"What's up with them?" Asked Vanye with furrowed brows as she glanced between Sarabi and Nala, both sitting on either side of Alex.
"Stuff… Stuff happened." Replied Lazuli blandly as she glanced at Vanye before shifting her focus to Alexander with an indifferent expression.
"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Asked Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he closed his space pouch before standing up, prompting the two sisters to do the same.
Glancing at Vanye and Lazuli, they both nodded before approaching, prompting me to shift my focus to Vanimo, who quickly hiked his pants up while following Talis.
"Y-Yes!" Said Vanimo quickly with a slight blush as he tied his pants and put on his shirt while Talis approached the group, standing beside Lazuli.
"You reek." "Hmm, all I did was have sex; how can I stink?" Remarked Vanye and Talis, respectively, as the former scrunched her face in disgust while the latter sniffed herself before tilting her head in confusion.
"Alright, grab each other's hands, I'm going to use [Mass Teleport]." Said Alexander as he eyed everyone before grabbing Sarabi and Nala's hands.
Giving Lazuli an apologetic look, she seemed to sympathize with my situation enough not to make a fuss as she grabbed Sarabi's hand while Vanye grabbed her hand. Nala hesitantly grabbed Vanimo's hand, who then grabbed Talis's wing, prompting her to complete the circle by grabbing Vanye's prosthetic hand.
Since I would be teleporting so many people, we wouldn't get very far, and it would require multiple trips to cover three days' worth of distance, but it should still be much faster than walking. It only took me a little less than two hours to return by myself, so with six extra people, I'm expecting roughly six times the length, so about half a day.
'That would be phenomenal if true, but let's see how the first teleport feels.' Thought Alexander lightly as he intensely focused while everyone else silently waited for him.
After a few moments, I channeled my mana through everyone's arms before using [Mass Teleport], prompting space around us to bend, contract, stretch, and squeeze before everything suddenly returned to normal. Opening my eyes, I clutched my rapidly beating heart and gasped for breath as I lowered myself to the ground while Nala and Sarabi both gave me looks of concern.
"Alex, are you okay?" Asked Nala anxiously as she held Alexander's arm while Sarabi supported his back, causing him to chuckle while nodding.
"Y-Yes, I'm fine. N-Not the first time I've exhausted all my mana, so I-I'm quite used to it; t-the sensation is just terrible, that's all." Replied Alexander with a faint smile while lying on the ground, prompting Nala and Sarabi to tend to him despite his words.
Letting Sarabi and Nala do as they please, I focused on meditating to further quicken refilling my mana reserves, which surprisingly leveled up, though it was a welcome one, so I wasn't complaining.
Given my decent-sized mana pool, it took about an hour for me to completely refill my mana, which was faster than previous, by roughly eight to ten minutes, so that level-up to [Meditation] helped.
"Hey, Alex, sorry for interrupting, but what did you do with those sisters? They hated being around me yesterday, but now I can converse with them." Asked Vanimo curiously as he squatted beside Alexander while gazing at Nala and Sarabi, both leaning against each other.
"Ah, hehe, um, well, it's a bit of a weird method… I'll tell you another time. C'mon, let's get ready; I've refilled my mana." Replied Alexander lightly with a wry expression as he awkwardly rubbed his head and glanced at Vanimo while standing up, causing him to raise an eyebrow before nodding.
Once we all held hands, we teleported once more, traveling along the same path Jasmine and I had taken; while my math was a bit off, it only took us about fourteen hours before we arrived at the edge of the Crestfallen Kingdom, something that would've taken well over a week given our two extra passengers.
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"W-Were here, I-I think." Said Alexander lightly as he clutched his heart and faintly smiled while gasping for breath before plopping onto the ground.
'Man, I freaking love space mana.' Mused Alexander with a large smile as he stared into the evening sky, only for him to hear the sound of a sword unsheathing.
"Who are you?" Asked Vanye sternly as she unsheathed her sword and pointed it at an approaching man dressed in a blue gown and large hat, wielding a staff with a green gem at the center.
"Hmm, dark skin, large and handsome man, purple eyes… You match the description Her Highness gave. You must be Alexander Vestalis, correct?" Asked the man lightly with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Alexander, who was lying on the ground with a confused expression.
