Alex called Sara Perry and Kagu-tsuchi that waved at the older Cat-kind woman and ran to him. They left the warehouse, making a quick stop in the weapons store for Pearl to buy her new bow. She refused to let Alex pay, and they then went to the carriage again.
They squeezed themselves in the seats to give room to Sara and Kagu, but then Sara jumped to Anika’s lap and Kagu to Wenammy, making her look at him completely red because she knew he was not a little boy, especially when he used one of her boobs as a pillow and closed his eyes with a big smile on his face.
Sara saw him and adjusted Anika’s right boob to work as a comfortable pillow, making her laugh because of the boldness of that little girl.
Alex and the three women did the entire voyage in silence or only whispering a few words because Sara was fast asleep while Kagu-tsuchi was looking at the scenery through the window, enjoying the view.
When they finally reached Alex’s Castle, Anika gently woke up Sara. She rubbed her eyes and looked around, wondering where she was. She then smiled at Alex and faced the window. She quickly got up and put her head out the open window, almost screaming in excitement:
“Is this your Castle, Sir? I never saw it this close, only by afar! It’s so big! How many people work here? There are a lot of soldiers! And Mages! Mages everywhere, Sir, with their cloaks, and hoods… Spirits! I saw tiny glowing balls near them! They are Spirits, right? So pretty!”
Alex smiled at the overly excited little girl, and when the carriage stopped and they exited it, Viscount Tom West was waiting for them at the top of the stairs with Shiantobe at his side, with his arms crossed over his chest and frowning:
“So nice of you to join us, Earl Alex! I was starting to think that you were going to sleep in a brothel in the Capital!”
Alex frowned back and said:
“Like if I ever did that! Unlike you, I am a proper gentleman, you nasty Rabbit-kind! Behave yourself, or I am not going to give you a nice and cute present!”
That was enough to make Viscount Tom change his frowning to a puzzled look:
“A present for me? What kind of present?”
Alex put his right hand over Sara’s left shoulder:
“This one here. Meet Sara Perry, your new apprentice, a very powerful Earth Mage. Sara, that is your new Magic teacher, Viscount Tom West.”
While the Viscount was looking at Sara with a surprised look, Sara had her mouth wide open. She mumbled while making a deep bow:
“Sir… he is so big! He looks scary! He is really going to be my Magic teacher?”
Alex faced the dumbfounded Viscount:
“What do you say, are you up for the task? Remember that she is very young, you can’t do to her what you did to me! She will get scared and run away, and I will take your other ear as a punishment!”
Viscount Tom walked down the stairs and stopped in front of Sara with a slight smile:
“She is cute, but is she that powerful? Because for you to bring her to me so that I teach her…”
Pearl Pearson walked along the patio until she was at twenty meters distance and said while pointing her index finger at Sara Perry:
“I challenge you for a duel, little Sara! Let’s show him how good you are! Don’t hold back, use any Spell you want, and I will try to block or escape. Remember, keep your Magic under control at all times!”
Sara Perry took a deep breath and walked a few steps towards Pearl. Everyone else moved to the sides, to give them room. The guards that were near the gate, hid behind their barracks, taking a peek from the corner to see what was going to happen. Pearl pointed to the wall at her left:
“It would be better if everyone went there because this can get ugly. Anika, get ready to make a Water Wall to protect everyone, because Sara will do all she can to get me, and things can become a little dangerous.”
She then increased her Magic and smiled at Sara, that was already glowing so bright, that the patio was illuminated like if it was still morning, instead of dusk. Pearl made an appreciative nod and said:
“You start, Sara, and I..:”
Before Pearl could finish her sentence, Sara threw at her a line of seeds that she took from the small purse on her waist, and with a quick Spell, climbing plants and vineyards began to grow, making a dangerous line that went straight at Pearl. She immediately created a wall made of rock to stop Sara’s plants from reaching her, but Sara quickly changed her Spell and the climbing plants and vineyards grew against the wall that Pearl created, piercing sharp branches against it and making small holes, that were quickly filled with more branches. Pearl looked dumbfounded at her Rock Wall that was falling apart so easily, as Sara’s plants kept on growing. Chunks of rocks went flying all over the place, and Anika made a quick frozen Water Wall in front of her and the ones that were near, preventing the rocks from hitting anyone.
When the first climbing plant was about to reach her, Pearl made a hill underneath her feet, that took her ten meters up. She smiled at the frowning little girl down below, but Pearl’s smile was cleared from her face when Sara made a deep hole underneath Pearl’s hill that made her jump to the side on the last second, avoiding the hole where the hill was disappearing. Pearl had to run to avoid a new batch of seeds that Sara threw at her, nearly escaping the climbing plants and vineyards that went after her feet.
Pearl placed her hand on the ground and increased Sara’s weight, making her fall on her knees and gasping for air because of the sudden change in the gravity. Sara shouted with a trembling voice:
“I am… not defeated… yet… I am going … to catch… you…”
Pearl got up and when she was about to say something, a climbing plant grabbed her feet and then another, quickly followed by a bunch of vineyards that wrapped her body completely.
