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Adelheid 6: Adelheid's First Magic Lesson
🕑 Added 2022-03-10 14:01:02 +0000 UTCFrom the time Adelheid first awoke, around seven months had passed, and some things changed, while other things didn't.
For one, Adelheid's height had slightly increased. The seventh princess no longer looked like a five-year-old and looked closer to her actual age of seven years. However, while her height had increased, Adelheid still hadn't entered the aura novice stage, much to her ire.
At Adelheid's personal training ground stood two figures. One was obviously Adelheid herself, wearing her custom-sized knight uniform, while the other was a female knight covered in leather armor. Both of them had a sword in hand, the metal glinting under the glare of the sun.
"Your Highness, prepare yourself," Imperial Knight Olga Muller said as she brought it down in a vertical slash.
Adelheid held her sword with both hands with the tip pointed upward towards Olga, her body slightly slanted forward, and her legs spread apart. This was the standard starting position of Imperial Style Swordsmanship.
As Olga's sword traveled through the air, Adelheid still didn't move as if she couldn't react to it, but the sword's arc was clearly reflected in her eyes. Just as the sword's edge was five centimelers away from hitting her, Adelheid sidestepped and dodged.
As for blocking or parrying, Adelheid might have attempted it if she could actually use aura, but how much strength did a child's body have? Without aura strengthening her, it was practically asking her hands to be numbed from the clash. Subsequently, she would drop her sword due to the numbness and breaking one of the tenants of swordsmanship, never drop your sword.
She had already made such a mistake once. And once was already enough.
Once the blade harmlessly passed by, Adelheid lowered her sword until the tip was aimed at Olga’s abdomen and stepped forward. With her weak muscles, it wasn't wise to do any significant movements. If she did, she would lose the chance to counterattack due to her slow speed. Thus she used her whole body to unleash a piercing strike.
Olga's face remained expressionless as she back stepped out of Adelheid's thrust. She didn't have to step back too much as Adelheid's arms and legs were short, so her reach was also short.
Suddenly, Olga's sword, which nearly touched the ground, arced upward towards Adelheid.
Adelheid tilted her body to the right and allowed Olga's sword to fly by, the sound of slicing air reached Adelheid's ears, and a cold sweat broke out on her back. Before Adelheid could regain her bearing, the sword that passed by harmlessly suddenly slashed downward and stopped a mere centimeler from Adelheid's head.
"I lost." That was Adelheid’s only response.
Olga sheathed her sword with an audible clink. "Your Highness has improved again. You can dodge two of my strikes now."
Adelheid rolled her eyes with a huff. In total, Olga chained three attacks that formed a reverse N shape, while Adelheid only struck out once. The worst part was that Olga didn't even use a hint of aura.
Seeing Adelheid sulk, Olga quickly added, "But it's already very good. I'm a member of the Imperial Guards, so my swordsmanship is at the peak of all the empire's knights. For you to dodge two strikes is already very impressive!"
"Even if I can dodge two strikes, that is on the condition that you do not use aura. Against an aura user, no matter how skilled I am, I'll be defeated because my body's strength is too weak unless I have monstrous skills, but that's not likely. I know my talent," Adelheid said as she took a towel from Sofia and wiped away the sweat on her body.
"Still, Your Highness is awfully skilled for your age. As the years pass, Your Highness will only grow stronger," Olga said. She had learned not to use the word child on Adelheid as it only caused the seventh princess annoyance.
Although Olga wasn't well-learned due to her commoner background, one skill she had polished as equally if not more than her blade was her flattery. Too overt and that would only displease whoever she served, too little and they would not take notice. Olga had learned how to balance the two.
Well, when she wasn't flustered, and her accent didn't slip out.
Adelheid shrugged and sat down to rest. While she rested, Matilda stepped up with an excited face, a face she made every time she faced Olga Muller. In contrast, Olga showed a serious expression, completely different from the relaxed face she showed when facing Adelheid.
As the official knight and aspiring knight faced off against each other, wind began to billow around their feet. Although Adelheid couldn't see or sense it, she knew it was the result of the two utilizing aura.
Moments later, dirt flew into the air as the two leaped at each other, their body blurring due to the extreme speed at which they moved. The ground became littered with indented footprints. Even the swords in their hand became nothing more than silverish whips that twisted and bent to an untrained eye.
