85 The Storm Part 2

I suppose it never occurred to me that all my friends wouldn't necessarily know one another. It came off quite an odd sight, in fact, to see both sides almost glowering or simpering in some sort of weird mixture of emotions.

On one hand, the prince stood by with his now healthier complexion, his brown eyes squinted as he stared at the boys beside me. The other team with the Montauk prince and the red commoner appeared quite distraught, their eyes flitting away everywhere but where the prince of Luna stood. However, I observed their proud posture as they kept close to my sides, sandwiching me between them.

'What were they doing?' I thought with mild interest and annoyance.

I coughed, promptly ending the short bout of awkwardness and weird tension. "So I see you haven't met yet. Let me introduce you-"

"No need," Charles held up his gloved hand. "I am already aware of their names, student standings, and backgrounds."

I glared at him. "Well, sorry, Charles. But they don't seem to know you yet."

He froze for a while, and then like the passing of spring came over, his eyes melted down into its usual warmth, and his usual smile returned to his face. "Sorry. I came off as rude."

"Good that you know," I retorted, to which Joren gasped at silently. Ignoring him, I continued on, "Charles, Crown Prince of Mond Empire, meet my dear friends, Joren of Kingdom Saule, and Second Prince Albert of Kingdom Montauk."

"Best friends, if I may add," Joren mumbled, although his eyes didn't quite meet Charle's.

"Of course," Charles said amiably. "I've heard a lot about you from Therion here. It's nice to finally meet you."

Joren blanched in shock. "Th-Therion? Did he just call you Therion?"

I giggled at his childish jealousy. Turning towards the high prince, I explained, "Joren here thinks he's the only one allowed to call me by that nickname."

"Oh," Charles mumbled. "Did I call you that first?"

"Sadly, nope," I replied with an easy smile. "You lost in that regard. I met Joren first, and he gave me that nickname first."

Although, of course, they shouldn't know that I met Charles first if I were to be completely honest. Regardless, I still found myself amused to see their jealous faces. Having not had this many friends before (or at all), I found this scene oddly comforting. There were now people who I could be myself with, whose stares I wouldn't need to be wary of.

Then, I saw a peculiar sight. Joren was blushing mellowly, a lovely pink tinge on his already rosy cheeks. He played around with his fingers as he mumbled softly, "But I suppose Prince Charles could call you by that too. I'll allow it if it's the high prince."

I almost laughed. I wasn't aware the kid already knew which legs to hug onto. Charles didn't seem to view the other boy's actions as weird, though, and he only nodded his thanks...

Sighing, I looked around us again. A group of four might be enough for some tests, but might be too little for others. There were always advantages in bigger numbers. Besides, if we would have a surplus of members, we could just split ourselves down to match the test requirements. So, I kept looking around us for more familiar faces.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Zepherin anywhere. In fact, all the other Sinus Fidei Maximus didn't seem to be around. Well, except for Charles, of course, but the others definitely weren't here.

When I was about to give up my search, I finally saw a familiar pair of pigtails. "Kendra!" I shouted, making the smaller girl bounce.

She saw me waving at her, and she immediately came over, although she did so with slow movements.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as she sat impishly on the ground in front of us.

She sighed at my question. "I was totally caught off guard. That professor was definitely too harsh."

I shrugged, and then started to sit on the ground as well, crossing my legs and leaning over to place a hand on her sweaty forehead. I frowned. "You don't look too good."

"I know," she mumbled, and then made a weary nod of greeting at Joren who sat down beside her. Then, she shook her head, her curled pigtails bouncing in the air. "But I can't stop here. Besides, I still have time to rest."

Joren and I looked at each other, a silent conversation passing over us.

'Should we let her join the test with us?' I asked him.

'She doesn't seem too well...' Joren's eyes twitched.

I knew that I could only agree, so... 'Will you tell her or...?'

As an answer, he coughed and looked away completely, whistling innocently into the wind. I sighed, and then turned towards the girl, "Listen-"

Unexpectedly she beat me to it, holding up her hand to cut my speech off. "No. I know what you're going to say. If you're going to tell me to stop here, then I won't join your group. Besides, I don't want to be a burden anyway. A good woman shouldn't be a burden at all."

