The 1.000 year Great Sage ---> COMPLETED STORY

In the morning, a sleepy Ryn was seated at the table, eating a biscuit and a glass of fresh milk. Hina was poking her arm and Ryn was still not responding.

- Hey, wake up, sleepy head! Don't tell me that Seya kept you up all night! Heheheh!

- Well… kind off… I was thinking about some things. And I kept on waking up from my sleep, all night.

- Care to elaborate that? Or I'm supposed to guess?

- Never mind, it was just something that little Aria told me at the beach. It made me think about it during the night. But I can't do anything about it so I'll just wait and see what happens.

- It was that important?

- It can be. Or not. I really don't know. Even Aria doesn't know. That's why I said I can't do anything about it. Well, what do you think that Seya will do today?

- You can ask him. Look.

Seya was entering the dining room, looking at a big map. He seated at the table while looking at it, he didn't even notice that all his friends, the Baron and Milady Margaret were also there. Ryn pinched his cheek.

- Good morning to you too, you rude brat!

- Ouch! Oh, good morning everyone. Sorry, I was just thinking of something about this map.

The Baron looked at what Seya was holding, a little curious.

- Milord, is that a map of this region?

- Yes, of these lands, the Eternal Forest, and the lands of the Royal Kingdom on the other side. I was just checking one thing.

- But Milord, where did you find such a detailed map?

- On the Library of a very powerful being, some years ago. It was because of this map that I requested King Rohan these lands. I knew exactly where the most productive lands of the Empire were. I was just checking if my parent's village was on a direct path from this Capital or if it was a little to the side. I thought it was direct, but it's not. And today I thought it was a good day for me, to make a nice road across the Eternal Forest.

Ryn was looking at the map and at Seya and she was opening and closing her mouth, without saying anything. When Seya looked at her, she was turning white. He immediately opened a Gateway to Ryn's room, at school.

- Great, she's fainting again. The Gateway to your room is waiting… Go ahead, as soon as you pass out, you will wake up on your room in the school. I'm getting fed up with all that fainting. It was funny in the beginning but now it's just annoying. I guess you forgot that you wanted to learn how to be a better Mage, but if you can't stand seeing new Magic's, it's better if you stay in school for the next days, because I want to do more things without worrying if you will faint or not.

Hyna grabbed Ryn's hands.

- Hold on, Ryn! Breathe! Air in, air out, air in…

Ryn was still white, but she closed her mouth a little and she started to breathe slowly, while Hina was throwing at her some fresh wind. When she had more color on her face, Hina looked at her with a serious face.

- He's right, you know? Even I think that you are fainting a lot, lately.

- How couldn't I faint? You heard him, he wants to make a road!

- So what? After everything that he's been making lately, why does a road crossing the Eternal Forest makes you almost fainting like that? Why can't you just look and try to learn how he does it? Even the Dwarfs have learned a few things with him over the last years, and they know a lot about Earth or Fire Magic. And they told me that at first, some of them were surprised but after the initial shock, they all wanted to learn more. You just faint right in the beginning, you never see his Magic's until the end! How can you learn anything?

- But… but… How can he do all that?

- Yeah, how can we make Magic Crystals, for instance? Or how can I fly? Oh, wait, maybe because we are training Magic Control and evolving our Magic? You heard him at school, he just does it better because he's been doing it longer than all of us. You are disappointing me Ryn, you really are. You were always so eager to learn and now that you have an amazing personal tutor always at your side, you waste the opportunity!

Ryn was in shock. Having her best friend saying all that to her, made her feel so embarrassed. And when she looked around the table, everyone was looking at her with a serious look. Except for Seya, he was looking at the map while eating freshly baked bread, like if he lost his interest. Seeing Seya like that was too much for her. She felt something breaking inside of her. She could only nod her head while continuing to eat.

- Yes… you're right…

The Baron tried to change the subject, the mood was too bad for an early morning.

- Milord, I was thinking about doing a meeting this morning, with the village chiefs, in regard to the organization of the shows at the Coliseum. Can we count on your presence?

- Maybe, I don't know how much time it will take the new road. I suppose I can do it quickly unless there's some Elfian or some big animal on my path. I also want to show them the expenses that I had with the New Inn, the school and the Healing House. I need to check if there's enough money in our safes to hire some specific workers. We also need to check how our sales of the new equipment and our harvested products are doing. And I need to go to the artisan shop where I ordered the case of 'Heiji's Favorites Games' to see if I can approve the production. Too many things…

- Milord, I can start the meeting about those subjects, so that when Milord arrives, I can make a full report.

