“Put more effort into it!”

*clash*

“Ugh!”

Al is in the middle of a huge familiar garden fighting a middle aged blue mage.

The roses, flowers, the small fountains… And the big mansion. This is Al’s home.

“C’mon! Where’s the spirit!?”

The man swings the sword again. Al blocks it, but barely. The noise of the clash was so loud that I don’t even know how the sword is still intact or how Al was able to hold it.

“Ah, ah, ah…” Al’s breathing is erratic and violent. He has sweat all over his face.

“Do you know how long a battle can last? Only a few hours and you’re this tired?” The man says while still pushing his sword on Al’s.

“Ah, ah, ah… Hmph!” Al puts strength into his arms and repels the man’s sword.

Al takes a few steps back.

“Oh? Good good! You are finally ignoring my taunts. Don’t waste time talking when you have to control your breathing.”

The man thrusts his sword forward. Al dodges to the side and repels it.

“Ah!” The man takes the chance to kick Al in the stomach.

“Guh!”

Al is violently thrown away, but he manages to keep his balance. But again, barely. If the kick was stronger, he would have fell.

“Good. In duels, or any kind of fight, falling means defeat. No worthy enemy will give you the chance to get up. You’re improving a lot since the first time we met!”

“Ah, ah…”

“Hm.” The man smirks. “There’s yet much to learn young prince.”

He quits his stance and walks casually towards Al.

Al, consequently, lowers his guard and looks puzzled at the man.

And out of nowhere—

“!!!” Al’s face turns pale.

The man’s sword is touching Al’s throat. A little more pressure and Al would be bleeding.

“I didn’t say the combat was over, did I?” his expression turns serious. “Listen, trickery and betrayal are also part of a fight. Do not let your guard down no matter what. Make sure your enemy’s sword is the only one they have. Make sure your friends don’t have a knife behind their backs. And more important, make sure your opponent is dead.” He retracts the sword and sheaths it. “Being killed by a half-dead is a very bad way to go. Don’t make the same mistake as many of my friends have.”

Al nods at the man’s words.

“We’re done for today. Rest well, young prince.”

“Finally…”

Al falls on the ground completely exhausted. The man chuckles as he walks away.

“This instructor will be the death of me…” He sighs. Then he lies on the hard floor, still trying to control his breathing.

The wind gets stronger.

It feels great.

The late afternoon sun warming my skin, the sensation of the wind passing through my hair.

Wait…

I am aware of it. Of the sensation.

I am... Aware of me.

I am self-aware.

This is so weird. Is this what they call a lucid dream?

I can look wherever I want at my own will. I even have a body.

“Hmmm…” I hear Al moaning and turn my attention to him.

“Ugh, my body hurts…” He raises his upper half.

Then he notices something. And looks in my direction.

“Uh?” His eyes open wide.

Is he seeing me?

He shakes his head and rubs his eyes. And looks in my direction again.

“What in the hell…?”

Did he see me?

I look behind, but there’s nothing worth to get such reaction.

“Al! I brought you something to drink.” Christine comes with a tray with a cup of water.

“Christine? Did you see that?” He points at me.

“What?”

“There was something there.”

He gets up walks to where I am. She follows him.

“What did you see?”

“I don’t know. It was a weird bluish cloud.”

“Cloud?”

“One second was here, and the next just vanished! Just like that!”

“Herm…”

Al is in front of me, but he’s not seeing me anymore.

What happened? Cloud? Did he saw me as smoke or something?

I’m still self-aware. I know that I’m dreaming. But what does this mean? Did Al really saw something, or is it just me messing up his memories?

“Do you have any idea what might have been?”

“Hum, no.” She looks worried at him. “Are you sure you are alright? You trained too hard today…”

“Oh c’mon, don’t look at me like that! I’m not seeing weird things! No, I mean, yeah I saw something weird just now but you know what I meant!”

She giggles. “Well… You could ask your mother, or maybe your father. They might know something.”

“Mother… Yeah…” He looks away.

“Still not going to talk to her?”

“It’s just… I’d rather not talk to her if I can help it.”

“Hmm.”

A moment passes.

“I’ll talk to father later. But still…”

He stretches his hand forward, and it passes right through my body.

It’s just like I was a ghost.

Then he moves the arm around.

“... Nothing… Weird. No mana, no… Nothing...”

He retracts the arm.

I wonder… Will he hear me if I call him?

“Hey, Al!” I call him, but…

“Oh, thanks for the drink!”