I huffed at her words. "You're not a burden. Besides, most times, the husbands bring more worries to the household anyway."

Albert coughed in shock from above us, but I ignored him. I turned back to Kendra. "Listen, it's just pointless to keep going like this."

Immediately, she opened her mouth to complain, but I cut her off. "But! I also know how it feels to feel hopeless and useless. I know how it feels to want to prove to yourself that you could be stronger, better. So, we'll wait until right before the time is up. If you still don't seem well, then I'll be left with no choice but to force you to stop. If you're strong enough to run around before the minutes are up, then you're in."

Then, her previously defiant face transformed into delight. "Thank you! Thank you, Eleftherion!"

I smiled, but was surprised when two more persons joined on our sitting place. The two princes, who should never be caught sitting around the dirty floor in public, sat quietly around us. I stared at the brown-haired boy, who sat with his back straight beside me.

'Oh well,' I thought. 'He still looks like royalty even while sitting so improperly, I'll give him that.'

"Hey there," I greeted. "I see you're finally obeying my command. I was just about to call you off for treason."

"Oh, I'd never break my ruler's trust," he replied, his warm eyes crinkling with silent laughter. "Besides, I just made a strategic move. If I want to succeed in this test, I should join hands with the strong and the lucky."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Strong and lucky, huh? I don't see anyone by those descriptions at all."

He laughed. "Whatever pleases you, my lord."

I snorted, but our little role playing was cut off by Kendra's question. "But I do want to ask, umm... Eleftherion, how would you even decide if I'm well enough to take the test?"

"Oh, I can answer that," Joren replied, with a small smirk on his face. "Therion here claims he can sense notes!"

"Umm... can't we all?" Kendra asked in confusion.

"See!" I shouted in triumph.

"No, no," Joren countered back, with wildly flailing arms. "He means that he can somehow sense the notes inside the body of other people! Like... Like he could sense every note in the world, or somethin'!"

I frowned at him. "No, I can't. If I were like that, I could handle much stronger magics."

He rolled his eyes. "Like your level of magic control ain't great enough for ya. But that's not my point! He said he sensed how my internal notes were... in disarray? Right after that blast happened. I knew ya came to us and checked on us like ya could somehow see our very health!"

I sighed. "I don't understand why this is such an issue to you, Joren. I just felt for the notes inside your bodies."

Then, the group looked around at each other, and then finally stared at me. I glared at them. "What?"

"Well, it's definitely not normal," Charles said. "I've heard of wizened mages who claimed they could see notes around the world, and how they can see life energy itself move around the material world. But, well, it's unusual to find someone as young as you to... Well, let's just say this is hard to believe."

"I don't understand," I murmured in annoyance. "I mean, how do you guys even do magic then?"

I turned towards Albert, the most sensible of the lot, but he only shrugged his shoulders. "We do feel for the notes, but it requires so much energy and concentration to conjure up a perfect spell. In my case, I would feel a certain pull at my gut, and before I know it, a fire ball would be in front of my palms."

Then, I turned towards Charles. He smiled and said, "I do somehow sense notes around me, but only at the very edges of my consciousness. I could sense that the spread of notes in this hall is potent, but only based on instinct, really."

I sighed. "... So you can't see them?"

"See what?" Joren asked.

"Those... white balls of light," I murmured. "I mean, I can't literally see them with my eyes, but... It's similar to sight, I suppose. I can see where notes are the strongest."

"... Wow," Kendra murmured with wide eyes.

I turned away from her in embarrassment. "I don't know. I think you guys could do it too. It's nothing special."

I tentatively turned to Charles. He only smiled at me reassuringly. "Well, I'd say it's something to be proud of. I mean, you definitely outmatched even me there."

Somehow, I didn't feel that bad when he was the one to praise me. It sort of irritated me instead, but at least that weird awkwardness I felt went away. I laughed into the air. "You better bow to me now, then."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't get too ahead of yourself now. You'll see by the end of this test who's really stronger."

Chuckling, I accepted the challenge.

Just as though it sensed my sudden drive, the atmosphere started to change subtly. Shocking my friends, I got up quickly and gathered enough notes to shield our whole group. Then, within a split second, the examiner appeared yet again. His ageless gaze turned straight towards me. He smiled, "Time's almost up. You better decide now, or it will be too late."

