Hey guys MT here!

How are all of you doing?! I don't know why but I am really pumped right now!

Anyways, I hope you like this week's chapter! It has an interesting development and explanations at some points in the chapter so be sure to pay attention!

Anyways ENJOY!

Edited 11/5/14

Chapter 8

The next day at the Tristain Castle…

"What?! The new Void mage to replace King Joseph broke into your house?" shouted Henrietta in shock after Louise had explained the situation.

"Yes. It's too dangerous to stay in our mansion right now. We will need to stay here. The new mage user, Ivarod, wouldn't dare attack the castle. It would be too big," said Louise.

"Is Saito alright?" asked Agnes who was standing in the background.

"Yes. Ivarod said he wanted to 'play' with us so he didn't do anything," explained Louise.

"This is troubling. As far as we know, none of our allies have discovered any Void users. He also seems to be more politically powerful if he does have the title 'Lord.' Mr. Baker, can you please inform the communication room to inform all of our allies to be on the lookout for a new Void mage," ordered Henrietta.

"Yes, my Lady," said Mr. Baker before leaving the room.

"Don't worry, Louise, we'll figure this out and protect you and Saito from harm," said Henrietta, reassuringly, as she put her hands on Louise's shoulders and stared at her with determined eyes.

"Thank you, Princess," said Louise in an honored voice as she got up and bowed.

"Are you going to check on Saito?" asked Henrietta.

"Yes, the doctors said he should be waking up soon," said Louise before leaving to visit Saito's room.

Louise walked into Saito's room to find Saito sitting up and wincing at the pain in his shoulder.

"Saito!" shouted Louise in shock before running over to him.

"Oh…hi, Louise…" said Saito, weakly. He still wasn't up to full strength and didn't have a lot of energy, mostly due to his blood loss.

"Saito, how are you feeling? Are you in pain? Do you feel faint?" asked Louise, shooting out question after question.

"I feel okay, just a little tired. My shoulder is still pretty sore, too," said Saito as Louise helped him sit up and get comfortable.

"The doctors said it would be a couple more days until your shoulder is healed but you would still be tired since you lost a lot of blood," explained Louise.

"That's good. Also, are you alright? I was half conscious when that Ivarod guy came to our room," said Saito.

"I should have known you were listening. Yes I'm okay but he said he plans on taking over the world," said Louise.

"Not much different than every other villain," said Saito, lightly chuckling.

"Haha that's true," said Louise. Louise paused for a moment before sitting on the bed and wrapping her arms around Saito.

"Louise?" said Saito, a bit confused.

"Saito…I was so scared when I heard you shout after you were attacked. I was half expecting them to have killed you while you were sleeping…" began Louise as she clutched Saito and began to breakdown. "I was so scared when I saw that hooded figure try to kill you. I don't know what I would have done…if we hadn't gotten there in time."

Louise began to sob into Saito's chest as the thought entangled her mind and he wrapped his arm around her and held her as tightly as he could as she cried into him. He frowned and thought about it before speaking.

"I won't die, Louise. I won't leave you alone here," said Saito. Louise pushed off of him enough to see his face and, with tears streaming down her face, she kissed him lightly. He kissed her back and they remained like that, kissing on an off, for awhile.

"Saito…umm…there's something I needed to talk to you about," said Louise, nervously.

"What is it, love?" said Saito who had a bit more color after all that kissing.

"The one who tried to kill you…I'm not completely sure, but he sounded a lot like…Toriyama…" said Louise, trying to be delicate about saying such an obviously disconcerting thing. The new color in Saito's face now drained out after he heard this.

"Huh? T-Toriyama? I think you're mistaken, Louise. Toriyama is too good a guy to do something like that. Plus how would he have gotten to Halkeginia?" said Saito.

"Well that's the thing. I talked to the others who were there, and they did notice some glowing runes on his forehead, so there is a possibility that whoever that was, was probably a Void familiar, and that was confirmed by Ivarod when he showed up," explained Louise.

"Look if you really need to confirm it we can go to visit and you can talk to him yourself, okay?" said Saito.

"Okay," said Louise, a bit sad because she felt like she angered Saito.

Three days later…

"Ah~ It feels so good to be able to move my arm again with almost no pain," said Saito as he rolled his shoulder in circles.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Saito," said Henrietta, a bit smile stretched across her face. "So you two are going to Saito's world today?"

"Yes, we will be back in several hours, though," said Louise.

"Alright, I wish you two safety on your trip," said Henrietta.

Louise opened up a portal and she and Saito walked through it, ending up in front of Saito's house.

"Mom, I'm back!" shouted Saito as he entered the door. Saito's parents gave him a spare key for when he decided to come over.

"Saito? Is that you?" asked Aki before running towards the door. Aki hugged her son, tightly, happy that he had come back so soon.

"Hey, Mom," began Saito. "Do you mind calling Toriyama for me? We needed to talk to him."

