ã€ŠScrewed Up Tale of Time-Travelã€‹


 1. p. - The Wrong Kind of Second Chance.

    So this is what death feels like? It¡¯s kind of boring actually thought the princess, or rather, the queen of Kassivir, Tiela.

    As the last surviving member of the Kassivirian royal family, she was now technically the queen, though it didn¡¯t matter much. Kassivir, her citizens, her royal family, and all of her lands are gone now. Swept up with most of the continent to the Storm Hole, as everyone takes to calling, or they did¡­ Before the end of the world, of course.

    The Storm Hole was exactly as it sounded, a gigantic hole the size of several kingdoms with a storm raging above it.

    Everything in Tiela¡¯s eyes was dark, the last time she had seen anything had been during her battle with some demonic creature that had crawled out of the Storm Hole. It had been a short creature, no taller than herself. However, it carried an unusual strength in its pale, lanky arms. She had almost been unable to defeat it, being continuously pushed back. Until the whirlwind of the Storm Hole pulsed and put it off balance, giving Tiela a chance to plunge her lance deep into its chest.

    After pulling her lance out of the demon¡¯s chest, she saw a flash of red light to her left. The light coming from a large fireball that had just exploded out from a hooded man¡¯s palm, rocketing towards another of the pale demons. The flames engulfing the demon did nothing to stop the hooded man from charging another spell, this one a bolt of lightning.

    Tiela herself was running low on mana, she had been fighting non-stop and only had enough to keep her muscles strengthened at the moment, nothing fancy like throwing a fireball. Though she feared she''d soon run out completely, she was beyond exhausted.

    Just before the flames died down the man shot the bolt of lightning at the demon, creating a blackened hole in its chest the size of a bowling ball. This nearly cut the demon in half, save for a few inches of flesh on both of its sides, however, it still wasn¡¯t enough to kill it.

    The man turned his back just before the demon charged at him, who had let his guard down. Probably thinking the lightning bolt to be the end of his opponent.

    As the vile claws neared the back of the hooded man¡¯s head, a flash of metal intercepted them, Tiela had seen the demon lunge and moved into position to protect the man. Judging by the crest on the man¡¯s crest, he belonged to the kingdom of Yar, who had been at war with the kingdom of Kassivir until just a few weeks ago. She had lost many good men to his kind, still, yesterday¡¯s enemies are today¡¯s friends. They needed everybody that they could put in front of the Storm Hole to keep the demons from spreading even further.

    As she maneuvered her lance around the demon¡¯s claws, the hooded man spun around. Seeing the demon close enough to bite him, he fell backward in shock. Meanwhile, Tiela fell into a crouch of her own, only to lunge forward. Bringing her lance to the demon¡¯s neck in a circular motion, cleanly piercing through its neck. Though even this didn¡¯t kill it.

    After unsheathing the long knife she kept on her hip, she plunged it into the crystal buried within the demon¡¯s left chest. Shattering said crystal that took the place of a heart, the demon finally died. One didn¡¯t have to shatter the crystal to kill a demon, however, they could tank a lot of damage and the easiest way to kill one was to shatter its crystal. Though cutting its head off would have worked, it would have also worked to dull her blade. Shattering its crystal is usually the most efficient way to dispatch a demon.

    After dealing with the demon, Tiela looked back up. Locking eyes with the hooded man, she gave a crooked smile.

    ¡°Guess you Yar types aren¡¯t too good up close?¡±

    The man, about to give thanks, stopped upon hearing this. Giving her a closer look, he saw the emblem of Kassivir on her left chest. Yar had lost a lot of men to the kingdom of Kassivir as well, and not a small number to Tiela, who had led multiple campaigns against them.

    Deciding that since they were tentative allies, he wouldn¡¯t give her a snarky reply, though he also withheld his gratitude. He felt he should be the bigger person and just walk away, he truly was a magnanimous person. Unlike the Kassivirians he mused.

    The Storm Hole pulsed once again at that moment, just as the hooded man was taking a step. Causing him to misstep and fall flat on his face. Tiela, who was standing still, was able to keep standing and burst out laughing, thinking maybe the storm hole isn¡¯t so bad after all!

    The man angrily stood back up and was about to reply something nasty, when his face changed to a shade of purple. Tiela turned to the direction he was facing -the Storm Hole- upon seeing his face change. Just in time for her own expression to drop. A wave of blue light was roiling out of the Storm Hole and spreading in a ring to every direction. As it passed the torn up vegetation from all of the battles that had occurred over the past half-year, it all soon withered and died. Taking the hooded man running as her cue, Tiela started her own desperate sprint away.

    Alas, it was far too late, the ring of blue light was gaining on them far too fast and would be upon them soon.

    As she ran, she saw the hooded man trip on the vegetation. The Yar mages usually focused solely on long-range attacks and completely ignored physical tempering, the fools. So he wasn¡¯t as sure on his feet as her.

    As she was sprinting, she soon passed him. She felt bad for him as a person, but as he was Yarrish, she did secretly feel a little vindictive as the blue mist roiled over him.

    While sprinting, she witnessed as he turned into a dried-out husk of himself. His screaming drowned out by the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears as she pushed herself even harder.

    Still, it wasn¡¯t enough. Despite training her body for decades, pushing herself beyond her physical limits more times than she could count, training her muscles until they tore, it wasn¡¯t enough. Only a dozen seconds after the Yar mage fell, she too was engulfed by the blue mist. All the years of training were for naught, at least she¡¯d be able to meet her family soon.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    She didn¡¯t feel any pain but soon tripped on her own feet. As she was falling she could see her own body withering away, but that soon fell away to darkness. She tried to push herself back up but couldn¡¯t feel her arms, she couldn¡¯t feel anything. The darkness surrounding her was almost suffocating, but this didn¡¯t seem like the death she¡¯d always heard of. There was no pain, even when she was engulfed in the blue mist, even when she saw her body withering, she didn¡¯t feel it.

    Well, not like she could feel anything now anyway. Though it was weird, she still ¡®felt¡¯ alive, maybe this was a dream. Or maybe when people die they stay in this black space? Though if she was dead, why could she still think? Can you think when you¡¯re dead? She¡¯d never given what happens after death much thought, it always seemed to be a ¡®fade to black¡¯ type of thing. When you¡¯re dead you¡¯re dead. Who thinks after they¡¯re dead?! She thought that¡¯s just weird.

    Though her racing thoughts did nothing to stave off the darkness, she couldn¡¯t tell how long she¡¯d been in this darkness. Her thoughts had turned to and fro the notion of thinking after death more times than she could count.

    What a confusing line of thought pondered the princess. Even the word thought sounds wrong to me now¡­ Gods this is boring. I wonder if everyone is here being bored too. Thought the princess.

    With that idea in her head, she tried calling out, but she couldn¡¯t feel anything, let alone her mouth. Still, she tried to at least call out with anything, her voice, her magic, hell, even her will. Though, after trying for an embarrassingly long amount of time -she didn¡¯t even know how long, just that it was far too long- she gave up.

    Sitting in the darkness her thoughts turned to her family. Her father had been king for her entire life and had been married to her mother, the queen for forever. They were the power couple that everyone in the kingdom of Kassivir seemed to love and talk about. Even outside of Kassivir the king found friends in all the surrounding nation¡¯s leaders. All save for Yar, of course.

    Though their happiness wasn¡¯t to last forever. Queen Tieravela died of poisoning on the eve of Tiela¡¯s twentieth birthday. The worst birthday gift she could imagine. Afterward, her days blended together in a mush of grey.

    Tiela was always a talented mage, but after the death of her mother, she pushed herself even further. She turned her tears of grief into the blood of never-ending hard work.

    Becoming one of the most powerful mages of her generation did nothing to take away the pain, so she trained even harder. The kingdom of Yar had been sending raiding parties to the border, at first causing only minimal casualties. But they had grown bolder, raiding even deeper into Kassivir¡¯s territories. Even going so far as to raze a lord¡¯s keep.

    She immediately volunteered -much to her father¡¯s protests- to lead an army to defend the border. She was assigned a position as a vice general. Although she didn¡¯t see many battles during her first campaign, she learned much of the intricacies of war. She was mainly stuck with the logistical portion of command, learning just how much an army is dependent on its stomach. Though she did also learn her fair share of strategy from the general of that campaign -she couldn¡¯t remember his name- and was able to effectively lead on her next few campaigns.

    Her thoughts then turned to her younger sister. Although her sister was four years younger than herself, they didn¡¯t mind the gap much. They were as close as can be until their mother had died. At that point, Tiela had pulled away from everyone. Thinking back on it now, she felt great shame at that time in her life. Her sister was barely sixteen, she had to have had it much worse, but rather than be there for her, Tiela had pulled away and been focused solely on herself. She felt deeply regretful, wishing she could do it all over again, be there for her sister. Maybe she could have stopped her father from going on the campaign that led to his death, maybe she could have saved his-.

    That thought was forcefully interrupted by a flash of white light. The entire dark space was lit up like the sun.

    As the light turned to colors, she began to notice some specific colors around her. Above her was a pale blue, yet below was a smattering of brown, red and green. As more time passed, her vision clarified even further. She could tell the pale blue was the sky, with a few white clouds splattered here and there. While the bits of brown and red were actually a fairly tall hill, the green being a lush forest.

    By this point, her vision cleared enough that she could make out a city below her, situated on the foot of the large hill. This city, she couldn¡¯t remember the name of it but she knew she had visited it before, she also knew that it was a part of her kingdom and had been destroyed in the mage storm.

    At that moment, a feeling had crawled its way to the forefront of her mind. This was the past, she didn¡¯t know when, but she was certain she had somehow traveled to the past. Of course, this could all be a dream, but she felt nearly certain that this was the past.

    Twisting her ¡®head¡¯ around, she tries to get a view of herself, seeing only saw a globe of pale yellow light. So I guess I really did die, then? Is this my soul? She questioned when she suddenly felt a pull. It was a physical pull, which was weird, seeing as she was merely a ball of light. But just like she knew she was in the past, she knew it was her body pulling her. The tugging grew and she started to be moved towards wherever her body was.

    As she got closer to the city, the tug strengthened. Soon, she was flying at breakneck speed through the throngs of people. Dodging and weaving through the gaps between them, she felt a thrill. She had never moved this fast before, and she was about to change everything! This was her chance, she¡¯d been given a second chance and she¡¯d change it all!

    While flying forward she spotted the most important thing she¡¯d ever see. It was the royal parade! The parade had a group of knights in white leading at the front and a group of grandly dressed knights with red sashes following up at the rear of the parade. These were The White Order and Saitus¡¯ Order respectively. Between the two sets of knights was a grand float, and seated upon that float was the princess herself, beside a few other people. At least, a younger version of the princess was there.

    She had light pink hair that reached her waist, and the princess possessed a beautiful face, with fine pale skin. Her eyes were the color of sapphires, showing the strong will hidden behind them. As the princess of the future saw the princess of the past, she felt hope. Hope that she hadn¡¯t felt in a long time. The past decade had been one of constant war, until that all peaked with The Mage Storm and the formation of the Storm Hole. However, she could change it! She would save her family, her mother, her kingdom! She¡¯d save them-

    Though that thought was interrupted as she slammed into something. It took her a moment, but she realized she had slammed into the back of a teenage boy. He had been knocked off of his feet and she found herself wedged into the right of his chest. While trying to pull herself out, she noted she was kind of stuck. Redoubling her efforts, she saw the boy himself seemed to be unconscious. It was only now that she realized the pulling sensation from the past princess was gone, What the hell?! She thought, as she kept trying to pull herself away from the boy, the past princess got even further from her.

    Just as she thought she was about to free herself from this stupid prison of a boy, the pulling sensation started again and she found herself glad. She almost got stuck in some random person! Then she realized the pulling sensation was coming not from the past princess, but the very boy she was currently stuck to.

    Shortly thereafter, she was pulled directly into the boy and for the second time that day, everything went dark. Though, this time, she had no thoughts.

 2. a1.1 - Meeting The Princess

    Today is a special day for the fourteen-year-old Kaelum, today is the day that Princess Tiela of Kassivir is visiting the city of Arum. This visit to Arum marks the halfway point of Princess Tiela¡¯s very first royal tour. She is visiting every major city in a circuit around the kingdom in preparation for the grand tournament next year.

    The princess is said to be extremely beautiful, and for many, this is the first and best chance to see her angelic disposition, but that''s not what Kaelum is excited about. Kaelum is excited because the city of Arum is throwing a festival for the visit of the princess; That means all the food stalls and vendors are going to be making extra to accommodate the influx of people wanting to see the princess.

    This is great news for an orphan street rat like Kaelum; It means after the festival tonight a lot of food is going to be thrown away for him to scavenge. Rather than scrounging up soggy bread from the alleyways, he¡¯ll be able to eat ¡®almost¡¯ fresh, and only lightly soiled honeyed skewers tonight!

    Unable to stop his feet from tapping in anticipation, he resolves to take a walk away from the market area and start walking towards the main road. The main road leads from the east gate directly through the center of the city towards the west gate. It¡¯s the road that the conscripts take when they march off to war. While the soldiers march it¡¯s customary for their friends, family, and sweethearts to shower them with flower petals as a token of good luck.

    Noting that there¡¯s already a procession of knights marching down the wide main street, Kaelum realizes that the princess¡¯s entourage must have already entered the city. Brimming with excitement at the food to come, he decides to get a closer look at the princess everyone seems to love.

    Kaelum had heard from some of the older street rats that supposedly the plan was for the princess¡¯s procession to enter from the west gate, join the parade in the afternoon and make their way to the city lord¡¯s manor. That''s where the princess would be staying for the duration of her visit in Arum, before heading off to the next city on the royal tour¡¯s circuit.

    Apparently, some of the young knights-in-training in the city had gotten it into their heads to try and visit the princess at the city lord¡¯s manor in hopes of impressing her with their magic skills or whatnot.

    Bunch of idiots they arethought Kaelum. He¡¯d much rather join the festival and try to snag some free food rather than see some random princess. Besides, the city guards wouldn¡¯t let Kaelum anywhere near the lord¡¯s manor, not after he got caught after sneaking in during one of the lord''s feasts. Kaelum didn¡¯t see why the city lord needed that much food, and he only took a little¡­ Or maybe just a little bit more than a little. Regardless, Who cares about the princess when there¡¯s free food?

    Well¡­There¡¯s no harm in at least seeing the princess,thought Kaelum. He¡¯d only be taking a look as she passed. Then he¡¯d go and see if he couldn¡¯t get a hold of some ¡®free¡¯ food. With his plan set, he increased his pace towards the main road.

    As he got nearer, he saw the grand procession. It truly was a majestic parade. There, the city guards were wearing fine clothing and playing instruments on each side of the procession. Red-faced guards blew into some kind of horned instruments, while other guards beat heavy drums until they were out of breath.

    All the citizens around him were cheering, there were even some minstrels nearby singing among the crowd.

    On top of all of that, honest to Gods knights led the princess¡¯s entourage! Each knight''s strength was worth at least ten of the city guards, and the princess had two entire squads of them!

    With sparkling white and silver armor, the knights in front marched with a look only a professional killer could have. Most of the leading knights had helmets on, but the ones who weren''t wearing any helmets had calm, but serious looks on their faces. Those white knights must have been from the White Order, a bit of a simple name, but their strength was anything but simple. Kaelum was certain that just this single squad of white knights could completely conquer the city of Arum, even with all of the city guards prepared.

    That was just the qualitative difference between a ¡®fighter¡¯ and a ¡®knight¡¯, knights had trained for years and were able to use mana to not only attack with magic, but they could also use it to strengthen themselves beyond humanly possible. Nearly everyone looked up to knights, in fact, all types of mages were revered by the public. Kaelum was no exception and like every other teenager, he too dreamed of being a powerful knight.

    The knights bringing up the rear of the procession were also a force to be reckoned with; They wore a red sash across their chests, complementing the heavy black armor they had. These knights possessed a look of absolute menace. They couldn¡¯t have been from anywhere but Saitus¡¯s Order. They were known as the most deadly of all of the knight orders in Kassivir, a reputation well earned. Between just these two squads of knights, the princess¡¯s entourage could take on an entire army and at the very least survive.

    In the middle of this procession was the princess herself, it looked like there were a couple other people on the float-like wagon with her but Kaelum couldn¡¯t see very well. His vision was blocked by all the tall people around. Being only fourteen, his height couldn¡¯t compare to all the adults around him. Wanting to get a better look, Kaelum started pushing through the crowd to get closer to the princess.

    While wading through the crowd, he was continuously jostled by the surrounding people. Finally making his way to a relatively people-free area, he was slammed into quite hard one last time, it actually hurt quite a bit. Spinning around to see who had just slammed into him, he lost his balance and fell.

    Picking himself up off of the ground he looked around only to realize that he was no longer on the street, not even in the city. Everything around him was black, but before he could form any more thoughts, a pair of hands grabbed him from behind ¡°LET ME GO!¡± Shouted the voice of a woman, reverberating off of his eardrums painfully.

    ¡°Wait, wha-¡± Started Kaelum before he was interrupted.

    ¡°Let me go you bastard!¡± Said the voice, while shaking him back and forth.

    Wiggling his shoulders, he was able to slip out of the grip of his assailant. He had years of training evading the city guards, after all. Kaelum then lunged away and spun around to get a look at who the voice belonged to.

    It was a woman draped in gold light¡­ The princess? No, although her hair and face looked similar, the princess was only sixteen¡­ or maybe seventeen, Kaelum didn¡¯t really know her exact age. But the woman in front of him was in her twenties at least, maybe slightly older. The princess¡¯s mother the queen maybe?Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°Who are-¡± Kaelum tried to speak, but he was rudely interrupted again as she chose that moment to lunge at him. He tried to dodge, but for some reason, she was unnaturally fast. She grabbed hold of his neck and started shouting again.

    ¡°LET ME GO!¡±

    ¡°Let¡­ Go¡­ Of¡­ ME!¡± Yelled back Kaelum. This time, however, the entire area of darkness trembled with his voice. The woman was forced back, letting go of Kaelum in the process.

