541 Titania
After spending a few moments with Sofia, Cain headed toward the maze. It was high time he met Titania. The moment he walked in, he could in through the blue gate. He felt a powerful presence. It was that of a pixie…something higher, more refined, and magnificent, a fey spirit.
He walked while keeping his magic completely hidden, firstly to not intoxicate Mei’s pixies and to not give away his cards to the snotty queen as Mei described her. The moment he walked into the grove he saw one of Mei’s pixies sitting beside the water.
“What are you doing?” He asked and the pixie jumped up surprised, as creatures, they relied too much on their magic sense that she didn’t feel him when he was hiding his magic.
“Lord Cain, how is that…sorry I didn’t feel your presence…” She dropped the water jug and flew toward him surprised.
Cain smiled, lifting the small jug and giving it to her. “Don’t mind me, I came here to see the fabled Titania, is she at the palace?”
The pixie nodded energetically, “I was actually gathering water for the royal kitchen, my lord, and we’re severely short-handed with her refusing most dishes.” The pixie replied with a sore face.
“You work there?” Cain asked with a hint of surprise.
“I’m but a humble servant, can’t even use magic to carry the water you see?” she lifted the jug up. Not all pixies were those talented mages, like humans; some had talent and others were not, but they were mostly experts at magic.
“Shall I help you? I happened you know a spell or two that I learned from a snobby laughing midget.” Cain smiled lifting his finger up. A large chunk of water formed, about enough to fill a barrel. To pixies that were akin to a small pool.
“You must jest, we all know how much of a talented mage you are. Put all of us together and won’t amount to a mushroom.” She smiled staring at the massive amount of water. “But Lord Cain, I can’t trouble you with me. You have a queen to entertain, probably two counting our Mei.” She waved her hand.
“We’re on the same way, I will carry this water with you so you can get the food done quicker.” Cain smiled.
Alongside the pixie, he walked toward the inner grove while keeping his magic as low as he could. He didn’t want to alert anyone, especially Titania, he wanted to see how she will treat a normal human.
After a while, they reached the inner grove. As Cain walked in toward the palace, he could feel Titania inside.
Inside the palace, Titania was sitting on Mei’s throne her personal guard by her side. Queen Titania was a fey, a fairy. She had slightly big elvish ears, long flowing pale golden hair, blue eyes, and a slight build. Her clothes, chiseled with golden jewelry and sapphire, symbolized her people’s prestigious craftsmanship. Her long green nails clearly indicated her sorcerous abilities, those whom humans called witches, to the pixies they were people blessed by mana. Her long and ethereal-looking wings glittered under the light as if dripping gold dust. She sat there on Mei’s throne, looking down on everyone.
Her guard was a woman, as male pixies were rarer than their wingless born. The woman had black flowing hair, a lean build, and dotted a red dress decorated with gold and amethyst. In her hand, she held a long mage staff, as, unlike their queen, she wasn’t a sorceress. Her wings had a light purple hue to them as golden dust slowly dripped from them.
Queen Titania looked through the hall window and saw Cain walking outside with the water, his heavy footsteps were clearly noticeable. “Implying the servitude of humans? You never mentioned that.” She said with a slightly annoyed voice.
Mei couldn’t look back as she was facing Titania, she had no idea who is this human she was talking about. It clearly couldn’t be Cain, she can’t sense his oppressive aura.
“He’s a talented one, just ignore his presence,” Mei replied, trying her hardest to guess in her head. Could it be Sebas? He once made his way here, she could never let Titania harm him.
After Cain laid the water by the kitchen side, he walked toward the hallway, the pixies serving Mei who stood guard at the door froze in place seeing his approach. They could barely keep their smile from showing, they knew it.
They knew that Cain was a magic monster, someone who can explode with unparalleled mana any time he wanted. Yet now they couldn’t sense anything from him. A storm was approaching the throne room and only the queen and her guard are getting swept in.
Cain reached the door, the two guards sat silent as he glared through the glass window.
Titania snorted, clearly enraged as a vein appeared on her forehead. “Despicable human, dare to peek at the queen’s majestic figure!” She growled and then looked at her guard, “Drag him to my presence.”
Mei was about to interfere but she saw her guards who faced her back barely keeping their faces straight. She knew it was something the queen won’t expect and hoped it was either Cain or Chad. Those two are menaces to people like the queen.
“As you order,” the guard replied with a firm voice, lifting her staff up and pointing it toward Cain [Shrink] she tried to shrink Cain to a pixie’s size…Slowly, she started sweating, no matter how much power she used, he never budged. To her, it felt like trying to squeeze a metal ball in her hand, he was damn hard.
“I told you to bring him.” Titania stared at her.
“I’m trying, something is off about him. Or that I’m just exhausted from the trip…” The guard growled with a red face.
“True, we’ve been promised rare mana and all we got is mundane cooked food. Why did I bother coming here alone…” The queen sighed and then suddenly, the human shrunk.
The guard sighed panting, “I was probably just exhausted, I managed to shrink him.”
Mei’s guard opened the door and guided Cain inside the palace. It was all built from white marble, fragrant wood, and clear glass. Lilac scent filled the place as small threads of light fell on the throne.
Cain was brought to stand before the queen, she looked at him, scanning him from head to toe.
Mei was shaking as she saw it was Cain, she knew why her guards were trying not to smile. The monster himself finally arrived. “First-tier, second at best…” She looked a bit disappointed, “I guess you’re better than most humans, what are you servant?”
Cain smiled, “But a humbler water carrier, and I guess I helped build this place.” Cain replied he wasn’t lying so the queen didn’t pick any lies. He did carry water and did help build the place by providing mana.
“I see…” The queen glared at him, “Why were you peeking at us earlier?” She asked with a smile.
Cain smiled, “Well, your majesty is here, a rare sight that comes once in a lifetime for most humans.”
The queen smiled, “I see, you wanted to bask in my magnificent beauty. I can never blame someone for that…Let’s see, how about you show your loyalty and obedience, and I might take you with me to the radiant capital deep in the fey wild.” Titania said with a grin, her guard seemed to be about to oppose but didn’t.
The queen extended her foot toward Cain, “Lick it.”
Everyone knew it was about to go down.
Cain smiled, “Sorry, you don’t fit my criteria.” The queen and her guard froze at his response. Mei’s mind got tangled for a moment, ‘You criteria for that?’