- Yes, maybe it's better like that… the first order of business, the new road. Then, replant the trees and plants. Next, to place some Sun Light Crystals along with it and finally, the artisan shop. And I still need to talk one of these days with some Nobles of the Empire about my idea for a new government in there. I can't forget that I need to visit the LizardKind to invite them to my party next week… Argh! So many things!

Hearing that, Ryn just mumbled in a low voice.

- And I'm not helping a little bit…

Hina heard her and she held her hand and whispered.

- Yes, but you can. I know you can if you stop acting like you are doing lately…

Raising her voice, Hina asked Seya.

- Why don't you take Ryn with you, when you go to do that road?

- No, I rather take Zak with me. I may need his help with Earth and Water Magic. I don't know if I can do it alone, I must do two or three things at the same time, and that would be difficult, even for me. And Ryn might faint again, I can't worry about her.

Hearing that, Ryn became depressed, while Zak became scared.

- You will need me? What, another crazy experiment?

- No. Let me explain my plan. I want to fly over the Eternal Forest, in the straightest line that I can manage, until my parents' house. Along the way, I will throw ahead of us my Dark Wall with a Compressed Dimension, prepared to take every tree or plant, leaving behind only the animals. On the way back, I want to build a macadam road, like the one that I made from the New Inn until the beach. After that, I need to travel along the Eternal Forest, from here until the Dwarfs Mountains and from here until the west, to the ocean, to replant the trees and the plants. If needed, I must go again to my parents' village and replant the rest of the trees and plants on that side.

- And how can I help with that?

- You will be in charge of helping me building the new road, by creating a rocky floor along the way. I will turn it into a macadam road as we fly over it on the way back. And when I'm replanting, you can send water over the soil, to help the trees and the plants. Easy, right?

- If you say it like that, it seems like it. But I never made so many rocks!

- I think you will manage just fine. I have faith in you, as you should. You haven't realized it yet, but I can sense that your Earth and Water Magic went up, since the beginning of school, five times more.

- Really? That much?

- Yes. Well, you were rather weak, you know, right? And because you are always training your Magic Control, you are becoming more powerful. Or do you think that I haven't noticed that you practice every day, all day long? You are doing it right now! Show me your hand, the one that you have under the table!

Zak slowly placed his hand over the table, and everyone could see that he had a bright cloud of Magic gathered in his hand, that was moving slowly from his wrist to the tip of his fingers, making some twists there and going back to the wrist again, repeating the same path, over and over. Hina was looking at him, with her eyes wide open. Ryn was speechless. And Seya looked at her very seriously, while pointing at Zak.

- Do you understand now? This guy was the weakest of us on the Examination day. Every time that I do a new Magic while hating me, he always tries to learn and improve himself. And he never faints! Ever! I bet that if you fight him with only Magic, you would lose badly! And he will not even sweat!

Hearing that, Ryn started to tremble a little. She felt tears gathering in her eyes, but she held it. Hina noticed and she looked very angry at Seya. And Seya raised one eyebrow while talking.

- Why are you looking at me like if you wanted to take my head, Hina? I'm right and she knows it! Ryn, I love you very much, but you really need to soften that thick head of yours and learn a few things with Zak here. Or on next week's party, you are really up for a shock and some fainting, when you see the Mermaid Queen trying to seduce me like she always does or her daughters, trying to take me to bed! And I'm not even talking about the Elfian King that for years is trying to pair me with all his daughters! And Fairies. A lot of them already tried to trick me to bed… crazy annoying beings, always disguising themselves to fool me…

Ryn opened her mouth and closed it very quickly. She already thought about the possibility that a lot of Nobles would use that party to introduce Seya to their daughters since he was entering into a marriage age, but she never thought about Mermaids or Elfians. Or Fairies! Princess Heiji that was silent until that point spoke with a very serious tone.

- You know Ryn, the fact that you are dating Seya doesn't grant you any kind of right over him. You have a lot of rivals to face and a lot of people to prove that you deserve to be with him. Including me. Lately, you are too much of a disappointment. Instead of enjoying what Seya does like me or learning with him like everyone else, you prefer to stress out, get nervous or to faint. You really need to change that. Or you are up for a serious wakeup call!