    ¡°You¡­ You bastard! Let me go!¡± Said the woman again, as she tried to make her way back to Kaelum

    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re even talking about!¡± Kaelum said as he backed up ¡°I don¡¯t even know who you are!¡±

    This seemed to stop the woman, she stopped trying to make her way to Kaelum and just took a deep breath. After calming down, she decided to take a diplomatic approach.

    ¡°Listen, I¡¯m in quite a hurry right now, and I need to leave.¡± She said, her voice trembling. She hadn¡¯t calmed down as much as she previously thought. ¡°I need you to stop holding on to my soul.¡±

    ¡°What? What does that even mean?¡± Kaelum replied, none of this making any sense to him.

    This seemed to set the woman off again, but she didn¡¯t lunge at him this time. ¡°Just let go of my soul so I can leave!¡± Said the woman, barely containing the seething rage in her voice.

    ¡°Listen, lady, I honestly have no idea what you¡¯re talking about, or even where we are.¡± Started Kaelum ¡°Look, I¡¯m not even holding on to you right now, so just leave.¡± He finished.

    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about your hands! Your soul has attached to mine and it won¡¯t release it.¡± Replied the woman, her eye twitching.

    ¡°How can I ¡®let go¡¯ of your soul?¡± Asked Kaelum, making air quotes.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Answered the woman ¡°You did it, so undo it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d love to help you¡­ Really, but I don¡¯t know how I can do that.¡± Said Kaelum ¡°How did this even happen?¡±

    This caused the woman to hesitate for a moment, before deciding to talk.

    ¡°I¡­ I was flying through the street, trying to get to my body when we crashed into each other.¡± Said the woman ¡°Now I¡¯m stuck in here and can¡¯t get back out.¡±

    ¡°Wait¡­ So then it was your fault?¡± Asked Kaelum.

    ¡°No! I tried to get back out but your soul latched on to mine and won¡¯t let go!¡± Replied the woman indignantly.

    ¡°So this is¡­ my soul we¡¯re in?¡± Kaelum thought aloud.

    ¡°No, this is your soul space. The ¡®body¡¯ you¡¯re in right now is your soul.¡± Answered the woman. That would explain how he was able to force the woman back with only his voice earlier.

    The woman then continued ¡°But that¡¯s not what''s important, I need to leave right now!¡±

    Upon saying that, the woman rocketed upwards, or whatever counted as upwards in the endless expanse of darkness. She flew extremely far at a fast pace, Kaelum could just barely make out the gold light radiating off of her on the horizon.

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± Yelled Kaelum, to no response. After shouting out a couple times, she didn¡¯t pay him attention.Finethought KaelumI¡¯ll ignore you too

    Kaelum started inspecting the ¡®ground¡¯ of his soul space. It was pure darkness like everything else around him, he couldn¡¯t feel it when he tried to touch it, but he didn¡¯t feel like he was falling either. Was he floating?

    Looking back up, it seemed as if the woman was trying to escape his soul space with brute force by heading to the horizon at full speed. Though after several minutes of trying her damndest to escape, she finally gave up.

    Coming back down, she set down near where Kaelum was curiously inspecting the ¡®ground¡¯. It appears she¡¯s given up after failing to escape the endless darkness.

    After a while, she seemingly decided to break the ice.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ My name is Tiela.¡± Said Tiela.

    Kaelum looked up from the ground, responding awkwardly ¡°Oh, uh¡­ Hi Tiela.¡±

    After waiting several moments, Tiela said in exasperation ¡°Are you going to introduce yourself?¡±

    Finally catching on, Kaelum responded, ¡°Oh, my name¡¯s Kaelum!¡± Without letting the silence set back in, he asked: ¡°Isn¡¯t the princess¡¯s name Tiela?¡±

    This caused the woman to hesitate again as she chewed her lip, before finally responding.

    ¡°Yes¡­ Tiela is the name of Kassivir¡¯s princess.¡±

    Seemingly not picking up on Tiela¡¯s hesitation, Kaelum then asked.

    ¡°Oh, so are you her mother the queen?¡±

    The woman coughed, looking at Kaelum in shock, responding.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not her mother! How old do you think I am?!¡± On her face was a look of exasperation. She continued ¡°No, I am Princess Tiela of Kassivir.¡±

    It was Kaelum¡¯s turn to have a spit take.

    ¡°Liar! I just saw the princess a little while ago, you¡¯re way too old to be her!¡± He replied incredulously.

    ¡°I am her!¡± Yelled back the aggrieved princess.

    ¡°Liar!¡±

    Deciding that she was beyond a childish exchange such as this, Tiela straightened her dress and patted down her hair.

    ¡°I am the princess of Kassivir, however, I have somehow traveled back in time from the future.¡± Said Tiela, with a regal look. The child in front of her should be in awe seeing such a wise-looking woman.

    Though Kaelum¡¯s only response was a quizzical look ¡°The future?¡± he asked in bafflement. He decided this ¡®Tiela¡¯ in front of him was some kind of crazy lady.

    ¡°I am from the future!¡± Shouted Tiela, seemingly losing her regal atmosphere.

    ¡°Really? If you¡¯re from the future, then what will I have for dinner tomorrow?¡± Asked Kaelum with hunger in his eyes.

    ¡°Why would I know that?!¡± Asked the princess indignantly.

    ¡°You said you¡¯re from the future¡­¡± replied Kaelum meekly at her sudden outburst.

    ¡°Why would I know what some unimportant kid had for dinner years ago?¡± Asked the princess.

    That makes sense, I guessthought Kaelum. But being called unimportant does hurt.

    Tiela started ¡°Although I¡¯m from the future, I¡¯ve come back to the past.¡± She paused in a moment of hesitation, eventually deciding to share her knowledge. She looks Kaelum in the eye and says ¡°Because I¡¯ve come back to the past, I¡¯ve decided to change the future. I¡¯m going to stop the end of the world, I¡¯m going to save everyone.¡±

    ¡°Or, at least I was before I got stuck here.¡± Said the princess glumly.

    ¡°Wait, wait. Did you just say the end of the world?¡± Asked Kaelum.

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m trying to prevent that from happening.¡± Replied the princess.

    ¡°How does the world end? When does it end? I feel like you¡¯re leaving out quite a few details!¡± Kaelum said.

    ¡°How it ends isn¡¯t important, and it¡¯s not for quite a while¡­ But since I¡¯m stuck here now, I need your help so I can return to my body.¡± Said the princess.

    ¡°Hold on, you¡¯re leaving out a lot of details!" Responded Kaelum, obviously concerned as to how the world is going to end.

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter right now! As I said before, I need your help to prevent it.¡± Tiela said once again.

    Deciding to put aside his curiosity, Kaelum asked: ¡°HowcanIhelp you?¡±

    ¡°Well, since I¡¯m stuck in here, I need you to get into contact with the princess. That is, the princess of the past.¡± Said the princess, that is, the princess of the future.

    ¡°I thought you said you were the princess?¡± Asked Kaelum.

    ¡°I already said, I¡¯m the princess from the future, the princess from the past is who you need to meet with.¡± Explained Tiela irritatedly.

    ¡°This is kind of confusing, how do I differentiate between the two of you?¡± Thought Kaelum aloud.

    ¡°That¡¯s not important, just call me the future princess or something.¡± Said Tiela in annoyance.

    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just use Tiela with you, and call her ¡®the princess¡¯ then.¡± Said Kaelum, ignoring Tiela¡¯s look of annoyance at him deciding to address her, a member of royalty by her first name.

    Deciding to just brush this aside in favor of quickly proceeding to make contact with the princess. She explained to Kaelum that he¡¯d need to find where the princess was staying and make contact with her. After making contact, he would need to relay everything that Tiela said exactly so that the princess would believe him.

    After being in close contact with the princess¡¯s body, the pull from her body should overpower the pull of Kaelum¡¯s soul on Tiela¡¯s soul and let her leave. The princess should believe Kaelum''s words and not resist Tiela''s soul merging with her own. After merging with the princess''s soul and body she could then prepare to prevent the disasters in the future from occurring.

    Glad that their exchange had turned from him nearly being murdered, to amicable. Kaelum assured the princess that he knew what he had to do and that he would do his utmost to help her out. If only to get rid of the unwanted roommate in his head.

    But Kaelum was left with one last question.

    ¡°How do I get out of here?¡±

 3. a1.2 - Planning The Raid

    It turns out, leaving one¡¯s soul space is relatively easy, you just have to ¡®focus on release¡¯ and ¡®contract your mana heart¡¯ or whatever Tiela said before he had left. Basically, all you have to do is think about leaving really hard while squeezing your chest muscles tightly.

    Kaelum wondered why Tiela didn¡¯t just explain things in simple language, rather than pretending to be smart about everything. Alas, after about twenty minutes of effort, Kaelum was able to make his way out.

    He came to while lying on the ground, looking like a dead fish with drool coming out of his mouth. He realized someone must have dragged him from the main footpath off to a nearby alley. His aching muscles told him they hadn''t been too gentle about it either.

    While brushing the dirt off his raggedy long-sleeved shirt, he was startled by a sudden voice right next to his ears

    ''Hello?''asked a voice that sounded eerily familiar to Kaelum¡¯s ears.

    "Tiela?!" Said Kaelum aloud, visibly confused.Didn''t I just leave her in my soul space?He thought.

    ''Calm down, I''m still in your soul space'' said Tiela in response to his thoughts.

    "You can hear my thoughts?!" Kaelum shouted, this time drawing eyes from the surrounding passerby.

    ''Yes, I can hear your thoughts, try not to be so loud'' said Tiela, giving off the image of someone holding their ears.

    Oh geezthought Kaelum.Not even my thoughts are private?

    ''It¡¯s not like I want to hear your thoughts, besides this is only temporary.'' started Tiela

    ''As soon as we find the princess we can be rid of each other.'' said Tiela, finishing her thought.

    Goodthought Kaelum, the reality that another person was in his head hadn''t really set in until he realized she could even hear him think. At least they''d only be stuck together for a day, two at most.

    Tiela cleared her throat, then continued ¡®Alright, first things first, we need to find the princess.¡¯

    Kaelum looked around upon hearing this. He hadn¡¯t noticed it until now, but the crowd had thinned severely.I guess the princess and her procession have already finished their parade.Thought Kaelum. Since there was no longer any reason to hang around the main street, he started heading back to the market square.

    ¡®Where are you going now?¡¯questioned Tiela.

    Still not used to the voice speaking directly into his ear, he asked aloud ¡°How do you even know I¡¯m leaving?¡±

    ¡®Pretty much everything you can sense, I can sense through you. Also, stop responding out loud, people are going to think you¡¯re crazy.¡¯said Tiela in his head.

    The people on the street did seem to be giving him a wide berth, though that could also have been a result of his raggedy clothing. They didn¡¯t smell the best as he had come directly from the slum area behind the markets on his way to the main street. Though it¡¯s not like he could change, he didn¡¯t own any nicer clothing. Actually, he didn¡¯t own any other clothing.

    Kaelum was an orphan, he had no memory of any family and had grown up scrounging food scraps from wherever he could find them; Usually, the trash in the alleyways of the market district had the best food, but he¡¯d sometimes have to fight wild dogs for it. It was worth it for the deep-fried goodness though.

    ¡®You didn¡¯t answer my question, where are we going?¡¯ asked Tiela again, ignoring the weird images she could sense through his thoughts.

    Kaelum looked to the position of the sun in the sky before responding.Well, it¡¯s almost 4 o¡¯clock now and I haven¡¯t eaten yet. First I¡¯m gonna go back home and find something to eat, then we¡¯ll figure out what to do about meeting the princess.

    As he walked through the market area, he could feel Tiela¡¯s excitement growing. Why she was so excited about walking through the market area, he had no idea. He decided to just ask her about it.

    What are you so excited about? This Is just the market area.Thought Kaelum to Tiela.

    ''What-'' As she was about to reply, Tiela realized the implications of what he had just said ¡®Wait, you can feel my thoughts too?!¡¯

    Yeah,he responded with his thoughts. Not realizing what that implied. Discovering that this whole ¡®shared thoughts¡¯ thing was a two-way street made Tiela want to separate as soon as possible even more.

    Sothought Kaelum,why are you so excited about the market anyways?

    ¡®I¡¯m not excited about this market in particular¡¯She answered. ¡®I¡¯m excited to be in a market in the past!¡¯

    Is it really something to get excited about?Pondered Kaelum.It seems pretty normal to me.

    ¡®That¡¯s exactly why it¡¯s exciting! I haven¡¯t seen a normal marketplace in years...¡¯Tiela said despondently.

    Why not?Questioned Kaelum.

    ¡®Because¡­¡¯ After a moment of hesitation, she decided to answer truthfully ¡®After I¡­ After my mother died I spent most of everyday training, I didn¡¯t have any time or desire for something as simple as a shopping trip.¡¯Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    After saying this, she felt something through the link in their souls in response to her talking about her late mother. Not pity, no, she hated when people pitied her. But something came through the bond that felt comforting, similar to empathy or understanding. Usually, the words and feelings of others barely scratched the surface of her feelings, but this made her feel warm inside; Maybe it was because of the shared bond, but she could feel his feelings more intimately.

    She hurriedly tried to continue before the boy could sense her own feelings. It was an embarrassing thing, having a person know just how warm they made you feel inside. She felt she could almost die for a second time, only this time of embarrassment.

    ¡®Then, in the few years before I died, there were wars happening constantly. I hadn¡¯t had any time to leave the front lines, and even if I did find the time, all the markets had a lack of supplies due to the wars.¡¯

    ¡®After that, the Storm Hole wreaked havoc everywhere and there was hardly a moment I spent away from fighting at The Rim¡¯

    The Storm Hole? The Rim? What¡¯re those? Wondered Kaelum.

    ¡®The Storm Hole is¡­ nothing you need to worry about.¡¯ She said,¡®Now that I have come back to the past, I will make sure it never happens.¡¯

    Although slightly miffed that the mysterious princess of the future wouldn¡¯t share any explicit details about the end of the world with him, Kaelum didn¡¯t press. He felt she wouldn¡¯t elaborate even if he asked again. Besides, she just told him about her mother. He could feel the pain while she was talking about her mother and it reminded him of his own parents or lack thereof. He felt great empathy for her. He had never met his parents, but he couldn¡¯t imagine the pain of having parents, only to lose them. He counted himself lucky in that regard.

    The thoughts between them turned to a comfortable silence. As long as she wasn¡¯t pretending to be a know it all, Kaelum thought he¡¯d be able to get along with her just fine. The agreeable silence between them was soon shattered, Tiela had chosen that moment to say something in a tone that grated on Kaelum¡¯s ears.

    ¡®Where are we? What are we doing here?¡¯Asked Tiela.

    The slums, I already told you. I''m going to where I live to get something to eat, he replied as if she was stupid. His tone is a little sharper than he had intended.

    That incensed her but she held back on a seething comment and askedincredulously''You live here? In the slums?''

    The tone she used was well deserved, this place didn¡¯t look like it was supposed to be inhabited by humans. Their surroundings looked like a refugee camp after a war, a sight that Tiela had seen far too many times. All of the buildings around them were dilapidated, between the ruined buildings were makeshift tents and tattered lean-tos lining all of the alleyways.

    Not to mention the residents of the slums, all of them looked like they had just crawled out of a sewer and they all had dangerous looks in their eyes as they looked over Kaelum. Seeing that he was just as poor as they were, they soon ignored him. Tiela thanked the gods Kaelum¡¯s dulled sense of smell or she feared the smell would be worse than the sight.

    Yeah, this is where I live.Kaelum absentmindedly replied to her with his thoughts.

    They soon arrived at his"home"which was far too generous usage of the word. It looked to be some sort of old shop, the kind with glassless windows that had wooden shutters. Only, the shutters had all rotted away by this point and the windows just acted as large holes in the walls, letting the wind blow through.

    As Kaelum walked in, Tiela noted signs of water coming from the ceiling down to the walls. There were no decorations on the walls. Only a single room with a single bed in one of the corners. The only other objects aside from the bed were a cupboard and a small bag next to the bed.

    ¡®This is where you live? There are holes in the walls and even the ceiling leaks!¡¯She said in his mind.

    Yeah.He responds.For somebody who pretends to be smart, she sure asks a lot of stupid questions.That thought was meant to be private.

    Tiela heard his thought but didn¡¯t deign to respond.

    After rifling about in one of the cupboards, he managed to get a chunk of stale looking dark bread and a grimy looking cup. Filling the cup with water of questionable quality from a small alcove in the ground, Kaelum started eating.

    Tiela tried to ignore the thought of what he was eating and drinking until he finished, but she couldn¡¯t completely block it out. She could taste the slightly spoiled bread on her own tongue, and she could feel the not too fresh water slide down her throat. If she didn¡¯t pity that he lived like this, she¡¯d want to kill him for making her experience it as well.

    After he had finished eating, Tiela, in an attempt to forget the sensations of that ¡°meal¡±and bring them back on track said ¡®Okay, so now that you have eaten, we need to find out where the princess is staying. I have a couple of ideas based on my memories, but we-¡¯

    Oh, I already know where she¡¯s stayingThought Kaelum, interrupting Tiela.

    ¡®You know where she is staying? How? Even I don¡¯t remember where she is staying.¡¯ She asked skeptically.

    I heard she¡¯s staying on the second floor of Lord Marcus¡¯s eastern guesthouse. Supposedly, a bunch of knights-in-training are gonna try to find her and impress her. I hope we don''t run into them. Thought Kaelum to Tiela. Apparently, they want to become her personal knight or something. I dunno how they¡¯re gonna do that, though.

    ¡®That¡­ That did happen quite a lot when I was touring¡­¡¯ She thought ruefully.

    So, do you have any idea how we can sneak past the guards? I can get into the manor¡¯s grounds, but I don¡¯t know anything about the guest houses or those knight squads.Said Kaelum with his inner voice, he was getting better at speaking inside of his own head. It didn''t even feel too unnatural to him anymore.

