The Arrival. (1)

Lenin and Novia looked at the frozen windows of the blimp around them. It was a sign that they were close to reaching their destination, the North. They felt a tingling sensation in their fingertips, not from the cold, but rather from the anxiety of what they would encounter.

"Master, your tea," Novia offered a cup of tea to Lenin.

"It was a long journey..." Lenin paused with her eyes staring at nothing as she grabbed the cup of tea. "The world is so vast that if something bad happens on one side of the world, it might be too late to save it," she pointed out and took a sip of her tea, her brows raised and eyes empty.

"Just like what happened to the Refenus Kingdom when Rasmus's parents raised their banner and massacred the royal family," Novia responded. "But that was only two people who caused that devastating destruction. So if this one is worse than that, we should consider a solution to that problem, Master," she added.

"You weren't there, Novia. Those two people had inhuman power, so you can't compare that one with this situation or any," Lenin responded as she shook her head. "I do hope this one is nothing compared to that situation," she raised her brows, still with her empty eyes.

They had been traveling for two weeks from Gratland to the North on a blimp. They were exhausted mentally and physically from the journey alone.

The blimp arrived at the biggest city in the North that didn't belong to any family, the Capitol. There were dozens of blimps there and most of them belonged to the Angelis family that had arrived a few days earlier.

Lenin and Novia walked out of the blimp, and the first thing that welcomed them was a heavy blizzard. As a Great Sage and a disciple of her, they both coated their attire with magic circles that generated heat all over their bodies. Even in the thin clothing they wore, they felt warm, even their hair didn't get frozen by the cold.

"This is getting a bit too much," Lenin looked at the sky, but all she saw was snow moving around and covering the sky.

Lenin raised her right hand and multiple magic circles were cast in an instant. As a Great Sage, she was capable of handling 12 magic circles at the same time like it was nothing. She then released a flare-like spell into the sky, attracting everyone's attention within the city and the neighboring cities.

Lenin clenched her fist and the flare suddenly burst and turned into a massive barrier that protected the whole city from the blizzard while at the same time providing warmth. She did that so easily like she was trying to breathe, and she wasn't amazed by her creation.

"It's a right decision to bring you here, Great Sage," Astrea came to greet Lenin with dozens of Templars of Angelis following her from behind.

"Your Holiness," Lenin bowed at Astrea and then was followed by Novia.

"It must be an exhausting journey to come all the way here for both of you. Moriganne has prepared a place to rest for all of us. Come," Astrea smiled as she pointed at the big black castle in the distance.

All the people were staring at Lenin who cast a terrifying spell that could defy nature like it was nothing. They knew who she was, but they had never seen her in person since Lenin never left Gratlan. It was their first time seeing her, and they finally believed the rumor about Great Sage as the most powerful person in the whole Neva.

They entered the black castle and Lenin didn't expect it to become a temporary base for the Angelis' Templars. Something like that wouldn't happen in a thousand years, or so that was what Lenin thought.

"(What's going on here? The North welcomed the Angelis army like it was nothing and allowed them to stay here freely...)" Lenin looked at her surroundings and saw nothing but people in white armor around her.

"Everyone is waiting inside, Great Sage. Let's head inside," Astrea pointed at the giant wooden doors that needed at least six strong knights to open.

When the doors were fully opened, it was dark, and only the light from the hallway lit the stone floors inside the room. Lenin, Astrea, Novia, and the Templars walked into the room, but they couldn't see anything beyond the door.

The heavy doors suddenly slammed shut so hard that it startled Novia. At the same time, the room was lit up, the candles on the pillars and ceiling suddenly lit up and brightened the room which revealed that it was a big hall.

Lenin could see a faint trace of Mana from what had just happened.

"(All that with so little Mana usage, the person who did it is extremely skilled)" Lenin thought as she looked at the big hall. "(That person...)" She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the mysterious person standing behind the long table with the face covered by a hood.

"Welcome, Chancellor. Please have a seat," Moriganne said from the table, sitting beside the mysterious person.

Lenin and Novia sat at the table with their eyes focused on the mysterious person. They both never thought there was a skilled mage like that in the North. If they had to make a guess, that mysterious person should be a Sage, to say the least.

The mysterious person slowly reached their hands to the hoodie and slowly pulled it down. Lenin and Novia were petrified when they saw a woman with long wavy and braided silver hair. They didn't expect to see an Orthias among the people in the hall, and it was the first time for Novia to see one alive in front of her.

"So you're the Great Sage of Neva," The woman stared at Lenin with a cold expression that matched her bright blue eyes. "For someone with such power, it befitting with the title," she added and then stared at the other guests at the table.

Novia couldn't stop staring at the woman's silver hair and it reminded her of Rasmus because he was a half of the ancient race Orthias from his mother's side. She could see the similarity of the woman's coldness and straightforwardness to Rasmus's. She wondered if all Orthias were detached from worldly affairs and desires, but that was too far-fetched for her to think that way.

"We should introduce each other first because some of you might not know each other," Moriganne stood up as she looked at all the guests at the table. "Allow me to introduce the people from the North," she looked at the six people who sat next to her.

Moriganne as the Saint of the North region introduced herself to everyone even though they already knew who she was. She then introduced a bearded muscular man with black long hair wearing a black fur coat with a black robe underneath it.

"The Wyvern of the North and the Northern White Star, Grand Duke Arthor Wyverncrest," Moriganne said. "The two people beside His Excellency are Sir Aluca Wolffein and Dame Noir Wolffein, the Northern White Stars," she pointed at the man and woman sitting at the table.

Aluca and Noir had black hair and wore black-clad armor and a black cape, which heightened their aura as powerful figures. The unsung siblings came from a powerful family that was on an equal sitting as the Wyverncrest family during the war against the tyrant.

Everyone that wasn't from the North was astonished by those two people. The reason was that to have a title as the Northern Star, they needed to achieve the impossible. But Aluca and Nior weren't just normal Northern Stars, they were Northern White Stars whom only a handful of people have achieved such a title in the past hundred years.

"The two women beside them are Sisylia Whitelk and Garsia Moonshine. Lady Sisylia is a master physician and Lady Garsia is a genius alchemist," Moriganne pointed at the women at the table.

Sisylia wore an all-white robe and black gloves like any physician would wear. Garsia wore a black and white suit with a black leather coat resting over her shoulders. The two women looked so dignified and beautiful at the same time.

"And lastly, my younger sister, Eveline Sancticus," Moriganne pointed at the woman in a black dress wearing a dark silver circlet on her head.

There was a saying that northern women were all like goddesses and that saying wasn't an exaggeration. Every woman that was in the hall was envious of their beauty, including Novia, Lenin, and Astrea.

"I think it's your turn to introduce your side of the table, Astrea," Moriganne said as she sat down. "There are faces that I didn't expect to see here," she pointed out as she stared at people who had come to the North with Astrea.