"Can they really? Pitch and Alpha?" Mother asked. "Yes I believe so. Why not give them a chance to try?" I said. I the used my fingers to call Alpha. This was a signal we used while I trained them on how to use their abilities a few months back. Alpha came running and I began to pet his fur. "Alpha, I want you to fight that spider okay. I am going to release him now." I said as I stretched out my hand. The metal bindings collapsed on the ground and the spider was free. Alpha's mana reserves are at 32,000 while those of Pitch are at 43,000. Alpha ha the light and lightning attributes. Although, their mana reserves were lower than that of the spider, I was confident in their fighting abilities. Alpha ran towards the spider and began launching light attacks. The spider was not left behind and began launching venom and web attacks at Alpha. Alpha was able to dodge the spiders attacks easily even with his large frame. Alpha was a wolf the size of a horse and was very nimble and fast on his feet. The spider could not dodge the light attacks which was not a surprise because neither could I. The winner was already determined at this stage because Alpha had landed atlest fifty light attack hits while he remained untouched. I did not understand why he was not utilizing lightning attacks but was more than proud of what he had accomplished. The exoskeleton began to crack and finally broke due to Alphas unrelenting attacks. Alpha then used lightning magic for the first time aiming for the crack in the exoskeleton and it was a successful hit. The spider was fried from the inside and dropped dead. After confirming the spider was no longer moving, Alpha ran towards me where I congratulated him on the win. "Alpha was that strong? Is this why you always left him with me?" Mother asked. I guess she had never seen Alpha or Pitch in action. "Yes. Those two are likely to keep you from most dangers." I answered. We went over to inspect the corpse of the midlevel spider and it was indeed dead. I levitated the corpse and used fire magic where I burnt it completely without leaving a trace behind. I was lucky that I had brought three midlevel spiders along with me, the dragons had one and Alpha destroyed one which meant that I had one remaining. "Pitch and his crew always monitor the kingdom so there is not much to worry about. For the other two kingdoms however, they do not have such a privilege which is why I want them on the same page as us soon as possible." I said. "Yes, even the Midrain kingdom is unlikely to fuss about this." Father said. That was all I had come to talk about in the castle and without any other work to do, I asked to be excused. "You are leaving already?" Father asked. "Yes. I need to take care of that curse from its source. It seems to originate from one of the other two kingdoms." I said. "I see now. Are you heading there now?" Mother asked. "Yes. I want to head there immediately before I become busy with troops' training." I answered.I said my goodbyes to my parents and flew out of there. Alpha was not very pleased but I convinced him that I would be back soon which improved his mood. My first stop was at the Kingdom of Midrain where the queen was originally from. Being the daughter to the king's brother, that made her a very high ranking aristocrat. I landed outside the army base where both the Light and Water Talon resided. There was no need for me to introduce myself because even with the different eye and hair color, my physique and voice was well known among the soldiers. The guards opened the gate and bowed their heads while reciting a common phrase, "We greet the White Eagle." I waved at them to continue with their duties as I walked around. I was distracted by a very peculiar match that was happening at the sparring center. A fire mage was fighting with someone who was holding on to a flute. With each beautiful tune that played, a mirage of illusions would be created making multiple copies of himself.
[That is music magic, a derivative of sound magic.]
That was very interesting to me because the fire mage lost the battle completely. It was not even close. The fire mage ran out of mana far before the musician did because all the targets he aimed at were fake illusions. A final blow was delivered on the back of the head with a well-timed kick after the fire mage was unable to cast a fire spell. The winner was then determined where the musician was the last man standing. To think that there would be someone so interesting in this kingdom that focused on brawn instead of learning and improving magic. I was deeply invested. "The winner is the Whistling Wind from the Ultra Kingdom." An announcer said. Nobody had noticed my existence yet because we were all engraved in the beautiful performance displayed here. However, that all changed when the match was over and eyes began to wander around to seek their comrade's approval about the exciting match that had just taken place. It only took a short while before their eyes met mine and within a short period, most of the soldiers had taken a knee. About 20% recognized who I was and did not bother doing anything, in fact they ignored my existence which I found surprising. This was the group that certainly pushed for Midrain to have an independent branch of military away from the Talon system. "Rise all of you. Don't mind me. You over there, the whistling wind. Good job. Maybe I need a Talon for other talents part from the six." I said. I went there and shook the guy's hand. Just as I was heading back to continue with my aimless stroll, I was stopped by the same victor. "White Eagle, my name is Viton and I would like to request a spar." The Whistling Wind asked. There were gasps all around the sparring center. "How rude?" "That is too far?" and other comments flew by. "Why do you request a spar?" I asked. "I have heard of your heroic strength and I wish to see if even once, the depth of your power." He answered. Viton was a young guy who looked about twenty to twenty five years in age. Nothing about him was out of the ordinary except for his immense mana which was at 5,100. This was extremely high for a normal human. I did not notice it at first but after he requested for a duel, I found it very strange. "I can tell you are very strong among your peers. But that does not mean that we are at the same level. I decline your request for a duel until you prove yourself." I said. "How do I do that Sir White Eagle?" Viton asked. I stretched out my hand and began moving large amounts of earth. I compressed the large volume of sol and stones using gravity magic into a cuboid shape which I placed on one end of the sparring center. "If you manage to destroy that lump of dirt then I shall humor you. Until then, there won't be a duel." I said. Viton looked at the cuboid mass and began hitting it with his fists. He was indeed stronger and sturdier than normal soldiers but his continuous barrage of attacks did not even scratch the surface of that mass. He then began using some music magic in ways that I found amusing. He could summon some beasts that would charge at the wall but that did nothing. The first summon was a large beetle which tried using its horns to damage the cuboid but failed. Next he summoned an eagle which tried to use its sharp talons but only minor scratches on the surface appeared. The challenge was to destroy that lump of dirt and not put scratches on it. I probably set the bar too high. Viton was now out of mana after his continuous stream of summoning creatures. He took a break which gave everyone else a chance to try their luck. "100 gold pieces to whoever becomes first to break that lump of dirt." I said. This greatly motivated the soldiers who began throwing all kinds of attack spells at it. I went over to Viton who was exhausted and sat next to him. "I am much sturdier than that lump of dirt over there. For your request to be a spar, you need to be much stronger." I said. "I understand. I need to strengthen my body further using body magic." Viton said. "Are you a dark mage?" I asked while surprised. "Yes, it runs in my family after every two generations. I however chose to practice my flute hoping to become a musician and not the Patriarch of the family. However, little did I know this was what fate had installed for me. I developed the music magic while trying to escape the world of magic." Viton said. This was all fascinating information. "What is your family's name?" I asked. "I am afraid I cannot answer that. Maybe if you meet with my grandmother, the current matriarch of the family, she can tell you instead." Viton answered.