Setting Off for the Capital

It was a dreary morning with grey clouds casting a shadow over the land. At the South Gate of Skyview City, several people were lining up to leave the city. The stringent guards inspected one by one, checking the people for any misdeeds and comparing faces to the large bundle of wanted posters held in their hands.

Beyond the gates, just outside of the city, a newly arrived carriage exited the city, followed closely by another, for two in total. Surrounding these two carriages were several horseman with various weapons attached to their back or waist. On their chest was emblazoned the distinct symbol of a howling wolf.

From the front-most carriage, the bell-like laughter of a little girl could be heard.

"Stop it, Daddy! Andria can't handle anymore!" Andria cried out amidst her laughter. She was in the middle of being ruthlessly tickled by Alexander. "Andria won't sleep no more, will keep Daddy company!"

"Good girl!" Alexander smiled victoriously. It had been so long since he had time to spend with his daughter and she wanted to sleep the time away? Not happening!

Andria was thoroughly awake now and she continued talking and playing with her daddy while sitting by his side. Across from them, Lexa was curled into a comfy ball, her eyes rolling at the cheesy display in front of her. 'When it comes to this daughter, he sure can flip the switch on his cold demeanor.'

Next to Lexa sat the nanny, who looked on with a slight smile at the father and daughter pair across from her.

Soon enough, the sight of Skyview City was only a dot in the distance as theytraversed the grassy plains and hills of the Northern Region. Thankfully there were no mountains between Skyview City and Falcon City, making for a pleasant journey.

The three of them in the carriage passed the time through idle chatter, and while the clouds above were growing chaotic, the journey so far had been incredibly peaceful. Though that was to be expected as their large party was travelling on a main road, and one to the capital. Bandits and Magical Beasts would hold back from acting here, lest they provoke the attack of the many powerful Magician's from the Capital.

However, those peaceful times were shattered when Lexa suddenly felt several pulses of magic in the distance, which gave off the idea of some sort of combat between two or more Magician's. If Lexa could sense this, so could everyone else.

The carriage had immediately came to a stop as the outside soldier's became alert.

Alexander's brow furrowed and he became alert, shushing his daughter's babbling for a second as he stretched out his senses towards the source of this clash of magic. Lexa and Andria looked on as Alexander's eyes became slightly dull and still, as if he were staring dazedly into the distance.

"What's happening, Daddy?" Andria was the only one who didn't sense anything, which made sense as she was only of a Mid Stage Natural State Rank. Though being only 4 years old, to have progressed to her stage, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a genius. One has to understand that most people are born at the Early Stage of Natural State Rank and will usually take 7-8 years to reach the Middle Stage. She had nearly took half the time than the average. There were only few like her in Falcio. Lexa was rather excited when she learned of this, and her anxiousness in choosing Andria as her partner lessened a bunch.

It was Lexa who answered Andria's question. "It seems that there is some conflict between people nearby, or Magical Beast's for that matter. I can't tell."

"Its people." Alexander answered as his previously dull eyes returned to life. "And quite a few of them, too. It would seem that a group of people who were travelling to the capital were ambushed by some strange people, they are wearing fully black clothing that is hiding their appearance and are wearing no items that give away their identity. Even the magic they are using is quite generic, hard to pinpoint. Obviously, they are refraining from using Magic that would give away their identity."

"Who is being attacked?" Andria asked worriedly. She was a goodhearted child and would want to help if she could.

"It would seem to be a group of people from Hawk Academy going by their clothing. A mixture of students and teachers, I assume." Alexander explained, before he seemed to remember something as she looked as his daughter. "Now that I think about it, you went to watch some of that Youth Tournament in Skyview City didn't you?"

"Yeah, Andria and Lexa watched it! It was so fun!" Andria reminisced joyfully. "Andria's favourite moment was seeing that Farhawk brat being beat up by that cool girl!"

"Cool girl?... Oh you mean that girl who seemed to have inherited magic from the Volcanic Eagle. I heard about that." Alexander seemed to realise something as he asked. "What did this cool girl look like?"

"Hmm... Eh, she uh... " Andria stammered. She obviously had trouble remembering. "...She had brown hair and uh..."

"She had black hair..." Lexa sighed. This girl had the memory of a goldfish! "She was quite muscular, for her age and being a girl. She had white skin and green eyes... She also had a beauty mark under her right eye..."

"*sigh* I thought that it might be the case. It would seem that that cool girl you were talking about is also there." Alexander sighed.

"What?! You have to save them Daddy?!" Andria was even more worried, she had grown to really like this Sandra Button, mainly for beating up Chris Farhawk. It was rather easy to get in Andria's good book.

"Don't worry. Your old Daddy was going to act either way!" Alexander ruffled her hair, causing her to pout. He had ruined her neatly brushed hair!

Andria turned away from her dad and began brushing her hair with her fingers in an attempt to fix the damage. Alexander just laughed joyfully before opening the curtains of the carriage, giving orders for the soldier's to lead them in the direction of the conflict, which was a little ways off the path and beyond the incline of a large hill.

Lexa was rather excited. 'Maybe this fight can help me get some inspiration. Maybe I'll finally be able to reach Major Magical Beast Rank!.. My cultivation difficulties may be due to my lack of experience after all.'