Even Adelheid had only barely gotten accustomed to the inhuman speed the two moved at. At times, gusts of wind would blow Adelheid and Sofia's hair from the swings of their swords. She heard that aura masters were capable of slashing so fast that the wind became razor sharp.
"Want to join?" Adelheid asked Sofia, who was standing at attention behind her.
Sofia immediately shook her head furiously. "Please do not jest with me. I'll be crushed like an insect."
Adelheid quietly laughed.
The next day, Adelheid did not train with Olga and only took lessons with Miss Sauer. In the evening, she would be having dinner with her father again, Second Prince Albrecht.
During dinner, roasted suckling pig was still the centerpiece of the feast for two. However, with Adelheid's involvement in the kitchen, there were many new additions to the table, such as the breaded pork cutlet. Even without her personal involvement, the chefs already made numerous dishes that originated from breaded pork cutlets such as chicken and fish cutlets, though their venture into vegetable and fruit cutlets was less than stellar.
“How have your studies progressed?” Albrecht began.
“Nothing worth noting. I should be learning advanced materials soon enough.”
Abrecht nodded. “You progressed faster than William in your studies, but your aura training is not as fast.”
Adelheid said nothing as she continued to eat her suckling pig.
“Remember, you are third in line to the throne now. Any weakness you show will reflect onto the Vuldar Empire. The members of the imperial family must show excellence no matter the field. If we do not, then we do not deserve to bear the name of von Vuldar.”
“I will increase my efforts.”
"Adelheid, since you have neared the end of your intermediate lessons, and in light of your lack of progress in aura training, I have decided to find a magic teacher for you," Albrecht said.
"I see," Adelheid replied as usual. A moment passed, and Adelheid snapped her head up, wondering if she misheard. "You mean…?"
"After months of toiling, I finally found the perfect magic teacher for you," Albrecht lied without batting an eye.
Adelheid released a heartfelt smile at Albrecht, causing him to be stunned before coughing into his fist, feeling slightly guilty. She had planned to petition to learn magic within two dinners of her father. Adelheid knew that he was delaying her magic lessons for some reason, but she never expected her father to bring it up first.
"Who is my teacher?" Adelheid asked. She knew that the Vuldar Empire had court mages, each of whom is at least master magic of the fourth circle, but she wasn't knowledgeable in the specifics.
Albrecht revealed a slight smile. "He is an advanced mage who has mastered sixth circle magic, Eric Redland, and one of the Tower Lords."
Adelheid blinked. She had not expected someone so skilled to be teaching her. The seventh princess had expected a mage of the third circle to initiate her into magic. Mages of the first and second circle were still considered trainees and did not possess the qualification to teach.
Although she hadn’t deliberately investigated, Adelheid knew that the Vuldar Empire only had seven Tower Lords in total. For one to personally teach her, it could be considered wasting talent. Adelheid even began to suspect that Albrecht didn’t deliberately delay her magic lessons and spent resources and time to secure a Tower Lord to teach her.
"Thank you, Father," Adelheid said.
"It is no problem. You are the seventh princess of the Vuldar Empire, third-in-line to the throne.”
Recalling her status as third-in-line to the throne led Adelheid to think about her uncle, the deceased first prince, and his children. Growing curious, Adelheid asked Sofia when they returned to her room. She didn't harbor any hope that Matilda would know.
"First Prince Friedrich?" Sofia asked. Adelheid nodded in her head in confirmation. "I don't know much about him, only that he was killed in an ambush that resulted in the empire destroying a small nation in retaliation. His Highness had already departed when I started working at the palace."
Adelheid nodded. "What about his children, Antonia and Alexander?"
Sofia thought awhile before answering. " I have yet to meet Fourth Princess Antonia and Fifth Prince Alexander as they do not live in the palace. They have quite some fame because the two are twins. From what I heard, Princess Antonia is the owner of a large business firm while Prince Alexander is content to stay within his mansion."
Adelheid immediately thought about how she was third-in-line to the throne. They must have been excluded from the line of succession with the death of her uncle, hence why they were exiled from the palace—having thought that, Adelheid no longer thought about them. Even if they wanted to inherit the throne, it was not a problem she needed to deal with at the moment.
