"Berion's intervention took place fifty years ago and .... it's almost seven o'clock, we have to go to dinner, sorry, I took up all our time with the story of the continent." Said a visibly worried Etiene about her gaffe.
Zonna smiled and said: "It's okay, despite appearances, the fact that you lost yourself in your passion shows me that we are similar. I too can lose myself in the story of magic."
"Really?"
"Yes, on the way to Raalo I'll tell you something about it, just don't throw me out of the carriage later if I don't stop," Zonna laughed at the end.
"I resemble a younger sister with you even though I'm four years older." Etiene pouted, but after a moment she smiled and spoke shyly to the other princess. "Thank you for giving me a chance, I hope that as we get to know each other better you will become my friend."
Zonna smiled widely upon hearing this. "If it goes well, maybe we can become friends before we get to Raalo."
The two princesses laughed and left the room together with their servants to go to dinner. In the dining hall, Tomaz was waiting for them with his wife and son. Seeing his sister walking along with Zonna in good humour he smiled and called out to them.
"I see you've made contact, I'm glad..." He paused when he saw Etiene pass him and take Zonna with her.
"Stazia your husband tried to help me by force again" Etiene spoke up to the beautiful Aisen who was standing together with a ten year old boy who looked like a little Tomaz with his long hair tied in a ponytail.
"I understand" Stazia said looking coolly in her husband's direction. The King of Sangeria went through shivers and did not even dare to speak up in his defence. "This I presume is our guest Princess Zonna, yes? I'll tell you right away to address me the same way as Etiene." She added, in a completely different, warm tone to her guest.
"That's right Stazia, I was invited to dinner by King Tomaz and in the process I met Etiene, with whom I believe I will make friends." Zonna smiled in the direction of Etiene, who was embarrassed but clearly pleased.
"I am pleased to hear that. This young man at my side is my son Khazar." She pointed to the boy standing next to her. "Say hello to our guest."
Khazar looked at Zonna and his face went all red and only the words "welcome princess" could be heard before he ran off towards the table. Zonna's beauty embarrassed him and he did not know how to behave in front of her. The women were amused by the situation. Then they all sat down to eat dinner.
For the next two days, Zonna was accompanied by Etiene and, unexpectedly, Khazar. They showed the foreign princess around Gyomlos. She learned about interesting places and visited well-known restaurants. During these walks, she saw that the Zerom royal family was very well respected and esteemed. This was not only due to the reputation they have after their battles with Raksa. The prosperity they provided for their people when they tied up with Raalo and the sense of security were major factors in this popularity.
However, the time had come to say goodbye to this city. Zonna, together with Marzee, Sebastios and Ramza, waited for Etiene's carriage to appear. By this time, King Tomaz and his family had arrived on the scene. Finally, the princess of Sangeria arrived. The composition of those accompanying her was the same as the princess of the Sochi family, one maid and two guards. Zonna and Etiene bid farewell to the rest of Zeroms as they set off for Raalo. Their next stop was Nyirmatobely, the capital of Aszavaszaros.
During this journey, the princesses got to know each other better. They took turns riding in one carriage and the other. This served to get to know each other better, but also so that the journey would not be too tedious for them. Etiene would tell various interesting facts about the history of the continent or about the different races. It was during one of their rides together that an incident occurred just before they crossed the border. A dragon boar approached their carriages in the evening, when they had just taken a break from driving. This is a magical beast that had taken on dragon-like features during its transformation. Its back was covered in scales and fire was gushing from its nostrils. However, there was something strange about it, its pupils were a dark purple colour and its veins became visible and pulsed black. Its appearance resembled...
"Raksa! It's not a magical beast, but a demonic one, Zonna we have to run!" She shouted to the younger princess dragging her to the carriage. Closer by stood Zonna's carriage with Marzee inside. At this time the boar threw itself at the servant Etene . It opened its mouth and caught her in half with its teeth, she was bitten alive. This chilling scene did not make the others stand still, on the contrary. Magis began to throw spells in Raksa's direction. Two fireballs hit it straight in the head without doing anything to it. The ice daggers that were launched were melted with fiery breath. However, these attacks bought enough time for the princesses to get to the carriage.
It was half charged with mana so that, at least for a while, there was no need for a mage to drive it. Marzee started the vehicle and began to move away. The demonic beast seeing this wanted to throw itself into pursuit. That's when one of Sangeria's magis stood in Raksa's way. Before the boar pierced him through with its fangs, the mage sent the rest of the defenders towards the carriage at the last moment of his life. He used his strongest wind spell to do so. The powerful blast caused the other three to land on the roof of the carriage.