    Ignoring the fact that he knew how to and had likely snuck into a city lord¡¯s manor before, she responded with a tone of certainty ¡®I will have the second floor to myself. One squad of knights will take shifts patrolling the grounds, likely Saitus¡¯s Order, they hate staying put for too long. The second squad, most likely the White Order, will be staying on and around the first floor.¡¯

    Hearing her speak so confidently, he was almost convinced she was a competent person¡­ Almost. But he wasn¡¯t fooled so easily.

    Though Tiela didn¡¯t hear that thought, she felt the condescension in it. Deciding not to be as civil as she usually presented herself as, she said to Kaelum ¡®Although I can tell you where they are, I doubt you could get there without dying. There are two squads trained to catch the best of assassins, let alone some street rat with no training.¡¯

    Seemingly taking no offence at being called a street rat. Kaelum took that as a challenge and scoffed, Of courseI can get in. I¡¯ve been breaking into Marcus¡¯s mansion since I was a kid. I¡¯ll even do it in record time just for you. He bragged in his mind, deciding to prove to this princess just how capable he really is.

    Choking back her reply that he was still a kid. Tiela chose to see if he really could break into the city lord¡¯s manor. One should know that to even be eligible to become the lord of a city, a candidate had to wield the power of a knight of the third tier. That¡¯s not even counting how fierce the competition to become a lord is. Therefore, one had to be a powerhouse among third tiers to actually become a legitimate city lord.

    Although she couldn¡¯t remember too much, Tiela did recall hearing rumours that the lord of Arum had reached the fourth tier, and Kaelum here was suggesting that breaking into that powerful of a knight¡¯s manor was no big deal. Even insinuating that he does it frequently!

    Agreeing that the best time to break in would be after sunset, Kaelum and Tiela readied themselves for the challenge of raiding the home of a powerful lord. A home defended by two squads of knights, a ton of city guards, and their target; The princess of Kassivir.

 4. a1.3 - Meeting The Princess

    Just after sunset, Kaelum prepped to leave. As he was leaving his very humble abode, he walked to one of the windows on the outside and moved the rotted window shutter. He grabbed a large, dirty brown sheet of some type of cloth.

    ¡®What is that? It''s disgusting!¡¯

    It¡¯s part of the plan, you¡¯ll see what it''s for later. Thought Kaelum smugly, feeling vindicated now that he had information he could withhold from Tiela.

    Kaelum moved under the waning light of the setting sun while ignoring Tiela¡¯s annoyance through their bond. It was a route he¡¯d taken many times in the past. The city lord, Marcus had feasts with tasty food on an almost regular basis and the best place to get said food was from the servant¡¯s kitchen. No guards would find him, he could take food fresh from the oven, and most importantly, he¡¯d be able to evade Marcus¡¯s notice.

    The only times he had been caught were when he had overeaten and gotten sloppy while making his way out of the main gate. Though he had been caught a handful of times, the city guards always thought he was trying to get in, not out. So his secret way in was never found.

    As he made his way up the steep incline of the western residential quarter, he was making fairly good time. He had already gotten far from the slums and cut across the small portion of the central market square that jutted west, to the residential quarter. About halfway through the residential quarter now, he decided to start playing it safe. Moving more stealthily, but still a good pace.

    His thoughts once again roamed to the city lord¡¯s kitchen. He was almost certain he¡¯d be able to stop by the servants'' kitchen before meeting the princess and getting rid of Tiela.

    Tiela, sensing his thoughts had a few choice words for him.

    ¡®Don¡¯t you dare! We can¡¯t mess up the mission just because you want some pastries.¡¯ Said Tiela in a reprimanding tone.

    Kaelum thought to himself that he¡¯d take a small visit to the kitchen after he got rid of the nagging know-it-all. Kaelum had learned over the last day of interacting with Tiela that he could keep his thoughts relatively private if he really tried.

    Coming to the last line of houses in the residential quarter, Kaelum turned left toward the western wall, rather than going up to the gate that led north into the ¡®administrative/noble quarter¡¯.

    The city lord¡¯s manor was located in the northmost part of the city so Tiela was puzzled as to why he went to the west wall, where even more guards were rather than sneaking past the gate. As she was curious, Tiela asked him.

    I can¡¯t get through that gate, there¡¯s some kind of magic that stops you from sneaking past it. Thought Kaelum to Tiela Just watch.

    She wasn¡¯t exactly satisfied with that response but decided to just watch. Not because he told her to, of course.

    He went to the side of the gate, sneaking around the city guards who were dozing off, he climbed up the stone walls. Somehow he was able to scamper up the wall without making any noise.

    Tiela had to admit that he¡¯d make a good assassin. Kaelum then grabbed hold of the stone ledge of the wall and climbed his way horizontally towards the noble quarter, rather than climbing up onto the parapet.

    After climbing for around ten meters, he came to a guardhouse built into the wall. Once there he climbed up onto the parapet next to the guardhouse. After shaking his wrists from climbing for so long, he took the large brown cloth that was tied to his back and wrapped it around his chest and waist.

    Tiela noticed that with his dirty brown pants, it did look like a guard¡¯s uniform from afar. Especially seeing as the guards went sleeveless during the hot months. The only thing that looked odd about him, was his fourteen-year-old height. Though he was tall for his age and he was only slightly shorter than the average guardsman.

    Crouching next to the wall of the guardhouse, he dug out an ill-fitting piece of stone. Taking a conveniently placed stick and a dirty oil lantern from the crevice. Completing the ¡®almost guard¡¯ looking outfit with a fake spear stick and lantern. He put the stone back in place and stood up.

    Taking the lantern into his hands, it was revealed to be extremely dirty. Nearly all of its glass surface was covered in a thick layer of soot. Kaelum lit the lantern, which gave off an extremely dim light because it was so dirty.

    He confidently walked on the parapet on his way to the lord¡¯s manor. Most of the guards stayed inside of the guardhouses that were built every so often on the wall and he was able to pass by with his confident gait. But if any were out on the walls patrolling, he¡¯d see them far in advance, especially since they were carrying lanterns far brighter than his own.

    If he was in their sight, he¡¯d pretend to stand guard and look out over the wall until they left. Only continuing when they had gone out of sight. He kept up this ¡®guardsman¡¯ farce all the way to where the city wall dipped down and met the sturdy stone walls of the city lord¡¯s manor.

    There, he tied his brown cloth to his back again before crouching down where the wall ended. He then dug out another stone to stow his stick and lantern away, all with practiced ease. Good Gods, you¡¯d assume this was a regular occurrence. Thought Tiela. That¡¯s crazy though

    The main road that the princess¡¯s parade took place on goes from east to west. The ¡®lord¡¯s road¡¯ as it¡¯s called, intersects the main road in the center of the city and leads from the market area in the center, north through the noble and administrative quarter. All the way up to the lord¡¯s manor.

    The lord¡¯s manor was a massive property that took up a good portion of the city. It was the north-most area and was shaped like a half-circle, with the curved portion being the north walls, and the south portion being a straight stone wall, going east to west.

    Because Kaelum had followed the western wall north, he was now at the southwest corner of the city lord¡¯s manor.

    The roads in the area were winding and narrow, so it was difficult to see more than a dozen paces in front of oneself. This made it easy for Kaelum to see if someone was coming with a lantern because the light would come around a bend before they would. But it would be hard for them to see him.

    Kaelum walked about a dozen paces from the wall to the wide road that circumnavigates the lord¡¯s manor, uncreatively named Manor Street. The street followed the entire length of the manor¡¯s walls, all the way to the eastern city walls. It ended here at the western city wall that Kaelum had just come from.

    On one side of the road was a two-meter tall stone wall, the manor¡¯s wall and on the other side was a cluster of tightly packed buildings. Most likely offices or apartments for the administrative class. There were a few footpaths between each cluster, leading in unknown directions. It made the area look like a honeycomb.

    Splitting manor street was a thin strip of earth that followed the entire length of the road, dotted along the strip were tall oak trees with immaculately trimmed crowns in the shape of fierce beasts.

    After making sure nobody was in the area, Kaelum scaled one of these oak trees, the one closest to the western city wall he was just on. The crown of the tree he climbed was shaped like a dragon, with a particularly thick tail heading in the direction of the manor¡¯s wall. Kaelum untied his cloth from his back, grabbing the corners into two bunches, then proceeding over to the ¡®tail¡¯ area. He then took a running leap towards the manor, holding his large cloth up above his head like a shitty parachute.

    As he passed over the wall, Tiela noticed a glyph light up in the air above the wall, before dimming. It looked to be some sort of detection rune. She was about to warn him, but it didn¡¯t activate fully.

    ¡®Why didn¡¯t the rune activate?¡¯ Thought Tiela aloud.

    That symbol? Said Kaelum in his mind It always goes dim a second after I pass it.

    Kaelum¡¯s words seemed to reveal the answer for her. She realized it had detected motion, but because Kaelum didn¡¯t possess any mana, it didn¡¯t actually activate fully.

    Hmmm Thought Tiela to herself This flaw is likely to be present in a lot of powerful mage¡¯s homes. A flaw she could easily exploit after some thought. Most likely, nobody had discovered this flaw because nobody expected to have to guard against a mortal with no mana.

    Kaelum, after leaping from the tree, fell like a rock. The makeshift parachute barely worked to slow his fall in the slightest. Though perhaps it was just enough to prevent him from breaking a bone, or maybe it was just placebo; Tiela didn¡¯t know which. Especially since Kaelum was now rubbing his ankles, and Tiela could feel a dull ache through their shared sense of touch.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    It was a weird thing, she couldn''t exactly feel the same things as him, but she could get a sense of it. Almost like she got a muted version of the original sensation.

    Kaelum got up to his feet and leaned against the wall before draping his brown cloth over himself. It worked really well to blend himself in with the dark color of the stone wall. This cloth was proving to be a versatile item, and she had called it disgusting!

    Kaelum then started off towards the east while hugging the wall.

    After seeing what Kaelum had done thus far, Tiela was now certain. Although she didn¡¯t believe what he had said when he was bragging, this definitely wasn''t the first time he had done this, all of his actions reeked of practice. Though he had probably done it several times before, surely this wasn''t a common occurrence. This is the manor of a powerful knight, it''s heavily guarded and warded for Gods'' sake!

    The inside of the manor was covered in manicured bushes and shrubbery, which helped to conceal Kaelum¡¯s presence even further. Deeper in the compound, the main mansion is visible. It¡¯s a large white wood and brick building with dark trim, with several large towers jutting out at each of the corners. Also visible were smaller buildings scattered around the manor, the nicer ones were likely guest houses. While the more run-down buildings were likely servants quarters, workshops, and offices. Beyond those were a few watchtowers on the northmost wall of the manor, that wall was much taller and also served as the city¡¯s northern wall.

    Kaelum had left just after sunset and had been walking along the manor wall for about half an hour now. Along with the two-hour walk from the slums, the time had to be around midnight now. Definitely not an appropriate time to be caught by guards while wandering around inside the city lord''s manor.

    Kaelum came upon the main gate that connects the manor to the city proper. After a bit of hiding in the bushes, a bit of hopping around, and waiting for the guards to move, he was finally able to slip around the gate. Thankfully, he was already inside the compound because he wouldn''t have been able to get through the heavily warded and guarded gate. Tiela was sure some of the wards even detected mortals as well, apparently only the ones on the wall were laxer.

    After slipping past the gate it was smooth sailing until he came upon a group of patrolling black armoured knights, seemingly out of nowhere. Fortunately, his reflexes acted first and he dropped to the ground against the wall, fully covered by his brown cloth.

    The knights walked closer and he could feel the footsteps next to him. It was then that he heard a voice in his ear. ¡®Don¡¯t make a sound, and try not to react to what I am about to do¡¯ Whispered Tiela. The knights couldn¡¯t hear her voice, even if she were to yell. But it seemed she appreciated the need for stealth nonetheless.

    Before he could ask her what she was going to do, he felt a chill creep up his spine just before one of the knights got particularly close. The chill then spread across the surface of his skin. He felt like he was standing naked in a snowstorm, something he¡¯d actually experienced before a particularly bad winter in the slums.

    Kaelum succeeded in not yelping in surprise to the chilling sensation thanks to Tiela¡¯s forewarning, though he had no idea what she was doing to him.

    A weird sensation rippled across his body while the knight close to him looked in his direction. It was a weird feeling. Like someone was watching him intensely. The feeling moved from his head, the part of his body that was nearest the knight, down to his feet and then it left him and traveled further beyond.

    ¡®They¡¯re no longer paying attention to this area, move swiftly!¡¯ He heard Tiela whisper again.

    Not needing another word, he moved as quickly as he could while still remaining quiet. Once he got past the outer perimeter of knights, he was relatively safe from their attention. The change from the ¡®outer perimeter¡¯ to the inner was relatively obvious. The grass abruptly changed from dark green to a more pale green, and there was a line of shrubbery surrounding the perimeter with the guest house in the center.

    What was that weird chilling thing you did? Thought Kaelum to Tiela.

    ¡®It is a masking spell, it draws the observer''s attention away from the person it was cast on.¡¯ Answered Tiela.

    ¡®You felt like someone¡¯s eyes were on you when the knight looked in your direction, right?¡¯ She asked.

    After feeling Kaelum¡¯s mental nod, she continued ¡®That was one of the knights casting his mana sight, it lets a mage detect things, even if they¡¯re hidden.¡¯

    Wait, you can cast spells? Thought Kaelum in surprise so you¡¯re a knight?!

    Feeling slightly offended by the amount of surprise in his tone, Tiela responded sharply ¡®I¡¯m not a knight, I¡¯m a mage, and of course I can cast spells. I¡¯m one of the strongest mages in the continent.¡¯ Said Tiela ¡®Though I can¡¯t cast anything beyond basic spells while I¡¯m not in my own body¡¯

    I thought mages and knights were the same things? Pondered Kaelum, completely ignoring the latter sentence.

    ¡®In most contexts, they are¡¯ Answered Tiela in a teaching tone that irritated Kaelum. ¡®But a knight is a mage who has sworn service to the king of Kassivir, other kingdoms don¡¯t use that terminology.¡¯

    Oh, that¡¯s interesting thought Kaelum. He was always wanting to learn more about Kassivir and the countries outside.

    Kaelum focused back on the task at hand. Looking at the guesthouse, it was a building almost as fine as the lord¡¯s mansion. It was a castle-esque three-story brick building, with a four-story tower on each of its four corners. It employed many expensive real glass windows and looked to be well cared for.

    That¡¯s weird, thought Kaelum, those knights aren¡¯t paying any attention to the area near the guest house, only the areas further away.

    ¡®That''s because any threat would have to get through them to even get near the guesthouse.¡¯ Answered Tiela. ¡®Besides, the guesthouse itself is in the hands of the White Order, not them.¡¯

    Being reminded of the second group of knights keeping watch, Kaelum raises his guard again as he sneaks closer to the building. It would seem that all the knights are inside, which makes it easier for Kaelum.

    Now close to the guest house, Kaelum scratched his head before thinking to Tiela, I have no idea how to get in without alerting the knights. Any suggestions?

    After thinking for a moment, Tiela responded ¡®Try climbing the tower there, the stones look fairly traversable.¡¯

    Without hesitation, Kaelum started scaling the twenty-meter tall tower. Near the ground, there were plenty of footholds for him to use, but as he got closer to the top they thinned out. Tiela was on the edge of her (metaphorical) seat. Especially as Kaelum had to make a small sideways jump and missed the stone he was trying to grip..

    Having already fallen a few feet in just a fraction of a second, Kaelum keeps grabbing at the wall, hoping to find something to grasp.

    After a heart-stopping moment, he finds purchase in the side of the tower, all while hearing Tiela¡¯s frightened shout in his ear. He couldn¡¯t tell who was more frightened. With every change of footholds, he could feel Tiela holding her (metaphorical) breath.

    Finally reaching the top, Kaelum hoisted himself onto the top of the main building from the tower, nearly ten meters up. With his knees weak and his palms sweaty, Kaelum didn¡¯t want to be climbing again any time soon. Now to find the princess. He thought.

    After searching the roof for a bit, Kaelum came across a skylight fitted into the roof, which he was able to pry open after just a bit of effort. He drops in through the skylight to the third floor. According to what he¡¯d heard, the princess should be on the second floor and the knights on the first. So he should be able to meet the princess without running into anybody on the way.

    Kaelum found himself in a large hallway with tons of doors on each side of him, the walls were covered in expensive-looking paintings that he¡¯d have to come back for if he ever found himself wanting to become a thief.

    Down at the end of the hallway, he could vaguely see the stairs that led down to the lower floors. Pointedly ignoring all the rooms on the third floor and their purposes, Kaelum snuck as fast as he could while remaining quiet. This turned out to be quite fast, as he was used to sneaking about.

    Walking down the stairs, he tried to hold on to the bannister and keep the steps from squeaking as much as possible. Every time the steps squeaked, he¡¯d pause for a moment to make sure no one was coming before continuing. He soon reached the second floor and paused for a moment, thinking to Tiela Does any of this ring a bell? Any idea which room the princess is in?

    ¡®No, I don¡¯t remember this building, it was more than a decade ago for me.¡¯ answered Tiela ¡®But I would wager it''s the room with the light on.¡¯ She said smugly.

    Realizing he had overlooked that fact, and not being able to think of a witty response, Kaelum just continued sneaking quietly toward the room with its light on. After reaching the closed door, he reached for the handle before stopping and pulling his hand back.

    How do I talk to the princess? I can¡¯t just walk into her room and tell her I know the future, she¡¯ll think I¡¯m crazy! He thought to Tiela.

    After thinking for a moment, Tiela wondered how she would react if a random person walked into her room and started talking about knowing the future. I would probably reach for my long knife. She thought.

    Kaelum was currently psyching himself up to meet with an actual princess for the first time while Tiela was baffled that he apparently didn¡¯t count her as a princess.

