The crisp morning air glided against Elianna's ivory skin as she ran as fast as possible. She didn't want to tire herself out; however, this felt like the most important run of her life. She remembered to concentrate on her footwork and breathing to keep herself steady. Hearing the sound of footfalls behind her, Elianna knew they were catching up and pushed herself harder.

  "That was so cheating!"

  Elianna's lips curved as she looked over her shoulder, and she saw Nicholas running behind her and closing in. She loved how his medium-length blonde hair flew in the wind, not to mention the way the sun made his eyes glimmer and how he looked in his tight blue tank top and exercise shorts, which made her stomach flutter.

  Elianna looked forward and giggled, "I don't know what you mean!"

  "Oh, uh huh!" Nicholas yelled sarcastically, now almost parallel with her. "So that patch of ice came out of nowhere, huh?"

  Elianna couldn't stop herself from laughing, so she slowed her pace a little, giving Nicholas the opportunity to move in front of her. She remembered how they were running competitively, and Nicholas had been hot on her trail the entire time. So, deciding to be a little tricky, she pushed ice magic through her foot and created a patch of ice behind her. The next thing she knew, she heard Nicholas yelp, and she looked behind her just in time to see Nicholas humorously fall.

  Composing herself and regaining her footing, Elianna caught back up to Nicholas, running beside him. She innocently grinned, "Maybe. It is a little chilly this morning."

  "Not chilly enough for ice," Nicholas retorted flatly, giving her a deadpan look. He smirked as he said, "I think you just wanted to gain an advantage to win this competition."

  Elianna grinned competitively, thinking about the competition they were in the middle of. The competition was to see who could run a two-mile faster. To make it fair, Elianna had agreed not to augment herself. The competition came to fruition yesterday while Elianna and her family were hanging out at Nicholas' place. Nicholas and Elianna had been swimming together, and they soon decided to see who the faster swimmer was. In the end, Elianna had won four out of four times. So, Nicholas decided on a running competition, which Elianna gladly accepted.

  "Oh, Nicholas," Elianna began, giving Nicholas a competitive smile. "I don't need tricks to beat you. We both know I'm going to win."

  "We'll see," Nicholas said with a smirk. "We're almost to the end!"

  Elianna's head snapped forward, seeing they were approaching the headquarters building. Standing in front of the building were Mathew and Lucian, who were both staring intently at the pocket watches in their hands. Mathew looked up and pointed toward Nicholas and Elianna, saying something. Lucian looked up from his pocketwatch, looking at Mathew, before looking toward where Mathew was pointing.

  "Come on, Elianna!" Lucian yelled loudly. "You got this!"

  "Nicholas!!" Mathew yelled even louder. "If you lose, you will owe me three miles tomorrow!"

  Elianna and Nicholas shared a competitive, narrowed gaze before looking forward and sprinting as fast as possible. Elianna and Nicholas decided to forgo their breathing techniques, as they were now in the last stretch of their competition. Mathew and Lucian began yelling loudly, encouraging them to run faster and win. Elianna's eyes were narrowed, locked on Mathew and Lucian, who stood apart, looking at each other, marking the finish line. However, Elianna's eyes widened in horror as she observed Nicholas begin to move ahead of her.

  Nicholas yelled loudly as he pushed himself harder than before, closing in on the finish line. He gritted his teeth as his lungs and legs felt like they were on fire. But he knew this was it, and if he lost, he would never hear the end of it from Elianna. With one final push, Nicholas gave it everything he had and rushed forward, passing the finish line a few seconds before Elianna.

  Nicholas raised his arms into the arm victoriously, slowing himself to a walk, and breathed heavily.

  Elianna also slowed down to a walk before placing her hands on her hips and looking toward the sky in despair while breathing heavily, knowing she had just lost.

  "Ha!" Mathew yelled proudly. He looked at Lucian with a smirk, "Nick ran that in eleven minutes and thirteen seconds."

  "Yes, yes," Lucian sighed, storing his pocket watch into his spatial ring. "Congratulations to Nicholas."

  Catching her breath, Elianna curiously looked at her father, "W-What was my run t-time?"

  Lucian smiled at his daughter, "Eleven minutes, eighteen seconds. You did well, Munchkin."

  Elianna sighed and looked down, "I still lost, though."

  Lucian looked at his daughter sympathetically, knowing how competitive she could be. She would be thinking about this loss for a while, and he was trying to think of a way to cheer her up.

  "But did you have fun?" Nicholas asked.

