When Kenta heard the introduction of the woman in front of him, his face contorted slightly. He was wondering why someone of such important status was in a place like this.
She could easily be considered as a prince's position-wise, while her status couldn't be compared to that of a real princess. It could easily be as long as she was within her own country.
A single king couldn't rule over an entire kingdom as large as the kingdom of Astaria. The kingdom is naturally divided into many different states and cities, and as such, each city has their own ruler.
And so, a mayor was really no different from that of a king, while they didn't have as much influence as the real king that ruled the entire kingdom, they wouldn't lose if you would consider them from their own cities and states.
The other nations also have their own branches of cities and states, each with its own mayor, but the law and economy there greatly differ from those of the other kingdoms.
"Fufufu, it seems even someone as indifferent as you can show a little bit of astonishment."
Lauren said, truly pleased as she batted her long eyelashes at Kenta, who stood still in mute amazement. Meanwhile, Kenta furrowed his eyebrow as he heard her words. The sword still in his hand began to emit a strong glow as a magic formation appeared, and the sword in his hand disappeared along with the formation.
Seeing that Lauren widens her blue coloured eyes in surprise.
"Th-that's space magic, I didn't think you would be able to use such a high-level magic."
Lauren's eyes sparkled as she looked at Kenta with eyes filled with admiration. Kenta didn't bother to say anything to her; instead, he turned on his heel and tried to quietly leave that place, but-
"Wait!"
Lauren promptly called out to Kenta as he was trying to leave, hearing her voice calling out to him, Kenta stopped in his tracks as he turned around annoyedly.
"What do you want?"
He asked in a slightly cold voice. A hint of irritation could be seen on his face, but Lauren ignored that as she took three steps towards him, stopping only when she was within a distance of two feet.
"Where are you going?"
She inquired curiously. At her question, Kenta could only raise an eyebrow as he held back the urge to strangle her by the neck. He had just failed the exam, and she was asking him why he was leaving. Was she messing with him? He wondered.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm leaving now that I failed. I need to think things over, don't bother me anymore."
He said indifferently. However, hearing his words, Lauren only let out an amused chuckle as she leaned in closely and peered at his face, blue eyes met with blue eyes as they stared at each other. However, the two blue coloured eyes carried a different emotion.
One was filled with annoyance and indifference, while the other was filled with curiosity.
After staring into Kenta's blue eyes for a while, Lauren finally broke the silence between them.
"Kenta, the spell you used just now, do you by any chance know anything about it?"
She asked curiously as her eyes slightly narrowed. Kenta stared at her in confusion as he tried to comprehend the words she had uttered just now.
He had briefly read about the spell known as "Thunderclap" while living in the orphanage; the information given about it was rather short. Aside from the name, he had received little to no information about the actual spell.
He knew that it was a spell based on the lightning element and that it was an ancient spell; aside from that, he really knew nothing about it.
He had originally thought it was a powerful projectile spell.
Suddenly, Kenta's face became slightly red in embarrassment as he averted his gaze.
Seeing that she elegantly placed her hand at her cherry lips as she giggled before opening up her mouth.
"Look, the spell known as 'thunderclap' is a spell that was used by a legendary figure of the past, the god of war."
She explained in a serious tone.
"Long ago, the god of war was feared as he effortlessly slaughtered thousands of his opponents. It was said he used a powerful magic sword known as "Soul Eater" that easily steals the souls of its victims. And his element was lightning.
Though his lightning was purple, a special kind of lightning, as for the spell 'thunderclap', it's a lightning-type spell that manipulates the weather."
She explained, holding a mini-sized book in her hand, it was the same one she had been reading when they were sitting inside the room.
Kenta's eyes narrowed as he gazed at the book in her hand before thinking about what he had just heard.
A spell of the past. Huh, no wonder the books hardly had any useful information about it, I guess not all books contain all the records of this so-called 'God of war', if that spell really is a spell to manipulate the weather, then...
Suddenly, a mysterious light shone in his pupils as he finally understood the meaning of her words implied.
"This... there is a chance my spell actually worked, but, instead of firing a projectile, it instead manipulated the weather?"
"Yup, why don't we take a look?"
Lauren suggested while casually ignoring the many gazes they received from those present inside the room. In the left corner of the wall, there is a glass window with two white, exquisite-looking curtains hanging over it.
Without uttering a word, Lauren swiftly made her way over there as her long, wavy blue hair swayed gently behind her back. Kenta slowly followed behind her with a face that lacked any kind of expression.
And with a graceful motion, Lauren moved the curtains to the side and the outside of the building reflected into the eyes of those inside.
She then opened the glass windows to allow everyone to hear what was happening on the outside.
The once blue sky was completely covered with dark clouds, and not a trace of sunlight could be seen there, as though the concept of light didn't exist. The sound of roaring thunder could be heard clearly as purple lightning flickered occasionally.
"This...?"
