Phantasia: The Princess Knight

Alicia watched as Blake skillfully skinned the magma lion and then chopped up its meat into easily movable chunks. He then took out a small purple pouch out and stuffed all the meat and skin into the small pouch. Alicia stared at the pouch in a daze. She had never seen such a thing before. She wondered how such a small pouch had room to fit all those things! Seeing her questioning gaze made Blake laugh. "This is a space pouch. It uses time and space magic to create a small space within it. It can not carry anything with intelligence but anything else will go inside."

Blake then thought for a minute and asked: "Do you know how to read?"

Alicia blushed, now that she was asked she realized she had no idea what the writing system was. She knew now that this place had magic and it was an era where knights roamed the land. There was no way this place could be earth.

Blake saw the little girl blush and knew right away that she did not know how to read or write. "If that is the case then I will give you a few books as well as a book on beginners magic. To pass the squires test you need to be able to cast advanced level beginner magic and know advanced beginner sword techniques. Normally these things are taught at a young age. And swordsmanship is something learned through sweat and blood and can not be learned from reading. But I think you have the talent to do so as long as you work hard. Give me your hand."

Blake reached out and grabbed Alicia's hand, he held two fingers on her pulse and went silent. Alicia felt like her heart would jump out of her chest. She had never been close with boys before and this was the first time one had ever held her hand. Even if it wasn't in an intimate way. Her cheeks blushed but she did not pull her hand away. Instead, she counted the calluses on Blake's hand. She could tell that he had put a lot of work into his swordsmanship. The rougher one's hands were the more blood, sweat, and tears they put into their training.

After a few moments, Blake released her hand: "You have a high aptitude for magic. The books for learning how to read and write have magic enchanted into them that will play the sound of each word and letter when you press your finger on the letter or word within the book and say 'Vocalize'. With all of this if you practice diligently you should have a chance to pass the squires test in three years. As for the space pouch, opening it will bring a picture of all the items within it into your mind. From there focus on the item you want and then think of the words 'take out' and it will appear in your hand or you can think of the words 'put in' while touching an item and as long as it is not intelligent and the space pouch has room it will be pulled into the pouch. I am afraid I can not do much more than this."

Blake really had nothing else he could give her that would be helpful. But just before he was about to hand over the pouch with all the things inside he paused and retracted his hand. "I forgot one more thing. There is no water source for about five days' time from here. Take this flask. It has a water enchant on the inside. So it will never run out of water. I have two of them so take this one. Alright, this is it. I wish you luck. I hope to see you in three years."

Alicia reached out her hand and accepted the space pouch from Blake. She held it tightly to her chest as if it was a precious treasure. "Take care now!" Not even waiting for Alicia to give a word of thanks Blake started to run off.

Alicia watched the retreating back of the young boy with her cheeks flushed. She ran forward a few steps. She bit her lower lip and then cupped her hands over her mouth before yelling: "Sir Blake thank you! I promise to meet you again in three years!"

This was her promise not to only Blake by but to herself as well. She must survive for the next three years no matter what! She will use this promise she made with Blake as her driving force to push through anything! Blake did not turn around but the corners of his lips did rise upwards. He raised his hand into the air and waved as he continued to run off into the distance. Alicia did not move from her spot until Blake was completely out of sight. She burned his back view and face into her mind reminding herself that she would one day meet this young boy again and personally thank him and return to him all the things he had given her on this day.

Alicia sat down and put her short sword down before quickly opening the space pouch. An image of all the items inside the pouch really did appear in her mind. She focused on the flask from within and said: "Take out!". It immediately appeared in her hand. She then said: "Put in!" the flask this time disappeared and could be detected in the pouch once more. This really entertained Alicia since this was her first time experiencing such a thing as magic. Alicia was only satisfied until she did this a few more times before taking out the book that will help her read and write the language of this world. She guessed it was a new world since earth never had any record of real magic ever existing.

The book to learn how to read and write was surprisingly thick. Alicia looked at the cover that had a bunch of strange symbols embedded into it and traced her fingers over them. A smile spread across her face. Just looking at this book reminded her of Blake. She put the book back into her space pouch and picked up the sword at her side before standing back up. "I need to find a place to sleep for the night. I had only been in the forest for a day and I was almost killed. But this place is not bad. It can help me hone my sword skills in this new world while I learn to use magic spells as well. I have enough meat to last a while but I still need to eat vegetables as well. But first, I need to make a roof for my head before it gets dark! I will pick up when I can along the way."