Trip 2

After looking at the several noble children in front next to him, prince James' eye turned to the three grey-robed men who could be seen walking towards one of the carriages.

As he stared at the three mages who would take their group to be enrolled in magic school, James suddenly felt an intense pain in his forehead, causing him to take his eyes off them.

"Good morning prince James," said an ever-so-familiar voice from behind James.

Looking at the smiling girl that appeared behind him, a smile appeared on James' face, but even so, James was on his guard.

"It is very beautiful morning," said James as he politely replied, but even so, James did not like looking into the eyes of this girl, Beatrice Agnes, daughter of Count Agnes, someone whose power and influence far exceeded his noble rank.

There was something with Beatrice that James found chilling, he did not know what it was, but when he looked at the young countess, James felt a deep chill in his heart, as if the person in front of him knew his deepest secrets.

"Very much so, prince James," said Beatrice before walking towards one of the carriages in the long convoy that would transport the magically gifted children to the edge of the continent, where further transportation would be provided to them.

As soon as Beatrice entered the empty carriage, she felt something go over her in a flash, one moment it was there, and the other, it was long gone.

"It's probably a spell," thought Beatrice as she picked up a leather book from the compartment below the carriage seats, where she had ordered her guards to place it, and as such, Beatrice began waiting for the moment the journey would begin.

A few hours later, Beatrice abruptly heard a voice in her head.

"All seven magically gifted prospects come out," said the calm voice of a middle-aged man in an accent Beatrice had never heard before, with nothing else on the surface being easily identifiable by her.

The moment she heard the resound in her head, she got up from her seat and placed the book down before walking down the steps and exiting the carriage.

What greeted Beatrice as soon as she walked out was the sigh of two boys and one girl standing in front of three robed men, with three more teens walking towards them as well.

And soon after that, the group of seven magically gifted children was gathered in front of the three mages.

Looking at the three mages, Beatrice noticed that the one who had tested her talent was residing on the left, with a similar mage on the right, and in the middle, stood a much older mage with dark eyes.

The moment the seven teens were gathered, the older mage's eyes passed over all of them and in an instant looked at Beatrice.

"Yes have practiced the Basic Meditation Technique?" asked the old mage as he looked at Beatrice, causing the latter to feel sweat falling down the back of her head.

"Yes," responded Beatrice, finding no reason to lie, and even if she wanted to lie, for some Beatrice felt like she couldn't, it was as if she could only speak the truth in front of the old mage.

"Good," said the old mage before turning to the carriage up front.

"Klein, Leylin, confirm their talents once more and we can begin the journey," said the old mage without turning back whatsoever.

Without saying any words, the two mages went to work the left mage began from the left and right mage began from the right.

A beam of white light came out from the left mage's hands, the beam then landed on a girl, one of the three girls here and the only commoner among the children, as such, this girl was clearly more timid and unconfident than the reft of the children.

After around half a minute, the beam of light then turned towards Beatrice, who was second on the left side of the children.

Aware of what was to come, Beatrice closed her eyes so as to not be blinded by the beam of light, only opening them once she was sure that it was over

It took only two minutes for the talent of all the children to be tested, and after that, the two mages began walking towards the first carriage, prompting the children to wordlessly do the same.

"We need to go," said Beatrice as she looked at the commoner girl behind her, causing the latter the sheepishly nod, not being used to this environment.

"If you are bored from staying alone, you can come to talk with me, in my carriage," said Beatrice as she waved her hand towards the girl.

Seeing this, the girl turned her head towards prince James whom she had been talking to, before deciding that going with Beatrice, who was also a girl seemed like a better choice.

After this, under the command of the first carriage, the coachmen of the thirteen other carriages which carried both the people and supplies necessary for their trip began moving the carriages.

...

"So, how are you feeling Susan?" asked Beatrice as she looked the girl sitting opposite of her with a smile on her face.

Susan, as a former peasant had no last name, as such, Beatrice simply addressed her by her full name.

"I'm very excited Miss Beatrice," said Susan a smile appeared on her face, but compared to noble children, who were trained in hiding their emotions from young, Susan, who had only received two years of training was still too inexperienced.

As such, her anxiety was still very much showing, especially under Beatrice's gentle yet piercing eyes.

"Good, you don't have to worry, right now we are under the protection of the actual mages, we are very safe, but we are now colleagues, you can address me, Beatrice," said Beatrice as she lightly held Susan's hands, as if reassuring her.

"Thank you Beatrice," said Susan, not daring to look into Beatrice's eyes.