20 LIGHT: PART IV

As days turn to nightfall and night turn to daybreak. Athena realized she has been staying in the Northern Region for more than a week already.

The girl was busy checking on the progress of the crops she planted at the back of Diana's house. She has also restored another small portion of land and planted some green vegetables, which are growing much better than her first crops.

My magic must be getting stronger then, since the lumineux around them are much brighter than my first crops.

It took her a while to find out the truth about the light surrounding the plants in the forest as well as the ones in her plants. It was thanks to the combat priest who started teaching about her magic, mana, and aura.

*Flashback to when she found out.*

"Ah, you mean the bright sparkling light?" Father Frances was looking for a book that can help the girl explain more about the light.

"Yes, why do those lights appear on the plant I grew at Diana's place."

"Hmm, here. This might help."

"Lumineux?"

Athena grabbed the book and started reading it. It wasn't as detailed as she expected since the church book collections are old. But, at least it helps her understand what it is.

A lumineux are the bright light surrounding crops, trees, and plants. It is a sign that there are spirits in the area. The more light means the more spirit, which also means the greater the spiritual energy in the area.

...

"My lady, are you ready?" Serfred walked in from the side of the house.

Athena nodded her head as she took a last looked at the plants, "Fuji, let's go."

Since what happened between the Chief and Fuji last time. Athena never dared to leave Fuji on his own, she was too worried that he might hurt him or the people of the village. At the same time, Fuji was growing at such speed that she thought he should be at the right age to be trained, especially when it comes to hunting.

Before Tycho would be accompanying Serfred and Athena. But since they made progress in the villager training, this time Serfred was accompanied by two young men, they were older than me, but younger than Serfred.

"Lady Tina."

"Serfred."

Athena frowned, hearing them call her a lady, "You don't need to address me as a lady you know."

"But Serfred calls you "My Lady", so why can't we?" Gran replied whilst pouting his lip like a child whose candy has been taken away.

"Whatever, let's go."

Athena gave in because she didn't want to waste her energy on him.

Gran was one of the villagers who's been accompanying them who had strong mana. As she expected, it was not long for his mana to process and he was able to manifest his aura as well. He decided to train himself as a master dual dagger user, like an assassin. Sadly, neither I and Serfred can help him master his magic since neither of us have any knowledge about the type of spell a magic assassin can do.

The quiet one is Arthur, I was surprised why he has a strong mana in him. When I found out the reason shocked me and Serfred. Of course, we keep his identity a secret. We found out he was an illegitimate son of one of the lord's living near the Northern Region. But, thanks to what his family did, I found someone who can now assist Serfred with the training. Not only that, he was very knowledgeable which means he was able to catch up to Serfred's level as a magic swordsman.

However, unlike Serfred who uses a two handed sword, Arthur preferred to use a rapier. Due to this, his speed at fighting is far greater than Serfred. His speed is almost the same as Arthur yet he is an assassin.

I started focusing my eyes on them, hoping they soon would be able to help train the villagers. Sadly, only Arthur can be trusted since Gran is so hot headed that he easily gets angry with the villagers if they do something wrong.

"Hopefully, we can get more supplies this time from Fuji is better at hunting now," Gran said, praising Fuji which made the large puppy's ears stick out please from what he was hearing.

Athena checks her bag carefully and her dagger on her belt, "I'll go and gather some herbs with Fuji, you guys can hunt."

"Roger." Gran cheerfully replied.

"Be careful," Serfred added.

"..." Arthur thought of what to say, but eventually just ended up nodding his head. He was a taciturn anyways, a person who hardly liked to speak.

As they all went their separate ways, Athena grabbed his bow and the bag of arrows as she and Fuji headed the opposite side. The area she was heading was deep in the forest where vast herbs sprouted.

Fuji went on his own as well as he started chasing some rabbits and other small animals. Athena doesn't bother to follow him since she won't be able to catch up. Even if he cast a spell to enhance her speed, she'll just drain her mana for no good reason.

The main reason as to why she decided to go deep in the forest was to check about the sparkling lights. She needed to know more about the Lumineux.

She realized that not only plants have such light, but also other materials. Living or not, they also possess such light.

The items she refers to are materials used to enhance weapons, make elixir, and other items.

One time, when she was inspecting the forest with Serfred and Fuji. She noticed a stone which had the same light as the plants. Since then, she has been curious as to whether it has something to do with the area or could there be something more to it that she is still not aware of.

For now, all she does is inspect the forest and record all the items she could find which have the similar light. If they are light enough, she would bring them back with her. However, she has stopped doing so since Diana's room has been full of all sorts of items and she feels bad for the girl since they are currently sharing a room.