Within the beach city, a well renown and powerful man can be seen sitting in his seat, in his office. He took a light sip of his recently brewed tea, before turning around to stare outside of the window.

The sun was still out and the birds chirped loudly, he could see his garden and the peacefulness which passed through it.

It was a warmth, which he enjoyed feeling, a feeling which contrasted his own line of work.

*Knock* *Knock*

The sound of knocking resounded through the room, breaking the enjoyable quiet.

"Who is it?

" The man asked after turning his chair to face the door.

He placed his cup of tea back on the table in front of him before taking in a deep breath.

Shortly after, the door opened before the knocker presented itself. It was one of the man's trusted maids.

She waited there quietly for the man to give his permission.

"What's wrong?

" The man asked

The maid bowed before looking at the man.

"You have a visitor, my lord.

"

"Tell him to go away, I'm in the middle of rest, you see?

" The man asked as he turned the chair once more to face the window.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, my lord.

"

Hearing this, the man quickly turned with an annoyed look in his face before asking

"And why is tha...t

"

Next to the maid stood a man, short white hair which covered his ears and a small mask which covered his eyes and nose, leaving only his mouth visible.

The mask looked like one a noble would take to a party, but after paying enough attention, one skilled would be able to tell that it wasn't so simple of an item.

"Give us some space.

"

The maid nodded before leaving the room as she said

"Excuse me.

"

Who might you be?

" The man asked

He grabbed onto his thin grey beard before giving it a few strokes.

"Why of course, allow me to introduce myself, messenger of his royal highness and a member of the special royal knight squad

"

Hearing this, the man took another sip of his tea before looking straight at the messenger who stood in front of his desk.

"So, who are you?

" The man asked as he put his cup down.

"I'm not allowed to say that

"

"Then what did you come here for?

"

"You know every well what I came here for.

"

Hearing this the man played around with the spoon in his cup for a moment before saying.

"Can't say I do.

"

The man didn't have any grudges against the messenger, what did annoy him was the smile the messenger kept on his face.

After the man gave his reply, the messenger walked up to the man, still smiling before pulling out a sheet of new but rather poor-quality paper from his earing. It was a space storage item.

As the man looked at the piece of paper, he looked interested. A sheet of paper of that quality would have been very valuable, especially during their time.

The sheet of paper displayed a message and as the man looked at it, his eyes widened.

"Is this real?

" He asked

"That's the royal crest, you should know that the-

"

The man interrupted the messenger as he said

"Yes, they can't be faked. So his majesty really is making his move... It appears, rumours aren't just rumours.

" Said the man

Without saying anything, the messenger took back the sheet of paper before putting it back into his earing.

"So? What information do you need?

"

"Everything, tell us everything you saw and know, about what happened, the group responsible for it and the one who ended up clearing the dungeon in this area.

"

Hearing this, the man took in a deep breath before glaring at the messenger.

"And if I don't?

"

The messenger moved in closer to the man's face before saying

"Then it'd mark the end of your work as duke, you don't honestly plan on defying orders from the head, now, do you?

" The messenger asked, his smile still present.

The man let out a sigh before turning back to the window behind him before muttering.

"Looks like a storm is coming...

"

---------------------------------

As john woke up, the hesitation to move along with the pain from the fight spread throughout his body. A rush of pain so strong he couldn't hold it back

"AARGH... AH...!

"

His voice was forced out as he grabbed on to some of the grass around him on the ground, in pain.

It was as if, his body was catching up with all of the pain It had missed. John didn't know if this was a good or thing or bad thing, but he hated it.

"AAARGHH- H...Huh...?

"

Suddenly, the rush of excruciating pain vanished, without a trace. John looked down only to notice someone holding onto his hand.

Her head laid on his chest as her eyes remained tightly shut. She held on to John's hands in her sleep and her beauty in a way, resembled a doll.

John couldn't help but stare before eventually being reminded of the kiss they had. He quickly looked away from her as he his cheeks grew red, he was blushing and heavily too.

"S-Serena, are you awake?

" John asked

He waited for a few seconds, but there was no reply. Seeing this, he let out a sigh before placing the hand which she wasn't holding on his face.

As he facepalmed himself, he quietly muttered

"W-why and how did I do that...? That's not like me at all...

"

While thinking back on the moment, all he could remember was the feeling of Serena's lips and the scene of her kissing him.

And as he remembered that, he could feel himself blushing more and more.

C-Calm down, Calm down... It was just a kiss...

Despite that, John found himself staring at her lips. Her silver hair covered most of her sleeping face so he couldn't tell what sort of expression she was making, but he sure as hell knew what expression he was.

"Damn it, Stop smiling me!

" John shouted at himself

After doing so, he realised something. He felt different, a better different. After Serena had been kidnapped, John ended up entering the possessed state, he stayed in it while awake and asleep.

Being in a heightened senses state like that for so long out of nowhere felt unimaginably strange for John. So much that he nearly swore to never use it again. But now, he felt normal, more human.

"Aqua.

"

A sphere of water was formed out of thin air in front of him, before taking the form of a flat circle.

John stared at his reflection through the circle before a smile slowly emerged from his face

"No way... I'm really back... And I can't hear that guy's voice...

" John muttered

That means I... I won't have to leave everyone... and I'll get to stay with them...

As this thought came up, the feelings of worry and sadness which had continuously pressured John's young and fragile heart, slowly disappeared.

He activated his magic perception to a higher point to see just what exactly Serena was doing or did even, and could fell a transparent flame coating the two of them.

"That's why it felt so warm...

"

When did she learn how to do this?

John looked around and found them on an open grass field on the outskirts of the Beach City. He could easily recognise this place as he had flown over it, a few times.

As John took in a deep breath to feel the fresh air even more so than before, he dispersed the water mirror imitation he had created, before slowly getting up.

He made sure to keep his hand connected to Serena's so as to not break the flame spell she had cast on them, as it probably required that to stay active. John wasn't sure what would happen if he let go of her hand and he didn't want to find out.

So, after he was up, he raised her up in a princess carry. Serena was slightly shorter than John despite him never mentioning it near her making it quiet easy to carry her.

She was very light from his perspective, but it was probably due to his training.

Once John was completely up and had a good grip over Serena, he could feel the ground beneath him vibrating.

He looked down as he muttered

"Earthquake...?

"

But the vibrations only kept getting stronger and stronger, as if it were aiming straight at him.

"This... It's that thing from last time... I'm in no position to fight now, nor mood... But it wouldn't hurt to investigate it...

"

As John calmly thought about what to do, the vibration was just about reaching his legs.

"Yeah... My body's numb all over. Another time...

"

Just as he said that, he crouched down before casting 'levite' and 'Velox' beneath his legs.

And just as whatever which was causing the vibrations reached the ground beneath his legs. He jumped up as high as he could.

As if he were some sort of cannon, he continued to fly higher and higher up, the wind pressure was strong, but he was using wind magic to form a small field around them, which would allow the wind pressure to be diverted.

As this happened, he looked down before trying to see if anything had come out of the ground, but contrary to his expectations, there was nothing.

"Tsk... It's presence is gone, again.... What was that?

" John muttered