    Tiela ignores his thoughts and says ¡®We¡¯ll have to start with introductions and then reveal something only she would know before talking about the future¡­¡¯

    Got it thought Kaelum in a daze, What¡¯s something only the princess of the past would know? He asked absentmindedly with a slight nervousness in his voice.

    ¡®Hold on, let me think¡­¡¯ Replied Tiela, seemingly thinking of something but she hesitated. Finally, she gritted her teeth and said ¡®Remind her that she secretly wanted to marry the knight from -The Dragon Slayer- stories when she was younger¡¯ It was embarrassing to tell him, but they had no choice.

    Right, introduce myself, then say she wanted to marry the dragon knight. Thought Kaelum to himself before roughly pushing the door open to Tiela¡¯s surprise.

    ¡®Don¡¯t just barge in! Knock first!¡¯ Tiela¡¯s reprimand went unnoticed.

    ¡°Princess Tiela! My name is Kaelum and I know you secretly love the dragon knight!¡± Shouted Kaelum.

    ¡®WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING?!¡¯ Tiela roared in his mind.

    Two shocked faces greeted him, he hadn¡¯t expected to find two beautiful women in the bedroom and they certainly hadn¡¯t expected to see him there. One of them was the younger version of Tiela, a real-life princess and more breathtaking than the paintings he had seen.

    The other woman he didn¡¯t know. She was just as breathtaking and had long white hair that reached her waist and ruby red eyes. If it weren¡¯t for the faint blush slowly rising on her cheeks, her skin would have been as pale as a doll¡¯s. Both women were in thin nightgowns since it was close to one in the morning. They looked like they had been having a conversation before he barged in.

    He didn¡¯t know what he had expected, but he certainly didn¡¯t expect the surprised screams and the fist flying toward his face.

 5. a1.4 - Well That Didnt Work

    Kaelum woke up in a cell full of young men who looked like they had been through hell and back. There wasn¡¯t a single one there that didn¡¯t look like a human punching bag that had seen its fair share of use.

    What a bunch of clowns thought Kaelum as he chuckled to himself. A voice next to his ear replied to his thoughts ¡®Don¡¯t even start, you look way worse¡¯

    Rather than respond to the unwelcome guest in his thoughts, Kaelum inspected his body. He was aching all over and his face was swollen, how he hadn¡¯t noticed until now was a mystery. But now that he was aware of it, it hurt like hell!

    Looking around him, Kaelum noted they were in a particularly small cell, it had a handful of barred windows and a large metal door. There were around twenty young men in the room and he saw plenty of faces he recognized as the ¡®elite¡¯ of Arum among them, these were the young geniuses who had bright futures as the next generation of powerful Kassiviran knights. Sprinkled in this group of geniuses were a few hoodlums like Kaelum, he even knew one of them.

    Kaelum scooted over to the hoodlum he recognized as Peake, he was like an older brother to Kaelum and he had taught him all he knew. From how to pickpocket and steal food, to how to act confidently and like he belonged to sneak into places. He even taught Kaelum his numbers and how to read some letters and words.

    They were sitting under one of the few windows in the musty cell, the cell reeked of some kind of manure. It likely held livestock when it wasn¡¯t full of genius young knights-in-training and hoodlums. Peake noticed Kaelum when he scooted up next to him, Peake¡¯s face turned up into a smile and he looked happy to see him.

    ¡°Little Kale? I thought you said you didn¡¯t want to visit the princess with us.¡± Said Peake with a smug voice, apparently he had been caught trying to sneak in as well.

    Kaelum asked with a sour look on his face ¡°How do you know I saw the princess?¡± He hated the nickname ¡°Little Kale¡± that all the street rats called him, but he didn¡¯t bring it up. He learned early on that refusing a nickname only made it stick all the more.

    Chuckling, Peake responded, ¡°Everybody in this room tried to see the princess, they all want to become the personal knight of the princess.¡±

    ¡°Even you?¡± Asked Kaelum incredulously. He couldn¡¯t believe Peake would ever want to be a knight. He wasn¡¯t much older than Kaelum, maybe two or three years.

    ¡°No, I just wanted to get a closer look, she¡¯s really pretty. But then I got lumped in with these schmucks.¡± Peake said, gesturing at the young knights. Having nothing more to say, they settled into a comfortable silence.

    Kaelum was glad he was near a window, the air was stiff and with all of the mana rich knights packed into a small room, the air almost crackled with all the energy. It was suffocating, but it seemed Peake either didn¡¯t feel the same, or he was better at hiding it.

    In an attempt to take his mind off the heavy atmosphere, Kaelum started thinking of how he got into the cell. He assumed the woman in the princess¡¯s room must have taken him here after punching him in the face. He really needed to stop blacking out after meeting beautiful women.

    Tiela chimed in at that moment to confirm his thoughts. ¡®Looks like you haven¡¯t gone brain dead yet, I was worried that might be the case after Aquila hit your face that hard.¡¯

    Ignoring the snide remark, Kaelum asked in his thoughts, Aquila? The woman in the princess¡¯s room?

    ¡®Yes, she¡¯s the daughter of Duke Andek.¡¯ Tiela confirmed. ¡®I¡¯ve known her since I was a little girl, she was also my personal knight.¡¯

    Kaelum noticed she sounded strangely calm after their failure so he asked her about it with his thoughts. Aren¡¯t you worried? We might not be able to see the princess again.

    Tiela sighed before saying ¡®Truth be told, I was worried. After you blacked out in the princess¡¯s room I tried any way that I could to talk to them, but they couldn¡¯t hear me.¡¯

    She took a moment before continuing ¡®After Aquila dropped you off with the guards, I was worried that we had lost our chance. But I¡¯ve had all night to calm down and think it over. We still have a few days left to make contact, so all is not lost.¡¯

    Before she could continue, Peake whispered to Kaelum ¡°Someone¡¯s coming.¡±

    Sure enough, the large metal door slid open a moment later and a rough-looking man walked in. He looked like every stereotype of a tough guy Kaelum had ever heard. He sported short cut hair and stubble, with an eyepatch over one eye and a score of scars across his face. He was shirtless and covered in muscles, not the type of person Kaelum would ever want to fight. Not that Kaelum wanted to fight anyone, he was better at sneaking around than fighting anyway.

    ¡°Morning ladies, hope you¡¯ve had a good night''s sleep. My name''s Karrow¡± Said the rough man with an equally rough sounding voice. Kaelum recognized the man as the captain of Arum¡¯s city guard. Apparently, he didn¡¯t take kindly to a group of young men violating the law.

    His next words spelled Kaelum¡¯s doom.

    ¡°Apparently y¡¯all have a lot of steam to burn off, every one of y¡¯all was up late into the night trying to visit Princess Tiela.¡± Kaelum could feel Tiela¡¯s interest when she heard Karrow mention her name. But she realized he wasn¡¯t talking about her and stopped paying attention.

    ¡°Well, I got just the perfect thing to help you burn off some of that energy. Yer all gonna be helping me carry shit today!¡± He finished with a grin.

    A particularly handsome young man dressed in very fine clothing stood up before he replied in protest ¡°You can¡¯t do that! My father is the-¡±

    He was cut off by the rough-looking man ¡°If yer not up for helping out, the alternative is execution.¡±

    This seemed to kill all signs of protest.

    ¡°Trespassing onto royal property is a serious crime, yer all lucky this is a somewhat common occurrence and the king is a very forgiving man.¡± Continued the guard captain Karrow. By the tone of his voice, it seemed he admired the king a great deal.

    ¡°Alright, on your feet.¡± Said Karrow.

    After confirming that everyone was standing, he opened the door and had them follow him outside. Once his eyes had adjusted to the bright sunlight, Kaelum saw a few of the princess¡¯s knights, from the White Order if he recalled correctly. They were probably there to keep the young knights from shirking off the work, they were mostly just lazing around looking tough though.

    The yard that Karrow led them out to was fairly large and full of colourful items Kaelum recognized from the parade. It seems they were the cleanup detail.

    ¡°Start by grabbing all of that crap, we¡¯ll start here and make our way up to Main Street,¡± Karrow said while waving his hand in the direction of the decorations ¡°And put it over into that pile.¡± He finished, gesturing at a large dugout circle with a small fire in the middle of the yard. Karrow seemed to be the type to lead by example, grabbing some of the heaviest decorations right after he finished giving them their orders for the day.

    Kaelum noticed a blue light emanating off of one of the young knights before Karrow shouted back at the group. ¡°If I notice any of you use mana to strengthen yourselves, you¡¯re coming back tomorrow.¡±

    The knight hurriedly cancelled his mana and started hauling trash. Most of the smaller decorations and trinkets had been cleaned up by the street cleaners beforehand, so all that remained were the bigger, heavy wooden decorations.

    Kaelum moved with the other young men and started hauling the trash, not only was everything heavy, the damned sun was trying it¡¯s hardest to fry them. After about ten minutes there wasn¡¯t a single young man who wasn¡¯t grumbling. It was hard work and they weren¡¯t allowed to use any mana to ease the burden.

    If you were to look at the streets, you would see that they were slowly being cleared by a crowd of complaining young men. All but one were complaining, Kaelum was strangely quiet in Karrow¡¯s eyes. He¡¯d been told this young man made it all the way to the princess¡¯s room without even a shred of mana. Now that same young man was carrying the heavier decorations with all the trained young knights who had years of physical conditioning under their belts. All without letting out a single noise of complaint.

    Karrow couldn¡¯t help but cheer this young man on, he was a true example of a hardworking, honourable young man and he hasn¡¯t said a single word of complaint yet! Karrow felt great respect for the young man and sincerely hoped he could become the princess¡¯s knight and fulfill his dreams.

    Though that respect would completely shatter if he could hear Kaelum¡¯s thoughts. Tiela was currently covering her ears in Kaelum¡¯s soul space in response to his screaming.

    WHY IS IT SO HEAVY?! Kaelum screamed into his soul space like a dying animal.

    ¡®Stop yelling, my ears are going to start bleeding¡¯ replied Tiela while wincing.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Oh my Gods! I¡¯m gonna die! It¡¯s so heavy. Kaelum¡¯s indignant voice echoed into his soul space And why does Karrow keep giving me that creepy old man look?! He said into his mind as he felt a shiver up his spine as Karrow continued to admire him.

    As Kaelum kept complaining about how heavy everything was, Tiela finally snapped and said ¡®Fine, I¡¯ll help you out¡¯ before a familiar chill of mana rippled through Kaelum¡¯s body.

    He noticed the decorated log he was carrying didn¡¯t even feel that heavy anymore, Kaelum felt like he was on top of the world. He started grabbing the even larger logs, they were so heavy they made him struggle to carry them over his shoulder, even with his mana strengthened muscles. But he didn¡¯t care at that point, carrying a huge log over his shoulder, he felt strength like those knights from the old fairy tales.

    All the while, Karrow¡¯s gaze bore into the back of his head and somehow intensified even further.

    ¡®We should try to make contact again tonight¡¯ Said Tiela, interrupting his thoughts.

    I don¡¯t think I can. Said Kaelum They took my hiding sheet, and I can¡¯t sneak in without it.

    Hiding sheet? Thought Tiela. Apparently, that¡¯s what he called that raggedy brown cloth. Though she did have to admit that it was extremely useful when they were sneaking in.

    ¡®I¡¯ll try to think of another way we can sneak in¡¯ Said Tiela ¡®But I can¡¯t keep strengthening you while I¡¯m doing it.¡¯ She cut off the mana supply right after she finished saying that.

    Kaelum slumped down and almost fell from the sudden loss of strength. Luckily he was carrying a lighter piece of an awning and soon regained his balance. Karrow saw him struggle, but stand back up and a tear of admiration fell from his eye.

    ¡®Before I go, I¡¯ll teach you a breathing technique.¡¯ Said Tiela.

    This perked Kaelum right up, he couldn¡¯t wait to learn an actual breathing technique that a real knight would use.

    It turned out to be not exciting at all. It was basically just a weird way of breathing, he didn¡¯t immediately get magical powers or anything, lame.

    After teaching him the breathing technique, Tiela receded into his soul space to focus and told him not to bother her. Fine, I didn¡¯t want to talk to you either. Thought Kaelum, bitter at being left alone.

    Kaelum found that he could work while using his breathing technique, he could even talk with Karrow while doing it. Kaelum learned the older man wasn¡¯t as creepy as he had previously thought, though he¡¯d have to keep an eye on him.

    While they worked, Karrow told Kaelum tons of interesting stories from his youth, he had apparently been a promising young knight before settling down to become the captain of Arum¡¯s guard. Kaelum found him to be easy-going once you got past his rough demeanour. Kaelum had known of Karrow for his entire childhood and had seen him a few of the times he had gotten caught stealing. But this was the first actual conversation he had with the man.

    Kaelum took a liking to the man almost immediately, the way Karrow carried himself and asked about Kaelum during their talks made Kaelum feel like he actually gave a damn about what Kaelum had to say. Karrow was a naturally charismatic person, only held back by his scary-looking demeanour. After talking with the man for a day, Kaelum felt like he had known him for years.

    Although the work was still gruelling, the breathing technique took Kaelum¡¯s focus off of it, and then talking with Karrow made him actually enjoy the day. He almost didn¡¯t notice when the sun began to set and almost missed it when Karrow gathered the young men.

    ¡°Very nice progress today, I hope you all learned something from this.¡± Said Karrow, Kaelum had no idea what they were supposed to learn aside from the fact that parade floats are damn heavy.

    ¡°Alright, you can all head home now, and don¡¯t try to visit the princess if you don¡¯t want to see me again.¡± The last part of Karrow¡¯s sentence seemed to kill any ideas of seeing the princess up close in the young men¡¯s heads.

    Kaelum hadn¡¯t seen Peake all day, though that was typical of him. He likely snuck off just after they went outside, lucky bastard. He was even better at sneaking than Kaelum was.

    ¡°Hold on Kaelum.¡± Said Karrow.

    Turning around, Kaelum came face to face with Karrow. A bit spooked, he stepped back. This caught a laugh out of Karrow as he continued ¡°I noticed how hard you worked today.¡± He paused before continuing ¡°I¡¯m acquainted with Miller, who runs the logging camp outside the city. We buy lumber from them to reinforce the city walls.¡±

    Kaelum raised his eyebrows, not knowing what Karrow was getting at.

    ¡°We could use another set of hands to help with hauling logs from the camp to the wagons. If you want it, the job is yours.¡± Karrow said, ¡°The pay is ten copper a day, start at noon, end at sunrise.¡±

    Kaelum was stunned, he had never had a job that actually paid money before. Most of the shopkeepers kept an eye on him because he had a habit of stealing and he didn¡¯t know any where else that might need to hire him. He didn¡¯t exactly have any marketable skills.

    ¡°Well?¡± Asked Karrow after letting Kaelum think for a moment.

    ¡°I¡­ Yes please!¡± Shouted Kaelum excitedly.

    Kaelum couldn¡¯t believe it, he had actually gotten a job! Plus Tiela wasn¡¯t nagging him, today couldn¡¯t get any better. He was already daydreaming about the actual food he¡¯d be able to buy with his newfound source of income.

    The only time he¡¯d ever gotten money was when he was pickpocketing with Peake and the other hoodlums, but the guards were way harsher to thieves who stole money than those who stole food, so he didn¡¯t pickpocket again after getting caught and taking quite a beating.

    ¡°Alright, head on home then. I expect to see you here tomorrow at noon!¡± Karrow sent him off with his booming voice.

    Kaelum couldn¡¯t keep himself from humming as he headed back to the market square. He decided he¡¯d treat himself to something nice and started rifling about in the trash of a particularly nice pastry shop.

    He didn¡¯t find any pastries, but he did find a rat that hadn¡¯t been dead for too long, it looked like the shopkeeper had bludgeoned it to death. As he was climbing out of the garbage with his tasty plunder he heard Tiela¡¯s voice in his head.

    ¡®What the hell are you doing?¡¯ She asked in disgust.

    I¡¯m getting dinner, he thought, obviously.

    ¡®You¡¯re¡­ you¡¯re not planning on eating that are you? How long has it been dead in the trash for?!¡¯ She said in exasperation.

    Of course, I¡¯m eating it. I haven¡¯t had meat in months. Meat is hard to find in the slums. He said as he found a pastry and some not too dirty vegetable scraps, adding them to his handful of ¡®food¡¯

    Disgusted, Tiela said in protest ¡®That¡¯s literally trash! You can¡¯t make us eat trash!¡¯

    It¡¯s still pretty fresh, I think it was made either yesterday or today. Replied Kaelum, Didn¡¯t Tiela know how hard it was to find pastries? He wondered.

    Fearing that she was about to taste every bit of that ¡°food¡± she yelled ¡®That¡¯s disgusting!¡¯

    Kaelum replied in annoyance Well, sorry I wasn¡¯t born with a silver stick up my ass. I like pastries

    Her eye twitching in anger, Tiela chose not to dignify him with a response, remaining quiet for most of the way back home until Kaelum remembered to ask Didn¡¯t you say you were gonna figure out another way to contact the princess?

    Glad to get her thoughts away from the rat and garbage food Kaelum was about to subject them both to, she started telling him of the plan she thought up.

    ¡®I¡¯m going to teach you a spell¡¯ She said.

    Oh okay, he responded without paying too much attention, until what she had just said clicked YOU¡¯RE GONNA TEACH ME A SPELL? He thought Like a real-life knight spell?! Kaelum questioned her in his mind.

    ¡®Yes-¡¯ she started to respond before being interrupted by Kaelum¡¯s rapid-fire questions.

    When? How? Is it powerful? He asked like a machine gun.

    ¡®Calm down, Once you get back, come into your soul space and I¡¯ll show you.¡¯ Tiela replied.

    This put a spring in his step, he hurried back as fast as he could, speeding past all of the shopkeeper¡¯s grumblings about hoodlums or whatnot in the waning sunlight.

    After entering his home he asked Tiela How do I enter the soul space? I¡¯ve never actually entered it on my own.

