Chapter 42: Improvements

The following morning I busied myself with training my magic skills as per the schedule planned the previous day. With a clear goal in mind, I proceeded through the steps. Putting aside discovering new ways to use the skills, I started from the controlling aspect. I had an edge in the form of Infrared Vision that could see magic and its flow.

In the morning, I had a sudden epiphany. My Nightmare Seed was blocked by a pink barrier when I tried using it on the Goblin Lord. With my visual ability, I saw the small dot-like magic was blocked completely by that pink barrier. Then a thought came to my mind, what if it was not a dot but a sharp pin? Could it be able to penetrate through the barrier?

It was something worth investing my time on.

Concentrating my eyes on the tip of my index finger, I cast Nightmare Seed and observed the changes. From my heart region, a small stream of dark purple viscous liquid flowed into my index finger before gathering just below my skin at the tip. That’s when everything changed.

Suddenly, the viscous liquid coagulated below the tip and rotated clockwise, forming a roughly spherical object, not unlike that of a marble. After it took shape, it filtered out through the skin and hovered over my finger for a few seconds before dissipating.

Then I used Cast Illusion, and everything was the same until it reached the tip of my finger. Instead of coagulating into a ball, the stream of viscous purple liquid thinned out indefinitely until it took the form of thin threads. Those threads twitched like the antenna of a cockroach before vanishing into oblivion. Without a target to latch on to, they could hardly survive a few seconds outside of my body.

Then I used Nightmare Manifest. Its execution was the same as Cast Illusions. However, instead of thin threads that wiggled like antennas of an insect, the magic from this skill took the form of sturdy metallic needles. These needles, unlike the thin translucent threads, were denser and looked almost solid. Moreover, they weren’t flexible and wiggly. To me, it looked like a sharp sword, ready to penetrate through anything. The magic from this skill remained for a better part of half a minute before vanishing into oblivion.

All three of my offensive skills had one thing in common. Until they touch a target, they were nothing but constructs of magic that were invisible to the naked eye. To further my research, I called a small goblin into the room. Having it stand in the middle, I used Cast Illusion on it first.

The tentacles latched on to the goblin’s body. That’s when things got weird. Those magic threads suddenly sprang into life as they wiggled their way into the goblin’s head in a matter of seconds. It was as if the strand of magic suddenly came to life. It was as if my magic was a mud eel that entered its natural habitat. Even if it was my magic, I couldn’t help but feel weird about it.

As weird as it looked, I didn’t stop observing. After reaching the head of the goblin, the magic strand swirled around its brain before cascading it in a faint purple glow. Not long after that, I got the notification. The string was still attached to my index finger. I concluded that probably it was due to this that I was able to synchronize reality with the illusion world.

Although I saw the whole process, the thing I understood from it was not even 1%. Until it reached the goblin’s brain, everything was normal as it could be. However, after covering its brain in a net of purple light, what happened next, I wasn’t sure.

Like this, the whole morning went on with me experimenting with my magic.

…

While I was busy with my advanced study, a problem arrived at the doorsteps of now peacefully living orcs and goblins. A group of humans equipped in full-body armors arrived at the front gate.

The one leading the entourage was a young man in his late teens. He wore full-body black chain-mail, with a red cape attached to its back. He had a headful of wavey blond hair and green eyes. On his waist was a longsword, sheathed in a golden scabbard. The scabbard was a work of art, well carved and polished.

Four other armored people were trailing behind him, each looking no less intimidating than the young man in the lead. They wore metallic helmets that concealed their faces. Strapped to their waist was a long sword of the same variety as the young man leading them. Out of the four people, two had metal shields strapped to their backs.

“Sire, it is not the time for monthly clean up yet. Why have we come here?” One of the armored guards asked who was trailing close to the blond man. Hearing him the blond man smiled and shook his head, “It’s not about cleaning the monsters. We are here for a different purpose.”

“What is the reason then, sire?” The same man asked again.

“We got the intel that the third prince of Valier Kingdom is supposed to come here today.” The blond man said gently, giving the man who asked a sidelong glance.

“What? Is it the truth?” The voice held a hint of surprise. Then controlling his emotions, he inquired, “What are we supposed to do here?”

To his question, the blond man didn’t answer directly. Instead, he pulled out a leather pouch and displayed it before everyone. When the four armored people saw it, they couldn’t help but gasp in surprise. While the pouch looked like an average money pouch, the rose gold colored concentric circle at the top part of it told a different story.

“Isn’t that a space artifact?” One of the guards exclaimed. Then he looked at the young blond man in the front, “What are we doing with it, sire?”

“Hendry, you are working for her highness since the day she was born. What do you think she wanted us to do with this thing?” The blond man asked rhetorically, before he hid the pouch back from where he pulled it out. “Her highness, the fifth princess, has chosen a side to support.” The blond knight in the front said gravely.

“Really?” Everyone in the hall was surprised at the blond man’s announcement. Their king had only six offsprings, of which three were sons and three daughters. Out of three sons, only two were eligible to fight for the throne. Among the three daughters, two already chosen their respective sides. Only the fifth princess was yet to side with someone.

“The fifth princess is known for her wisdom and cunningness. Whomever she sides with, the throne will go to him.” The guards exclaimed once again. He couldn’t help but sigh.

“Unfortunately, the royal family didn’t allow a girl to sit on the throne. Or else with the merits and support under her belt, she would have been the undisputed queen of the empire.” The blond knight sighed sadly. They were all the personal knights of the fifth princess. With how she conducted herself, she could easily lead the kingdom to a new prosperous future.

“Yeah. The two crown princes didn’t even have the qualification to compete. I wonder what the king was thinking when he chose them.” One of the guards with the shield on his back sighed miserably. They all were old and experienced. From a glance, they could say who would be a good ruler for their kingdom.

“Farman, It's not that his majesty, the king, wanted them to inherit the throne. He just couldn’t set aside the rules made by his ancestors. Even if he could, those old dukes wouldn’t let him do so.” The blond man shook his head and said lamentingly.

Everyone let out a collective sigh. The blond man looked distracted for a few seconds before clapped his hands to gain their attention. “Alright, enough talk. With our status, we shouldn’t talk about the royal family behind their back. Now let’s get into position and prepare to meet the third prince ‘coincidentally.’”

…

While they were planning for some strategic meetings, I was still busy with my magic study. Due to my hard work throughout the morning, I had a little breakthrough with my first ever skill. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to transform the thin strings of the magic of Cast Illusion to sharp, pointy, and as thick as a toothpick.

Well, such a development didn’t come without a price. A skill that I was able to cast almost instantly, now took more than ten seconds for the same. For the string to become twig, it took me that much time. Moreover, the MP cost had also increased from 1 to 5.

That being said, I was still unsure how effective it would be to other creatures who could resist the skill previously. I needed a target to battle-test it. Until then, it was only in the test phase.

Although I failed to make any changes to Nightmare Seed and Nightmare Manifest, I was still happy. One improvement was better than none. Moreover, it was just the beginning. There were many more improvements to come in the future.