Chapter 4 - **Chapter 4: The Lazy Luck**

Alaric's powers grew wilder, but his enthusiasm stayed dormant. In the palace kitchens, he'd summon ten vines to snag an apple from a high shelf, groaning as they knocked over a pot instead. "I just wanted a snack, not a jungle," he muttered, dodging a cook's broom. Mira caught him later, sparring in the courtyard. "Fight back, weed boy!" she teased, her blade clanging off his bark shield—a hasty transformation. He smirked, vines snagging her ankle and pulling her into the dirt. "Happy now?" She laughed, brushing off dust. "Getting there, slacker."Rumors of doom thickened—prophecies of demons and vampires razing Eldrathia within a decade. Alaric scoffed, napping as a fern by the throne room. "Prophecies are for suckers," he said to a passing sparrow, its chirps his only audience. But mid-doze, a scout's claw swiped through his fronds, missing his head by inches. He jolted awake, heart hammering, vines lashing out to trip the beast. It snarled, retreating. "Okay, maybe I'll pay attention," he wheezed, sprawled in the grass, staring at the claw mark. "Or hire a bodyguard. Mira's free, right?"