“You’re welcome.” She replies with a smile

He grabs the cup and drinks the water.

He didn’t hear me, at all.

“Man… I never imagined my summer vacation would be like this. Now I miss the school.”

“What did you plan to do this summer?”

“Reading, swimming, I don’t know… Just have some fun.”

“Sadly, life is not all fun and games.”

“Yeah… By the way, what are they doing?”

“Your girlfriends? Studying politics no doubt.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Very funny lady devil.” He brings the cup again to his mouth.

“And probably kama sutra.”

“Pfuuuuuu——! *cough* *cough*” Al spits the water he was just drinking.

“Hahaha!”

“You sometimes… Maybe I am giving you too much freedom...”

“Oh~? Young master wants to teach his maid a lesson~?”

“... Now I refuse to continue this. I just know that you’re going to take this in ‘that’ direction.”

“Hm-hm...” She hums, with “Well, I need to get back. I have to do some work.”

“Yeah yeah, do whatever you want.” He pouts.

“Haha, don’t be like that, young master. Are you coming?”

“Nah, I'm going to relax here for a while.”

“Alright. Oh, do you want to take a walk later tonight?”

He looks at her, cheerful.

“Yeah, that would be great!”

“Ok then. See you later.”

She gets the cup out of his hands and walks away.

Al looks at her butt, but he immediately shakes his head and looks away.

That… Pissed me off… Pervert...

Then he looks at me again… No, he looks at the spot where he saw me.

“Hmph.”

He turns his back and walks away, but then he immediately turns his head. It’s almost like he wants to catch someone in the act.

“Tch, nothing.” He sighs.

…

…..

…….

It’s night and I’m still dreaming.

The time didn’t skip or anything. I am dreaming for hours. The time is passing normally just like if I was awake.

This is the longest dream I ever had.

I wasted my mana in that fight so I’m probably still unconscious… But, what’s happening in real life?

“This is really great. I’ll never get enough of this.” Al’s words snap me out of my thoughts.

We are currently walking down the hill. By we, I mean me, Al and Christine.

Al dyed his hair black and is wearing a servant’s clothes. He disguised himself as a servant to get past the staff and guards without being noticed.

“You have too much fun in this. More than it’s normal.” She replies, still smiling.

I don’t know how she manages that. She’s always smiling. The weird part is that it’s not a fake or annoying smile. It’s natural.

“I always loved to prank people. Imagine the possibilities with the black hair! Imagine if I discovered how to do this when I was a kid! I could prank the guards and they be like ‘Oh no! A black hair using magic! It’s the end of the world!’ Haha! I have to try that someday!”

“Maybe you would get a funny reaction, but then they would lock you up.”

“That’s fine~~. As soon they found out my real identity, everything would be fine.”

“For you Al. But what do you think would happen to your lovely maid?”

Al’s voice staggers and he stops dead in his track.

That’s right… If Al was discovered outside the mansion with his hair dyed black... And if they found out that she knew and went along with it...

Christine stops and looks at Al.

He’s looking down, as if he was ashamed.

“I’m such… An idiot…”

“Al?”

“I’m really sorry Christine. I’m so stupid. I only think about myself and then I forget about everybody else…”

“It’s fine Al. You don’t need to—”

“No, I really need to punch myself in the face! I was really going to do that prank… If we hadn’t talked just now…”

“...”

“Damnit, it’s almost as if I didn’t learn anything 10 years ago! Damnit!”

“Al, look at me.” She gets close to him. “You realized it before it could happen. And that’s what matters. Don’t beat yourself over it, ok?”

“But—”

“Otherwise, our night will be ruined. We are going to the town to have fun, right?”

“...” He nods. “You’re right, sorry.” He smiles. “Let’s move on, shall we?”

“Hm.” She also nods.

They start walking again.

If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Christine is Al’s older sister.

…

…..

…….

“Are we going to eat at your family again?” Al asks.

“Yup, after the spectacle.”

They walk through the streets.

The streets are somewhat busy. Everyone is walking in the same direction.

That fact puts me in a weird situation. I’m following them but… People pass right through me. It’s like I’m a ghost.

“Good night Christine!”

“Hi!”

A girl around the same age as her calls out to her and locks her arms with her's.

“So glad to see you here! I thought you weren't going to come.”

“The young master allowed me to take the night for myself, so I came with my friend.” She points her head to Al.

“Oh hi! I’m so sorry! I didn’t notice you!”

You didn't notice him? He kinda stands out with his clothes…

“Don’t worry, it’s fine—” He replies.

