Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Chapter 169: Return To The Barren Lands

Alicia took a few days off to rest after the training session that was supposed to last an entire three months was cut short. Annelia had officially become part of Alicia's team. As for Sue and Bridget, they were sworn to secrecy about the things they have seen or have not seen when it came to Alicia. Alicia was not sure what King Augustus did in order to ensure this but Sue and Bridget now came to visit almost every day. 

But today was the day Alicia would officially start her trek towards earning merits to become a knight. She was currently having a meeting with everyone on what their next step will be. "So first we should return to the underground city. We still have the remains of the subterranean who wished to be brought back to his house. Plus we still have to find the fire and Ice lizard."

Annelia looked confused as she asked: "Remains? Subterranean?" 

"We found a passage that led to an ancient Subterranean city underground. There we found a skeleton with a note next to it asking to have their remains brought to the home they used to live in. Some things had happened which required us to stop our investigation at the time. By now the royal investigation squad has probably already gained a great deal of information about the place." Alicia explained.

"I do not see how you are not already a knight your Highness. You have done so much in such a short amount of time that it's strange that you were not automatically promoted to a knight." Annelia really did find it strange that someone who can kill disaster and catastrophe ranked demonic beasts, discover ancient ruins, and lure a demon away from citizens and still not be a knight to be very strange.

"Whether I should be based on merits or not is completely different than becoming a knight based on my personal growth. Anyone with enough strength can become a knight. But that does not mean that they would be a good knight. A good knight understands the world around them and its people. They make considerations for each of their actions before acting. This is something I lack at this time. There are times when I act without thinking like with the two high ranked demonic beasts. On the disaster ranked demonic beast I used a magic spell that could have ruined my career as a knight. And on the second one, I transformed the area with a large scale attack instead of testing less crazy methods of defeating it. So it's not a matter of strength but a matter of my ability to stay calm and analyze the situation better." Unknown to King Augustus, Alicia already knew she had enough merits to become a knight but to her, she wasn't ready for such a role yet. She wanted to mature first before taking on such an important position. 

"For some reason, such a reason for not becoming a knight right away fits you perfectly your Highness." Annelia felt that this was a very Alicia like move. Her path to becoming a knight could be easy but she prefers to take the longest route possible and work hard and mold herself to become the knight she envisions.

Alicia, Starla, Rose, and Annelia along with Blake headed towards the ancient subterranean city the next day. Now that they were not in a rush, they would be able to explore more of the Barren Lands. It was a place most strayed from due to its harsh environment and abundance of demonic beasts. So it was a place that was not fully explored yet. 

"It's so hot!" Starla complained. "Was it this hot last time we were here?" 

"It's the hottest time of the year so this area is affected the hardest." Blake answered Starla's complaint.

"Then we should come back when it's colder." Starla whined. She then looked over at Blake and Alicia who seemed to be perfectly fine. "Hey, why are you two not affected by this heat!? Rose, Annelia, and I are sweating buckets but you two seem perfectly fine."

"We are using Ice magic to cool down our bodies." Alicia answered as she stuck her tongue out at Starla.

Starla who had been suffering for so long suddenly realized how stupid she was for not thinking of using magic to cool off her body. It was only then that she looked over at Annelia and Rose and realized they were not sweating as much as she thought they were! "You! You two as well!? What the hell! Was it just me who was suffering here!? Why didn't any of you say anything!?" 

"I figured you were on some kind of sweat diet." Rose tilted her head to the side looking a Starla a bit confused.

"Who- Who needs to go on a diet!? Are you saying I'm fat?" Starla started to stutter her words as she looked down at her body.

"You have been eating a lot more lately and the area around... mpfff.." Annelia's words were cut off when Rose quickly covered Annelia's mouth with her hand. 

"Stop! Let's just say I am an idiot and not speak of this anymore!" Everyone let out a laugh at Starla's reactions. 

They continued their journey through the Barren Lands until they found the cave they had entered before that led to the subterranean city. There were a few guards outside who were protecting the entrance. When they saw Alicia and her group and gave a slight bow. "Princess, we heard you would be coming. The path down has already been cleared. You may enter whenever you are ready."

"You all have worked hard. Have you found any new technologies that can be useful to the kingdom?" Alicia smiled and asked.

"You would have to ask the lead researcher, Dr. Feanreal, who has held himself up in the city since he first arrived." The guard answered.

"I will do that then. Thank you. Make sure you drink lots of fluids while out here it is very hot."

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