There was no panic inside the vehicle, as there were two very intelligent princesses and a maid who acted as if she had no nervous system. She drove the carriage in such a way as to avoid obstacles along the way while avoiding being caught by the deadly beast. Even so, their advantage over Raksa was melting away even when firing spells at the beast from the roof.
"Etiene, where is the nearest town with a mage tower?" Zonna asked quickly.
"The closest is Raza, it is fifteen kilometres north of here, I don't know if we will persevere to the point where the magus patrol the area." She replied with some resignation.
"We have no other choice we have to try, we can't die now." Said Zonna with determination.
It was a race for life in which they had a hundred metres at the start. Each bounce, having to dodge an obstacle reduced the distance and at the same time the chances of survival. More and more metres passed, but the road grew unmercifully long for the fugitives. Two kilometres before their destination, Raksa hit the carriage for the first time. In doing so, he nearly knocked the two mages off the roof. The dragon boar was all bloody from the spells cast in its direction. Nevertheless, this did not slow down its pursuit even a little. The Magis had to decide who to sacrifice. Otherwise they would not persevere to Raza.
Suddenly, they heard a swish and a huge fireball appeared before their eyes. It hit Raksa chasing them. It was followed by another and another. Bullets were hurled until a pile of dust was left of the beast. From behind the trees two Maji emerged. They were a man who was a Nord and a woman from the Grun race. They were clearly arguing over the fact that the woman was right with expanding the area of their patrol today, and her companion was not too keen to agree.
The carriage stopped so that its passengers could thank them for their rescue. The sight they saw left them stunned. The two magus were not even interested in their accomplishment, as if it was not something special for them.
"They are mages of the middle circle, that is why they defeated Raks so easily." Said the magis accompanying Etiene. His name was Andros, and he was a Nord with black hair and a dark complexion.
"Middle circle?" The princess of Sangeria quipped.
"We all have mana in us, don't we?" Zonna asked her in confirmation.
"Yes I know. It circulates inside of us. They teach it to young children."
"Right. This circulation is called a cycle. If one has enough mana in the cycle one can become a mage. The ritual makes it possible for the mana that was previously locked inside the body to leave it through sorcery. After the mage's body empties of mana, it is slowly regenerated. Mages have invented various potions to speed up this process, but this is a digression. The mana will minimally increase to its maximum level after each time it is used up to at least ninety percent. When the amount of mana in a cycle has increased to a critical point, which manifests as a feeling of fullness in mages when the mana has no more room to circulate in the cycle, the mage should use the mana from the existing cycle or cycles to create an entirely new cycle. This is similar to mana training with cores, where you have to set the external mana in motion. It involves the same thing with two differences. Firstly, you are using your mana and not external mana by which you first have to pull it out of an existing turn. Secondly, you don't have the convenience of an existing cycle to follow. Do you understand so far?" Zonna asked while catching her breath.
"Yes, you can go on," she said.
"After the split, the mage needs to fill his body with external mana to permanently increase his mana levels. Otherwise, if he misses this chance, he will have to laboriously build up his mana from the level he had before the new cycle was created. This was only discovered after war against Raksa, when the mana training method was developed. The amount of mana after splitting cycles does not increase by a cycle. New and old cycles increase in size and thus in the amount of mana they can hold. Mages can thus increase the number of cycles to nine. Within this range, mages are called small circle mages. In their circles, mages to describe their power say, for example, a mage of three small circles, which means he has three cycles in him." Zonna paused for a moment catching her breath again.
"And the mages of the medium circle?" Etiene asked curiously. She was impressed by the other princess's knowledge on the subject.
"To become a mage of the middle circle you first have to have nine cycles, and then try to force your mana, once the cycles are filled with mana, to jump to the places between the cycles. This way, the mana will start circulating again in the form of a larger cycle. Do not think that you will run out of space in your body. Our mana itself creates the magical space within us, so it has somewhere to expand. Back to the subject. Maji with this larger cycle is a medium circle mage. There are only three circles at this level. However, you don't immediately create another larger cycle, but again you have to start small. To become a great circle mage you need to get the mana circulating between the three larger cycles. What the division of the great circle looks like I don't know, because at our place in Balmaszeglodia there were no such mages." A slightly tired Zonna finished her lecture.
Smiling, Etiene said: "You were right that we are alike, you are also able to forget yourself when it comes to magic, just as I am on the subject of Altea." Zonna blushed with embarrassment, but smiled nonetheless, visibly relaxed after the threat had passed.
Meanwhile, their saviours had finished arguing. It was time to explain everything and find out where Raksa had come from so far outside the miasma zone.