Chapter 4

Dawn the next morning. An enemy stirs from within the forest evil forces begin their plan of attack.

I yawn and stretch on my bed enjoying the warmth of the blanket. I must have been more tired than I thought but now I feel amazing. I sat up and saw that Leon was also perfectly asleep on his sleeping mat with his armor set to the side. I can't help but admire his perfectly sleeping face and his strong features that cling against his shirt as it lays a mess upon him. His hair is all ruffled up, an obvious case of bed head. His mouth hangs open letting out cute little snores. Zeke walks in for a wake up call not even blinking an eye at the scene before him.

"Time to get up, breakfast is ready and everything is almost ready to leave for the capital" Zeke said and walked back out. As we head out and eat some breakfast my mind can't help but wonder to the hooded man that was with Prince Keith. I couldn't sense what kind of magic energy he had. Magic energy between human demons and any other creatures are vastly different, you can feel if it was a human, demon or a beast, but that hooded a stranger Miser I could not feel what kind of energy he had. There aren't many skills nor magic items that are capable of hiding one's magic energy, at least not hiding a large amount of it. That Miser guy had quite a bit of magic energy too much for a simple skill or a magic item. Makes me wonder who he is and exactly what it is that he and Prince Keith have in common. Not to mention how he was able to control demon magic mutations. Normally when a human uses demon magic they become demon magic mutation and when that happens it becomes extremely hard to control them. As I sit there amongst the group of adventurers and warriors I stare at my bowl of food. I wonder if it's some kind of special skill that only he has. Realm of magic spells and skills is quite complicated. Most people are capable of using pretty much all the same spells and skills regardless of their affinity for which attribute of elemental magic all depends on their magic control. On the other hand our ancestors discovered that we also have skills. They're special and unique skills that don't rely on elemental Magic but instead rely on the magic that is within an individual. What makes skills and magic skills different is that skills can be just about anything and don't always rely on magic affinity unlike magic skills do.It's true we have affinities for select Magic but a person does not have elemental Magic within them instead we have magic. Magic and elemental magic are very similar but they are not the same. Elemental Magic is only limited to water, fire, Earth and wind. Magic that is held within an individual is all different kinds. Light magic is heavenly magic and darkness magic is part of demon Magic. Both heavenly magic and demon Magic are both elemental magic and yet they are also not elemental Magic. They exist outside of the standard use of magic. An adventurer has all four elemental affinities as well as light and darkness within them but select individuals have higher affinity for certain affinities versus other affinities. That is the basic common for all people regardless of what profession they take on. Those with weak affinities do not even attempt to increase their affinity for the weak magic. So with this special magic within us a select number of people are capable of using magic to teleport. Like what I did back in the castle. Others are capable of taming Magic, which is also harnessed from within us, but taming magic unlike other spells magic energy from outside of the tamer's body can be used as a substitute. While select Magic can only be used from within the spell caster's body because of their unique composition. Because of this many different people with different levels of affinity are capable of using multiple different magics. In order to use a teleportation Magic both darkness Magic, Earth Magic and wind magic are needed. For taming Magic one needs to have a strong affinity for light magic, fire magic, and sometimes water magic or Earth Magic, it usually depends on which type of creature they're trying to take. Fire, water, earth and wind is elemental Magic. Heavenly and demon Magic along with their diluted forms of light and darkness Magic is Called an odd affinity. Light and darkness magic can be used in completely different ways than elemental Magic can. I've even once heard of someone being able to create items from light and darkness Magic. Also enhancement Magic is created from the combination of the odd affinity and elemental Magic. To increase one speed you need light, darkness and wind magic activating at the same time. For one's strength you need light, darkness, and Earth. To improve one's intelligence or calmness in the middle of a fight light, darkness, and water is needed. And finally to increase someone's attack power for non directional attacks the combos light, darkness, and fire is needed. Then we have direct attacks and non-directional attacks. Direct attacks are where a spell makes a direct contact to one's enemy well a non-directional attack does not need physical contact in any way to be used on an enemy. Taming contracts work the same way, Zeke has a crest on his right hand for the tanning contract which is a directional attack since the crest is physically on his hand.

"Princess Amethyst we're ready to go" Leon said, breaking me out of my train of thought.