    Facepalming, Tiela had completely forgotten that Kaelum had never actually had any experience as a knight. Although it was a pretty basic thing, only a first-tier knight could actually enter their soul space.

    ¡®You have to use mana to project your soul into your soul space, to do that, you have to unblock your mana veins by becoming a first-tier knight.¡¯ She said, glad that he had forgotten about the rat in his excitement.

    So I can¡¯t actually enter my soul space? He thought disappointedly.

    She hurriedly responded ¡®One good thing to come of me getting stuck in your soul space is your body adapting to my mana. Usually, a person can¡¯t wield another¡¯s mana. But since our souls are stuck together, your body can actually use my mana.¡¯

    She added ¡®Though I can¡¯t replenish my mana on my own anymore, I¡¯ll have to use what little I have left sparingly, but I can supply the mana while you meditate to help you enter your soul space.¡¯

    Okay, he thought as he sat down and closed his eyes before being stopped by Tiela.

    ¡®Either lay down or lean against a wall, you don¡¯t want to be falling down and injuring yourself while in your soul space.¡¯ She said with a hint of warning.

    Kaelum nodded and scooted over to the wall, sitting while leaning on it. He closed his eyes to start focusing before a chilly sensation arose in his right chest.

    ¡®Follow the mana in your chest with your attention.¡¯ He heard Tiela¡¯s voice guiding him.

    He did just that, he could feel it moving around in a loopy circle, it¡¯s weird movement was making him dizzy. The feeling was hard to explain, it felt like the mana was expanding larger than his body, and then contracting to the point of a needle. Once it had constricted to its smallest point, he could feel himself getting pulled into it like he was falling, and then he was in his soul space.

 6. a1.5 - First Spell

    The sight of Tiela greeted him, she looked just as he remembered her two days ago. She was wreathed in golden light and looked just like the princess he had seen last night, only a bit more mature as she was in her twenties.

    Unlike the smooth face of the younger princess, Tiela had a scar on her right cheek and one on her left eyebrow that gave the impression that she had almost lost an eye, they showed just how fierce the battles she fought were. Though the scars did nothing to detract from her beauty, even going so far as to enhance it.

    Her hair was also different from the younger princess¡¯s, while Tiela¡¯s hair was just as long as her younger self¡¯s, it was tied into a side braid hanging over her shoulder. Rather than the long free-flowing hair of the younger princess. If Tiela had told him she was the princess¡¯s older sister, he would have believed it.

    ¡°How long are you planning on staring for?¡± she asked him smugly.

    Realizing he¡¯d been caught admiring her and not wanting to let her know how pretty he found her, Kaelum quickly changed the subject.

    ¡°You said you¡¯d teach me magic?!¡± he asks, regaining all his previous excitement.

    ¡°Yes,¡± she replies ¡°Because you are not actually a knight and don¡¯t have access to mana, I¡¯ll provide the mana while you¡¯ll be in charge of guiding and controlling it.¡±

    She stopped for a moment, thinking of her next words. She gives a brief explanation of how spells work ¡°Every different spell follows a different circuit around your mana veins. Although the intent is the most important aspect and it is the driving force behind a spell. Deviating from the pace or direction of a spell can change certain aspects and throw the entire spell into disarray.¡±

    ¡°Each and every variable changes all of the others, so you have to replicate the mana path of the spell exactly or it won¡¯t work as intended. When you¡¯re using a spell, it must always work as intended. It could cost a life if not¡± She explained with a look of utmost seriousness.

    Tiela takes a breath and then says ¡°The spell I¡¯m going to teach you is a simplified version of the cloaking spell I used last night. It¡¯s a basic utility spell¡± She then explains ¡°To cast this spell, you need to complete a mana path with four distinct points to the path. The easiest mana veins to use are the ones going from your right chest to your right wrist.¡±

    Tiela then said ¡°For a knight, this would be no problem, but you haven¡¯t had any training and even if you use my mana, your veins and arteries aren¡¯t opened up yet. So we¡¯ll have to clear them first. We¡¯ll have to open the mana veins and arteries that go along the path from your right chest to your right wrist. These also happen to be the easiest to open.¡±

    Kaelum asked ¡°So after they¡¯re cleared I¡¯ll become a knight?¡± his eyes shining in excitement.

    Tiela chuckled ¡°No, for a person to call themself a first tier-knight, they would have to unblock all of their mana veins to let the mana flow in any path they want. What you and I will be doing is making you into a pseudo knight. Your body will be weaker than any knight¡¯s, as most knights temper their body for years and you¡¯ll only be able to use spells through your right shoulder and elbow mana arteries. At least until you unblock the rest of your mana veins.¡±

    ¡°So, what¡¯s the process to open them?¡± Kaelum wondered with a strong hint of curiosity.

    ¡°There are many ways to open a person¡¯s mana veins, if you had a strong affinity to a certain element, say lightning. You could stand in a thunderstorm and redirect the energy of the lightning strikes to clear them for you.¡± Tiela said.

    Seeing the wonder in Kaelum¡¯s eyes at hearing of magic techniques, Tiela continued with a smile ¡°The most common method for knights is to force mana from their mana heart through their veins, forcefully opening them up. We¡¯ll be using a method similar to this that is only possible because of our¡­ unique circumstances.¡±

    Kaelum questioned ¡°Which circumstances?¡±

    ¡°Because of our merged souls, you can naturally use my mana in your body, we¡¯ll be using my mana to force open your veins and arteries. The strategy is essentially to punch a hole in any blockages and then use that hole to force more mana in and expand it into a usable pathway.¡±

    Kaelum asked with a cautious look ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound safe¡­ Are you sure about this?¡±

    ¡°What, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re chickening out now?¡± Taunted Tiela ¡°Aside from a bit of pain, it¡¯s perfectly safe. This is the way I opened my own mana veins.¡± She said.

    Hearing that Tiela had used this same method, Kaelum agreed. If this crazy future princess could do it, surely he could too. Or, those were his thoughts until they actually started.

    Tiela had him sit cross-legged and then put her hands onto the right side of his back. He could feel the mana come through their connection and enter his right chest. This made him curious.

    ¡°I thought you said this ¡®body¡¯ was my soul? Is this mana actually going into my physical body?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yes, that ¡®body¡¯ is your soul projection in your soul space, but it also doubles as a representation of your physical body. It¡¯s directly linked with your real body so any injuries you sustained in the real world would show up on it in here.¡± Tiela responded, ¡°Many mages use it to inspect their bodies deeper for any hidden injuries or to inspect their mana veins. But you can also use this body to affect your real body.¡± She finished.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    As she was pushing more mana in through his back, Tiela said ¡°Turns out, it''s much easier to use this body to open your veins, rather than relying on intuition in the real world. But almost all mages would have to open their veins before they can even enter this space, so it''s kind of a moot point.¡±

    ¡°Clench your teeth,¡± She said as she pushed her mana particularly hard into one of his veins, ¡°This is going to hurt.¡±

    That was an understatement, the vein she was forcing mana into was far too small but she kept pushing. It felt like she was tearing the veins apart. Even after opening the vein by a large amount, it was still too narrow to accommodate the massive amount of mana flowing in from Tiela, stretching it even further.

    Kaelum felt the familiar icy feeling of her mana, before his veins flared with pain, becoming a mixture of hot and cold. It felt like his shoulder was on fire and freezing simultaneously. As she pushed the mana, she also talked about various other ways one could clear their mana veins, it seemed she was trying to take his mind off the pain.

    He had thought it was the most painful thing he had ever felt until Tiela¡¯s mana came across the first mana artery. She shaped her mana like a drill and sped toward the artery. Kaelum felt a flash of white across his vision and almost blacked out from the pain. Her mana felt like a white-hot knife digging around in his shoulder as it tried to dig into the artery¡¯s entrance.

    After a bit of the digging, Kaelum heard a pop and the mana rushed into his previously closed artery. He could feel all the torn-up areas begin to heal with the influx of Tiela¡¯s mana. It was widened enough to let mana flow, while the walls had torn and healed to an even stronger point than before. It seemed this didn¡¯t work to just open the veins, but also to reinforce them.

    By this point, her mana had cleared from his chest, through his shoulder and down to his bicep. Kaelum was afforded a moment to take a deep breath before Tiela began her assault again.

    She had said it would hurt, but this was like no pain Kaelum had ever felt before. The only thing keeping him from screaming was his clenched teeth and the reminder that Tiela herself had gone through this before. Her talking also seemed to have an effect on keeping him calm, but he wasn¡¯t going to let her know that.

    As she pushed the mana even further, Kaelum would have sworn that his arm was melting off the bone. It seemed every nerve in his arm was screaming bloody murder. It was almost enough to make him blackout. But he closed his eyes and clenched his jaw even harder. Fighting through the pain.

    The only relief was that after a vein or artery was opened, the mana would heal it. Making it tingle and giving Kaelum a euphoric feeling.

    Tiela finally finished opening the required pathways under Kaelum¡¯s laboured breaths. Kaelum had been so focused on not screaming in pain that he hadn¡¯t realized they had finished for a few breaths.

    After a few moments, Kaelum opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman clad in golden light. He thought she might have been an angel until she opened her mouth and his mind cleared.

    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to show you how to execute the spell. Sit cross-legged and we¡¯ll begin¡±

    It took a few moments for his mind to clear enough to register what she had just said. His eyes widening in excitement, he hurriedly got back into a cross-legged position. Completely forgetting about his previous pain, the excitement of learning a real spell was too much for him.

    ¡°How do I make the spell work?¡± He asked excitedly, he was going to cast a real-life spell!

    Tiela put her hands on his back again and said ¡°Pay close attention to the way I manipulate the mana.¡± She then pushed mana through her hands and into his chest manipulating it into a circuit with four distinct points. It looked vaguely star-shaped.

    As he followed the mana path with his senses, his focus kept leaving the path. Almost as if he couldn¡¯t focus on it for too long. But he didn¡¯t realize this.

    Tiela smiled, noticing his attention shifting away from the path. She said ¡°Focus on the way the mana moves. If you don¡¯t pay attention, it will throw your focus off.¡±

    She was right, the path felt like it was subtly redirecting his focus from the mana. As soon as he was aware of it, he was able to keep his attention on it, though. Kaelum was astonished, how could mana moving in a certain way make him subconsciously ignore it? Spells were so cool!

    ¡°Alright.¡± Said Tiela ¡°Now take control of the mana and keep up the circuit.¡±

    Suddenly in control, Kaelum tried to manipulate the mana. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t very good on his first try. He tried to replicate the path Tiela was using, but the mana split off and went down a different vein, messing up the circuit. He lost control of the mana and it dispersed.

    Tiela pushed more mana into his body and completed another circuit to show him how to do it, before handing control back to him without saying a word.

    Having just seen how Tiela had done it, Kaelum was confident he could replicate it this time. He was able to follow the path Tiela had done for longer than before, keeping control of the mana as it tried to branch off again. But once the mana made it to the first artery, the pathway opened up wider and the mana sped up while it spread out. Kaelum lost control of the mana at the sudden change of tempo and the mana dispersed yet again.

    Kaelum and Tiela kept up this back and forth, she would start the path for a circuit and then hand off control. They did this about half a dozen times until Kaelum was able to complete a revolution of the mana for the first time. It took him another three failures until he was able to reliably complete a revolution twice. At this point, he could consistently complete a revolution without failing.

    After only a few hours of effort, Kaelum had achieved proficiency in his first spell! Bragging with a cocky smile ¡°That was so easy! It didn¡¯t even take half a day to learn a spell, I could totally become a real knight in no time!¡±

    Tiela decided to humble him, saying ¡°That was just a simple utility spell and you haven¡¯t mastered it yet. Don¡¯t get cocky.¡± Noticing that his ego hadn¡¯t deflated, she continued ¡°You did learn that spell in a very short amount of time, but most mages have to learn a spell''s path from a book, experimenting with different tempos and angles on their own. This is hard work and can take months, or even years if it''s a particularly difficult spell.¡±

    She continued ¡°If a mage was lucky enough to have a master, the master might be able to show them the correct path of a spell. But observing a mana path in another¡¯s body is completely different than being able to feel it in your own body.¡±

    Noticing Kaelum¡¯s expression deflate, Tiela thought she had succeeded in preventing the boy from getting a big head so she added ¡°Even considering all of that, you did learn quickly. Good job.¡±

    Before he could reply, Tiela said ¡°It¡¯s about time we got going.¡± Looking into his enthusiastic eyes she continued ¡°The sun has already set a few hours ago, let¡¯s get a move on.¡±

 7. a1.6 - Bad News

    Kaelum remembered how to leave his soul space, and was able to do so after just a few moments of effort. As he left the slums, he walked along the path back to the western wall with intent in his steps.

    Feeling that he was strangely faster on his feet than normal, he asked Tiela in his mind. She replied that the mana that had dispersed from his failed attempts to use the cloaking spell worked to energize his muscles temporarily.

    According to Tiela, some knights would have their apprentices energize themselves with mana before training so that they could train harder and longer with more benefits, like faster healing and muscle development.

    As they conversed, Kaelum made his way back to the gate in the residential quarter in record time. He climbed his way up the wall much quicker than his previous attempt.

    He then felt a line of ice creep from his right chest and then loop around through his right shoulder and then go to his right wrist and back, all while wiggling in different directions. Once it had reached his right wrist, he felt something click into place. Tiela had activated the spell for him before handing control over. It seemed she wanted to ensure that the activation proceeded smoothly.

    He kept the spell active and heard Tiela say in his mind ¡®Go. But stay focused on the spell. It will compel observers not to pay attention to you, and it will make them subconsciously view you as belonging. However, it only works if they aren¡¯t actively scrutinizing you, or if they don¡¯t suspect you. So don¡¯t draw too much attention to yourself.¡¯

    Taking her words to heart, he put most of his attention to keeping the spell active and acting normal.

    And just like that Kaelum confidently went on his merry way. On one occasion, a guard had walked right past him, even tipping his hat as he stepped on past!

    He got down to manor street in record time and proceeded to climb the dragon tree to the tail, only to realize that he didn¡¯t have his makeshift parachute.

    Tiela senses his hesitation and asks ¡®What are you doing? Hurry up!¡¯

    I don¡¯t have my hiding sheet! He thought to her.

    ¡®That cloth didn¡¯t even do anything to break your fall. Besides, you already came all this way, you can¡¯t give up now.¡¯ Tiela urged him on.

    Swallowing hard, Kaelum thought to Tiela But if I break my leg, I won¡¯t be able to walk to the princess¡­

    ¡®Just jump! If you break something I¡¯ll figure out a way to heal you.¡¯ Said Tiela, seemingly losing her patience.

    Although he really didn¡¯t want to jump, after her urging and reassurance, he takes a running leap. Landing hard on his ankles, he takes a sharp breath. His hiding sheet most definitely worked to slow his fall, at least a little. As he was about to tell Tiela off for dissing his sheet, he was interrupted by her yelling in his mind.

    ¡®Behind you!¡¯ Tiela shouted.

    Spinning around on his sore ankle, he was greeted by a fist coming directly at his face. This situation seemed oddly familiar. Luckily, his injured ankle saved his face from obliteration. Just as the fist was about to impact his face, his foot slipped out from under him and he evaded his certain doom by a hairsbreadth.

    Looking at his attacker that was looming over him, it took him a moment to recognize her. It was Aquila, the knight that had previously punched him in the face. She seemed to have a thing for punching him in the face when he least expected it.

    He noticed that the fist that passed by his face hit the manor¡¯s wall behind where he was previously standing. Kaelum winced at how painful that must have been, only to see that it was the wall that was broken, not her fist.

    ¡°It''s you, the dragon knight guy! So this is how you snuck in.¡± Aquila¡¯s angry voice found it¡¯s way into his ears.

    ¡®Duck¡¯ came Tiela¡¯s worried voice, it seemed like she was distracted with something.

    Reflexively listening to Tiela¡¯s command, Kaelum ducked just as Aquila¡¯s heel cut through the air where his head was a moment ago.

    ¡°Wait, can we talk about this?¡± Kaelum half-shouted while backing away.

    Aquila readied herself in a stance that screamed of murderous intent. It seemed she didn¡¯t want to be diplomatic.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to talk about. If you can¡¯t even beat me there¡¯s no way you can become Princess Tiela¡¯s knight.¡± She said before charging at Kaelum.

    Kaelum raised his arms in response to her readying another punch. Kaelum was surprised when rather than punching him, she grabbed on to his upturned arms and tossed him forward with an over the shoulder throw.

    Landing hard on his back, Kaelum had the breath knocked out of himself. He could see her approaching again and while he got up he struggled to wheeze out ¡°I¡­ am not trying to become her knight¡±

    That was all he could say before she was on him again.

    ¡°Oh? Now you¡¯re backpedalling? You¡¯re unworthy to become a knight in her service!¡± She said as she lunged at him, trying to get him in another hold.

    Kaelum was able to duck under her arms by a centimetre once again and started sprinting away at full speed. It seemed he wouldn¡¯t be able to diplomatically resolve this, and he certainly couldn¡¯t beat her in a fight. That just left running away. Only, he didn¡¯t know that a real knight could run much faster than himself, even with his freshly energized muscles. Just as he thought he had gotten a bit of distance between them, he felt her knee crashing into his back.

    She had sprinted close to him and hit him with a flying knee strike. As he fell to the ground, he felt something crack, probably a rib or three. A sharp pain cut into Kaelum¡¯s brain from his chest and he let out a very unflattering screech in response.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "OWWWWWW" He screamed, having trouble breathing.

    This seemed to give Aquila pause, as she worriedly asked "You¡­ you didn¡¯t reinforce your body with mana?"

    After inspecting him, she yelped in surprise ¡°You don¡¯t have mana?! You¡¯re a mortal?!¡±

    She hurriedly searched her pockets for a while before she pulled a glass tube from her pocket and knelt next to Kaelum.

    Kaelum didn''t hear her talking as he clenched his jaw in pain, letting out another groan. Although it wasn¡¯t painful as his mana veins opening, it still hurt like hell. He was surprised when she suddenly cradled his head between her arm and chest.