I kept staring after the man, still tensed up for another one of those blasts. Then, a hand came upon my back, almost making me shout out in surprise. I turned back to see it was only Albert. He was looking at me with a somewhat troubled look. "Eleftherion, it's fine. I don't think he'll attack us again."

I blinked. But then my mind soon caught up with the registered words. It would indeed seem weird if he would attack us again, since our numbers have definitely already gone down considerably. I sighed as I let go of some of the defensive notes. Then, I turned towards Kendra. She was still seated together with Joren, her fearful eyes still trained on the examiner.

Approaching her, I knelt down and excused myself. Then, I stared at her abdomen, observing how the life energy inside her swirled around chaotically. I frowned. "Kendra..."

"What?" she mumbled, glaring at me. "I'm fine!"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but you have to stop this time. Call for a teacher now before the time is up."

She then hung her head, her lower lip trembling. "I-"

Placing a hand on her shoulder, I began to speak, but then suddenly, an idea came upon me. Sensing around the notes around her yet again, with my hand as a bridge towards her life energy, I suddenly felt my consciousness tunneling only towards her.

I didn't really hear it when Albert started to warn us about the time, or when Joren had placed a hand on my shoulder, trying to wake me up from my stupor.

I was simply lost inside the maze of notes in front of me.

'If I could control notes in the environment...'

'If I could steal notes from living thing...'

'Maybe I can control internal notes as well.'

Almost immediately, the notes within her began to move with more frenzy. I struggled to keep it down. Suddenly, pain flared within me, enough for me to scream in shock. But, I forced it down as well. I knew I was doing something crazy, and I wasn't even sure if it would work, but...

I cursed, and then closed my eyes entirely, throwing my whole senses into the notes.

Then, Music came into life. It swirled around the painful cacophony inside my abdomen, and passed through my chest and arms, and then entered into the other girl's body. I felt for it as it slithered down into the chaos inside her. I felt how the Music slowly wrapped around the notes inside the girl, and how the notes gradually died down into a peaceful calm.

Then, before I could feel the Music even more, I suddenly felt something pull at me. In a moment, I was back to reality, and someone had grasped at my shoulders with harshness. I flinched into wakefulness and turned towards the owner of the hands.

The examiner!

He was looking down at me with serious eyes. "What were you doing, boy?"

"I-" I started, but started to feel faint. Taking a deep breath, I straightened myself up. When my mind started to work again, I remembered what I was doing. I immediately searched for the girl.

Kendra was still sitting on the ground, but her eyes were shut close. "Kendra!" I shouted.

'Oh no!' I thought, my mind swirling in a panic. 'Did I hurt her?!'

I made to kneel down again, but before I could even touch her, the examiner had caught my wrist in midair. "Don't disturb her any further. If the worst happens, then I believe her very life might be in danger."

"No!" I shouted in disbelief. "She can't be! I was only helping her!"

Then, he glared at me harshly, a pressure pressing down on me, one that was far stronger than before. "Don't meddle with magic you don't know, boy."

I kept silent, but I wanted nothing but to scream. I only wanted to help... I wasn't even aware about what I was doing...

I could only sit still while the examiner called for healers and instructed my other friends to back away from us. I was pursing my lips, regretting everything, when-

"What's happening?" a soft voice asked us.

With a start, I looked at the pigtailed girl. Her wide eyes were now open, and she was looking at us in confusion. "Eleftherion? Examiner? Why are you both here?"

Then, seeming to realize that she was sitting still on the ground before the professor, she immediately acted more flustered. "Oh, what am I doing? How rude of me to be sitting in front of a-"

"Please!" the examiner said. "Don't move around yet. You aren't well!"

She blinked up in confusion, already standing up. "But I feel perfectly fine."

"... What?" the man asked, and I too wanted to know the answer to that question.

"I mean, I feel perfectly fine," she said with a smile. "In fact, I feel far better than I ever had before!"

Before anyone can stop me, I headed straight for her. Grasping both her shoulders and sensing for the notes inside her, I immediately found the answers to my questions. The inner chaos that she was suffering from was all gone.

Indeed, Kendra was perfectly fine.

I had healed her.