"Oh, alright," said Aki before rushing off.

Aki came back several minutes later and told the two that Toriyama was on his way over and they went out front to wait for him. Toriyama didn't live far so he could walk to Saito's house in several minutes.

After awhile of talking to his mother, Saito finally saw Toriyama walking over to them.

"Saito! What's up, man?" said Toriyama as he walked towards them. Aki walked inside upon seeing him to allow the three to talk alone.

"What's up, Toriyama?" said Saito before they high fived each other.

"So, man, what brings you to our world?" said Toriyama, a bit confused to their sudden appearance.

"Well Louise and I got attacked at our house in Halkeginia, and she says that when she heard him talking, he sounded a lot like you. I came so that she could talk to you and clear up this misunderstanding," said Saito, nonchalantly. Toriyama paused for a moment with eyes squinted and Saito tilted his head in confusion.

"Ahaha your wife really needs to learn to differentiate. Plus how could I have gotten to your world?" said Toriyama, his goofy face back to normal.

"That's what Saito said, too. I guess there really isn't any way you could have done it," said Louise, feeling a bit defeated.

"Well if that was all, I really need to go. I have baseball practice," said Toriyama before waving to them and running off in the direction he came.

"Master, I was approached by the Octorus. Apparently she has surmised suspicions of me from when she heard my voice during my last attempt on Gandalfr's life," said the hooded familiar.

"It's alright, my familiar. I have already revealed myself so I guess it seems that it is time for you to reveal yourself as well," said Ivarod.

"Master?! You revealed yourself to them?! Are you alright?" said the hooded familiar in shock.

"Yes, yes. That girl had no intention of attacking me because she wasn't sure what kind of powers I had and didn't want to risk her beloved. She's quite the intelligent one, that Octorus," said Ivarod.

"Master, may I ask you something?" asked the hooded familiar.

"Why of course, young one. Ask away," said Ivarod, casually.

"Master, although you call her the Octorus, I still have yet to understand why. No one else seems to call her that," said the hooded familiar.

"Ah, seems I neglected to inform you. You see the name 'Octorus' is the name of her Void spirit. Void mage only have their powers because they have a nature spirit inside them that transforms their normal magical energy into one suitable for Void magic. My spirit's name is Supidus, that elf girl's spirit is known as Kokorus, and the one that was inside of the previous Pope was known as Naorus. These spirits watch over the world and create new Void mage in order to preserve the balance of the world," explained Ivarod.

"Amazing, my Lord. To be so knowledgeable about these things which many are unaware of," said the hooded familiar in awe.

"Well I have always been one for knowledge. Ever since I received by powers I have used them to read more books. Currently I have read somewhere in the tens of thousands," said Ivarod with a proud tone. The hooded familiar merely kneeled in awe and they were interrupted by someone barging in.

"My Lord! The Council has called for you! It seems that Albion has given birth to the Void Mage which replaced the late Pope!" shouted the servant as he entered the throne room.

"What?! My child, it seems I must leave you. I will inform you of the situation afterwards. You may need to go out so please prepare yourself," said Ivarod as he leapt up from his throne and began to speed walk to the doors.

"Yes, my Lord, I will await your orders in my chamber," said the hooded familiar as he bowed and watched Ivarod leave the room.

"Agnes, can I talk to you?" asked Saito after catching Agnes walking through the halls of the castle.

"What is it, Saito? I need to go and check on the squad and make sure they are keeping up with their training, so make it quick," said Agnes, annoyed that she was stopped when she was in a rush.

"Sorry, but I wanted to talk about upgrading Halkeginia's weapons," said Saito.

"Go on," said Agnes, her attention now caught.

"Well, I was thinking about teaming up with Colbert-sensei and getting some scientists from Halkeginia to start studying some of the concepts that I learned from my world and have engineers recreate them. I can't help this nagging feeling that something big is coming and I want to make sure we're ready," explained Saito.

"Hm…" began Agnes as she pondered this idea. "It is plausible, and the strength of this new enemy and a possibly unknown enemy country could account for a need of increased weapon technology. Alright, Saito, I'll speak to Her Majesty about it and we will let you know later on."

"Alright! Thanks Agnes!" said Saito, a bit pumped that his idea was taken so easily.

We will become stronger so that nothing like the Battle with the Ancient Dragon happens again, though Saito as he walked over to go and study up on the book that was about Derf's new body.

"What?! Albion discovered a new Void mage?!" shouted Henrietta. "Contact them, immediately, and tell them to send them over here! If the enemy discovers this first they may beat us to them!"

"Yes, my Lady," said the servant before they ran out of her chamber.

"Vittorio," began Henrietta as she spoke to herself. "I won't let the enemy use your powers for evil. I will protect them."

So?

Not expecting that were you?

Better weapons, a new Void Mage, Nature Spirits! What could be stirring up in Halkeginia!

Anyways until next time...byeee :D