"Um, Yes. I-Is Jasmine okay?" Asked Alexander with a nod as he slowly sat upright while gesturing for Vanye to stand-down, causing her to click her tongue before sheathing her sword.
"She is doing well, Sir Alexander. I'd also like to personally thank you for protecting her; she described what happened and how you escorted her to the Crestfallen Kingdom for three days." Stated the man with a nod as he glanced at Alexander with a grateful expression before deeply bowing, causing him to wryly chuckle.
"However, no matter how close you've become with Her Highness, she is still a Princess. Calling her without an honorific is rude." Added the man with a slight frown as he glanced at Alexander, who lightly nodded.
"Is Princess Jasmine fine?" "That is acceptable, so long as you respect her properly, Sir Alexander." Remarked Alexander and the man, respectively, as the former curiously glanced at the latter, who nodded faintly.
"Um, so who are you?" Asked Alexander as he slowly stood up with Vanimo's assistance, causing Nala and Sarabi to growl softly.
"Jordan. I'm the Archmage of the Crestfallen Kingdom… His Majesty, the King, has stationed me to welcome the man who saved his daughter." Replied Jordan lightly as he glanced at Alexander, who nodded before wryly smiling.
"Well, I greatly appreciate it, but this is quite a place to welcome someone. We're still quite far from the Kingdom's Capital City." Remarked Alexander as he looked at Jordan, who nodded before reaching into his space pouch, only to grab a key, confusing everyone.
"Unlike you, I do not have the affinity for space mana, so I came prepared instead." Said Jordan with a faint smile as he infused his mana into the key, causing it to glow brightly.
As if he were using it to unlock a door, Jordan pushed it into the air and twisted, causing an intensely bright light to blind most of us, though once it receded and we were finally able to see again, our eyes widened when we saw a doorway in the middle of space.
"Come… I've already sent word of your arrival; their Majesties and Her Highness are waiting for you." Stated Jordan lightly as he glanced at Alexander before stepping through the doorway, akin to a portal, causing everyone to glance at him.
"After you, Alex, you are the man of the hour, after all." Said Vanimo with a faint smirk as he gently pushed Alex towards the door, causing him to sigh.
"Haa, I wish I were given a few minutes to regain some of my mana at least." Muttered Alexander softly as he took a moment to regain his composure before stepping through the portal.
I don't know why, but I was expecting some kind of welcoming party, but nope, which I was fine with; stepping onto the grassy ground, I looked around, noticing a large fountain in the middle, the paved walkway, large and trimmed hedges, and beautiful gardens. However, directly after that, the massive palace caught my eye, causing me to whistle in awe as I gazed at the palace; it was my second time seeing a palace, so I was a bit more prepared, but I was still shocked.
"Woah, this is even bigger than the Dryad's Palace." Muttered Alexander lightly as he gazed at the palace, only to glance behind him when he heard everyone step through.
"Woah! This is freaking crazy!" Stated Vanimo with widened eyes as he looked at the castle before glancing at Vanye and Talis.
"This is… Something." Muttered Vanye softy as she gazed at the castle with bated breaths, stunned by its splendor.
"Eh. It's cool, I guess." Said Talis lightly as she looked at the castle with mild interest before shrugging her shoulders, causing Vanimo to shake her.
"It is beautiful." Said Lazuli with a nod as she stood beside Alexander, who nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you could say that again. Where is Sarabi and Nala?" Remarked Alexander with a nod as he glanced at Lazuli before looking behind him, only to see the two sisters unconsciously lying on the ground.
"Eh, did they really fall faint from the sight alone? Well, I suppose they've lived a rough life." Asked Alexander in surprise with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Sarabi and Nala before sighing and picking them up.
Putting the sisters over my shoulders, I turned and glanced at Jordan, who was patiently waiting for us in the distance near the palace.
"Ah, sorry about that, Jordan." "Oh, not at all; you're fine." Said Alexander and Jordan, respectively, as the former wryly smiled while the latter gently shook his head.
"However, before any meeting with their Majesties and Her Highness is to take place, a bath is in order." Added Jordan firmly as he glanced at the group, causing everyone except Talis to slightly blush in embarrassment.