Present Time.
"...This is a battle for you, my son..." Raika explained to Alaric, the latter frowning at those words.
She had explained how the battle came about.
The royal family, in cahoots with other houses, had orchestrated an elaborate plan which resulted in his current elemental affinity, and worse.
They had placed the Duke and herself in a position to commit unlawful execution, which could have resulted in a demotion of rank.
Lands and properties would have been stripped and, in worst-case scenarios, even tried and imprisoned for treason, as it is believed one is trying to go against the royal family when they kill a noble without permission and thus act as the crown themselves.
"War! War! Sigh... I thought I could have a fresh start yet..." Alaric paused, remembering the words of Maria he had forgotten.
...I am sorry. I didn't know what happened, but it seemed you have been caught in some kind of ploy...
"..." He could only sigh.
Life wasn't all that great in his old world, but a full-blown war?
He turned his gaze out the window of the carriage.
The aftermath of the six years of battle was in full view, the area they paused sure to have been a battlefield.
Cooled molten magma enveloped the topography, marring it with dents, cracks, and craters.
A clearly artificial canyon traced the land a few meters from their carriage, dense fog filling its depth, sparks of lightning occasionally streaking through it.
He could sense an aura of death, something his many years serving as a Navy SEAL could pick up on, and was sure many were buried under all that chaos.
No vegetation could be seen for miles to come, no homes or humans, not even scavengers to feed on the dead, the land desolate.
"What type of war is this?" his mouth fell agape, as it looked like the aftermath of a nuclear attack.
"Don't worry, the land will regain its vigor after the war ends," Raika, noticing Alaric's expression, said.
"After the war ends?" Alaric echoed.
"Is it not over?" he wondered.
"No, it's still ongoing. I will have to help your father when we get back."
"Didn't this begin six years ago?" Alaric thought to himself, surprised at how long a civil war had been going on but shrugged remembering his old war, wars lasting several years too.
The carriage continued its path through the ruins, Alaric's gaze never once leaving the aftermath of the battle of his new world.
He could only imagine what sort of power they held to cause this much chaos, destruction so great not even scavengers could be seen around.
"Wait... If I am supposedly the cause of this war, will the enemy allow me to return home safely?" he wondered, then turned to Raika, asking the same question.
"No..." She paused, the carriage coming to a stop as they neared a forest.
It maintained its greenery, lucky not to be in the line of fire of the war.
Several men clad in black cloaks jumped out of the trees, the aura of their affinities fluctuating in their hands, a way to brandish their power.
"You asked if they will attack, well yes, but I am here..." Raika smiled at Alaric as she stepped out of the carriage.
The curious Alaric peered his head through.
Seven men clad in black and a woman adorned in simple noble robes stood face to face.
"Is that the Thunder Princess?" one of them unconsciously stepped back.
He, a lean man, his brown aura dissipating in fear.
"Don't worry, she lost her power six years ago," his comrade explained.
A bulky man with red eyes.
Aiden had made sure to spread the rumor that Raika didn't recover her power after losing it during Alaric's birth celebration.
And those who were aware of it were sworn into secrecy, and with the current patriarch, they knew breaking that oath would result in more than just simple deaths.
Thus, for the past six years, it was believed Raika and Alaric were in hiding.
Many had searched for them; if they could kill Alaric, that would be a victory, not to mention a blow to the Vulcan army.
But it was to no avail, as Alaric and Raika were on the elven continent,
a continent known to exist, but only a few knew the path to it.
Even if they suspected them to be in the elven continentz they couldn't enter, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to find Alaric, as it was a continent, not a town.
They could only wait till he returned and what better time than the year he turned seven?
It was common knowledge that the seventh birthday is always celebrated in your homeland; thus, several teams were positioned to intercept Alaric ever since they stepped into the year.
Luckily for this team, they were the first to encounter the target.
"Are you sure? She looks too confident for someone without any power," the lean man retorted.
He was only a 3rd Resonance mage; he couldn't use variant magic.
How was he supposed to challenge the Thunder Princess?
He had taken this job because it would move him away from the front lines but never expected they would actually be the team to intercept the Thunder Princess.
"Don't be a chicken, we..."
Blood sprayed from the bulky man's chest before he could finish talking, a golden spear piercing through his heart, its tip several inches away from the lean man's chest.
He gasped for air, looking at his comrade for help.
"I knew it..." He didn't need to check what had happened and quickly mobilized his mana, the earth underneath him opening to swallow him whole.
Raika noticed him run but only scoffed. She didn't like attacking the weak, but she hated being ignored even more.
Those two were talking while she stood before them; that was an insolence she hated to the bone.
She flashed, instantly appearing before one of the remaining men, who, seemingly filled with some bravado, held his ground.
She didn't know whether they were stupid or believed they could actually fight her.
The strongest female warrior known on the continent.
A wall made of ice materialized between her and the man clad in black, but Raika casually pushed her hand through, the wall of ice melting as if it were never an obstacle.
Crackle!!
Lightning danced across the man, charring him darker than his cloak.
The four remaining seemed to feel a sense of foreboding.
They might have miscalculated.
They believed even if she had gotten her power back, she might have been weaker, as she looked more meek than what they heard of her, her hair grown out, a gentle expression on her face unlike her usual arrogance, unaware motherhood made her like that, not that she had become weak.
Well, their assumptions were their own undoing.
Raika flashed once more, pulling the golden spear out of the bulky man. She struck it on the ground, yellow lightning streaking from its tip, striking each of the black-robed men before they could even think to run.
"See, I told you I am here."
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A/N
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