Ryn remained silent and she slowly nodded her head.

…

After breakfast, they grabbed some horses and went to the place were Seya wanted to make the new road. It was such a beautiful sunny morning that everyone thought it was better to go there by horse, enjoying the ride. When they finally reached the border of the forest, they dismounted. Seya and Zak were side by side looking at it. Zak was nervous and his voice was trembling a little. Their friends were also in silence, looking at the forest. Except for John, he went to the Healing House, to help on the training of the two CatKind women.

- We… we are really going to do this?

- Yes. Come on, grab a Wind Crystal and fly with me. Watch very closely, with a Dark Crystal, you can also do something close to my Dark Wall. Since you have a lot of Crystals with Earth and Water Magic, you'll have more than enough Magic for doing this.

While we fly, I'll place every plant and tree inside my Compressed Dimension. Follow me at 3 or 4 meters distance, and make a rocky floor. On our way back, I'm going to turn that rocky floor into a macadam road. While you follow me, use your Water Magic to polish the road. Just a little bit, to make it pretty. Not too much or it will be slippery.

When we return here, we will fly along the border with the Eternal Forest and I'll make a trench to plant the trees and plants while you water them, right after me. If I still have trees or plants when we finish this side, we may need to go to the other side of the border and do the same replantation. In the end, we will fly again along the road and you will make at one side, some wooden poles of three meters tall, 20 meters apart, with a Sun Light Crystal on top. I'll follow you and I'll place on the other side of the road and at 10 meters apart, some poles and some small Sun Light Crystals. If we do it right, in the end, will have poles at each side of the road, at every 10 meters.

- But… but… I never did so many Magic's at a time! And so advanced!

- But I'm certain that you can do it. If not, you just need to do it again, and I'm not going to help you. And as a punishment, you can only return to the Baron's house to eat, when I'm satisfied with your work. So, unless you want to keep doing this all day, I suggest you do it on the first try. Make the rocky floor completely flat and the wooden poles, straight. I don't want bent or curved poles on my new road! And do it fast, I don't want to be here all day, I have other things to take care. And you guys, don't wait for us, this will take a while!

Zak gulped and his face lost its color. But he still nodded his head. He agreed to help Seya, so he was going to do it perfectly. Or faint of exhaustion while trying.

Seya started to hover higher than the tallest tree of the forest and Zak gathered his Magic and he quickly placed himself at 3 meters distance of Seya, also hovering in the sky.

Hina was looking and nodding her head. She could tell when someone was doing a perfect flight with Wind Magic, she was already that good.

Seya signaled Zak and he threw a Dark Wall in front of him while flying at high speed in the direction of his parents' village. Zak concentrated and he started to make a rocky floor on the now clear path that Seya was leaving behind. It was a little bumpy in the beginning, but he corrected it and following Seya's flight, he started to make a perfectly flat and horizontal rocky floor. They both flew over the 300 km wide of the Eternal Forest. Because Seya was increasing his flight speed, Zak did the same, while keeping on doing the rocky floor. After one hour, they reached Seya's parents' village. Seya looked back and he smiled at Zak.

- I knew you could do it! Now, I make the macadam road, you polish, ok? Remember, just a little, or it will be too slippery.

- Yes. Lead the way, Master!

- Ahahah! Ok, let's go!

Again, Seya flew at high speed with Zak on his tail at 3 meters distance. Seya was making the road, Zak was polishing it. One hour more, they were back to Seya's lands. Seya looked back, appreciating the new macadam road, all polished. He smiled to Zak and he started to fly at very high speed into the direction of the Dwarfs Mountains, making a trench, planting the trees and covering the roots. Zak was taking care of the watering. When they reached the border with the Mountains, Seya opened a Gateway to take them to the start of the road. From there, they flew into the direction of the ocean, to the West, with Seya planting and Zak watering. There, a new Gateway took them to the starting point of the road.

- Well, no more trees and plants, we can take care of the poles and the Sun Light Crystals. Until now, this took almost 5 hours. Are you hungry or can we finish this?

- Continue, of course! I hate leaving work at halfway!

- That's a good boy! Let's go then. You make at 20 meters, and I'll place mines in the mid-distance of them. Here, this bag is full of Sun Light Crystals. I think that on the first poles, you will take longer, but as soon as you get the hang of it, it will be faster.

