[Zera]

A collection of mighty spells that only Herebia could execute. Well, in this era at least. Although this collection of spells could be seen as over powered as it could do many things, In reality...

They were imitations.

The [Zera] spells were actually imitations which Herebia had copied around 1000 years ago. Through the power of the Chaos Tome, Herebia was able to make spells that imitated the real Zera’s.

Her spells, the [Zera], could be divided into five types. Although this types won’t be disclosed right now...

Herebia had once watched the real Zera’s perform this types of spells. Her imitated spells versus the real ones? That would always end in her spell being destroyed in the clash. The only advantage Herebia had over the real ones were that she could wield all of the five types.

Looking at the unknowing victim of her spell, the [Zera : Memory], Herebia smiled lightly as she felt that she won the gamble. Although this spell could bring out someone’s memories, that was the only thing it could do.

This could not let Herebia read other’s minds or alter someone’s memories. She only has the power to make them resurface and use it negotiations like this. She could use the [Zera : Scanner] to read memories though, but that would kill the victim of the spell.

‘Just by looking at his quiet appearance, I could deduce that Ycarus has already made his decision...’

Ycarus raised his head after calming his breath and his eyes exuded resolution. His lips curled into a smile which slowly turned into a grin.

“Of course I would choose my daughter. Why would I trade my child for that woman?!”

Her thin smile also turning into a grin, Herebia once again looked at Ycarus. But... this time it was different. She looked at Ycarus at an extremely domineering way, like looking down at an ant. This was Herebia threatening Ycarus.

“Yo, tell me one thing. Is your previous wife a ‘Saint’... or to be precise, a Drazian?”

The courage that Ycarus had gained from regaining his senses once again plummeted as something that an outsider should not know were being spouted out by this woman. Ycarus looked at him in fear as he retreated to the edge of his seat.

“She is right? Anyway, I have already confirmed this by looking at the abnormal growth of your daughter. The reason she could be this proficient while be so young is that...” Herebia paused for a moment as to drag her words. “Yassi is a Half-Drazian, right?”

Ycarus was sitting still while cold sweat dripped from his forehead. This was not information a simple someone could actually learn. No, not even an ordinary general would know about this.

The word ‘Drazian’ was not something anyone would know. The royal family of Aqua Kingdom had always been a peculiarity in this realm. This was because miraculous ‘Saints’ were always born from them. Although the general public considered the term ‘Saint’ to be correct, there was actually a much more precise term for them.

‘Four Great Bloodlines’

Ycarus knew about this information because his previous wife was a Drazian herself. Not only that, she was actually a noble of the Aqua Kingdom. Although he knew that others would know about this, he didn’t expect that the woman facing him right now would know about this things.

“How did you know! M-more importantly... Just who the hell are you?”

“... Who the f*ck do you think I am!” Herebia slammed her fist at the table fast as her voice actually raised in volume. Not minding that someone might hear them, Herebia had raised her voice in order to intimidate this general. “Ycarus... Before I kill you’re wife we have to discuss something. And that is about the upcoming war.”

“W-what about the war?”

“Tell me an extremely concise explanations on what has been going on around this realm! The war is only a small part!”

Ycarus raised his brows as if to question Herebia’s request. “Are you asking for an info dump? That would be boring isn’t it?”

“Who cares! I need info right now. More, the better! Just dump them!”

Sighing and shaking his head at the same time, Ycarus went off and ranted. He made sure to give Herebia only a concise information and the info dump lasted only 10 minutes or so.

* * * * *

Due to some specific reasons, concise information was the only thing available. It seems like Ycarus didn’t want to was his words even if it was a rant.

And so the happenings actually were kinda dramatic on itself.

At first, the Ignis Prince and the Aero Princess (Now a Queen) were supposed to be married as a couple. They were fiances even before birth. This arrangement actually was not that opposed as the Prince itself loved the Princess while the Princess didn’t object. She resigned to her fate.

After a few years though, the Aero Princess fell in love to a Terra Prince, which was actually the said Ignis Prince’s close friend. After the Ignis prince learned of this, he was enraged. The Prince joined the plans of his father, the Ignis King, and the plan was to wage war against the Terra Kingdom. Well that was a plan that was hatched around 16 years ago.

Something like a ‘country wrecking beauty’ could only do.

