DAISUKE AND HIS FRIENDS FINALLY entered the kingdom-proper.

What they saw as they entered totally captivated them; infrastructures with floating magical orbs, stores with translucent magical signage, levitating pillars with glowing arcane glyphs, dozens of griffins flying up above, magical levitating caravans being pulled by horses, hundreds of small fairies frolicking around, more griffins flying above, different magical beasts, the bright color of the houses and buildings, even more griffins flying above, and the tall, magnificent castle from afar at the highest point of the Arcanas Kingdom, the Arcane Fountain Castle, the residence of the monarchy of the kingdom.

“Wow! This place is amazing!” said Riku in awe.

“Yeah...the illustrations in my book are nothing compared to this,” Daisuke added.

“The giant golden eagles are amazing, but those griffins are just way too…more majestic.”

“Okay, guys. Let’s get mesmerized later. Time for a quick huddle,” said Raijin. “Basically, we need more food that could last for a week, considering that there’s six of us now.”

“Smart,” said Brunnhilde. “And let’s have bread. I am craving for bread.”

Daisuke took out his runestone and turned it into a book.

“Woah... We didn’t know you had a runestone,” said Brunnhilde.

“A friend of mine gave this to me when we were kids. It’s a runestone that turns into a book.”

“And what’s in the book?”

Daisuke looked for the page where there is information about the Arcanas Kingdom. “Ah! Here. If you want bread, my book says that there is a bakery here that specializes in certain pastries.”

“Great. What else do we need?” asked Siegfried.

“For food, maybe we can look for preserved ones that we can cook at any time. And I think we all can use some new garments,” Riku suggested.

“Then I think we can split up,” Jack suggested. “Daisuke, Riku, and I will look for this bakery and a garments store. Brunnhilde, Siegfried, and Raijin can look for preserved foods. Since Raijin knows best in cooking, we can trust you with procuring ingredients.”

“Okay. We’ve got thousands of colossene that we can exchange for Arcanas currency. We can split it in half. But try not to overspend. We never know when we will need more money,” Riku reminded as she gave half of their money to Brunnhilde.

“Sorry, Raijin. I guess your payment for the boat will have to wait,” Daisuke tapped his friend.

“I don’t mind. That could wait.”

“Then we’ll meet up after two hours. Let’s just all go to the central plaza. I saw a poster saying that a circus will perform,” said Siegfried.

Everyone agreed and went on their way.

* * * * *

In the Cirque du Magique’s location, the Ringmistress, Sundara, allowed Lanatte, Musaoi, and Marcactas, to conduct an interview with one of her people. She toured the Seekers, showing them their fantastic and exotic beasts that they trained for specific tricks, and their extraordinary performers that practice almost non-stop to perfect their routines. She then led the Seekers to one of her performers.

“Magenta, dear. Can I excuse you for a moment?” asked the Ringmistress.

Magenta's purplish hair was tied in a bun and her hazelnut skin was trickled with sweat as she trained her pet monkeys for their act.

“Yes, Ms. Sundara. I’ll be there shortly,” Magenta promptly responded.

She fixed her props, made herself presentable, and went to the Ringmistress.

“Ahh, Magenta, dear. I would like you to meet these Elven Seekers.”

“Hi, I’m Lanatte, the primary of this team. These are my teammates, Marcactas and Musaoi.”

Marcactas and Musaoi greeted Magenta as well.

“W-Wow...you really smell nice!” said Musaoi gleefully.

“T-Thanks, and nice to meet you as well. And to what do I owe the pleasure?” asked Magenta.

The Ringmistress closed the tent. “Magenta, dear. They would like to ask about your power.”

“Don’t worry, we’re not here to do you harm,” Marcactas assured Magenta. “We were just sent here to investigate the emergence of plant power-users and hopefully gain more information.”

“It’s okay, Magenta. Elves are very trustworthy people,” the Ringmistress reassured her.

Magenta managed a smile and agreed. She turned around, took her top off, and showed the Seekers the unusual tattoo on her back. It was a tattoo of a lavender plant. Just showing the tattoo sent out an aroma of the lavender flowers. She then focused her mana on her hands and the tattoo glowed dimly. Lavenders started to crawl from the tattoo to her arms, then to her hands. Magenta then handed two bouquets of lavender Sundara who gave them to Lanatte and Musaoi.

“T-Thanks!” said Musaoi.

“That was wonderful,” said Lanatte as she sniffed the lavender.

