Allegiance

Chapter 3

"Her name is Sylvie."

Tessia's gaze snapped toward the voice, seeing a boy around her age sitting against a tree. The boy had long, smooth, auburn hair that he had tied back into a ponytail and large, bright, azure eyes that seemed to have a glimmer behind them. The boy held a small book in his right hand while his eyes were locked on Tessia and Sylvie, and his lips were curved in a warm smile.

Tessia eyed the boy inquisitively, wondering how he had gone undetected from her sensory ability. She's always had keen senses when it came to magic, being able to see the mana particles floating in the air. But with this boy here, she never would have felt his presence if he hadn't spoken it. She found it both curious and suspicious.

Eager to know more, Tessia pushed mana into her eyes and looked toward the boy's sternum to gauge his core. However, to her amazement and confusion, she couldn't see it. It wasn't until a heartbeat later that a glimmering sensation caught her eyes, and she looked toward the boy's right wrist. On his wrist was a black bracelet, and Tessia immediately noticed the mana surrounding the bracelet and could tell it was a seal to prevent others from seeing his core. However, that still didn't explain to her how he was hiding his magical presence.

"Is everything okay?" The boy asked. Tessia's eyes flicked to the boys', seeing him looking at her with a kind smile, and his head was cocked to the side. "You look confused."

Tessia returned the kind smile, "Yes, everything is fine, thank you." She looked back down at Sylvie, who was still enjoying Tessia's head scratches. "So her name is Sylvie, huh?"

Sylvie let out a cute "kyu" at the sound of her name, and her small tail wagged slightly back and forth.

The boy chuckled, smiling warmly at Sylvie, and nodded, "Yes. She is also my bond."

"I see," Tessia said, looking at Sylvie with interest. "And what kind of mana beast is she?"

"She's a fox," The boy answered simply.

Tessia hummed and nodded, continuing to look at Sylvie. However, she could tell there was more to Sylvie than met the eye. Tessia could see the amount of mana flowing around Sylvie and could tell she was incredibly strong.

Tessia gave Sylvie one more head pat before she took her hand away, grabbed the glass of water to the side, and stood up. Sylvie gave one last "kyu" and shook her fur, with the sound of her floppy ears hitting against her head. Tessia and the boy chuckled, looking at Sylvie, thinking the gesture was adorable. Sylvie turned and walked toward the boy, where she lay beside him, snuggling against his left leg. The boy and Tessia smiled warmly at Sylvie, and the boy gently patted her head.

Looking back at the boy, Tessia couldn't help but feel interested in how his presence was masked. She could tell it wasn't the seal because she could sense it didn't have that kind of enchantment. It had to be something this boy was doing. It didn't take long for Tessia to decide she needed to know more about this boy.

"I'm Tessia, by the way," Tessia greeted with a friendly smile.

The boy looked at Tessia and returned the smile, "I'm Arthur. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tessia."

Tessia walked over to the tree across from Arthur, and Arthur followed her with his eyes while simultaneously looking her up and down. It wasn't because he was checking her out, even though he could tell she was beautiful, but because he was curious about her presence. Arthur could easily tell Tessia was strong, and when he pushed mana into his eyes, he noticed earth, water, and wind mana circling her, almost like the mana particles answered her very will. When he tried to look into her core, he was intrigued to find it was hidden from his sight, most likely from a seal of some sort.