"You must forgive me, we have no choice but to ride the same horse. Besides, something tells me you wouldn't want to share the cook's food carriage with the 5-day-old fish" Leon said I have to walk over to the same house.

"It's quite alright I understand you weren't expecting to find someone all the way out here" I said.

"And you're right I don't want to travel with the smell of fish especially a few days old fish" I said. Leon climbs onto his horse and he helps me do the same.

"You seem distracted, princess , is something the matter?" Leon asks me.

"I can't help but think about that Miser fellow. I have no idea who he was and yet he had some form of magic spell or skill strong enough to control mutated demons" I voice my concerns.

"Yes, that indeed is very strange. Mutated demons have excessively high magic output which should make them impossible to control. Not even tamer's can control a beast, stronger than them, without a tamer crest" Leon points out.

"And that's ignoring that these mutated demons were part human" I point out.

"Do you think he could have been one of the demon generals? Because you know after the demon King was sealed away his generals disappeared nowhere to be found. Our ancestors did find demon corpses but they were too burnt to a crisp for anyone to identify them" Leon said.

"It's hard to say. I couldn't feel what kind of magic output he had. He could have been human or demon" I said. Now that I'm no longer in my thoughts I can't help notice everything around me. Me and Leon are on the same horse. I'm sitting behind him with my arms wrapped around his waist. He's not wearing his heavy armor for it would be too much for the horse to carry it and both of us. So instead he's wearing leather armor instead of his heavy duty armor. I can't help but notice his striking features. Leon is fairly strong and fairly muscular. I can see and feel his strong muscles through his shirt. By looking at them I can tell that he's put effort into both strength and flexibility for a good leader must always have a well-balanced body with well-balanced attacks. So that way he can be both close range and long distance fighter to give his team more support. The most impressive feature is that his hands are calloused. Although his hands are clenched around the horse's reins I can still see calluses on his hands from how he holds the sword. Also the handle of his sword is quite worn out as well. I avert my gaze and turn it towards the forest. Amongst the tall trees and big bushes I see birds, rabbits, and herds of deer in the distance.

"Let me know if you need to make a rest stop" Leon said.

"Thank you" I said. The Ballbout Kingdom has the most adventurers out of the 13 kingdoms in the world. But not one of their Adventures ranked in the top 10. Even now the only thing I hear about the kingdom is a Stray Stars party Leader Leon is a young and upcoming adventurer who will undoubtedly one day make the top 10 strongest adventures. So it makes sense that his hard work and dedication is easy to see. I can't help but feel a blush come to my face once more as I admire him. I have never felt this way towards another person before. My heart goes a flutter whenever I start to think about the little details I know it's about him.

" Something the matter princess, do you need a break" June said within an all knowing smirk on her face.

" no I'm fine" I snarl out in a quiet manner. I shake away my desires and focus.

" Anyway I assume you guys haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary the last few days" I ask them.

" No we haven't, we've been busy with the expectation to expand to many cities. But I'm pretty sure everyone all over the world felt the demon energy spike. With the Falsworth princess gravely injured and your story it was more than enough to convince Captain Sheen to head back to the Capitol. Especially after feeling a huge wave of demon energy. We just have to keep a lookout for any monsters or demons up to no good" Leon said. All of a sudden everyone could feel an almost sinking feeling and a tremendous pressure pressing down on all of us.

" Everyone, be on your toes," Sheen said.

" A monster incoming from our left," one of the knight's said.

" damn I recognize this type of magic energy" I said. Out of the forest a demonized bear springs out and nearly crushes a section of the troops. Thankfully those men were able to run away in time. Bear tries turning his attention towards the men running away.

" Oh no" Leon said. I grabbed one of my daggers from the small bag around my waist. I toss it but before I let go of the end I add a little bit of enhancement magic to it aiming for the beats head. The dagger cuts across the beat's snout making it cry out in pain.

" Nice one," Zeke said.

" I assumed you were wanting to distract it," I said.

