Awake

They conversed with each other for a while before one of the five mages suddenly brought out a device when they were about to leave, the device let out a mental energy ripple that spread out for two hundred meters before being kept away. Vee realized that the device was a scanning device that was capable of picking the presence of any form of mana as long as it was within the range of its detection, Vee would surely have been discovered had that energy ripple touched him as he was like a human-sized planet filled with mama; there was no way he would have been able to hide from it.

"Thankfully, I decided to move away when they arrived, else I would have had no choice but to kill these mages and I would alert those behind them," Vee said to himself as he watched the five mages disappear into the clouds while the creatures continued with what they were doing before.

It could really be said that it was a close call just now because the energy ripple from that device had stopped right in front of Vee. If the range of the device's detection was two hundred meters, then Vee was only two hundred and one centimeters away from the mage who had activated the device.

"Hmm, turns out that they had the support of the ministry, no wonder they dared to target Edrichrio. Ah, the planet is about to face a crisis and those good-for-nothing students of mine have yet to discover anything. Sigh! It can't be helped though, seeing how cautious they are to even scan the place despite not knowing anyone would come here, such sinister people" Vee sighed and clicked his tongue before free-falling from the sky and only stopping a few hundred meters above the village, he was still in his concealed state so none of the villagers were able to see him.

Besides, most of them were currently crowded outside Alex's house and were waiting for him to wake up. His parents and the village head watched him with worried expressions while the rest of the villagers said silent prayers outside.

No one had suspected the old mage to be missing even now, they probably had yet to even notice.

Vee stared at the sleeping Alex through the roof of the house which was not able to obstruct his view.

"The planet is about to face a calamity and a lot of life would be lost but I can't recklessly resolve things by myself, I still don't know the extent of the other party's strength," Vee thought to himself. It would be foolish to expose himself too early, if the other side had someone or people who were as powerful as he was then Edrichrio would be doomed for sure.

His gaze lingered on Alex a bit more before a sigh escaped his lips.

"I originally wanted to train you into a rival but now…I'll have to leave things to you, little one. There's still a bit of time, let's see how far you can go" Vee mumbled as he silently descended from the sky and entered his house before changing back to his fake identity of an old man, he left for Alex's house after changing back.

"What happened?"

Vee asked as he made his way into the house and joined the trio who were watching Alex, they all turned to look at him and the village head narrated what had happened to him with a dejected tone.

Vee wore a serious expression and patted the man's shoulder.

"Don't be hard on yourself, things were out of your control and you still did your best even when faced with such a strong oppression" he consoled the village head.

Agnes and her husband turned to look at him at this point with half smiles as they agreed with him, the village head had been blaming himself for being weak and they felt helpless about it. Even Alex's father had been petrified after his wife told him what had transpired at the field, the man was not sure if he would have enough guts to go against a powerful mage without wetting his pants but the village head actually stood up for his family, he felt extremely grateful and ashamed that the village head was blaming himself for Alex's current state.

"Don't think about it too much, he doesn't look like he is in danger so that beam probably should not be harmful or will take a long time to take effect. Anyway, I agree with your idea. Since he left money to be used on Alex, sending him to the academy as quickly as possible would be the best course of action. If there is really something wrong with him, the instructors would definitely be able to tell and help him" Vee commented after being told that the village head planned to take Alex to the capital of the southern continent to have Alex join the Royal magic academy the next week.

Everyone nodded before the plane plunged into silence once more as they all waited for Alex to wake up.

By the time Alex finally woke up, it was almost late and most of the villagers had returned to their respective houses to prepare dinner. Only a few remained outside the house till now.

Alex's eyes opened slowly, he found himself staring at the familiar ceiling of their house for a few seconds before memories of what happened before entered his mind.

'I passed out in the field, how did I get here?' Alex thought to himself while sitting up. Compared to most mornings or when he usually woke up from naps, Alex felt energized and clear-minded like he had been awake for a long time.

He immediately caught sight of his parents, the village head, and old man Vee staring at him from the side after getting into a sitting position.

'Did something happen to me?' Alex thought to himself upon seeing the worried expressions on the faces of his parents and the two old mages.