CHAPTER VIII: Arriah and Alice

~Alice's POV~

I successfully teleported inside a tower. According to Arriah's mental map she had shared with me earlier, when we are in the wisteria tree mansion— that this is the tower of Sir Adrian. If you ask me, why am I here?

That's simple. Arriah gave me a task and it's related to Sir Adrian.

When I reached a door with a sign hanging on it saying "Don't Disturb!", I already had in mind that this should be that sage's room. I knocked lightly for three times.

And then I heard someone inside, walking towards the door. I heard some of the door's locks being unlocked. When the door swing open, Adrian who was like a street beggar was right in front of my eyes. Ink-like dirt both on his cheeks, eyebags was evident, a disheveled hair that was like neglected for days and a very tired face.

I smiled at him but he was just staring at me like I was a ghost. I noticed his eyes widen in surprised and immediately closed the door before I could react.

~Adrian's POV~

W-What the heck?! Why? Why? Why? Is that Alice? A-Alice? What's happening? Am I dreaming? Or did someone cast some illusion magic on me? I said in a panicked mode, of course, internally.

"Uhmm...Sir Adrian? Why did you close the door? You don't remember me? It's me, Alice. Arriah's—" before she could continue to say anything, I replied.

"Y-Yes, I know! I remember, you're Alice. Please give me some moment!" I said while panicking on fixing myself in the mirror, fixing my hair, washing may face on the bathroom, wiping my face by a clean towel then change my upper shirt and wear a bit of perfume. Then, I opened the door again. "H-Hi, Lady Alice. Sorry for that version of myself, earlier. I was busily working and didn't expect any visitors here in my tower. So yeah..." I said and gesturing her to enter the room. "Sorry for the messy stuffs in here. I don't have the time to arrange and clean it all." I nervously added.

She looked around like leisurely walking and looking for something inside a library. I gulp a chunk of saliva that I felt like was stuck in my throat.

"Oh, where's my manners. Anyways, Arriah sent me here. She gave me a task." She said plainly then she stopped walking and stood in front of a shelf. My shelf where different potions displayed. She examine every glass of potions in the shelf.

"T-Task? What do you mean?" I said nervously but my curiosity was with it.

"The task of helping you, Sir Adrian. All about magic." She put back the last potion that she have examined. She then looked at me and smiled. "And help you to break your limit, in terms of your magic force and magic capacity." She said still smiling. A smile like showing me assurance that I wanted, if it is true or not.

Now, I was just standing in front of her like a fool. I was like petrified by the thought of a person from another world, is willing on helping me to grow. My magic force and magic capacity.

"I-It's a great privilege! It's a great opportunity, Lady Alice. T-Thank you!" I said nervously at the same time happy with the thought of someone strong will teach me more about magic.

"Well then, that's the spirit. Motivation is a big part for your training." She said enthusiastically.

~Arriah's POV~

"Sweet? What's sweet, Lillian?" I whispered near the ears of Lillian.

"Oh my gosh! Lady Arriah! It's just you! Please don't do that. That scared me a lot." She said and heavily sighed as a relief, knowing it was me behind her.

She just awkwardly smiled and slightly tilted her head.

As far as I can read from her eyes. She was like telling me, "Please don't ask further details, Lady Arriah."

Something like that. But, nevermind. It's none of my business though, I can read her thoughts and know everything what she had done for the last few minutes— I'm not that kind of person who stick my nose to someone's personal life.

"By the way, are you busy today?" I ask as I roam around the room, somewhat like infirmary?

"Ahh...not so, really. I mean, my work for today was to check the potions, and other insufficient supplies here in the infirmary. That's all. But, when there were knights or soldiers that will rush in here then...I work on it too. I can do healing magic but not recovery magic." She said calmly but the last part about healing and recovery magic was a bit,  sounded problematic. "Anyways, what can I do to help you today, Lady Arria?" She added and said it as cheerful as she can.

"Mmm~ let's see." I said sounded like still undecided. I faced her and while my arms crossed against my chest. "Can you tour me around here in your castle?" I requested politely, in a cal manner.

"Y-Yes, Lady Arriah. It would be a long tour, is that okay?" She replied.

"Of course. I love long tours, especially if... it's going to be an interesting ride." I said with a smile. Words that are double meaning and a smile that has a hidden meaning.

Then I walked out of the door. I also heard her footsteps behind me, struggling on making her pace like mine.

"I-Interesting ride? What do you mean by that Lady Arria?" She asked in both curious and worried tone.

I chuckled. I looked at her for a moment then looked back to the hallway where we are walking through.

"Just let the ride run smoothly. And be the tour guide of your castle, as the wife of this lord's castle." I said.

I slowed down my pace for a bit then let Lillian led the walking, through the hallways of the castle. We finished all the floors from 1st to 3rd floor rooms. We visited the kitchen of the castle— that was almost its size was like 3 regular rooms for the guest or visitor. We also visited the garden, which is my favorite part as they had a wisteria tree planted in there. Now, the last part of the castle to visit was the training grounds.

Lillian said that there were trainees like young men age 15-20, who are undergoing training with the official knights of Andromeda. She also explained that there were also soldiers who are trainees, that mostly of them work personally for the Triangulum.

Now, we arrived in the said training grounds.

I was standing beside Lillian. I looked around and saw 50 trainees, 50 soldiers and 3 knights who was leading, instructing and facilitating those trainees.

"May I ask some weird questions?" I ask Lillian, out of the blue as both of us silently observed all busy people on the training grounds. I looked at her, wearing a serious expression.

"Yes, Lady Arriah. I'll try my best to answer all your questions." She said and stared at me, waiting.

