[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
Chapter 20
The first training ground, which is only available to royalty.
Kaylen sat at the table within, having tea with Princess Violet.
‘Princess Violet…’
A genius who reached the 4th-circle as a mage at the age of 19, and a ister of the water elent.
Owner of the S-rank mana suit, ‘Glacia’.
Officially, she was called the "Master of Glaciers," but in society, her nickna "Witch of Glaciers" was more widely used. It was known that Princess Violet actually preferred this nickna.
"Alkas, you seem to know quite a bit."
"Well, she's probably the most famous person in our kingdom."
"Then why the 'Witch'?"
"They say her personality is a bit eccentric. And she keeps freezing people..."
Kaylen recalled the information about Princess Violet that Alkas had shared with him previously and looked at the Princess before him.
Ernstine, the continent's only emperor.
A man who had many concubines and countless beauties, his standards of beauty were sky-high.
But even he would likely consider Princess Violet’s appearance, revealed by the half-mask, as "beautiful."
‘She's about the level of a concubine.’
The concubines of the ier Empire, which had unified the continent.
That was the highest praise Kaylen could give for her beauty.
However, even such beauty only caught his attention for a mont.
Kaylen’s focus shifted to the half-ice mask.
The S-rank mana suit, Glacia.
A treasure that, as rumored, chose its owner.
Its design was simple yet refined.
A blue ice mask.
The five mana stones embedded at the mask's ends emitted a cold water-elent mana, even in normal circumstances.
The air around Princess Violet seed to change in temperature, just by being near her.
‘Amazing.’
Did it change form when mana was infused into it?
Kaylen rembered how the body seed to turn to ice just monts ago.
As much as he wanted to touch it himself and try infusing mana, she was a princess of the kingdom, after all.
Unable to do so, Kaylen clicked his tongue in regret.
"First son of the Starn family, Prince Kaylen."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"That Fireball from earlier was quite impressive."
"You saw it from the beginning?"
"Yes. I ca in when I heard the commotion among the students."
Princess Violet smiled slightly.
"It was O'Connell who almost died, not you, Prince Kaylen."
"Prince Kaylen should have punished him himself. How unfortunate."
"Not at all."
"I’m sorry I had to take vengeance for you, but I’ll keep O'Connell locked in Ice Prison for three days. He won’t die, but the cold will seep into his bones, and it will be quite painful for him."
Princess Violet smiled brightly, spreading her three fingers.
Her mouth curled up so much that it nearly touched the half-mask over her left eye.
Kaylen looked at her face and understood why she was called the Witch of Glaciers.
She enjoys freezing people, and she loves it too much.
"Now, to get to the main point, about that Fireball."
"Yes."
"How did you do it?"
"What do you an?"
"A Fireball of such a high level is not sothing a fire ister can easily cast."
Princess Violet’s eyes glead with curiosity.
"Does that magic have anything to do with the Florence family?"
"Sothing similar."
"What happened?"
"I’m afraid I can’t go into detail due to contract restrictions, but…"
"Hehe. Even though I'm asking?" As the cold around Princess Violet grew more intense, the temperature in the air sharply dropped.
Normally, with her position as a princess, coupled with the sudden chill, one would shiver and feel the pressure. However, Kaylen didn’t flinch and calmly replied.
"I apologize."
"You’re not giving in. You do have so resolve." Perhaps out of habit, Princess Violet absentmindedly fiddled with Glacia with her left hand, then, seeming to give up on the topic, changed the subject.
"Prince Kaylen. What do you think is the purpose of a mana suit?"
"To enhance magic and destroy dungeon cores, isn’t it?"
"That’s right. Many mages developed and improved mana suits to increase the efficiency of magic enhancent. There have been many successes, but now we’re starting to hit limits."
Sparkle. Sparkle.
Drops of water ford on the table, soon gathering into a mirror-like shape.
At first, it reflected like a mirror, but soon began to reveal the form of sothing.
A golden star-shaped icosahedron.
Radiantly shining, at the center of the star was a deep black color.
Seeing this, Kaylen’s face stiffened.
"This is…?"
"The dungeon core."
"This is the dungeon core...?"
In the lessons Kaylen had received throughout his life, dungeon cores were said to resemble mana stones.
But this… this looked completely different from any mana stone he had seen.
In fact, it resembled...
‘This looks like Infinity...’
The special mana known as Infinity, passed down through the ier family.
It too was made of particles shaped like golden stars.
If it were enlarged, it would look almost identical to this dungeon core.
Even though Princess Violet had been emitting cold, Kaylen hadn’t flinched.
Now, however, he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Yes. This is a special dungeon core that has been appearing recently. Among those involved, it’s been nad the Gold Star."
"…"
"The Gold Star boasts incredible durability. At least a group of isters equipped with A-rank or higher mana suits would barely be able to destroy it."
Before the appearance of the dungeon core "Gold Star," cost-effectiveness was paramount.
The firepower from mana suits was already abundant, but activating a mana suit required mana from mana stones.
The goal of isters up until that point had been to clear as many dungeons as possible using the least amount of mana.
"But after the Gold Star appeared, the situation changed. In the past, any ister could break most dungeon cores, but the Gold Star is different. Even A-rank mana suits and isters above the 4th circle have difficulty breaking it."