Instead, Adelheid began to ponder about the magic lesson she would take next week. And it was a long grueling wait for Adelheid. Her mind was wholeheartedly thinking about the knowledge and power she would soon attain.
Finally, after a week of torturous waiting, Lightday arrived.
-line break-
Adelheid sait in a room lined with bookshelves. It was much like her study, except that the room was circular. After all, the room was situated in one of the palace's mage towers, built specifically for the Tower Lords. Aside from the books and tomes sitting on the bookshelves, all sorts of strange tools and materials were strewn across numerous tables. The room looked like someone attempted to organize it but failed.
Court Mage Eric Redland, true to his name, had reddish-brown hair that reached his ears. He was a middle-aged man of average height with eyes the color of burnt wood. He wore a three-layered red robe bearing the insignia of the Vuldar Empire, a sword with six smaller swords circling it.
"Welcome, Your Highness," Eric said as he showed a flattering smile.
"Greetings to you as well. The last time we met was the second day after I had awakened," Adelheid said. She recalled that he was one of the people who had squeezed into her room that day.
Eric stilled for a moment before his smile returned. "Although it isn't necessary, having a powerful memory will greatly aid in Your Highness's studies. I am pleased to be able to teach one with potential as you."
Adelheid maintained her smile as Eric continued to fawn over her. It surprised her that a Tower Lord would be so fawning. She accepted the treatment, but she kept her guard up. It was not the ones who glared at you who would stab you in the back, but the ones who always smiled. Behind her, Sofia maintained her neutral expression, but Matilda couldn't help but give a strange look to the sixth circle mage.
Eric Redland treated Matilda’s inquiring look like air.
After the pleasantries were over, Eric began the lesson in earnest.
"What is magic?" Eric asked.
Adelheid paused, not expecting the lesson to start with such a vague question. She closed her eyes and pondered for a moment before opening them once more.
"Magic is power, allowing humans to replicate miraculous feats that defy nature," Adelheid said.
Eric shook his head. "Wrong, wrong."
The court mage stared straight into Adelheid's eyes and said with utmost seriousness, "Magic is the replication of every phenomenon in the world. Every magic, no matter how world-changing or insignificant as the wind blowing against a blade of grass, already exists in the world. Know that when Your Highness casts a spell, you are replicating a phenomenon that has already existed."
"What about acts of miracles then?" Adelheid asked. "I read that in the past, people used resurrection on the deceased."
Eric showed a smile, a smile that hid the fervent madness behind his eyes. "Miracles are the magic of gods."
"But I'm getting ahead of myself. Some say that tenth circle mages have reached the level of gods, but there are no records so it is only a myth for now." There was an unquenchable thirst in Eric's words, like a man stranded in a desert. Eric shook his head and adjusted his emotions. "I'm telling Your Highness this to warn you not to treat magic as some power you can easily conquer. Should you ever try to perform a miracle, know that the consequences will be far beyond your imagination. However, you should not fear magic as it is still a tool in the end. Magic is all powerful but mages are not."
The tense atmosphere lightened as Eric returned to his fawning smile. "It's good that you know. Let's move on to our first lesson. What do you think Your Highness will learn first?"
The seventh princess opened her mouth and closed it. Where did one begin to learn magic?
"Theoretical knowledge?"
"Your Highness isn't wrong," Eric Redland said. "But you aren't right, either."
"I guess it depends on what type of mage you are. For magisters, who focused on delving into the mysteries of magic, theoretical knowledge would definitely be the first step. But for sorcerers, users of magic, theoretical knowledge would only be an adornment. It'd certainly be useful and make the spells easier to cast, but not necessary. Now, which do you think you are, Your Highness?"
"Sorcerer," Adelheid said. She wanted to use magic, not study it.
"Well, the correct term for a princess like Your Highness would be sorceress, but that’s besides the point," Eric said as he turned around, ignoring the annoyed look that flashed across Adelheid's face.
In his hand was a small white stick of elaborate design, a wand if Adelheid had to guess. Her guess was proven true when the tip glowed white, and words began to be written midair with each movement of the wand.
"For an aspiring sorcerer, aside from memorizing magic circles and chants, a topic I'll delve deeper at a later date, there are two primary factors that determine their strength. Do you have a guess as to what those two are, Your Highness?"
