(Eleanor POV)

When I was busy in the kitchen making breakfast, the sound of hooves came from outside.

I asked my husband to continue with the rest and quickly cleaned my hands.

‘It must be a letter.’

I haven’t heard from Clyde in the past few weeks. The last letter he sent stated that he was off to his first campaign with Her Highness Charlotte.

I could understand why it was necessary but the fact that my own son went to a battlefield still made me anxious. I felt angry over the fact that he didn’t personally come and see us.

‘Well, we would’ve done anything to stop him from going.’

He’s my precious boy so naturally I want him to avoid dangerous places while he’s still growing. My life was harsh ever since leaving home, I don’t want my boy to experience the same.

“Ah, a letter came directly from the academy, miss.”

The old courier for our village handed me an envelope.

I could see the golden ‘G’ logo that stood for the academy.

And the sender’s name…

‘It’s Clyde…’

I was so overcome with relief that it felt like all the stress in my body melted away.

‘He’s alive.’

“Madam, I could’ve retrieved the letter.”

Brielle’s voice came from behind. When she saw the golden G, she ran up to me.

“Is that from Clyde?”

She looked like she wanted to tear the letter away from me in excitement.

I opened it without a second thought.

“…Huh?”

The contents were just too ridiculous that I doubted my eyes.

–Sorry for not coming to say goodbye in person.

I have something I need to tell you guys.

I can’t reveal much but at least I can say this:

When we were ready to start the battle, assassins hired from the Minerva clan were sent to kill us. Does mother and father remember the boy I befriended named Damian?

Well, he was part of that clan. When his brother showed up to kill us, the two of us engaged in battle with him.

Be it my arcane magic, spirit magic, time manipulation technique… nothing worked… I didn’t have the courage to face all of you after my defeat. Was I too arrogant that I thought I could win?

Maybe.

My mana core was destroyed by Damian’s sister, Zelda Minerva. Even my spirit core isn’t working independently. I’m sorry for letting all of you down.

I’m heading to the elven nation. The queen said that she can help me recover. Well, I hope they can..

Anyways, I hope all of you are doing well. I don’t know how long I’ll be away. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back when my third year begins in two months…

-

“His core was destroyed…?”

Brielle asked in disbelief.

“…”

I read the contents again. I wasn’t seeing things.

My boy lost his mana core to this Zelda person.

“Ah…”

I didn’t realize that I fell onto the couch. My gaze went up to the ceiling.

For a mage, they need their core to absorb mana from the atmosphere into their veins. Atmosphere mana isn’t always purified, which is why humans and elves have cores to purify and refine the mana as they grow.

If you forcibly blocked a vein and try absorbing mana then your body will explode from the inside due to mana that’s unrefined.

There have been many people brazen enough to cast spells without a mana core. All those people have either lost a body part of they simply died. If that didn’t kill them then they’d fall into depression and kill themselves.

Such is the life of a mage if it was your dream to become one.

I was right to worry about Clyde. No mage was safe from falling into depression after losing their ability to cast magic.

He might’ve been smart but he was still a growing boy. Ever since childhood, he’d read all the books around the house. We even had to buy new ones to keep him occupied but it only took a year before he read them all as well.

It was like he was bored of life as a child. Do children normally behave that way? Chloe and Jessica hadn’t. They were born as normal crying babies unlike Clyde.

How could I forget how strange he was during his childhood?

Some nights when George and I made love, we’d see him standing in our doorway looking at the two of us. My husband would always say:

“Ah, leave the kid. He doesn’t know what’s going on anyway.”

That wasn't all. When Brielle used to undress, he’d hop onto her lap and shake her breasts for milk. Brielle probably didn’t know this but I caught her actually giving him a bite. I didn’t interrupt her since she was smiling too much looking at my cute baby on her lap.

My child was weird. He was unlike any other baby.

I then remembered what I just read. I was too nostalgic for a second, thinking of how Clyde was in his first years of life.

Brielle ran to show George the letter.

I heard him putting on his armour and taking his sword, ready to go out. It took both Brielle and I a while to dissuade him.

He wanted to go kill that Zelda woman. But… she’s from a dangerous clan of assassins. How can he just walk up to their manor and demand Zelda to face him?

I felt the same as him. How could I not?

We can’t even ask Duke Luxembourg for help. It’s a known fact that anyone that interferes with the Minerva clan’s business are dealt with by force. No one is brave enough to challenge a clan of monsters. If it wasn’t for their ancestor choosing to fight only when money is involved, would they still he the same today?

Even though I called my husband an idiot for trying to face those monsters, I too feel resentful of them.

But how does my baby feel? He suffered the most after all…

◇◇◇

(Clyde POV)

I opened my eyes smelling the fresh air of nature.

Modern infrastructure combined with the essence of nature intertwined within my vision. There was even a tree hanging down from the ceiling that grew delicious fruit.

I arrived at the Elca Kingdom two days ago. It took awhile to get into the palace since the knights were so wary of me since I’m a human.

It seemed the aura I exuded as a spirit mage was gone since my spirit core isn’t absorbing spirits anymore. That means that I’m just like any other human out there.

Her majesty Zefra’s behaviour towards me hadn’t changed though. Would that mean there’s a way to fixing my spirit core even if I remain without a mana core or could I get a new core?