"Is it that powerful?"
"If you don’t destroy it in one go, it quickly regenerates into its original form. Firepower is key."
The regeneration into its original form also resembled Infinity.
Was it just a coincidence?
It seed too much of a match to be a coincidence.
"Now, more firepower is needed, but the developnt of mana suits has reached its limit."
"Then, to increase the firepower, the magic spell itself has to be stronger. Finding the key to that wasn’t easy…"
Princess Violet removed the mirror and looked at Kaylen again.
Her expression showed that she had found a clue.
‘She’s completely fascinated by the Fireball now.’
But Kaylen’s magic was not sothing he could reveal.
His magic had beco powerful because of his mana body and the giant mana circle that enveloped his body.
The mana body was based on the Grand Sword Master’s realization, and it wasn’t sothing he could pass on to anyone.
‘As for the Florence family, they’ve already taken what they could from , so no worries there.’
If he deceived the royal family, just as he did with the noble family, and no results ca from it...
The risk would be far greater.
Especially considering Princess Violet’s personality, if she realized she had been deceived, she wouldn’t stay quiet.
She might even throw him into Ice Prison.
Of course, if it ca to a fight, he wouldn’t lose.
But there was no need to create trouble with the kingdom.
‘It’s too dangerous to accept direct investnt from the princess.’
Kaylen cut off her excessive expectations early.
"It’s still too early to call it a clue. It’s more likely just a coincidence due to an accident."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I’m worried that if I receive such high expectations, the results might not et them."
"Hmm..."
Tap. Tap.
As she tapped her ice mask, Glacia, Princess Violet stared at Kaylen intently.
"It doesn’t seem like you’re saying that because of your contract with the Florence family."
"Yes, that’s correct. They only provided support."
"Support... Jane."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Send him five mid-tier mana stones."
"Understood."
Without even asking, Princess Violet imdiately offered to send five mid-tier mana stones on the spot.
The amount of support happened to match exactly what the Florence family had offered.
“Just like the Florence family, this is a simple sponsorship, so please don’t feel burdened and accept it.”
With those words, Princess Violet stared at Kaylen intently.
It was a gaze that felt more overwhelming than it was simple, but Kaylen accepted it gratefully.
Since she had clearly stated it was just a simple sponsorship, he decided it was okay to accept.
“Thank you.”
“However... may I see the Fireball from earlier?”
“Of course.”
Since she had already given him five mid-tier mana stones, this request seed fair.
Kaylen stood up and walked towards the training hall.
Princess Violet imdiately sprang to her feet and followed him.
“Alright. Try it there. Put all of your mana into it.”
“Fireball.”
Although she had asked him to put all his mana into it, Kaylen knew that if he poured all the power from his mana body into the Fireball, it would surely beco enormous in scale.
He decided to control his power carefully and cast the Fireball.
It was stronger than what he would have cast during the days of the Conqueror King, but still only slightly more powerful.
“Wow…”
However, the standards Kaylen had in mind and the standards of the current age were vastly different.
Back in the emperor's days, all the mages he had seen were high-level magicians.
So, the Fireballs back then had been stronger, in line with their abilities.
‘Ah. I should’ve expanded it to sothing closer to Lina’s level back then.’
As the princess widened her eyes, staring intently at the Fireball, Kaylen finally rembered the small Fireball Lina had once shown him.
He had said he would control the power, but it seed like it would attract more attention now.
“Can I test it for a mont?”
“Of course, Your Highness.”
“Ice Hand.”
As soon as she heard Kaylen's response, Princess Violet's hand turned to ice.
The hand, filled with powerful water mana, reached towards the fire to grab it, but...
Sssshhh.
“Wha... what?”
“Your Highness!”
The ice hand wasn’t extinguishing the fla. Instead, it was slowly lting away.
Seeing this, Jane rushed to intervene, but...
“Jane, stay back!”
“… Yes.”
“Kaylen, you can still maintain it, right? Please keep it going for just a little longer.”
“Understood.”
As Princess Violet urgently requested, Kaylen maintained the Fireball.
How much ti had passed?
The flas continued to lt the ice hand, and as the princess's white hand was about to be exposed again...
Flash.
Light flashed from the mana stones embedded in the Ice Mask, Glacia.
As one stone shone, the ice hand, which had completely lted, refroze.
Flash. Flash.
When two stones illuminated, Kaylen's Fireball gradually lost its power.
'This should be enough.'
When Kaylen released the Fireball, the ball of fire vanished with a soft pop.
Princess Violet, who had been staring blankly at the scene for a mont, murmured to herself.
"My hand... was hot..."
"Huh?"
Of course, her hand would be hot after sticking it into the flas.
What was she talking about?
"Your Highness? Was it really hot?!" But with an utterly serious expression, the princess and her maid looked at him.
"Yes! It was really hot!"
"How is this possible? Without a mana suit...?"
"Yes. It's still not enough, but..." Princess Violet alternated between looking at Kaylen and her own hand.
"Kaylen."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I have a request. No, I want to hire you and pay you a fair reward for the task."
"What kind of task would you like to request?"
"Once every two weeks."
Princess Violet held up two fingers with a very bright voice.
"Burn my body completely."
[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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