Outside the Royal the castle stood Alfred with a medium-sized black bag on his back with a broom by his side.
He looked all around him with nostalgia and a sad smile, but that smile changed into a hopeful one looking forward to the future.
He turned around to see lolopechka and pervy sensei standing beside each other, looking at him. He smiled, came up to them, and hugged them. They have both gotten quite close to Alfred over time. They separated, and the older man sighed.
"Here is this a communication device, so if you are ever in trouble, just give me a call, and I'll come running to save you," the old man said, handing over a small communication device.
Lolopechka looked at Alfred for a moment before turning around and leaving him, but before she left, she yelled, "Alfred! Be safe, Ok!" Her figure disappeared into the castle.
Alfred had a noticeable smile before it disappeared and turned back into the blank, emotionless look again.
"Bye, pervy sensei; hopefully, I'll see you again!" Alfred yelled as he hopped onto his broom and flew away, standing on it.
'Kid, I hope you find whatever you're looking for…' the old man said in his mind as he walked back into the royal castle.
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He was looking all around him; Alfred knew that he was lost. Number one, he had no idea where he was going. Number two, he didn't bring a map. And number three, he wasn't paying any attention as he was enjoying the feeling of free flying through the air.
After several hours of flying, he looked around, noticing that he was far from the heart kingdom, as it was nothing but barren lands or dirt and rock. He looked far ahead and saw a massive storm coming his way. The air started to get colder until he eventually got engulfed in a blizzard. He activated mana skin to protect himself from the blizzard's cold as his entire body was covered in a golden white, faint light. 'Shit, I need to land somewhere. If I keep going at this pace, then I'm afraid of what might happen..'
Alfred reached the ground, got off his broom, and looked all around himself for cover from the blizzard. He eventually wandered across a big rock that he could use as cover. Alfred huddled under the rock and sighed, 'if my guess is right, then I'm probably in a Grand Magic Zone. If that's the case, then this is not good…. If my memory is correct, I should be between the Clover, heart, and spade kingdoms… I don't want anything to do with the spade kingdom for many reasons… as for a clover, that looks like a good place to settle down. Hmm, but I have no idea which way to go!… ok the spade kingdom, from my information, is always encompassed in cold weather, so the colder it gets, the more I'm getting near the spade kingdom, so all I have to do is go the opposite way of the cold weather then I should arrive at the clover kingdom….' Alfred thought as he waited for the blizzard to pass him.
After a couple of hours passed, the storm finally let up. Alfred looked around and sighed; that was the most extended period he had ever kept his mana skin active.
He grabbed his broom, jumped onto it, and flew in the direction he thought was right. Looking around, he felt free… just being alone flying in the sky; he felt a sense of peace that he hasn't felt in a long time….
He eventually found a massive wall that had the markings of a clover on it. 'Hmm, that was fast looks like I was closer than I thought I was….oh well, time to mess around a bit. It looks like I should hide till I find a village.'
Alfred's grimoire floated up from his waist and lit up "light manipulation! Transparent Form!" Alfred's body then lit up before it turned transparent, making him invisible to the naked eye. He flew over the wall unnoticed by any magic nights on patrol.
He continued to fly on his broom until he saw a village. He landed at the entrance and undid his spell. He walked around for a bit till he found a pub. He opened the door, and it rang, and the bartender welcomed him. "Hey, mister, what can I get for you?"
Alfred sat in one of the chairs next to a gigantic man wearing a black robe with a bull mark. "Hmm, give me a glass of your best wine," Alfred said, and the bartender nodded.
The vast man gave Alfred a look before saying, "hey twirp, aren't you a little young to be drinking wine?"
Alfred looked at him before saying, "Tch, I'm 15 and almost 16, so I think it's fine if I have a little alcohol, right? And trust me, this amount is not harmful to me."
The vast man gave Alfred another look till he stood up and sat at a table dealing a game of blackjack that got Alfred's attention.
Alfred continued to drink his wine while watching the people play blackjack and unknowingly drank several too many glasses as he kept watching the game. As he watched the game, he counted every card played and put up a tally of what cards were played in his mind. Yes, Alfred was trying out card Counting.
Alfred smiled, knowing what the next card would be played. He sat down at the table and put down a sack of gold coins he had.
"All in!" He said drunkenly as he pushed all his coins into the middle of the table.