“May we ask where you got that power?” asked Marcactas

Magenta wore her cloth again before sitting down. “It happened three years ago. Many children, including me, were kidnapped by a group of treasure hunters.”

Magenta recounted what happened to her three years ago to the Seekers.

* * * * *

In a certain tropical island country in the continent of Islas, Magenta and her family were peacefully living by cultivating tropical fruits and taking care of livestock when one day, a group of unknown people raided their island and took all children below the age of eighteen.

The children were sent to a ship and after a week, they reached a land where they were sent to some kind of a warehouse.

They spent days inside the facility before they were ordered to form a line outside a certain room and were told to wait.

She saw that the kids will be taken inside a room and there will be screams out of pain. After the screaming ends, the people inside will either escort the kids out who look very weak or will take out a sort of plant in the shape of a body.

Soon, it was Magenta’s turn.

“Alright, kid. Take off your dress,” said a man with a mask, holding some kind of a pen connected to a machine.

Out of fear, Magenta did what she was told to. “P-Please. Don’t hurt me,” she begged.

“Oh, don’t worry kid. The pain won’t last for long.”

She was told to lie on a bed with her back exposed to the other guy with a pen. Two other men tied her wrists and feet before the guy with a pen started to draw on Magenta’s back.

The pain of getting inked made her wail as the pen's needle end punctured her skin. It only lasted for several minutes—minutes of agonizing pain.

After the process, the tattoo glowed brightly and Magenta felt an even more sharp, excruciating pain, not only because of the tattoo but of something else as well, something burning her from the inside.

Lavender plants slowly grew from her back and slowly crawled all over her body until she was covered all over.

Disappointed, the people inside tried to dispose of her, thinking that she was just another failure. But then, the lavender plants released a very strong fragrance that hypnotized the people inside until everyone lost consciousness.

When she woke up, the place was already on fire. People were running everywhere. Explosions can be heard all over the place. Magenta was helped by another tattooed man and they all escaped.

Not knowing where they were or how to get back home, Magenta and the other escapees simply traveled on foot on what seemed to be a deserted canyon. Many of the escapees died, including the person who helped her due to dehydration, starvation, infected wounds, and unknown sickness.

Magenta continued to walk aimlessly despite the heat, thirst, and hunger. When she couldn’t move any longer, she was miraculously saved by Cirque du Magique’s members and was brought to their camp.

And since then, she has become a part of their travels.

* * * * *

“With this artificial power, I was not just able to create lavender plants but produce lavender’s fragrance to a certain degree as well. It can have hypnotizing effects and the greatest was to make people unconscious.”

“Human experimentations,” said Marcactas. “Why would your own kind do such a horrifying thing?”

“The curse of the pursuit for knowledge,” the Ringmistress replied. “Humans always discover new things. But new things doesn’t always mean good. Humans will try it out to their kind until they finally understand what it is.”

“Magenta, we’re sorry if you have to recall those painful memories,” said Musaoi.

Magenta shook her head. “It’s alright. I have since long accepted what happened. Anyway, is this about the missing treasure?”

“Oh, uh, no. Not really. I guess it’s just a coincidence that we’re also investigating humans with plant powers,” said Lanatte.

“Magenta has been asked numerous times by the members of Arcane Magus. As far as we know, she’s the only plant power user in this circus,” said the Ringmistress. “For the attack to happen when we've just arrived in such bad timing. Luckily, the mage king, King Fuegora, trusts us. After all, this is our fifth time of performing on this kingdom.”

“Magenta, is tattoo the only way to receive this power?” asked Marcactas.

“As far as I know, that’s the only way. Though it has been three years already. Those people could have managed to resume their experiments and managed to make new progress.”

“She’s right. There could be other ways to give powers to anyone by now,” said Lanatte.

“I think we’ve got the information we need. Thank you for your time, ringmistress, and Magenta,” said Marcactas.

“Oh. Umm, would you like to take some biscuits? The owner of the Fairy Dust bakery often comes here to give bread and biscuits for free.”

“Thanks, Magenta,” the Seekers took a small pouch of the biscuit.

The three Seekers thanked them again for their time before leaving.

* * * * *

At the main headquarters of Arcane Magus, the Central Shrine, Leon, Mirana, and other high-ranking mages known as the Guardian Mages have been summoned by the second-in-command mage, Lanaya.

The Guardian Mages are the five high-ranking mages that lead a group of mages to protect the Star of Arianna, which is located at the kingdom's five shrines: The Northern Shrine, Northwest Shrine, Northeast Shrine, Southwest Shrine, and Southeast Shrine.