Kenta looked completely dumbfounded as he saw the purple lightning flickering wildly in the dark coloured clouds. It was as if the very gods were raging about in the sky.
"Impossible! There is no way a single person could have enough magical power capable of using this kind of spell; it would take the effort of at least five people to do such a thing!"
An elderly man wearing mage clothing suddenly exclaimed as he stared into the sky. Everyone else also nodded their heads as they looked at the purple lightning raining down from the cloudy sky.
"L-Lady Lauren, surely you are mistaken, there is no way a single individual could use a spell of that magnitude."
"Oh, could it be you are doubting me, Sir Kito?"
Lauren asked as she raised an eyebrow, Kito swallowed his saliva as he stared into her deep blue eyes that shone even brighter than the blue skies
What he says was undoubtedly the truth. Humans do not have much magical power when compared to other species; there is an exception to everything. Lauren's glossy pink lip was raised upwards as she said with absolute confidence.
"I'm already aware of what you're talking about, but just after Sir Kenta had finished casting his spell, I suddenly sensed the changes in the sky. I also sensed a lot of magical power coming from the outside. Could it be that you're so weak that you weren't even able to sense something so obvious, Sir Kito?"
Lauren asked. Kito's body flinched as he received her gaze, and beads of sweat appeared on his temple as he tried to find the right words to say.
"N-no pl-Please forgive my inadequateness, lady Lauren."
Kito lowered his head as his body trembled. Everyone watched on with different gazes; some had expressions filled with shock, while others had expressions filled with annoyance. Kenta looked blankly at Lauren's back, unable to understand what was happening.
After scolding Kito, Lauren gently turned to Kenta and showed a friendly smile as she closed the distance between them.
"Now then, Kenta, could you try using another spell right now? I already know what you can do, but these ignorant people here seem to doubt your capabilities."
Lauren said as she glanced at the people still inside the room. Tony was glaring daggers at Kenta after what had happened to him, but Lauren paid no mind to him as though he wasn't worth her time.
"I don't mind. Why are you even doing this in the first place? After all, you have already passed the exams, didn't you? There is no reason to help a mere commoner like me, is there?"
Kenta asked her as he looked at her with questioning eyes, towards such gazed Lauren simply placed a finger on her cheek as she said with a puzzled face.
"Is it wrong to help someone who is being treated unfairly? My father is the ruler of this city; whatever happens here will reflect on my family, and so, I don't want unfavourable rumours to spread that we acted in bias towards our comers because he was a commoner, that would only paint a bad light on our town."
She said simply. But Kenta's suspicious eyes hadn't changed in the slightest as he observed her expression before he finally sighed. However, when Kito heard her words, his face lost most of its colour. Spreading such rumours would indeed be unfavourable, as it would reflect poorly on those governing the city. The mayor could easily release him from his own position or, at worst, punish him for allowing such rumours to start in the first place. He gritted his teeth as he secretly cursed his own thoughtlessness.
"Fine... I will at least believe your words; I will repay this favour someday."
He said in a serious tone.
"Huh? Wait, you don't have to—"
"I said I will repay this favour."
Lauren hurriedly tried to explain that he didn't need to do such a thing before Kenta completely cut her off and walked away.
Seeing that a small sigh escapes her mouth as she slumps her shoulder.
He seems to be the type of person who hates to owe favours to others, Lauren thought, as she watched the retreating figure of Kenta.
Under the many gazes of those present, Kenta head back towards the centre of the room and stops five feet in front of the dolls used for target practice.
"By the way, do you by any chance know of any other spell besides thunderclap?"
Lauren inquired curiously. At that, Kenta shook his head uncomfortably.
"I see...hmm, how about thunder spear? That's one of the basic lightning spells."
She suddenly suggested. Kenta didn't say anything else as he raised his arm outwards and controlled the magical power inside his body.
"Thunder spear!"
A magic formation appeared before his palm, as electricity flickered around his body and gathered at the centre of his palm before quickly condensing, taking the form of a giant spear. At that, a small smile tugged on Lauren's lips as she observed the spear hovering in midair.
"Go!"
Swoosh!
At Kenta's signal, the spear shot forward like a bullet, drawing a purple arc behind it as it travelled at blinding speed before clashing against the doll.
Boom!
A loud explosion sounded as the body of the doll was destroyed by the lightning spear. On the white walls behind it, a crater of roughly 10 meters in diameter was formed. Seeing this, Lauren's ocean blue coloured eyes widened slightly as she observed the wall.
'Interesting! his spell was able to destroy the protective magic formation.'
She thought in surprise. It wasn't just her; everyone else inside the room also looked at the damaged wall incredulously.
If it had come in contact with the human body, then it would definitely cause quite the damage. Just thinking about it caused everyone to swallow their breath.
"Well, Sir Kito, I do believe that was a perfect score, don't you agree?"
She turned to Kito, who still had a shocked expression on his face and showed an amicable smile.