  Elianna looked behind her and saw Nicholas approaching her with a friendly smile. Elianna raised a brow, "Huh?"

  Nicholas chuckled, crossed his arms, and shrugged, "Win or lose, all that matters is that we had fun."

  Elianna's eyes suspiciously narrowed on Nicholas, "So, if you lost, you would just be happy you had fun?"

  Nicholas smiled and nodded, "I mean, sure, I would be a little down about it." He gestured to her, "But at least you and I got to have fun together."

  Elianna's expression relaxed, and her lips curved into a smile, "I guess that's true." She giggled slightly, "It was especially fun when I made you slip on that ice."

  Nicholas' eyes widened, and he pointed at her, "See! I knew it was you!"

  Elianna broke into laughter, waving away Nicholas as he playfully yelled at her. All the while, Lucian and Mathew smiled warmly at the two of them.

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  Lucian's smile faded as he heard Mathew clear his throat. He looked to his left, seeing Mathew approach him, and Lucian asked, "Yes?"

  Mathew casually held out his credit keeper to Lucian, "I believe you owe me something."

  Lucian grumbled before taking his credit keeper out of his spatial ring and tapped it against Mathew's. There was a flash of light as Lucian transferred credits to Mathew, and Lucian sighed, "There."

  Mathew smiled contently, "Thank you."

  "Hey!" Elianna yelled loudly.

  Mathew and Lucian looked toward Elianna and Nicholas, seeing they were glaring at them with their arms crossed.

  "Were you two betting on us?" Nicholas asked, raising a brow.

  Lucian and Mathew quickly put their credit keepers away and looked to the side as they simultaneously and innocently said, "No."

  Elianna sighed and looked down, "Figures." She huffed as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her forearm, feeling hot despite the cool air around her. Deciding to test out her new exercise shirt, she pushed mana into it. Her eyes widened in pleasant surprise as the effect was immediate. The entire shirt began to feel cold, and she hummed happily. "Oh, this shirt works great."

  Nicholas pried his narrowed gaze away from his uncle, and he looked at Elianna. His eyes widened slightly, and his face burned heavily. He watched as Elianna looked up, pushing her ponytail out of the way as she rubbed the back of her neck. His eyes traced her down, seeing how her black crop top and short athletic shorts hugged her petite hourglass frame nicely, accenting her breasts and rear. His eyes lingered on her well-endowed chest, watching it rise and fall, before moving to her exposed flat stomach, then to her legs, seeing her left leg forward and slightly bent at the knee.

  "You need to get yourself one of these," Elianna said in a relaxed tone and looked at Nicholas. Elianna noticed Nicholas' reddened cheeks, and his gaze shot to hers. His blush depended, and he quickly averted his gaze. Elianna looked at him curiously, "Are you okay?"

  Nicholas cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes, I'm fine." He slowly looked at her and smiled, "I just feel hot from running."

  Elianna returned his smile and gestured to her shirt, "That's why you need one of these."

  Nicholas kept his eyes locked on hers, refusing to look down, "Yeah? Maybe I'll look into gett-"

  The sound of a distant explosion caught everyone's attention. The entire area around them fell quiet as Elianna, Nicholas, Mathew, and Lucian looked toward the sound. All the knights and mages who had been training stilled, looking toward the distant sound.

  "What the heck was that?" Nicholas asked, confused.

  Mathew shushed Nicholas as he and Lucian stared intently into the distance. Several more explosions sounded off from the same area, and a few moments later, smoke began rising into the air.

  "Is that smoke?" Elianna asked, confused.

  "That's the northern gate!" Mathew yelled, alarmed. Another series of explosions sounded off from the south, and the four of them whipped their heads in that direction. "And the southern gate!" More explosions sounded off in the east and the west, and smoke began rising in the air.

  The doors to the headquarters building burst open, and the leaders of the Tri-Union City forces came pouring out, running down the steps urgently.

  "We heard the explosions from inside," Maurus said, his voice thick with concern.

  Matilda looked around, seeing the smoke rising, and her eyes narrowed. Her voice was dark as she said, "What is this?"

  "Attack!!!"

  Everyone looked to the sky, seeing a mage in tri-union mage apparel quickly descending from the sky. He landed in front of the command staff, looking alarmed.

  "Tri-Union City is under attack!" The mage yelled.

  "Where?!" Alric yelled.

  "The city gates, High Mage!" The mage responded, sounding panicked. "All four gates are under attack!"

  Lucian's eyes widened in alarm before his face contorted with conviction. His head snapped toward Matilda as he said, "Amplify my voice."

