Chapter 8

The princess is staring at us in wonder her eyes burning with curiosity. Freya meanwhile took on an aloof stoic stance. Her clothes are now dry with nothing but a snap of a finger. Magic is so convenient huh? I look at her with a longing look jealous of her ability to use magic.. she makes everything looks so simple and easy.

"This world which all the great Gods christened as Eden is covered in mystical energy which we call mana. It is like the air, invisible and untouchable. Magicians are people who can sense this mystical force. Jeremiah the First Magus studied how to harness this force with his will."

She paused. Noticing that the princess was not listening at all and was just looking at me with a peculiar look on her face.

"Princess Emilia, are you listening?"

The princess blinked then turned to Freya.

"Teacher..  what were you doing with.." she paused pointed at me.

"On the bath." She finished. Her tone is curious with a tinge of childlike wonder.

I chuckled and told her my name to which she nodded.

"So what were you doing with Aidan and why was she umm.. tied up earlier in your room? But it wasn't with a rope.." she asked cutely.

Freya now sporting a dark look on her face, which made me giggle hysterically. I heard her groan which made me laugh even more.

She gave me a quick glare and I stifled my uncontrollable laughter with my hands.

"Princess I'm here to teach you how to harness magic. My business is my own and what I do to my property is my own concern."

Emilia pouted cutely scrunching her face in displeasure.

"Oh come on Freya. Lighten up. Princess Emilia just wants to know somethings that's all." I teased clearly enjoying her discomfort.

She glared at me her teeth clench.

"Then perhaps I should demonstrate to the princess about what I do to you and how exactly you like to be tied up." She threatened coldly.

That immediately stop me amidst my boisterous laughter and I almost choke.

"Umm.. I don't think that would be necessary mistress." My voice deflating. Sigh.. how joy turns to misery in the blink of an eye.

I stick my tongue out at her once the princess has turned her attention to her once more. She gave me a look and I smiled cheekily at her.

I giggled seeing her mouthing the words 'wait till later.'

"Ahem.. anyway where was I?" Freya pondered.

"Jeremiah the First magus." Answered a tiny cute voice. The princess blurted this out with a raised hand.

Aww she's so sweet and cute. She's the definition of adorable.

"Ah yes, thank you, Emilia. So you were listening after all." Freya smiled.

Princess bobbed her head up and down while making a "hmm" "hmm" noise swinging her legs back and forth atop her chair.

"Jeremiah hypothesis that the mystical energy or mana is divided into many different types of elements and each person is attuned to a specific type of elements or mana. The exception being are people who attract a special type of energy, he calls it the void energy and it gives people a special type of magic such as my Time magic. People who command void magic also allows them to command the different type of mana elements."

Freya then proceeds to produce a spherical shape orb, its colour is dark with a tinge of dark purple all over its spherical body. Freya then injected the orb with her power and the orb glowed giving out a very dark and foreboding aura.

"This is a mana orb. It's formed in very dense mana environment and once you inject it with a little bit of power depending on what type of mana you command it will glow into any given colour. As you can see mine is a special type of mana, a void type. The colour does not correspond to any of the known elements. We mostly use the elemental orb to check mages elemental affinity."

She then handed the orb to the princess. The princess injected it with her mana and the orb began to glow blue.

"The blue glow shows us that you're main element is water. Water elements governs the area of healing, as well as devastating spells such as water bullet, torrential rain, those, are just a few examples of what you can do once you learn to control and attune yourself to the mana. What you need to work on now is how to gather mana within your body and learn how to control it efficiently."

"Now try forming a ball of water, let it float into your hand and maintain that form without letting the spherical integrity of the spell break or wobble."

The princess nodded and began to do what she was told. I look at the orb in curiosity and wondered if I could sense mana and if so what type of element would I have? Freya notices me glancing at the orb and then to myself. She let out a small smile and wandered towards me. She nudges me with her elbow.

"Close your eyes and concentrate, see if you can sense a strange sort of mystical force in the air or in your body."

I smiled timidly but I followed her instruction and began to try to feel this strange force. I can sense nothing from my surrounding but deep within me is this strange feeling, a force I can't quite comprehend and it leaves me feeling perplexed and amazed.

"Do you feel it?" she asked softly.

I nodded somewhat hesitantly.

"You should have some sort of power within you even if you can't sense mana, you are a demi-human after all albeit only a quarter." she said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes and her. Freya placed the orb on top of my palms.

"Now see if you can bring it out and transfer some of it into this orb."

I nodded, I close my eyes once more drawing out the mysterious power within me. It was hard to control, to get a feel of this.. whatever this is but I think I somehow did it as the orb glowed with a white soft hue.

"Null magic." she muttered.

"It makes sense considering you're race were born with magic and are not assigned to any element. Your abilities and power are in your blood and can use it instinctively depending on what race you are."

I held up the orb fascinated by the glow its emitting. Its soft warm glow feels warm somehow and I couldn't help but smile. Suddenly a bright of flash blinding me momentarily and I blinked rapidly in confusion. I look at Freya holding a translucent crystal in her hand and I gave her an exasperated look.

"Really?" I said dryly.

She shrugged giving me a wide grin.

"Give me that smile again." she pleaded.