" Yes I was now everyone let's go" Leon commanded. All five horses dash off in the opposite direction, to the right, so we can fight it in an open area. The monster chases us down as we try to keep ahead of the beast. The monster lets out a roar as it changes towards us, sending trees and rocks flying in every direction. You can see Leon, and the rest of his team, are expert adventurers as Caleb takes up the rear in case the beast gets too close. Caleb being the strongest and an expert in close combat make him perfectly suited to taking hits from a massive beast. Caleb and Abigail take up the rear of the formation protecting June and Zeke who are in the middle of the formation. June being a healer and Zeke an archer being in the middle makes perfect sense. With Leon leading the charge in case anything appears in front of us. Two closest to the beast as we run to block any attacks, two in the middle for a long distance and healing / support Magic, and lastly two in the front to clear the pathway in case of an obstacle or another monster. They gather into formation pretty quickly as we charge away from the beast. You can tell that they're experienced in battles like this but not one has seen a creature like this. A demonized monster not even our ancestors have faced the creature like this only the hero's party have once. But even back then the heroes party did not manage to slay the creature but merely used up more magic than it had thus it basically drained itself dead. Even so researchers of today theorize that demonized creatures, rather they be human or something else, are vulnerable to light or heavenly magic. Well it seems like we'll be testing out their theory.

"Please princess Amethyst sit this one out. Me and my team can handle this" Leon voices his concern. As we come on a big clearing the others spread out.

"Now where's the fun in that?" I said, jumping off the horse landing on the ground and my feet sliding in the dirt. Everyone gathers around the beast as it slows down to catch its breath. Caleb and Abigail take front position while June and Zeke take the farthest position. Leon draws his sword as he stands next to me.

"You needn't worry about Princess Amethyst's health; her wounds are practically healed already" June stated.

"Very well then. June I want you to stay behind us and keep an eye out for any other creatures and heal us with your healing magic if we need it. Zeke I want you to focus mainly on the creature and watching out for everyone else" Leon said as June and Zeke nods in understatement.

"Caleb I want you to take right Abigail and you take left. Amethyst may I ask you to support us with some magic" Leon said.

"No problem and there's no need to worry about me. My father had me work with some of our country's top adventurers on some of their quests before. I know what to do so don't worry about me" I reassure them. The beast regains his strength and lunges towards us. June and Zeke take their position in the far back while the rest of us take our positions to the right and left of the beast. A standard adventurous party tactic archers and healers near the back for support and health. The two strongest close combat fighters Tangled with the beast. The last two party members take on alternating roles of support and strikers. The beast strikes at us over and over again while we dodge its attacks, all of them. A demonized monster is hard to defeat for it has only one weakness: light magic. Light magic is the only thing that can stop a demonized monster for its physical strength becomes a powerful attack and an impenetrable defense. It's something that the world researchers discovered after experimenting with the last of the demonized humans from the time of the heroes party. Caleb and Leon strike the beast from the right while me and Abigail make a strike from the left. Zeke launches powerful arrow spells giving us cover while June makes sure no other monsters corner us. Abigail rushes in for an attack while the beast is distracted. I'm running behind the beast when it spins around aiming for Abigail. It swishes its tail around. I jump high into the air, missing its tail, and roll on the ground landing on my feet. I raised my hands and tried to freeze the beast's legs with ice magic. It holds the monster for a few seconds before it breaks the ice into pieces. Dodging claw strikes and tail smashes left and right. Everyone ducks and jumps the best they can. When one side distracts the beast the other side goes in for the attack. This is the way adventures deal with large monsters. Normally it would work but this monster used to be a massive bear. The massive bears in this Kingdom are known for physical strength for both attacks and defense and the demon energy just increases what they're already is, making this furry monster as tough as metal even tougher than any metal that humans have ever forged. Abigail dash's forward again when the beast is distracted and breaks one of her two daggers. The beast swings back towards Abigail and me. Caleb makes a hit with his gauntlets and enhancement magic but making no visible impact and Leon's sword slashes doesn't even leave a scratch.

"Leon this beast is too tough, our attacks are doing nothing to it" Abigail cries out.

"Demonize monsters are only vulnerable to light magic" I say to Leon as I make my way behind the beast once more.

