“He’s your … contracted Guardian?” Rania asked.

“Yes,” Elliot nodded.

​​

“So it’s not true that only the royal family can be contracted by Guardians, huh?”

“I guess it’s not that special after all, right dragon?” Luna turned to Ducis. “Tsss … and there goes the trademark of the royal family. It seems that Guardians just do whatever they like and make a contract with whomever they want – just like this doting, parent dragon”. She dissed further to agitate him.

“Well … ,” Ducis thought for a moment before he answered, “you could say that. We do, bless those whom we favor and form a contract with them”.

“Then the whole thing about the royal family’s ‘special’ bloodline is a complete hoax! If everyone finds out about this, they’ll definitely go searching for you all to gain favor and form a contract,” Luna added as she continued her dissing. “If I would’ve guessed, you only spread that rumor since it’s convenient to both parties.”

Ducis sighed. “You can think whatever you like, midget”.

As if not hearing their argument, Elliot interrupted them. “More importantly, Rania, do you know how to use magic now?”

“Huh? Oh … right. I’m not really sure”.

Elliot placed his left hand on Rania’s head. “Hmmm … it’s faint but it’s there. And it seems different than normal spiritual energy”.

“If it came from the Supreme Being, then that must be because it’s not spiritual energy but ‘holy’ energy,” Ducis explained to everyone. “Holy energy is a different form of energy since it came from the Supreme Being, as opposed to the ‘spiritual energy’ that comes from nature. Holy energy can only come from those blessed by the Most High. Normally, the priesthood or oracles have these kinds of energy since they have the sacred bloodline of priests and priestesses. One sample of this is the family of Sortis, where Clavis, the 2nd Judge, belongs to”.

“I see. Then how do they use their holy power?” Rania asked as she tilted her head.

“It’s the same as when we use spiritual energy,” Elliot answered. “You need to be able to conceive it in your mind first, then, let the energy flow from you through the surrounding or where you want it to be directed to”.

“You’re a human so it might be a bit difficult,” Ducis added, “but you can try envisioning it in your mind. Like, for example, if I want to stop time, I conceive it in my mind and conjure it”. Then suddenly, all the glowing dusts that were twinkling in the air a moment ago, suddenly stopped. Their whole surroundings seemed to have paused. After a few seconds, Ducis resumed everything and time flowed again.

“Wow! That’s so great!” Rania exclaimed. “Let me try it then.”

She closed her eyes and tried to envision magic in the way they mentioned. She tried thinking of stopping time as well, since it didn’t seem to be too dangerous compared to fire or something else.

“Hmm.. so it’s just like those role-playing games,” she thought to herself. She concentrated and focused her mind, then opened her eyes and tried to command time to stop. But …

“It’s not working,” Rania sighed. “What am I doing wrong?”

“It’s probably the affinity or experience. Time and space is a very rare and advanced magic,” Elliot responded.

“Ah, I see. Then, something more simple?”

And so they tried all sorts of magic – from fire, to ice, thunder, sand, earth, wind, nature, and many others, but to no avail. Rania kept on conceptualizing and focusing in her mind, but nothing happened. Somehow, she didn’t know how, exactly, to channel her new found power to her surroundings. Hours passed in their little practice but it was all for naught.

It was already night time when they finally gave up and decided to call it a day. They all agreed to try it again tomorrow.

Early on the next day, Rania woke up ahead of everyone and went near the Forbidden Forest to practice. It was a beautiful and peaceful morning so she thought it would help her focus. So she practiced and practiced but still, nothing was happening. Later on, Elliot and the others woke up.

“It’s still not working … What else am I missing?” Rania began to doubt herself.

As she was mulling over it, Elliot arrived. He was still half asleep and yawning since he normally sleeps till 9 in the morning, and it was still too early by that time. He noticed Rania when she got off her bed so he followed her – though he took his time since he was barely awake. He needed to walk carefully from the bedroom to the forest and paced himself really slowly, while falling asleep in every corner he encountered.

Rania noticed him and waved at him, “Good morning, Elliot! This is a rare sight, hahaha! You still have your bed hair! And you’re still wearing your sleeping robe”. She teased him.

Elliot put his right hand at the back of his neck to stretch it as he continued to yawn every other minute. His sleepy face was so adorable. When Rania pointed out his sleeping robes, he glanced at what he was wearing and got startled that he was indeed wearing it.

Rania chuckled as she watched Elliot try to remove his robes with his left eye still shut tight. He even mistook his inner shirt as part of the robe and tried taking it off as well.

“Ah! Hey! Elliot, wake up! That’s your shirt you’re pulling off now! Don’t strip here!” Rania’s face flushed red. She accidentally saw half of Elliot’s naked upper body! In her embarrassment, she covered her eyes. Unfortunately, her photographic memory was betraying her, making her remember his smooth, pale skin, and perfectly toned biceps and abdominal muscles.

A few more moments and Ducis arrived at the scene. He was horrified upon seeing what was happening – Rania, covering her face, and Elliot, with his half naked body, standing there with his eyes shut close, sleeping. In his shock, he let out a scream.

“Elliot! What are you doing?!” Ducis teleported beside Elliot in a blink of an eye and immediately covered him back with the robes he was trying to take off. “What in the world is going on here?!”

“U-uhm, I think he still needs some sleep,” Rania answered nervously, still looking away at Elliot.

Ducis sighed. “Yes, he does”.

Then, he layed Elliot down on the seats of the pavilion and covered him with a blanket. After shaking his head a few times, he apologized to Rania and explained that he always had low-blood pressure in the morning so it was always hard to wake him up, thus the reason for his habit of sleeping too much. Rania told him he didn’t need to apologize and it was okay and that she’d have him teach her magic in return instead. And so, they practiced together.

“Hmm … Ducis, maybe there’s really something missing. Don’t you have spells or enchantments that I need to say to activate the magic? Or something like that?”

“No, we don’t. Well, you could try if it helps you visualize”.

“Okay. Then … ,” she thought for a moment. “Okay, I’ll try the same as yesterday”.

Rania lifted her left arm in the air and said in a loud voice, “Time, Stop!”

As she commanded, time DID stop …

And not just in the Forbidden Forest …

But the whole planet!