“When are you going to leave that place Christine?” She abruptly ignores Al.

“I already told you Vivi, when I pay off my debt.”

She sighs. “I know that, I mean ‘when’!”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Bah, so annoying! I don’t know how you can put up with it.”

“Vivi…” Christine usual smile fades away a little.

“Seriously, you have to do whatever that brat wants. Because what? His father ‘bought’ you?”

Al gets uncomfortable.

“Vivi, you know it’s not like that. He helped my family to get back in business.”

“Yeah yeah. *sigh* Christine, you know that I care about you right?”

“I know Vivi. Look, we’ll talk later, ok?”

“Alright... Today’s a celebration day after all! We shouldn’t talk about these sad things!”

“You want to come with us?”

“Aw, I would love to, but my boyfriend is waiting for me.”

“*gasp* You got a boyfriend!? Congratulations Vivi!”

Christine hugs the girl.

“Hehe, thanks!”

“Is he handsome?”

“Obviously! Who do you think I am?”

“Someone with low standards.”

“Ha, ha, ha.”

“C’mon then, go. Shoo. I don’t want to keep your boyfriend waiting.”

“See you later Christine!”

She breaks away and walks in another direction.

“Is it just me, or she kinda…”

“Ignored you?”

“Yeah. It’s not like we had to talk but…”

“She uh… She’s not a big fan of the Dovin family.”

“I noticed that.”

“And because of that, she also doesn’t like anyone who works for them.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Please, don’t take it to heart, it’s just…”

“I know Christine. I know what people think of the family.”

She smiles again and puts her arm around Al’s shoulders.

“But you’re going to change that won’t you?” She murmurs

“Uh, yeah, going to try.” He replies, embarrassed.

*giggle*

…

We are in front of a stage in the middle of a plaza. There’s a big public around the stage. Around the plaza there’s stalls selling sweets and other kind of food.

It’s a festival.

“And now, the fire-breathing contest!”

“Oh?” Al is enthusiastic.

He’s like a little kid. He watches every contest excitedly.

“This year’s is between 2 great champions! The Fire God vs Flame Zen!”

The public cheers.

Two man get up on the stage. Both of them are shirtless and have two sticks on flame each.

“First, the Fire God!”

The man with an eye patch walks forward and starts with his choreography.

His movements are fluid. He makes many crazy movements like throwing the sticks in the air and rolling in the ground before catching them again.

Then he puts both of the sticks in front of his face and spits the liquid in his mouth.

“Whoa!”

A huge ball of flame forms in front of him.

The crowd cheers.

“Haha, awesome!” Al applauds.

Christine laughs at Al’s figure.

“And now, the Flame Zen! We all know that his dance is nothing extraordinary, but his firebreathing is legendary! Can he do it again tonight?”

The other man walks forward and start his choreography.

“I saw this man last year, he can really make big fire balls.” Christine says that to Al.

“Oh? I can’t wait!”

Just like the announcer said, this man choreography is not as good the other one, one could say it’s more clumsy.

Then:

“Hah? Boo…” Al notices something.

So did I.

There’s mana on the stage. It came from below.

“What Al?”

“He’s a cheater.”

“Why?”

“There’s mana on the stage.”

“What!? No way…”

“I hate cheaters.”

Negative mana comes from Al and goes to the stage. It nullifies the previous one.

More mana comes from below the stage, but Al neutralizes it every time.

Then, whoever is responsible for it, stops.

“And let that serve you as a lesson.” Al grins.

The man on the stage dancing puts both of his sticks in front of his face and spits.

But nothing happens.

The man gets nervous and starts stomping with his foot. Maybe he’s trying to give his partner a signal?

The crowd laughs at the event.

“Well! Seems like this is not Flame Zen’s night! The winner is—”

“Wait wait! I can still do it!” The man yells at the announcer.

“Sorry! But no can do! The winner is,” He grabs the eye patched man hand “the Fire God!”

The crowd applauds and cheers.

“It’s not fun cheating. Why do people cheat?”

“The prize is quite high.” Christine replies

“Oh, I didn’t know there was a prize. Nevermind then.”

“*giggles* You’re too honest. But I guess that’s a good thing. Let’s go eat at my house?”

“Hm-hm. Let’s go.”

“With this, dear public, we can finally close today's spectacle in this wonderful town.”

Now that I notice, this plaza is familiar…

“Wonderful town of Alryne!”

Today I just couldn't get my head around studying so I decided to finish the chapter. *takes a sip*