"Did your husband consider to train women as knight or as soldiers?" I asked plainly. And looked back again to the people on the training grounds.

"Train women? I think...there's no women who will be interested to be a trainee. As women in here are mostly working on being a housekeeper, a housewife, if you're a noble lady— then your duty was to managed a castle of your husband like me, you could work to such offices in a town or city, and can be a farmer or vendor if you are a commoner." She said explaining everything in the most shortest way.

"Oh. I thought someone had already think of recruiting some capable women to be called as valkyries. Anyways, introduce me to these people." I said while pointing the people in the training grounds.

"Oh! Y-Yes, Lady Arriah. But wait... there's something off here." She said in a curious and think deeply of what she had observe.

I hope you she'll get the right answer. I said at the back of my mind.

"We've been standing here for almost 10 minutes, but then...no one notice us here. Even though, we're standing here in a few distance from them." She said then she looked at me stunned and I looked back at her slightly tilted my head and smiled. "That's why...one of the maid that we had encounter in the hallway, didn't even greet us. Y-You...activate some weird magic, Lady Arriah?" She added and she gasp while covering her mouth that was wide open in shock through her two palms. She stepped back for a bit, and regain her balance.

"It's not weird. Some people can use it. Mostly those jobs that require this. This magic was born from two different magic incantation. Stealth, it is the incantation for hiding your physical body then nondetection an incantation to avoid detection from others. Fusing this two will result to called the perfect magic for hiding your presence. I called it Void Presence." I said as I explained in detailed. It was one way to make her learn something.

She stared at me with amazement and like almost "O" her mouth. She gulp a stuck chunk of her saliva then cleared her throat.

"T-That's amazing, Lady Arriah. You're really amazing." She said genuinely.

I just smiled at her then looked at the men who are in training. I looked at them in a serious look then inhale and exhale some air before saying some words to Lillian.

"Lillian, don't take your eyes away from the training grounds, from this moment. You'll see the interesting part of our ride for today's tour." I said and a grin was formed on my lips just inside my head but my outer expression was plain and serious. I snapped my fingers once then say, "Void Presence, dispel." Then it dispelled, immediately.

For the show must go on, as they always say, now I whispered another magic incantation.

"Gravity Control— Heavens Fall."

~Third Person's POV~

After Arriah said the incantation, everyone felt a very heavy pressure above them. They were like pushed flat to the ground. They were struggling and trying their best not to faint caused by the heavy gravitational pressure.

Everyone in the training ground was greatly affected except, Casimir. He felt it but he only get one of his knee, kneeled on the ground while he was holding tightly and making his sword to be his helper. Mostly of them fainted.

Of course, Arriah and Lillian was not inside the range thus didn't get affected.

"Heavens Fall, dispel." Arriah said on her mind.

After the 3-minute hell like heavy pressure from the sky, some of the trainees, soldiers and knights was now able to stand but some of them was still unconsciously lying on the ground. But at least, they were not killed.

.....

"What was that? It was like a very high dense air was pushing us hard to the ground. Damn! Now my back will get sore." Evander said while massaging his nape. But when he didn't heard Casimir replied to him, he looked at the latter. But it was quiet, standing like a statue and looking intently for something. When he looked where Casimir had its attention, he was stunned what he saw.

"Who's that? I sense such dangerous magic force from that figure." Casimir said in a serious, like its tone of voice was ready to attack to someone. "Its...behind my wife." He added, slowly holding his sword but still inside its scabbard.

"T-That's..." Evander said nervously.

There was a deafening silence that reigned the training grounds.

Arriah decided to make her visit an interesting and fun. She thought of testing everyone in the training grounds. But she didn't informed Lillian or even Alice. For her, it would just be a little game she had in mind.

~Casimir's POV~

I make myself ready for a time like this. When someone passed as a threat to my detection threshold and appraisal skill, then I just prepare myself while thinking for the worst case to happen.

Now, negative thoughts are running wild on my mind. When I saw my wife just like standing from the distance, not knowing that a threat was behind her— it was like killing me inside. Where my berserker and beast skill was also running wild.

"That's..." Evander said nervously.

But before he could finish what he was about to say.

In a blink of an eye, the figure vanished.

I can't even detect any magic force, it was like its whole presence disappeared like thin air.

I closed my eyes, for better concentration. Focusing my detection magic to the magic force that was registered to my skill.

An attack from above! It was my detection skill sending a wavelength direction.

I opened my eyes immediately and draw my sword and block an attack from above my head. I blocked the powerful offensive attack but...I can't take it all for too long.

~Evander's POV~

It was a sudden attack from above towards Sir Casimir. It was a shocking event. If I was in his place, maybe I'll lose my consciousness. We felt some backlashes and getting pushback were we are standing. I instructed some of the conscious knights and soldiers to help others who are still unconscious due to fainting. We distanced ourselves from the two individuals, who are like killing each other.

Lady Arriah is currently stepping heavily using her right foot on Casimir's Lion's Heart sword that was given to him by the Emperor.

Lady Arriah jumped and landed flawlessly like a feather standing on the ground. She was really weighted like a feather. Casimir stepped back 5 meters away from her. It was like to kill or to be killed moment. Casimir keep his stance ready while Lady Arriah stared back at him and... she's smiling or more likely— smirking.

"L-Lady Arriah! Did you come here to visit?" I said instinctively just to change the mood.

"Oh! If it is not Sir Evander, are you okay? I thought you fainted." She said teasingly, and stared at me for a moment. I instinctively stepped back as I felt such tremendous level of magic force, coming from her. It was scary enough, I couldn't stand still.

She looked back at Sir Casimir who was still on his guard.

Now, what will happen today? I hope they'll not kill each other.