    Before he could protest or think too much about how nice it felt, she pried open his mouth and forced a red liquid down his throat. It had come from the tube-like bottle she had procured a moment ago.

    He was about to ask her what she was doing when the pain started to recede, what the hell was that liquid he thought.

    ''That was a minor healing potion'' said Tiela in his mind. Rather than respond to her, he focused on the weird feeling permeating his chest.

    At this point Aquila had put her hands on his chest and he could feel hot energy coming from her hands into his ribs, it felt like it was wiggling his bones, it tickled but it didn''t hurt, just felt weird. Like his bones were moving on their own. That was Kaelum¡¯s last thought before he blacked out.

    Kaelum jolted awake, his mind moving a bit slower than usual. He noted was laying on a sofa under a brown cloth which he recognized as his hiding cloth. Only it was different, instead of the dirty brown cloth that he remembered, this cloth was freshly cleaned and smelled like roses. It seemed someone washed it and delivered it for him.

    After a moment his head cleared and he remembered what happened. He really needed to stop passing out after meeting beautiful women, it was becoming an unhealthy habit.

    Thinking back to his ¡®fight¡¯ with Aquila, he remembered his ribs breaking. After folding his cleaned brown cloth, Kaelum inspected his body. He found it to be in tip-top shape, which was confusing. His ribs were all fine, but he could distinctly remember hearing a crack and feeling a lot of pain. It was at this moment that Tiela chimed in.

    ¡®Aquila healed you¡¯ said Tiela in response to his thoughts.

    And where were you during that fight? Kaelum asked in his mind. I could''ve used some help back there!

    ''I wouldn¡¯t exactly call that a fight, more you getting your ass kicked while running away.¡¯ Tiela said. She could feel his irritated response coming and quickly said ¡®And I was helping you. You didn''t really think you could actually dodge a peak second-tier knight on your own like that, did you?''

    Kaelum¡¯s irritation turned to confusion. Wondering what she meant he asked What are you talking about? In his mind.

    Tiela answered ''I was using the cloak spell to alter her perception of where you were standing, that''s how she kept missing her hits by a hair.''

    What? He thought to her I didn¡¯t feel any mana moving inside of my veins.

    Tiela answered him ¡®I didn¡¯t use the spell that I taught you, I used the spell that I used when we first snuck into the manor. The spell I taught you only works on the caster but the effects are very similar. One of the main differences is that the spell I taught you can¡¯t be cast on others, only knights capable of projecting their power can cast spells that affect others.¡¯

    She continued her explanation, saying ¡®The spell I used can slightly alter a person¡¯s perception of something in different ways. While the spell I taught you is a utility spell and is basically just a dumbed-down version of this spell that can only be used in a single way.¡¯

    ¡®But none of that is important right now, you got caught again and you¡¯re in a different room than last time.¡¯ Tiela said.

    Kaelum looked around and noticed that he was in an unfamiliar room, he was lying on a sofa in an office-like room. The room had a stained wood desk with a leather chair aside from the couch he was currently on. Aside from the furniture, there were a few bookshelves that were filled with what looked to be dusty old books.

    The only exits seemed to be a fine wooden door and a real glass window. Kaelum didn¡¯t know how much glass cost, but he knew it was extremely expensive and came from a foreign land to the south. He remembered a merchant calling it Tar glass¡­ or maybe it was Yar glass, Kaelum didn¡¯t remember.

    ¡®It¡¯s Yar Glass¡¯ Said Tiela with a sharp tone and an angry undercurrent. Apparently, she wasn¡¯t a fan of glass.

    Kaelum was just glad he wasn¡¯t in a musty cell packed full of mana rich young knights-in-training like last time, there was even a bowl of fruit on the desk! Getting up to help himself to some free food, Kaelum pocketed two apples and took the other into his hands to eat, just as he heard Tiela¡¯s voice.

    ¡®Someone¡¯s at the door!¡¯ Kaelum had already scooted back to the sofa, munching down half of the apple in case someone tried to take it away.

    Sure enough, the door handle wiggled a moment later. He¡¯d have to learn how she was sensing these things one day.

    A moment later, a familiar figure stepped through the door and started talking with a laugh ¡°Help yourself to the fruit, I thought you¡¯d be hungry after your adventures last night.¡±

    Recognizing the voice and face as Karrow, Kaelum asked him ¡°How did I get here? Where am I?¡±

    Tiela rolled her eyes in his mind, saying ¡®Aquila obviously took you here.¡¯

    Karrow¡¯s words confirmed that ¡°You¡¯re in my office, in the administrative district. The princess¡¯s friend dropped you off after she explained what you had been up to.¡± He said with a hint of admiration in his voice. It seemed that Kaelum failing to meet the princess and getting beat up twice in a row had won his respect, he was a strange man.

    Ignoring the weird look on Kaelum¡¯s face, Karrow said ¡°It actually saves me time, I wouldn¡¯t have known where to look for you.¡±

    Kaelum asked, ¡°You were looking for me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, did you forget your new job?¡± Asked Karrow with raised eyebrows.

    It was then that Kaelum suddenly remembered that he was now employed. This was news to Tiela, she had been thinking inside of Kaelum¡¯s soul space when Karrow offered him the job. She didn¡¯t say anything but Kaelum felt something weird through their bond. He couldn¡¯t describe the feeling and Tiela was trying her best to mask it, but it felt unpleasant. He¡¯d have to ask her about it later.

    ¡°Well, I was actually gonna look for you, but since you¡¯re here we can head right there.¡± Said Karrow as he led Kaelum outside of the office. It turns out, Karrow¡¯s office is actually on manor street, directly across from the city lord¡¯s manor. As they left Captain Karrow¡¯s office, Kaelum saw a few new runes etched into the manor¡¯s wall.

    It seems like Aquila had snitched about Kaelum¡¯s way in, it looked like Kaelum wouldn¡¯t be seeing any more free feasts in the near future. That damned knightess!

    They soon arrived at the western gate that had Kaelum descended the wall at, right near the dragon tree. They stopped at a pair of wagons with an older, kindly looking man waiting for them.

    Karrow introduced the man as Old Miller, apparently, his parents had owned a mill, but he worked felling trees. They boarded one of the wagons and left the city, heading northwest until they got to Miller¡¯s foresting camp, it was a large yard with several different stacks of lumber in various states. One stack was fresh, untrimmed logs. While another was aged and chopped firewood.

    Karrow said, ¡°We¡¯ll be hauling that lumber from the pile into the wagons¡± while pointing at a stack of strangely coloured logs cut into flat and even shapes. Probably useful for building stuff. Kaelum guessed the colouration was due to some treatment or whatnot, it¡¯s what kept the nicer buildings from rotting like the buildings in the slums.

    Karrow explained that they¡¯d fill one wagon and then while Miller took the full wagon back to the city, they would fill the empty one. Once Miller returned, he would take the newly filled one and they would repeat the cycle until the sun went down. Apparently, the city ordered a large amount of lumber and they expected to be hauling wood for the better part of the year.

    As if suddenly remembering something, Karrow told Kaelum the worst news he could imagine. ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The princess and her friend left after her friend dropped you off this morning, in case you were planning on seeing her again tonight.¡±

    It looked like Kaelum wouldn¡¯t be able to get rid of the roommate in his head quite yet.

 8. a1.7 - Kaelums Choice

    Kaelum was doing the almost mindless labour while using the breathing technique that Tiela had taught him. Not only did the breathing technique make it easier to carry the heavy wood, but he had also realized that a bit of mana was starting to form in his mana heart as a result of him using the breathing technique. It wasn''t much, but it was his very own mana!

    The mana would flow from his mana heart, through the veins Tiela and him had opened up and then loop back around and do it again when he used the breathing technique. Building up a bit more mana every time it completed a revolution. He was excited to have his own mana. It felt similar to Tiela¡¯s cold mana.

    The excitement he was feeling from the mana flowing through his partially opened veins was somewhat dampened when he thought of what Karrow had told him this morning.

    Immediately after Karrow told them that the princess had left, Tiela receded into his soul space and hadn¡¯t said another word. Being left alone with her thoughts, Tiela had no idea what to do. She felt like she lost her chance and wasn¡¯t in control of anything, it reminded her of when her mother died and she felt just as helpless.

    She just found out that Kaelum had gotten his first job and while she tried to hide it, she felt a sense of betrayal. She knew it was stupid, but she had unconsciously just assumed that Kaelum would be going along with her to help. Hearing that he got a job that would tie him down to Arum made Tiela realize that her cause was her own, she wasn¡¯t even sure if Kaelum believed her. She felt more alone than ever and she had just lost her one chance at stopping the disasters in the future from happening.

    It¡¯s not like she could just ask Kaelum to up and leave his life to chase the princess. He didn¡¯t owe her anything and he wasn¡¯t even committed to her cause. Even if she asked him to, she wasn¡¯t sure that Kaelum would go for her.

    But she also couldn¡¯t just waste away in his soul space, she truly had no idea what to do. Now that she thought about it, they had done nothing but bicker and banter over the past few days.

    She hated to admit it, but she felt closer to Kaelum than she had become with anyone over the course of the wars before her death. While she was sure that the teenage boy barely tolerated her, let alone had friendly feelings toward her. After all, he was just trying to get rid of her, and the only thing he got in return for trying to help her was injuries from Aquila.

    While Tiela¡¯s thoughts were racing around her mind, Kaelum was left feeling a little lonely hauling wood on his own all day, but his ego wouldn¡¯t let him call out to Tiela. Also, he had no idea what he would even say to her.

    Tiela wasn¡¯t letting any of her thoughts slip through the bond, so he had no idea what she was feeling right now.

    Alone with the mindless labour, Kaelum thought on what this all meant. The princess left Arum, so now what? Was he supposed to just follow her around the kingdom and keep trying to sneak into her bedroom?

    No, that hadn¡¯t worked so far, and it would probably end in him getting killed. Further, Kaelum asked himself, did he really want to? He hadn¡¯t seen this so-called future Tiela spoke of, and he wasn¡¯t even sure if she was telling the truth. Sure, it was weird that he had another soul inside of his own soul space, but that didn¡¯t mean that she had actually seen the future. She could just be some crazy wandering soul or something.

    She did teach him a real spell, which was cool and she looked a lot like the princess¡­ So, say she really was telling the truth. Could Kaelum really go talk to the princess and change the future? Him? He was just some random orphan, Tiela¡¯s own words.

    This is the kind situation that would happen to a knight or a king or something, not Kaelum. Kaelum had no trouble admitting that he couldn¡¯t even hope to affect the end of the world. Aside from his dodging and sneaking skills, he didn¡¯t have much else in the way of talent. Well... he did have the ability to eat spoiled food without any trouble, though that was just a result of his diet. Aside from that, though, he couldn¡¯t think of any other skills or talents, though it hurt to admit it.

    He was used to spending his days rummaging through trash and stealing pastries or playing tricks with Peake and the others. It should have been a powerful knight that Tiela got stuck with, not him. But the reality was, she was stuck with Kaelum.

    So what could Kaelum do? For just a second, he entertained the idea that he could be like one of the knights from the fairytales, only for a second though. Kaelum knew better than anyone else how impossible that was for someone like him. Sure, he had learned a spell and even had a little bit of his own mana now. But Kaelum knew there was more to a knight than a single spell. Knights were people with huge powerful magics and medicine and powerful families. Kaelum had none of that.

    But even if he could become a powerful knight, which was a big if. Is that what he wanted? Sure, being a knight sounded cool, but it wasn¡¯t like that was his dream. Kaelum had no idea what he wanted.

    If he were asked what he wanted last week, he would¡¯ve replied that he¡¯d like to have more pastries. Kaelum had never actually dared to dream of anything greater than finding semi-fresh pastries in the trash, and even that seemed like a pipedream sometimes.

    His thoughts turned to Tiela, he hates to admit it, but he actually really likes talking with the mysterious ¡®princess¡¯. She¡¯s a really interesting person and even if she pretended to be a know-it-all sometimes, she did say a lot of interesting things. From talking about other countries and the future, to her knowledge of magic and all the wacky spells you could perform.

    Thinking of their conversations, Kaelum realized he talked more to her in the past three days than he had in the past year with anyone else.

    Other than talking to Peake on occasion, he didn¡¯t really talk to anyone else. He hadn¡¯t realized just how lonely he was until now.

    While he would never tell her that he actually liked her and thought of her as a friend to her face, he couldn¡¯t help but admit that he felt close to her. Being able to feel each other¡¯s feelings and thoughts on an almost constant basis removed most boundaries between them and they couldn¡¯t help but feel comfortable around each other.

    Kaelum realized at this point that he had subconsciously placed Tiela into his list of friends in his mind. It was a shortlist, and just a few days ago only had Peake listed. But now he considered Peake, Tiela, and Karrow to be his friends.

    If nothing else, Kaelum wanted to help his new friend. He didn¡¯t have a lot of them, after all. But he¡¯d never actually tell her that.

    With all of these thoughts raging in his head, Kaelum didn¡¯t notice Karrow come up to him while he was working.

    Karrow saw the look of deep thought on Kaelum¡¯s face, thinking that Kaelum probably assumed that he would never see the princess again after today. Karrow thought that he would likely give up on his dreams of becoming the princess''s knight after today.

    Karrow once had a dream of his own, he wanted to avenge his clan and right all the wrongs that had been done to them. He had been a genius when he was younger, but once he reached the third tier, he had never been able to ascend into the fourth tier beyond it. Stuck at that illusory wall

    Stuck as a third-tier mage, his dreams were all for naught. He wasn¡¯t unhappy with his life now, but he hated seeing someone give up on their dreams. He could see the struggle on Kaelum¡¯s face while he was in deep thought and decided to give him a nudge in the right direction.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Kaelum was still deep in thought, all of the questions swirling around his head had boiled down to ¡®could he do it¡¯? Kaelum scoffed, thinking it was silly that he would even consider it. Kaelum was-

    Suddenly a rough hand grasped his shoulder and he heard a sentence nobody had ever said to him before.

    ¡°I believe in you.¡± Said Karrow with a tone of utmost assurance and sincerity. He truly believed in him.

    Karrow looked deeply into Kaelum¡¯s eyes and said the words that would change his life with the most confident tone Kaelum had ever heard. ¡°I believe that as long as you don¡¯t give up, you can accomplish anything, Kaelum.¡±

    What a stupid thing to say thought Kaelum. It seemed to be raining in Kaelum¡¯s eyes, he wiped the tears from his eyes while cursing the rain. Kaelum would never admit that the reassurance from the rough man was the first he had ever heard from someone else. He¡¯d also never admit how warm it made him feel inside, or even that it brought him to tears.

    Without waiting for Kaelum to respond, Karrow turned to get back to work, leaving only a few words behind. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t give up. If not for yourself, then persevere for me!¡± Then he was gone. Karrow could never know how far these few simple words would carry Kaelum in the future.

    Kaelum got back to work hauling the heavy timber, but with one small difference. He had a big smile on his face. He thought of the rough man he had seen a few times over the years, usually when he had been caught stealing food. He usually only saw Karrow from afar and he had only made real conversation with the man for the first time over the past few days.

    As the sun began to set, Kaelum realized that they were finished for the day. Karrow brought him over to one of the wagons and they hitched a ride back to the city¡¯s western gate while sitting atop the lumber.

    Once they hopped off, Karrow dropped two ten-copper coins into Kaelum¡¯s hand. He was about to correct him when Karrow waved his hand.

    ¡°I got the amount right, I meant to pay you for yesterday¡¯s help. The amount you carried yesterday was far more than expected of you.¡± Karrow explained.

    Kaelum¡¯s eyes threatened to tear up again as he said his thanks. Karrow just waved him on, saying.

    ¡°Oh yeah, from tomorrow on, you¡¯ll be working on your own. You can just grab your pay from Old Miller on your way back.¡± Karrow pointed at the man who had been driving the wagon. Old Miller waved with a smile in response. He was a kind-looking older man.

    Kaelum remembered that Karrow was the captain of the city¡¯s guards, he probably couldn¡¯t afford to be spending his time hauling lumber all day. Kaelum¡¯s heart warmed, Karrow didn¡¯t have to help him out personally, he probably could have gotten some random guard to show him the ropes. But he did it personally, it was little things like that, that showed how kind Karrow was behind his rough demeanour.

    After pocketing his pay, Kaelum headed back up the streets of Arum, hearing Karrow call after him ¡°Don¡¯t forget what I said earlier!¡±

    As he walked down the darkening streets back to his home, Kaelum thought for a while. After thinking it over for a day, and with Karrow''s encouragement, he came to a decision in his heart and his steps turned more confident, filled with purpose. Kaelum wanted to help Tiela, but he knew he couldn¡¯t become a knight. At least, not on his own.

    Kaelum walked to his home, his stomach grumbling. He had eaten the two apples he had pocketed while he was working, but he hadn¡¯t eaten anything else today. He was used to going without meals for days, but he had burned a lot of energy today, both with the physical labour and with his breathing technique. Remembering the rat from last night, he dug around and found it in his cupboard. It didn''t smell that bad so he started a small fire outside and pitched the rat above it in a skewer. It was nothing fancy, but it was a fair bit of almost fresh meat.

    While the rat was being roasted, he tried to calm his nerves before calling out to Tiela. He had no idea why he was so nervous now. We¡¯re just gonna talk and I¡¯ll tell her about my plan he thought.

    Tiela? He asked in his mind. She didn¡¯t respond and after a while of getting no response to his attempts to talk to her, he thought she must still be hiding in his soul space deep in thought or she was simply ignoring him. If he wanted to talk to her, he would have to enter his soul space and see her face to face. Knowing that he now had to actually talk to her in person did nothing to lessen his anxiety.

    Only this time he¡¯d be using his own mana to get there.

    He mimicked what he had done a few times before, entering his soul space after a few moments of effort. He was greeted by a surprised Tiela, it seemed she wasn¡¯t expecting to see Kaelum.

