25 Just Ditch Her

Greyson woke up when the sun rose only to notice a warm blanket lying on top of him. Due to his fire element, he does not really get cold but he still appreciated the thought. Knowing exactly who must have laid it on him, he sneaked a glance at the girl across from him. However, he had to rub his eyes in shock once he looked over. Just a couple feet away from him was a huge bed fit for a princess!

"What..."

"That little girl must have a pretty rich family, not just anyone can have a spatial necklace like hers. Spatial magicians can add a space inside most types of objects like jewelry, bags, or books. However, to create even the tiniest of spaces, the spatial magician must be of the Grand Magister level to create these items. They are rather expensive in areas like this where a Grand Magister level magician is rare in general, let alone a spatial element one which are rare within the Grand Magister level population. Her necklace must have a lot of space seeing that she is perfectly fine with carrying around this humongous bed with her." Lucius spoke up just as he was observing the bed in shock.

Hearing his words, Greyson shook his head thinking there were still many things in this world he was not aware of. He looked over the bed which was large and clean with warm bedding and a pink bug net surrounding it. He couldn't help but feel speechless over the girl's apparent extravagance. Who brings around a bed like this for a trip in the woods?

Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to try to leave her behind while she was still sleeping. The week was coming to an end so he had to start heading back towards the Academy. Lucius jumped up onto his shoulder and Greyson began to use Air Steps to run back to the end of the forest. He was running for around 5 minutes when he suddenly heard a voice come from behind.

"Where do you think you're going?! Why would you leave without me?"

Greyson inwardly stomped his foot in frustration as he turned around and saw that same little girl he thought he left behind.

"I have to head back. We have nothing to do with each other, I don't even know your name, so I thought I would just leave. It's not like you're actually weak and need my protection. Plus, why should I protect you anyways? Because you're a girl?"

"Of course you should protect me! I am... am..." She started confidently but suddenly looked hesitant to complete her sentence.

"What?"

"A pretty girl!" She completed. Hearing her words, Greyson just ignored her and turned around to continue running.

"My name is Natalia, Natalia Ivywood. Now that you know my name we know each other right? What's your name?" She followed him along with her own wind spell. Greyson tried his best to ignore her, but she kept pestering until he finally caved in.

"Greyson." He finally told her.

"Last name?"

"I don't have one. I'm an orphan and a commoner."

"Oh... sorry... A last name is not a big deal anyways." Natalia suddenly backtracked feeling guilty. Greyson glanced back at her when he heard the genuine apology in her voice.

"It's no big deal. I don't pity myself so you don't need to pity me." He sighed.

"Hey, so I was bored this entire time so can't I just follow you?"

"Not unless you want to go to the Dalia Magic Academy."

"That place? No, I don't want to. Can't you just stay in the forest awhile longer?"

"No." With that Greyson continued running, but he turned around when he no longer heard another pair of footsteps behind him. To his surprise, the girl actually left. He thanked his lucky stars to finally have Natalia leave. However, just when he felt happy about he leaving, he hear the loud thundering footsteps of magic beasts coming near.

"Hey~ help me! I ran into a beast horde!" Natalia waved to him nonchalantly. At this moment, Greyson wanted to strangle her because he could obviously see that she was having no troubles at all outrunning the beasts. She purposefully led them to him.

"Just use Shadow Escape and ditch her. You can control the direction these days. So keep shadow escaping until you reach the end of the forest. We're already halfway there." Lucius's voice advised. Greyson's eyes lit up at the suggestion and he turned his face to smirk at that brat of a girl. Natalia could see his mocking expression and felt confusion. Then, he disappeared. He sank right down into the ground and escaped to who knows where.

...

"Dark element? That's been four elements so far. He used fire arrows, wind for his movement, light to heal, and dark just now to escape. He's rather talented, isn't he?" She whispered to herself. However, quickly after this contemplation she felt anger that he completely ran away from her. She hated when things didn't go her way. Pouting, she ran away from the beasts quickly proving she really was in no danger at all. Once she landed, she heard a cold voice ring out behind her.

"My lady, it is time to go back. You cannot run off this time or I will knock you out and carry you back. Master has given me permission." She jumped in fright before throwing a tantrum.

"Cassius, I haven't played enough. I don't want to go back to that boring mansion. All you guys let me do is practice."

"You don't have a choice, my lady. Master has orders." With that, he waved his arm and a huge green bird appeared. Natalia humphed with frustration, but still obediently got onto the bird's back. She knew all to well how scary her father could be.

She glanced in the direction of the Dalia Kingdom as she flew away. Greyson, huh? This young lady will remember you!