The princess's first battle

Naige watched their fight closely. She was impressed by the speed and intensity of the black swordsman, who wielded a large and heavy sword but moved with agility. Jiro, too, was not far behind, making his slender sword withstand the heavy blows of his opponent as if his weapon were indestructible. Both of them were on a level far above what she and her small saber could reach.

Suddenly, a voice emerged near her: "Where are you looking, princess? I didn't come all this way just to watch!"

It was the voice of the hooded man. Naige diverted her attention to him, who was approaching stealthily, and his presence almost disappeared next to Jiro's opponent.

He lowered his hood, revealing himself to be a young man, a little over his twenties. He had long blonde hair with a braid at the ends. He wore a cloth bandana on his forehead, which seemed to conceal some kind of mark or scar that extended to the edge of his left eye. His hands to the elbows were covered in dingy bandages. Naige paid attention to this fact because it could involve hidden spells.

"Are you going to use that little thing?" The man asked, curling his lips into a disdainful smile. "Are you kidding me? Do you think that's going to be enough to defeat me? You nobles are so presumptuous..."

He mocked her weapon. He wasn't the only one doing so, and despite his words irritating her a bit, Naige didn't let herself be shaken, nor did she want to retort. She simply took her saber and prepared for battle. For only in this way would she prove the worth of her weapon.

She wasn't very excited about facing a mage, especially an opponent who liked to talk so much. Nevertheless, this would be her first real battle, something she had longed for, so she was eager to begin.

"Since you seem not to care about your lives, I don't need to worry either, right?" Naige said.

Attacking a noble in any part of Asterl territory was considered a serious crime, with the highest penalty being death. Even if it were self-defense, the person would still be punished. That was the law. And, although she didn't find it fair in all cases, she was still a noble and would act like one.

Smiling, the man said: "I won't go easy just because you're a girl or a princess. So, worry only about your own life."

"I don't expect you to do that" Naige retorted calmly. "Bring on your cheap trick, then.

"Well, what a bold princess!"

Naige had always heard people say the same thing about her being a girl. At first, hearing these words frustrated her, but now it only made her more determined to become a swordsman.

Suddenly, the man advanced a few steps. He didn't seem to have any kind of weapon, just stretched his arms in the direction of the princess and conjured: "I'll show you what a real trick is, princess. Come, spirits of the depths, bring your chains and detain them!" His hands shone with a green light, like an aurora in the sky, and a magical circle appeared before him.

Immediately, Naige raised her saber in a battle stance and waited for an offensive spell. She then observed the glow in the mage's hands. The light that appeared when a spell was activated was called the Aurora of Revelation. This light revealed much about the nature of a magic, as its colors were connected to the elements. Just as blue appeared for water elementalists and red for fire, this green meant that the man in front of her manipulated some earth-related power.

Knowing this was already of great help. But, like most magical rules, this one had its exceptions too. Some mages could hide this light, powerful spells could be invoked only through magical circles or even without them, depending solely on the mage's skill. Spells were a different case altogether, as they hardly had rules.

The incantation aloud also helped her get an idea of what kind of attack was coming. So, Naige waited for a medium-level or lower magic. And since the mage possessed the earth element, she kept an eye on the ground around her. She just had to figure out what type of abilities the mage would display first from his magical arsenal and when the attack would begin.

The possibilities could be many, so she waited before taking any initiative. She soon felt a disturbance right beneath her feet. Looking down, she noticed some roots as thick as her arm sprouting from the ground and snaking towards her. She jumped back to distance herself.

The roots pursued her, intending to grab her legs. One approached faster, and Naige spun her body, using the saber to strike it, but the root made a sharp curve, avoiding her blade. She planted one foot on the ground and regained her balance, then leaped toward the root and attacked again, cutting a part of it that turned into dry earth. Meanwhile, the rest of them continued to move toward her, getting closer and closer.

As this repeated several times until it became tiring, Naige then moved away from the mage. However, the roots followed her as if they had a life of their own. They were as agile as desert snakes, forcing her to move constantly. She cut the branches that threatened her the most, but others kept emerging, leaving the road where she stood full of small cracks.

While Naige focused on the attacks coming from the sides, other roots appeared behind her. Upon realizing this, she tried to escape, but her movement was somewhat slow, giving the magic enough time to wrap around her legs and bind them to the ground.

She could no longer move or divert her attention from the approaching roots. As she needed to use the saber to fend off the attacks that attempted to restrain her hands, she had no time to free herself from the roots that held her feet. Naige even tried to force herself free, but the magic was as resilient as iron chains.

"It's no use, princess" The mage said, loudly and smiling. "This thing is too strong for you to break with a fragile little body like yours…"

Naige simply revealed a smile upon hearing those words. Something like this couldn't stop her. Otherwise, how could she fulfill her promise? As she thought about it, her brother's image came to mind. She couldn't forget that she was the sister of the "best swordsman…" So, as long as she had a sword in her hands, she couldn't allow herself to be defeated by such mediocre magic.

"Do you find this amusing, princess?" The mage inquired. He didn't understand her smile. Then, he made the roots tighten even more.

Naige felt the magic constricting, almost crushing her ankles. She resisted. She brandished the small blade swiftly and cut several roots. This created an opening, as new roots took some time to appear. Therefore, she spun her slender waist, then cut the ones binding her legs, turning them into dry earth.

Free again, Naige smiled. This time, motivated by the exciting emotion she experienced. Finally, she began to feel as if she were fighting in a real battle. It was different from training, far beyond what she had imagined.

"Is that all you've got?"

The mage made a displeased face, losing his earlier disdainful expression, and said with a strange calmness:

"Very well. You asked for it, princess. Let's take this to the next level…"

Ran, who was watching from a distance, felt the mage's aura disturbed, like when a stone is thrown into a calm lake. The bad feeling she had from him grew again, along with her concern for the princess.

Lince split his attention between the princess and Jiro's fight against the black swordsman. Their bodies moved so fast that his eyes could barely keep up, so he listened to the sound of metal colliding, followed by sparks. It was as if he were watching a performance to an enchanting melody, almost making him forget that he was witnessing a battle with deadly weapons.

In the village he came from, there were some people who practiced with swords, but they couldn't be compared to the two on the road, Lince pondered. Not even Rude seemed to have as much skill as they did. He expressed enthusiastically:

"Jiro is amazing!"

"He is" agreed the girl with pink hair. "But that man with the oversized sword is impressive too…"

"I don't like this" murmured the old coachman. "That swordsman is better than I thought. And that black sword doesn't seem normal either. But..." He then looked at the mage in front of the princess. "It's that person who worries me the most... Miss Rania, do you feel it too?"

Ran nodded, casting a serious look in the direction of the mage. Her usually cheerful face now displayed only concern and anxiety.

She and the old coachman could feel some magical power flowing through the black blade of the swordsman. That was not an ordinary weapon. However, both were more tense due to the mana emanating from the mage. If it could be summarized in words, it would be wickedness and conflict.

Lince was curious about what they were talking about but didn't want to ask. He just pondered on why they were only watching this. What were they really supposed to do there? He then turned his face to the girl beside him and asked:

"Isn't there anything we can do to help them?"

"None of us can help much in a battle" She replied, biting her lips. "We're just support mages. Do you happen to have any ideas that can help us?"

Unfortunately, he didn't. But there had to be something they could do besides watching. Lince remembered the phrase his father liked to repeat in moments like this: "There will always be a solution if you don't give up finding it." He had never thought about the purpose of those words until now.