    ¡°How¡­ How did you get in here without my mana?¡± She asked incredulously.

    Glad to have a bit of small talk, and excited to talk about his mana, Kaelum explained ¡°I used my own mana, I¡¯ve been using the breathing technique all day and I have some of my own now.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± said Tiela, realizing that with him performing physical labour, it was a very ideal way to cultivate mana. Exercising your body helped the mana flow faster and increased your gains, while also helping to repair your muscles. Killing two birds with one stone. The most ideal way to train would be to perform the breathing technique while doing combat training, improving three aspects at once.

    ¡°We need to talk,¡± said Kaelum. Choosing not to beat around the bush, he bluntly repeated what they had heard in the morning ¡°The princess has left Arum.¡±

    Seemingly caught by surprise by the question and Kaelum¡¯s sudden confident tone of speaking, Tiela only responded ¡°Mm.¡± while chewing her lip. She had been thinking about it all day, but she still wasn¡¯t sure of anything yet. She feared what his next words would be.

    Kaelum said, ¡°I have no idea what we should do, but I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll accomplish anything if we just follow her around trying to sneak into her room.¡± Noticing Tiela¡¯s ever-darkening face, he continued ¡°I think I might have an idea though.¡±

    This caught her by surprise once again. She had been trying to think of a way to meet the princess and how to convince Kaelum to help her all day, but she hadn¡¯t thought of anything. Here Kaelum was, not needing to be convinced to help and even saying he had an idea of what to do!

    She was so surprised that it took her a moment to find her voice before she asked ¡°You want to help me?¡±

    Kaelum said in response ¡°Well that brings us to the next part. I have to ask something of you first.¡± Looking deep into her blue eyes, Kaelum asked with all seriousness ¡°Will you become my master? In exchange, I¡¯ll help you change the future.¡±

    Shocked for the third time, Tiela thought of what he just asked her. He wanted to become her student. She wasn¡¯t even thirty yet, she didn¡¯t feel old enough to become someone¡¯s master. Masters were usually old people with white hair and profound temperaments.

    Though, it did make sense for Kaelum to ask. If he had Tiela training him, he was basically getting a watered-down version of her own royal training. With it, he was sure to become a powerful mage in the future.

    Tiela asked Kaelum while staring deep into his eyes, trying to discern his intentions ¡°You truly want to become my student?¡± A thought struck her that he might just want to use her to become a powerful mage, it¡¯s not like she could do anything if he didn¡¯t hold up his end of the bargain, after all.

    Kaelum nodded, explaining ¡°After thinking all day, I thought up a brilliant plan!¡±

    He said with excitement ¡°If you become my master, you¡¯ll train me to be a powerful knight and since you would be my master, your trouble would be my troubles. So naturally, I¡¯ll have to help you change the future!¡± Kaelum¡¯s mature tone from earlier completely dissipated with his excited explanation of his ''brilliant'' plan.

    She laughed at hearing what he said, Tiela couldn¡¯t believe that she suspected this naive kid might try to deceive her. Hearing his words, she realized the weird logic he was using. Rather than saying he wanted to help her, he framed it as a student fulfilling their responsibility by helping their master. She didn¡¯t know if he was trying to avoid embarrassing her, or himself. But she smiled at the thought. It seemed he was deep in thought all day trying to find a way to help her without actually admitting to helping her.

    Coming to a decision, Tiela looked deeply into his eyes before saying ¡°Kaelum. I, Tiela of Kassivir would like to take you on as a personal disciple. Do you accept?¡± Initiating the disciple acceptance ceremony that was commonly used throughout the continent.

    Kaelum didn¡¯t seem to know what response to use, so she nudged him on, saying ¡°You¡¯re supposed to bow and reply with either; I do, master. Or nay.¡±

    Receiving her advice, Kaelum hurriedly bowed and replied with a smile ¡°I do, master.¡±

    As if suddenly remembering something, Tiela¡¯s first disciple hurriedly uttered a farewell and left his soul space. Curious as to what he was doing, she watched Kaelum take his skewered rat off the fire, just before it burnt.

    Tiela had no comments that night while she felt Kaelum¡¯s dinner through their shared senses. However, for some reason, she felt that it was one of the best meals she had tasted in years.

 9. a1.8 - Time to Start Training

    Kaelum had thought he¡¯d be learning powerful techniques and magic spells immediately, but after their conversation that night, Tiela had said she was going to be thinking of a plan and told Kaelum not to bother her. Then she disappeared into his soul space, deep in thought once again. Kaelum went to sleep after his dinner.

    Waking up the next morning, Tiela still wasn¡¯t responding. For the past few days, the only time they had talked was at night. Tiela would absentmindedly answer Kaelum¡¯s questions while he would perform his breathing technique until he slipped into sleep.

    Kaelum learned many things this way, things like the tiers of mages and a bit about what separates each of them. For example, anybody who trained their body, but hadn¡¯t opened their mana veins was considered to be tier zero. Theoretically, a well-trained tier zero with a strong body could potentially defeat even third-tier knights.

    The barrier between first-tier and tier zero is significant, to become a first-tier mage one needs to unblock their mana veins to let the mana flow through their body. First-tier mages are then able to absorb mana from their surroundings and fill their mana heart. Once their mana heart is full, the mage is considered to be a peak first tier.

    Tiela hadn¡¯t told him what the difference between a first-tier and second-tier was, she just responded that he shouldn¡¯t think that far ahead, that he hadn¡¯t even achieved the first tier yet. When he asked why a tier zero could defeat a third-tier but not a fourth tier, Tiela responded that fourth tier mages were a completely different story.

    A fourth tier¡¯s body could control externally projected mana. For example, a second-tier knight might be able to throw a fireball, but they wouldn¡¯t be able to control it once it left contact with their body. Whereas a fourth tier knight would be able to freely manipulate it.

    Kaelum thought of all the cool stuff he¡¯d be able to do if he were a fourth tier mage while he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He took a drink of water and then stood up and stretched.

    After stretching, he left for work. This pattern had continued for the past few days and Kaelum¡¯s days had turned into a routine by this point. He would work all day with his weird breathing technique and then talk with Tiela while using his breathing technique until he fell asleep.

    For work, he would wake up in the morning before heading to the west gate, where he would ride the wagon with Old Miller until they got to the camp. Kaelum would work all day while practicing his breathing technique, occasionally making conversation with the old man while he waited for Kaelum to finish loading the wagon.

    Kaelum had found out that Old Miller¡¯s father had owned a mill, hence his name, but Miller loved the forest too much to follow in his father¡¯s footsteps. So he built a small cabin in the woods and forested outside the city of Arum. He didn¡¯t make much money, but he enjoyed it. His sons helped him with felling the trees and they would leave the number to age for firewood or they would treat them for use in the city¡¯s walls. Like that, they made a small business while doing what they loved.

    Kaelum¡¯s thoughts would often wander to what he wanted to do. He promised to help Tiela by becoming a knight, or rather, a mage. He wouldn¡¯t be in service to the kingdom, so he¡¯d just be a wandering mage, or maybe since he was the future princess¡¯s disciple he would technically be a knight of Kassivir? He had no idea.

    Kaelum wondered what that meant though, what happens after you become a knight? Is he just supposed to keep training, but for what purpose? Maybe he would want to start a farm after becoming a knight, or maybe he would become a city lord. All he knew for certain was that he wasn¡¯t too confident in his abilities, but with Tiela as his master, he would probably make something of himself.

    No, with Tiela and Karrow¡¯s expectations, he would definitely make something of himself as a mage.

    After he finished filling one last wagon, Kaelum¡¯s fourth day of work came to an end. He rode the wagon back into the city Old Miller before collecting his pay. As he left, Miller told him to get home safe and keep an eye on his surroundings, it was something Miller did every night. He was a kind, old man.

    Kaelum walked down the winding streets of the administrative district, ten small copper coins jingling in his pocket. On one side of each coins was the crown of Kassivir and some words that Kaelum never learned. On the other was a portrait of Lord Marcus of Arum, revealing which city the coin was minted in. Peake had taught him that.

    Over the past few days of work, Kaelum had managed to amass a total of fifty copper coins, or one silver and ten coppers. Peake had made him memorize the conversion rates of all the coins when he was showing him how to pickpocket. Apparently, Peake didn¡¯t want Kaelum to just try to steal the biggest coins, a lesson Kaelum learned after he had done just that.

    If Kaelum recalled correctly, it went forty copper crowns to a silver crown, and one hundred silver crowns to a gold crown. Nobody walking around the streets of Arum carried anything larger than a gold crown, so Kaelum had no idea what was worth more than that. Below copper crowns were copper bits, but they didn¡¯t have a set rate. They were usually cut up bits of older coins or foreign coins and they could be traded for anywhere between two to ten bits per copper crown.

    Counting the few bits and coins he had hidden under his pillow, Kaelum was now worth around fifty-four copper coins. He really was coming up in the world!

    During the past few days of work, Kaelum had managed to not spend a single coin. He had actually been able to get a bit of food just as a shopkeeper was tossing it, that lasted him for a couple days and Miller had given him some fruit from his own lunch on a couple occasions.

    Just as Kaelum¡¯s thoughts turned to food, his stomach rumbled. The food he had collected from the trash had run out yesterday and he didn¡¯t have much time to get more while working until dark, by then the stray dogs or other hoodlums would¡¯ve gotten all the good stuff. Rather than go hungry, Kaelum decided he was going to spend some of his newfound wealth.

    His eyes were fixated on the pastry shop as his steps filled with purpose. As he stepped in the door, the scent of sweets filled his nostrils. Usually, he would never dream of stepping foot inside, the baker would always keep a close eye on him so he couldn¡¯t snag anything. Now though, he had a pocket full of coins!

    He saw many kinds of pastries that he had never tasted before, some had a sprinkling of sugar, while others were drenched in honey or chocolate. Finding one he wanted to try, he reached his hand to grab it, only to be interrupted by his favourite mental roommate.

    ¡®Don¡¯t get that one, get the one with caramel on top!¡¯ Said Tiela. He thought she was going to reprimand him for buying sweets, but she seemed to be more excited than he was.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    The baker looked like he was about to say something when Kaelum took the pastry into his hand, but Kaelum soon walked over to the counter and paid, surprising the tired-looking mustached man. It would seem Kaelum had a reputation. Honestly, Kaelum usually would¡¯ve been thrown out just for entering, but the mustached Baker seemed oddly docile and even glad to have Kaelum¡¯s patronage.

    Kaelum and Tiela savoured the pastry while he walked back home, the setting sun casting long shadows beside him as he walked. For Kaelum, this was the first time he had ever bought something with his own money, and it tasted like the best thing he had ever eaten, much better than stolen food.

    For Tiela, this was the first time in a long time that she had actually eaten a pastry. The soldiers usually just had some form of hardtack in the war camps and she took the same meals from the quartermaster as her soldiers. Then, after coming to the past she was on a strict diet of trash or roadkill from Kaelum.

    As Kaelum walked back feeling blissful, he asked in his mindI Didn¡¯t know you were gonna pop up earlier, usually, you¡¯re pretending to be busy until we actually get home.

    ¡®I wasn¡¯t pretending to be busy¡¯ Tiela resentfully said. ¡®I have been planning and thinking about our situation.¡¯

    Planning? What kind of plan?Asked Kaelum in his mind.

    ¡®Your training and how we can actually resolve this situation¡­ Also¡­¡¯ Answered Tiela, the last part was barely a whisper.

    Also what?Kaelum asked with his thoughts, he was excited about his prospective training, but her tone and the feeling through their bond gave off the feeling that she was worried.

    ¡®Ever since we¡¯ve been stuck together, I could feel a slight pull towards the princess¡¯s direction from my soul, and when we got to her room it felt stronger.¡¯ Tiela said after taking a deep breath.

    ¡®Once a person gets into the higher realms of mage hood, they start training their souls, that¡¯s probably how I was even able to survive leaving my body and travelling through time.¡¯Tiela explained.

    ¡®A mage can always feel a connection to their body or a pull in my case.¡¯Tiela said, which made sense to Kaelum.

    What¡¯s wrong with that?he asked, not knowing why she was worried.

    ¡®Over the past few days, the pull has lessened and today I don¡¯t feel it at all.¡¯She admitted.

    What could that mean?He asked

    ¡®I¡¯m not sure, I¡¯m hoping it¡¯s just because of the distance between us, but it may be because the connection has been severed.¡¯ Tiela said.

    Severed¡­ Like the princess died?!He asked worriedly.

    ¡®Usually, that would be the case. That only happens when a mage¡¯s body dies, but we know that the princess isn¡¯t dead. So it might be because my soul has become acclimated to your body¡­ I might be stuck here.¡¯Tiela said

    So we should leave immediately to find her then!Kaelum said, getting up as if he was about to leave on a journey to find the princess.

    ¡®No, if my soul has become acclimated, then it¡¯s already too late. Besides, we have no idea which city she left for and I doubt we could make the trip in time and with no funds, not to mention no means to defend ourselves in the wilds.¡¯ Reasoned Tiela

    So then¡­ What are we supposed to do? What can we do?Kaelum asked.

    Tiela said ¡®We need a new plan, rather than just making contact with the princess, we need to gain her trust. Just in case I can¡¯t merge with her, we still need to convince her to help us change the future.¡¯

    How?thought Kaelum, how were they possibly supposed to gain THE princess¡¯s trust?

    ¡®That¡¯s one of the things I¡¯ve been thinking about. Do you remember why the princess is touring in the first place?¡¯ Tiela asked

    He thought for a moment before answering,isn¡¯t it in preparation for the grand tournament on the princess¡¯s birthday next year?

    ¡®Exactly, it¡¯s a tradition that the champion of that tournament gets to request something from the host as a reward.¡¯ She explained.

    ¡®In recent times, the knight that wins will use their win to prove their worthiness and ask the host to become the host¡¯s personal knight. In my original past, Aquila used her win to become my first personal knight.¡¯ Said TIela fondly, thinking of her friend.

    Understanding what she was insinuating, Kaelum askedYou can¡¯t be thinking I should try to win this tournament?

    ¡®That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m thinking.¡¯ She said. He could feel an image of her smiling while she said it.

    That¡¯s crazy, what level even are the participants?Asked Kaelum

    Tiela explained ¡®The tournament is age limited to 30 and under. Powerwise, I¡¯ve never seen a participant over the third tier.¡¯

    You want me to train to be able to fight third-tier mages in a single year?! I may not know a lot about knights, but even I know you can¡¯t just jump tiers so quickly!Kaelum shouted in his mind, her plan sounded absurd.

    ¡®It won¡¯t be easy, but with my knowledge of the future and as I¡¯m a high tier mage, it should be possible. Especially with your body¡¯s advantage of accepting my mana, it makes it that much easier to teach you.¡¯ She said.

    ¡®Honestly, that part is a bit overpowered. Regardless, reaching the third tier quickly isn¡¯t out of the picture for you, the first three tiers are mostly just filling your heart with mana anyways!¡¯She said the first part with a bit of envy.

    Kaelum felt a bit of pride swell in his heart, he could feel through their bond and her words that she really did believe he could become a powerful knight. He didn¡¯t have grand revenge or some mission to defeat a demon king motivating him, but he felt that the expectations of Karrow and his new master would carry him on to the highest of heights!

    Tiela continued ¡®That brings about the next point, your training regiment. If we want to achieve our goals, you¡¯re going to have to train hard every day. Not only do we have to make up for a lack of time, but you¡¯re also going to have to train that much harder just to match the crazy talent of everyone who is participating¡¯

    Excited about the training that would let him become a knight, Kaelum perked up and waited for her next words.

    ¡®Right now, your job for the city works adequately enough for physical tempering, though it could be more efficient, it¡¯s a good way to also earn a little bit of money.¡¯ Said Tiela

    She continued ¡®But we¡¯ll also start training you an hour before sunrise, that gives us a little more than six hours of training until you have to leave for work.¡¯

    Although Kaelum wasn¡¯t excited about getting up that early, training sounded fun so he kept quiet and waited for Tiela to continue explaining his new training regiment.

    ¡®Right, we¡¯ll be doing a variety of training including combat style training. I¡¯ve been trained in most weapon types, so you¡¯ll learn the basics of every type, but choose one to focus on.¡¯ Said Tiela

    Why should I learn every weapon? that seems like a waste of time, especially since we only have a year. Kaelum asked.

    ¡®Because, if you don¡¯t understand what your opponent is going to do, how can you defend against it?¡¯ Tiela asked.

    That made sense to him. In Kaelum¡¯s mind, a knight should obviously be carrying a sword and shield. So he voiced that he wanted to focus on the sword.

    ¡®Well my main weapon was the lance, but you can focus on whatever, we¡¯ll need to find you a manual for higher-level techniques though. The techniques I will teach you will be the basic Kassivirian family techniques of every weapon type.¡¯ She said, ignoring how illegal teaching someone the royal family¡¯s techniques was.

    Tiela continued ¡®We¡¯ll have to get you a sparring partner eventually, but you need to get the basics down first. Your job won¡¯t last forever and you¡¯ll eventually need more money than it can provide. Becoming a powerful mage is a large investment.¡¯

    ¡®We¡¯ll probably have to start hunting beasts outside of the city to keep up with the costs of training.¡¯ Tiela thought aloud. Seemingly doing calculations in her head.

    What do we need to buy?Kaelum asked nervously, he had only just started earning money and now his small fortune looked like it was going to be spent.

    Tiela explained ¡®Many things. Potions, weapons, armour, techniques, etc. Becoming a mage is extremely expensive, doubly so if you want to be a powerful mage.¡¯

    As Kaelum entered his home, Tiela said decisively ¡®Alright, I have wasted enough time over these past few days. It¡¯s time to start training you seriously.¡¯

 10. a1.9 - Training

    As it turns out, Tiela meant she was going to start training Kaelum immediately.

    After that awesome pastry, Kaelum wanted nothing more than to dive into bed. But it looked like Tiela had other plans, it seemed that sleep was going to be pretty far from Kaelum for a while.