Zak flew along the road, making his first pole. It was bent a little but he corrected it and he placed a Crystal at the top. After three more, he was getting faster and faster. Seya was following him, making poles and placing Crystals. Soon, a straight line of wooden poles on each side of the road could be seen, separated by 10 meters from each other. After two hours, they both reached the end of the road. Seya landed softly, and Zak joined him. Seya taped Zak's back, he was very proud of him.

- When Hina sees this, she will fill you up with kisses! My girlfriend, on the other hand, might faint again…

- I don't think so. I noticed the look that she had when we started. She looked determined. Maybe the scolding that she got early this morning did any good.

- Yeah, I hope so. Now, a Gateway to the Baron's house, I'm starving!

- Me too!

…

When Seya and Zak did the first flight to make the road, Ryn and the others were looking at the trees and plants vanishing and the floor turning into a rock, completely flat. Ryn was touching the new floor.

- Yeah, Seya was right, Zak really got more powerful. Something like this is extremely difficult to make. I can do this using Earth Crystals, but not at this speed and while flying!

Hina was nodding her head.

- Yes, Zak's flight was flawless! My boyfriend is amazing! Eheheh! Now, what do we do? They will take a while to finish this.

- Seya said that he needed to visit the artisan to see if he can approve the new games. I think we could go there, and help him. Like that, he will have one less thing to take care of.

- Yeah, good idea! Lead the way, Ryn!

They all agreed and they followed Ryn on their horses. When they entered the Capital, they dismounted the horses and they did the rest of the way on foot. They took a while to get there because they were occasionally stopped by people that wanted to talk a little with them. And also to admire the fighting poses that Hina did, with her new Big Battle Ax! After almost an hour, they entered the artisan's shop. In there, they talked with the Master Artisan and they all approved the new versions of the games. Ryn went next to the two new CatKind workers, the former slaves, to see how they managed to make the pieces with such speed. After some minutes, they were all seated at a nearby table, doing the pieces for the new games, helping the artisans. The first ones weren't very good, and they were rejected by the artisans, that had to fix it. But the next pieces were perfect. Like that, while Seya and Zak were making the new road, replanting the trees and placing the Sun Light Crystals, Ryn and her friends were also working at the shop. When the artisans stopped to eat, they also stopped and went to the Inn to have lunch. In there, they almost couldn't find a place to seat, every table and seat was occupied. The old Innkeeper guided them to the back of the Inn, to his personal dining room, to eat there. Ryn was eating while trying to talk at the same time.

- You know… I never would have guessed some months ago… that I would be able to make one piece for one game… like I did! I could never use Earth Magic before! And I never used… my Water Magic to polish anything!

Princess Arys tilted her head sideways.

- Well, it seems you were rather useless, weren't you? I wonder what my amazing cousin saw in you… Eheheh!

Princess Heiji pointed at Duncan.

- You, control your woman, you brat!

Duncan gulped, he was still embarrassed by his new relationship.

- Arys, don't pretend to be mean. I don't want other people to think that you say things like that for real. Someone may misjudge you and think that you are saying that seriously, instead of a joke.

Arys looked at Duncan, and if it were someone else, she would have said that she didn't care about what other people may think, but looking into his eyes, she almost melted.

- Yes… you are right, of course… Sorry Ryn, I was out of line. Please forgive me. I'll try very hard to change this side of mine, I don't want to upset Duncan…

That made Princess Heiji burst into laughter.

- Ahahahah! Amazing! I never would have imagined that we just needed to find her a boyfriend so that she became a nice person! All those sarcastic remarks were just a lack of love! Ahahahah!

As soon as Heiji said that, she noted Arys changing, her eyes were wet, she was about to cry. And they all heard Arys mumbling some strange things.

- Yeah… a lack of love… I guess it was just that… for all these years…

Princess Heiji placed her arm on Arys' shoulders and she kissed her left cheek.

That was the last drop for Arys. She hugged Heiji and she cried her eyes out while thanking them for having the patience until that time, to put up with her. And to help her conquer Duncan. Hina and Myra were smiling at them and Duncan was all red and also smiling. At that moment, John arrived.

- What happened here? Duncan, what did you do to Princess Arys?

- Nothing! But I'm sure that it was Princess Heiji's fault!

After some explanations, John smiled at Arys. They talked briefly about what they were doing when John was in the Healing House and after eating, John returned to the Healing House and the others, to the artisan shop, for more work.