Pearl mumbled a quick Spell, and the climbing plants and vineyards that were restraining her went dry, and she easily got free. As for Sara, she fainted with the effort of trying to endure her enormous weight. Alex ran to her while Pearl was closing the hole that Sara created, and making the remains of the Rock Wall and the plants to disappear into the soil again.
Alex held Sara’s head and put on her some Healing Magic. He cleaned her face that was dirty from falling, and Sara slowly opened her eyes. She blinked and frowned:
“She won, didn’t she, Sir? I had her, but then my head started to spin and everything went dark!”
Alex slowly nodded with a big smile:
“If you were up against someone else, you would for sure win, Sara! Don’t be disappointed, you were amazingly good, but you are still young, you can get a lot better.”
Sara made a big smile as she was getting up:
– Thank you, Sir. I will keep on practising, and one day I am going to win against her!”
Pearl approached and said:
“You are good, little Sara, but you still have a long way to go before winning over me. Using seeds that you carry with you is a good strategy, but you can also use your Magic to feel the seeds that are hiding in the soil. With time and practice, you will learn how to detect the best seeds and how to make them grow like you want. Something like this…”
Pearl increased her Magic and a plant suddenly erupted from the ground, near her. It quickly grew to the size of a tree, and Alex looked up, noticing a few fruits appearing on the branches:
“Are those… red oranges? How in the World there was a seed of this tree underground? That’s so weird!”
Pearl raised her arm and a branch twisted, releasing a red orange that fell on her open hand. Pearl began to peel the orange to eat it while shrugging:
“As I said, there are seeds everywhere, it’s just a matter of sensing them and making them grow.”
Alex took a slice of the orange that Pearl gave him, and while looking at the tree, he said:
“Can you take this tree out of here and put it somewhere else? Because it will be a bother to have this tree here, right in the middle of the patio!”
Pearl looked to the guards that were near the barracks and asked:
“Can one of you go get an open wagon to put this tree? I want to plant it outside, I am sure there’s a free spot somewhere, perfect for this pretty tree.”
A guard quickly ran to the stable to take care of the wagon, while another said:
“There is an orange grove a few kilometres from here, I can take this tree there, Milady. I am going to call an Earth Mage to help me plant it there.”
“That would be perfect, thanks.”
Viscount Tom West approached Sara with a dumbfounded look on his face:
“Alex… This little girl is amazingly good… I never saw such a display of pinpoint Magic in someone of her age! She is a little rough on the edges, but nothing that some training and exercises won’t fix! I want her! I am going to turn her into a very powerful Mage Summoner, even better than you!”
Sara had her eyes glowing in happiness, and Alex raised his open right hand when the Viscount picked up Sara and put her on his right shoulder:
“Hold it right there, you can’t take her with you. She needs to return home today or tomorrow morning because her parents are for sure worried. You can perhaps give her some exercises for her to do, and she can go to your house every now and then to show you her progress. She helps her parents in the Market every morning and in the afternoons she goes to School. You will need to think about some kind of a schedule for her, leaving her some free time to play and to be a child. You must also promise me that you won’t torture or abuse her like you did with me! I want her to get more powerful, not traumatized!”
“I only did what Shinatobe and your father told me to do! Complain to them for all your traumas, not me. Besides, Sara here is way better than you were with Magic when we met. You were rather dumb and completely without any kind of control over the Wind Magic that Shinatobe shared with you. At least she can sleep here tonight? I want to teach her a few exercises for her to get used to my type of training.”
“The Castle has plenty of rooms, but she will need to leave tomorrow morning so that her parents don’t start to think that I took her from them forever!”
Shinatobe went down the stairs and looked up to the smiling little girl:
“You are rather good with Earth Magic, Sara! Is there a Mage in your family? Or perhaps a Fairy?”
Wenammy stared at Sara, waiting for her response while the Viscount was putting the little smiling girl on the ground again:
“My parents are normal commoners, and there’s not a Mage in our family. I have uncles and aunties and cousins, and none of them is a Mage. Some can use a bit of Magic, but not as much as me.”
Wenammy bit her lower lip and asked:
“What about a Fairy? Because when I am near you, I feel as if you were half-Fairy.”
Sara looked up to the nervous High Fairy and made a slight frown while thinking:
“Well… my mother told me that one of her great-great-grandparents was a Fairy, but neither my grandmother nor my mother inherited her Magic. I never knew my Fairy great-great-grandmother because she died while helping the army to fight Monsters, but my mother told me she was extremely powerful with Earth Magic.”
Sara pulled a thin thread that was underneath her clothes and said while pointing at a very intricate circular pendant:
“This was hers. My mother gave this to me some years ago, when she noticed that I could use Earth Magic.”
Wenammy gasped and gently held Sara’s pendant. She mumbled while staring at the puzzled little girl:
“This… is my family’s crest… What was the name of your great-great-grandmother?”
“Her name was Tyly, but everyone called her ‘Earth Menace’. I don’t know why, maybe because of her Magic? No one talks much about her in my family, but they all say that she was amazing and when I am older enough to understand everything, they will tell me about her.”
Wenammy put both hands over her mouth and stuttered:
“N-no way… you… I mean… ‘Tyly, the Earth Menace’ was my ancestor… We are cousins, Sara! Distant cousins, but we are still cousins!”