The guardians report directly to Lanaya, which was usually at the Central Shrine. She has short shoulder-length black hair and wears black leather armor topped with a silver cloak. She has been Mirana’s rival ever since they’ve become part of Arcane Magus.

The guardians sat around the table inside the meeting hall of the Central Shrine.

“Any news on the missing star fragment?” asked Lanaya.

Leon knows how much Mirana hated Lanaya, so he decided to be the one to talk. “We still haven’t got any news on the whereabouts of the—”

“I’m sorry, Prince Leon. I believe I am speaking to Mirana of the Northwest Shrine.”

Leon looked at Mirana. Mirana simply took a deep breath and continued what Leon was saying.

“As Prince Leon was trying to say before you respectfully interrupted him, there is still no news on the Sapphire fragment’s whereabouts. The magical barrier has been raised, though, so any powerful artifacts will not be able to leave the kingdom.”

“Cromwell, how’s the defense for the Ruby fragment?”

“Security in the Northern Shrine has been doubled as you have requested. Also, the shrine is now off-limits.”

“Lewis?”

“Northeast’s defense for the Emerald fragment is still tight as usual. No unusual activities near the shrine as well.

“How about you, Woolf?”

“The Southeast Shrine’s defenses are still on high alert and the Citrine fragment is still secured.”

“And Tolstoy?”

“Southwest Shrine’s defenses have been doubled just like the defense of the north. The Obsidian fragment is still in the shrine and no one is allowed to enter.”

After all the Guardian mages reported, Lanaya focused once again on Mirana, who is at the opposite side of the table.

“Mirana. I hope you have plans on how to recover the Sapphire fragment.” Lanaya then took out a paper with the seal of the mage king. “His Highness, King Fuegora, is not pleased with the Northwest Shrine’s performance. It has been two days since the fragment has been stolen and still, the culprits are not caught. His Highness has given you two days to solve this. Failure to do so will result in demotion from your position as the Northwest Guardian Mage to a Battle Mage of the Central Shrine.”

Leon took the sealed paper from Lanaya and confirmed that it is indeed from the mage king. Mirana stood up and simply left the meeting.

“Mirana, wait—” said Leon.

“Prince Leon. I hope you know what you are doing,” Lanaya interrupted. “Everyone from the Northwest Shrine will be demoted in two days. And as long as you are helping her, you might get a severe punishment as well.”

“And what do you want me to do, abandon your sister?” Leon furiously asked. “She needs our help more than ever, Lanaya. This is no longer about me being the crown prince or you guys defending your respective shrines. Mirana needs our help.”

“Mirana screwed up. It’s her responsibility to fix it. Not of the other Guardians, not by me, only hers and the mages under her. If she could not do it, then she’s not worthy of the title Guardian Mage.”

Leon crumpled the paper and burned it. He then left the meeting hall, followed by Sully the Salamander.

Leon finally caught up with Mirana. He knew that Mirana is a great mage, but once she loses her temper, she always ended up leaking her mana, freezing her immediate surroundings. Thanks to Leon’s fire magic though, he remained warm and unfrozen.

“Mirana! Mirana, wait!”

“What do you want, Leon?”

“Look. First, try to retract your mana. It’s freezing everything.”

Mirana finally noticed the frozen halls of the Central Shrine. She then used her magic to thaw the hall. “What do you want?”

“You shouldn’t lose your temper like that. Your sister’s just…doing her job.”

“Is your fiancée's job to annoy me?”

“Okay, listen. The Mage King gave us—“

“Me.”

“—two days to find and return the star piece. We already know that two culprits have plant power. We just need to find out who they are and catch any of the two plant power-user.”

“And how are we going to find those hunters?”

“I’ve been doing research about the plant powers and I learned that the Yoran elves can distinguish elven mana to other mana.”

“So you’re suggesting that we seek the help of the three elves we’ve met earlier?”

“Yes. We saw how the hunters fought two days ago. They’re quite inexperienced, always using too much and they’re even leaking their mana without them noticing. If their mana is leaking even if it’s just in small quantities, I think the elves could tell if they are related to plant power or not.”

“Leaking mana disperses quickly, not even enough to cause mana bruises. There’s no way we could trace or notice those for long.”

“I’m on it. Also, remember that there are three other elves here, the Seekers. Six elves could be a lot of help.”

Mirana reluctantly agreed to Leon’s plan and proceeded to find the elves. “This plan of yours better work.”