Chapter 18

Cassandra blinked her eyes, not understanding or rather not believing what her father just said.

'Did he just order me to visit a town that is soon to be destroyed? ' She thought as she looked at her father sitting across the table and devouring food that would keep her well-fed for days. He was a hungry man. Whether it's food or power we're talking about. But not to the extent to send his daughter to a town that was already off the face of Asterisk for the nobles. Or so she believed previously.

"Why? " She asked in a small voice, almost a whisper. It was a courageous move for her to question her father's decisions, an act of defiance which was a foreign concept to her. She clutched her dress beneath the huge dinner table as she tried not to look away from her father. She instinctively wanted to look to her right, looking for support from her brother. Except, he wasn't here. He too was an apprentice of Imperial Arcane Academy just like her. Duke, Van and she were the only people sitting around the huge table in the massive hall.

Two servants stood behind them, waiting to help them. The huge dining room was bare except for the table and some decorative items hung on the smooth grey wall, hinting at the luxurious lifestyle that Duke Van could maintain. He was a Duke, Ruler of Akriel city and numerous towns and villages surrounding it. A figure that was only beneath one and above all the others.

Duke Van Akriel stopped eating, his hands which held a fork skewered through a piece of delicious-looking meat pausing in midair. His blue eyes turned to his daughter, squirming on her chair and barely eating.

Duke Van resumed his eating, his beautiful blonde moustache moving as he chewed on the juicy piece of meat. It was cooked just right and with a little bit of salt and spice, it was a heavenly dish. Duke Van firmly believed that Boar meat was the most delicious and juiciest creation of Mahor. He gulped down the meat and wiped his mouth with a small piece of cloth.

" There is someone I want you to meet. " He said as he again grabbed the spoon and fork and sliced another piece of meat from a large steak on a plate in front of him.

"He is someone I believe will be to your liking. He is a Magus, after all." Duke Van smiled at his daughter and put the piece of meat that he had just sliced into his mouth. He closed his eyes, savouring the taste.

Cassandra wanted to scream that she couldn't risk her life just to meet a magus. A beast wave was no laughing matter. But she just silently ate what little food was on her plate. Cassandra looked very different from her father, her face and other features were mostly inherited from her mother like her red hair and blue eyes. Cassandra thanked Mahor for fortunately not inheriting her father's monstrous appetite too. Otherwise, she would have been a fat buffalo by now.

Cassandra quickly finished her meal and exited the dining room. Followed by the servant or rather the maid who had been standing behind her.

Cassandra quickly walked through the grand hallways painted in gold and filled with expensive and intricate formations. She reached her room and threw herself on the huge bed. She wanted to scream but held herself back. It had been months since the last time she had come back here. Her home. Vacation wasn't plentiful for the apprentice magus of Imperial Arcane Academy. Especially for her. But now her father had just ruined one of her. She had so many plans with her friends. They were going to be angry.

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"We're ready, My Lady. " a knight said as he bowed towards Cassandra. Cassandra nodded and entered a luxurious carriage being pulled by two magnificent brown horses. She cast a forlorn look at her house, A magnificent castle which sat in the middle of the huge city of Akriel, her family's city which was just her and her father and brother. A small family. She had lost her mother when she was just a child. She didn't know the reason and her father didn't want to talk about it. Her brother probably didn't know the reason too.

The carriage travelled through the city, pedestrians parting to create a path for the carriage. It passed through the many large buildings of the city. And after an hour of riding, Cassandra was out of the city and on her way to Tolaga.

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"Miss, we have arrived." Cassandra heard her maid say. She lifted her from the book she had been reading and glanced outside. She could see a forest far away in her vision. The infamous Mervielle forest.

Cassandra poked her head out of the window and saw a town in the distance. The walls were small, incomparable to the one in her city. But still taller than she had seen in any town before. Certainly a good thing for the defence of the town.,

Their carriage entered the town, unimpeded.

As the carriage glided through the street, Cassandra instantly noticed the small wooden houses and the lack of quality equipment on the soldiers guarding the wall. A worrying detail. If the beast wave was truly going to happen, then this town was doomed. But Cassandra didn't put too much focus on it. She was going to get out of here before that happened.

She returned to reading the book on her lap. But then she felt something in her sense. She was a wind magus which meant that she could sense the changes in the wind including the Ether density of the wind. And She felt a sharp change in the Ether density couple of meters to her left. A chaotic ball of Ether. Small but significant nonetheless. Because she wasn't in her academy anymore.

'Could it be? ' She thought as she gently removed the curtain of the window and peeked outside. She saw a guy staring at her, the owner of the chaotic ball of ether or rather Ether pool. She couldn't guage what element it was but he was a magus. Blonde-haired and with brown eyes, the guy looked around eighteen years old. He was good looking but his face was dirty and his clothes could be barely considered a proper cloth.

Judging from the size of his ether pool he was untalented considering magus usually awakened at the age of sixteen. Two years to grow his Ether pool to this size spoke volumes of his talent or lack thereof.

Cassandra smiled at him and closed the window curtain, losing interest in him. Who was he? She didn't know. Probably a reject who was working as an adventurer because of his poor talent. But It wasn't important. He wasn't the one her father had asked her to meet. Her father wasn't one to associate with rejects. It was all that mattered.

The carriage travelled straight to the inner parts of the town stopping only after arriving at a castle. It was huge but not comparable to her family's. But magnificent nonetheless compared to what she had seen in other towns of the same size. There were a group of people waiting for her at the gate garbed in colourful clothes.

The carriage stopped at the gate and the door opened. Cassandra slowly stepped out and the first person she noticed was a man, wearing golden robes and a wide smile on his face. He looked muscular in his clothes tight. A knight for sure. And probably the Baron.

"Welcome to my humble town, Young Miss. " He said as he spread his hands and gestured towards the castle.

Cassandra nodded and said," Thank you, Baron Tolaga. The honour is mine."

They made small talk as they entered the castle with Cassandra already regretting her decision to visit the town. It was going to be boring.