Chapter 461: Lazy Morning
The next morning...
Ethan stepped out of his room looking slightly groggy as he made his way into the large common room.
He had woken up only a few minutes before noon, making him the last person in the group to get out of bed.
Everyone else found different positions and made themselves comfortable around the cellular base station, which sat in one corner of the room.
Some were sprawled across the mattresses scattered around the floor, while others sat against the walls or leaned on one each other; at least that was the case with Percy resting his head on Hayley’s lap
Save for Ethan, they all had their Arcphones in hand.
Percival, in particular, wore a wide grin as he exchanged messages with someone, his fingers moving rapidly across the screen.
Even Miss Bernadette had gotten involved, quietly tapping away at her own device.
The moment Ethan entered, several of them noticed him.
"Hello, handsome," Hayley called out with a cute smile.
Isabella looked up from her phone, still laughing at whatever meme she had been looking at. "Hey, babe."
Ethan looked around at everyone, his expression slowly turning puzzled. "Okay, hold on. What are you all doing?"
Several people looked at him strangely.
Ethan gestured vaguely toward the group. "Are you guys not meant to be training or something?"
His gaze moved toward Valerie and then toward Miss Bernadette. "What about Pan? I haven’t even seen him this morning...Shouldn’t you two be with him wherever he is right now?"
A flurry of answers immediately came from different directions.
Valerie explained that Pan was preparing something and that they would join him once he was ready.
Someone else mentioned their own plans, while Isabella casually assured Ethan that they would get to everything eventually.
Percival, however, added a different explanation. "Come on, man. We’re trying to catch a break here. We’ve been going nonstop since we came here."
Ethan gave him a skeptical look. "Yeah, we... but you only started like two or three days ago."
Percival responded with some rude remark, to which Ethan and a few others laughed at.
Eduardo then raised a hand. "Master Ethan, Lucy asked me to check in with you. She left some updates in your texts."
Ethan’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, yeah. Yeah."
He nodded before another thought occurred to him. "What about Ishtar and Francesca? Are they both doing fine?"
"They’re both fine," Eduardo answered. "They’ve been asking about everyone"
Ethan had kept his Bond Skill active with the summons back at home, so he knew most of their whereabouts and how they fared; regardless, it didn’t stop him from asking again.
He nodded at the confirmation, then looked around at the group again.
"Guys, remember, we can’t let these devices distract us while we’re here. I understand that we need a break, but we still have things to do."
Several people responded with various murmurs of agreement.
"Yeah."
"We know."
Ethan sighed and moved farther into the group, eventually dropping himself into a spot close to Isabella.
For the moment, he just sat back and let them all be.
——
About an hour later...
Eventually, the group dispersed, each of them returning to their respective schedules for the day.
Some distance away from the palace, Valerie and Miss Bernadette stood facing each other on a small stretch of hilly terrain.
They were positioned several meters apart, their attention fixed on one another as though a battle was about to begin.
Pan was standing a few meters away, with Nathan beside him.
The reason the panda-folk had been absent from their quarters earlier was because he had gone to Nathan to request a suitable location where he could have Valerie and Bernadette test their skills with True Magic.
He wanted somewhere secluded enough to prevent both ladies from accidentally damaging the palace or anything around it.
Nathan ofcourse agreed and personally brought him to this area, a relatively quiet patch of land not far from the main palace.
He had also decided to stay and watch. More specifically, he wanted to see how Bernadette had been progressing.
The responsibilities of governing an entire province had occupied much of Nathan’s time over the past few days.
As a result, he had barely had the opportunity to spend any meaningful time with Bernadette or even speak with her properly.
He trusted her ability to keep up with the training. Still, seeing her progress for himself gave him a convenient opportunity to be around her again.
Pan approached both women.
"You’re both fast learners," he said in his usual calm tone. "So I want to see just how capable you are at using your True Magic."
"I want you to spar each other. However, do not use lethal spells. Even if you use something troublesome, make certain it is something that can be quickly undone and will not leave either of you with grievous injuries. Is that understood?"
Valerie and Bernadette exchanged a glance before both giving him a nod.
Pan nodded in return, then took those steps back; returning to Nathan’s side.
"Begin." He called out
Right then, they both extended their arms as magic circles formed before them.
Miss Bernadette’s magic circle was a dark shade of pink, enclosed in the runes of True Magic.
Valerie’s magic circle, which appeared a split second after Miss Bernadette’s, was red in color and enclosed in runes as well.
It was clear that she was also using True Magic right now.
However, as soon as their magic circles activated for a spell to be cast, Miss Bernadette’s magic circle suddenly crumbled and fizzled away; with Valerie’s following right after.
That was strange, especially to Bernadette, who then said, "What? Did you deactivate my spell?"
Valerie smiled a little. "No, Miss Bernadette. I sealed it."
"Hmm...." Bernadette was quiet for a moment, before choosing to act again. She quickly stretched out her hand again to cast another spell.
Valerie quickly put out her hand as well, bringing out another red magic circle. The exact same effect happened again, with both of their magic circles crumbling away right after.
Without a second to spare, the next attack followed from Valerie, who immediately thrust out her other arm and cast a new spell.
This time, instead of using sealing magic, she used a fire-element spell that shot a ball of black flames towards the older lady.