The war was announced around 3 years ago and after an intial clash which killed a lot on both sides, the Aero Kingdom had interfered. This made the war stop for 3 years. After 3 years though, the Aero Kingdom had withdrawn some of their protection because an important matter was likewise happening inside it. It was the competition of the Prince and Princess’s for the rank of King or Queen.

Anyway, long story short, the Aero Kingdom’s protection has loosened and the Ignis Kingdom saw this as an opportunity to attack decisively. There was also an information from Ycarus that the War Council of the Ignis Kingdom would be meeting tomorrow for a strategy meeting.

“Oh wait. Ycarus, I haven’t heard you mentioning the Aqua Kingdom’s name in this war. Don’t tell me those guy’s are neutral.”

“Yeah. Those guys never moved but they had actually followed the ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ method. There was once a Aqua noble that was dragged in this war...”

“Stop. Don’t say anymore.” Herebia signaled her hand for Ycarus to stop talking. She then continued to muse to herself and felt that something was missing. When the conversation between her and Aven was commencing... there was something that was missing here!

Herebia knew of it! And that was... tea! Or at least something that she could sip or chew on.

Not minding to explain herself, She flicked her finger and sent a fast paced [Chaos Thread] towards the kitchen. Ycarus was about to stop her when he saw that the thread had actually brought back a bag of nuts.

“That’s some convenient magic...”, Ycarus whispered to himself. Herebia heard what Ycarus had said and then she raised her eyebrow.

“You do not know how to magic an Elemental Thread? And you actually dare to call yourself a Practitioner or something.”

“Enough about that, Would you still want more info?”

Crunch! Crunch!

Herebia was chewing on her nuts and was looking at Ycarus nonchalantly. Then something dented her mind as fast as lightning as she remembered an important question.

“Oh, Ycarus do you know of a man named Oliver? Someone who could be considered the strongest man on this realm?”

Hearing the name 'Oliver' didn't really project a reaction Ycarus. Herebia took note of this as she raised her eyebrow in question.

“Is this man supposed to be your ideal boyfriend or something?"

“Nope. Forget that I ever asked."

Herebia was staring at a nut on the table as she listened to Ycarus’s rant. She then flicked the nut in boredom, watching it spin. After losing momentum, Herebia once again flicked it and watching the nut spiral around had placed a spark of creativity on her mind.

‘Spin... huh? How the hell didn’t I think of this before? And, why in the actual f*ck did I learn this from a nut?!’

Although her inside thought was raging out, her outer disposition was still calm and nonchalant. Ycarus stared at this beautiful woman and how nonchalant she could act. He then remembered her threatening appearance before and compared the two.

‘This woman... is she on her period? She is actually a major victim from mood swings.’

“Anyway... I’ll get to the point. Do you know of the Crystal Shards?”

“Nope.”

“Do you know anything about a shiny gem of power’?”

“Nope.”

“Then do you know anything about a 2-pronged staff that has a black orb?”

“Nope, and nope.”

Herebia sighed as she realized that even a general like Ycarus knew nothing about the items she desired. Asking for this things were on the top of his agenda and the second was...

“Hey Ycarus, work for me.”

‘Another mood swing?’ Ycarus’s eyes twitched and then he looked at Herebia like she had spouted something equivalent to a joke. “Are you a retard?”

“I have your daughter in hostage.”

Saying this, the room quieted drastically that even a needle dropping would be heard. Herebia looked straight into Ycarus’s eyes and what she saw made her flinch but was within her calculations.

What she saw was madness.

Herebia twirled with the nut for a while and then she brought it up in front of her eyes. Pinching it using two of her fingers, Herebia narrowed her eyes and then.

Crack! Swoosh!

The moment that the nut crumbled to pieces, Ycarus had leapt up from his seat and flew head first towards the direction of Herebia. Grinning, Herebia had spread both her arms sideways and then flicked her right and left fingers!

Ycarus felt something tightening around his wrist and ankles and then... like a rag doll his body was dragged back to his seat! Black threads coiled around his ankles and wrist which was not tied on the chair. This thread were actually... impaled through the ground!

[Chaos Threads]!!

“Ah, I should have done that before. If I had actually set a trap for you, you wouldn’t even last a second against me back then. Sadly, I didn’t move because I assumed that you could actually sense the elemental particles.”

Although humans could control the elemental particles, only a select few could see them. Naturally, the ones that could see them could be a supreme master or an extremely gifted individual.