"Hey, the kid, I have some good cards right now. Are you sure you want to do that?" The dealer said while smiling
"Yeah, kid, you sure? Also, you're not looking too great, so much for wine not being harmful, huh." The vast man said, and Alfred smiled and smirked: "how about this? If I lose them, you can ask me to do whatever you want, but if I win….. we spar." Alfred said while grinning wildly as he slammed his hand onto the table drunk, but he could sense a significant amount of magic energy inside this massive guy, so he wanted to fight. He was craving to punch something, and this vast guy was the perfect target.
"Haha, sure, kid!" the giant man said while giving Alfred a meaningful look and then put his focus back onto the game while puffing out his cigarette.
The dealer flipped over his card, and he got a king, which equals ten and a nine of spades, so the dealer's cards totaled equaled nineteen. "Haha, kid, looks like your gonna lose!" The vast man yelled as he patted Alfred's back repeatedly. The dealer smiled as well because technically, the money that was supplied for the game was from the owner of the pub, and all of the people who the dealer can get to lose go to the pub, but if someone wins, then it's out of the pub's pocket. So if the dealer wins, then, of course, it's better for the pub.
Alfred smiled as he slammed down two cars, one a king and the other a ten making him the winner, having a total of 21. "Hahaha, looks like I win! Now, pay up our deal, huge smelly man!" Alfred said, pointing his pointer finger at the massive guy while forgetting that he had just bled his money.
The vast man had an irk mark on his head for losing to a kid. "Tch comes on, brat, let's leave this place first. I don't want to destroy anything…." The vast man left the pub, and just before Alfred left, he yelled, pointing at the blackjack dealer, "I will come back for the money! I will blow up your shop if it's not there when I come back!" He yelled drunkenly, which scared the pub owner because he couldn't tell if he was joking.
In an open area a g,ood distance from the village stood Alfred and the giant man. "So, kid, are you a royal or something? I can feel the huge amount of mana coming off you." The vast man said, and Alfred smiled wildly. Yes! He was correct. This man was strong!
"Hehe, I'll tell you who I am after the fight!" Alfred said while his grimoire appeared next to him, shining in all its glory.
It was as if time stopped for a moment before Alfred and the considerable man both mumbled out some words.
"Dark-cloaked black blade slash!" The man yelled as he swung his katana, which was now coated in dark magic, at Alfred's different with a significant amount of force and sent a black slash towards Alfred at high speed.
Alfred countered with his spell before it could reach him "light magic, lights slash of punishment," he mumbled as several little white crescent moons of light formed around him and shot off into the direction of the enormous man.
The man looked at the attacks and positioned his body in a position that took minor movements so that raids would barely miss him but miss him all the same.
Alfred watched with widened eyes seeing how the man dogged his attacks with such little effort. 'Heh, let's kick things up a bit. Shall we?!' "Light/fire magic beams of reflective judgment!" Several beams of light shot out from around Alfred, but this time, a noticeable white flame attached to the yellow shaft of light attacks that bounced off the surfaces they hit and then flew in several directions trying to land a hit on the man.
The man kept on dogging and dogging the attacks, and Alfred grew more impatient as time went by. Alfred contemplated using mana zone but didn't as it was a spar. Alfred turned into a blinding light as he appeared behind the man. "Light magic, Sword of light!"
A sword appeared in Alfred's hand as he swung at the man's back, but oddly, the man, as though he had eyes in the back of his head, dogged the attack in time and slashed his katana at Alfred's shoulder and hit!
Alfred's eyes widened as he disappeared and appeared several meters away again. This was the difference between combat experience and fighting slightly drunk.
He looked at his bleeding shoulder, and the old memories he wished he could forget it resurfaced in his brain. He clutched his stomach and started hyperventilating, seeing his blood as he fell to his knees, as his breathing started to get heavier and heavier. His mind was flooded with memories of himself being stabbed in the stomach with a huge branch. Then more memories passed by, but more tormenting. He saw his family smiling at him before it all disappeared into a bright flame of fire, blood, and screams for help. What stood above his family's body was the same nightmarish girl with an evil grinning smile looking around her. "Mom! Dad! Mona!" Alfred screamed as his eyes shot open again, but he was still hyperventilating and shivering on the ground as tears fell down his face in disparity.
"Hey kid, you ok?!" Yelled the man, now by Alfred's side, looking down at the shivering, now delicate-looking teenager that was way different than the confident magic-wielding warrior the man had fought just a few seconds ago.
"Ye-a note to self don't drink before fighting." Alfred managed to say as he let out a dry laugh trying to control his breathing and looking away from his bloody shoulder.