Valerian, The Legendary

140 Old Acquaintances.

Valerian warned the old man, and finally, Fallax had no other option but to give in. He granted him an indefinite leave from the academy, even so, Valerian was the only student of the battlemage tower, and he would pass all the exams already given his talent. There was no point in keeping him back here.

The boy took out his soul communication bead and told Fragrantia that he was going out of the academy and will seek an adventure to gain more knowledge and understanding of the world. At first, the empress was afraid and scared that the child might suffer, and she wanted to send someone with him, but Valerian refused.

However, Fragrantia was firm in her stance and said, “I will send someone to watch over you in secret then, do not complain if your privacy is violated.”

Valerian knew that she will definitely do something like this and thus he agreed to let Priscilla follow him if she was fine with it. The Empress nodded in satisfaction and told him that Priscilla will meet him outside the capital.

With that, a young man and the cat went out of the academy and rushed all the way through the mountains, suddenly Fortuna said, “This method is very slow, you know?”

Valerian nodded and said, “I know, but what can I do? Your blood suppresses the other beasts so much that they almost go mad from it. I cannot hop on a ride even if I wish to.”

Fortuna nodded and said, “I understand, I will control my aura from now on, just pick a fast mount and not a bird, I hate those pathetic excuses of flying creatures.”

Valerian chuckled and said, “The birds might die from anger and shame if they heard your words.”

“They can go extinct for all I care.”, said Fortuna.

.....

The two reached the woods near the capital, Valerian decided to visit his mother before he goes out on a trip as it may take him a long time to come back. He moved quickly and came to the big tree, and paid his respects. In the end, he said, “I wish, I could have stayed with your forever, mum. However, to fulfill your wish, I am going away for a bit. I will talk to you in full moons, okay? Miss you, bye.”

Fortuna asked when they left the place, “Do you not find this action of yours to be too idiotic?”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I feel like my heart is light after I do this.”

Fortuna shook her head as she did not understand humans very much. The two people moved quickly, by the time night fell, they reached the capital and found Priscilla waiting for them in the guard cottage near the military posts.

A guard saw him approaching and yelled, “Stop, who goes there?”

Valerian stopped and said, “Luminare.”

The glow from the mana blob illuminated his surroundings and he said, “Valerian Verus.”

His voice was calm and even cold to the point where the guard shivered. The guard placed his hand on his chest and said, “Greetings, My prince.”

Valerian’s identity was disclosed to the entire capital and the striking silver hair spoke for itself. The young prince walked closer to the guard and asked, “My aid, has she arrived?”

The guard was in his late teens, he seemed like a competent warrior, and nodded without losing his bearings, and said, “Yes, Your Highness, she is waiting for you in the guard cottage.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Please call her over. We do not have the time to rest.”

The guard nodded and rushed back to the post, then after informing his colleague he went to the guard cottage to fetch Priscilla. The lady was quick to act and she appeared in front of Valerian using her shadow dispersion spell. She greeted him with a bow and said, “Your Highness.”

Valerian nodded and said, “You have been waiting for a long time.”

Priscilla shook her head and said, “It’s okay, shall we leave?”

Valerian thought about it and said, “Can we borrow two wraiths from the stables here?”

Priscilla thought about it and since she did not know about the real identity of Fortuna, she nodded and said, “It shouldn’t be a big deal. Let me ask the guard chief.”

Valerian nodded and under Priscilla’s lead, they found the guard chief, the man was more than happy to give them two Wraiths, after all, it was the prince, who came to ask him and the young man did not project himself above him. After a few minutes, before Valerian even tried to tame the two beasts, Fortuna glared at them and they became honest.

Valerian said, ‘Fortuna, you are so mighty.’

He was just trying to coax her, when Fortuna replied, ‘Do you feel honored to be in my service now?’

Valerian nodded slightly and said, ‘Who made you so graceful?’

‘The gods.’, said Fortuna as she raised her tiny cat chin to the sky.

...

Valerian and Priscilla were riding the wraiths and they were headed to the Acies city. The speed was not slow at all. They traveled for a week, and Valerian had no intention to stop in the cities on the way. They would hunt at night and stay in the wild. During this time Valerian would spar with Priscilla from time to time, and they would use assassination techniques and shadow element magic.

Priscilla was one of the few people who knew about his talent, so they were both helping each other. More like Valerian helping her. Priscilla’s attitude towards the boy became more respectful when she broke through the bounds of grade four and she became a grade five mage.

One will break through not only when they have enough mana storage in their body, but the understanding of the runes in their mind was needed to be deep and extensive. A single rune could cast many different spells, what one needed was to control their thoughts and channel them to the runes to behave the way they want them to.

They reached the Acies city and Valerian went straight to the stream. He found the crystal mound. A lot of weed has grown around it, so the boy decided to clean it all. During the process, he did not ask Priscilla to help him or use any magic spells. The speed was slow but it was not tiring to him as it was his physical prowess had reached a higher level.

After the cleaning was done, the boy sat down next to the mound and concentrated fire mana on the tip of his finger, and said channeled it out. He caressed the glass mound as he wrote in the common text with graceful strokes, “Here rests, Diligentia, a loving mother and a selfless soul.”

Then he paid his respects and stood up when suddenly, he heard a clicking sound from the bushes. He raised his head and found a black leopard gazing at him. Valerian was surprised, and Priscilla took out her weapon. She was ready to attack when she heard the boy say, “Wait, he is a friend.”

Priscilla was surprised and then Valerian walked closer to the leopard and gently stroked his head. He said, ‘Long time no see, Mathiyus.’

The Leopard rubbed his head against his hand and said, ‘You have grown a lot.’

Valerian hummed gently as he acknowledged the fact. The people sat down near the stream but the tranquility did not last for long as a scream for help broke out through the woods. Priscilla reacted and said, “It is a girl’s scream.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Go, take a look.”

The lady nodded and left the place in a flicker. Mathiyus asked, ‘Who is she?’

‘A friend.’, he said.

The leopard did not ask anything else, but then he saw a white fur ball looking at him with narrow eyes, and growled. He did not like this palm-sized cat to be gazing him right in the eye and wanted to scare her off.

The next moment, Fortuna let out her dragon aura and the Leopard shivered and retreated with its tail between its legs. His eyes were filled with disbelief, and Valerian said, ‘Don’t tell anyone about her.’

Mathiyus looked at him and asked in disbelief, ‘You know about her?’

Valerian shrugged his shoulders and did not say anything. Fortuna intimidated Mathiyus into a tame little domesticated cat. And after ten minutes, Priscilla came back, she said in a cold tone, “You need to see it yourself, Your Highness, or I would kill those bastards.”

Valerian was surprised by her reaction and then with a nod, he followed her with Mathiyus, who was threatened by Fortuna. After they traveled through the woods, they came to a natural cave and found four young men laying on the ground, groaning, and a girl sitting inside the cave. As soon as he looked at her, Valerian mumbled, “Lady Grace?”