This ability could actually save someone’s ass on the long run as he will be sensitive to magic based sneak attacks.

Herebia then reached her hand out and grabbed another nut. She then threw it at her mouth and then chewed it soundlessly. “Ycarus, you know, I only ask a simple thing to you. I could promise that I would not kill your daughter and in exchange, you will work for me.”

“Fine, you win you f*cker!”

“Oh my, calling a lady a f*cker... Aren’t you supposed to be a gentleman. Anyway, there is also something that I would need to know again.”

Ycarus didn’t reply this time but he had signaled that he was listening. This pleased Herebia a bit as a thin smile surfaced from her face. “Where could I learn the Ignis Syllabus?”

Ycarus looked at the cuffs on his hands and feet and then pouted his lips. Herebia saw the direction of the lips and they were pointing at the cuffs. She flicked her finger and then the black cuffs had transformed back to black motes of light.

“Ignis Syllabus? You could go and grab an incomplete one in the Lexicon Hall. As for the real Syllabus, it is stored in the storage room of the King’s castle, which is the Dragon’s Ravine.”

Herebia stood up and then felt that she had already asked all of her questions. Although herebia felt this way, Ycarus was still uneasy and couldn’t help but blurt out what was bugging him.

“M-my daughter! You haven’t promised yet!”

“Little Yassi? Do not worry too much. I have grown fond of that brat and wouldn’t want to see her die so young. I only used her as an ace during this conversation.”

While Herebia’s back was facing Ycarus, she had caught a glimpse at an approaching human. This was none other than Faye!

Faye went towards the dining room, only slightly bowing in front of Herebia, and made her way towards Ycarus. Ycarus watched his wife approach him. With an unusually stern look, Ycarus stood up and stared at his wife.

Faye who was approaching Ycarus felt that something was abnormal and her paced subconsciously slowed.

“Where were you?...”

“I was washing the dishes, Dea-“

“WHERE WERE YOU!?”

Faye was shocked as her husband had actually raised his voice. She then scanned the room and found out that remnants of a fight could be seen. ‘I-It couldn’t be that they fought right?’

Realizing that she was in a bad situation, Faye threw a red ball on the direction of Ycarus and then sped forth towards the exit. Herebia grinned and then she positioned herself in front of the door and then blocked it. While doing so, Herebia had already formed her first spell using some hand seals.

[Chaos Rain Dragon]!!

Rising from the shadows of Herebia’s foot, a black dragon which was as thick as a human thigh, went forth and coiled around Herebia’s body.

Roar!!!

Ycarus’s eyes constricted and then he intentionally tripped on his foot in order to dodge the red ball. When he was about to slam in the floor, Ycarus used his hands to stop his fall and launch him back to his feet.

That ball was something a Practitioner could produce. It was actually an extremely condensed fire ball which didn’t emanate any flame at all and looked like a red marble. And unlike any other [Fire Balls], this fire ball didn’t actually act like a bullet. It didn’t speed forth but it had dropped and was affected by gravity!

BOOM!

The fire ball broke the dining table and Ycarus was glad that he had dodged that earlier. He would amount less than minced meat if that were to hit him. But, unlike most Practitioners, he didn’t summon his barrier.

Dashing towards Herebia, Faye was forming many hand seals. Herebia then swung her right fist forwards, making the [Chaos Rain Dragon] fly forward and bare it’s fangs on Faye!

Growl!

Like an agile monkey, Faye had avoided the dragon and was already in front of Herebia. She was about to exit it when...

Swoosh! Pow!

Straight in the face! Herebia had swung her fist and had landed a direct hit on the bridge of Faye’s nose, almost ruining her face. Faye had not thought that this mage would actually punch her face in order to prevent her from leaving.

Herebia looked at her fists which had a little trace of drool, and then subconsciously clenched them.

'Woah! Punching other's faces felt good! Maybe I should do this more often...'

Flicking her hands, Herebia’s face had once again turned nonchalant. The [Chaos Rain Dragon] is back and had coiled around Faye’s whole body, rendering her motionless. Ycarus watched his wife being tied by someone’s magic and he regretted something.

That was not getting more action. Herebia had stolen the limelight from him.

With Faye being constrained by the black dragon, Herebia looked at Ycarus and then a smile emerged from her lips.

“Now... We should interrogate your waifu, Ycarus.”