"Mana reserves and..." Mana was the fuel that served as one of the catalysts to cast magic. The more fuel you had, the more powerful the final result. As for the second factor, Adelheid scrunched her brows as she tried to come up with an answer.
Adelheid didn't know why Eric separated magic circles and chants, but since he excluded those, it must not be something that is unrelated to memorization. Her eyes zeroed in on the wand in Eric's hand. "A wand?"
Eric chuckled. "Your Highness is partially right."
The court mage turned around and held up his wand so that the seventh princess could see it more clearly. The light at the tip of the wand began to change shape. Sometimes it was like a glowing sphere, other times, it flickered like fire, another time, it appeared to be a masterfully cut piece of jewel. "The full answer is mana control. Wands and staves are tools we use to help control mana."
"We are making a wand first?" Adelheid asked, a hint of excitement flowing out of her words.
Eric shook his head. "Certainly, a wand is necessary, but before that, you must have some semblance of mana control."
Eric raised his free hand and furrowed his brows in concentration. Soon, his hand was covered in a glowing light, much like how Adelheid had seen aura explode from the knights in the training ground. Only the light that glowed around Eric's hand was blueish white and far denser than aura.
"If an aspiring mage can't even control mana to gather into your wand, then it is useless," Eric said. "For a spell to be cast through a tool, you must direct your mana into the wand first."
Adelheid raised her hand and began staring at it.
"Your Highness, manipulating mana to visual manifest as I did takes years of effort. It is certainly not something one can copy at a glance—" Further words were stuck in Eric's throat as he stared wide-eyed at the faint brilliance surrounding Adelheid's hand.
"H-how?" Eric asked. It had taken Eric years to master the flow of mana enough for him to visibly cover his hand. Granted, the middle-aged man didn't focus exclusively on perfecting his mana manipulation, but to see a child not yet eight able to visibly exude enough mana to shroud her hand was a feat in itself.
"Does this mean I passed the lesson?" Adelheid asked, slightly pleased by Eric's shocked expression. If he opened his mouth any wider, a squirrel might think of it as a potential home.
Eric quickly recovered from his shock and sighed in admiration. "I should have expected such talent from a child bearing the blood of the Ljos Alf."
Adelheid knew that the royal family of the Principality of Alf was known as the Ljos Alf family but was clueless by what Eric meant. Aside from the characteristic steel-colored eyes of the Vuldar Imperial Family, they had no unique talent, so Adelheid had assumed the same for other ruling families, but it seemed that she was wrong.
Before she could voice her question, Eric had already continued speaking. "Before I continue the lesson, could Your Highness enlighten me on how you accomplish this feat?"
"I don't think it was particularly difficult." The corner of Eric's eyes twitched at the princess's words but only for a split second. He had witnessed numerous student mages ripped their hair out in frustration attempting to control the flow of their mana within their body, much less emit visible mana.
"I just copied a sensation that I had always felt these past few months." Adelheid's hand reached and fiddled with the brooch around her neck, the red jewel gleaming with a faint luster. "I was told this magic tool would absorb my mana and keep my condition in check, so I assumed the suction that I felt within my body was due to my mana being absorbed by it. I tried doing the same thing, and I succeeded."
Eric Redland closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mana control isn't something one can easily copy. But just to make sure, I'm going to have Your Highness go through some mana control exercises."
The court mage was worried that Adelheid had used some shortcut to replicate the feat of mana control. If there was a problem with the method Adelheid used, then it could result in problems in the future, maybe even a disaster.
"When controlling mana, it's best to picture the mana in your head as something else. For example, I picture my mana as countless little specks of light within me that I move and agglomerate within my body. I know of another mage that sees the mana in their body as a rock, which they break a piece off whenever they need to use it. Every mage sees mana differently. Your Highness should discover a perspective specific to you."
Adelheid nodded her head and controlled her mana as Eric instructed. The closest she could come to describe the feeling of mana flowing in her body was the sensation of blood flowing through her veins. Only it was something she could control.
"Mister Redland, since I can already control mana, won't my body be fine since I can push it out of my body now?" Adelheid asked.
Eric chuckled a bit, feeling that the princess was an actual newcomer to magic and not a monstrous prodigy that learned everything at once. "Your Highness, why don't you try to emit your mana then?"