    ¡®Enter your soul space.¡® She commanded with an authoritative tone.

    Before heading in, Kaelum quickly stashed the remainder of his coins behind his cupboard. After buying his slightly expensive pastry, he was left with just under fifty copper. It was worth it, though.

    After leaning against the wall on his bed, Kaelum closed his eyes and focused in preparation to enter his soul space.

    Right then he heard some movement outside, a head popped up by his window. Or rather, wall hole shortly thereafter.

    The face opened its eyes wide in surprise before relief washed over it.

    ¡°Oh thank goodness, I thought the monster got you, Kaelum!¡± Said the person Kaelum now recognized to be Peake, the cheeky bastard that left to him to do all that heavy lifting.

    ¡°Huh, Peake? What are you talking about?¡± asked Kaelum in confusion. Peake hadn¡¯t visited Kaelum¡¯s home in quite a while.

    ¡°The flesh-eater, I haven¡¯t seen you over the past week so I thought the flesh-eater got you!¡± Said Peake, as if that explained anything.

    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been working until sundown for the past week¡± Kaelum explained his new working situation.

    Peake replied in understanding ¡°That would explain why I haven¡¯t seen you, everyone¡¯s been hiding indoors before the sun sets. Nobody wants to get caught by the flesh-eater.¡±

    A second later, he processed Kaelum¡¯s words, ¡°Wait, you got a job? Like a real job where they pay you?¡± He asked incredulously. He then asked with concern ¡°Are you working for one of the gangs? that¡¯s dangerous!¡±

    Not letting himself get sidetracked, Kaelums said ¡°No, I¡¯m not. But what¡¯s this about a ¡®flesh-eater¡¯?¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard?!¡± Peake asked in shock.

    Peake waited until Kaelum shook his head to continue ¡°People have been hearing strange noises in the slums at night and finding torn up animal carcasses in the morning. I¡¯ve even heard some people have gone missing!¡±

    Taking Kaelum¡¯s look of horror as his sign to continue, Peake then said, ¡°It must be some kind of monster that got into the slums, maybe a werewolf or a demon!¡±

    Kaelum asked Tiela worriedly in his head Could there really be a demon or a monster on the loose?

    ¡®It¡¯s not unheard of that a demon might sneak into a city, but it isn¡¯t likely. If there really is, the guards will deal with it eventually. Nothing to get worried over.¡¯ She said confidently.

    Peake took Kaelum¡¯s silence while he was talking to Tiela as Kaelum being petrified in fear. Rather than keep talking on the flesh-eater, he decided to change the subject for Kaelum¡¯s sake.

    ¡°So what¡¯s this about a new job? If you¡¯re not working for a gang, then where are you working?¡± Peake asked. There weren¡¯t many jobs available for unskilled kids like them, a fact Peake knew well.

    ¡°Remember when all of us got rounded up by the guards? The day you snuck out of work and left me behind to carry heavy stuff all day?¡± Kaelum asked, laying the guilt-tripping on hard. After seeing Peake nod guiltily, he told him about his interactions with Karrow and his weird stares.

    ¡°Well that Karrow guy does seem weird, but at least he¡¯s paying you¡­¡± Peake said after hearing Kaelum¡¯s explanation.

    Peake suddenly asked ¡°Oh yeah, speaking of Karrow. Have you heard that the princess left Arum?¡±

    Seeing Kaelum nod in affirmation, Peake continued ¡°Well some people think she left a day early because of the flesh-eater. But I know better¡± He said with a sly smile.

    This piqued Kaelum and Tiela¡¯s interest, so Kaelum asked ¡°Then why did she leave early?¡±

    ¡°The real reason is¡­¡± Sensing Kaelum¡¯s interest, Peake paused before saying ¡°Because one of the people trying to impress the princess actually snuck past her guards to meet her in her very bedroom!¡± He said with a dramatic flourish.

    Kaelum¡¯s reaction was far less than satisfying, he only nodded, thinking Oh, so that¡¯s why.

    ¡®Well, that was a useful bit of information that we didn¡¯t know before¡¯ Said Tiela sarcastically.

    Peake¡¯s sudden revelation didn¡¯t seem to impress Kaelum, so he decided to continue saying ¡°Not only did the person sneak all the way to her bedroom, the person was a mortal! Not even having a shred of mana!¡±

    Peake stood, waiting for Kaelum¡¯s surprised gasp, shocked look. Heck, he¡¯d even settle for Kaelum widening his eyes. Alas, Kaelum still gave no reaction. It¡¯s hard to be surprised when somebody recounts your own actions to you.

    ¡°Oh¡± was Kaelum¡¯s only response.

    ¡°Man you¡¯re no fun at all, I thought you¡¯d be interested since you got caught too. At least all the other knight trainees in the city got mad that someone beat them to the chase.¡± Said Peake glumly.

    Though Kaelum didn¡¯t care much, this last part caught Tiela¡¯s attention. Surely a bunch of young jealous knights aren¡¯t going to become a problem in the future¡­ Hopefully¡­ At least nobody knows Kaelum is the one who did it. She thought to herself.

    A few seconds after Peake¡¯s grand reveal and Kaelum¡¯s nonreaction the last slivers of sunlight shone through the hole in Kaelum¡¯s wall. Upon seeing the last rays of sunlight fading quickly, Peake made a sour face at Kaelum¡¯s seeming disinterest in the topic and hurriedly got up. Saying ¡°Well, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not dead.¡±

    Peake laughed, saying ¡°But I¡¯m gonna run home before the sun sets, I really don¡¯t wanna be out alone after it gets dark.¡± It seemed the talk of a monster running around the slums had spooked even Peake. Kaelum had never actually seen Peake scared, he always held the image of a brave older brother in Kaelum¡¯s mind.

    After bidding Peake goodbye, Kaelum went back to his bed, only slightly worried about a monster running around the slums, he wasn¡¯t a kid anymore, after all.

    ¡®Alright, come into your soul space so we can begin.¡¯ Said Tiela, glad to have gotten rid of the distraction and wanting to start their training immediately.

    Kaelum had almost forgotten about their training but quickly entered his soul space at Tiela¡¯s behest. Opening his eyes to the realm of pure darkness, the only lights coming from himself and the pink-haired woman clad in golden light. She looked the same as ever.

    He asked with a yawn ¡°What kind of training are we doing? It¡¯s kind of late¡­¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve already wasted enough time, if we want to meet our deadline of one year then sacrificing a little sleep is worth it,¡± Tiela said, not impressed with Kaelum¡¯s lack of enthusiasm. Now that she was his master, she¡¯d have to beat some motivation into him.

    Smiling at the thought, she continued ¡°You¡¯ve been training your body with work over the past week, but we need to clear the rest of your veins before we can do anything else.¡±

    Kaelum nodded. That made sense to him.

    She explained ¡°Right now you¡¯re being held back by your inability to fully cycle mana. A lot of the mana you take in with your breathing technique is being released back into the air because it can¡¯t complete a full path through your veins.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve felt that,¡± Kaelum said, ¡°And I¡¯m collecting even more now than I was before we cleared my right arm¡¯s veins.¡±

    Tiela said ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re now able to complete more of a circuit now. The closer to a full revolution through your body, the more mana you¡¯ll be able to absorb.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    She then said, ¡°There are a number of spells and techniques that every knight worth his salt should know, you also can¡¯t learn these until you¡¯ve opened all of your veins.¡±

    ¡°It seems a lot of my training is being held back by my veins,¡± Kaelum said with a sigh.

    Tiela replied, ¡°Exactly, so currently we need to clear this bottleneck before we can actually train you in earnest.¡±

    Having explained the first steps of his training in earnest, she had him sit down cross-legged in preparation. Though this time she didn¡¯t push any mana into his body after putting her hands on his soul body¡¯s back.

    Tiela explained ¡°We¡¯ll be using your newly acquired mana to clear the rest of your veins, rather than mine. Start circulating your mana and then I¡¯ll take control.¡±

    Kaelum did as his master told him, starting his breathing technique to circulate his mana. He thought he had amassed quite a bit until Tiela popped his bubble with her words.

    ¡°Alright, this much is barely enough to work,¡± Tiela said as she took control of his mana. ¡°Hmm, this feels similar to my mana but slightly different.¡±

    Always eager to know more, Kaelum asked ¡°Everyone¡¯s mana feels different?¡±

    ¡°Yes, everyone has an affinity and after taking in environmental mana into their bodies, the mana starts taking the attributes of the mana that they have an affinity to. Mine is ice, by the way.¡± She explained.

    Tiela¡¯s explanation came just as she shaped his mana into a drill and started laying into his unopened veins.

    It hurt just as much as he remembered, forcing his thoughts away from whatever question he was going to ask next. He was single-mindedly focused on not screaming in pain.

    After about an hour of Tiela drilling into his veins with mana, she called it quits and Kaelum was able to take a deep breath. It wasn¡¯t a fun experience by any stretch, but his body felt amazing afterwards, it almost made the pain worth it¡­ Almost.

    Though their session lasted a far shorter amount of time than their first, it was still just as unpleasant. Tiela hadn¡¯t used up all of Kaelum¡¯s mana but she had been able to clear all the way down to his left elbow today.

    She explained ¡°Alright, we don¡¯t want to use all of your mana so we¡¯ll stop here tonight. With more of your veins opened you should be able to absorb more mana while practicing your breathing technique tomorrow. At this rate, it shouldn¡¯t take more than a week until we¡¯re done opening all of your veins.¡±

    Thinking of his days ahead, working and training from sun up to sundown, Kaelum thought aloud ¡°That doesn¡¯t leave me a lot of time to find food, what with working and training all day¡­¡±

    ¡°That reminds me,¡± Said Tiela ¡°We need to set some ground rules!¡± She said with a glare that bore through him.

    ¡°What¡­ what kind of ground rules?¡± Kaelum asked nervously. Tiela seemed very serious all of a sudden.

    ¡°First of all, no more eating trash!¡± Just as he was about to protest, she continued ¡°Before, you didn¡¯t have any money, so I could understand that. But now that you have some money, you will be buying at the very least some bread every morning. Besides, you need way more nutrients if you¡¯re going to be training and working so hard.¡±

    He finally nodded in assent, it¡¯s not like he enjoyed eating from the trash like a raccoon, after all.

    After ensuring that she wouldn¡¯t be tasting trash any time in the future, Tiela shooed Kaelum from his soul space for the night.

    The whole process had taken a while, so it was about eleven at night by the time Kaelum left his soul space.

    Coming back into his real body, he immediately started his breathing technique. Tiela had told him to practice it every waking moment. After nearly a week, he was pretty proficient in it and didn¡¯t have to solely focus on it to keep it up.

    He felt it would probably become second nature over the next few days if he kept at it. After actively practicing his breathing for a while, Kaelum got ready to go to sleep. He¡¯d be waking up early for the foreseeable future so he needed to get some good rest.

    He kept up his breathing technique until he slipped into sleep. He managed to get a good night¡¯s sleep.

    His princess alarm clock woke him up early by circulating ice-cold mana through his veins. Waking him with a jolt.

    ¡°What the hell is that¡± he shouted into the air sluggishly. After regaining some clarity he heard Tiela¡¯s laugh in his mind and said aloud with an angry tone ¡°Don¡¯t wake me up like that!¡±

    ¡®I tried waking you by shouting, but it seems you didn¡¯t hear me.¡¯ She said between bouts of laughter ¡®Besides, I like this reaction much more.¡¯ She finished deviously.

    Why are you even awake right now? Do you even sleep? Kaelum asked indignantly.

    ¡®Yes, but being such a powerful mage, I¡¯m naturally less reliant on rest. My soul is much stronger than a mortal¡¯s, after all.¡¯ Kaelum didn¡¯t know why, but her tone grated on his ears this early in the morning.

    How powerful are you anyways? His irritation slightly faded and replaced with curiosity. She had never actually told him what tier she was.

    ¡®I was¡­ Not powerful enough¡­¡¯ She said glumly, seemingly thinking of the past. Before continuing ¡®Anyway, let¡¯s start training.¡¯

    After getting up, Tiela had him leave the slums and towards the west gate that he usually took to Miller¡¯s camp. The sun had yet to rise as he walked the empty streets in the chilly morning air.

    Usually, the shopkeepers and merchants would take this time to start getting ready, but it looked like they were hiding indoors until sunrise these days. This slum monster seemed to have everyone spooked.

    Kaelum felt a chill up his spine as he walked, he didn¡¯t think it was just the morning air and he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were on him the whole time. It¡¯s probably one of the merchants he thought while trying to shake the feeling.

    After reaching the western gate he asked aloud with a whisper ¡°Where am I going now? Isn¡¯t it dangerous to leave the city alone?¡± Thinking that it would make it easier for whatever monster was prowling to eat him if he was alone in the woods.

    ¡®Head to the forest that Miller¡¯s camp cuts trees from, we¡¯ll find a good spot to train in that forest from now on. Besides, you¡¯re not alone.¡¯ Tiela said reassuringly, reminding him of her presence.

    The two guards at the gate let him through without any trouble after seeing his face, they were used to seeing him leave over the past week for work at Miller¡¯s camp. Kaelum was glad to see another person¡¯s face, even if they were the guards he usually hid from.

    It took Kaelum about thirty minutes to reach the gate from the slums, much faster than when he was sneaking earlier in the week, especially when the fear of a monster put a hop in his step.

    He soon reached the edge of the forest and Tiela had him walk around, looking for a good spot to claim as a training ground. All the while he had a slight nagging sensation in the back of his telling him he was still being watched.

    While he walked around the forest, he asked Tiela about it. Deciding to talk aloud to dispel any weird tension in the air ¡°Does it feel like we¡¯re being watched? I¡¯ve felt eyes on me since I left this morning¡±

    ¡®Oh? Maybe it¡¯s the flesh-eater¡¯ she answered, teasing him.

    After sensing him tense up a bit more, she laughed and said ¡®There¡¯s nothing to worry about, nothing in your immediate vicinity possesses mana and if anything directs ill intent at you, I¡¯ll let you know¡¯

    Seeing that he was still sneaking glances at his surroundings, Tiela sighed and said ¡®I may not be as powerful as I once was, but if anything tries to attack you I can guarantee your safety from some mana less attacker.¡® She reminded him he was under the protection of a powerful mage

    His fears finally assuaged, and his curiosity piqued, Kaelum asked in his mind How are you even able to sense things I can¡¯t see? Everyone always seems to be able to sense whenever someone¡¯s about to open a door before they even do it!

    Tiela chuckled and said ¡®By using the mana in the air to sense things, it¡¯s also how people can tell other mages power¡®

    After pacing around for a bit, she had him stop at a small clearing about five meters in diameter. It was only a short walk into the forest, but it was far enough to conceal any sights or sounds of his ¡°training ground¡± from the outside world.

    After settling the training ground, she had him search around for ironwood trees to find some branches. Ironwood trees are extremely tough grey trees, a lot of weapons and tools that need a strong grip utilize them.

    ¡®Until we can buy some proper weapons, we¡¯ll have to make do with ironwood that¡¯s similar in weight and shape¡¯ Tiela explained.

    Kaelum found a branch that was just over two meters and in a diameter that wasn¡¯t too unwieldy. It was much heavier than a normal tree branch and was a dull grey colour. It felt as if it weighed as much as iron, doing the name ¡®ironwood¡¯ proud.

    ¡®Perfect¡¯ Said Tiela in his mind ¡®We can use that as a stand-in for a spear. Then that¡¯s the weapon type we¡¯ll start with.¡¯

    By the time they had gotten started, the sun was already over Kaelum¡¯s head.

    She had him start by getting into position while holding his makeshift spear, before making slight corrections to his stance.

    ¡®Spread your legs slightly farther apart¡­ a little farther¡­ good.¡® She corrected his stance

    ¡°Like this?¡± Kaelum asked aloud after following her instructions.

    ¡®Yes, but lower your body more, if you try to attack like that you¡¯ll throw your balance off completely.¡®

    Once he was in position, Tiela continued ¡®Good, but try to loosen your leg muscles. If you tense that much during a fight you won¡¯t last long.¡¯

    Finally satisfied with his stance, she said ¡®Alright your stance is good, try thrusting the branch forward like you want to stab something with the tip.¡®

    After hearing the go-ahead, Kaelum thrust his makeshift spear forward.

    ¡®Good try, but wrong. Don¡¯t try to thrust with just your arms, put your whole body into the strike.¡¯ Tiela said, after seeing his attack ¡®That threw your stance off so correct it as best you remember.¡®

    As he went back to his stance, Tiela pointed out small mistakes until she declared ¡®Good enough, try thrusting again.¡¯

    It seemed his attack still wasn¡¯t up to snuff, she said ¡®Correct your stance and try again. When you strike, fully extend your arms, but don¡¯t lock them.¡¯

    The training continued in this manner for what felt like hours to Kaelum, the feeling that he was being watched never left him. Though at this point it was easy to just ignore.

    Tiela eventually had him stop for a break, just in time too. He felt like he was about to collapse from the physical exertion. As he slumped to the ground and took a deep breath, he heard Tiela¡¯s voice in his mind.

    While panting, Kaelum asked aloud ¡°Why does this feel way worse than carrying wood all day?¡±

    Tiela answered him with a chuckle, ¡®You¡¯re using a lot of muscles that don¡¯t normally get a lot of action, after a short break we¡¯ll continue.¡¯

    And continue they did, the day of practise mainly consisted of Tiela correcting Kaelum¡¯s stance and him performing a single thrust, before doing it over again. Kaelum thought he¡¯d be learning to fight, but he was just repeating the same stance and thrust over and over again! Not only was it painful, but it was also boring!

    Just as the sun reached high overhead, Tiela told him ¡®It¡¯s getting close to noon so we¡¯ll stop here for today¡­ Good job today.¡¯

    His tired muscles seemed rejuvenated from the unexpected praise as he made his way out of the clearing and towards Miller¡¯s camp to work.

 11. a1.10 - Brewing a Potion

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.