Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Chapter 15: Departing

Alicia was currently standing outside the entrance to Berlin's space, the huge tree with the wooden door. Alicia found out that the tree was never real, to begin with, and was all created by Berlin's magic. She had been spending all her time training in Berlin's space so this was the first time in a year that she had been able to see the real sky. Alicia took in a deep breath as she smelled the morning dew that was still condensed on the leaves of the nearby trees.

Berlin felt a little worried about the little girl. It was her first time since all her training that she was going to be putting it to use in a life or death situation. "Alicia, make sure before you get into a fight or if you are caught off guard the first thing..."

"Master Berlin I know! Make sure I put on a protective barrier right away! You have taught me so much if I fail this then not only will I bring shame to myself but to you as well! I would never want to cause you any shame!" Alicia had taken Master Berlin as more than just a teacher, but more of a family member over this past year. She might have gone through hell in her training but she never argued or resented him for the hardships. She stuck through it and found his training method produced amazing results. She now had one hundred and fifty kilogram sword to use that was enchanted by gravity magic. So in one year alone, she doubled the weight of her sword and this was still a bit on the lighter side for her. She could go another fifty kilograms but Berlin did not want her to overdo it.

"Brat you have been getting more mouthy every day! And to think I was going to remove your weights..." Berlin gave a little smirk and raised an eyebrow. When he saw the look of being wronged in Alicia's eyes he let out a chuckle!

"Master Berlin I'm sorry! Please let me take off the weights!" Ever since her first sword training session with her new training method a year ago she has had to wear these magic weights. At first, they looked like hunks of metal but once you put them on they turn invisible and they never interfered with her clothing or anything else and this included water. They just weighed down your body like an invisible force! She had to wear them day in and day out. The first few nights of wearing them, she lost a lot of sleep because of how heavy they were.

"Haha! I was just joking. I will take them off." With a flick of his fingers there were loud clanging sounds as hunks of metal fell off Alicia's body.

The release of the weights gave Alicia a very light feeling. She felt if she were to jump now she could jump up and touch the clouds! Of course, she did not do this for the sake of not being embarrassed by her own actions. "Alight Alicia, remember to be careful. I want my disciple to come back to me in one piece!"

"I will be sure to bring back the item!" The item Alicia was talking about was a golden scroll that had some sensitive information in it or so Berlin says anyway. Alicia figured it was just a golden scroll that had the word "Hi" written in it. But no matter what was written in it this was still a task that her Master gave her so she would complete it without fail.

"Good now be off! I will be waiting for your return." Berlin said with a smile and patted Alicia on the head. Alicia in return hugged Berlin's waist and then took off. Berlin was stunned for a moment as he watched Alicia's retreating back. Only after a few seconds did he let out a laugh.

"Sneaky brat!" Berlin waved his hand and a mirror appeared before him. The reflection on the mirror clouded over to reveal Charles.

"Your Majesty! When do you plan to come back!?" Charles asked in a pleading tone.

"I will be back after Alicia's training is over so before the squire test in two years' time. How has the investigation of the village of Kiina?" Berlin asked.

" After a year of investigation, we found out that half of the residents have been traced back to human trafficking. Mainly their own children, it seems the Village Chief pays them fifty cors for a male and seventy cors for a female. It has taken almost a year to fully investigate but we have solid evidence now and can bring that Village Chief and a few of the residents to the courts." Charles explained.

"Good, then go ahead and imprison all those who went against the decree. I will be following after Alicia to make sure she does not die." Berlin said. He was not planning to follow her originally but he just couldn't stop worrying that something might happen to her.

"Your Majesty seems fond of Third Princess Alicia." Charles smiled, he had heard much praise about her over the past year. He really could not wait to see how she was during the squire examination.

"Mmm! Of course! She is my daughter after all. Why wouldn't I be fond of her?" Berlin said proudly.

Charles shook his head. He wondered if his Majesty knew that he was constantly talking about her and praising her whenever he could. If that was not a doting parent he did not know what was. "Then your Majesty, contact me at least once a day."

"I will. I have to be off now there is no telling what that little girl will do." Berlin did not wait for Charles to reply before storing away the mirror and heading in the same direction as Alicia did.

Alicia had gone quite far by the time Berlin started chasing after her. She was feeling so light that she wanted to run as fast as she could. She had already gone a few kilometers already and it had only been five minutes since she left. Her goal was to find the golden scroll that Berlin had dropped in the central area of the Demonic Forest. But to get there she was going to have to fight off many powerful demonic beasts.

From what she was told, some of these demonic beasts ranked as seven star demonic Beasts. Demonic beasts had a similar ranking as Magicians. But it was a ranking based on a different scale. Demonic Beasts grew stronger because they were always taking in Magicules. Kind of an automatic nourishment system of the demonic beasts Magi Sack. You could tell a demonic beast's strength by the stars on its forehead. Like the magma lion that had almost killed Alicia on her second day in this world was a two star demonic beast. So even at two stars, demonic beasts can be very dangerous. This means a seven star demonic beast was five times as strong as the magma lion. Just like the seven star water bear in front of Alicia now!

*Roar!*