  Matilda nodded and placed her hand on his shoulder. Lucian's throat began to glow with an emerald energy as he yelled, "Attention!!"

  Elianna and Nicholas yelped as they covered their ears from Lucian's thunderous voice, which reached all corners of the garrison.

  "Tri-Union City is under attack!" Lucian yelled intensely. "All Tri-Union forces, take your designated defensive positions! This is not a drill! Now move!"

  Not even a moment later, the garrison was bustling with activity. Knights augmented themselves while the mages either levitated into the air or glided across the ground with a wind spell, all leaving the garrison area to go to their designated positions with haste.

  Seeing the smoke and the troops moving into action and hearing all the explosions, Nicholas and Elianna shared a gaze, both feeling worried. Elianna stepped closer to Nicholas, her arm pressing against his, trying to find some sort of comfort. Nicholas gently reached out and took her hand. They shared a small smile, finding slight comfort from each other's touch.

  Matilda removed her hand from Lucian's shoulder, canceling the spell. Lucian whirled toward his command staff, staring at them intensely.

  "Listen," Lucian began in all seriousness. "The attacks seem to be isolated at the gates. That's where we need to keep them. We can't let whoever is foolish enough to attack our city get through the gates. Go to either the west, south, or east gates, and check in with your company commanders on the way to ensure your troops are getting into position."

  "Sir," Mathew began, looking at Lucian. His joking demeanor was gone, replaced with his professional composure. "What about the north gate?"

  "Leave that one to Matilda and I," Lucian said.

  Everyone nodded as Lucian didn't need to explain further. Matilda was the arch-mage for a reason, and Lucian was a nine-star. Anyone would be foolish to take them on in battle.

  "Is that understood?" Lucian asked, and everyone nodded. "Good, then go!"

  The master mages began to glow with an emerald aura before they levitated into the air. They waved their hands over the knight captains, wrapping them in an emerald aura as well and lifting them into the air with them. A second later, the masters flew into the air, carrying the captains with them and heading toward the gates.

  Mathew looked at his counterpart, Charlotte, a female elven mage with mocha brown hair and gray eyes, seeing her levitate into the air with an emerald aura. "Wait, Charlotte," Mathew said before she could raise him in the air. Charlotte looked at him curiously. Mathew looked at Nicholas and Elianna worriedly, "What about them?"

  Lucian looked at Elianna and Nicholas, narrowed his eyes, and mentally cursed. He didn't want to show the two of them that he was worried. This was the first time someone had dared to attack the city, and he didn't know what would happen. The last thing he wanted was to leave Nicholas and Elianna in an empty headquarters building.

  As Lucian was thinking, he looked up and smiled with relief, seeing a solution. Freya quickly flew down and landed close to Nicholas.

  Freya looked at Nicholas and Elianna worriedly, seeing their concerned expressions, "Are you two okay?"

  Nicholas nodded, mustering a shaky smile, "We're okay."

  Elianna nodded, feeling Nicholas' grasp comfortingly tighten, "Yeah."

  "Have you contacted Celine?" Mathew asked, staring at Freya.

  Freya looked at Mathew and nodded, "Yes, she's fine. The academy is going on lockdown."

  Mathew sighed with relief, "Good. As long as the headmaster is there, the students will be safe."

  "Freya," Lucian said sternly.

  "I know," Freya said, looking at Lucian. "I'm supposed to be commanding my company." She looked at Nicholas and Elianna, "I just needed to be sure they were okay first."

  "No, I'm glad you're here," Lucian said, and Freya looked at him curiously. "Take them to the palace. They will be safe there with the royal guard unit."

  Freya nodded as she knew he was right. Right now, the royal guard unit would have the palace surrounded. The palace and the academy would be the most protected places at the moment.

  "I will," Freya said and hovered in the air with an emerald aura. She took out her wand and pointed it at Nicholas and Elianna, extending her levitate spell onto them. Nicholas and Elianna went wide-eyed as they were wrapped in an emerald aura. They yelped as they were lifted into the air and broke their handhold as they flailed at the weird sensation.

  Lucian looked at Freya seriously, "Please, keep her safe."

  Freya nodded, returning his serious expression, "I will. You have my word."

  Elianna looked at her father, feeling scared, and she spoke shakily, "D-Dad?"

  Lucian looked at Elianna and smiled, "Don't worry, Munchkin. Everything will be okay."

  Elianna opened her mouth to say something, but Freya quickly flew into the air, taking Nicholas and Elianna with her.