Rising Tensions

It is the start of a new day and Kies begins the morning behind the mansion practicing his new magic. He was careful to not damage anything while he was training and only aimed his magic at the sky. After a few hours or so of training, Kies sat down and took a break. A few minutes later, Nina came by to tell him that it was time for lunch, to which Kies responded with, "Isn't it too early? Look, the sun is not even that high yet."

"You skipped breakfast," Nina told him. "I don't know where you get all your energy from, but if you don't eat anything you will eventually collapse from hunger."

"From sleeping of course. I don't need anything else," Kies jokes. Kies leaned backward a little until his back was almost touching the ground and then got back on his feet with a spring of his legs. "What's for lunch anyway?"

"I thought you didn't want to eat."

"I never said that. I just said... actually forget it. Let's just go."

After lunch, Nina went to town to do some shopping while Kies continued to train in the back of the mansion.

Instead of continuously blasting wind out of his hands, Kies decided to try something new. He wanted to make the wind thinner so that it could cut through things. Kies experimented for several hours trying to get the shape right. He didn't notice how much time had passed by until Nina came back and told him that it was almost time for dinner.

"You've been practicing all day, why not stop here for today," Nina sighed as she watched Kies shoot another blast of wind at the sky.

"I'll just practice for a bit more and then call it a day." Kies wanted to make his winds as thin as a blade by the end of today, but it didn't seem like it was possible. So far, he only made the ball of wind that shot out of his hands smaller and more concentrated. At the very least, it was progress.

Nina had nothing else to do so she watched Kies practice his magic. Suddenly something occurred to Nina. "Hey Kies, did you ever take a break after I left?" she asked.

"No, why?"

"How are you not tired from using magic all day? You're not even sweating either," Nina pointed out.

"What?" Kies took a moment to inspect himself. He wasn't exhausted from using magic all day and his clothes were still clean. "You're right. I haven't sweated today and I don't feel tired either. That's weird."

"Does it have something to do with that spirit?" Nina suggested. "Did it do something to you?"

"I don't know but probably. That is the only explanation," Kies agreed. He didn't know exactly how this happened but he was pretty sure that it had something to do with the strange magic circle he went into yesterday.

"Speaking of which, did it talk to you again today?" Nina asked out of curiosity.

"No," Kies replied. He hadn't seen the wind spirit at all today. He wasn't sure what it was up to but he didn't really care. He had a goal to work on, and that was to improve his magic, and to do so, he wanted as little distraction as possible.

Nina was playing around with a blade of grass while Kies practiced when she suddenly remembered something important. "The king gave orders to lock down the city today," she told Kies. "No one is allowed in or out without special permission."

"Hm? What happened?"

"They didn't give a reason why, but there are rumors going around that there are Otanian spies in the city. Now everyone is suspicious of each other and things are getting out of hand." Nina sighed and shook her head. "The kingdom is a mess as of right now."

"What do you mean by things getting out of hand?"

"People are accusing each other of being spies and causing fights all over town. There weren't enough guards to deal with them and so most of the knights stationed at the palace were sent to help as well."

"I think you should stay home tomorrow... and the day after... maybe this entire week actually," Kies suggested to Nina. He didn't want her going out when things were this dangerous.

"I don't think that will work. I'll die of boredom. If you're worried about me then why not come with me to town?" Nina gave a counter suggestion. "Plus, you stay home too much. This is a good chance for you to see what's going on."

Kies took a moment to consider what Nina said. He wanted to train his magic. He also didn't like shopping since he thought it was a waste of time, but he knew that Nina wouldn't be able to hole herself at home all day. After some thinking, Kies gave in and said, "Why not."

Nina was delighted and didn't hide her excitement. Other than holidays and special occasions, Kies would never agree to go accompany her to town. Though, whenever Kies did join her, they would go around on a shopping spree, and after an hour or two, he would lose it and have this look in his eyes where he wanted to murder everyone.

"Don't worry, for your sake, I won't spend too much time buying things. We will just do some light browsing. Also, I think dinner is ready by now." With that, Nina bounced away happily, leaving Kies alone to train for a few more minutes before he joined her.

***

"You're telling me Jokko was done in by someone, and a human at that!?"

The female demon that had escaped Kies' wrath the other day was reporting what happened. She shivered under the cold stare of another demon. "Y-yes, but I don't think he is a normal human," she whimpered. Actually, she wasn't sure if he was even human at all. The power that human displayed that day wasn't something a human could do. "I think he was possessed by something." She remembered that the human's voice suddenly changed and his aura felt completely different.

The cold eyes stared at the female demon, who dare didn't continue until she was permitted to. "Go on," the demon ordered her.

"His magic was far too terrifying for a human to have, and also, when Jokko was killed by him, I felt magic pouring both in and out of him at the same time. It was like something was forcing his body to take it in, but it was being rejected."

"What kind of magic did he use?"

"Wind."

The demon paused for a moment and then laughed, starling the other demons in the room.

"Sire?"

"Capture him. He is not human. If I remember right, his race perished alongside us sixteen years ago."

"You don't mean-"

"Yes, and that is exactly why I will task you with capturing him. Take some soldiers and go. The fight between those two human kingdoms should be starting very soon. Don't fail me again, Ammine."

"Yes, sire."

---

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