"No one in our team has a strong enough affinity for light magic" Leon said. The demonized monster gathered more magic energy and released it all at once. Its attacks became super stronger as it swung its arms and tail all around. Only Leon and I were able to get out of the way in time, thanks to enhancement magic, Caleb and Abigail took a big hit and landed several feet away from the action. Zeke covers Abigail as Jane heals Caleb first. I can't help but think if I went all out I could put it into this but my family told me to never show my true powers to anyone else. The only reason I couldn't do it last time back in the castle is because by the time that I realized demon energy had a draining effect it was too late for me to do anything. Most of my magic was already gone before Liam came. If I act fast we can bring this beast down easily. Like most others in this world, I may have a strong magic, stronger than most others, but that's only half of my total magic power; the rest of it my father sealed away because it was too strong for me at such a young age. Most other people only have a limited number of attributes that they have a strong affinity for. However, I have a strong Infinity for all of them. It's something that's only ever been seen amongst all of the heroes party back when they fought the demon King. My father thinks that it can mean the reawakening of the demon King. It's a trait that was only found amongst the party members that is known as the hero's party. The researchers of my kingdom theorize that it could mean the pending awakening of the demon King but there's no way to prove it. But my father took precaution and told me to never let anyone else know about it. Teleportation magic can only be used with darkness magic as a part of it. If I use light magic it could lead Leon and his party to start questioning my abilities. Not to mention there has never been anyone who has an affinity for both light and darkness magic it has always been one or the other never both. I support Leon by firing rapid ice crystals since it's only the two of us still standing. The demonized beast tries to strike only on down with his massively sharp claws and Leon barely able to dodge it. I have no choice. My father and I made a pact that I was to never show the extent of my magic but in exchange I was allowed to use it if there was no other choice and to only save someone else. It was after that that my father and my brothers had trained me so hard and extensively so that way there won't be a need for me to use my full magic power.

"I can use light magic but you need to buy me some time" I shout to Leon.

"You can use light magic but you use teleportation doesn't that mean you also have dark magic as well?" Leon questions.

"Yes but we can discuss that later," I say "I need a couple of seconds" I say as Leon nods back in understatement. Strong magic spells need concentration. I freeze over the beast's feet and strong magic and I use ground and water magic to control the surrounding of forest vines to tie up the beast as well. Leon then creates stone walls encasing the demonized monster. I focus all of the magic around me,as well as in me, and visualize the light sword spell. It's a special spell that takes everything in and around the spell caster to create strong swords made out of the natural elements themselves; the light sword spell enhances the light attribute in the spell. It then focuses all the magic of the light attribute into physical glowing swords above the target to strike them down. Light swords form above the beat. I can feel my magic energy drain even faster than normal. The light swords cut their way into the demonized beast and the spell finishes off with a powerful lightning strike coursing through the swords and into the beast's body purifying it and frying it to crisp. The beast her house out in pain. Our ancestors were never able to find a way to cure someone of demonetization. The most humane way is to end their life. Not even our researchers of today have figured out how to cure demonetization. For once even a demonized human gets beyond a certain point they go completely amok and destroy everyone and everything that they come across and their minds completely disintegrate at this point. The beast falls to the ground with its last breath and I fall to my knees with every last ounce of magic gone but still conscious. I breathe heavily as I see Leon run over to me wanting to make sure I was all right.

"You ok?" Leon asks and I nod in response. I look over to see June is now attending to Abigail and Caleb is sitting up.

"How about Abigail June, is she all right?" Leon asks.

"Yes she's fine, so is Caleb," June said.

"Thank goodness. But that was incredible. I never saw a light magic spell so powerful for. I have heard of Falsworth Kingdom and rumors about the strongest person ever who is not an adventurer. But not one of us will presume any further you have your reasons for keeping secrets and that's fine if you want to tell us then it'll have to wait until after we inform Ballbout's king that the demon group has made its first move in our kingdom and that is our top priority right now. For no monster has ever demonized on its own before the loan it be that strong" Leon said.

"What do you mean Leon?"Abigail asked.

"A demonized beast is capable of training match energy but this one was also capable of draining physical strength as well. Didn't you notice as the fight went on that it became harder and harder to even move magic energy drainage doesn't do that" Zeke voiced his concerns.

"It must hurry back to King and report this immediately cuz something tells me that this was only a test. If that's the case then it could mean an army of them could be seen very soon" Caleb said.