache, 'crap!'
"Yeah?" he struggled to answer.
"Are you okay, sir? The mayor has been wondering where you went after finding out you were not at breakfast."
"My apologies, I will visit her chamber in a while," he rubbed his face and slapped it to wake himself up.
The soldier who heard the slapping noise flinched and hesitated, "I will be on my way, sir."
"Go on."
Leon cracked his bones, he's still tired. His training session with Lithea was so fun that they did not notice how late it had gotten. If they didn't hear the soldiers changing shifts, they wouldn't know they have been sparring for hours; the sky has turned from black inks to purple velvets. Dawn almost broke.
As Leon was getting ready for the first time in daze and exhausted, Lithea was still fast asleep on her soft bed; the guys' worry returned not knowing that the little priestess sneaked out that night and spent the whole nighttime in the training arena.
"She's still fast asleep after heading to bed that early last night," Verin whispered to Hugo but he never responded and kept observing Hugo.
"Quit your staring, that's harassment," Verin slapped the armoured guy's arm, "worry or not, it is still not right."
Hugo looked at Verin and this little action startled Viv and decided to squeeze himself between them, looking at the two back and forth without taking a break from eating his cookies away.
"What?" Verin raised an eyebrow.
With the fuss, Lithea rolled to the side and groaned, awakened by Verin's whispers and Viv's constant munching noise.
Lithea opened one of her eyes and saw through the tiny gap between her curtains that the sun had risen up. She gasped and sat right up, and like Leon, she also struggled at the sudden headache.
She groaned.
The three guys who were nervously waiting for her to wake up, all rush to her side seeing her in pain.
"Are you alright?" Both Verin and Hugo asked in sync.
Lithea tried to look at them and wondered, "why are you here?"
"Ah," they both moved back, sweating at her question. While the clueless one, Viv sat beside her, offering her cookies. He thought if she would eat, it would cure her. All he could remember is when he fell sick, Oz and Thenea would feed him porridge and some freshly cooked food.
"Hi, Viv."
"Lia!" he smiled at her brightly, his mouth covered in cookie crumbs.
Lithea wanted to laugh at the sight but didn't, she didn't want to offend Viv.
"We were worried," Verin explained, "breakfast was hours ago and one of the maids said you won't respond to her."
Lithea gently rubbed her head and then bowed her head to them, "sorry, I was just asleep."
"You look tired," Hugo noticed.
Lithea ignored his words and asked, "when are we leaving?"
"After everyone has prepared," Verin answered, "we will leave you be, let's all meet at the front porch."
When the men left, Lithea threw herself back on the bed and sighed, "I shouldn't have stayed up all night."
The four of them, after they were done preparing themselves for the mission, all waited at the front porch for the carriage Lady Edrei prepared for them.
"Where could the carriage be?" Verin has become impatient.
Hearing this, Viv got an idea and quickly ran back inside and headed straight to the kitchen.
"Where is he going?"
The three of them watched the door where Viv went to, all of them had the same thoughts, 'food.' The council was kind enough to provide them with everything they needed, including food and water that would help them get by as they travel towards the east.
What more can he ask for?
Just then, the carriage arrived with Leon in it.
"Good day, adventurers," he greeted them, forcing himself not to let out a yawn and in return, tears formed in his eyes.
"You seem tired," Verin pointed out.
"Ah," Leon unconsciously looked at Lithea but immediately diverted it and looked at Hugo then back to Verin, "I was up all night with…work."
"Hmm," Verin shrugged, "how diligent."
Leon cleared his throat and stepped aside, "this is the carriage Lady Edrei had prepared for the guests."
He's tired of acting as a butler and a host to them. He doesn't want to babysit anymore.
"You may now start your journey to the east," he said but noticed they're missing one person, "where is the tiny one?"
"Ah," Verin sighed before screaming, "OI VIV! WE'RE GOING TO LEAVE YOU IF YOU WON'T HURRY IT UP!"
Viv heard Verin and threw all sweets in one go from two jars. He bowed to the two maids who helped him before scurrying back to where his teammates are.
"That must be heavy," one of the maids smiled awkwardly watching Viv struggle dragging the sack of sweets.
"It must be," the other agreed.
Verin was the last one to enter the transportation and the carriage departed.
"OI, HURRY IT UP!"
Viv saw how the carriage left already and summoned all of his strength and carried the sack and sprints to catch them. He huffed and swung both arms before throwing the sack on top of the carriage, and when it landed safely on top, he ran again to hop on the steps and held on to the side of the roof.
When Viv finally got himself situated, he popped out his head in the window and waved, "GOODBYE!"
Team Hugo has finally departed for their mission in the East.