Adelheid nodded and moved to an empty space. After bringing her fist next to her waist, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Adelheid began to picture the mana within her body. It was red in color and flowed through her body, much like the blood within her.
To Adelheid, mana was something that accompanied her since she awoke in this world. Granted, before knowing her mana, she had always felt it was a foreign yet familiar sensation that she had to become accustomed to, like a new appendage. Only after wearing her brooch did she identify what that sensation was.
Mana was as natural to her as her skeleton, the flesh of her body, the skin that covered her, and the blood that flowed through her veins. Mana was simply another component of her body, something organic that her body naturally produced.
Adelheid stopped the flow of "blood" in her body and began to push it out of her veins, her body. As she did so, the air around her began to vibrate, and a breeze blew around her. As time passed, a faint red luster surrounded Adelheid, and the phenomenon only increased in strength as time went on.
After five minutes, sweat covered the seventh princess's head, and she could no longer emit mana from her body, bringing an end to the strange occurrences within the room. The princess gasped for air, but she ignored that and frowned. The mana she had emitted had all returned to her body.
"All your mana returned, hasn’t it?" Eric asked. That, he had already suspected. What he did not expect was the sheer amount of mana hiding within that tiny body. "Everything in the world contains mana, some more so than others. Even the very air has mana, but mages can only utilize mana in their body. Why is that?"
Adelheid took another moment to catch her breath before answering. "I don't know."
Eric Redland did not show any disappointment. Had it been anyone else who did the same actions as Adelheid, they might’ve already fainted. "Because it is not our own. Mana, in its purest form, does not like to leave its origin. What you've been doing is essentially pulling it away. While you pull, its shape will change, but when you let go, it will return to its original form."
"Of course, there are methods to expunge your mana." Eric raised his hand, and a white sphere rose from his palm. Moments later, the sphere popped and diffused into the air. "However, such methods are advanced techniques, far more time consuming to learn than actual spells."
"Then how do spells work? If mana doesn't want to leave, shouldn't spells fail?" Adelheid asked.
"Ah, you forgot, Your Highness. I said the purest form of mana." Eric raised a finger and shook it back and forth. "Spells are the result of converting mana. Once mana has been converted, it is no longer in its purest form. Instead, it will adhere to its new origin until it disappears."
"Then how does mana recover? It can't simply come from nowhere," Adelheid asked.
"That's a question many magisters ask. Some say the mana in the air, but that would go against the very nature of mana, would it not?" Eric asked.
"Not if it is converted."
Eric showed a pleased expression. "True. The air we breathe into our body becomes a part of our body, so too does the mana. But we breathe out air as well. There are techniques and tools that aid in this process. However, the rate of mana recovery from such an act is very slow. So some people say, mana comes from the soul!"
"The soul?" Adelheid repeated.
"Yes, there is no correlation to who can become a mage. A child born from a distinguished mage could be born without the talent to wield magic despite his high mana, but a random commoner could be born with the talent of a mage of a generation. Though, there are exceptions.” The court mage glanced at the seventh princess’s pointed ear. “So scholars attribute magic talent, the ability to wield mana, to the soul. Those with stronger souls can wield mana easier and recover mana faster."
"Is it proven?" Adelheid asked as she sank into her thoughts. She began to question her circumstances due to the mage's word.
"Of course not. Contemporary magic has yet to touch the domain of souls. Not even necromancy, which claims to revive the dead, can bring back a soul. This is the domain of gods, which is why the matter is still hotly debated by magisters," Eric said with a shrug.
Adelheid suppressed the urge to frown. "Back to the lesson, are you going to teach me how to cast magic now?"
"Oh heavens, no," Eric said with a laugh. "I had originally planned to teach Your Highness how to control your mana first for at least six months before even beginning. Not to mention that all initiate mages must craft their own wand or staff first after learning mana control. Even though Your Highness is a monstrous prodigy, it's best to familiarize yourself with mana control first."
‘Should you really describe me as monstrous to my face?’ Adelheid thought. "Then how long before I can craft my wand?"
"At least another month. During this time, you have to remember to exercise your mana control. Then we can move on to crafting a wand," Eric Redland said.
Adelheid was hoping for a week at most, but it was worse than she expected. ‘I went through a week of torture for this. Now I have to wait for a month?’
No matter how much Adelheid beg—ahem, argued otherwise, Eric was firm in his stance.