It’s inevitable that I’ll have to reveal the fact that I’m a spirit mage if it’s the former.

I’ll have to earn Charlotte’s favour again if I do. If I do then I’ll ask her to protect my family from any danger that arises from my revelation.

I put on a silky robe along with green pants. Green seemed to be the most popular among elven clothing.

‘Did they receive the letter yet?’

What kind of expressions did they make when they read the contents? The loss of my mana core. Me almost dying to that overpowered cheat character, Aubrey. I excluded the part about how we located the United Empire.

Since Charlotte ‘fired’ me, I’ll have no choice but to keep quiet about its location unless I want to be taken out.

“Master Clyde, are you awake?”

“Ah, miss Camilla…”

A sweet voice came from the door. The dark elf, Camilla stood there with a smile.

When she bent down and poured some milk into my glass, I could see the deep valley of chocolate sweetness. Her dress lifted a little which made her plump thighs even more visible.

I was making a vulgar smile when she wasn’t looking.

“Her Majesty asked me to tell you that you should meet her on the highest floor of the palace.”

That’s where the first branch of the World Tree was located. When I say branch, it doesn’t mean a little stick extending into the air. The World Tree’s branch is literally the floor of the entire top floor. They’ve even built a fence around it. Miya told me that when there’s a special party then it’s held on the topmost floor.

That’s like 100 metres into the air.

I’m a person who’s really afraid of heights so I don’t do well with high places.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Very well. I shall await you at the door.”

Camilla left after taking the plates and glasses.

I looked over at Redheart. The other staff was currently in my dimensional ring at the moment. Should I ask Zefra what it is?

It is a part of a tree anyway. The aura it’s releasing can’t be identified by my damaged senses so I wouldn’t know.

After about 10 minutes I left the room.

Camilla was at the door just as she said before. She led me through the palace. I couldn’t help but notice that she was the only dark elf I’ve seen.

“Miss Camilla.”

“Yes?”

We stepped onto a platform that had a mechanism similar to elevators on Earth.

She tilted her head.

“I don’t mean to sound rude but why aren’t there any other dark elves?”

“Ah, that. We weren’t always so rare back before the Four Heroes fought the Demon Battle God. He had powers that could control those with genes similar to the demons. Naturally, we the dark elves have those genes. Our ancestors, the mountain elves occasionally mated with demons to keep our population stable. Humans were more rare after the demon war.”

We finally arrived at the top floor. A vast white space spread throughout my vision.

“Every dark elf was used to fight against the humans. We have spirit magic which is far stronger compared to our elven counterparts. Mind control is different for demons unlike normal beings. When their link is cut off forcibly then it disrupts the brain of its senses, thus causing brain damage which leads to death.”

‘Oh… so that explains it…’

“We are regarded as demons by the elves so the treatment towards us isn’t good. But Lady Miya saved me from a sex slave ring which were run by humans.”

“You’re princess Miya’s maid?”

“Yes. She ordered me to assist master Clyde throughout your stay. I could also be of some help during your training. But if you are looking for help with night activities then I’m sorry. Please ask princess Miya first.”

Camilla blushed.

“N-No. I won’t be needing such services.”

‘Hmm… I should thank the princess.’

We spotted two individuals in the distance.

Zefra and another old elf.

How old was that elf that even her wrinkly skin was showing?

“Oho. So this is the young one you spoke of.”

The old lady spoke when we approached.

“Yes, Lady Skyrith. He is the one harbouring the will of our Spirit King.”

Camilla already left after bowing towards them.

“Come, Clyde.”

Zefra took my hand and led me to a giant white crystal ball.

“Let’s see if what you spoke of is the truth, little Zefra. We’ll need to do this before I even think of training him.”

With doubt etched on her face, the old lady took my hand and guided it onto the crystal.

GLOP—!

That was the only sound it made. It was similar to something dropping into water.

I heard a disappointed sigh from the old lady. But when I looked at Zefra, she was smiling silently.

“Like I said, he can’t be–“

RUMBLE

A shockwave so powerful that the entire floor shook, resonated. My ears were ringing from the sound alone.

When I turned my gaze up towards the crystal ball, all I could see was an abyss. The white crystal was engulfed in a thick layer of darkness. And when I looked around, I could see that even the previous white floor was covered in darkness.

‘What is this…!?’

I couldn’t even remove my hand. The darkness’ grasp on me was too strong to loosen.

“What’s happening!?”

Zefra shouted and tried pulling my arm out.

“This… this is…”

Skyrith’s pupils were shaking as she looked at the darkness.

Her eyes were slowly losing light as disbelief filled her expression.

A certain something was entering my body. To that, my body heavily tried rejecting it but to no avail.

“Clyde! Don’t lose focus!”

Due to Zefra’s shout, I managed to snap out of my daze.

PSSSSSS

The black smoke disappeared when I came to my senses.

“Ugh…”

I groaned when I felt the darkness leave my body.

The crystal turned white once again.

Zefra sighed in relief and Skyrith fell on her knees.

“Are you alright, elder?”

She nodded at Zefra’s question and got up.

She glanced at me with an unreadable expression. I could make out the fear on her face.

“Well… how was it?”

I asked timidly.

The old elf laughed softly while she shook her head.

“Everything Zefra told me about you being a rare genius born every thousand years was an understatement.”