Chapter 71

71 Situation.

Fragrantia and Valerian did not share the enthusiasm of the old man in front of them. Fallax laughed for a few moments, but when he spotted two people looking at him with an expression of amusement, he calmed down.

Fallax said, “I accept this child under the tutelage of the Imperial Academy. He is exempted from the annual test.”

Fragrantia nodded and said, “Thank you for the exemption, we also wanted to keep this matter under wraps till Valerian gets strong enough to face the world on his own.”

Fallax agreed with this point, after all, the biggest obstacle was not a rival but a person with a poor mindset, who would not focus on his/her own growth but try to sabotage the one ahead of them. The old man said, “I will train him till he has reached grade five, and after that, he will have to step out of the academy and experience the world.

I will state it clearly to you right now, Vertex did not grow stronger than he was after leaving the academy because he was bound to the throne but do not obstruct this child. Otherwise, I will come seeking an explanation from Libra.”

Fragrantia could tell that this old man was not joking, and she replied, “I give you my word.”

Fallax nodded and said, “He can start from tomorrow.”

Fragrantia shook her head and said, “I will send him here after a week. I still have things that need his help.”

Fallax thought about it and one week really did not make any difference for him, so he nodded and said, “After a week, if he did not come, I will come to pick him up.”

.....

This time he was not answering but a proposal. Fragrantia smiled and nodded without answering. After a week, Azula will also return to continue the final stretch of her education in the academy. So, she will bring Valerian along.

Also, Fragrantia was going to introduce Valerian to his cousin before they came here. It was necessary for them to know that they are fated to support each other. Valerian did not express any comments throughout the conversation. He trusted the Empress a bit and was willing to let her call the shots.

The boy was not without knowledge, he knew that his age and status were not enough to negotiate with the old man in front of him, and he was too tired to bother himself with this conversation.

After the adults finished talking, Fragrantia stood up from her chair, and Valerian helped her. She said, “Then, Senior Fallax, I wish you a good night.”

Fallax nodded back and with a wave of his hand, the three of them appeared in the lobby of the ground floor inside the tower. Valerian was surprised, he has never seen this sort of magic spell. Earlier he did sense being covered by something but that was not a lasting feeling.

Fallax gazed at Valerian and said, “You are my student from now on, the uniform of a battle mage is different from the other two. Let Fragrantia prepare two sets for you. Bring them along when you come.”

Valerian nodded and after slightly bowing his head, he followed the Empress outside. Fallax mumbled, “What a treasure I have discovered.”

...

Ensis has been waiting outside, like a statue frozen in time. She let out a breath when Fragrantia came out. Behind her was a figure who was completely exhausted. Ensis wanted to help but when she saw the Empress shaking her head, the former stopped.

Valerian walked slowly behind them, at this moment, every step was a hassle and a feat defying the limits of his physique. He did not understand it yet, but the trial was more like a baptism for his body. This was a way for the battle mages to train. By channeling mana through their bodies, they would make the body more used to this flow.

Mana was like a staining agent, the more it flowed through the body, the closer the body became to it. An arch-mage can cast spells with a thought because their bodies have become used to instantly conducting the mana inside. For a warrior, their physical ability was high, but they did not have any aptitude for magic, and thus they could not use mana to temper their bodies.

A battlemage had the qualities of both the groups, while mana stained their bodies and deteriorated their physical prowess, the traits of the warrior healed the body, and made it stronger every time. It is said that the potential of a battle mage was endless.

However, the endless potential came at the cost of torment and pain. Even if battle mages were strongest, they were still humans, there was a limit to how much pain can they tolerate and after a point, they would give up. There have been cases when the torment was so much, that the people even lost their minds.

Valerian followed the people with great effort. His legs were heavy like lead, and his breathing was deep. His forehead was covered with a glossy layer of sweat, yet his eyes, the sharpness were completely different from before.

His aura has changed again, it has become more calm and condensed. A good warrior had a strong aura but an exceptional warrior had a condensed aura. The trio walked through the desolate lanes of the palace heading to the main gate where their convoy was waiting.

Valerian did not stop, no matter how much his legs ached, he kept moving forward. Fragrantia did not slow down her pace, she did not want him to think that she was feeling pitying him. They came to the convoy and boarded the carriage.

Valerian sat with Fragrantia, the two people did not speak to each other. Not because they had nothing to say, but because shortly after the convoy moved the exhaustion took over and the boy fell asleep.

The journey was not smooth and the bumps did wake him up again. Valerian realized that he has fallen asleep, he said, ‘I apologize for the misconduct, Your Excellency.’

Fragrantia waved her hand, brushing the matter away. Suddenly, the convoy stopped, and a guard knocked on the window. Valerian slid the window down and the guard said, “There has been a landslide ahead, the path is blocked.”

Fragrantia could hear the guard, she said, “Then set up a camp in the clearing.”

The guard replied, “As your word.”

Valerian sighed and asked, ‘Do I need to help them?’

Fragrantia shook her head with a smile. The guards were quick to work and in a few moments, Ensis came over to inform us that the camp was set up. Valerian saw a few tents set up in a relatively flat patch of land, and the guards were all guarding their posts.

Ensis led the empress forward with her and Valerian followed. The empress said, “Valerian, you can sleep in the tent next to mine, Ensis will call you if I need anything.”

Valerian nodded and after a bow, he went to the tent pointed by the empress and slumped on the bedding arranged neatly on the ground. He did not have the energy to even stand at this point and sleep was even quicker than exhaustion.

...

Ensis stood in front of Fragrantia. She wanted to ask something when a figure walked inside the tent. This figure was wrapped in black clothes with only the eyes visible to the people. This was a shadow under Fragrantia’s direct command, the most mysterious faction in the Empire.

The figure’s gender could not be even discerned from the outfit. After walking in front of Fragrantia, the figure bent the right leg and knelt in front of the master.

Ensis could not hear anything, she did not know what technique was this, but it was effective. Fragrantia nodded and said, “Deal with it.”

The figure nodded and left the tent. The empress sat on the chair calmly and then said, “Ensis, you can go to rest.”

The guard captain was confused, she wanted to ask something but did not know if it was her place to do so or not. Finally, she clenched her fists and asked, “Your Excellency, is there any trouble?”

Fragrantia raised her gaze and looking at the guard captain in front of her, she said, “If I told you, that your elder aunt is planning to end me?”

Ensis froze, and her eyes opened wide. She was the daughter of the Prime Minister’s youngest brother. A few years ago, her father passed away on the border, and she joined the ranks, gradually she became the guard of the Empress and then the captain of the unit.

It was not because of her talent only, but because of the discrimination at home, they had almost sold her for political advantage in the court, thankfully she was a warrior. She disliked her elder aunt, Lady Amour because this lady was a fox.

The other factor was the patriotism flowing through her veins. The royal family was not hypocrites and took good care of all the people in the empire as much as they could. This news was surprising but not shocking, Ensis was aware of the power struggle.

She wanted to say something when Fragrantia said, “Go, guard Valerian at all costs. I will be fine.”

Ensis wanted to deny, it when Fragrantia said, “Do I have to repeat myself.?”

The aura compelled Ensis to put down the protest and after a bow, she left the room. Fragrantia sighed and said, “I did not expect it to be like this, but fine, I will just deal with it here and now.”

The night was not going to be peaceful.