I rolled my eyes and turned away from her bent on observing this mystifying phenomenon before me. The orb though it glows warmly is quite cool to the touch; this must be a mineral I reckon since it felt rock like?

"I'm setting that as one of your homework princess. I will be leaving to go somewhere and hopefully, I will be back within a months time."

"Where are you going?" asked the princess innocently, the bright smile on her face that this news wasn't a particularly unpleasant one. Freya must be a pain in the ass as a teacher most likely strict and a perfectionist, looking at that stone-cold face I wouldn't be at all surprised that she gives this young girl a hard time.

"I need to bring Aidan somewhere." she said simply.

"You guys going on a date?" she asked again with a tilt of her again. OMG! she's so adorable!! I couldn't help but squeal on the inside.

"Something like that.."

Well, princess you and I both don't know where she's taking me. Heck! I'm clueless as hell. I gave her an inquisitive look but she didn't see me or feigned to have not noticed me as she was busying herself giving out homework materials to be completed and I feel for the princess as she sat there with a glum look on her face lying helpless on top of the table, her eyes about to cry from the amount of work that Freya is setting her.

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Annice POV

I sat there within the confines of my room nursing the slight swelling of the bruise that a certain witch gave me. Her magic is so troublesome, I know her punch was just enhanced with a slight hint of her time element but even so, it's stopping the bruise from healing completely. That slave. She's dangerous. I have no idea how Freya hasn't notice it yet but that thing.. that monster.. that delicate delicious thing.. is charming her somehow. Something about her makes you drawn to her.. makes you want her.. to devour her completely and you would do anything just to make her happy.

That's what I felt anyway, the moment I grab her hand, everything about her just changed, her forlorn face, her whimpering cries.. her state of distress. It suddenly all just became.. like everything else was out of focus.. only she was. It felt like my mind has been overridden with the desire to have her above all else. Like my whole entire existence is solely for her.

I chuckled gleefully. I suspect that her demi-human nature belongs to a species belonging to pleasure demons or either fox demons. Her bewitching nature.. there was a reason why they were the most dangerous type. Their beauty could topple an empire.

There was a knock at the door, I pondered for a second before letting out a heavy sigh. When am I ever going to get a break? There is always something to do.

"Come in."

A brown-skinned thick muscled came in, sporting a tattered cloak and robe and his dark leather boots layered with a thin dust of sand and a hint of earth. He took off dark green hoodie he was wearing revealing an old rugged face, thick short beard and the side of face sporting a long nasty scar. I gave him a curt glare looking at the stains he was making on my expensive luxurious red carpet.

He smiled awkwardly rubbing the back of his head apologetically. I notice his hands large and full of callouses. He was from the Tribe Lands, a barbarian as we call it here. The sun is especially hot over there the warm climate causing their melanin to be the way that it is. The barbarians are a strange group of people. Somehow they no access to mana however their people holds a strange power, I speculated its due to the fact they serve evil demonic gods that gives them power.

They carry strange totems with them and are usually covered in tattoos. The most fearsome warrior will be covered in hundreds of tattoo and they could even toe to toe against me. Even I'm not sure if I would be able to defeat one. Their fighting technique is strange and varied and seems to depend on what type of totem they have.

"Do you have it?" he asked gruffly, the thick tones of his muscled body makes a strange contrast to everything else in this room. The room screams with regal and style while this mongrel exudes a wild barbaric presence.

"Yes. Tell Calipso that I need a hundred of his men in order to destroy my neighbouring dukedom."

The barbarian look at me in surprise. I merely smiled. The Grant family has been trying to supress my family for a long time now. I have a feeling that they were behind that incident a long time ago. My poor father. Even now I still carry the remnant of that attack, I unconsciously glance at the side of waist mentally feeling the long jagged scar,

I fetch a ring from my pocket and tossed it to him.

"Inside that storage ring is the mana stones you need to feed your little pets," I smirked.

"Calipso will be grateful" he said simply without any further decorum or niceties.

I'm not surprised at this anymore. I have been working with the Ascator Tribe for over two years now, each with our own plan and something to gain when the empire finally crumbles. It won't take long now especially since we framed a rising general of commoner origins for the murder of the son of a commander. Now a portion of the empire's soldier along with that general has allied themselves to the duke of Forester. Alan Forester the bastard son of the previous emperor, he's been steadily gaining power over the years.

The barbarian tossed me a strange looking figurine made out of the crystal tree. It's surface soft and dark.

"That is the mark of Calisto, take this south-east from here."

He paused tossing a rolled-up parchment tied with a string.

"Use this to find them. These men will be all that you need to destroy Duke Alexander Grant."

"Also about the woman that you said that could throw a wrench in our plan?"

"Yes, Freya she's troublesome if she gets a whiff of our plan and decides to get involved. I would rather not fight her, she is a monster. Her time magic is.." I gave a very deep sigh pinching the bridge of my nose. Honestly, I have no answer to that woman's magic, its tricky fighting someone who literally can stop time!

"I have some intel that she is heading out and going Sanguine Canyon.. I have put a small tracking spell on her slave and this small gem should glow brighter the closer you get near to her. Tell Calipso he can do whatever he wants with that information, it be best if we can get rid of her but honestly it would be very difficult."

The barbarian simply nodded and accepted the small gem embedded with runes that are designed to track the elusive signal I place on the girl.